In terms of who won the initiative roll, it was basically a tie. Alan actually completed his spell first, but it took time for the meteor to hit its target. In those two precious seconds, Griff managed to cast his spell as well.

The drow had correctly guessed that Alan was using an offensive spell, so he had cast a defensive one to counter it. Alan hadn't realized that was a thing, but apparently while healer classes could cast shields to protect people from all types of damage, mages could also make shields, but they only guarded against mana fueled attacks. It was quite the oversight on Alan's part since he had seen mages demonstrate such an ability while he was in a squad with Pixel.

As the large rock streaked in from the ceiling, an oval of energy formed over Griff. When the meteor hit the mana shield, it exploded as if it had hit the ground. The shield was able to block all of the damage from the initial contact, but Alan's new spell also included some area of effect, or AOE, damage, and that made it through to rough up the drow. It also did a number on the smaller ritual circle. He would have to completely redraw it if he wanted to sacrifice the last gnome.

Alan hadn't been idle while his spell was falling, timing his sprint, he arrived just as the after effects settled down. He led with his spewn, slashing out toward his opponent's chest. He was only wearing a cloth robe, so Alan was surprised when his weapon failed to cut. There was some residual charring left on the cloth, but the incredibly sharp edge was not enough to slice through the material.

Griff pulled back from the attack with a smirk on his face. "You like my robe, do you? Through Oshae's family I was able to gain access to gear you could only dream about."

Alan ignored the elf as he wasn't interested in a battle of words, but before he had a chance to follow up his attack, the drow pulled a staff from his storage. It was made of wood, but had a yellow tinge to it. Atop the staff was affixed a red stone, probably a garnet or ruby. His eye wasn't discerning enough to tell the difference. Alan's identify skill also didn't seem to work on items someone was actively carrying.

Having read enough fantasy novels, Alan knew that a skilled opponent with a staff was not to be trifled with. He remembered how an otherwise meek looking healer had been able to hold her own against a deadly rogue in the arena he had fought in, too. Alan figured he still had an edge, but he would have to be careful.

One of the advantages that Alan had against opponents was the varied means he had of fighting. He had been skilled in hand to hand and knife fighting before the Network showed up. Since then he had learned to fight two handed and added magic to his repertoire. This allowed him to adapt his style to take advantage of his opponents weaknesses.

However, If Griff knew how to wield that staff then he was facing an opponent who would also have a variety of methods to counter him with. It was time to see if that staff was simply a magical tool, or an actual weapon.

Closing the small distance between them, Alan used a series of combo attacks to see how he would handle them. The staff twirled and danced in his foes hands and Griff managed to deflect or block almost every attack. The couple that actually landed were unable to get through his robe's protection.

After a pause in their exchange, Griff took a moment to taunt him again. "Not bad, not bad, now it's my turn."

Taking the initiative, it was the drow who stepped forward, the staff once again flickering through the air as he attacked again and again. Alan was able to avoid getting hit, until the last blow. Griff brought his staff slicing downward, and Alan thought his opponent had finally made a mistake. He crossed his two weapons above his head, ready to block the strike and then retaliate by slicing at his opponents forearms, which were not currently covered by the robe.

Instead, when the staff hit his block, there was an explosion which blasted Alan backward. Griff had managed to channel an attack through the wooden shaft and into the gem at the top. It was some kind of fire attack, and in addition to sending him flying, it also set Alan's head on fire. His small helmet covered most of his scalp, but there was plenty of hair sticking out, which was now burning.

When Alan hit the ground, he quickly rolled around for a moment until the flames were smothered. This guy fought even more like Alan than he had initially realized. At first he had simply been testing out the drow, but now he knew he needed to get serious. Trying to come up with a plan, he considered his options. Thinking over his skills, his only real offensive move, twin slash, was countered by Griff's impressive robe. Cutting attacks weren't going to do much.

As he scrambled to his feet, he stored his pugio. He could have simply dropped it, but Tamee, and even the Network at times, liked to make fun of him when he did. Instead of his dagger, Alan took out his beating stick. It was the first weapon he had ever made, and after having been reinforced with his light mana, the small club was nearly indestructible. At the same time, he also adjusted his grip on the spewn.

If slicing and piercing attacks weren't going to work, then it was time to resort to blunt force trauma. The beating stick wasn't going to do too much damage, but it would be more than his dagger. Also, it should allow him to block the staff a little better. The pugio just didn't have the mass to resist the two handed weapon, so he had been forced to deflect with his off hand. The stick would still allow him that option, but it was also a little heavier and could potentially be used to block the attack head on.

His spewn, now that he had twisted it, was in mace mode. He had broken open the shell of a defensive boss with this thing, so he figured it would pack a wallop on a person, even through the soft robe. Alan also planned on showing Griff that he too could add magic to his might.

The drow hadn't been idle during this time, but Alan had only taken a few seconds to put out the flames and rearm himself. Griff, while having upgraded mage, guardian, and scholar classes, in addition to his diamond level seeker class, was not as fast as the human he was currently looking down on. He had increased his non-class stats using a variety of means, and was a whole level above Alan, but these weren't really as effective at improving his dexterity as an actual rogue class.

What that meant was that during those few seconds Alan needed to recover, Griff was only able to reorient from using his spell, and then move forward again to engage him. Wary of another blast, Alan was more careful to keep the red gem away from his body. This meant much more dodging and deflecting.

Griff had seen how ineffective Alan's attacks were, so he was more reckless in his offensive moves. It helped that he had also never heard of a spewn. It was a fairly unusual weapon, so he could be excused for his ignorance, but that didn't help the drow any when he got hit the first time.

As Alan stepped forward, to get inside the drow's guard, he used his small club to deflect the staff behind him. He continued to move forward and spun himself as he moved past, bringing his spewn around to wallop the elf's back. Griff had expected another cut to be deflected away, but instead he was knocked forward several steps and his torso turned red as several of his organs were reduced to pulp.

If Alan was better with his words, this would have been the perfect time for a witty retort after all the bragging the drow had done. Unfortunately, Shakespeare he was not, so he had to settle for moving back in and trying to hit him again.

The first blow had truly surprised Griff and reacting more on instinct than rational thought, the elf used one of his defensive spells. It had a long cool down, but it was almost guaranteed to stop at least one fatal blow or allow him a chance to recover from the edge of death.

An interconnecting field of glowing yellow lines formed a barrier around the dark elf. Alan had already begun a follow up attack when Griff cast his spell. Before he could stop its momentum, Alan's spewn broke through several of the beams. It turned out it was some kind of lightning field, because electricity shot down the handle of the metal spewn and coursed up his arm, causing his whole body to seize.

When his legs locked up, he ended up collapsing backwards, which fortunately pulled the spewn out of the defensive barrier. Alan was relatively helpless at the moment, spasming on the ground, but his opponent wasn't looking to land a blow of his own. Instead, Griff took out a bottle that Alan recognized as a healing potion, and drank it down. It ended up not being enough to fully fix the damage to his torso, but Alan didn't know that.

Alan was doing some healing of his own. His regeneration spell was used up in repairing the damage from the electrical burns, so he cast it again after his body stopped twitching. Once more, Alan found himself scrambling to his feet, but it seemed like Griff wasn't going anywhere. The electric cage was still surrounding him. Alan sent a light bolt at him to test his defense, but it was caught by the barrier and failed to penetrate.

Since he seemed to be in a forced stalemate for the moment, Alan turned to check on his friends. He kept one eye on the drow in case he had a trick up his sleeve, but he wanted to see how the two dwarves were doing.

Whatever those exploding bags were, it looked like Thadrick had only had two. He could tell because there were two circular gore paintings on the ground. The tide of kobolds had since moved beyond them and were engaged with Bodvar.

The two miners had wisely decided to retreat to a gap between a pair of the stone barracks buildings. The space was just wide enough that one person could hold the entrance if they were good. And by all accounts, Bodvar seemed to be up to the task.

Squinting, Alan could just make out Thadrick behind him. He couldn't tell if he was waiting to trade places, or if he was preparing to hold the rear when the kobolds realized they could move around behind their position.

In an effort to distract the kobolds from thinking of that plan, Alan sent a meteor crashing into the middle of the mass. He had been half afraid that Griff would take the few seconds it took to form the spell to launch a surprise attack, but it didn't seem like the defensive spell would allow that.

The amount of devastation Alan's meteor caused was incredible. He thought that at least fifteen kobolds were killed from the initial impact, and at least another thirty were killed as the AOE effect spread. Between Thadrick's exploding bags and Alan's spell, at least half of the kobolds were down.

With his aura senses, he detected a flicker in Griff's barrier. He guessed that meant it was getting ready to come down. Alan decided to trust in his friends, they had survived so far after all, and he refocused on the enemy before him. He had been knocked down twice already, and set on fire. This was not an opponent he could underestimate.

At the moment, Griff was chugging down another healing potion. That strike must have done more damage than he thought. All of a sudden the barrier was down, with the empty bottle flying at Alan's head, and the staff was back in Griff's hands.

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The drow followed the bottle with an attack and a threat. "This ends now, I will crack you open and drink your mana."

Alan wasn't sure if that was a thing or not, another question for Tamee. A dodge of his head allowed the glass bottle to sail harmlessly past, and he met the staff with his beating stick followed up with a blow from his spewn to knock it farther out of line. He actually heard a little crack when the egg shaped head of his spewn made contact. He didn't even bother checking if it was his own overpowered, well-crafted weapon, or the drow's oversized branch that was damaged.

He chose to follow his attack with a side kick. He drove his boot deep into Griff's gut and he heard all of the breath leave him in a rush. While his opponent was gasping Alan brought his spewn down toward the elf's head. Even though the pointy-eared jerk was struggling to get any air, he still managed to swing his staff over and push the spewn out of line. It glanced off of the elf's arm, still probably painful, but nothing lethal.

Alan felt a rush of mana and jumped back. He didn't have time to try and disrupt the spell, and unlike most spells he had seen it didn't have a focus point where the mana gathered. Instead, it was forming all around Griff. A ring of fire appeared around the drow and then quickly expanded away from him. As fast as he moved, Alan was still caught by the tail end of the spell, as it dissipated after five meters.

Nothing caught on fire this time, but he still felt his exposed flesh get singed. If this guy wanted to play with fire, then Alan decided to show him fire. Running back in towards the dark elf, he swung with his beating stick to move the staff out of the way, and then pointed his spewn at his head. The largest fire bolt he could form, boosted by the inherent fire affinity of his spewn, shot straight into Griff's face.

Somehow, his enemy was able to form a mana shield before the flames hit, scattering them all over his robe. Now it was the drow's turn to drop and writhe on the ground, trying to smother the burning cloth. Alan pointed at the elf torch and sent another fireball into the mess.

The flames redoubled in energy, but then were finally extinguished as Griff figured out how to properly stop, drop, and roll. Alan went to cast again, but Griff already had a shield in place as he climbed to his feet. Allowing the mana to return to his pool, Alan switched to melee attacks again.

Say what you want about the morals of this drow, physically he was one tough customer. His robe looked like it was made of swiss cheese and Alan could tell that some of his flames had gotten through the shield over his face. In addition to some scarring, the drow no longer had any eyebrows. Still, though, he stood parrying and blocking every one of Alan's attacks, no longer taking any chances with his guard, wary of another hammer blow.

In fact, it was Alan who left the first opening. In trying to avoid the red gem and another explosive surprise, he ended up catching the butt of the staff on his temple. It took every ounce of his willpower to stay conscious. Another blow hit him on the shoulder and he almost dropped his spewn. Even if the drow was tough, Alan was tougher and managed to recover before taking a truly debilitating injury.

With more confidence, Griff pushed forward again and was met with the tenacity of a pissed off commando. They didn't call Green Berets snake eaters for nothing. After a good combo that knocked Griff just slightly off balance, Alan used the opening to fire several prismatic orbs at his eyes. Again, the dark elf showed his experience, and rather than panicking, he started spinning his staff in front of him, trying to ward off any blows Alan might send his way.

Instead, Alan targeted the staff itself. Using all of his strength he struck down with his spewn, just as the staff was spinning up. Another crack echoed out when they hit, but this time he could also see the damage. The staff wasn't broken, but a visible fissure had formed in the wood.

The blow was also strong enough to push both of them back, which gave the drow enough time to recover his senses. Pointing the gem at Alan, a beam of fire shot towards him. Without a magical shield, he was forced to dodge by diving to the side.

His dive turned into a roll as Griff fired another fire beam. Three more beams tried to track him down, but Alan managed to make them all miss. Not only that, but he used his rolls to move closer to his opponent, and when the fire beams stopped, he was in striking range.

Coming out of his roll, Alan's leg flashed out and swept the elf off his feet. Falling on his back, Griff saw the heavy side of the spewn come down on his belly, causing him to vomit all over his burned up robe. That cursed weapon rose up to come down at him once again, but he used the bottom of his staff to push himself away.

Alan's attack hit the dais with a mighty thud, and actually put a crack in the stone. He watched as the drow used his staff to climb wearily to his feet. Alan himself was also running down on stamina, and that was even with the boost he was receiving from the Army Array. This guy hadn't been lying when he said he knew how to fight.

Unfortunately for Griff, so did Alan. And he also knew how to fight dirty. Still crouched on the ground, he aimed for his opponent's already compromised weapon. Using it to hold himself up, the drow's weight kept the staff in place, and Alan swung his spewn and made contact with the already damaged section. The staff broke in two and the dark elf face planted on the ground as he lost his support.

The back of his robe was actually in pretty good shape, so Alan couldn't stab him, trying to find a vital area. He did the next best thing and brought the head of his spewn down on Griff's skull. It felt like cracking an egg. The hood of the robe was still intact, so he couldn't see the result of his blow, but the stone under his face was quickly covered in blood and liquified brain.

Kicking him over, there was no question that the dark elf was dead, but he stabbed him in the face just to be sure. It wasn't difficult to do since the previous blow had not only broken open the back of his head, but also shattered the front of the skull as well.

With his strongest enemy dead, Alan looked to see how his friends were doing. The kobolds had indeed tried to split their forces, attacking the dwarves from both ends of the alley. After their previous casualties, though, they didn't have the numbers to make their pincer truly effective. Especially after Alan sent another meteor into the group in front of Bodvar. That left only the handful that were too close to his ally for Alan to risk targeting and whatever group that was in the back facing Thadrick.

Confident that they should be able to hold out, he turned his attention to the ritual. The pillar of purple fire was now only about chest high and rather than a roaring inferno, it was more a suggestion of flames. He was finally able to clearly see the full diagram on the floor.

It wasn't one he was familiar with, but he recognized some of the elements. The problem was, that if he was reading this correctly, he needed to get inside those flames to stop the corruption. Cautiously he reached out with his hand, but he could feel the flesh burning when it got close. He reached out with his beating stick next, but even the mana reinforced wood started to char.

He debated trying to breach the flames with his spewn, but it was too precious to potentially damage if there were any alternatives. Then he thought of his other weapon. His beating stick had been infused with light mana, one of six basic types of mana, his pugio, however, had been infused with holy mana, a higher form of mana.

Taking it out, he watched as the flames curled around the tip. If this was a movie, the purple wisps would part when confronted with the dagger, forming a doorway he could pass through. But this was the real world. Or at least the new real world.

The flames didn't part, but they also were unable to damage the dagger, and his hand was far enough away that it was only taking a few points of damage, nothing his regeneration couldn't handle. He now had something that could handle the flames, but if he couldn't use the dagger to part the fire, what could he do?

That's when his eyes found the blood gems scattered around the outer circle. Griff had been making more of those, so they must be a necessary part of the ritual. Perhaps these were the source of the corruption and flames. Judging by their placement in relation to the fire it was a definite possibility. The problem was that the gems were solidly in the flaming barrier, but now that he had something which could handle the corruption, he had a plan.

Quickly making his way around the circle, he used the pugio to roll the gems out, away from the ritual. Each one was then stored in his necklace. Nothing seemed to happen after the first couple, but after six he noticed a dramatic change in the intensity of the flames. After removing all of the blood gems, the purple fire died completely. The inner ritual now lay uncovered before him.

While the gems formed from the blood of the gnomes had been the major source of corruption, Alan could now tell that they were not the only source. Each of the candles burning around the egg was also sending tendrils of foul energy dancing along the shell. Alan had some mana left, so he decided to try something.

A ball of water formed in the air over the egg and collapsed down, extinguishing all of the candles. The corruption energy ceased, but another problem was forming. When the water had rushed over the candles, it had then run over the symbols of the ritual.

So far, Alan had been having good luck with breaking magical circles. None of them had truly caused any kind of backlash. He could tell based on the energy fluctuations that this time he was out of luck. It seemed like the entire volume of space inside the outer circle was going to be sucked into the void.

This wouldn't have been a big problem, since Alan was standing outside of the circle, except that rare dragon egg that two obviously powerful drow had gone to all this trouble for, was sitting in the center of the now swirling mana. He could see it not only with his senses, but also with his eyes now.

That actually gave him an idea. If it was visible to his eyes, then it might have a physical presence. Alan had been burning through his mana during the fight, but mana lode had helped bring it almost three quarters full again. Trying out another of his new spells, Alan formed a stone wall from one side of the ritual to the other, passing less than a meter away from the egg.

The spiral of mana that was threatening to collapse was suddenly blocked. It was still able to swirl, but it was moving much slower, as if the wall was partially restricting its movement. It was also wearing away at his wall at a tremendous rate. He figured it would only last fifteen to twenty seconds, and it had also only further destabilized the area. When the wall collapsed, the whole thing would soon follow.

Despite the seeming failure of his first wall, Alan summoned another wall parallel with it, and also about a meter away from the egg, but on the other side. This formed a tunnel from where Alan stood, all the way across to the other side of the ritual. This second wall temporarily stabilized the area between them, but he could tell that it had also accelerated the total destruction of the diagram. He had a few seconds at most.

Using every bit of dexterity his phantom class and achievements had given him, Alan sprinted across the tunnel. He didn't slow as he approached the egg, but he was as gentle as he possibly could be as he scooped it up in his arms. It was surprisingly heavy, he didn't think he would have been able to carry it pre-Network.

As he continued dashing for the other side, he felt a void form behind him, right where the egg had been a moment ago. It started as an infinitesimal speck of nothingness, but it soon expanded to the size of a beach ball and kept growing. Alan was almost to the edge of the outer circle, less than a meter away from safety, but he could almost feel the cold emptiness pressing against his back. With one last burst of effort he leapt out of the stone tunnel, tossing the egg in the air as he did.

He hit the ground and started sliding across the stone dais. Behind him the ball of nothingness had reached the edge of the ritual, and then in a sudden contraction it was gone. What it left behind was a hole in the platform and a spherical depression in the ground beneath it. There was also a rush of air filling the vacuum that had been left behind.

Alan hadn't accounted for this in his previous moment of desperation. He had feared when he jumped that he would end up smashing the egg when he landed. His brilliant plan had been to throw the egg in the air, allowing himself to smash into the ground, and then gently catch the egg as it fell.

The first two parts had gone off without a hitch. Alan was even able to roll himself over as he slid, raising his hands to catch the descending precious treasure. Unfortunately, when the air rushed back to fill the vacuum left behind by the voided ritual, it also caused the egg to lose momentum and actually start to fall back toward the now absent diagram. Fortunately, Alan had also failed to consider friction, and his body was not sliding nearly as fast along the ground as the egg had been flying through the air.

It was a case of two wrongs making a right, and the dark grey dragon egg landed almost perfectly in Alan's arms. As he mentally took in the craziness of what he had just done, he couldn't help noticing that not only was the egg heavy, the shell was also incredibly hard. It almost felt like metal. Perhaps it would have been fine if he had just held on to it.

Now that it wasn't surrounded by the magical corruption energy, Alan was able to identify it. When he did, he had a good idea of why this egg was so durable, and why it was so heavy. He didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but it sounded cool at least.

Egg: Ferric Dragon, rarity Legendary. This is a viable egg that contains the progeny of an Ancient Ferric Dragon.

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