[Rei] “Come on, come one, come one …”

  Rei amped himself up some more and broke the stalemate.

  The dragon dashed forward like before, close to the ground but waving side to side, his body's balance swinging with it.

  Has dashed up front to meet with it again, each step anchoring him to the ground.

  Kow paid close attention, any deviation from Has would be met with an arrow, the tip reinforced with Mana just like Has did with his Body.

  Las tried to decipher the Dragons pre-movements, what the Intent said, what the Mana said, she focused ever more in her eyes, the fear from last time when she saw her death in multiple ways gone as she entered a deep focus.

  Finally, the dragon and the Kobold meet again.

  The Dragon extended the claw just as before, but this time it was a faint.

  Has reacted a beat slower, Las no longer feeding him information, his Tree-Branch up swing was dodged with a dip to the side, the dragon scraping his face on the ground.

  The swing opened Has up and the dragon swung back, transferring his weight to the other side, and now his left claw was going into Has legs, Intent clear, drop him down and injure.

  But the opening was not that of a brute swinging with too much strength, Has was too much of a warrior to make that beginners mistake, it was a plan, a bait.

  A bait that the Dragon Chomped at.

  Kow released his arrow from his new position to the side, presence Hidden when Has used his Skill, the new angle perfect for a clean hit.

  The dragon thought he got a counter, but forgot Kow was there, Has didn't.

  The Dragon felt something in the air, a small bump from his Tail and an extension of the spine and he was standing upright, face to face with the big kobold, that was almost as big as he was.

  An Arrow passed, giving him a shallow cut instead of a clean hit to the center of mass.

  Las gripped her Mana and wrested it through Has, a wave of force passing him by but pushing the dragon away.

  Or at least it tried to, the dragon felt it and gripped the ground harder, tallows scraping the Stone as the Mana imparted momentum got arrested.

  The Dragon was left open, trying to resist the momentum was the wrong choice, his body was over extended, but he was not close enough to the Big One.

  Has got the distance to swing his Branch.

  Has already knew the strategy, they practiced and used it many times before, he was already spinning with his “Staff”, muscles straining with the redirection of momentum, Mana assisted grip on the ground made sure the maneuver was even possible.

  The dragon put a hasty arm block, body folding backwards to lessen the blow's power.

  Has trusted his Staff, this was a Capture, so he was using the Blunt part, even then, the blow barely connected, the dragon folding away from him.

  [Has] “Need more follow through, Dragon reacts too fast”

  Has tried to put more range turning his Shoulders, but the Dragon was already away.

  The Branch crashed against his arm pushing him away with a painful crack.

  [Rei] “He barely connected and I still felt it ? If he used the point part, could I have deflected it ? … maybe … crap, He is strong as hell and they fight tight as fuck … But … They are not trying to kill me ? ”

  The Dragon opened a Excited Smile that was immediately rewarded with the same sensation as before, now even more towards his back, out of balance and out of position, the dragon leaned in on stealing his opponents tricks.

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  [Rei] “If you're not cheating, you're not trying”.

  Mana, the weird sensation he was now Sure was magic in the Air, coalesced in the place where the arrow would hit.

  Rei didn't know how the big one did what he did, he just knew the effects, and, in his mind, he thought about why materials were tough and how he could make his skin/scales the same.

  [Rei] “It's all in the strength of interactions, molecules bound together, I?nic attraction, covalent bonds and intermolecular interactions, long unbroken chains interlinked together, my skin is a polymer, just need to make its interactions tighter, just like kevlar”

  Skilled Intent and Experience clashed with otherworldly knowledge.

  The Piercing Arrow could not bite into the Dragon, but the power flowed deep, the skin stretching but not shearing.

  [Rei] “Even with a bullet proof vest, getting shot still bruises …”

  The dragon grimaced, he was sure that arrow cracked a rib, and the blow from the big one almost completely fractured his arm.

  [Rei] “They are not on the back foot, they are cautious … experience was correct, this is a losing fight, but i'm not losing badly”

  The dragon focused like he did when he cheated death, bones mending, bruises disappearing, bodily functions bending to will and knowledge of modern medicine.

  *** *** ***

  [Ba-Thump]

  [Kow] “How ? How ? HOW ?!”

  The Kobold was, for lack of a better word, out of his depth, plans being discarded as the Dragon improved mid fight, even his anger was now the imprevisible battle thirst.

  But his Intent was just that bit slower than his actual movements, and that gave them the edge.

  “Las is getting better and better at reading him, she executed that push perfectly, Has trust was on point and my arrow was perfectly timed, it was a Solid Hit, he should not have time to weave a defense … so How my arrow didn't penetrate ? … there is almost nothing in the Mana, how can he do self reinforcement like that with no waste ?”

  Kow was thinking as fast as he could, absorbing every scrap of information they fought to release from the dragon, but everything painted a Harrowing picture.

  “It's learning mid fight, its learning what we are doing and coming up with its own spin on it, is not only smart, its a fucking monster …”

  [Ba-Thump]

  The world got back on track, and Kow could see the dragon focusing, but the initiative was broken, his team was as stuck as he was, and what he saw made him look at his team for guidance.

  *** *** ***

  [Ba-Thump, Ba-Thump, Thump, Thum, Thu …]

  Las heart was pumping as fast as it would go, each beat giving her an extra blink that was used to its fullest.

  As soon as she could figure out the dragon's movements, she made the play, one of the more sure ways her group took out powerful beasts.

  Her beloved did it perfectly, dependable as always, his swing left the dragon wide open.

  Her push was just strong enought so the Dragon would try to resist and keep the ground it just gained, straining his balance further.

  Her beloved followed through with the knockout blow, but the Dragon bent itself away from him, making a bruise out of a bone shattering blow.

  But that was fine, Kow was always a step ahead, his arrow found a now still target, the dragon's balance totally broken, it was as clean of a hit as they could get, the arrow imbued with enough power to pierce and embed into the flesh, making the rest of the fight a breeze as that would permanently slow it down.

  But he saw the arrow, knew his situation and wrested Mana at the last second.

  It was different from anything she had ever seen or felt.

  The Mana gave no tell, almost nothing was wasted, it was the work of a Master that knew what he wanted to do inside out, like the kindling flame that you trained to light at the slightest touch of Mana when you first learn to control it, barely a whisper to do a small trick long Mastered.

  And it was reinforcement, one of the hardest Skills to Master, only behind healing.

  And as if to mock the effort of her friends, to insult her countless nights training and practicing … The Dragon Healed all the damage they dealt with the same Mastery.

  She could not even know HOW he did it, for it wasted so little Mana to acomplish it, the same overwhelming nothingness, out of Healing … How ?!

  It was as if the dragon knew his own body on the most profound levels, but as a Hatchling.

  She felt dread and envy, she felt anger and hopelessness.

  But she would push, Kow depended on her, Her beloved depended on her, she would figure this Dragon out and take a victory out of him.

  [Ba-Thump, Ba-Thump, Thump, Thum, Thu …]

  *** *** ***

  Has was satisfied, he got a good clean hit, he felt the dragon retreat because of him, and saw Kow's arrow hit, because he didn't fail on his part.

  Has was elated as he always was when he saw how Great his friends were, and content that he was not being left behind, he was smiling and ready for more.

  He could feel his Beloved mind, feel her emotions and the Dread she felt when the arrow didn't penetrate, he felt her envy and anger when the dragon undid their hard work.

  But here, it was Has job to make his friends feel safe, it was his job to be the confidently immovable rock.

  [Has] -Dragon undid damage, but took blows, we hit Dragon some more, not a big deal-

  *Has said and offered one of his rare few confidente smiles to his beloved and his great friend*

  *** *** ***

  [Kow] “Yeah, he is right, we fought meaner things”

  The small Kobold was getting into his groove, the desperation to catch the dragon was making him way more anxious than he should be, and it was reflecting on the team.

  They fought tougher stuff, they dealt with even greater beasts that were more capable then they were, they still pulsed through.

  Why should they be scared of a smarter than average lizard ?

  [Kow] “It's probably a Mana effect … yeah, it's a Mana effect”

  *Kow focused*

  “Alright, he can heal and he can weather the blows, but we just need to hit him more, we dealt with tougher stuff, we haven't even started yet, what's with this looser mentality of mine ?”

  [Kow] -Thanks Has, I needed that-

  *Kow said, no longer the whisper carried by the wind of a Kobold hunter afraid to bite more than he could chew, but the loud and proud voice of Kow the Bold, the best goddam hunter on this forest*

  [Kow] -Alright gang, I want that well fed Lizard and I want it yesterday, we just hit with some of our moves and it shrugged it off, lets up the game just like we did with that troll-

  [Has and Las] -Ay Chief-

  Every Kobold stood straighter, prouder, the fear in the air beaten back.

  Inside the Cave, the veil of dread unconsciously summoned by the dragon's anger was lifted.

  *** *** ***

  [Rei] “Something Changed …”

  The dragon could feel in the air, the kobolds were no longer cautious.

  They were always fighting well, but they had that small bit of doubt holding them back, but now their postures changed.

  [Rei] “They said something and now they are less anxious, and less skittish … except the big one, he is more relieved than confident …”

  The time was enough for him to finish repairing the cracks and bruises.

  The emocional high was also coming down, anger no longer as intense and the excitement of the fight satisfied with the close Encounter.

  The dragon's fear was proved wrong, for he could fight Three on one, and that made him proud and happy.

  He could command his body with precision and have it follow his every order, he figured out the controls of this thing, and they were responsive.

  He would not win, but that's fine, the fact is, he is not defenceless, he is not harmless, he had a position to negotiate, and now had confidence in his skills.

  The anger was no longer needed.

  And with anger losing its drivers seat privilege, diplomacy reared its Non Violent Unfun and Ugly Head.

  The dragon breathe in deep, leaving the High to wash away as he focused on the Female one and through of a step by step kobold defenestration out of his cave.