Chapter 17(The First Solo Expedition Pt.6)

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)

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CHAPTER START------

---Floor 16 Final Section...

Yang looked over at the spot he had been standing moments ago only to see a large 10ft diameter crater with the melted stone still glowing red hot scattered about. As he looked back up to the ceiling he saw a monster that he hadn't ever expected to meet before the first safe zone. The upper floors were supposed to be simple cave systems with low-level monsters residing in them but, this changes his entire plan. He could no longer afford to simply save his strength for the Floor 17 Goliath, now, it's do or die. He locked eyes with the 22ft long blue dragon wyrmling as the lightning crackled and arced off its body and sparked as it made contact with the stone ceiling its claws had dung into to support it.

'Ok this is a problem, wings means I can't run because I'll be out of mana before I get to the surface and floor 17 has the damn Goliath so I can't just hope it ignores me. Can I really fight this thing?' Yang thought as he began to assess what he had to work with, his mana was almost full and his persistent healing almost fully repaired his limbs but he couldn't kick with his right leg, the plan of resting after the final Minotaur is now out of the window so he can't count on having his right leg combat-ready. Now he just had to throw everything at his enemy and try his best. He quickly raised his left hand and shot a single 'FIREBOLT' at the monster only for it to remain in its spot unmoving. As the orb of fire magic arcs through the air and makes contact with the monster, its head is engulfed in flames before the smoke and fire are dispersed by its deafening roar "ROOOOWWWWRRR!".

As the loud roar seemed to echo off the walls repeatedly the monster began its attack and dove from the ceiling directly at Yang. He reacted quickly and boosted to the right before it made an impact with the stone ground and stirred up the dust. From his new position 30ft away he finally got a good look at the monster. 22ft long from head to tail and massive wings that each look to be just as wide. lightning crackled and arced nonstop off the monster and he could clearly see the massive 8-inch claws glow with a dull blue as lightning moved about them.'Ok so no lightning to paralyze this guy, back to the old fashion brawling' Yang nervously gulped as he summoned his longsword and prepared to fight this creature. As his sword appeared the monster jumped with its wings tucked in and pounced at him. At the peak of its leap, the monster was 20 feet off the ground allowing him to quickly boost forward without getting far off the ground to dash to where the monster started its jump effectively trading positions and avoiding the claws of the monster, the tail, however, was another story.

As he cleared most of the danger from the leap the dragons tail which appeared not like a lizard tail but to be some kind of club with lightning arcing off it quickly swung at Yang from his right causing him to activate his Mage Armor and AMP to properly position himself and raise his defense to brace for the attack. As he held his sword with both hands the blade rung and shook from the force of the hit as his hands went numb before his feet left the ground and he was flung across the room. 'Ok I need to remember to use a boost to stop myself from being pushed around, well if I did that could have broken my injured hand so it worked I guess, I can't fight this thing by running, scales are hard and it looks like I cant surprise it since it didn't even need to see me to hit me with the tail. FIrebolt didn't do shit so I'm screwed.

Maybe the eyes?' As he thought to himself he didn't take his eyes off the dragon that readjusted itself to face him once again. The light blue reptilian eyes of the creatures stared at his. 'Ok I need to get at those, right no problem right heh' as he nervously thought to himself he quickly put his sword away and dashed at the dragon with both his palms together which caused the creature to stare at him for a moment before it matched his charge roaring as it ran. As he ran he quickly focused lightning and fire elements into his palms and stored them there as his eyes never left the dragons. When they reached 10ft of each other the dragon decided to begin a bite attack and lunged forward quickly at his, this is what he was counting on. Yang quickly used a boost from his feet and chest to slow his momentum so he didn't run headfirst into the dragon's mouth and instead leaped over its head. As he reached eye level with the dragon he quickly separated his palms and faced them towards the monster as he activated his technique 'BLINDING FLASH' directly into the dragon's face.

As he blinded the creature it reeled in pain and released a bone-chilling roar "ROOOOOWWWWRRR" before Yang quickly flipped mid-air and boosted down towards the dragon's face grabbing onto its head and summoning his sword once more. Without hesitation, he plunged the blade into the monster's right eye socket before it began to reel in pain and threw him off with his sword in hand. Looking up from his position on the floor he saw the creature had gone from reeling in pain to absolutely pissed as it fired another lightning breath attack at him. Unfortunately, he was still recovering from being thrown into the wall of the cavern and failed to react in time, his Mage Armor and skills absorbed some of the damage but when he emerged from the attack his body was completely revolting.

His skin had peeled and burnt off on much of his now bare torso and his arms which he used to block his face were completely charred. his left gauntlet now looked similar to the left one with most of it completely gone and only the glove remaining fully intact. "Ahhhhh fuck" it was now Yang's turn to suffer from pain as he quickly boosts into the air as the dragon rushes him flying this time. As he looks down the creature springs off the wall and begins to fly towards him. 'Shit, I can't fight this thing in the air, I need to get back to fighting it on the ground where I won't need to constantly boost to fly', as he considered his situation whilst avoiding lightning bolts and trying to stay out of reach of the monster. As the chase continued he quickly downed his last health potion and began to feel his burnt skin being slowly healed. Looking at his injuries he quickly stores what remains of his left gauntlet into his inventory lamenting its state 'Well it was made from Hellhound so fire is its forte, this thing is too much for it. I need to deal with this damn dragon I don't have any more potions, ok time for something either stupid or super brave'.

He quickly curled into a ball with the dragon chasing him and turned 180 degrees before boosting back toward the creature whilst creating a sphere of flame the size of his fist between his hands. As he approached the creature and it once again tried to bite him, only this time with lightning arcing off its entire body and being condensed into its mouth he quickly fired the energy built between his hands 'FIREBALL'. As the attack flew through the air and into the mouth of the monster they were both consumed by the resounding explosion as the massive room they were in shook and was engulfed in blinding light. Yang slowly got up from his position, he had been slammed into the far wall of the cavern by the blast whilst the monster had only been knocked back 20 feet. He got up quickly, adrenaline keeping him focused as he stared in bewilderment at the dragon. The monster's mouth had smoke emerging from it and its jaw was clearly broken like a piece of it was missing but otherwise, it looked more angry than concerned about its state.

'Ok that was my best plan, that always worked so far, the damn burrowing monster died to that and minotaurs die when I use magic inside them, maybe I need to go deeper or something?' As these thoughts raced through his head he quickly summoned his longsword once more and dashed at the monster that was still a bit dazed as it was adjusting to the injury. He quickly used boost and jumped up to the creature aiming under its head for the part of its missing jaw. 'If I can get my sword through the roof of its mouth that should do it' he thought as his sword struck its mark before a audible cracking sound can be heard as his entire blade shattered into pieces with lightning flowing through the fully metal weapon and reaching his hands causing his to instinctively drop the handle of the weapon. Before he could adjust his position he felt as if a truck had slammed into him as a claw slap struck the right side of his body and slammed him back into the far wall, the wind was knocked out of him and as he looked at the monster that was now flying in place as it roared and caused lightning to arc all around the room he couldn't help but think 'What am I supposed to do now?'.

His body was beaten, broken, burnt, and not to mention exhausted, his mana was almost low and his sword and magic failed. Now he knew he had to get creative. As he saw the arcing lightning from the creature becoming more and more focused towards his section of the cavern he quickly summoned 2 of the minotaur greatswords he had collected previously on this floor and slammed them into the ground directly in front of him like lightning rods. This saved him from being assaulted by the lightning arcs but left him entrenched against the creature for now. 'Ok it's still using this attack so I need to figure out what to do, if I had more mana I could maybe kill it, maybe i can ground it somehow?'. As he considered his options he slowly placed his hands on the ground near his 2 improvised lightning rods and focused on trying to pull the lightning element towards himself to allow his skills to heal him.

'Hmm, I think I figured it out, ok I need to get it to stand still a bit'. The dragon, now noticing its attack isn't working decides to get a bit more personal as it electrified its claws and divebombs towards Yang. he quickly dodges but loses one of his lightning rods as he only stored one greatsword in time. Taking one more look at the area he was in and the monster he quickly began to execute his idea. He ran at the creature with Mage Armor and AMP to enhance his close combat abilities as he uses his greatsword to slash at the creature's feet, constantly having to dodge and try to keep his position under the massive creature to avoid giving it chances to kill him. Eventually, after a dozen slashes, he manages to complete his goal.

"ROOOARRRRRRW!" the dragon reels in pain as its scales on its right hind leg shatters and its ankle is effectively broken. Its entire body lights up as an explosion of lightning element is fired in every direction causing Yang to retreat just in time. Looking at the creature he grits his teeth and runs at it once more this time boosting onto its back and beginning to assault its wings once more. Realizing what he is doing the dragon begins to fly around the tunnel slamming into walls repeatedly to try and throw him off. Its effort is admirable but it's too large and its scales provide enough gaps for him to hold onto as the monster exhausts itself. Eventually, its momentum slows allowing Yang to once again stand and continue slashing at the monster's right-wing relentlessly. His Mage Armor deactivates to preserve his mana as he uses AMP to its full effect to accelerate his slashing. Eventually after taking some injuries from the constant slamming ratting him into walls occasionally, with blood flowing down the side of his head and his shoulder Pauldron now completely shattered he manages to slash the ligament connecting the wing to the body of the monster just enough to stop its flight advantage. This causes the monster to plummet from its 50 ft altitude in the cavern and him to quickly boost off the creature to avoid being dragged down with it.

landing safely 30 ft from the creature he assesses his damage to it. Its left hind leg is useless for walking and it cannot fly, the dragon lays on its side before slowly getting up and facing Yang with its jaw still broken and a piece missing. Lightning visible in its mouth as it pants and stares at him in anger and defiance. As for Yang, he is exhausted and most of his gear is completely destroyed. His pauldron is shattered and barely remains on his shoulder. His torso is exposed and his leg guards are burnt and pieces are missing. Both his gauntlets are destroyed and the pieces in his inventory. His face has a stream of blood covering his forehead and his torso and hands are once again charred haphazardly.

Both combatants stare at each other, both standing in defiance of their injuries and exhausted state. The main difference between them, however. Whilst the dragon has been using everything it has to kill Yang, Yang has not been using Mage Armor when slashing the dragon's back. This caused him to sustain more injuries for the sake of building his mana supply back up for his final move. Now for the final part of his plan.

Yang quickly removes his final mana potion and considers drinking it. 'This guarantees my plan but, I might need it in the future and this thing is crippled, I think I can afford it'. He quickly sends the potion back to his inventory. Quickly retreating to the far side of the cavern he puts his back to the wall and places his hand together as he channels magic into his next attack, seeing this the dragon quickly uses its lightning breath attack at him. As Yang sees this he prepares to cancel his preparation before he saw something that puts a grin on his face. The dragon's breath attack built into its mouth but the lightning went wild as part of its jaw was missing to contain the blast. lightning arced throughout the cavern and showered everywhere in lightning. Yang grit his teeth as he saw lightning arced around him and eventually hit him.

He could smell his skin burning and feel his bones tremble and buckle under the magical energy in the attack. He grits his teeth and summons his Mage Armor to help but the pain doesn't stop. His entire body is shaking and the dragon is hobbling slowly towards him from its spot 60 ft away. As it gets closer the lightning hurts more and more. 50ft, the lightning burns his skin and makes it bubble. 40ft, he can't feel his hands as the nerve pain receptors go dead as all the flesh on his hands is slowly burnt away. 30ft, the burns on his body begin to crack and bleed, his hands are now dripping blood as his body barely holds out. 25ft, Yang smiles at the dragon is finally in range.

Using both his hands he drops to his knees and slams both his palms into the ground as he channels all the magic he has into his last technique "MOVE EARTH". This one simple spell is basic but effective. At first, he could only move small rocks or excavate a small hole, now, however, with all the mana he has he can do much more. The ground shakes as the floor at the dragon's feet slowly cracks as the stone rapidly moves down forming a hole to encases it in rock and stone. "RRRRRAAAARGGGG" the dragon bellow and reels in pain as its injured leg is clutched in a vice of earth and stone as the ground slowly begins to sink below the dragon and essentially trap it into a sudden pit of earth and stone. Slowly the monster is locked in place with only its tail and wings still above the ground as the pit was only 15ft deep and Yang simply didn't have enough mana to make a big enough hole for the entire length of the dragon. Yang released a breath he had been holding as the pit slowly closes in to further limit the dragon's movements. Even at full mana, he wouldn't be able to crush a monster this strong in a pit so now he had to get this done the old fashion way. He saw the head, wings, and tail of the monster poking out of the hole and quickly made his way around the pit to the side with the injured wing.

As the head, tail, and uninjured wing thrashed around as the monster panicked he quickly jumped onto the monster's back and summoned a minotaur greatsword, and got to work. 5 minutes of none stop slashing was needed in his exhausted state before he finally heard the clink of metal hitting crystal. The crystal had been in the very middle of the dragon's chest and he quickly drove his greatsword forward cracking the crystal causing the dragon to burst into ash. As the creature burst into ash he fell 15 feet beside a crystal that was 3ft in diameter and had small arcs of lightning arcs off it. He quickly lays on his back as he stores his weapon and looks over at the crystal, observing it for a moment and quickly storing it into his inventory a smile can be seen forming on his face. 'Ok, I swear to the gods if there is another one of these on this floor I'm gonna lose my mind'. Yang quickly closed his eyes to rest a bit before considering his next move.

CHAPTER END------