The stand off didn't last long as Drake's eyes went wide with the speed the insect closed the distance between them. Slashing down with both blades, Drake was barely able to turn to dodge the strike.
But the follow up was just as swift. The insect put power behind its blades as it pulled them upwards attempting to carve out a large piece of Drake's chest.
Drake immediately pulled his guard, pushing more mana into his augmentation spell and hoped for the best. He couldn't dodge the swift counter strike and had to bank on his gauntlets being sturdy enough to hold his defense.
The weapons collided with sparks flying in all directions. And just as Drake hoped his weapons kept the blades at bay just long enough for him to launch his own counter attack.
Spells began manifesting in all directions as Tizruuk pulled back his blades, ready to continue his onslaught.
The insect noticed the spells just in the knick of time however.
Drake's mouth hung open as he saw Tizruuk's curved swords cut right through several spells before they were fully formed in the matter of split seconds.
"T-that's allowed?! Isn't this like attacking before a transformation scene is done?!"
Even with his speed, a few of Drake's spells were able to come to fruition. Flames of black burst to life in split seconds before Tizruuk was able to slice them to pieces. And that was all that Drake needed.
Manipulating the flames to surround Tizruuk, Drake rushed back into the fray.
Putting power into his fists he did his best to lock Tizruuk into an exchange of blows. The insect's blades scraping against his gauntlets, chipping away at them bit by bit.
Son of a-! If I don't do something soon he's going to carve away at the metal! Drake cursed.
Drake summoned more instances of magic, as many as he was able to control while fighting off Tizruuk.
With each exchange, Drake willed a spell to attack Tizruuk from behind. And each time the bug would move as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Which Drake admittedly thought could entirely be possible.
But the fight continued for several more back and forths. Drake struck with all the gusto he was able to muster while maintaining his status at a reasonable level. All while Tizruuk continued to not only fend him off, but disassemble every tactic Drake employed.
"Guess I should expect this level of power from something level 40 and up," Drake cursed to himself.
Eyeing the insect Drake got the distinct feeling Tizruuk was playing with him. A familiar feeling he had only felt once. The Ant King from the tutorial.
Without being able to quell the burning instinct within him, Drake's Asuran blood began to boil.
"Just because you're a few levels above me doesn't mean you can pull your punches! Bring it on you dirty bug! I'll fry you just like I did your cousins I met in the tutorial!" he roared.
More instances of spells sparked into existence. Bolts of lightning, balls of water, spikes of earth.
Pairs of the lighting and the water balls shifted and moved all around Drake and Tizruuk. For each pair Tizruuk destroyed, Drake summoned two more to take their place. The spikes of earth hovering just behind Drake, patiently waiting for their time.
"I won't blot out the sun, I'll just burn you to a crisp with a makeshift one! Brightfire Lightning!"
Drake finished his exchange with Tizruuk, backstepping to safety and a split second later the balls of water spread thin, covering the bug in a sphere of water. In the next moment the bolts of lightning went to work, passing through the veil of liquid empowering them even further and electrifying the targeted area.
Steam from the heated water rose and momentarily obscured the area, but Drake had still not gotten a notification signalling the bug's end.
He clicked his tongue, preparing his next spell. The spikes of earth finally moved now that the time was right. The spikes molded and formed around his gauntlets encasing them in jet black earth, leaving two small holes around the elbows.
The steam began to dissipate and Drake willed instances of every element he had available to his side.
There wasn't a spell he had in his arsenal right now that could take Tizruuk in one blow. Drake would have to play this fight differently. Go back to his roots and learn as he went. The deciding factor here would be how well he could adapt and master his spell crafting in this fight.
If he could learn to create the correct spells, buffs, enchantments and eventually the limits of his new magic class. He could turn this seemingly hopeless fight around and reach a new plateau to his magic and control over it.
Skills and stats be damned! It's time to break through our limits!
The remaining spells formed into small cylinders. Each one glowing with the color of their respective elements as they hovered close to Drake.
The steam was finally swept away by Tizruuk in one swift motion, his blades cutting through the lingering veil as he stood there hardly damaged.
Drake moved in without hesitation and took the fight to a brawl. He couldn't compete with the insect on even footing, so Drake's only option was to dig deep and attempt to boost his stats in the same way his endowments did.
The only problem was that he did not have the spell to do it automatically like before, he would have to feel out the spell and mold it well enough to be just as effective.
Ducking in close, Drake dodged a downward swipe. In the same motion two cylinders of red were willed into the empty holes in his elbows while he took in a sharp breath, forcing out his attempt at creating his endowment of lighting.
"Lighting Endowment!"
His body began to crackle as a bright yellow magic circle formed at his feet, sparks shooting up from the circle onto his feet and body. Drake could feel the invigorating feeling of his dexterity increasing, but it still wasn't refined enough to be called the same spell.
He would just have to hope it was good enough.
Slipping in, Drake's eyes caught the glint of Tizruuk's second blade coming in from the side. Drake swung his right arm upward, hitting the flat of the blade with his Earth covered gauntlet as he roared.
"Impact!"
As the gauntlet collided with the sword the sound of a shotgun went off as the cylinder in his arm ignited and pushed fire through to the front of his fist, blowing the blade upward even further.
Drake quickly followed the parry up with a downward swing of his left, catching the exposed side of the monstrous insect's face.
His knuckles connected with something solid as he bellowed again.
"Impact!"
The second cylinder ignited, blowing smoke and fire from his fist into the side of Tizruuk's face.
But Drake knew right away with no new notifications that the insect was still alive. And if nothing else, he knew a Primordial level 40 wouldn't be done in so easily.
The cylinders were ejected from Drake's arms as he willed two new cartridges to take their place, one blue, one white.
Tizruuk's head snapped to the side, his mandibles clacking in annoyance. But purplish ichor leached from cracks in his chitin armor.
Drake had finally done some damage. But he had also royally pissed Tizruuk off.
Tizruuk''s body flashed in green, then red, his weapons engulfed in a purplish light.
"Finally taking this seriously?" Drake scoffed, "Bring it on! My body is raring to go!"
Drake plucked and replaced another lighting cartridge from his floating assortment, crushing it in his hands.
"Two fold! Lighting Endowment!"
He pushed his body, forcing another makeshift endowment on it to keep up with Tizruuk's new skills.
But the insect's weapons moved in a blur, Drake just barely able to follow them with both his eyes and guard.
His arm tilting with every flash of Tizruuk's weapons deflecting each strike by a small hair's breathe. But he was only able to do so much even with his body screaming in protest to being pushed by two simultaneous buffs. Each time he defended a slash he would only be able to cover his vitals, gashes and cuts were etching themselves into his exposed areas.
Drake was slowly losing out, unable to counterattack once more.
Was this all he amounted to? Had he found the wall he finally couldn't overcome. Is this where the line ended?
Desperately Drake summoned more instances of spells, dropping them low and all around Tizruuk.
Willing them to activate, explosions of lightning, fire, ice and earth cascaded across the area.
But the plan was half-baked, Drake's mana and status weren't behind the attacks, only peppering Tizruuk and the field with spells meant to kill lesser people and monsters.
The gambit had only made it harder for Drake, his status slowly being chipped away.
I'm surprised I can hold out for this long against a level 40 Primordial without my whole skill trees being filled. This is good enough right? He thought, doubt slipping into his mind. No one would blame me for stopping here.
Then he caught in his peripheral his younger self and Mir'phyra. His younger self's fists gripping in on themselves as he watched the fight, eyes locked to witness every move, every strike.
Drake could feel the desperate hope through his eyes. His younger self was cheering him on, not just as a bystander, but as himself. His younger self didn't -couldn't- bear to see him lose, because that would mean the last Asuran left. Truly left, had lost.
Mir'phyra watched as well, a sinister grin in the form of a sneer tracking every time Drake was wounded. Waiting, begging for him to fall.
Then he caught Tan in the swarm of insects surrounding the fight, his eyes unwavering as he tore through the swaths of bugs. Unperturbed by the monsters as he witnessed Drake's fight expectantly.
Drake dug deep, flexing his Aura and mana in a primal roar.
"Give up?! Couldn't be me! Go for broke! I'll forget about everything else, there is only this fight!"
The spells around Drake began to whirl and turn around him.
"Set my heart, my body, my SOUL ABLAZE! Heretical Endowment! Septenarius!"
The spells coalesced on Drake's body, painting him in a myriad of colors until they mixed together to finally cover him in a powerful veil of gold. His body flexing in an attempt to contain the massive boost to his stats from the spell buff.
"The last Asuran, Drake Wallen Asuraaaaa!" Drake roared, shooting forward, his fist connecting with Tizruuk's abdomen, "Sentences you to death!"
You have reclaimed a portion of your Asuran heritage. +300 points to all stats for your temporary vessel.