Meeting The Barrier Owner

The metal scraping sound stopped and the entire area was silent before a loud Thunk like the sound of a shovel hitting stone echoing through the cityscape, a second later there was another.

The sound continued on and John could tell it was getting closer. He grabbed Alison’s hand and pulled her towards an alley. They quickly moved, trying to escape the sound, but it seemed to follow them every direction they went; in a way that made John feel like whoever this was was toying with them.

The two emerged at a small courtyard-like area with a large empty water fountain basin. Not knowing what else to do, John continued to pull Alison towards a building. The door was locked so the two rushed to another building. John crossed his fingers and begged any god who would listen for it to be open, and as luck would have it, he was able to walk right in.

The exterior of the building was like the rest of the buildings surrounding it, leaving it unassuming. The interior, however, looked like a fancy Victorian theatre; there were three concession stands and a large sign saying “Now showing: Soldier of Fire”. Though the building was awe-striking, John turned his attention to the door. He quietly closed it before pressing his back to the solid wood.

Alison was enamoured with the decoration of the theatre, trying to look everywhere at once, before seemingly remembering they were running from someone who might want to do them harm. She suddenly rushed back to John, hugging against him while simultaneously pushing up against the door.

After he closed the door, the tap-tap-tapping sound had been muted, though still audible, and John could tell it was getting closer and closer before it stopped. The two stayed in silence for maybe ten minutes. Just as John let out a quiet sigh of relief, there was a BANG BANG BANG against the door.

“I know you’re in there,” the voice sang. “Why don’t you come out to play? Or I might have to do something drastic.”

John looked down at Alison who began shaking like a leaf. He silently tapped her shoulder before motioning for her to go hide further in the building. Though hesitant, she did quietly sneak towards one of the extremely large curtains that reached from floor to incredibly high ceiling and hid herself completely.

“I’m waiting!” the voice called impatiently.

John pulled away from the door, sighing. He looked at the door in front of him, not wanting to open it but unwilling to allow things to escalate and potentially put Alison at risk. He willed his draconic features away then pulled the door open.

Outside was a girl who couldn’t be much older than he was. Her blue messy bob hair and bright green eyes were the first things that caught John’s eyes before he began looking her over. She wore a white crisscross halter which mostly covered her chest, though it did allow an almost reverse cleavage showing the underside of her modest-sized chest.

Further down she had what John would describe as a brown fur loincloth with a string belt that had metal shards attached to it. Her legs were covered in some kind of blue-grey fur pants, which reminded John of a satyr or faun, though her hips still showed between the fur. Another thing John noted was that although the pants seemed to reach down to her feet and had something securing them that went between her big toe and the one next to it, she had no shoes on at all, which meant nothing protected the soles of her feet.

Next, John’s eyes met the things he was avoiding. In one hand she held two katana-like swords; the edges had groves and chips essentially serrating them and deep red blood dripped from the tip of each of them.

The other hand held onto something familiar, the head of the deer-like dragon he and Alison had encountered not so long ago. Seeing where John’s eyes had gone, she tossed the thing towards him. It bounced with a sickening thud and rolled, stopping less than a foot away from the door.

A wide unsettling smile formed on her face. “Hello there, mister dragon, hope that wasn’t a friend of yours. Anyway, how about you come out and play with me?”

John stepped out of the building, closing the door behind himself and nudging the dragon's head to the side with his foot.

“Uh, I think this is a misunderstanding, you see, I stumbled into this barrier by accident. I think my abilities might have messed with it or something,” John claimed.

She let out a cackle. “Just so you know, you’ve suppressed your magic too much, you’ve basically completely blocked it out making you seem like a mundane human, and you might have gotten away with that excuse, mister dragon, but unfortunately for you, I have spent a lot of time around different kinds of dragons, not only that but...” She paused, her body shivered and she shook her head as her hair began to shorten, as well as change colour to match the blue-grey fur that was growing from her face. Her ears began to move further up her head as a pig snout and tusks grew from the front of her face. Once her head had completely transformed into that of a boar. She sniffed the air loudly before letting out a small short grunt, then she rapidly shook her head-turning it back to normal in an instant.

“My sense of smell is inhuman, and you have a very, very strong draconic scent, enough that it lingers in the air, that’s what made it a little harder to pin you down before. Now, how about we both stop blathering on? I’ve been looking forward to fighting a true drake for a long time.” The girl didn’t wait for John’s reply, tossing one of her swords into the air and snatching it with her free hand.

John didn’t have much time to react or think; he managed to jump out of the way as she lunged forward. The blade missed John and stabbed into the door; it seemed to sink into the wood more than John thought it should have.

John moved back more until he felt his foot hit the fountain basin. The girl struggled with her sword, giving John enough time to focus on his hands and eyes to transform them into their draconic forms. He took a second to decide but thought it would be best to use his Aspect Attunement. As he used the skill, he watched fur grow from his arms, shimmering with purple and a greenish-yellow tint.

Looking up at the girl, he noticed her green aura; it extended around half a metre and moved wildly, almost like several animals were trying to escape from a green bubble. He also decided to focus and bring her overhead display up.

Celeste Fiera

Level 11
Berserker

John’s stomach lurched at the level, but seeing how her HP bar looked to be at less than ten percent, he felt a little better. Taking note of the HP, he also started to notice cuts, bruises and other injuries he hadn’t really paid attention to before.

He wasn’t able to continue examining her as she growled in frustration, leaving the sword embedded in the door and turning to John.

“Listen, I really don’t want to fight you,” John said holding his hands up, “I really just want to get out of the barrier and go on with my day.”

“Aw, that’s too bad because I’m having a great time playing with you and I think we need to continue.” She laughed. Her aura shifted slightly and her legs transformed into those of a rabbit before she lunged at John once again.

John tripped backwards into the basin. As quickly as he could, he rolled over and stood, scrambling out of the fountain on the other side.

’Shit, I’m going to have to fight, aren’t I? What could I do? Is there something I can do to get out of it? Fighting monsters and animals is one thing, but I don’t know if I want to actually hurt a person…’ John thought.

He ran towards another building and ducked behind a pillar. “I thought I was playing with an almighty dragon, not a little scaredy-cat,” Celeste teased with a cackle.

She leisurely walked towards John scraping the tip of her blade across the ground. The sound suddenly stopped, and in an instant, she was bouncing off the wall in front of John and heading right for him. Her sword thrust forward too quickly for him to even form a thought about moving away.

-40HP

John let out a gasp and a cry as the blade ripped through his shoulder. Happy with her work she pulled the sword back, raking it through his flesh, causing him to fall back and lean against the pillar he’d taken cover behind.

-32HP

Debuff added: Bleeding stage 1 - Movement including running, attacking or dodging causes 2% HP loss every 5 seconds

“Fuck!” John grunted, feeling himself getting angry as his wound burned. He tensed, balling his fist and manifesting a spectral hand. With all his strength John slammed the backside of his fist into Celeste’s side, causing her to grunt as she slid across the floor before she took a couple of steps back herself.

Bleed -3HP

36 DMG

“Oh, mister dragon. At least buy me dinner first before laying your hands on me,” she all but giggled.

John pushed himself from the pillar and took a deep breath. “Are we done yet?”

“We’ve only jus-” She stopped, staring at the wound she’d just given John as the flesh began to knit itself back together. Her eyes widened slightly but then an even broader smile crept onto her face.

John wasn’t sure what she was about to do but something suddenly attracted her attention. The boar snout returned to her face though she didn’t transform her entire head this time and she sniffed the air. “Oh… Seems I have another playmate around here somewhere.”

John felt a wave of panic rise as Celeste bolted in the direction of the theatre and his brain almost short-circuited as his panicked mind tried to work in overdrive. 20 MP vanished from his mana pool as he cast Dragon’s Breath. He watched a purple and greenish-yellow ripple shoot through the air towards Celeste, knocking her off her feet and into a stone statue of a dragon.

As the wave passed over her, John noticed the wild aura around her vanish. She bounced back seemingly disappointed with the attack. She smiled and shook her legs before trying to jump into the air towards John but falling short of what she expected causing her to trip and stumble. True panic seemed to wash over her and John realised she no longer had use of her magic. “You wanted to fight me, didn’t you? Well? I’m still right here!”

He manifested his other claw and cast Move to send it flying towards Celeste. She was about to dive out of the way before the claw redirected and collided with the horn of the dragon statue causing it to break and fly back, hitting the wall of the building behind it.

Celeste seemed shaken and quickly darted for the door of the theatre. John raced after her but she reached the door first. He pulled back, casting Move on his claws once again, sending them flying towards her and impacting the stone door frame on either side of her. She grabbed hold of her sword and struggled with it for a moment before stumbling back as it finally pulled free.

John noticed her aura begin to grow again; he assumed that meant her magic was returning and prepared to use a Dragon’s Breath once again but Celeste hadn’t noticed and ran towards an alleyway.

“I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but this isn’t going to be the last we see of each other, and next time you won’t catch me off guard!” she yelled as she vanished between the buildings.

John let out a sigh and dropped on his ass as all the tension left his body. “Fuck, I have to stop getting into this kind of situation. I really need to up my level and maybe even get some kind of danger sense or something,” he complained.

After catching his breath, John stood and turned his dragon features back to normal. He headed towards the theatre, pushed the door open and rushed in. “Alison? Are you alright? It’s safe for now,” he called looking behind the curtain, only to find no trace of her.

He rushed around the lobby of the theatre, not finding her at all. He rushed into the main hall and looked down each aisle, then searched backstage to no avail. Running back to the entrance, John walked out of the door to look in the courtyard when he spotted a foot poking out. He quickly walked over to see Alison sitting with her back against a spiked stone tail.

“Alison, what are you doing out here?” John asked, kneeling down and helping her to her feet.

She seemed a little dazed blinking a few times. “I, uhm, I h-heard f-f-fighting a-and got wo-w-worried, I s-saw you h-hide behind a p-pillar and th-then that g-girl j-jumped over t-to you. S-she w-was f-fa-facing me so I qu-quickl-ly hid behind h-here… I th-think I g-got ov-ov-overwhelmed and w-went d-d-dizzy and had t-to sit d-down.”

John got a little worried. “That’s not good, do you need to rest for a while? I think we’re going to need to figure out another way to get out of the barrier because Celeste didn’t seem willing to talk.”

“N-no, I-I’ll be f-fine, i-it was ju-ust une-expected that’s all,” Alison replied. “D-do you h-have a-any i-id-idea’s of h-how we can g-get out?”

Notice!

Celeste Fiera has exited the barrier. The barrier is now currently unowned.
Barrier Collapse in 1h 58m.

“Oh, well this might be easier than I thought.” John smiled. “Here, let me help you up.”

John outstretched his hand to assist Alison. As she stood, she fell against John a little but steadied herself again.

“Okay, time to go.” John smiled as he used Create Barrier to exit.

Error: Something within the barrier is preventing you from leaving.

The error was quickly replaced with a new window:

Quest: Take the bait

Description: Find and obtain or destroy the lure that is linking Springfield to another location.

Reward: the ability to leave the barrier

Accept: Yes | No

John quickly tapped Yes and sighed. “Oh yeah, can’t be too easy, right? Fuck’s sake! It’s like jumping through hoops in order to get out of this barrier.” He rubbed his temples in frustration.

“W-what do w-we need to f-find?” Alison asked.

“I have no idea, but I guess we better go looking, we have almost two hours to find it,” John grumbled.

The two looked around before heading in a random direction.

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