"Sound the alarm! Evacuate the townsfolk away from the wall!" The Guildmaster ordered, standing on the wall with the town watch and Alistair. It was his time to patrol, but when his <Danger Sense> went off, he retreated to the town immediately. The skill gave him a clear indication that this was not an opponent he could defeat alone.

A loud bell rang through the Sunglow, and Alistair could hear the nervous mutterings of people as they emerged from their homes. The town watch instantly got to work, organizing the people and leading them away from the danger.

"Take cover!" Guildmaster Arianne screamed the command, and Alistair dove behind the safety of the wall along with other adventurers. A stream of fire collided with the stones, heating the surrounding air and forcing Alistair to cover his nose to protect himself from breathing in the overheated air.

"Guildmaster, we need a strong water mage!" Alistair called out as soon as the flames died down.

"Get Leon here right now!" She yelled. Alistair looked at the scorched-up forest, searching for the beast. Everything was oddly silent and calm as he scanned the surroundings. One would think that such a large creature would have a hard time hiding even in a forest as dense as this. However, that was not the case.

<Danger Sense> screamed at Alistair, and indicated to him the direction of the monster. Hidden underneath the trees was a long, slender, dark figure. The eerie orange glow of its eyes was the only thing that gave away its location. As he noticed it, the monster opened its maw, a bright glow emanating from it as it prepared to attack.

"Get down!" Alistair yelled, diving behind the safety of the walls again. Another stream of fire hit it, forcing everyone to hide. As soon as the fire died down, Alistair addressed the Guildmaster who was peeking out from beyond the wall. "How do we even fight that thing?"

"We can't defeat it. We can only slow it down until reinforcements from Pertia arrive."

"That will take days!" He objected and began thinking. It was clear that brute strength would not help them in this scenario. They needed a clever plan.

"I'm here!" Leon came running, completely sweaty and out of breath. A stream of fire erupted above the wall, dissipating high in the air. The mage's eyes were as wide as saucers and his hands began to tremble.

"Can you stop that fire with your water magic?" Arianne asked.

Leon shook his head. "Not a chance. My water magic isn't that strong. I mostly use it to supplement my ice magic to create surfaces I can freeze over."

Arianne clicked her tongue in annoyance and hurried down the wall.

"Guildmaster, it's too dangerous to go alone!" Remi objected.

"We have to stop that thing from getting into the town. If anyone is ready to come with me, then I'll gladly take the help," she snarled.

There was a moment of silence and then another stream of fire erupted from the forest and hit the lower part of the wall. Adventurers looked at each other nervously, but their gazes were filled with fear. Facing an ember wyrm was not something a person in their right mind would do. It was an evolved monster and could even kill a well-trained System user.

Alistair felt how some of the gazes lingered on him. The feeling was almost suffocating. He knew that he stood the best chance against the monster, but even so, the odds were slim.

Get a grip. What kind of warrior would I be if I let a woman go on a suicide mission alone? I have my shield and <Lightning Dash> should help me avoid anything. If I'm lucky I might even inflict some minor damage.

As Alistair looked at the trembling mage, an idea struck him. "Leon, if we distracted the monster sufficiently, could you cover it in water and later freeze it?"

"I-I can't create that much water…"

"We could get barrels filled with water and pour it over the monster!" Remi suggested.

"Get those barrels then! We'll put out those flames and freeze that monster over," Guildmaster ordered.

"I'll help you distract it," Alistair said and followed after Arianne.

"So you do have some balls after all," she noted, grabbing a shield. One of the apprentices from the guild came running towards the Guildmaster, clutching some kind of red cloth in his hands.

"Guildmaster, I've brought them!" The boy huffed and jumped back a step when the wyrm released another burst of fire.

"Good, take one to Remi," Arrianne instructed, taking two of the cloaks the boy was carrying, and handing one to Alistair.

"What is this?" Alistair asked, taking the cloak and inspecting it. The material felt quite sturdy, almost like leather, and the craftsmanship was immaculate.

"Fire cloak. They are empowered with magic to resist fire attacks," Guildmaster explained, donning the cloak around her shoulders.

"How come you had these lying around?" Alistair asked but pulled the cloak around his shoulder.

"I had a feeling that this beast would come back."

"It's been here before?"

"It never actually attacked the town before, but we've seen traces of it in the surrounding forests lately."

So those scorch marks I've seen before were from this ember wyrm.

"Why didn't you inform the Church?" Alistair growled and a loud thud resounded from behind the wall as the monster most likely downed another large tree.

"Oh, I informed them alright, but they believe I am paranoid. Turns out I am not, but we're here stuck against this beast on our own," she growled and put a helmet on her and threw another one at Alistair. He caught it and put it on his head. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he said, lowering the eye guard of his helmet.

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"Raise the gate!" she commanded. The heavy metallic gate slowly creaked open as the guards turned the opening mechanism. Arianne and Alistair slipped through as soon as the crack was wide enough.

"Understood!" The guards replied dutifully, and the gate slammed shut.

Alistair scanned the forest, searching for the wyrm that had once again hidden among the trees. It was difficult to see through the slits in the helmet and he was acutely aware of his thundering heartbeat.

"Let's split apart, so we can divert its attention away from each other if needed," Arianne said, gripping her shield in one hand and a large mace in the other. Alistair nodded, taking his shield and sword, and expecting a stream of fire to collide with him at any second.

They slowly walked in a different direction of the forest, watching the surroundings and waiting for the ember wyrm to emerge. The beast was watching them, they could almost feel its gaze. However, it chose to remain hidden, no doubt planning for the best time to strike.

<Danger Sense> rang alarm bells in Alistair's mind, and he dove behind one of the nearby trees, making himself as small as possible to fit behind the fireproof cloak. The fire roared around him, its hot tongues trying to find their way to his skin. But the attack had been too distant and Alistair was too well protected for it to have done any damage to him. Not this time at least.

"Come here, you overgrown lizard!" Arianna yelled her battle cry and rushed towards the ember wyrm that had emerged from among the trees. It hissed at her and released a stream of fire. Alistair got up to his feet and used this opportunity to get closer to the wyrm.

"Lightning Dash!" He called out and rushed toward the monster in two consecutive bursts of speed. It had not anticipated Alistair's fast approach and nimbly retreated deeper into the woods, flicking its tail left and right.

"Good job! Let's try to lead it away from town. Most likely it can't spew continuous flames all the time, so we can push it back at moments like these," Arianne said, rushing to catch up with Alistair.

But the wyrm didn't run for long. A few moments later it circled through some trees with its long body and lunged at Alistair with a mouth full of sharp teeth. He took a defensive stance, making his body small whilst holding his shield and sword forward.

Realizing that it wouldn't be able to take a chunk out of him, the wyrm jumped back and opened its mouth. Alistair saw how it began filling up with flames so he hid behind the trees for cover.

"Over here!" Guildmaster called from deeper within the forest before the beast could unleash its flames. It paused its attack, the fire lingering in its mouth, and then launched a fireball at Arianne. She rolled out of the way, keeping close to the ground while the fireball collided with a tree. Oddly enough, instead of engulfing it in flames, the fire fizzled out pretty quickly, leaving a shallow scorch mark on the trunk.

Odd. Its fire isn't strong enough to burn the trees yet when we were on the wall, it felt like my armor would melt from the proximity alone. Is it trying to avoid setting the forest on fire?

The Guildmaster used the chance to get closer to the wyrm, forcing it to retreat deeper into the forest. Alistair advanced on it from the other side and for a while, it seemed like they were successfully pushing it back. It ran into a clearing, and he was finally able to take a proper look at the monster.

It was by no means the largest monster out there, however, it was certainly the largest one Alistair had faced. Its long body and slender limbs allowed it to move easily enough through a dense forest while its black scales no doubt protected it from damage. The fact that it could breathe fire only made this monster more formidable.

"Just get out of here, beast, and nobody will get hurt!" Arianne said, waving her mace threateningly at the wyrm. But it had no intention of complying, instead letting out an angry roar and preparing to launch another fireball.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Alistair activated <Lightning Dash> again, first rushing to the side of the clearing to avoid being in the way of the fiery projectile. With his second burst of speed, he aimed for the wyrm's tail, hoping to attack it from behind.

But the wyrm wasn't fooled by the same attack twice, and as Alistair got close, it whipped its powerful tail and sent him flying while he was mid-dash. He couldn't avoid the attack in time and was thrown quite a distance away, hitting the ground hard enough to have the air knocked out of him.

"Get up, kid!" Arianne called to him, but he was disoriented from the fall. His head was spinning and his ears rang, but he forced himself on his feet, trying to locate the ember wyrm through the haze that clouded his mind. He saw the fire blazing in its mouth and tried to move out of the way.

But before the wyrm could release the deadly attack, Guildmaster threw her mace at the monster, forcing it to stop and jump away to safety. This gave Alistair enough time to get his bearings.

This thing is too strong and agile, there's no way I'll be able to defeat it without a boost. I'm going to have to go all out in this battle.

"Stormbringer's Legacy!" Alistair called and felt a surge of power enter his body. He had fifteen minutes to defeat the ember wyrm or at least weaken it enough before his bloodline skill would run out of time. Lightning sparkled and crackled at his fingertips, and he redirected this power into his sword.

Then he used <Lightning Dash> and closed the distance between himself and the ember wyrm. But instead of trying to cut into its tough scales with his sword, he instead hit his sword against his shield releasing a shockwave. It hit the monster, forcing its way into its body and paralyzing it.

Ember wyrm hissed and staggered backward. It was too large for the paralysis to fully stop it, but it did slow down its movements. Alistair followed after it, trying to aim for the wyrm's softer underbelly. But the monster lowered its body to the ground, keeping its weak spot hidden.

"Good job! Let's attack together," Guildmaster said, having retrieved her mace from the ground. They both moved closer to the wyrm, each from a different side, their shields raised high to protect themselves from incoming attacks. But the monster was not deterred.

Previously unseen lines on its head and along its back began to glow, and Alistair could feel the air around them getting hotter. Even if it was severely slowed down, that did not stop the wyrm from producing flames. So it took a deep breath and unleashed a flurry of fire onto Alistair and Arianne. With no trees for cover, they hid behind their shields and cloaks, making their bodies as small as possible.

However, as the flames hit their shields, the metal began to heat up. In a matter of seconds, Alistair was forced to drop his shield. He instantly dove face-first into the ground and curled up in a ball so the cloak would absorb most of the fire. Even so, he was starting to feel his armor getting hot too.

Thankfully, the ember wyrm could not keep spewing flames for long. As soon as he felt the fire stop, Alistair jumped to his feet and charged forward. He empowered his strike with his bloodline skill, hoping to strike its front paw and slow it down further. However, the wyrm used its tough claws to protect itself, forcing Alistair back.

But thanks to his attack, there was an opportunity for the Guildmaster to strike. She followed up with her mace, slamming it into the monster's side. It wasn't enough to knock it down or pierce its scales, however, it did force it to stagger back.

"Get back!" Remi's clear voice rang from the other side of the clearing.

"Excuse me," Alistair said, and grabbed Arianne, hoisting her up on his shoulder. He activated <Lightning Dash>, moving away from the clearing, leaving the monster alone and exposed. The moment they disappeared from the clearing, a few adventurers brought a cart full of barrels and opened them.

"Take this, you overgrown lizard!" Leon said and took hold of the water within the barrels with his magic. Alistair felt a bit impressed by the mage who previously had struck him as mostly incompetent. In a matter of seconds, the ember wyrm was submerged in a giant bubble of water.

The monster flailed, trying to get out of the watery prison, however, then Leon pointed his wand at the water and it began to freeze over. The wyrm's movements slowed down more and more until finally, it went completely still, encased in a thick layer of ice.

"You actually did it!" Remi cheered and gave Leon a hearty punch on the shoulder, nearly toppling him to the ground.

"Ow! That hurt. Of course, I did it! I am the best mage in Sunglow after all," he announced proudly, his nose high in the air.

But wait… I never received the notification that the wyrm was defeated. Even if I didn't deal the finishing blow, I still should have received some experience.

"Be on your guard! It's not—"

He didn't even manage to finish the sentence when the lines of the ember wyrm body began to glow bright red and the ice around it cracked.

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