Dragon Heart Chapter 6 (original chapter Chapter 120)

Worriedly, I eyed the so-called 'Bone Knight' called Marquis. Was that a title of nobility, or was it the name of one of the more dangerous Parahumans that had ever been born on Earth Bet? If it was him, then a Bone Knight (whatever that was) would make sense to be what he reincarnated as.

[DING!]

[For Your Information]

The closest reincarnate to you is indicated with an arrow on the map below.

Beneath the words on that oh-so-convenient pop-up was a map of the world. A flashing 'T' likely indicated my location, while a flashing arrow pointing down likely indicated the location of the other reincarnate, which was approximately the same distance between the America-Canada border and the northernmost border of Texas.

At least I could cross off Marquis being that knight in front of me then. Whew. Still, this was not a situation I was anticipating when I sauntered out of the cave this morning.

OK, so this thing was probably someone who had held the NOBLE RANK of Marquis when he was alive, rather than it being his name, which was equally a relief and confusing. Why was it called by his noble rank rather than whatever his name had been?

Setting such questions to the side, I took note of its weapons…or rather, its weapon and shield. In one hand, it clutched a hand-and-a-half sword, which was almost certainly magical in nature, judging by the fact it was unnaturally clean and intact after who knows how long in the elements. In the other hand, it carried a heater shield made out of bone like its armour was.

Having fought against people who used shields before, I could affirm that fighting them was a pain. On the bright side though, this guy had a sword as opposed to the polearms that Fenja and Menja used. On the downside, that sword was almost certainly in some way magical and I didn't know what that magic was. For all I knew, it let its wielder always hit his enemies or had an effect that let him deal extra damage to dragons or something.

With a clatter of rattling bones, the Bone Knight charged at me! Oh crap!

Moving swiftly, I tucked my wings in and dodged to the side, the blow missing me by a hair's breadth! Unfortunately, I didn't miss the shield slamming into me. Despite my fairly heavy weight, it was strong enough to send me hurtling back several meters.

Shaking my head, I glared at the undead as it recovered its stance. Just what the hell? It moved just as fluidly as a flesh and bone human, which was suspicious given that it was wearing plate armour made of solid bone! Could the sword have something to do with this, I wonder?

Anyway, I had to find a way to counterattack. Letting the enemy dictate the pace of the fight was a sure way to get killed, and I had no intentions of dying any time soon.

Darting over to the nearest wall, I sunk my talons into it and scrambled up it. Given that I hadn't been able to break through the metal armour that the Special Elite undead [Skeleton Knight] had worn, I had little doubt that I would be just as helpless against the armour of this Bone Knight. I had to weaken it first, and these rooftops were covered in stones perfect for my [Tail Catapult] skill.

As the undead turned to follow me, I sent several volleys of rocks at it, aiming for the head. They bounced off like I had used a peashooter, utterly ineffective and in some cases breaking the rocks themselves. About the most that they did was scratch the surface of its helmet. Well that's a bust. Now what?

I growled instinctively in frustration. In terms of pure destructive force, [Tail Catapult] was one of my strongest skills, so if it was too weak to get through its armour, then I doubted that any of my other skills were going to be of much help either.

Looks like I have no choice but to retreat for today. I just wasn't strong enough to beat this guy yet.

Movement from the enemy made me look towards him and my eyes widened as the Bone Knight raised its sword, making it gain some kind of purple aura around it that was making my instincts scream at me to not let it hit me. I leapt back just as the high-level undead brought the sword down in a mighty swing…and half of the bloody house I was standing on was literally sliced off at a diagonal angle!

I was very much stunned here, not to mention a little scared, as all of the buildings in the city proper were made of stone or brick, with the military district being entirely stone. What the hell kind of skill did that Bone Knight just use?! The stone had been cut through like it was soap!

Definitely a good time to retreat!

The Next Day

Taylor's Cave

I had been very grumpy when I had curled up for the night, and even now I was in a bit of a foul mood. I had been stymied for the first time in this world and I had forgotten how frustrating it was.

Moodily, I pattered over and started to dig into the wall, hoping to get a nice Fire-Stirring Ruby or something for my breakfast. Instead, what fell out of the wall was a fluorescent purple stone of some sort. It was definitely a jewel or gem of some kind, but my knowledge of gemstones was limited to only the most commonly known ones.

Hesitantly, I ate it and waited for the pop-up to appear.

[DING!]

You have devoured one [Necrotic Dead-End Agrellite]!

You have unlocked [Necromantic] Magic at LV1!

…oh. Well, that was unexpected. It didn't taste bad at all. I guess that a stone wouldn't taste like the usual targets of necromancy. Moving on…

I dug again and the next thing to drop out were four steel-coloured 'gems' the size of a chicken's egg that I didn't recognise. What the heck? Were they even gemstones? One way to find out…CHOMP!

[DING!]

You have devoured four [Deep-Red Dimensional Rutile Shards]!

[Spatial Magic] has reached LV3!

Huh…rutile? Isn't that what titanium is made from or something? Whatever. I can see a lot of rutile shards in there. Let's see how many I can eat before I'm full and how far that'll push my [Spatial Magic].

You have devoured seven [Deep-Red Dimensional Rutile Shards]!

[Spatial Magic] has reached LV5!

As a result of reaching Level 5 in a Magical Aptitude, the spell list for [Spatial Magic] is now unlocked, with spells available for purchase. For further details, please view your [Grimoire].

Okaaaayyy…this was getting interesting again. With a thought, I opened my [Grimoire].

[Welcome!]

This is your grimoire, your list of spells, both those you already possess and those that you can acquire.

Currently, you only possess the [Spatial Magic] spell [Dimension Pocket]. The only list of spells you may view and purchase for is [Spatial Magic]. Do you wish to view an introduction to [Spatial Magic]?

Y|N

Given I had a pretty good idea about it, I was tempted to say 'no', but I didn't want to possibly miss something, so I quickly thought 'Y' at the System.

Very Well.

[Spatial Magic] involves the manipulation of space and dimensions. Expanding and contracting the landscape around you, creating pocket dimensions to store things in, increasing the size of objects without affecting their weight…these are just a few uses of [Spatial Magic]. It should be noted that [Spatial Magic] is not the magic you need in order to cast the spell [Teleport]; in order to do that, you need to first acquire [Time Magic] and then acquire [Space/Time Magic] when you have mastered both of those magical arts. Due to the length of time that takes, only the long-lived races ever manage to use this spell.

Although not really intended for combat, [Spatial Magic] does have spells suited for both offence and defence.

Huh…so basically what Vista could do, my [Dimension Pocket] spell ad a few tricks I'd seen Vista pull that didn't involve the landscape. Not exactly the crème of the crop when it came to attacking spells apparently, but I'd take what I could get. Let's see what I can buy…wait, what am I paying with?

Spatial Magic

Tier 0 - [Spatial Coordinate Lock] – 5 MP, 5 Minutes to Learn.

Tier 1 - [Minor Dimension Distortion] – 10 MP, 10 Minutes to Learn.

- [Spatial Shift] – 10 MP, 10 Minutes to Learn.

- [Shrink] – 10 MP, 10 Minutes to Learn.

- [Grow] – 10 MP, 10 Minutes to Learn.

- [Expand] – 10 MP, 10 Minutes to Learn.

- [Contract] – 10 MP, 10 Minutes to Learn.

Tier 2 - [Greater Dimension Distortion] – 15 MP, 20 Minutes to Learn.

- [Dimensional Ball] – 15 MP, 20 Minutes to Learn.

- [Minor Dimension Shield] – 15 MP, 20 Minutes to Learn.

- [Spatial Bolt] – 15 MP, 20 Minutes to Learn.

- [Spatial Twist] – 15 MP, 20 Minutes to Learn.

Tier 3 – [Dimension Pocket] – (Owned)

- [Minor Dimension Quake] – 30 MP, 30 Minutes to Learn.

- [Greater Dimension Shield] – 30 MP, 30 Minutes to Learn.

- [Lesser Spatial Tracing] – 40 MP, 50 Minutes to Learn.

- [Small-Area Spatial Sensor] – 45 MP, 55 Minutes to Learn.

Tier 4 and beyond unavailable due to low level of [Spatial Magic].

Huh…so I buy spells by spending my MP, possibly reserving that value from my total MP for the duration of the time it takes to learn the spell. Hmm…this is actually quite an interesting way to learn spells. As a dragon, I couldn't exactly learn from a master in town or go to the local equivalent of Hogwarts or however people learned magic on this planet, so going this path meant I could learn magic so long as I made the effort to get my magic to Level 5 or higher.

As an experiment, I selected the Tier 0 Spell [Spatial Coordinate Lock] to learn and it proceeded as I predicted…for the most part. The part I hadn't considered was the deluge of information that was downloaded into my head as those five minutes passed. Of course there would be some kind of negative effect, but fortunately for me, my past experiences as Skitter/Weaver/Khepri, the host of the {Queen Administrator} Shard, had prepared me well for this kind of overload, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it might have been.

[DING!]

Five minutes have elapsed. MP restored to normal.

You have now learned the Tier 0 [Spatial Magic] spell [Spatial Coordinate Lock]!

[Spatial Coordinate Lock] (Active) [LV1, 0%]

Tier 0 Magic

The most absolute basic spell available to any Spatial Magician, this spell very simply allows the caster to designate a single coordinate anywhere they so choose within their range. While it has no combat or utility purpose, it is this basic spell that allows almost all of the more complex and powerful Spatial spells to be used efficiently. As such, while knowing this spell grants no actual abilities outside of magic, it increases the effectiveness and MP efficiency of all Spatial Magic spells based on its level converted into percentage. For example, LV1 increases the effectiveness of all Spatial Magic Spells by 1% and reduces their MP costs by 1%, not including this spell.

- Costs 2 MP/Minute to use.

- Range: Any point within a radius of 30 meters.

Huh…so it's a support spell for [Spatial Magic], huh? Practicing the same basic underlying linchpin of the majority of the magic on a constant basis would have that sort of effect, I suppose. Hmm..? What's this?

As a result of this experience, a skill you earned in your past life has come to the fore! The Skill [Mental Dataflow Management] has re-awoken in you!

[Mental Dataflow Management] (Passive) [LVMAX]

As the previous bearer of the [Queen Administrator] Shard of Zion the Warrior, your specialty was of the Master and Thinker powersets. Specifically, you had the ability to command an infinite number of insects so long as they fell within a certain radius and diameter around you. With much practice and determination, you became able to manipulate and control all of the normal motor functions of your army of minions, as well as their sensory input. As a result, your mind had to adjust itself to the dataflow of so much information. In practical terms, this reduces the mental strain of receiving tutelage from the system by 80%, something that a lot of reincarnates would be jealous of, I can tell you now.

…OK…so…my past as Skitter was working in my favour at the moment…this is new.

Now having some protection against the painful mental downloads, I chose to learn [Spatial Bolt] and [Minor Dimension Shield] so that I could actually have some kind of decent offence and defence at a range that didn't depend on rocks.

As a result…

[Spatial Bolt] (Instant) [LV1, 0%]

Tier 2 Magic

By drawing upon dimensional energies and unleashing them at the enemy, the caster can use a modestly powerful magical attack. Dimensional energies, once channelled for offensive purposes, are inherently unstable when used by an amateur and the bolt thusly has a minimum of a 5% chance to explode on impact.

- Magic Missile (Automatically strikes chosen enemy barring magical or divine interference)

- 50 MP to cast.

- Range: Eight meters.

- Deals INT+WIS Dimensional Damage.

- 5% chance to explode, causing an additional WIS*10 damage to anything within three feet of the epicentre.

[Minor Dimensional Shield] (Active) [LV1, 0%]

Tier 2 Magic

Drawing upon dimensional energies, the caster forms a shield just tall and wide enough for an ordinary human to shelter behind. As this is a fixed pattern, there is no inherent instability with this spell, although when it is destroyed, the backlash on the attacker is usually pretty bad, as well as possibly striking the caster if they are too close to it.

- Magic Shield (Automatically cast in one foot in front of the user).

- 50 MP to cast.

- Durability Points: 50

- Size: Slightly larger than an average human.

- Shape: Rectangle.

- Duration: 15 Minutes.

- Should all Durability Points be reduced to zero, the shield will explode, ending a wave of dimensional energy in a ninety degree arc to the 'front' of its former location up to a meter away, as well as the ninety degree arc to the 'back' of its former location for half a meter.

While the inherent instability and volatile nature of these spells worried me a bit, they were what I had to work with and I was curious as to how they would do against my current nemesis, the Bone Knight.

Only one way to find out…

Military District, Ruined Imperial Seat of Malvin

I was practically cackling as I entered the military district. I had tried out the [Spatial Bolt] on a group of ordinary skeleton soldiers wandering on the opposite side of the city and wow, was it ever effective. When the 5% Instability occurrence happened and it blew up on impact, I must have killed about a dozen skeletons with it, levelling the spell up twice.

Rematch time, bonehead.

I tracked my nemesis down to what had to be the central barracks and parade ground of the military district. It was standing in the centre of the wide open space, sword and shield hanging loosely from its hands. It was an excellent place to make a last stand; wide open spaces, unobstructed line of sight until the buildings at the edge of the parade ground and no cover for anyone approaching it.

Had [Spatial Bolt] not levelled up, this might present quite the problem, but as it was, its range had doubled, meaning I could cast at him for sixteen meters away. That still left quite the amount of ground to cover, as the parade ground looked as if it could hold over two-hundred men at least, with extra room to spare. And my enemy was standing bang-slap in the centre.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't walk into such an obvious killing ground as this. My speciality was fighting in a city, with all of the 3D Manoeuvring possibilities and environmental advantages that such a battleground offered me. In both this life and my last life, I was at my best when I was in such an environment.

And yet….and yet, I was now a dragon. I was now a being that possessed a lot of pride and this bag of bones had offended my pride by forcing me to retreat, helpless to do more than scratch it.

I had been noticing that in the days since my rebirth that my mind was becoming slightly more dragon-like. My pride was larger, my avarice was more pronounced, my desires all the more evident and present, my anger slightly less under my grip than I would prefer…a whole host of minor things. I was still me, make no mistakes, but I was also mentally changing to suit my new body and life.

A part of me was freaking out and concerned by this, but I was able to stifle it. As I was no longer human, keeping entirely to the manner of thinking of a human wasn't wise or required. I didn't want to change to the point that I no longer recognised myself; I'd been through that already when I became Khepri, and I had no desire to descend that far again. But to change myself, just a little bit, was a small enough price to pay for the power I now possessed.

With a low snarl, I launched myself off the roof I stood on and spread my wings, gliding almost soundlessly to the ground, whereupon I started to run forwards, talons clacking on the stone ground.

Of course this immediately got my enemy's attention. It straightened itself out of the hunched over posture it had been in and took a firmer hold on its weapons as it turned about to face me. Jeez, the empty look in its helmet's eyeholes was creepy as hell.

Skidding to a halt, I snarled at it challengingly and, quite obligingly, the Bone Knight started its advance on me. Although as fast as a man walking quickly, it still took a while for it to close in on me, time I used to its fullest.

I had cast [Minor Dimensional Shield] as soon as I came to a halt and ended the [Dimension Pocket] spell, spilling dozens of rocks out that I used as ammunition for my [Tail Catapult]. As before, it had no effect on the Bone Knight other than to scratch and dimple its armour.

That changed when I cast [Spatial Bolt]. While my [Minor Dimensional Shield] was a floating rectangle of shimmering purple, the [Spatial Bolt] was a flurry of purple, lavender and all of their various shades mixed into one beam. It lanced out of the tip of my tail and hurtled at the Bone Knight. It wasn't a solid beam like one of Kid Win's laser pistols or Purity's light blasts, and it didn't travel nearly as fast, but it was still fast enough that my target couldn't dodge in time and had to raise his shield to try and block it.

The force of the impact ripped the shield apart like tissue paper. From what I could tell, [Spatial Magic] was not intended as real combat magic, not because it was unsuited to the purpose but rather, because it was too suited for it. The raw energy that was drawn and used in spatial/dimensional direct combat spells was too unpredictable for most mages to master without causing massive damage to their surroundings, so they most likely stuck to using the Vista-esque spells, with perhaps a weak spell like [Spatial Bolt] or [Spatial Ball] for emergencies.

Me, I was a bit more of a risk-taker, so this style of magic was one I embraced.

Dropping its shield, which was now utterly useless, the Bone Knight moved to hold its sword in a two-handed grip as it advanced on me. I cast [Spatial Bolt] several more times in succession. Although I think that just under 2000 MP is on the small side, for a spell that only cost 50 MP a pop, it was more than large enough.

The first spell struck the sword head-on and damn me if it didn't part around the blade like you'd see in a cartoon. I redirected my aim to avoid wasting MP on something that was clearly immune to my spells, going for the legs instead. This was a lot more successful, scoring deep furrows in the bone armour until I finally broke through on the right leg. As expected, the Bone Knight was wearing a shell of armour around its skeleton. It was probably only moving through some kind of magic.

Ok, that was obvious, but hey, it had to be said.

Once the armour was breached, it was only a matter of time before I brought the massive warrior crashing to the ground and crash it did. It didn't lose its grip on its sword though and it started to get up almost immediately, which was difficult considering I'd just blown off its leg beneath the knee. Then I got a good look at it; the damn bone of its leg was visibly regenerating as I watched!

Oh c'mon! High-level undead, with the ability to command lesser undead, wearing bone plate mail and wielding a magic sword AND it could regenerate destroyed bones that made up its body?! What the hell was this thing?!

Ah, right, Bone Knight. Duh. Probably had some kind of ability to produce and shape bone like the Marquis back on Earth Bet did.

This unpleasant discovery only hastened my attempts to smash through its helmet and crush its head. I have no clue why the head was such a vital location on most undead considering, y'know, they're undead, but I'd take a known weakness and run with it the whole way if I could.

Blast the target, and a score is made in the helmet.

Blast the target again, and the score deepened.

Blast the target yet again and the helmet finally cracks into pieces, just as the foot of the Bone Knight regenerates and it stands up again. The grinning face of its skull leered at me as it raised the blade in its hand, the purple aura gathering around it ringing the familiar alarm bells that said I would die if that attack hit me, so I scrambled behind my shield just as the sword came down and fire off that stone-cutting attack.

I hadn't seen it properly the last time, but the attack was a crescent of purple light fired from the sword as it slashed through the air. It slammed into my shield and covered it in cracks. I beat a hasty retreat to beyond the backlash range as I anticipated what was to come.

With an explosive roar, the [Minor Dimensional Shield] blew up and, exactly as it stated in the description, decimated the few feet behind the shield, as well as the meter or so to its front…which was where the damned Bone Knight was standing.

Squinting my eyes, I peered into the smoke wafting around the area before I started running in an arc…as the damned skeleton wasn't dead yet!

Oh, it had been hurt alright. The bedamned armour that took several shots of my [Spatial Bolt] spell to crack open had been shattered almost uniformly across the damned undead's chest and legs. It was thanks to this that I spotted a glowing red gem sitting in the centre of its ribcage. Now, I wasn't really a big gamer, but even I knew that if something was hidden as well as this jewel had been and it glowed like that, it usually spelled 'big weak spot' for the target.

Banking on that idea, I stopped arcing around the None Knight and started loping straight at it. Just as it half-turned itself towards me, I fired off one final [Spatial Bolt] that struck the target exactly where I needed it to; it pierced through what little armour existed on the side and slammed right into the Bone Knight's red jewel.

The gem trembled and then went dark. With what almost sounded like a sigh of relief, the Bone Knight crumbled to dust, the sword clattering to the ground without its wielder to hold it up.

I tensed and waited for some sign that I was victorious, and sure enough…

[DING!]

You have defeated the [Malvin City Military District] Area Boss [Marquis, the Bone Knight]! Experience gained!

Congratulations! You have cleared the [Malvin City Military District] of all enemies! Do you wish to claim [Malvin City Military District] as your territory? (Y/N)

Well that's a relief. I actually beat the bastard. Choosing 'Y' with a bit of glee, I waited.

Congratulations! You have successfully claimed [Malvin City Military District] as your territory! The combat prowess of all Soldier and Knight-type enemies is reduced by 20%! Experience gained!

Congratulations! You have levelled up! LV3-LV4!

You gain +5 STR!

You gain +2 DUR!

You gain +4 AGI!

You gain +5 INT!

You gain +5 WIS!

Skill: [Scaly Skin] has levelled up! LV12-LV13!

Skill: [Rough Scales] has levelled up! LV9-LV10!

Skill: [Tail Catapult] has levelled up! LV4-LV5!

Skill: [Sniper] has levelled up! LV3-LV4!

Skill: [Glide] has levelled up! LV5-LV6!

Spell: [Minor Dimensional Shield] has levelled up! LV1-LV2!

Spell: [Spatial Bolt] has levelled up! LV3-LV4!

Spell: [Dimension Pocket] has levelled up! LV1-LV2!

Whew…well, that was that.

I blinked as my ability to sense treasures in my new territory came online and one was directly in front of me. Just as I thought, the sword really was a valuable treasure.

Smirking didn't really work when you had a muzzle and scales, but I did my best as I padded over to the sword, picked it up and put it in a newly made [Dimension Pocket]. I'd take it back to my cave to see what it was. No way was it just some treasure sword. Oh, it looked nice and everything, but it was way too powerful to just be a fancy ornamental piece.

I couldn't wait.

Wow…Ok, so that went well. This is actually fair easy to write. Damn me and my ideas being so easy to write…