Chapter Sixty-Three

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Frozen Skeleton Velociraptor

Lvl 11

HP: 200 | DMG: 61 | DEF: 51

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Frozen Skeleton Velociraptor

Lvl 11

HP: 275 | DMG: 56 | DEF: 66

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"How are these the next strongest monsters after wargs? That's a big jump, don't you think!" Brandon sighed as he unholstered his pistols. Edward sighed and lifted his hands until his palms faced forward. Leila looked at him with a curious expression before she opened her fists to do the same.

"It's not like their stats are that much better," Edward sighed, "Besides, there are only two of them. Watch your step, guys. This hallway isn't wide enough for a good fight."

As the battle began, Ikarus was the first to initiate combat. He flew forward with as much speed as his four wings would allow. The velociraptors, thankfully, didn't have any long-range abilities. Therefore, when Ikarus flew over them he was met with no resistance. He let loose a quick breath of flames against the right one— the one with more health— before quickly circling back. 

The two velociraptors screeched. They both gave a quick look at Ikarus before discarding the possibility of attacking the dragon. Then, the two dinosaurs turned around and ran toward the group. They were much faster than the Wargs on the first floor— their Agility stat must've been higher, thus making them weaker in other areas.

The velociraptor on the left attacked Markus, the closest target, with a tail swipe. Markus saw it coming and dodged accordingly, but the blade of his greatsword was caught in the attack and was pushed out of his hands. The great sword fell to the ground just outside of Markus's reach.

The second velociraptor, the one that Ikarus attacked, went for Brandon. Brandon, who was expecting the velociraptor to attack Markus, couldn't react fast enough. The velociraptor bit into his arm, destroying his armor and instantly removing half of his health pool.

Leila, as soon as she noticed Brandon's predicament, jumped forward and pushed out a ray of fire in the velociraptor's direction. The flames erupted out of her hand like a volcano, surprising even her. The flames struck against the velociraptor with ease and surrounded its body like wrapping paper. Soon after, the velociraptor's corpse dropped to the ground, dead.

Edward turned his attention to the last velociraptor. As he raised his hand and pushed his palm forward, a similar eruption of flames spewed out from his palm. Unlike Leila's orange flames, however, his flames were crimson red and packed with the power of dragons.

He held the attack for two seconds— thoroughly covering the last velociraptor in the process.

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Your foe is weak to fire! 143 Damage Dealt!

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Edward stared at the damage notification in the corner of his vision, confused. Previously, when he released his attack for multiple seconds on the boss monster on floor one, he managed to deal a separate value of his attack's damage for every second he used his attack.

Therefore, because he held his attack for two seconds, he should've dealt 286 damage. Now, though, it wasn't working.

'Is there a special condition?' Edward wondered to himself.

"They don't have that much health, but they're fast," Brandon sighed as he took a step away. With his free hand, he pulled up his pistol. As he swung his arm, he fired his weapon and let his outrageous luck strike the velociraptor.

Unfortunately, while Brandon hit his target, he didn't do any damage. His Damage stat was far too low to do anything against the velociraptor's Defense stat. After Brandon fired his weapon, Markus stepped toward the velociraptor.

"I've lost my weapon, but that doesn't matter!" He shouted as he raised his. As he moved, a layer of green energy began to gather around his hand. Soon enough, though, that green energy slowly turned red. Markus began to slow down, though not by much, as he came closer to the velociraptor.

Then, with all of the strength he could muster, he punched the velociraptor in the tail. The dinosaur noticed Markus but didn't bother dodging the attack— as it probably assumed Markus wouldn't do any damage with just his fist.

The velociraptor was surprised, however, when the green and red energy suddenly left Markus's fist. As soon as the energy left his hand, Markus yelled out in pain and dropped to the ground, though with a wide smile on his face. Like a plague, the energy began to consume the velociraptor's body. The energy crawled across the velociraptor and destroyed everything it touched. Within moments, the velociraptor fell to the ground, dead. 

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+10% XP

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"Damn!" Brandon shouted with surprise. The velociraptor, despite dead, was still twitching on the ground as the remnant energy from Markus's attack consumed its corpse. Edward stepped over the velociraptor and approached Markus, who was having trouble breathing.

"How much health did you use?" Edward asked. He already knew what Markus had used, as the man only had one skill in his arsenal with the power to damage even the user.

"Almost all of it. I didn't mean to, but the skill took it faster than I thought it would," Markus replied, "By the time I realized, I only had ten HP left."

"It's no wonder the attack is still active on the corpse, then," Edward smiled, "You overdid it, but you ended the battle. Let's take a rest— two of us were injured in this fight."

Brandon and Leila nodded at Edward's words. Once Ikarus flew back to them, the young dragon turned to Markus and nuzzled his nose against Markus's arm— concerned for the man's wellbeing.

"I'm alright," Markus huffed as he rolled onto his back. Ikarus must've been unconvinced because he immediately turned to Edward with worry.

"He's only exhausted. He'll be back to normal soon enough," Edward told the dragon in Draconic. Ikarus, after another moment of concern, finally backed away and allowed Markus to breathe. Markus, after a moment, put his hand on his chest and began using his healing spell to raise his HP to an acceptable level.