Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)

The rainstorm started only an hour after Elijah had begun his trek inland, though with the dense canopy of a temperate rainforest above, only scattered drops of precipitation made it to the ground. However, as was common to the region, humidity clouded the atmosphere, and dewy wetness clung to every leaf. Elijah was only barely affected, though; his scales weren’t as warm as his old coat of fur had been, but they were still largely impervious to the elements.

He slipped through the forest, keeping the awareness granted by One with Nature at the forefront of his mind. Back on the island, where he knew every last blade of grass on an intimate level, such concentration wasn’t necessary. But now that he was on the mainland, he slipped back into the same frame of mind that had let him survive the most dangerous parts of the tower.

At first, he circled Ironshore, as much to get back into the proper frame of mind as to check up on his would-be allies. Their efforts at deforestation had slowed to a crawl, probably because they’d progressed past the need for wooden structures. Instead, they’d begun to replace those with sturdier stone and what seemed like a magical form of concrete. There were still hunting parties out and about, but that wasn’t surprising. Not only were most of the wildlife dangerous and territorial, but the animals were also ready sources of meat. Ironshore had no herd animals Elijah had seen, so they were still dependent on wild game for their protein. Likely, that would continue for some time, though fishing would probably overtake hunting as the primary source of meat going forward.

Or at least that’s how it usually worked with human coastal settlements. Perhaps other worlds had developed differently.

After making certain that there were no real threats in the immediate area, Elijah started moving towards the only town he’d seen on the Branch’s map function. Without context, he knew it would still be difficult to find the settlement, but he figured it was the best place to start his search for Seattle, which he hoped would lead him to Easton where he could find his sister.

There was a problem, though. Ironshore abutted a sizable mountain range, so Elijah couldn’t simply travel in a straight line. Instead, he had to search for a pass, which was exactly what he did for the next three days. Most of the time, he remained in his predator form and hunted whichever small animals he could find. However, he did make a point to resume his human form for at least an hour each day, lest he fall into the same trap that had threatened to rob him of his humanity back in the tower.

For the most part, he went unmolested. He could’ve fought a few dangerous-looking animals – like a sizable boar that he found eating a giant stag it had killed – but he chose to silence his more murderous impulses.

That wasn’t to say he didn’t fight.

He certainly did, though he confined his efforts to when he sensed a Voxxian trail. On three separate occasions, he followed that acrid stench to its owner, and when he got close enough, he used Predator Strike to kill each reptilian monster.

It wasn’t so different from how he’d hunted them on his island, though it was more difficult in a couple of ways. First, each of them was stronger than any of the spontaneous manifestations he’d seen on the island. As a result, in all but one case, he was forced to follow up his initial attack with a second killing blow. In addition, they were slightly more difficult to track because he didn’t have the benefit of his Locus to guide him. Still, he made do and accomplished his goal.

Eventually, Elijah found a pass that cut through the mountain range. It had clearly been used by a herd of some sort of animals, and it was only by following their trail that he was able to find the pass. However, they had used it long enough in the past that their scent had all but dissipated, and Elijah was incapable of identifying the animals by what was left.

Still, he had no issues using their trail as a guide, and so, he continued along until he saw something that brought him up short.

From a distance, it looked almost like the entire area had been covered by thick frost. The sudden change served to alert Elijah to the point that he pulled to a stop so he could study the phenomenon, and soon enough, he recognized it for what it was. Gossamer webs, thin and delicate, covered everything in front of him.

More importantly, he saw a few dark shapes, each one the size of a golden retriever and with eight horrible legs, poised to pounce on anything stupid enough to wander into their domain. He looked past them and saw a few dozen large cocoons that he suspected contained the herd animals that had preceded him.

Setting up behind a boulder, Elijah crouched low, his thick, alligator-like tail sweeping back and forth in anticipation as he watched. For a long time, nothing changed, but then, a bird – it looked like a sparrow, but it was quite a bit larger than any version of that bird Elijah had ever seen – landed. It grabbed at something on the ground, then tried to lift off, but its feet were caught in the web. It screeched and flapped its wings, but no matter how much it struggled, it couldn’t free itself.

A moment later, a half-dozen spiders descended on it. The ill-fated avian stopped moving a few seconds later, and the arachnids – which resembled tarantulas, but with dark green instead of brown coloring – quickly dragged it away, wrapped it in spider silk, then left it with the rest of their prey.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Elijah continued to watch, and though he felt confident that he could pick his way through the webs, he wasn’t absolutely certain he could do so while avoiding the spiders. Which meant that he had no intention of trying.

He’d long since come to the conclusion that versatility was the hallmark of his archetype. He could heal passably well – though with restrictions – cast decently damaging spells, and through his two animal forms, either become a stealthy skirmisher or a stalwart defender. He didn’t think he could do any of those things as well as a specialist might, but with his Dragon Core boosting his abilities by a significant degree, he could do well enough that it didn’t matter.

And that versatility gave him the ability to attack various situations with a wide variety of tactics. So, sure – attacking the spider’s nest in his predator form was too reckless to contemplate. However, there was nothing that said he couldn’t do so in his natural form. So, still crouched behind the boulder, he allowed himself to shift back into a human. Then, hefting his staff, he peeked out from behind the huge rock.

The pass still looked the same, but without the enhanced senses of his predator form, he had difficulty picking out the motionless spiders. It didn’t matter. For what he had planned, he wouldn’t even need to aim.

So, without further hesitation, Elijah dragged Ethera from his core, filtered it through his soul, and flooded Calamity with power.