Recovering/Battling

Perhaps a bit later than I wished to have posted it, but here it is.

Ryne-Ark: Thanks, hope you enjoy it!

Otak Dragon: Thank you! And good to know it is interesting.

Guest: Here it is

Techgabe: Perhaps he will... perhaps


Issei liked to believe that usually, he knew the type of things he got himself into. Having a million years old dragon in his soul helped with that since she usually informed him what he needed to know.

It wasn't the case in a world Ddraig had never been into, however.

"Dragon Shoot!"

He was surrounded by large monstrous felines, wolfs, bats, and even monkeys. They were all at least five meters tall or more, and had the same characteristics as the Cursed Wild Felines, meaning bones covering their bodies with gray skin.

There were at least ten moving around the chestnut, who had yet to make a recovery to his peak status.

Level: 17(11.000/66.535)

Talent Rank: 2S+

HP: 6391/9925

STA: 540/13233

DRA: 610/6150

YK: 390/4100

Only his draconic energy had recovered a bit, while everything else went down. The only silver lining was that these creatures gave a lot of exp. But the chestnut was starting to question if that was enough compensation at this point.

[If you keep like this, you will be too tired while getting surrounded by more and more of them.]

Ddraig pointed out to her partner, while he managed to dodge another attack from one of the Cursed Wild Monkeys. He punched the creature with a fist covered in flames, that spread consuming the monster's whole body.

One of the things Issei had learned soon enough, was that these creatures did not like his fire. He wasn't able to kill the monkey right now, but the fire would do the job soon enough.

Dragon Fox Fire has leveled up!

"I know! I will hide, but I have to kill the bats before."

Inside his soul, Ddraig nodded in agreement with Issei's decision. Since the Cursed Wild Bats would be able to follow his moves from the air, they are the ones he should prioritize getting rid of.

Issei also heard the faint sound of more monsters approaching, so he acted fast.

"Here goes nothing!"

Covering his hands with fire, Issei spins himself around, forming two Fire Tornados. Instinctively, the creatures screeched and jumped to avoid the tornados. It had taken him quite a lot of his current not-so-abundant reserves of youki, but it was good enough to keep the Cursed Wild Beasts away, even if only momentarily.

With all strength he could put in his legs, Issei jumped, covering a huge distance from the ground thanks to his greatly improved strength.

In his hands, two disks made with draconic aura started to form. They lacked a certain refinement and format, being something that the chestnut was trying to use as fast as possible, unfortunately, would compromise some of the quality of the attack.

BOOST! TRANSFER!

Thankfully, Issei's powers allowed him to make it worth it.

He threw the disk at the two bats, that tried to dodge, but Issei could still control and readjust the attacks at some level, and doing so hit one wing of each.

And to top it off, Issei put his hands in the direction of their faces and threw fireballs at their faces.

Being at the exact point he wanted to be, Issei used his fire to move while in the air, with his wings moving by instinct helping a little. He wasn't flying as much as he was gliding, and thanks to the fire he managed to cover three blocks before stopping and hiding his presence with his Stealth and Disguise skill.

He jumped from the roof of one house at least twice and finally stopped, entering the house by a chimney.

The interior of the house was a wreck, with everything either destroyed, gone, unrecognizable, or covered in dust. Thankfully, there was no presence there, so Issei finally relaxed.

"That was intense…"

[It was your first real battle in years, and I would say you did quite well. Especially in your current state.]

The noises that were happening outside seemed to agree with Ddraig. Issei had managed to run away just in time as by now, everything around was already attracted to their previous location. Staying there would have just led to him being overwhelmed.

Taking a deep breath, he sat down and finally took his time to see the notifications he was constantly getting mid-battle.

The user's race was updated!

New skills acquired!

New status calculated!

Stealth has leveled up to level 11!

Disguise has leveled up to level 19!

Title acquired: "Hiding in plain sight"

Dragon aura manipulation has leveled up to level 9!

Youki manipulation has leveled up to level 9!

Draconic Kitsune instincts has leveled up to level 5!

Basic Martial Arts evolved into Intermedium Martial Arts level 1!

Analysis leveled up to level 7!

"Hoho, so it wasn't for nothing."

The various notifications of level-up and the new title made his eyes shiny as if Christmas had arrived earlier.

[Impressive… the transformation did wonders to allow you to improve on those skills so fastly.]

Ddraig added, seeing how Issei leveled up a lot even in skills he just acquired. The thought of what he would be able to do after a longer time with the system filled the Red Dragon Empress with excitement.

"Let me see what I get."

Dragon punch(lv 15): A punch of concentrated strength with the power of a dragon. Can give the target an effect of dizziness sometimes.

Dragon kick(lv 13): A kick of concentrated strength with the power of a dragon. Can give the target an effect of dizziness sometimes.

Intermedium Martial Arts(lv 1): Through battle, you walked into the path of martial arts seeking truth and improvement through your fists. Your technique is now more refined and more powerful, improving your strength and battle senses.

His punch and kick skills had been adapted to his new form, though he would have to see how they changed in battle.

"Cool… I don't get what it means, but sounds cool."

He didn't get what was the difference between this and his previous martial arts, except for the obvious fact that he had got better at it.

[Hmm… a long time ago, before humans came up with their magic systems or learned from the other factions, they counted on their bodies and martial arts to survive. I was always of the belief that humans could achieve their peak just through those arts, so I think you should put more of your time into this skill.]

Issei whistled at that. Ddraig had advised him countless times through all these years, but it was the first time she sounded like this was something the chestnut could not set aside.

"Yeah, I also wanna see where this will go. I have the feeling that it will sooner or later give me something great."

Of course, Issei not only had no issue with following her advice, he was actually quite excited about it.

Strength of will (lv 4): Resisting through the harshest conditions and showing your will, the power of the spirit. The body might break, but the will is eternal.

Dragon aura manipulation (lv 9): Control over the user's draconic aura.

Youki manipulation (lv 9): Control over the user's youki.

Dragon breath (lv 1): A dragon's signature move, however, the flames are now dragon-fox in nature, meaning that is stronger than the usual dragon breath.

Dragon roar (lv 1): A manifestation of a dragon's pride and power through a wild roar that can inflict fear in enemies.

Dragon-Kitsune instincts (lv 5): Both dragons and kitsunes have sharp instincts, and as a hybrid, the user's instincts are even sharper and more accurate.

Shapeshifting (lv 1): A kitsune has the skill to shapeshift, assuming any form desired. The lower the level of the skill, the more likely for flaws to appear in the transformation or for others to see through it.

Illusion (lv 1): Kitsune are tricksters, making others believe that they are seeing, hearing, and sensing what might not be there.

Dream manipulation (lv 1): The power of kitsunes to enter and manipulate others' dreams.

Life-force absorption (lv 1): The power to feed on the life-force of other beings.

Youkai Magic (lv 1): Using the elements as a channel, youkais manifest their magic, manipulating the world and their surroundings.

Redirecting (lv 1): Allows the user to redirect a strike aimed towards him. The redirect strike can potentially be sent back to another enemy or even the one that originally struck.

Except for the last skill, one that he acquired mid-battle, all the others clearly came as a result of his transformation, even Strength of Will.

"That's a lot… I thought I would only get the basic stuff from my kitsune lineage, wasn't expecting something like Life-absorption or Dream manipulation."

Issei was a bit blown away by how many skills he had acquired after transforming. He expected a few, mostly on the dragon side of things, but hadn't even thought about some of the classical kitsune abilities.

[All very powerful abilities. Though a few of them might be harder to get the chance to use, they are all great.]

The surprise Issei felt was shared by Ddraig and so was the excitement of what could be achieved with those skills. Issei already was her favorite before, and she knew he could eventually become the strongest Red Dragon Emperor, but now? She was expecting him to do so in time record, and it would be extremely enjoyable to watch it happen.

It took a while and Issei had to do his best to calm down and not test these skills. He couldn't risk getting unwanted attention, especially while still recovering.

"The shop must have something… wouldn't complain if there were some porn as well…"

The chestnut opened the shop praying. If the prayers were to find eroge games, hentai OVAs and magazines, or actual useful things in his situation, only he, and Ddraing that ignored him all the way through, knew.

As soon as he opened the shop a gigantic list of items appeared in front of him.

It was a lot, and he would love to take a good look at the vast options presented, but for now, Issei contented himself with what was necessary, and right at the top of the list, something that was probably handpicked by the system taking in consideration his current predicament.

Recovery potion: 1100 points

It will recover the user up to 35% of his original status

A thousand points was pretty much all Issei had after killing some of the monsters. It would take all points he had, but the chestnut did not hesitate to buy that potion. Even if he looked for specialized ones, it would in the end probably require him to spend the same number of points for similar results. This way he would at least have a general recovery faster.

A manifestation of energy formed in Issei's right and the potion manifested from it in less than a second.

Letting a whistle out, the sekiryuutei used his Analysis of the object.

Item: Recovery potion

Description: A recovery potion formed from 1100 points. It will recover whoever uses it up to 35% of their original state.

"That's all I will get?"

With his Analysis currently at level 7, Issei expected much more from the description but was left disappointed.

[It is to be expected from something that came from the system itself. Is perhaps too complex for you to have a decent Analysis of.]

Issei could only agree with that estimation, even if he felt like it was a shame. He wasn't quite done though, and opened the potion and put a drop of it in his index finger, before licking.

He hoped that, with his acquired knowledge about alchemy, even if it was a different type of it, he could identify or understand something from the potion.

Issei focused on the taste and did his best to identify whatever he could from it, but it was almost impossible. It wasn't a complete waste as he could very vaguely sense something he thought to be similar to some ingredients he had in his head.

It couldn't get any vaguer than that.

Alchemy has leveled up to level 2!

At least it wasn't a wasted effort.

Having no more reason to waste time, Issei drank everything.

'Sweet…'

It felt like he was drinking some sort of liquid honey, it was sweet and nice and at the same time, it didn't feel like anything Issei ever had.

Level: 17(11.000/66.535)

HP: 9865/9925

STA: 5172/13233

DRA: 2763/6150

YK: 1825/4100

The effect was instantaneous and Issei felt reinvigorated. He wasn't fully restored but his situation was much better, and he would take what he had.

[Impressive. As far as I am aware, no healing magic cannot restore energy and stamina like this.]

With that, they had a small peak on the things that would be possible with the system. Common sense would have to be forgotten.

Finally feeling secure and confident to take on the dungeon, even if this whole place didn't resemble one.

Issei first took a casual look at his surroundings, not expecting to find anything useful. And he was correct for the most part since all that was around were wreckages of a civilian house.

Most furniture was either in a state of being completely torched or melted or there were no remains of it. It was a testament to how ruined this whole world was and for how long. Dust was so thick that Issei imagined not even a monster had entered this room for ages.

But something did catch Issei's eyes. An old and open book, with burned marks and pages so old that they seemed like they would crumble at any time.

Item: Old burned book

Description: The remains of a book that contained introductory information about one of the magic systems that belonged to this world. Was bought by a soldier as a gift to his son, before death came.

Would you like to restore the book?

Y/N

"What happened to this place?"

Neither he nor Ddraig had a way to know. He didn't think about it before, but he was in the ruins of a destroyed world with no information about how it got to this state, while seemingly being the only conscious and non-hostile being in the place.

It was starting to creep him out.

Letting those thoughts aside, Issei clicked on Yes and watched the book disappear in front of his eyes.

[It is in the Gear storage.]

At that point, they weren't surprised by what the system could do anymore. Issei simply looked inside the Boosted Gear Storage system and besides his personal stuff, like clothes, food and drinks, porn magazines, and wallet, in the middle of all that was the book, covered by energy.

Time for restoration: 50 hours

"What do you think might come out of this?"

[Is magic from a completely different world. Maybe is similar to some of ours, maybe is completely different.]

Whatever came out of this, Ddraig knew they were in for a surprise.

Having done what he could to recover, Issei looked outside the window, wanting to have an idea of what was expected of him once he got out.

[Do you still want to remain here?]

The chestnut nodded.

"At least recover some points. I still need the ingredients to do the Wind Mannor Pill. At least these monsters give those like candy. After that, we start seeking a way out."

If it wasn't for absolute necessity, he would have kept those points to buy the ingredients for the pill. At least they were spent with something useful.

Issei looked out and regretted.

The first thing he noticed was a creature, a mannequin covered in dark vines moving around. The way it moved was unnatural, it was a creature that could be part of a horror story. Even with his powers and strength, it still creeped Issei out.

Name: None

Race: Vines of Possession

Status: Undead

Class: Mid-level threat

Description: The resentment of the dead exposed to a type of evil energy generated by these vines, that took over what could find to use as a body.

There were other things as well, but all of which Issei had already seen, like the Cursed Wild Monkeys, Wolfs, and Felines.

"Hmm… hehe."

A smile formed on the chestnut lips, making Ddraig aware of what was about to come.

Throwing caution to the wind, Issei deactivated Stealth and Disguise and put his arms forward, outside of the window.

"I haven't used this since I was a kid. Devastation Wave!"

Draconic energy and youki accumulated in Issei's hand in enough quantity to make a sphere the size of a basketball. He could feel his energy being drained once more, but it would be worth it.

Every being around became aware of Issei and started running in his direction as the chestnut jumped from the window. At the same time, a wave of the mix of his draconic energy and youki was released upon the creatures, hitting first the Vines.

Dragon-Fox Devastation Wave has leveled up!

The monster did resist for a few seconds before its body was reduced to nothing. The same destiny fell upon the other creatures, but they could resist for even less time. Between the time Issei jumped and touched the ground, he only gave a few steps before stopping the use of this skill. And with just that, the number of remaining monsters was less than half the original.

Level: 17(20.000/66.535)

Talent Rank: 2S+

HP: 9865/9925

STA: 5157/13233

DRA: 1412/6150

YK: 1023/4100

His Draconic Energy and Youki had dropped again, but Issei thought it was all worth it.

"YES! YES! BOW DOWN TO ME! FIRST IS THE KAMEHAME, NEXT I WILL ACHIEVE SUPER SAIYAN!"

His screams could not be comprehended by the creatures, that ignored it and attacked him. During all this time, the only thing Ddraig did was sight.

BOOST

STR: 413 (826)

DEX: 413 (826)

RES: 413 (826)

AGI: 413 (826)

INT: 88(98)

WIS: 69

CHR: 96

LCK: -30

With his power doubling, Issei avoided all the attacks with ease. Now that his body wasn't on the verge of running out of any type of energy and had to depend on adrenaline and the fact that if he stopped, he would die.

He also could swear that the monsters now were moving slower and more predictable.

'Is that because of the evolution of Martial Arts?'

The chestnut had a feeling that it was, and he was enjoying it.

He avoided the monsters with ease and always responded with a punch or a kick covered with flames.

More and more arrived, but just as Issei could begin to have problems with them…

BOOST

With that, he had no longer an issue dealing with the Cursed Wild Creatures. His fists pierced through their bodies, his flames being the final touch that added to their demise.

As Issei fought, he moved. While this passed unnoticed by himself, Ddraig realized his footwork was much better and more mature, more fitting of an actual martial artist. The way he moved around also showed that his punches and kicks had a power to them that was vastly superior to whatever Issei could do before.

Issei had lost himself to the feeling of battle, his body was just moving by instinct, and any notifications went ignored. He was enjoying the battle like he never did before, it felt like he was doing just what he was born to. It was as enjoyable as good porn even. A part of him perhaps considered that even more.

Lost to that feeling, he only noticed that there were no more monsters after punching another Wolf, causing the fire on his fist to take the form of a dragon swallowing the Wolf and turning it into ashes.

The chestnut simply left a whistle.

"Wait? Where am I?"

Only then he noticed his surroundings had changed.

[Fufufu, losing yourself to the feeling of battle? You are truly coming out very well with this experience.]

Ddraig couldn't be happier with that.

"Losing myself to battle? I remember you mention this a few times. Never thought it would happen to me."

Issei did enjoy it and was a bit disappointed that it had come to an end.

That raised the question of why the creatures stopped.

"Why is there nothing else here?"

The sekiryuutei noticed to be in a more desolate part of town, with few to no buildings around. That is until he looked behind.


I've been trying to finish this chapter for three days now, and it's finally done. Originally I was going to show more, but I think that's a good point to stop.

I have another surprise for next chapter. Issei's luck will strike again.

Reviews are appreciated.