Chapter 167: Dragon Slaying [3]

Words : 1094 Updated : Oct 12th, 2025

I knocked my bow with an arrow and pulled tautly on its string while simultaneously activating one of my skills. •[Skill: Lock On has been activated] "Tsk." A small system tab flashed at the corners of my eyes and i heard the familiar synthetic voice reverberate inside my head. I clicked my tongue with annoyance and let an arrow loose through the air after pulling to the very limits. Lock On skill strengthened my vision and aim as the arrow swiftly tire through the air, straight for the target. —the gap created in the Sand Worm's armour. The slick arrow struck gap opened in the monsters wound and penetrated deeply. 'I used a little bit of Ether behind that shot so i hope it hurts...' I felt justifiably malicious. Not only did the arrow aim for the Dragon's wounds and penetrate the crack in its scales, i made sure to wrap it in a small layer of Ether to increase the level of damage however that was possible. But alas, since the arrow was actually just a regular, slightly above - but average at best- slick arrow, the amount of damage it could enact on its own was limited. Even while i used my Ether on it. It wasn't a high grade Item or Artifact, so it left a lot more to be desired. Well at least, it seemed to hurt because the next second, the Sand Worm began thrashing around a bit more widely while releasing a primal cry. "Haha! Sucker!" It wasn't much, but words couldn't explain the level of dark pleasure and ecstacy i derived from watching the glorified worm squirm. It wasn't funny though when i almost got crushed again. -CRASH!! The trashing tail of the Sand Worm swept across the ground, threatening to smash me against the wall like a derailed truck. The stupid smile on my face was earsed at that point and i cursed, dismissing my weapon in the process. "Fuck!" I leaped forward in a roll away from the piece of boulder i hid behind from and spread myself flat against the ground, lowering my head. As the humumgous tail of the Sand Worm smacked the air like a bang and swept over my head, a powerful pressure and wind force tore through the air and threatened to crush and grind me deeper against the ground. I gritted my teeth and withstood the pressure as my joints creaked. Eventually, like a storm, it swept by and the intangible weight against my body was finally lifted. Then i heard a voice, followed by an incomparably loud sound of impact. "Nice aim!" It was Ceres, and the moment I raised my head to look, her broadsword descended powerfully against the scales of the Sand Worm at the end. A blinding flash of light illuminated from that point, and am incinerating shockwave scattered through the vicinity. Sharp waves of pressurised wind tore through the air and split the ground, nearly sending me tumbling. I wasted a split second and let my self be awed at the sight while also frowning with frustration and confusion. 'I thought she said she couldn't exact her full strength, but what the hell is this?!' A while ago, Ceres had openly admitted her full strength and power level were under restrictions, which prevented her from using one hundred percent of her full power and abilities. Apparently, she said it was part of the challenge and test for her during the exercise which was given by the academy. Ceres was the only first year cadet in the heroic ranks, she was way out of our leagues with two entire ranks and a whole realm above us. The Practical field experience exercise which was supposed to accommodate the First years and their standards would almost be next to irrelevant for her. But Ceres also couldn't just be exempted from the exercise. So instead, certain restrictions had been placed on her. She could only use a limited part of her true strength as a result. 'It's also for the same reason, she couldn't just one shot the Sand Worm all this time!' Of course, if i had a say in any of this, then it was, this is stupid! To me, it seemed unnecessary why the Academy would do such a thing, but perhaps there might be more to it than someone like me would know. But at the same time, Ceres herself wasn't exactly helping! Why now, even when you realise things have obviously gone awry do you still stubbornly cling to the restrictions placed on you? At that point when Xavier and i had openly asked her why couldn't she just lift the restrictions or go against them to make this whole Dragon Slaying process much faster for us. But Ceres hadn't given a proper answer and only stubbornly insisted for some strange and suspicious unknown reason. She wasn't going to take the weight off, unless it was truly dire and necessary. 'How isn't this situation truly dire and necessary?!' I felt wronged. I couldn't relate to or understand the world or standards of the strong! Alas, even with whatever restrictions that came in whatever form on her, Ceres was still incomparably powerful, perhaps even more than i, Xavier, and Deandra put together. She was the reason why we were confident against the Sand Worm after all. —She had said she would lift the restrictions if and only IF the situation truly demanded it. That meant Ceres could use her true powers at any given time and one shot the Sand Dragon. In the end, Ceres Walker was our wild card. Until then, all we could do was struggle and hang on one way or another. Once the shockwaves from Ceres and the Sand Worm impact died down substantially, i jumped to my feet and moved again. New volleys and bolts of fires rained down against the battle field from above resulting in a rumbling chain of explosions. The thunderous sounds of battle, and smell of sweat and smoke permeated the air as Deandra continued to support from a reasonable distance with mid to long ranged spells, which continued to have little to absolutely no effect against the monster. So instead, she decided to redirect most of her fire power towards the existing wound of the underbelly of the Desert King. While Xavier was— 'Where's Xavier? Huh?' The Blonde boy was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter 167: Dragon Slaying [3]

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