With a terrified yelp, Lukas sank into the shadows, reappearing a few meters away from where he'd just been. He stared at the sizzling spot for a moment. The ground glowed a blazing bright red where the drake's attack had landed, smoke and steam rising lazily toward the sky. It turned out that the drake didn't necessarily breathe fire like some fantasy dragon, instead, it shot a beam of pure condensed flame and heat. If Lukas had been caught in that blast, he'd probably have been nothing more than a burnt crisp.

Lukas' attention snapped back to the drake when another beam came rocketing straight for his head. Yet again, Lukas melded into the shadows, thankful that the afternoon sun cast long shadows that blanketed the crater. If he'd been without them, he'd be dead already—there were no two ways about it.

When Lukas exited the shadows, he was standing on the other side of the crater from where he'd just been, wielding his dagger, a sickly black gleam coating the blade. While traveling, he'd taken the time to apply necrotic poison to the blade, ready to dose the hell out of the drake. Before the lizard could make another attack, Lukas was on the move once more.

Jumping back into the shadows, he went on the offensive. He knew that if a beast had watched him entirely in the shadows, it could track him more easily. That, combined with the fact that he was dealing with a much more powerful enemy that could likely sense his aura, made stealth and sneaking pointless. Lukas would just have to use the extra speed his shadow ability provided, using that to deal damage before the drake could react.

With that in mind, Lukas moved as fast as he could through the shadows, squeezing out every point of agility he had. In the shadow realm, he could see the drake's head track him as he moved, but due to the increased speed, the beast's movements seemed sluggish. The goal was to come up on the lizard's flank, where it would be harder to intercept Lukas. He wanted to flit about like a specter—hard to pin down while wreaking havoc.

Launching himself out of the shadows near the drake's flank, Lukas brandished his dagger, winding up the strongest attack he could muster. The beast was already turning, attempting to snatch Lukas up before he could land a hit, but it was too late. Lukas managed to make a decent-sized cut in the beast's side. The hide was tough and hard to get through, meaning he didn't inflict a deep wound, but he didn't need to. The smallest cut was all his poison needed in order to get to work on the drake, and Lukas had provided it.

An ear-piercing roar bellowed out through the forest, threatening to flatten the smaller trees. The drake's tooth-filled maw shot for Lukas, aiming to turn him into dinner. With a massive 'CHOMP', the lizard's mouth snapped shut, but it was empty. Lukas had barely managed to slip into the drake's shadow to avoid being eaten.

Not a second later, he reappeared a dozen meters away from the lizard. It wasn't far—well within striking distance for the beast—and Lukas could feel the heat radiating off the drake even from that range. The close quarters weren't just an advantage for the drake, however, as it left less time for the beast to react when Lukas dove into the shadows.

Lukas stood there for a moment, watching with satisfaction as his poison began eating away at the drake's flesh, spreading like a horrible disease. His pleased expression vanished in an instant as the wound inflicted with his necrotic poison began to smolder and burn. The injury glowed slightly, and once the light vanished, the blackened skin disappeared as well. It appeared the drake was able to burn away the poison rotting it's flesh.

"Shit," he swore, leaping out of the way as a massive paw attempted to slam into him. The blow would've broken most of his bones and thrown him like a ragdoll.

Lukas quickly dove back into the shadow realm before the drake could recover from the failed attack. This time, he appeared on the lizard's other flank, giving himself slightly more time to do some damage. With a wide, arcing swing, Lukas' dagger flashed and cut into the flesh of the drake, the remaining poison on the blade eagerly leaping into the beast's open wound.

A moment later, Lukas appeared nearby, narrowly avoiding the whip-like tail that tried to cleave him in two. He was forced to watch as the poison from his second attack met the same fate as the first. The poison burned away as though it were nothing more than a pesky fly. Lukas could only grimace, hoping there was a limit to how often the drake could cleanse itself.

Lukas did all he could to make his necrotic poison stick, diving in and out of shadows, flitting around with such speed that any normal person might believe he was teleporting. The cuts and gashes he inflicted began to add up, but he was not unscathed.

After a particularly daring attempt at the drake's neck, Lukas misjudged the length of the beast's tail while backing away. He thought he'd barely escaped, the only damage being a cut in his shirt—an almost cinematic moment. But he'd been wrong. The end of the tail had slashed straight through his shirt, but it also carved a jagged line across Lukas' chest. He felt the tail cut through his flesh as though it were nothing, carving through bone like an axe splitting wood.

The force of the strike alone was enough to send Lukas skittering across the crater, adding cuts and bruises to his already beleaguered form. Had he been even an inch closer to the drake, the tail would've cleaved into his chest, spilling his lungs and heart across the forest floor. He'd been so dazed from being thrown across the crater that he almost didn't dodge a fire beam in time. The only reason he managed was that he stumbled backward and fell on his ass, the attack passing over his head, before he slipped back into the shadows.

The wound was grisly and painful, made worse by the extreme heat of the area and the sweat flowing from every pore. Still, he'd dealt with worse, and while he'd lose a fair bit of vitality to it, it wasn't enough to put him out of commission. That wasn't the only wound he sustained, though.

The drake had begun to time Lukas' strikes and predict where he'd appear, and by the time Lukas leaped from a shadow, the lizard was waiting. It tried to blast him with its flames, but its timing was still slightly off, allowing Lukas to get away with his life. That didn't mean he got away unscathed, though—his arm had been close enough to the blast to get seriously burned, the sleeve of his shirt turned to ash. The only silver lining was that it hadn't been his dominant arm that got torched.

The burn was bad, his skin had practically melted, and any hair on his arm was gone. He was forced to go on the defensive while trying to take a health potion. Lukas had to run around, jump in and out of shadows, and dodge whatever attacks came his way. The drake, which had been mostly immobile during the fight, decided to seize the momentum and finish things. With his mask on, Lukas couldn't drink a potion, and he wasn't willing to use a gaseous one. He tore off his mask, throwing it in his inventory before chugging down the strongest health potion he had. It wasn't nearly enough to deal with all his wounds, but the soul-wrenching pain in his arm lessened as the burn began to heal.

After that, it was obvious his current strategy wouldn't work. He had another idea but no clue whether it would succeed. Lukas couldn't risk a war of attrition, because in a drawn-out battle, the lizard would win every time. Not to mention it only needed one lucky hit.

Seeing no other way forward, Lukas dove back into the shadows and returned to the offensive. He inflicted more cuts, littering the drake's body with wounds from its neck down to its tail. He even managed to land a few larger wounds on the beast's soft underbelly. But the drake was getting better at reading his movements, and the near misses became glancing hits and then serious injuries. Lukas accumulated more gashes and burns, some cauterized by the drake's flames. And while his body took a beating, he was far from backing down.

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Both he and the drake were covered in blood from their various wounds, the crater slick with it. Once the drake had received dozens of attacks, Lukas began pulling out bottles—gaseous hemotoxins—and hurled them like a madman. One after another, bottles of gaseous hemotoxins exploded around the drake, the blood-red gas cloud readily seeping into the lizard's open wounds.

At first, the beast paid no mind to the clouds, which seemed to have no effect, pushing through the mist as it continued to chase Lukas around the crater. Only minutes later, when the already-bleeding wounds began gushing fountains of blood, did the drake realize something was wrong. It tried to cleanse the poison, but the hemotoxin wasn't just in the wounds anymore—it had flooded the beast's bloodstream. There was so much of it that Lukas doubted the drake's vitality could fight it off before it bled out.

The drake seemed to realize this as well and went completely mad with rage, doing everything it could to kill Lukas before succumbing. Lukas was pushed to his limit as the frenzied drake unleashed its fury, going all out. Pools of blood were suddenly vaporized by its flame beam, coating the area in a red fog that reeked of burning flesh. Lukas might have been sick if he'd had anything in his stomach or any time to notice the smell, but he was too busy trying to survive.

Close call followed close call, and Lukas weakened as more wounds stacked up, slowing him down. His attacks weren't as potent, and his movements grew sluggish as his health and stamina ticked lower. In desperation, Lukas opened his status screen for a split second and allocated all 35 of his free points, hoping they'd be enough to see him through.

Half of the points went into agility while the other half went to his flagging strength. The moment he closed the status screen, a massive surge flooded his body, like a second wind. He'd just gained a huge boost in speed and power, and while he couldn't display his full might in his current condition, it was enough to put him back in the fight.

With renewed vigor, Lukas began to dance around the battlefield once more, inflicting wound after wound and speeding up the drake's final countdown. Soon enough, it could fight no longer. The beast collapsed in a heap at the center of the crater, where a large pool of blood still boiled. The drake clung to life, but it no longer had the strength or energy to keep going. It let out a few weak, desperate roars, almost as if it wasn't ready to die.

Lukas could only watch from a distance, sucking in ragged breaths as the Fireborn Drake succumbed to its wounds. He was haggard—beaten and burned—but he'd emerged victorious against the toughest enemy he had ever faced.

With a heavy sigh, Lukas dropped to the ground, no longer caring about the blood that covered it. Why would he? His clothes were already soaked in the stuff, at least in the parts that weren't burned and singed away. Slumping forward, Lukas rested his arms on his knees and took heavy breaths. He sat there, recuperating for a while. He continued to sweat profusely, the heat gnawing at his hideous wounds, but he didn't have the strength to move away.

After a few minutes, Lukas felt he had enough energy to at least check his notifications, curious to see what he'd gained after such a grueling battle. Opening the list, he quickly ignored all the messages about afflicting the drake with poison, moving on to the good stuff.

You have slain [Fireborn Drake - lvl 30] - Bonus experience gained for killing an enemy above your level.

Title earned - [Unceasing]

Level gained: [Rogue of Night] has reached level 10 - Stat points allocated. … Level gained: [Rogue of Night] has reached level 14 - Stat points allocated.

Level gained: [Combat Alchemist] has reached level 20 - Stat points allocated. … Level gained: [Combat Alchemist] has reached level 22 - Stat points allocated.

Level gained: [Human (Outworlder)] has reached level 15 - Stat points allocated. … Level gained: [Human (Outworlder)] has reached level 18 - Stat points allocated.

Lukas grinned but quickly stopped, finding it too tiring to do even that. He'd gained a huge number of levels from the kill, including a new title. Without hesitation, Lukas checked out its description.

Title: [Unceasing] - On your journey you will let nothing stand in your way no matter how much stronger they are than you. Due to your ability to kill an enemy 15 levels above your level you have proven yourself to be unceasing. +2 to all stats +2% to all stats.

It was, frankly, disappointing. He'd been expecting far more, considering his previous title, Indomitable Worm, granted him +10 to all stats and +10% to all stats. Thinking about it, though, that title specifically mentioned killing a beast while still at level zero, whereas this new one did not. Maybe those titles were more valuable since the achievement was so much more difficult. If that were true, Lukas was really pissed that the Vipercat he'd killed before entering the cave hadn't given him a title. It probably would've been +15 to all stats and +15% to all stats instead of +2.

Lukas could only sigh tiredly. "Oh well, an increase is an increase. Every little bit counts."

By now, Lukas was gaining +27% to his stats with +17 to his base stats. They were large additions that would pay dividends down the line, and if he gained even more titles, the payout would only grow. Lukas got excited at the thought of grinding titles for as many stats as possible and started to get antsy, but considering his state, a level 1 ant could probably kill him.

Instead, Lukas just rested for a while. Moving out of the stamina draining heat, he sat just outside the crater and almost shivered when the temperature difference hit him. An hour later, after some rest and another health potion, he got up and hobbled over to the drake's corpse, the pool of blood around it mostly burned off. He tapped the body lightly and looted it:

You have looted [Fireborn Drake].

15 [Copper Mana Coins] have been added to your inventory.

7 [Shards of Fire] have been added to your inventory.

[Fireborn Drake hide (Rare)] has been added to your inventory.

It wasn't much, but it was something. Leaving the crater behind, Lukas trudged through the woods for a while, trying to escape the stench of burning blood. Only when he felt he was far enough away did he climb a tree to start recovering.

Hours passed as he sat there meditating and healing, taking a health potion whenever possible. The battle had resulted in severe wounds, ones that would take time to heal even with potions. What he really needed were some recovery potions to speed up the process, but they were too complicated for him at the moment. He was making inferior-rarity concoctions with common ingredients—there was no way he could produce proper recovery potions that required three ingredients.

What Lukas truly needed were stronger potions and poisons to bridge the gap. His health potions were decent, but even his best one didn't restore a ninth of his total health. His poisons needed an upgrade, too. They worked great against low-level creatures, but he was quickly running into their limits.

He was in a more dangerous region now, facing tougher foes, and if he was going to challenge them, he needed the right tools. Common-rarity concoctions still seemed a bit beyond his reach, but that didn't mean he couldn't improve his current creations. That would have to wait, though, because Lukas was too injured to properly focus on alchemy right now. So he continued to meditate and heal.

He did check his status screen, thrilled at the massive growth he'd just experienced:

Lukas Hellstrand

Race: Human (Outworlder [unique]) - Level 18 Class 1 - Combat Alchemist - Level 22 Class 2 - Rogue of Night - Level 14 Health Points: 278/930 Stamina: 367/800 Mana: 798/930

Stats Vitality: 93 Endurance: 77 Intelligence: 80 Wisdom: 93 Agility: 116 Perception: 76 Toughness: 80 Strength: 85 Willpower: 62 Free Points: 20

Titles: Prodigious Dimensional Traveler, Unkillable, True Heart of a Warrior, Indomitable Worm, Hierophant of the Risen Goddess, Unceasing.

Abilities:

Combat Alchemist Abilities: (Amber Eye of the Alchemist [lvl - 0]).

Rogue of Night Abilities: (Lurker of the Shadows [lvl - 0]).

Race abilities: (Dimensional Traveler), (Tribute of the Fallen), (Steel gut), (Tongue of the Multiverse), (Stranger in a Strange Land).

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