“Darude!” Dallion shouted as he rushed forward, pushing Gloria to the side.

He had already seen the giant green cone covering them both as well as the footprints telling him how to evade it. This time he had also seen a series of orange footprints. Diverging from the others, the orange markers went to Gloria, suggesting that would protect her as well. Either that, or meant that the path was more dangerous. Either way, Dallion decided to act.

The days of training had allowed him to execute the guard action flawlessly—the series of eight steps was matched without an issue. As before, time froze, only now a second series of yellow steps emerged along with hand positions.

So, guard skills can be used on others as well, Dallion thought.

Taking advantage of the adrenalin rushing through his veins, he grabbed Gloria in the air—following the instructions—then ran on outside of the green cone’s range. Moments later he found that he had failed to do so in time.

A cone of sand emerged from the dragon’s mouth, blasting everything in its path. Dallion felt it brush against the sole of his foot, scraping off the lower part of his shoe, then continuing to the peel off part of his skin. The pain, thankfully, wasn’t significant, but it was a noticeable warning not to take the challenge lightly.

“What are you doing?!” Gloria pulled away. The not thank you that Dallion expected, but not a reaction he was surprised with either.

“You’re welcome,” he grumbled.

“I was about to attack!” she hissed. “All you had to do was—”

“Get back!” Dallion shouted.

A green circle appeared in the sand in front of them. As Dallion spoke, the dragon crashed down, disappearing from view. This time, Gloria reacted, doing a spinning back somersault from her spot. Her technique was flawless, capable of putting Olympic medalists to shame. Dallion had never been a fan of gymnastics, but he knew excellence when he saw it. There was no way such a feat could be achieved through training, it had to be a skill.

Ouch, I have to get back too!

The boy pulled back just in the nick of time, saved by his high reflexes. The green circle burst in a waterrise of sand as the dragon emerged. Dallion’s fear was that the creature would attack in some elaborate fashion, possibly swipe its tail. However, no green markings appeared.

“It’s not going to attack!” the boy shouted.

That proved to be more than enough for Gloria. On cue, she jumped in the air, rising parallel to the sand dragon. In that single moment, it was as if her sabre danced through the air. The movement was faster than Dallion could keep track. It wasn’t so much that she was faster than him, Dallion had already established that based on her reactions, and yet at the same time she was… at least when it came to handling a sabre.

“He’ll twist around!” Dallion shouted as green lines appeared in the air.

Instantly, Gloria twisted mid flight, pushing herself away from the dragon with a gracious kick only to land beside him seconds later. Someone had definitely been practicing, and quite a lot.

Wow, Dallion thought.

He had been practicing for less than a week and he could already see the results of his troubles. Gloria had had years to perfect her abilities, as did every other awakened in the village chief’s family. Given that, and the cheat to increase their awakening level, it was natural for them to be so arrogant.

“All clear now,” Dallion said as the Dragon continued up. They probably had ten seconds before the next attack. “How many skills do you know?”

“Two,” she said in a smug voice, suggesting that it was a big deal. “Help me defeat this and you’ll end up with two as well.”

While that sounded good, it was easier said than done. Dallion’s guard skill allowed him to protect himself, and Gloria, apparently. However, the attack had done next to nothing. Looking at the white rectangle above the creature, its health remained at ninety-seven percent. If three percent was the average, it was going to take thirty-three more attacks to take it down.

“Darude sandstorm!” Dallion shouted. “Watch out!”

As the dragon had turned its head on its way back towards the ground, a green cone only visible to Dallion had emerged. This time Gloria knew how to react, freezing in place. Several sets of footprint markers appeared. Two sets were glowing orange.

So that’s it, Dallion rushed forward. The color did in fact indicate whether a skill was for his own or assisted use. Interesting in what circumstances it would turn red.

“Hold on!”

Among the two options he had, one was to leap to the side, same as before. The other was far more interesting. Twice as complicated, it involved reaching Gloria, lifting her up, then thrusting her up into the air, before in turn plunging forward beyond the sand column’s reach.

Two steps, one turn, three more steps, and a semi-twist with the last. The moment Dallion completed the sequence, time froze, as he expected.

“Gloria, I’ll boost you up.” He could only hope she was capable of hearing him, if nothing else. “Jump up from there and try to attack it. The weak spot is the eyes.”

The moment he added the last, Dallion instinctively felt silly. Of course. She’d know where the weak spots were… she had a perception far better than his own. If anything, it was likely thanks to her that he got to see any additional information at all.

“Here goes.” He completed the second sequence.

Dallions hands moved through the air, thrusting the girl up just strong enough to escape the dragon’s attack. When she propelled herself further, a smile appeared on his face. The plan had worked. She had managed to understand his intention and was now executing it. From this point on, it all depended on her. The only thing Dallion had to focus on was to leap away.

The two successful sequences triggered the guard skills’ additional ability, granting him the option to jump safely out of danger. Dallion took full advantage.

When time returned to normal, the sand torrent blasted past, less than a step away.

COMBINATION ATTACK

Dealt damage was increased by 200%

CRITICAL STRIKE

Dealt damage was increased by 150%

Two red rectangles appeared in the air.