The armored kobolds growled, raising their bronze axes as they prepared to charge again.
Yuki stepped forward calmly with a focused expression as Owen descended from the sky, landing on her shoulder. His golden eyes locked onto the armored kobolds as he calculated their path of attack.
"Ready?" Owen's voice echoed in her mind.
"Of course" Yuki whispered back in excitement.
The armored kobolds charged.
Yuki raised her hand, focusing her will and channeling mana into the [Beast Sync] skill to copy Owen's skills. She could feel Owen's enormous mana pool merging with her awareness, then she reached for one of his skills, something she had watched him use once before.
"[Fire ball]!"
A sphere of flames materialized above her palm, she then thrust her hand forward and the fireball shot across the corridor like a bullet. It slammed into the first armored kobold's chest, detonating on impact. The creature shrieked as the flames engulfed its torso, forcing it to stumble backward with its armor glowing red hot.
Behind her, Tiffanny's jaw dropped. "What the hell was that fire ball?! I thought she was a tamer?"
"Th-that's impossible" Sabrina hissed.
Maxwell stared in awe. "How…?"
The only person that didn't seem to be surprised was joseph, who just looked on with an expression that seemed calculating.
But Yuki wasn't done. The second armored kobold was closing the distance between them fast, its axe raised high. She wanted to try something else. Something that seemed stronger.
Her mind reached for another skill that she had seen in the status screen after ranking up, [Beast shift]. The description was a vague memory, something about temporarily adopting her tamed beast's physical characteristics.
She channeled her mana, activating the skill, but nothing happened.
[Error: insufficient mana]
"Huh?" Yuki gasped as the armored kobold swung its axe down toward her head.
Owen reacted instantly. He launched himself off her shoulder, his small dragon body intercepting the axe. It bounced off his scales harmlessly but the force sent him rolling through the air.
"Yuki, your mana pool is too low!" Owen shouted as he steadied himself, "you haven't invested any of your stat points yet!"
Yuki dodged backward, narrowly avoiding another axe swing. "My stat points?"
"Check your status, you got 50,000 Sp from ranking up last time, remember?! Dump it all into mana, NOW!"
The armored kobold advanced relentlessly, Yuki rolled to the side, she mentally pulled up her status screen while scrambling away.
[Hunter: Yuki Goldberg]
[level: 0/100]
[Rank: C]
[Stats]:
-HP:200
-Mana:100/2000
-Atk:150
-Def:200
-Agi:100
[SP: 50,000]
The armored raised its axe again.
"ALL INTO MANA!" Yuki screamed.
[allocating 50,000 SP into Mana…]
[Mana: 50,100/52,000]
[allocation complete---!]
Mana surged through Yuki's body; it flooded her veins as her mana pool expanded. She gasped as the sensation washed over her.
"Now try it!" Owen urged.
Yuki didn't hesitate. She activated [Beast shift] again.
This time it responded.
[Duration: 5 minutes]
[Adopting characteristics of tamed beast: Owen (dragon)]
Heat exploded through skin as her vision sharpened and her eyes blended into a golden glow, colors became more vivid as she could start seeing faint threads of mana in the air. Her muscles tensed and swelled with sudden strength. Black scales rippled along her arms and legs and small horns sprouted from her head. Golden energy crackled around her body as her stats skyrocketed.
[Temporary stat boost]
-Atk: 150>>>1850
-Def: 200>>>1450
-Agi: 100>>>5450
The kobold's axe descended towards her skull and Yuki caught the blade with her bare hands.
The metal shrieked as her claws clamped down on it. The kobold started in shock as her draconic golden eyes started back at it with an intensity.
"My turn" she growled
She ripped the axe from the kobold's grip and threw it aside. It clattered uselessly against the stone wall. The creature stumbled backward, barking in panic.
Behind her, the entire party stood frozen in shock.
"Is that… a half dragon transformation?!" joseph whispered, his voice trembling with awe.
"That alone puts her fire power on A-rank at least…" maxwell said. "How does a c-rank tamer…???"
Tiffanny and Sabrina couldn't even speak. They simply stared with their faces drained of color.
Owen flew beside Yuki with his eyes glowing with pride. "You look so…hot"
Yuki grinned, her fangs showing. Through the [Beast sync] skill she reached deeper into Owen's arsenal and reached for a far stronger and… primal skill.
"[Dragon's Breath]!"
He chest swelled as she inhaled. Heat bult up in her lungs. The air around her trembled as the temperature spiked.
Both armored kobolds froze in place as Yuki exhaled.
A concentrated stream of fire erupted from her mouth. The inferno consumed both armored kobolds instantly. Their armor melted like wax. Their bodies disintegrating into ash.
When the fire subsided, nothing remained of the armored kobolds except two piles of ash.
Yuki stood in the center of the corridor as her scales receded and her glowing eyes returned to their normal color as the [beast shift] skill continued its countdown.
She turned to face the party. Maxwell's shield slipped from his trembling hands. Joseph fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "That was… That was the most beautiful thing I have seen"
Tiffanny backed against the wall with her arrogance shattered and fear covering her face. "M-Montser…."
Sabrina couldn't even look at Yuki. She stared at her feet, afraid to catch a glimpse of Yuki's eyes.
Owen landed on Yuki's shoulders, puffing out his chest proudly. "Did you see their faces? priceless!"
She swayed slightly as the skills had drained her mana tremendously, but Owen nuzzled against her cheek.
"Are you guys coming?" Yuki asked calmly. "Or should I clear the rest of the dungeon myself?"
Maxwell snapped out of his stupor first. He grabbed his shield and scrambled to his feet. "N-No! we're coming, p-please, lead the way"
Joseph stood on shaky legs as he wiped his eyes. "I'll follow you anywhere, My lady"
Even tiffany and Sabrina nodded silently with all traces of their earlier hostility gone.
Yuki turned toward the hall way with Owen besides her. "I think they've learnt their lesson" Owen said.
"Good' Yuki replied. "let's clear this dungeon"