Chapter 1232 – Dragon Hunter (1)

Jake watched as the ritual hummed to life, and as it did, the unmistakable aura of a True Dragon rushed through the cave and out of its mouth as it flooded the mountainous terrain, scaring away the few elementals and whatnot living in the area.

It was a simple ritual that did little more than amplify the aura of whatever was inside it. Jake had only made some minor modifications before placing the Dragon’s Heart in the center alongside several Cores to power the ritual in Jake’s absence.

The aura given off by the ritual felt incredibly powerful in its immediate vicinity and over a thousand kilometers in every direction, but outside of that, it was hardly discernible… unless one was a True Dragon themselves. Jake didn’t doubt that Yrelstromoz would be able to detect another True Dragon unleashing its power, even if it was on the other side of the planet, which Jake kind of was.

He had looked around for a bit before deciding that this area would be a good place to lay his trap. As mentioned, it was a mountainous region with massive canyons that looked like large rivers had once run through, but now they were just deep, empty fissures. Such terrain made it easy for Jake to hide the ritual but also to use it during the battle. While a B-grade could surely just destroy the terrain, it was bound to buy Jake at least a bit of time should he exploit it.

After creating his trap, Jake took to the air, where he would set up. Once he was at the edge of the atmosphere, so he could avoid his arrow losing power while shooting through it, he created his stealth field with Unseen Hunter.

Jake had already crafted a Protean Arrow and took it out for inspection. The research he had put into creating a Dragonsbane Poison had also proven useful for his Protean Arrow, as it was infused with concepts meant to counter dragons. During his design of the arrow, he’d also made plenty of space to include his Dragonsbane itself, as he hoped to start the fight by delivering a good dose.

However, the nagging feeling that his opening attack wouldn’t go as planned still gnawed at the back of his mind. Due to that, Jake stuck with his relatively conservative approach to his opening attack.

To be clear, it would still be powerful enough to instantly end the lives of most newly evolved B-grades; he just wouldn’t go all out. He would include his Protean Arrow, a fully powered Arcane Powershot, engage with Arcane Awakening at full power, Primal Gaze, and even invest all the Hunting Momentum he had built up… but what he wouldn’t do was use what he believed would be his strongest trump card:

Event Horizon.

No, he would save that skill in case the fight indeed dragged on. In that case, Jake would build up new Hunting Momentum, empower his Hunter’s Mark, and have another Protean Arrow ready. At that time, whatever defensive cards Yrelstromoz had would hopefully also be all used up. Finally, from the skill description and the instinctive knowledge provided, Jake believed it would be a great skill to prevent escape should Yrelstromoz decide to run, something that could be a problem as a dragon specialized in light magic was bound to be fast.

If he ended up not needing Event Horizon, great, but Jake doubted he could avoid using it, and in truth, he would be very disappointed if this hunt proved too easy. The act of hunting down a True Dragon had been a goal since the first time he saw the Malefic Viper on the mural in the Challenge Dungeon, all the way back during the Tutorial. It had been built up in his mind, and Jake hoped it would live up to his expectations.

Jake finished setting everything up as he summoned a stable platform of mana before sitting down and waiting as he gazed in the direction of the city. All he could do now was wait for his prey to take the bait… and hope that his very first dragon hunt would prove a worthwhile one.

—

Yrelstromoz flew through the empty landscape, many thoughts crossing her mind as she wondered why a True Dragon would be on this planet. It had to do with her, right? Perhaps it was someone trying once more to convince her to rejoin the Dragonflights, or maybe it was one of her former suitors?

The fact that she didn’t know annoyed her, making Yrelstromoz feel compelled to investigate.

She quickly traveled across the planet, not even feeling the need to go into her true form. Just her wings were enough to provide the required speed. Flying closer and closer, the aura of the dragon, clearly baiting her to come, grew stronger, but she also noticed something feeling slightly… off.

It was too stable. Too unchanging. When one flared one’s aura, it would usually fluctuate at least a little simply from breathing or moving about, but this wasn’t the case. It was possible the dragon was in deep meditation or too high a level for her to be able to detect these fluctuations, but she still found it odd.

However, her suspicion wasn’t bad enough to make her stop, only to make her slightly more cautious. She released a few invisible pulses of light to map out the landscape all around her once in a while, finding nothing amiss. The only movement was caused by random weak elementals that couldn’t even reach D-grade due to the low level of energy this far from the sea.

Soon, a vast canyon appeared in the distance, surrounded by several tall mountains. Yrelstromoz felt that the dragon was somewhere in that area and slowed down as she approached while also unleashing a bit of her own aura to allow the other party to detect her.

She couldn’t quite pinpoint where the other party was in the maze-like canyon, so she thought it simplest to just let them feel her aura and come to her. Besides, they were clearly the ones reaching out, and they had already made her travel all this way, so wasn’t it only proper they came out to greet her?

After unleashing her aura, she stopped and waited with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. She waited and waited… but there was no response. This truly made her frown, and not because the other party didn’t come out. There was no response at all.

Her aura should at least have caused a reaction, yet it hadn’t. Some minor resonance should have occurred, but it didn’t, prompting Yrelstromoz to soon realize something.

That’s not a True Dragon, just something imitating the aura of one.

Right as she had this realization, she also knew that this was a trap. However, before she had time to react, her danger sense warned her, making Yrelstromoz whip her head upwards. Upon doing so, her vision was filled with a pink-purple color as the attack was already upon her.

Yrelstromoz had no time to react as the attack was simply too fast. Instinctively, she still tried, but just as she did, her entire body and even soul tensed up as she felt the presence of something truly frightening gaze upon her.

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It stopped any possible response she could have as the attack landed right on her forehead. She felt something pierce through her skull, shattering it entirely as it continued down through her body. In that moment, as the attack went through her, all she could do was rely on her training… which told her to abandon any resistance and allow herself to be finished off as Yrelstromoz’s body was destroyed…

—

Jake was already charging his next Arcane Powershot as the first one landed. Yrelstromoz had been a real help by stopping, so he didn’t even have to track her movements before shooting, allowing him to focus everything on adding sheer power to his opening attack.

He watched as his opening strike approached the True Dragon, who seemed unaware until the very last moment. She noticed it faster than any other B-grade Jake had fought before, but that didn’t mean she would be able to react in time. Using Primal Gaze, he froze her right as she was about to muster a response, which also allowed Jake to experience for the first time how it felt to use that skill on a True Dragon.

It wasn’t pleasant, to say the least.