>>22757015
Regardless, it was still a gargantuan beast. Its head could swallow you in two bites, and its tail was long and thick enough that when it slapped against the ground you could hear the cracking of stone even from the entrance. Its two relatively small wings didn't look like they could carry something of its mass, but you still wondered. Furthermore, the embers smouldering on the monster's nosetrils told you it wouldn't just swallow you if it got you.

Currently, the monster is not yet aware of you, and is instead sprinting towards Elloy. Your not-too-wise friend is grinning broadly, holding out his sword without fear at the coming dragon, even as its nose spews smoke in preparation. However, from your point of view, you can see the creature will try something with its tail should Elloy evade. The way it is moving is unnatural compared to something that would move in four legs as fast as it could.

How do you aid your friend, or bail him out of this situation?

>For those who want to start before reading the previous thread. You are playing a Ruthelian Mage who uses spiritual lifeforce to cast spells it has already learned multiple times. Some spells, such as non-combat utility ones, are trivial and you can use them as much as you want. For example, you can light dark areas, animate small objects, slow down falls or make you hard to knock down or trip. Besides that you have the Force Bolt and Protection. One, as the name says, is an explosive bolt of force that can be used to inflict damage on an enemy or destroy part of the enviroment. Protection is a magical shield of energy that dampens physical attacks and blocks small projectiles such as arrows. You also have a short sword you use on your right hand, and a catalyst on your off-hand that amplifies the spell of powers such as Force Bolt. So far, you can cast all spells without limit, although not without pause.

>>22757024
Cast a Force Bolt at the dragon's head, have it explode on contact.
I think we had Protection up from last time, right?

>>22757100
You do.

>>22757100
Better yet: Force Bolt to his eye, motherfucker be blind.

>>22757108
Considering that we're college-educated, do we know anything about this monster, such as weak spots or nerve clusters we can exploit?

>>22757161
You've never heard of this species of dragon before. Dragons, even variants of the species, normally don't have disproportionate bodies such as these. However, from what you DO know of the draconic species is that good places to attack are the eyes, and the neck muscles where flexibility needs the protection to be laxer. This also means the tail is more fragile than the main body in question.

Rolled 72

>>22757142

I'm all for this

>>22757199
Alright then, let's go for the eyes, like this guy said >>22757142

>>22757142
Alright, eye it is.

Roll 1d20 (low is good)

Rolled 5

>>22757235
HERE IT COMES

>>22757250

NO REALLY GUYS IT'S COMING SOON I SWEAR

Rolled 3

>>22757235
I really don't want to roll; it's going to end up as a failure.

>>22757354
OH FUCK NO I LOVE YOU HAVE MY BABBIES

>>22757354
LOL, sure it did.

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>>22757250
The moment you see the creature advancing towards Elloy, you move. The swordsman cautiously approaches the sprinting dragon, making sure to maintain a careful distance between himself and the monster. As it gets close enough, it pauses to open its mouth, and Elloy's body tenses in preparation for a dodge.

He needs not to, as you pick that moment to let loose a Force Bolt from your catalyst, calculating the distance with success and watching the blast of force explode on contact with the monster's eye. It lets out a pained roar that shakes you even from where you are, and the sudden shock makes it let out the blast it had been building up in a direction away from Elloy. The burst of fire that ensues is enough to make you flinch and have to look away from the bright light.

When the flame fades, you behold the fruits of your labour. The monster's right eye is bleeding badly, and definitely not in a state where he can see anything from it. Elloy jumps away as the monster rampages around with his claws and tail, smashing apart everything around him, before his left eye finally notices you. Now faced with two opponents, it lets out a roar of defiance, aware of your presence.

Noticing his gaze, Elloy spots you and throws a wave. "Miles, you're late!" Tumbling away before he is crushed under the dragon's claw, he continues. "How do we go about slaying this foe!?"

What is your plan, now that your foe is wounded?

>>22757395
Take out the other eye with a Force Bolt, and have Elloy aim for the throat.And watch out for its tail.

>>22757395
Aim for the other eye.

"It should be vulnerable around the neck and tail. I am going to try to blind it then bleed it. See if you can get the neck."

Rolled 16

>>22757488
Oh, dice.

Rolled 12

>>22757488
This

>>22757423
>>22757488
roll 2d20 this time (Low).

Rolled 4

>>22757582
Well rolling nao I guess.

Rolled 4, 14 = 18

>>22757582
Rolling 2d20

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>>22757631
"It should be vulnerable around the neck and tail! I'll try to blind it, you go for the neck!" You shout to Elloy amidst the growls of the Dragon. The swordman nods, and dashes to the Dragon's right, where it cannot see. A wise move, as it won't be able to crane its neck enough to know where he is.

However, just as you prepared to cast, a sudden move coming from the dragon makes you stop. You hear the faint sound of flapping wings, and force yourself not to gape as the Dragon begins to raise its front paws, its massive torso lifting from the ground. Rising meters into the air, the monster now roars, standing on two legs balanced by its own tail.

Elloy, who had been going for the neck, suddenly retreats as the monster rises. As the monster cranes its neck to look at him, but fails, it gives a large bellow once again, and puts one of its hind legs forward. There is a sound of something sliding through the floor, crushing the rocks on its path. Looking at the tail that has been swept towards him, Elliot quickly makes a tall jump, but the tail manages to catch his feet off-balance and knocks him down to the floor.

The dragon announces its victory, and finally centers its view on the prone human. But as it moves to claim its prize... "NO!" A mighty bolt of force strikes its last unscathed eye, exploding and making it stagger in surprise. Now bleeding from both eyes, it has been struck permanently blind. Seeing it is starting to descend again due to having been caught off-guard, Elloy quickly scrambles away before he is crushed by the Dragon that falls back to its four-legged pose.

Now unable to see anything, the Dragon blindly attacks its surroundings, before it turns towards where it first heard the bolt coming from. It leans back, and its nostrils start to flare again.

Elloy looks at you worriedly.

>>22757870
Let's get out of there. It's going to breath fire, so get a move on. Once we're away from its cone of fire, we can send another Force Bolt at its neck.

>>22757870
Can we use a protect to deflect fire?

>>22757921
No. Protection shields purely against physical attacks.

>>22757994
Then just move out of the way to the closest cover we get.

>>22757870
"Well, so much for an easy, clean kill. Going to have to bleed it. "

Do we have anything that is more likely to cause a bleeding wound than our force bolt?

>>22758017
You can try attacking its wounds with your sword, or leave that to Elliot.

Also, another thing you'd know as a mage is that a Dragon's neck can bleed a lot if you cut deep enough. Elloy is very fast, he might be able to do something about that if you distract the dragon.

>>22758017
Sword, force-bolt, protect, those are our options for the time being

>>22757903
This, quietly but quickly. Getting roasted would blow.

>>22758075
Exactly, now that we badassed his eyes it should be retarded to die in such a simple way.

>>22758075
Roll 2d20 (low).

Rolled 16, 6 = 22

>>22758114
LET THE SNEAKNESS BEGIN

Rolled 5, 3 = 8

>>22758131
Fuck me.

Rolled 3, 2 = 5

>>22758114

>>22758131
Well fuck. On the bright side, we're definitely going to manage to distract it.

>>22758370
We're now flame-wizards.

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>>22758131
Quickly, you start moving away from where you fired the force bolt, just as the Dragon starts to sprint. You begin to circle him in a clockwise direction, but as you skip away from his body, you hear a loud ring. You look down at the mound of gold you accidentally stepped on. Immediately, the dragon reacts, shifting its body towards your direction, although with its cumbersome build it is more like it is stirring its charge elsewhere.

As it starts advancing, you abandon all notion of stealth and start sprinting away when he gets within a dozen meters' reach. You just barely manage to evade his claws as he passes by you, but then you realize he has left his mouth wide open. You know what that means.

You turn away from it, and don't stop running. An immense heat coats your back, and you wince. The dragon had put off his attack until the last second, and then unleashed his breath downwards with disregard for his welfare, letting the fire spread in the form of a shockwave. You bite back a yell as a tongue of flame sings the shoulder you had torn your sleeve from, spreading incredible pain through your nerves. Dropping to the floor to roll, the moist surface of the cavern immediately cools your wound down, but you doubt you'll be able to aim as precisely- one look at the vicious burn adorning your shoulder proves it.

As you try to recover from your injury, a sudden roar of pain shakes you off your stupor, and you turn around. Even as the embers linger in the air, one shadow appears in their midst. You look at the dragon's neck, where Elloy has planted his longsword almost all the way through. Pulling back just as the Dragon starts to thrash about, he gets knocked away only grab on the Dragon's left with his free hand, holding his bloodied longsword with the other.

Elloy, you glorious bastard.

>_

>>22758498
Dragon's left wing*

>>22758540
Holy shit this is intense.
>is it a wat do now?

>>22758498
>As a note, the force from having pried the sword away has now left the Dragon's neck bleeding badly enough for it to be distracting. A few more hits on that wound (Or a force bolt, or something else you can find here to damage it) and it should be done for.

>>22758608
Yes. The Dragon will be thrashing for a few seconds, giving you a free move if you're fast.

>>22758498
Let's just throw gold to make the dragon thing we're closing in from the opposite direction we're heading in and slash that fucking neck wound to make it wider.

>>22758639
Seconding this, seems good. Can we signal our swordbro to help with this (more gold throwing + slashing on his part, more confusion and hurt).

Also, do we have any more spells than force bolt and protection?

>>22758639
>Thing
I meant think dammit fucking brain why don't you work.

>>22758675
Relevant to this situation? You could try the equivalent of the Ghost Sound spell.

>>22758708
Let's save up that for when we have his neck open wide so we can distract him from many directions while he bleeds to death.

>>22758708
I like the idea of actually throwing gold more, personally. Use the spell to blow up the dragon's neck with boom boom explody missile pow. I was just wondering if we were particularly limited magic-wise.

>>22758731
Smart person. Let's do this, and proceed with the stabbing.

>>22758754
Roll 2d20 (Low).

Rolled 12, 5 = 17

>>22758835
Let's hope this dice work.

>>22758859
>could'vebeenworse.jpeg

>>22758896
>notrollinganytimesoon.gif

>>22758859
Inspiration strikes you as you look down at the gold by your feet. Sheathing your short sword, you hurl several handfuls of the coins towards the opposite direction you're standing on. The Dragon hears them, and turns towards that direction all the while trying to shake off Elloy, who refuses to fall off. As it pulls up for another breath, you start running towards the exposed wound on its neck by, and shoot at it with the catalyst you passed to your uninjured right hand. It doesn't quite manage to hit the wound, but it explodes near it, making another bleeding opening on its neck while it is throwing its breath.

Seeing his chance, Elloy waits for the dragon's front claws to hit the ground, and at that moment, where it cannot thrash to shake him off, throws himself towards its neck. He manages to bury the blade on the wound you made with your spell, and as the dragon reacts violently in response, even manages to do further damage with the blade as it moves around the dragon's neck, drenching the swordsman in crimson blood.

This time, however, the Dragon violently rises and falls again during its thrashing, which finally knocks Elloy off it and to the ground. He recovers unscathed, however, and quickly moves to the opposite side where you're standing, the two of you straddling each side of the monster.

>Go ahead with your plan of using a plethora of sound to drive him mad? If so, roll 2d20 (Low).

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>>22759050
Forgot textdump.

Rolled 12, 15 = 27

>>22759050
Let's bleed out this mother effer

Rolled 18, 17 = 35

>>22759148
Uh Oh.

Rolled 20, 9 = 29

>>22759302
UH OH

Rolled 4, 20 = 24

>>22759050
Sword this whore. Lets see if we cannot end this cunt.

>>22759084
How grimdark. That would be the ideal setting to run a metallic dragon quest in, though...

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>>22759148
You grin, and raise your catalyst as you focus on one of the basic spells taught at the university. If you use the catalyst to amplify it, then...

The Dragon pauses as the sound of a person stuffing gold into something echoes through the chamber. It roars in indignation, starting to move towards the one who would intrude on its hoard. As it charges towards a completely deserted pile of corpses, you and Elloy start to move towards it, masking your steps with the loud illusory sounds.

The monster, although in definitely less than top shape, still reaches the place where it felt its hoard was being desecrated with superhuman speed, tearing apart the invisible enemy with its claws and crushing everything on its path.

When it stops doing this to listen for more, you strike. Having crept up behind him, you bury your sword on his open wound. Elloy does the same but lags behind, so he's only able to make the wound slightly bigger before he has to jump away from another swipe.

The scene repeats itself several times. A sound echoes from somewhere in the chamber, and the Dragon scrambles to get rid of the intruder. Elloy and you jump towards him and hack away, then back as it starts to thrash. Slowly, but surely enough, it begins to slow down, limping at times, hesitating for several seconds, but in the end its greed leads him to fall for the trap again and again. Somewhere along the line, Elloy isn't fast enough and gets smacked by the tail, bruising him badly but not out of combat shape.

Finally, after minutes of bleeding out, it collapses. Head drenched completely in blood, with gaping wounds on its neck, it lets out a mournful roar, then finally collapses with a massive thud against the floor, lifting a cloud of dust.

Clutching his side, Elloy approaches you. "...Hahaha! We did it, Miles! We have triumphed! We defeated one of the Dragon race! This will be a tale that will be passed down in the taverns of Armadia for generations!"

>What do you say?

>>22759478
"Good job. Though that thing was pretty weak for a dragon. Looked degenerated to me. Don't go around proclaiming yourself a dragon slayer, we don't want to attract the attention of the real dragons..."

>>22759478
"No time for celebration, we need to go help Velkins!"

>>22759549
"Th-That was weak?" Elloy gulps, then breaks out into a grin. "Oh, well! With you and me together Miles, I'm sure any other fight will go the same! Ahahahaha- Ow, my side!" He clutches at his injury, then chuckles wryly.

>>22759569
"Velkins? Oh! You're right! How is he?" Elloy looks worried, but you tell him he's alive. Or at least, he was when you got to him. The two of you nod at each other, then head back to retrieve him.

...

Velkins' head snaps up as you returned. "Y-You're... back... How'd... it... go?" The crossbowman struggles to stand up, but fails. You and Elloy manage to pull him up, supporting him with your shoulders.

You inform him that the monster is dead, and his eyes widen. "...You two did...? ...Thank you... I would be dead now... if you hadn't saved me..." He seems regretful that he could not help in the battle.

"Worry not, good friend! Elloy's band of intrepid adventurers will never leave one behind!" The swordsman tries to cheer Velkins up, although he proves largely unsuccessful. "Speaking of that, how are you faring?"

"...not... good... I think I... have a fever..." Oh, that'd explain why he has to struggle to talk. Damn, that is bad. It doesn't look like you're anywhere near a place for treatment.

"..." Elloy hums thoughtfully, then perks up. "I know! Let's check out the rest of that chamber! Since there are torches, it might lead us into some city's dungeon or something!"

You aren't sure about that, but see no other choice. Just as you are about to agree-

"...There will be nothing awaiting you past those dungeons, lest you know where to go."

(cont'd.)

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>>22759896
A soft feminine voice cuts through the air. You immediately look at the source of the sound, and wonder how you didn't notice her while you were coming back. You don't even remember looking at that part of the corridor.

Across you is a woman whose presence seems to cool down the adrenaline from the recent fight, replacing your stress with a sudden calm. With silver her flowing freely as her robes, and a cool stare that seems to see through your flesh and into the fiber of your being, the maiden before you exhudes an aura of unnaturalness.

Extending a dainty hand clad in leather, the woman lets out a small smile. "I welcome thee to Darasvern, Dragonslayers."

>>22759910
Aw shit, fae? Elf? Who knows. Either way I don't trust it.

"Identify yourself stranger!" Also look around trying to identify any traps or ambushes or anything fishy. Can we detect magic or disrupt it in any shape or form to make sure she doesn't do anything fishy?

>>22759910

She offers her hand? kiss it like a gentleman would. Keep the other hand clutched to your weapon.

>>22759998
I'm ending it for tonight. I'll try starting off from this point tomorrow.

Thoughts on the quest would be appreciated. (It's my first one ever, so I want to know if I'm being too much of a railroading faggot, don't provide enough clues, etc.)

>>22760053
You're good enough, but still, I strongly suggest you keep a steady list of every spell available (including minor ones), I mean, that Ghost Sound was fucking usefull in this situation and we didn't even know we had that.

For the rest I just like customization of characters, I love choosing perks, or spells or shit like that (besides the loot), but that's a personal preference and not quest related. Keep up the good work.

>>22760108
Alright, I'll make a full list of the utility spells for the next update.

There'll be some customization options later on, maybe even next update.

>>22760157
Good enough, I'm not being too critic because it's still too early to really tell you what could you develop better or worse, I had a fairly good time playing, gonna go get some sleep, see you tomorrow!