The three Wyrmlings emerged from the cave, their movements deliberate and predatory. They fanned out across the chamber, keeping a cautious distance from one another. Their slitted red eyes fixed on Rowan as they assessed him—a mage standing atop a mana vent, flames dancing in his palm.

  Great, Rowan thought grimly. They just had to be smart too.

  The air grew dense---oppressive. The Wyrmling’s bodies radiated heat, their scaled forms glinting faintly in the fiery glow of the cavern. Their slow, calculated circling set Rowan’s nerves on edge, though his face betrayed none of it.

  Over the last couple of months, he’d been in enough dangerous situations to know just how screwed he was. Each of these monsters had almost twenty levels on him, and while he was confident in taking one—maybe two—three just might prove too much.

  He let out a controlled breath, feeding his emotions—fear, anticipation, excitement—into the river flowing through his mind. A technique honed through countless sleepless nights. The waves consumed everything, leaving behind a razor-sharp focus that steadied him.

  His heartbeat slowed, and a faint, defiant grin appeared on his face.

  “Well,” he muttered softly, “I did say I wanted a challenge.”

  He glanced at the token, tucking it into his belt. Rowan’s grin tightened. It glowed faintly, its affixation barely started.

  A minute. That was how long he needed to hold them off.

  The Wyrmlings snarled, their postures shifting as they began to close in. Their clawed feet scraped against the stone floor, the sound echoing like nails on glass.

  The [Fireball] he’d been channeling in his palm flared brighter as his Intent reached its peak. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the blazing orb hurtling towards the closest Wyrmling.

  The beast reacted instantly, leaping to the side with a burst of speed, its muscles coiling and movements fluid.

  The explosion shook the cavern, a wave of heat rippling outward, but the Wyrmling had managed to evade the worst of it. Smoke swirled in the air, but Rowan didn’t stop. A [Firebolt] followed immediately, zipping toward the same target.

  This time, it connected. The spell struck the Wyrmling’s leg, eliciting a painted snarl as it stumbled. The injury was minor—a shallow scorch along its scales—but it was enough to slow it down.

  Rowan’s eyes flickered toward the other two. Both were advancing cautiously, each step calculated, each movement deliberate.

  I’m not going to be able to hit them with [Firebolt]’s, he realized. They’re too fast. Too quick.

  His mind raced, trying to come up with a solution. In the end, there was only one that came to mind, and as much as he didn’t like it, Rowan didn’t have a choice.

  A [Fireball] had enough destructive power that their speed wouldn’t matter. But he didn’t have ten seconds to cast it. What he needed to do was get that down, or distract the Wyrmlings long enough to finish his spell.

  Rowan set out another [Firebolt], but this time, instead of aiming directly at one of them, he targeted the ground. He tweaked the spell on the fly, making it louder and flashier. It wouldn’t have done damage even if it hit, but a distraction was just as good.

  The explosion forced them to split further apart, disturbing their coordinated advance.

  “You won’t get an easy meal out of me,” he muttered, sweat dripping from his brow.

  The Wyrmlings adapted quickly. They began weaving unpredictably, dodging the blasts with unnerving agility.

  Glancing at the token, he winced.

  Not even half.

  Rowan was sending out [Firebolt]’s by the second. Alternating between the Wyrmlings to keep them at bay. The strain was manageable but persistent, like a wall he was walking ever closer to.

  One of the monsters decided it was time to press its attack. It lunged at him right as Rowan threw a spell at the one furthest from it, giving it a brief moment of respite.

  His eyes widened in alarm. The agile monster soared through the air, its claws outstretched.

  Let’s hope this works, Rowan thought, a small fraction of fear escaping the waves he tried to feed it to.

  His fingers trembled as he sent a fraction of Wind mana towards the ring on his hand, activating its enchantment.

  A [Wind Barrier] sprang to life. The thick wall of mana surprised the Wyrmling, its snarl turning into a pained hiss as it impacted the unexpected obstacle.

  The monster bounced back, the spell fading away. It would take a bit for the enchantment on the ring to recharge, but it had done its job.

  Rowan’s eyes narrowed, his focus sharpening.

  He had one shot at this.

  Momentum won fights, and once Rowan got it, he wasn’t allowed to let it go.

  He stopped absorbing mana from the vent, the strain lessening. Immediately after, he started lowering his infusions. The heat prickled at his exposed skin, uncomfortable and heavy. It was harder for Rowan to breathe, the air dense with the foreign mana exuding from the ground.

  Thankfully, his coat covered most of his body, its enchantments protecting him from the heat.

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  But he could deal with uncomfortable, it was a much better option than being dead.

  Rowan raised an arm into the air.

  Shine, he intoned.

  [Flash] was a Whisper-level spell, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t useful. A burst of blinding light flooded the cavern. Rowan covered his eyes with his arm, shielding himself from his own spell.

  Kai, perched high above, let out an indignant squawk but stayed clear of the worst of it.

  The Wyrmlings shrieked in pain and confusion, their glowing eyes snapping shut as they thrashed around blindly.

  Rowan didn’t hesitate. He targeted the nearest Wyrmling, channeling another quick [Firebolt]. Without the strain of infusing his body and drawing mana from the vent, his channels felt as light as a feather. He put a tremendous amount of mana into the spell, empowering it even further.

  A high Silver-ranked monster’s durability wasn’t something to scoff at. If Rowan wanted to punch through those scales, he needed more.

  Piercing Flame.

  It blurred through the air, reaching its target in less than a second. The Wyrmling was blind and unbalanced, the [Wind Barrier] doing what he’d hoped for.

  The spell hit true. It tore into the beast’s side, breaking scales and leaving a charred wound across its torso. The Wyrmling roared, staggering but refusing to fall.

  Meanwhile, Kai saw his opening. With a sharp caw, his familiar dove toward another blinded Wyrmling, talons outstretched. He aimed for its eyes, trying to turn its temporary blindness permanent. The beast snarled, shaking its head violently to ward him off, but Kai’s claws left deep gouges along its snout.

  Rowan aimed his hand towards the third Wyrmling, the strongest of the three, the one standing farther back. He’d been keeping track of them in his head, and this one had been the most cautions. It was letting the other two apply pressure, observing him.

  Taking out the biggest threat made the most sense.

  Mana erupted from his Core. It followed a familiar circuit, weaving and splitting into three different strands.

  With all his focus on the spell, it took Rowan less than three seconds before a [Fireball] bloomed to life in the palm of his hand. The radiant orb almost blinding in its intensity.

  Compressed Ember.

  His Intent finished off the spell, and Rowan let it fly.

  The Wyrmling recovered faster than he’d anticipated. It shook its head, blinking open its eyes just in time to see the [Fireball] hurtling towards it. Yet instead of panic, Rowan saw anger in them.

  A shimmering coating of Fire covered the front of its body, the effects similar to a [Fire Barrier].

  But even that wasn’t enough.

  Being a Chant-level spell wasn’t just for show.

  Rowan’s [Fireball] erupted against the Wyrmling, the force pushing it back all the way to the cavern walls. Its barrier cracked under the strain, the pained roar that tore through its throat swallowed up by the massive explosion.

  He doubted it was dead, but Rowan had a feeling that particular threat wouldn’t be rejoining the fight.

  The Wyrmling closest to him managed to recover. Wounded, desperate, and enraged, it lunged at Rowan, its claws scraping against the rocky ground as it charged.

  He released another [Firebolt] straight at its head. The spell came to him as easily as blinking, his mastery over it astonishing, even to himself.

  It slammed into the Wyrmling’s open jaws. The resulting explosion silenced its roar, sending the beast’s body crumpling to the ground in a smoking heap.

  One down.

  Rowan didn’t have time to celebrate. The Wyrmling Kai had been harassing roared, glaring at him with bloodied eyes, its maw curling into a snarl as it began pooling mana into its throat. A faint glow appeared in its gullet, the cracks between its scales shining like fiery veins.

  Some kind of [Flame Breath], Rowan realized, his mana already moving, racing to complete the circuit.

  “Up!” he shouted.

  His familiar broke off immediately, flapping back to the relative safety of the cavern's ceiling.

  Repelling Blaze.

  A [Fire Barrier] of his own appeared in front of him. It was just large enough to cover half his body, so Rowan crouched down and got ready to take the monster's attack.

  Its jaws opened with a thunderous roar, a torrent of flames spewing from its throat.

  A few seconds passed, and Rowan felt his Core dip below three quarters for the first time today. His first instinct was to start drawing from the vent again. But that would have been a mistake.

  He needed speed more than efficiency right now, and while having a full Core would make him feel safer, it wouldn’t actually accomplish that.

  Once the flames subsided, Rowan dropped his barrier and sprang to his feet.

  Piercing Flame.

  The concentrated projective shot forward, striking the Wyrmling in its chest. The beast screeched as the spell’s impact left a gaping, smoldering wound. It stumbled but didn’t fall, its determination unwavering.

  Rowan scowled. Fucking Silver-ranks

  The token pulsed brightly—a signal that it was half-way done.

  Thirty seconds wasn’t a long time, and as he looked at the two Wyrmlings left—One bruised and bloody, the other just now managing to get to its feet—Rowan started thinking he might even manage to win before he left.

  But then a low growl echoed through the cavern, followed by the sound of claws scraping against stone. Rowan turned to see another Wyrmling emerge from the shadows, followed by three more.

  Their slitted eyes glowed faintly, malice radiating from their reptilian forms.

  Rowan’s stomach sank.

  Six. There’s six of them now.

  He quickly scanned the newcomers, and while what he saw did made him feel a bit better, it wasn’t by a whole lot.

  “Kai!” Rowan shouted, his voice sharp with urgency. “Close!”

  His familiar hesitated for only a moment before diving toward him. Kai latched onto Rowan’s belt, his wings wrapping around his torso.

  Rowan took a deep breath, closing his coat tightly around his familiar.

  He couldn’t stop six of them from closing the distance. And once one did, he was as good as dead. They might have been weaker than the first three, but sometimes, quantity was all you needed.

  With no other choice, he started drawing from the vent again.

  It took him a few precious seconds to manage it again, and in that time, the Wyrmlings were already closing the distance.

  Their lithe bodies practically flew across the ground, Rowan doing nothing to slow them down.

  His Core burned hot, the strain of drawing, infusing, and casting once more requiring all of his focus. His head pounded, but he didn’t let up.

  Repelling Blaze.

  Rowan pulled a tremendous amount of mana from his Core, empowering the spell. For a moment, the vent couldn’t keep up, the cost overshadowing the amount he drew in.

  He crouched down, the [Fire Barrier] covering them both like a protective bubble.

  The token hummed steadily, a rune slowly burning away.

  Rowan gritted his teeth. Damn you, work faster!

  His arms tightened around his torso, holding his coat closed.

  Kai let out a low trill, struggling against the heat.

  “Just hold on,” Rowan muttered softly, his brow scrunched in concentration. “I’ll get us home.”

  And then, like a hammer falling, the Wyrmlings reached him. Glowing claws raked across his shield, each strike ripping away chunks of his mana. Jagged fangs followed, with another flurry of claws landing moments later. Their onslaught was unrelenting, and the only thing Rowan could do was try and hold on.