TBATE - The Help of a Certain Being

The First Move

I pulled out Kamish's Wrath and willed all four elements into the blades.

"This might be a B-Class dungeon but this isn't your standard B-Class; expect A at the minimum."

I pushed the giant doors open and immediately wrapped my entire body in my Ice-Fire armor at the sight of what we were dealing with.

"Well, that sure isn't A class in the least."

"This energy..."

"What, you recognize it?" Arthur asked as he gripped Dawn's Ballad nervously.

"Looks like Agrona's playing his cards pretty damn well.

This thing's got Vritra blood flowing inside of it. It's not your average B-Class boss at all.

It's not even an AA-Class boss, let alone an A-Class. Arthur, welcome to your first S-class dungeon."

Inside the room was a dark, ashen gray Basilisk Serpent with a giant black horn. Not just any Basilisk Serpent; it was of the World Serpent's lineage.

And to top it off as if it wasn't already this bad, it had a damn good amount of Vritra mana flowing through its body.

"It seems to have a fair amount of Vritra blood inside of it, but it's fairly weak otherwise."

"I'll say. This thing's World Serpent blood might give it superior defenses.

It'll be pretty hard even for me to get through those scales if it inherited enough of the lineage."

Zalam. Give me an assimilation skill.

I don't even wanna know what you'll be doing with that. Want anything else you want?

Yeah, can you also give me a-

I was kidding! Whatever. Incoming.

As he cut off our connection, I felt the knowledge flow into my memories.

Thanks.

I dismissed my Ice-Fire armor and made my way to the giant serpent.

"I'll handle this guy myself. Why don't you stay back and protect Arthur, Ren?" I requested as I continued my unwavering stride.

The Basilisk Serpent arose from its position and opened its mouth, hissing.

"Well, you. You're mine to kill."

I willed mana into my legs and Burst Stepped toward it, catching it off guard with my sudden appearance.

I dashed behind it and slashed toward its large tail with full force, driving through with surprising ease.

Huh. So its World Serpent lineage is pretty much nonexistent.

As the tail part came off, the snake hissed in pain and swung at me.

I readied my daggers to receive the blow but to my surprise, it immediately retreated, slithering away to the other side of the large room.

"So it's smart, huh," I commented nonchalantly.

"It seems to learn as time passes to counter its opponent," Ren pointed out.

"That thing learns to counter its opponents?!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Yes. Now calm down. You could say I can learn too."

I walked over to the part of the Basilisk Serpent's tail. I looked over to the snake, whose tail had begun regrowth.

"And it's got regeneration?!" Arthur could only watch as he spectated from the sidelines, unable to do anything at all.

"Well, I can't say I wouldn't have it either, Arthur."