RE: Life As A Tree

Audicello's smirk wasn't unnoticed by Rialyne who sighed inwardly. Obviously this was a tough opponent or otherwise the dragon wouldn't look so smug. But regardless, she felt like this battle would be in her favor.

[ Sablerre Basilisk of Ruination ]

Lv. 78 [ King ]

HP: 536900

MP: 36400

Compared to the Archaic Stygian Wyrm of Destruction, this opponent would be a piece of cake, especially now with the stats she had sapped from the wyrm. So Rialyne decided to end this charade swiftly.

The black basilisk lunged with a maw as ferocious and powerful as a tyrannosaurus. Its limbs that bent inward were unexpectedly agile, and the coppery membrane crown fanned out around its head. Razor spikes ran down its spine to its tail and grew progressively larger toward the tip.

Constrict!

Rialyne shot numerous vines around the monster's legs which both choked and whisked herself forward to meet the incoming, gaping mouth.

- 72888

The startled monster was shocked at the high damage. This pesky little bug had actually taken a sizable chunk of its HP in one hit! But unwilling to back down and be humiliated by the measly human, it continued charging forward.

Just when it seemed like the reptile would chomp down and sever Kyferne's body in two, Rialyne executed Magic Blast right on the tip of its forked tongue.

- 54228 - 54228 - 54228

The three spheres knocked the monster's noggin into a tizzy, and Kyferne escaped the clutches of its maw. While dodging, Rialyne let loose another attack.

Thorn Missiles!

- 6624 x 20

Seeing the crazy high amount of damage per thorn, Rialyne couldn't help letting out a cackle of glee. Truly the wyrm's enormous amount of physical attack was momentous. It didn't matter how small the damage multiplier on a skill was. She could overwhelm opponents through the sheer difference in their attack and defense stats.

168848/536900 HP left. In just seconds, the human had nearly killed the monster tens of times larger than himself. If he used just two more skills, then the basilisk would be literal dead meat.

Immediately, the monster retreated back in horror. Everyone gathered shook themselves out of disbelief at this astounding turn of events and shouted for him to stop. No actual killing was allowed in the spars. The human knew this, and everyone knew the human knew this, but they still couldn't help reminding him while he was laughing at his victory.

'Boy, I could get used to this!' Rialyne was giddy with fervor at the strength she had acc.u.mulated. That life or death battle with the wyrm was the best decision she had ever made. Now she could get her hands on the famously indispensable herzoldinne!

"This…is your complete win, human," sighed Audicello in defeat. She then amended her words, reluctantly saying, "No, you have gained my respect. What is your name human?"

Kyferne paused in distress. "Rialyne!" he called out to her in his mind, "I should give them my name? But I didn't actually fight them! Are we going to tell them that—"

"Shhh~" soothed Rialyne. "Just say your name. It's not like they'll find out who you are all cooped up inside this valley."

"Oh right, I nearly forgot…" Kyferne gathered himself and peered up confidently at the fire dragon.

"My name is Kyferne. The prince of the second house of Arvon."

Rialyne mentally kicked Kyferne's mind. "What the hell are you saying that last part for? That was so unnecessary!"

"Oh shut up! Let me have some fun too!"

She g.r.o.a.n.e.d and sulked in response. 'Peh. Wanting to act all noble and mighty and taking credit for what I did, hm?'

"So you're a prince!" Audicello was further shocked. Not only could this human exhibit fire magic and warrior skills, he also had strange attacks that looked a lot like insanely strong vegetation. The two elements didn't match at all. And now he revealed he was a prince!

If Audicello had known about all his strength, then she would've never allowed him to trick her into giving away herzoldinne. This punk was rather arrogant!

But she couldn't do anything about it in front of all these onlookers. The valley accord thrived on rules and trust, so she couldn't sway the rewards due to an unexpected outcome. It would send a negative signal to everyone else and make them suspicious for the future.

"A promise is a promise. You will receive this month's first place winner's prize: one hundred dragon claw-fuls of herzoldinne. Do with them as you wish…." And the dragon turned bitterly to leave, unable to stand the sight of the human receiving all the flowers.

Lenodryv on the other hand had been observing the whole situation helplessly. He saw right through the ruse, but he could say nothing to anyone about it. However, he was surprised by Rialyne's strength. She was still no match for him, but surely with time she would grow monstrously.

Just as they were able to be awarded the herzoldinne, a sudden, scaly foot came hurtling at Kyferne's back.

「 - 4640 HP 」

Caught off guard, he toppled to the ground and faced his attacker with shocked eyes. It was basilisk they had fought against, and it was glaring at him with blazing eyes of fury. Before he could get up and dodge, a beam of searing light struck him smack in his c.h.e.s.t.

「 - 92813 HP 」

The basilisk staggered back in astonishment and became fearful. He had first struck him with 100% power, and then he had used his ultimate species skill, the [Gaze of Fiery Death].

While there were limitations to the skill because it was a straight shot that needed activation time and direct eye contact, it was a 2000% attack multiplier! This skill that defeated a large bulk of all top challengers besides the dragons in the history of the Peace Tourney did not even scratch this human's HP!

"W-Who, y-you're not human! You can't! What is this defensive power and enormous HP?! You only had about two dozen thousand—" The haughty basilisk had finally spoken in their language, but it was far from what he ever expected to come out of his mouth.

But instead of jumping on another species she could communicate to, Rialyne was enraged, truly, and thoroughly incensed at the cheap shot from behind.

[ Human (Kyferne) ]

Lv. 37 [ Gold ]

HP: ???

MP: ???

The basilisk watched the measly numbers change to unknown values to finally a number that was death itself. Three hundred billion health points, it was a number he could never reach in lifetimes. No wonder that first number didn't decrease; it wasn't even a speck in the true amount that the human owned!

However in reality, that was simply because Kyferne didn't take the hit. Rialyne took it. If she had swapped out her stats for Kyferne after the battle, there would be no hope of survival for him.

This deduction alone made her not think twice in displaying her domain HP to thoroughly terrify this monster and anyone else who dared to sneak attack them. She could have just lost Kyferne, the only human friend she had in this world.

Her rage of emotions and indignation poured out of Kyferne's body into a formidable, menacing aura. Everyone gathered reflexively drew back in fright. When they all realized that they were scared by a mere human, they looked at one another with thunderstruck eyes.

Audicello and Lenodryv immediately picked up on this and rushed toward the human to smooth over the situation. But out of the blue, the softest of whispers drifted out of the boy's mouth.

"Vengeance."

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The unavoidable attack snatched the life of the basilisk in a flash. And everyone halted in their movements like time had stopped.

Lenodryv was the first to snap out from the abrupt blow. "Kyferne… We prohibit killing in the competition…. However, it is now over. But even if it was continuing, then this would be considered a rightful act of self-defense…."

He could barely get the words out because of how ludicrous they sounded. Act of self-defense? It was more like intentional slaughter!

He wondered if this was the skill that had killed his brethren. For less astute beings, the damage number wouldn't be looked at any deeper. But for a dragon as himself, he quickly recognized it was exactly three times the damage that Rialyne had taken.

Audicello was aware of this calculation too. A retaliation skill that returned the damage received was a game changer. Just when an opponent thought they clinched victory, the skill could reverse the situation immutably in a second.

"Lenodryv is correct. We cannot overlook his actions for attacking you from behind; even though, the competition was over. We will move on like this didn't happen, but I KNOW this won't happen again, right everyone?"

All of the monsters shivered at the fire dragon's ominous tone.

Audicello narrowed her eyes at the human. "You may have this body as well if you wish to experiment with the herzoldinne on it. But I hope you can leave this valley now." And then she turned with a flick of her tail and ascended into the skies.

"Don't worry about her. No one will mess with you now in this valley. But it is still best if you don't stay long. If you ever wish to return, I hope you tread a little lighter…" advised Lenodryv wearily before he flew after Audicello.