A Path of Bone and Poison 133 Into the wastelands

Two figures were highlighted by the rising sun. One a half draconian woman who was dressed completley in black. She had a cowboy hat on her head, and a cigarette in her mouth. The other was a bone dragon that hovered to her right. In front of them was an endless expanse of what could only be called wastelands.

The area was was mostly flat, but large rocks jutted up from the ground at irregular intervals. The areas of land that were not infested with the large boulders were filled with small rocks and poisonous plants that had large needles. Yuri knew from experience that these plants could fire their needles like missiles. The poison they injected into you was paralytic, which would leave you completely open to the surprisingly large and intricate root system of the plants.

This was not a pleasant environment in the slightest, and unfortunately the entire area around the ruins of Skyhigh city was the same. You would have to travel through this god forsaken land to reach any other area. And god forsaken it was. In the temple of the goddess of war Yuri could sense a faint residue of the Goddess's presence, but no matter how hard she tried to communicate with the Goddess there was no response.

She sighed as she looked at the desolate land in front of her. She was looking north, as this was the direction her companions had left in five years ago. She had no idea if this direction was correct, but it was the only clue she had.

"I think it would be better if we were to fly over this area Yuri" Lucifer finally said, the endless silence of the wasteland causing him to attempt conversation.

Yuri thought for a moment, but finally rejected the idea. "We do not know how long the enviornment goes on like this. If we used your size alteration ability it would consume all of our mana, and even if I used the effects of Masochism to recover my mana we wouldn't be able to do anything else. It is best if we just travel through the wastelands on foot."

Lucifer nodded at her words, he knew the risks as well, but the idea of traveling through the area for such a long period of time was not something he wanted to do. He let out a sigh, with it a small cloud of Venomous vapor was emitted into the air.

"Then I guess we had better get going. It would be best if both of us were on guard against those needlers though."

Yuri nodded at the words of the baby dragon. As a dragon even in an infant form his wisdom was much higher than any human. If one only listened to his words one would easily forget he was a child.

Yuri looked towards the wasteland as she summoned a short sword in either hand. The swords were weightless, having been formed of compressed mana into the shape of a short sword. These weapons were one of four that she was able to wield. On either one of her hips was a pistol, and on her back was a large bastard sword. The last of her weapons were the claws that were on her hands and feet.

Each of the weapons were weapons she was proficient in. The pistols were the weapons she was most proficient in, and by far her most reliable weapons. One of the pistols was a legendary item that had been passed down to her by her now deceased mother. Because of this the pistols were the weapon she was most attached to.

Her claws were the weapons next in life for priority. She was a skilled unarmed fighter, and had recieved intensive training in unarmed combat for 6 years during her stay in the Inverted tower. This training was not only focused on her claws, but on all aspects of unarmed combat. Her light build was her biggest weapon, as it hid the immense amount of strength that her body contained.

The short swords were an ability that manifested from her mana. The did intelligence damage and were incredibly fast. Because they were made out of her mana they did not use her physical attributes for damage, making her strength useless. But they did use her agility and dexterity which made them an ideal candidate for the current situation. She would be using them to block the projectiles shot at her.

The last of her four weapons was the bastard sword on her back. It was the weapon she was least experienced in. The weapon utilized her energy weapon to do not only damage based on her intelligence, but it utilized her strength as well. It was a great weapon, but its movements were much slower than any of her other options, and would truly only be useful when she fought enemies with high amounts of defense.

If one was to look at her they would assume that the girl was a battle maniac, and they would not be wrong. She was the first person in history to clear the final 5 floors of the Inverted tower on her own. She was not a wizard, and did not use magic, but had a level of intelligence that was much higher than her other stats. Her abilities were centered around this fact. Her main ability [Arcane Body] was a rare skill to have. It required intensive training on that ability alone for an extended period of time.

For most people the skill was not worth the time and effort it took to gain the ability. For Yuri the skill was her bread and butter. The skill allowed her to gain a boost to her stats based off her intelligence. It was an incredible skill for her. A lucky encounter earlier in her life had caused her to gain access to a book that increased her intelligence by a large amount, and had been melded into her daily training. Because of this her Intelligence was an entire grade above her other stats. The boost it gave was not something to scoff at.

She had a total of four more skills. Each of these skills was more powerful than the next. They were skills that had been earned through her own blood sweat and tears, and any of them would cause others to thank the gods for the gift. But each of these four skills had added a subtle unique trait to her personality.

The first of these skills was called [Overload] which maximized the effects of a skill, but costed a much larger amount of mana. She had gained the ability for landing the killing blow on a boss level monster that had destroyed her home town. The ability came with a title of [Hero] which had been the cause of the subtle change to her personality. The result of which caused her to put herself in harm's way more often than not to protect her friends and family.

The second skill she had gained was [Massochism] which lessened the amount of pain she recieved from wounds, and actually gave her a sense of pleasure. It also allowed her to heal her hp and Mp when wounded. This ability had not so subtle changes on her personality.

The third skill was [Insanity]. This gave her immunity to mental status effects, but also made her actions more irregular.

The fourth skill was [Defiance] which reflected the damage healed by [Masochism] back at the opponent(s). This skill made her more defiant, much more likely to stand up against adversity.

She was a complelty different person than she had been in the past, she was much stronger both physically and mentally. The challenge in front of her was nothing but another battle in her mind. A battle that would be overcome like so many others had already happened.

Chapter end