Tailed Warrior of The Unknown Race

Chapter 7

As the numerous airborne shadows drew near, their features became more refined amidst the shower of snow. With scaly rough skin as gray as storm clouds, these creatures were large in stature, their broad forms equaling that of an entire school bus. Their wings were thin like curtains, double the widths of their bodies and wildly flapping. Their eyes, yellowed with black slitted pupils, stared off aimlessly like that of a fish, with visible gills on their necks only adding more to their aquatic-like features. It was obvious now that what we were looking at was nothing more than a swarm of wyverns.

"WYVERN ATTACK!"

Immediately and without hesitation, all the dwarves began moving, shouting out orders and battle cries just as loudly as the screeches coming from the airborne enemies. Woefully, I was beyond dumbstruck to react just as quickly as they did, and so before I knew it I was forcefully being dragged with the rest. By the time I had recovered to some form of rationality, I found myself crouched down behind a large boulder with a few other dwarves. One of them began handing out weapons from a wooden latch hidden under the rock, and each one who received weapons immediately went out into the open.

" C'mon lad, snap out of it!" I blinked, feeling the weight of a crossbow pushed against my chest. I looked up to see one of the dwarves from the dinner night before glaring up towards the blurry screen of the icey blizzard. " Get yourself together! Start shooting down as many of them as you can!"

Fortunately, I managed to find my voice, yet I had absolutely no idea what to say. What the hell was going on? Was this… no, that's a stupid question. It's obvious what's going on. This is an attack; they just literally yelled that out. But it's… I… I'm shocked. I wasn't expecting this… at all. Hell, forgetting the whole idea we're being suddenly attacked, I'm processing the fact that I'm looking at literal dragons for the first fucking time of my life. The real deal and everything.

And… now I have to fight them? An entire swarm, no less?

I… fuck, man. This is my wake up call, isn't it? This is where this new reality is really becoming set and stone…

I shook my head, staring at the new weapon in my hands. The dark-spruce wooden crossbow was large—larger than the length of my arms, in fact—and it was heavy. Metal reinforced different parts of the bow, and the string was tightly woven wire. I hadn't noticed before, but there was a small arrow quiver wrapped and dangling around the end of the crossbow, filled with metal-tipped bolts.

It was pretty obvious what I had to do next. The only problem was that I had no fucking clue how to do it. " I… I don't know how to use a crossbow!"

" What?!" The same dwarf that snapped me out from my stupor gawked at me, as if I grew two heads. " How?! Are you not a goblin candidate?!"

" They didn't teach me shit! Not how to use a weapon… any weapon!"

It's true. Despite Erk having taken me to his hunting trips, it was all just visual learning. He didn't let me use any of his weapons, partly due to the fact that he used equipment that was almost as large as my entire body. And that's not even accounting to the fact I wasted away most of my time working in the coal mines. I quite literally had no formal training; it was all just manual labor at best, and the lackluster results are beginning to show.

"... darn it! Watch closely then!" the dwarf yelled out from the uproar of battle, the wind from the storm picking up even more than before. He pointed his crossbow down to the ground and put his foot on the arc of the bow, rapidly pulling the string up until there was a loud mechanical click. " Pull the string up 'til y'hear the click! Then load the bolt in and fire! That easy!"

Finishing off his overly simplified explanation, the dwarf did exactly as he said, and once the arrow was loaded in he lifted and aimed his crossbow up towards the swarm. No second later, he shot the arrow with a loud thwack, the projectile disappearing into the blizzard's void. By now, most of the dwarves had already entered battle, and I could just barely see numerous other arrows zipping through the air as well.

" Starting attacking, lad!" the dwarf yelled out again, already preparing his third arrow attack.

Shit. I'm spacing out in the middle of something that I shouldn't be spacing out in. I needed to lock in fast.

'Ok… Ok, focus Sean,' I mentally said to myself, un-equipping the arrow quiver and putting the crossbow downwards similar to what the dwarf did, ' fuck everything else. For now, just… just go with the flow. Yeah, like you've been doing so far… but seriously this time. I have to. I might die here if I don't.'

Unfortunately, though, I stalled too long. By the time I reached out for the string of my crossbow, a large shadow suddenly casted over me. Before I could even look up, I felt a hard push from a meaty hand, sending me toppling into the frigid snow. Not a second later, the large shadow turned into the form of a gray-scaled wyvern, which flew through where I once stood and crashed into the dwarf. A shower of red bursted out into the air, followed by the wyvern slamming the dwarf into the snow several feet away from me. From there, the draconic creature began a wild assault, its wings flapping erratically as long sharp claws attacked the dwarf.

" …Shit!" I cursed out loud—more so to myself than to anything else—as I quickly got up to my feet. Panicking, I moved on autopilot, first awkwardly tripping towards my fallen crossbow before quickly changing my mind and beginning a sprint straight towards the wyvern. There was no time for me to figure out how to use a weapon when this dwarf's life was on the line. The more seconds that pass, the closer the dwarf will die.

Fuck, I… I don't want… no, I couldn't just let someone die because of my own stupidity. I just had to do something. Anything.

Like a machine, my body moved on its own, running a narrow path towards the back of the wyvern. My mind was elsewhere, racing through the moment as I wondered what the hell I was doing, and what exactly the fuck I was going to do when I had no weapon on me. But then it dawned on to me like a splash of cold water. Like the fool I was, I only remembered now that I didn't even need a weapon in the first place. I had powers, something I've seemingly forgotten about at the moment. And even though I was still in the dark on how to use them, I at least knew how to release them. That should be more than enough. It has to be.

And so, as I closed into the wyvern, I coiled my legs and leapt with all my might. My form rocketed forward at alarming speeds faster than what I had expected. But I didn't let that surprise me. With a tightly gripped fist craned backwards, I let out a throaty yell and threw a messy right hook towards the wyvern's spiky spine. At that very moment, just seconds from impact, I output my powers at max percentage, putting hope that my efforts would do something to stop this dragonics creature.

There was a bright flash of gray light that followed, paired with both the sounds of a deafening boom and wetly cracking flesh.

BOOM CRACK

I squinted my eyes from the scorching brightness of the light, my eardrums assaulted by the sounds. Though momentarily blind, I could hear the loud and pained screeches from the wyvern as it very quickly disappeared into the distance, muted by the storm and the rest of the battlefield.

I stumbled into the ground unceremoniously, landing face-first into the snow. But I didn't give myself the luxury of a pause, so I just as quickly stood back up to my feet. Rapidly blinking away the white spots in my vision, I ran up cautiously towards the dwarf in question, my hopes being as low as possible to prepare myself for whatever gore I was about to witness. Fortunately—very very fortunately—I was not greeted with anything bad… at least, not to such great degrees.

I had to hold back my sigh of relief, much less the sickness swelling up my throat. The dwarf in question was still alive, but his forearms and most of his chest was completely bloodied and wounded. Judging from his pupiless eyes… he might either be unconscious or dead.

' …Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!' I swallowed and crouched down, pressing my fingers on his wrist. I could still feel a heartbeat. Good. He was still alive, but losing a lot of blood. There was no time to gawk at him like this.

Taking one arm under his form, I lifted the dwarf up with ease, moving his body onto my back and lifted him up into a piggyback. I then began my sprint towards the mines. It was the only place I was confident of knowing where to go; I couldn't risk wandering in circles during this situation. As I ran, I became conscious of the battlefield that had unfolded. The snowy terrain was littered with many arrows, with numerous wyvern bodies laid lifelessly amongst them. With arrows jutting around different parts of their bodies, it was clear that the dwarves were doing some good work. Yet despite this good sign, the dwarves were not faring well either; I could see a bunch of them injured, and a few lifeless as well.

I forced my gaze forward, trying to clear my mind the best I could. But I couldn't. It… It's just so eye-opening. So surreal. Not even like three minutes ago I was just casually talking to these dwarves about some anime back home. And now… I've entered a literal battlefield, and most of those dwarves I was talking to were already dead. Just like that, end of story.

"..." I exhaled shakingly, pushing these thoughts aside as I reached the entrance of the mines. However, to my dismay, the metal doors were locked shut. And despite my efforts of shaking the handles, they wouldn't budge.

'Did… did these fuckers just…' With surging anger, I gritted my teeth, slamming my fist onto the entrance. " Hey, come the fuck on! Open the door, we have injured dwarves out here!"

" Leave 'im be and keep fighting!" A voice shouted from within, with almost equal seriousness.

What? The hell does he mean 'leave him be'?! " Why the fuck are you—"

" Just go! Fight! Argue when we've won, y'fool!"

I bit down on my lip with enough force to almost make it bleed. How… how could these fuckers just hole up when their own men were our here fighting for their lives?! Who the hell do they think they are?!

My fists gripped tightly until my knuckles turned white, and I was having thoughts of punching this door open. But… but… it's true, the last thing this asshole said. There was no point arguing, not when there's still a fight happening…

…

… I could question the ethics of these jerks later. Only after this is all over. I need to refocus on what's really important.

Still, with a final burst of anger, I kicked my foot hard against the metal door to get my message across. Unaware of the dent I made, I then knelt down, carefully putting the injured dwarf next to the wall in a position where they could see him if they ever opened up. From there, I did a hasty and haphazard attempt to bandage his arms with my scarf. It was far from perfect, but to me it felt better than leaving him openly injured.

I sighed quietly to myself, ignoring the blood staining my hands and clothes while standing up and facing the battlefield. From here, I could really see everything. The arrows attack, the wyverns, the bodies… the spillage. My stomach grew queasy again, but I swallowed my saliva. I already had to stomach some of the worst in life… I should've known sooner that something like this was bound to happen eventually….

… but, even if I were to know about this, would I really be prepared to face it? Am I still able to face it?

… Nonetheless, it was already becoming clear that the dwarves were losing the advantage. I couldn't afford to succumb to my uneasiness. I needed to stop being idle and move.

' … full power was more than enough to send that wyvern flying. But it was exhausting,' For the third time, I pushed all my irrelevant thoughts aside and stared down at my palms, slowly channeling my powers into roughly a quarter of the initial output, ' I can't allow myself to drain that fast… hopefully this will still be enough.'

With nothing more to say, I steeled myself with a few headshakes and ran into battle. I may have never fought in a battle before in my life—hell, much less have I ever entered any fight—but it would be worse for me to do nothing, or not even at least attempt to help. These dwarves gave me arguably the best hospitality I've ever received in this new world. Even if I'm guaranteed to not come out of this unscathed… I should at least repay their kindness with my best efforts.

My cap blew off as I zoomed into the battle at high speeds. The speeds I was running at were nothing that I've done before, yet I didn't let the novelty distract me. I approached the closest wyvern, who was trying to attack two dwarves trapped between the wooden beams of a damaged crane. Not a second wasted, I sprung my legs into a jump, soaring linearly towards the clueless draconic creature before sending a right hook to its cranium.

DWHACK CRACK

The attack, though much weaker than my previous one, had the desired effects; the wyvern's head snapped to the side, its attacks completely halted. At the same time, my attack caused my momentum to die, and I then began to descend. However, the two dwarves were already on the move and took this window of opportunity. In rapid succession, they shout two arrows into the neck and heart of the creature. The moment I landed, the wyvern had already crashed onto the snow, dead.

" Thank you, lad!" I turned to one of the two dwarves, who gave me a thumbs up before pointing into a specific location. " Hurry! Go help our brothers over at the belts! We've got this side clear!"

" Right!" I nodded firmly. I didn't need to be told twice. I was already moving towards the direction before even looking. When I did, I could see a larger group of dwarves cornered near the conveyor belts connected into the interior of the mines, fending off an even larger group of wyverns with axes and hammers. Despite their best efforts, they were losing badly.

I put in double the effort in my sprint, the snow in my feet kicking up in clouds as I closed in as fast as I could. However, from the corner of my eyes, I noticed too late the form of an approaching wyvern, its mouth wide open for a vice bite attack. At the speeds it was diving, I didn't have the time to duck or dodge, and so my only reaction was to throw my fist out in hopes of hurting it before the attack landed.

TSSEWWW BOOM

But instead of feeling sharp teeth sink into my flesh, I instead felt and saw my powers exert from my body in a concentrated beam of white light. The laser attack soared from my fists and zipped through the open mouth of the wyvern, exiting out from the other side like a knife to a wet tissue paper. Shocked, I watched with a gaping mouth as the corpse of the creature toppled onto the ground and stopped a few feet away from me, a large sizzling hole visible through its body. The laser attack continued despite me stopping the output and crashed into the mountainside, sending snow and rubble falling on top of a coincidental group of wyverns. Within this one instance, I have effectively killed more than five wyverns.

"..." Despite the urgency of the situation, I couldn't help but briefly pause and stare down at my fists in awe. Seriously, I really knew nothing about myself. Sure, I may have had a thought that I could do something like a laser attack, but… to this degree? This… this was one hell of a revelation… and one that I was for sure going to take advantage of.

'... But it really took a lot from me,' I gripped my hands and stared back at the location of the main assault. I could definitely feel more fatigue now from that attack… but that's not a problem that should stop me. I just needed to be more careful… and figure out how to make the most of this new skill.

Reasonably, my flashy attack was also noticed by a few of the other wyvern, who turned around and focused their yellow eyes at me. Those who got distracted were instantly taken down by the dwarves, who did not hesitate to use this opportunity. But a few of the wyverns broke free from the rest before they could get attacked, beginning to fly towards me in an unorganized but bloodthirsty manner.

Seeing a group of dragons closing in on me was a nerve-wracking scene to experience, but I stood my ground with a pressed face. If it meant easing off the attack for the dwarves, then… I'll just have to manage this the best I can. Somehow.

" Steady breaths, Sean," I exhaled quietly to myself, refocusing my powers into my palms. Attempting to remember the feeling of the laser attack, I succeeded, causing both of my hands to glow a white hue. And while it was technically something that was already present beforehand, my body felt warmer, allowing me to not be distracted from the coldness of the ongoing snow storm.

At the same time, the group of five wyverns were mere moments from their attacks, each going for either bites or claw slashes. I timed myself, waiting for the right moment to strike.

THOOMP CRUNCH

When the moment came, I leapt back into the air in full force. Most of their attacks missed and hit either themselves or the snow below, causing a huge snow cloud to form. However, two managed to redirect their attacks upwards. I didn't take this into account, but I didn't let it falter me. Reeling my right arm back, I threw my hand out as if throwing a ball. My visual imagination worked, and instead of a beam attack I threw out a ball of white light. It zoomed in the air with almost twice the speed of all my previous attacks combined, hitting the first of the two incoming wyverns and causing a bright explosion.

BOOOOFM

The explosive attack was a complete stun, sending the assaulted wyvern crashing into its partner. Together, the two fell down to the other three, causing even a bigger mess of wyvern limbs and claws. At the same time, I reached the peak of my jump and began to descend. I took this moment to toss my other attack down at the jumbled group of wyverns, causing a final bright explosion.

KABOOM

It was safe to say that those wyverns were dealt with, if the scorching remains were not anything to be accounted for. Something that was already obvious by now, but it seems my powers are hot. My plan worked, a lot better than I initially expected it to be. That was very good.

' … hehe, Is this what you call the protagonist's plot armor?' I slightly grinned to myself, bracing my knees for the landing. I couldn't help it. Right now it felt like I was the main character, because there's no way in hell that I could've done this in a less stressful situation. Hell, was there even a difference? I doubt I could've done this at all… or maybe I could've?

No… no, no time for this sort of mental theories Sean. Not now, at least.

Despite that, in the back of my mind a swell of pride formed. ' …nah… there's no plot armor for me. I think I just might be that guy—'

Momentarily praising myself, I was woefully proven true to my claims. From my blind spot, another wyvern closed in on me, one that was from a completely different direction. Before I even had the moment to land, I felt a sharp pain explode to my side as a scaled-armored tail whacked me with the force of a speeding truck. I heard a resoundful crack, and I screamed out in pain as my body went flying. Disoriented and confused, my body roughly slammed into the wooden beam of one of the machinery at the edge of the mining area. The air was knocked out of my lungs and I unceremoniously fell into red-stained snow.

" … agh!" I groaned with loud anguish, feeling my side and back flare as I attempted to get up, only to fall back down into the snow with a greater scream of pain. " AGH!"

My heart was racing and I brought my attention up just in time to see the same wyvern coming at me for the finishing blow. This was game over…

No… shit! I'm… I'm going to die here. I'm going to—

'No! I have to move! Move your body, Sean! Fucking move!'

With a powerful yet fear-induced roar, born from a sudden boost of energy, I pushed myself with all my might, managing to roll my body to the side as the wyvern's attack soared through where I once laid. I rolled onto my injured side, causing me to grit my teeth from the explosive pain that hit me light a freight train. But it was fine, because I survived.

Through teary eyes and loudly beating eardrums, I glared up at the wyvern with a burning passion, who's claws were embedded deep into the wooden parts of the machinery. I couldn't be at ease from this one lucky dodge. I needed to end it while I still could!

Shakingly, my right hand immediately went up and pointed a finger gun towards the wyvern. Using this split second of an opportunity, I focused my powers into my fingertips as tightly as I could. As I continuously and rapidly built up power, the veins in my hands bulged and the white light started to spark like static electricity. Once it felt like I was holding a tightly coiled spring, I released the built up power without hesitation.

ZWOOP TZZTCH

A pencil-thin white laser shot out from my finger gun, blasting through the air at the speed of light and piercing the wyvern's skull. The recoil was as nasty as was the attack, sending my body toppling even further in the snow. But there were no worries on my part. I saw it the moment the attack was released, when the white's in the wyvern's eyes vanished. The creature was no more.

From my new position, I watched with pained eyes as the draconic creature went limp, its body dangling from the entrapment it found itself in. There was a momentary silence, but the distant sounds of battle returned my attention back to reality.

" Agh… f-fuck…" I hissed loudly in my attempts to crawl to better shelter, the adrenaline waning and giving way to my body's true pain. My back felt like the flames of hades itself. I must've broken something there… and hopefully not my spine. Definitely a rib or two, that 's for sure. But given that I could still wiggle my feet… It's likely bruised back muscles.

Still… I'm glad I'm still alive. This pain is better than being dead, anyways.

" …I guess… this is the best… I could do…" There was no point trying to push now. I've done my best, that much I can say. And so, unable to celebrate my small victory, my vision went black, and I succumbed to unconsciousness.

The hours passed, and finally the storm seceded. As the evening sun shone onto the earth, the camp of soldiers slowly escaped from the protection of their tents and immediately went to work, preparing the equipment and cargo for their presumed departure. A selective few began shoveling away at the snowy entrance, creating a path towards the main road.

Walking out from the largest of the tents was Sir Silver. Within his gloved hands was a light-brown newspaper, and his eyes scanned on the black print with a bored expression as he ate dark jerky meat.

" Sir!" One of the soldiers approached Sir Silver, standing straight with a salute. " Reports are in on the wyvern assault!"

Blandly glancing up from the newspaper, Sir Silver gave a curt nod. " Continue."

Though granted permission, the soldier appeared cautious with their words. " U-Uhm, scouts have reported that a good percentage of the dwarves have been eliminated, sir! H-However, the wyvern forces have been c-completely wiped out. The assault has f-failed."

Sir Silver paused his absent-minded reading, giving a sharp gaze towards the soldier. "... the attack failed, you say?"

" N-Not complete, sir, but w-we failed to reach our o-objective… i-it's also been reported that the dwarves had support from an anonymous entity."

" And you're saying that that justifies our loss?"

" N-No, sir! N-Not at all!"

Sir Silver scoffed, tossing the newspaper on one of the nearby crates. " Hmph, and what about this 'back-up' have you fools discovered?"

" W-Well, due to the inclement weather it was difficult to make out the details of this anonymous entity," the soldier continued, " however, we do know that they're capable of using magic. Most of the wyverns had been killed with it."

" Magic?" Sir Silver's eyes widened slightly. " Impossible, wyverns are immune to all recorded magic."

" … r-right, sir, my apologies on the—"

" Then it's likely a new long-ranged weapon those dwarves constructed," Sir Silver hummed, rubbing his chin. After a moment's thought, he sighed, glaring at the soldier. " Nonetheless, this is an embarrassing display of weakness. You lot cannot even win with a horde of wyverns on your side… pathetic."

" O-Our a-apologies, sir…"

" Tch, apologies denied, fool… have the rations of those responsible for the wyverns reduced by three quarters. You're dismissed."

" Y-Yes, sir!"

As the soldier departed, Sir Silver sighed with a deep scowl, returning into the depths of his tent. From within, he moved towards the main circular table at the center, where a large map was laid out. He slowly traced his fingers across the red-dashed lines until he stopped at a red pin. Not far off from the pin was the small illustration of an orange sphere, cladded with five red stars.

Sir Silver frowned down at the map. "... even if we have to wait just a little bit longer… we'll get you in our hands, you damn relic."

Well, this is chapter 7!

This is my first fight scene to ever write, so sorry if it was lackluster. I do plan on practicing to make fights more interesting! On that note, this chapter is much shorter than the previous ones (about the length of chapter 3, specifically). I decided to cut up chapter 7 into just the fight scene. To me, it felt more appropriate to dedicate the fight to its own chapter, so I wouldn't exhaust or water down the moment. Also, I just wanted to have some pretext ready for chapter 8 since, like I said previously, this is the last chapter I had prepared before posting. For now on, probably don't expect frequent uploads (sorry!).

I'll take this moment to review, well, reviews!

~ Start ~

Cyberpolaris: Thanks for the kind review!

~ End ~

Rereading through the other chapters, I realized that I haven't given any recent descriptions on what Sean looks like. Sorry about that, I should do it more often. So, first, I would compare his current physique to Goku right after 22nd World Tournament (when King Piccolo's minion kills Krillin). His hairstyle is a mixture of Tora's and Caulifla's, however you can imagine that. No scars on his face so far, but he has the cuff marks on his wrists and ankles. Before coming to the dwarves, all he really had for clothes was a loin clothes (which is better than nothing to be honest), but now he has a brown tunic, dark gray trousers, dark-gray wool jacket, and brown leather boots.

That should be it for now. Next chapter we'll see what has happened to Sean. If you have any question, by all means go ahead and leave a review. Until then, have a good day/night!