Book 4. Chapter 3: First Challenge

Book 4. Chapter 3: First Challenge

The portal had just carried them inside and into the large arena, much larger than a football or baseball stadium, the area they could fight in shaped more like the latter. The ground was covered with dirt and gravel, and no obstacles were within the coliseum.

The roars were from numerous auril beasts, a large pack of allosauruses. In addition, there was a pair of Tyrannosaurus Rex and a few dozen raptors. They were all arrayed in front of them, nearest them.

The rexes were not the largest or most powerful creatures, however. At the middle rear was a massive, undead land dragon, its forearm larger than Jakes entire body. There was also what appeared to be an undead necromancer and many skeletal mages, and two bone golems the size of a two-story house off to the right and away from it further back.

Ira stirred and tried to warn him about the necromancer. There were some piles of bones nearby and some mounds of dirt, including the one it was standing on, that held some danger. Jake shared this with the girls rapidly in his thoughts.

Jake immediately sent Bree toward the allosaurus pack with a mental command and, as quick as a thought, sent his desires to his girls.

He shouted to the remaining group his commands, Vesuvius and Jarrix take on the largest of the auril beasts, Tanda and Rikka work on the smaller raptors from above. Vexana and Rookard follow Bree with the kobold and work on the medium-sized beasts.

Jake sighed in relief when Bree followed his command to send her to the allosaurus pack, the creature moving much faster than he thought she could. Her hooves thundered down the large arena, her leaves, and flowers brightening into open flames as her auril built.

Vexana, Rookard, and the kobold chased after Bree. Vexana immediately began throwing some sickly blackish-purple-looking javelins at the incoming dinosaurs as she did forward vaulting leaps and somersaults like gymnasts. Rookards pack of wolves was created with a pillar of purple light, and they moved with fervor toward the allosaurus pack.

Vesuvius and Jarrix roared as they grew in size to meet their proposed enemies, their heat increasing. Jake was surprised to see that their polearms grew along with them.

Jake shifted his [Runebound] technique to [Wrath] now that he was confident in the situation somewhat. Ophelia would be the defender of the battlegroup, along with Berri and her [Divine Intervention].

Ophelia and Fhesiah immediately worked on creating a massive fire lance, merging their runes, with Jake adding divine hearth wrath-empowered runes as well. Fhesiahs torch added more flames once it solidified, and the massive lance began to echo the truths of Fhesiahs Dao.

Waves of heat came off it like a fiery star of creation. Then, together, they launched their lance of fiery death, targeting the necromancer.

A large bone construct leaped in front of the lance of fire, but the lance blasted straight through it. The golem exploded in a shower of bone, much of it melting and evaporating in flames as they spread.

The necromancer conjured a black barrier, along with the many skeletal mages enhancing it. The diminished lance was then absorbed by a sickly black magic shield. The shield was significantly weakened, and a backlash destroyed several skeletal mages.

Jake had leaped inside Berris platform as she blurred toward the other end of the large building they were in, toward the necromancer. Fhesiah flew at the bone dragon near the necromancer, confident in taking this enemy on or keeping it busy.

Ophelia activated her technique and supported Bree, Rookard, and Vexana as the large packs of auril beasts went straight for them. Next, she cast her Hearth of Hestia, placed it into her shield, and then sent it to support Vesuvius and Jarrix against the T. rexes.

Jake sent his chosen hearth to harass the necromancer. Unfortunately, the bone constructs bones were merging with the remains of the fallen one and becoming even more significant. It moved to intercept Jakes hearth.

Jake pushed his aura of heavenly flames, trying his best to cover the battlegroup. Despite being a defensive spell, its functionality was supported by [Wrath], as the fire could be used for both offense and defense.

Even the way it defensively acted was with explosions, thus was enhanced by Jakes technique. Once again, Jake realized how thoughtful Hestia was in formulating a spell to make it perfect for him.

He then cast a nova of frost spell, a powerful wave of frost slamming into nearly half of the pack of raptors, damaging and slowing them down. Next, Bloodberri cast her own [Weakness] spell on the larger group as she headed toward the other side of the arena towards the necromancer.

Tanda did quick work over the slowed and damaged raptors, aiming for their vitals with her bow and rapidly transforming it back into her crescent moon spear for swooping attacks for those that drew near.

While Tanda finished hers in one swing, decapitating or stabbing them in their vitals with auril-infused blows, Rikka landed cuts on the throat, sometimes requiring more than one pass to defeat one.

Bree spiked her tusk right into the skull of one of the oncoming allosaurus as it charged her. The creature had blazed ahead, covered in a ferocious red auril.

Another leaped at Bree, but they were met with a shield from an acolyte and a sickly javelin from Vexana as she rolled and jumped under Brees giant body. The shield shattered, but all momentum from the creature was gone, allowing Bree to grow and wrap fiery vines around it, tugging it toward the ground.

Bree then stomped around the corpse of the first creature, using it to limit her attackers as they approached her from most directions.

Rookard fired arrows as his pack of auril wolves deterred the allosaurus by nipping at its extremities and working in tandem, going for the creatures vitals. They weaved around the countering beasts as they tried to slash and bite back at them, but the non-corporeal wolves were challenging to deal with.

The wolves were faster than the allosauruses, lacking mass beyond the weight of Rookards spirit. The wolves worked in tandem to bite their heels to knock them off balance, and when an opening was presented, they would go for the throat with powerful bites enhanced by Rookard himself.

Ophelia flew around, lancing the creatures, dodging their futile bites in her direction, drawing some of them away from Bree. Ophelia had gathered a few as they chased her through the air, and she tried to drag them toward the incoming raptors. With each pass, as she flew around, she would lance one in a vital area, killing them with ease.

Jake was nearly within range of the land dragon now, and it prepared a massive breath attack. He was about to counter with a blast of frost magic when Fhesiah assured him to ignore it and continue towards the necromancer and its bone construct.

Jake and Bloodberri blazed toward the necromancer, protected by what remained of the bone construct.

The hearth he had sent at it had shot several spears of Hestia at it, but they only weakened the massive creature. Jake urged Berri to use her [Maul of Hestia-Echidna] on it as he charged up an empowered fireball attack using the flames of his hearth to send at the necromancer.

He had shifted the runes on his Champions staff to match, to form his half-step empowered fireball, using nearly forty runes and his divine flames. It was then enhanced by [Wrath].

Berris maul exploded against the construct, sending a wave of holy light and dark out, empowered by Jakes heavenly aura. The necromancer was just out of range of the explosion, but the bone construct had been nearly fully engulfed, losing whatever held the creatures body together.

As Jake was about to release his empowered fireball attack, the bone dragon released its breath attack, a sort of ghastly green flames released. Fhesiah sucked in the green flames with her [Draconic Fire Plunder]. She sucked in a lot of the dreadful green flames, before the creature stopped.

The creature was quick to cancel its attack, and she raised her torch and spun with her fan, bathing it in a wave of flames as she began her dance. The creature roared in pain as the fire crawled up and around its body, swiping a massive claw of bone at her, and she dodged it easily.

Jake released his empowered fireball at the necromancer, and Blood used her [Weakness] spell against it and the surrounding mages. It blocked with its barrier once more, the black shield empowered by the creatures massive stores of deathly energies, not used on resurrecting or raising any dead dinosaurs.

As Fhesiah thought that this was going a little too easy, the creature activated a skill. The unholy dragon was filled with unholy might, so Fhesiah filled herself with [Draconic Empowerment]. She pushed her bloodline, and scales grew even further up her arm.

Her body was filled with Draconic fire, drawing mana from her hearth to complete the ability earned and improved by the enemy Champion.

The massive claw sped towards her at supernatural speed, the weight of the enormous creature behind it. But Fhesiahs body grew slightly, her claw echoing the heavenly truths of dragons claws, meeting the giant claw with her own.

Fhesiah was knocked back, and the bones in her arm fractured, but a significant slash cut into the creatures claw. Thanks to her flames burning into the claw, much of it fell apart, the creature barely able to stand on it. She then used the healing charge in her torch to heal her bones and returned to doing her dance once more, bathing the creature in flames.

At Fhesiah feeling pain and coming to harm, Jake felt a flicker of anger, along with his runes brightening on his body. This caused Jake to frown, as typically, he would only feel slightly worried about his girls coming to harm, focused on defeating their enemies.

Often, he could feel their emotions and would only become worried if they were. But, in this case, Fhesiah was far from it.

Instead, he had to stop himself from casting a lance of flame at the undead dragon from where he was.

Bloodberri had eliminated the lioness beastkin with her tail, and now focused on the zombie lion beastkin. He roared, as an unholy aura formed around him. She was about to surge for him when Ira prompted her to back off, and instead go for the bone prison.

Something within would be more challenging to deal with if they let it sit, so she blurred for it, activating [Maul of Hestia-Echidna] again. As she did this, Jake saw that bones had begun floating toward the prison.

The Lion beastkin leaped after her, but Jake empowered the runes on his armor, pushing the Einherjar effect on it to its maximum. He countered with his [Hearth Blade], blocking the empowered axe with a powerful attack. Then, an explosion of flames from [Wrath], enhanced by Jakes heavenly aura, blasted into the lion man, sending him tumbling toward the ground.

He spun his [Hearth Blade] and met the raven woman's spear. She had swooped in another dive as Berri surged toward the bone prison, his explosion also blasting her away.

Bloodberri smashed her maul into the bone prison, the holy light, and dark coalescing into a powerful explosion once more. Bones were purified into dust, and whatever was left of the necromancer was heavily damaged.

Berri moved to counter the lion man who once again had chased after them, but she positioned Jake so that he could stab into the necromancer.

It appeared to be in the process of turning itself into some kind of bone knight, but now Jakes spear filled with the flames of his hearth stabbed into the creature, finishing it.

Blood and Berri continued their dance, weaving left and right and moving to surround the lion beastkin with her tail. He tried to knock it away, but Blood caught an opening and hammered him in the shoulder with her maul. The bones on the zombie beastkin shattered, and now the lion man could only hold the axe with one hand.

With only one hand, his defense was ineffectual against Bloodberris tail and maul. Eventually, her tail wrapped around part of its body, and it was all over. Bones were crushed, and the maul met the creatures skull, as he could not fight back.

Just as she did, the raven dove in again. Jake extended his [Hearth Blade] from his spear, striking her before her spear could reach him. She was already wounded and nearly evaporated under his purifying flames.

Jake let the flames wink out on his [Hearth Blade] and formed a lance of divine flames. He then launched it at the undead land dragon, as Bloodberri set out to join Fhesiah.

It slammed into the creature, and Fhesiah spread his flames even further, controlling them, fire being her sovereignty. The fire built up on the creatures body was reaching a critical mass. The dragon could not fight back against them due to its breath attack and magic being blocked.

Ophelia, the beastkin, and Bree wrapped up the remaining dinosaurs, their pack tactics no match for the concerted effort of trained opponents.

They each had gotten a few cuts and bruises from being knocked around, but Ophelia quickly healed them with her hearth. All that was now left was Fhesiahs fight with the dragon.

Cmon, little dragon. Dont have more flames to give me? You dont really have the soul of a dragon, it appears, but your body still qualifies as one somehow. They taste awful, but you could still give me some more. They help speed things up for me.

The other claw crumbled, its bones falling apart, causing the creature to fall flat on its chest. The head turned towards Fhesiah and blew out another breath of flames of the unliving in a last-stitch effort to take her down with it.

Fhesiah sucked them in with a smile, then coalesced her flames into an orb of fire and sent it at the creature. The sphere exploded against the creatures neck, separating the skull from its body. The light went out in its eyes, and the battle was won.

[Challenge Defeated. Reward to be tallied at successful conquest completion. Barrier raised in height.]

The party set out to loot, knowing nothing was amiss outside anymore, thanks to their headsets. A small army of skeletal mages had showed up to attack the battlegroup, the scouts spotting them approaching from where the catapults were destroyed.

They were taken down with relative ease, the beastkin having many viable ranged attacks to counter them, while Darris and Roxo defended them.

Jake could feel Tandas conflicting feelings over her bond as she looked over where Jake and Bloodberri fought the lion man and what appeared to be his mates.

Jake asked, What is it, Tanda?

There was little left over of the corpses they slayed, little more than bones. When they looted them, something strange happened: their corpses became motes of light, and even their equipment disappeared.

Tanda said, As you fought them, I thought he resembled my Uncle Seamus and his mates. He was mated to one of my clan sisters. Seeing his corpse twisted into that poor perversion made me a bit upset. But that he disappeared into motes of light when you looted him, doesnt that mean he joined the Framework?

Jake nodded. I think so. That should be good news, then? Once we retake Lifes Haven, he should be reborn? Once his respawn timer has finished. Looting him should have sped this up somewhat.

Tanda nodded with a smile. I hope to see my uncle and my clan sister again.

Ophelia said. Sounds more like hes your brother-in-law, based on what Jakes people would be familiar with since he was mated with your clan sister. But you call them uncle?

Tanda frowned. I guess? Our ages, even among sisters and brothers, span generations, so even my clan brothers, I might call clan uncles. If theyre twice my age, theyre my aunt or uncle instead!

Jake thought this was odd, but it made sense. They would have many offspring, and keeping track of who was a second cousin or aunt, or similar was probably a waste of effort.

They had completed one challenge. But, while difficult, it was only the first. Jakes party would have to fight through likely two more similar challenges, followed by the final challenge at the tower in the city's center.