"... sixty seconds."
Sixty seconds?! Astor gritted his teeth. There was no way he could survive even a single clash against a beast that large, let alone survive for sixty seconds.
However, as he looked around, he realised that there wasn't much he could do but trust Dawn.
"S-Sixty second?! No way!" Rose shouted as she took a step back.
"Do as you please... But keep in mind, if Astor dies, then so would we, and it would all be your fault." Dawn said, glancing at the girl.
"I can't have it," Astor said as he walked past Dawn, unsheathing his dagger, "I do not know how to wield a sword." Although Astor was shocked that Dawn had a plan to kill the wolf, he was more shocked by the fact that Dawn had offered Astor his Origin Artifact.
The biggest weakness a Gatebearer has is their Origin Artifact. Since it is a part of a Gatebearer's own soul, all damage inflicted on it will be transferred directly to the soul as well. Meaning if the Origin Artifact breaks... then so would the Gatebearer's own soul.
In simple words. You must treat your Origin Artifact as something just as precious as your own life. Otherwise, you will face severe consequences. And yet Dawn had casually handed him his charred sword.
"Can I have it?" The girl said, with a smile on her face, as she took a step towards Dawn.
However, Dawn didn't respond to her — he simply smiled before impaling his sword back into the glacier once again, "Alright, Astor. Suit yourself." Then, as he snickered, he brought forth both his hands.
After a few seconds had passed, a small sphere of water started to form between Dawn's two hands. Its size kept on increasing until it was almost double the size of his palms.
Impossible!!How is he doing that?!! Indeed, it shouldn't be possible.
Dawn's Origin Artifact was of the Inferno Element, judging by everything Astor had seen so far, and yet Dawn was creating water, something only an Aqua Gatebearer should be able to do.
And if that wasn't confusing enough, he was also carrying a Tempest Element Ore.
Which Element Gate does he even have?! It should be impossible for a single Gate to have multiple Elements, or multiple Origin Artifacts... everyone knows that.
But seeing what Dawn was doing, it felt almost as if his whole life had been a lie.
After the sphere of water got large enough. The Element Ore strapped to Dawn's chest began glowing brightly. The wind around him shifted and began gathering around the sphere he had created.
It took Astor a few seconds to realise it, but the Ore strapped to Dawn's chest had begun to slowly shrink... and if he was correct, after sixty seconds it would completely disappear.
The wolf, Regulus, noticed what Dawn was doing and lifted its neck. However, it didn't move.
But that didn't stay the same for long... as in the next second, the sphere began to warm up. Bubbles could be seen forming...
However, the wind didn't allow them to escape. By the time 10 seconds passed, the water sphere had started glowing dimly and was shrinking steadily...
It was only then that Regulus started sprinting forward. And just as Astor saw that, even he took a step forward.
50 seconds, Astor. Just 50 seconds. It shouldn't be that difficult... hopefully.
He planned to do enough chip damage to piss off the wolf and make himself its target rather than Dawn. As for what happens after that... well, maybe he could pray to the gods, but the last time he tried that, it didn't work out well.
Astor picked up his pace and ran straight towards the roaring wolf. The wolf bent down and opened its maw, revealing the sharp teeth that lined the insides of its mouth. However, just before he got close enough, he slid down on his knees and barely dodged being eaten alive.
Now for the hard part! Astor had observed this before, back when he had been in the middle of the clash of Regulus and the Inferno Invoker.
He had miraculously survived without any major injuries. At first, he had thought he was just lucky, but looking back on it, he understood it was because creatures of this size can't do anything if you go under them.
And it was especially true for Regulus, who, unlike the Inferno Invoker, had a body made for stealth, so it couldn't really stomp the ground or fling massive chunks of dirt around as it moved.
The wolf slowed down as it noticed that Astor had slipped by, and it immediately turned back. It raised its claw, ready to strike at the puny human, but as it stared back in the direction of the statue, it saw nothing...
Clinging to one of the wolf's hind legs, Astor unsheathed his dagger, which was now chipped badly after he had used it to climb the glacier, and pierced it into the wolf's leg... or at least he tried to.
Damn it! Take that! And that! And that! But all he was able to do was create a loud clang! no matter how many times he tried. His dagger refused to pierce the wolf's fur.
And all this did was make the wolf realise where Astor was hiding. And when he noticed that the wolf had stopped moving, he tightened his grip on the wolf's leg.
He had expected the wolf to shake around its legs and body, trying all it could in order to throw Astor off. But none of that happened...
I don't have a good feeling about this... And as Astor continued to try and thrust his dagger into the wolf's leg, he felt something touch him, something cold and wet... It was the shadow of the wolf.
What... The shadow of the wolf, created by the beacon, had now warped and slithered above its own leg to reach Astor and tightly grab onto his leg.
In the next second, Astor was flung in the direction where he had first come from... His body slammed against the jagged and uneven surface of the glacier, which broke many bones in his body, and made blood spill from his mouth.
His tunic tore against the ice, making him skid against the frozen, uneven surface in his bare skin. But after sliding for a second, he came to a halt right next to Dawn's scorched sword and Dawn himself...
"D-Damn it!" Shadow... Of course. I should have seen something like that coming! Astor got up on his knees and gently pressed his head with his trembling hands.
His tunic was now tattered beyond saving. So with a sharp tug, he tore it the rest of the way off, letting it fall away and exposing his porcelain skin and lean muscles, honed by hardship and years of struggle.
Fifteen more seconds had passed since Dawn began preparing his attack... By now, the sphere of water was glowing luminously, bright enough to illuminate Dawn and his surroundings.
However, Astor noticed that the sphere was now slightly smaller. And now, Dawn's hands were covered in blisters and burns.
Damn it... If only my Origin tier were something bigger than Dormant! I could have ascended by now!
Indeed, if the tier of his origin artifact was even slightly greater than dormant, he might have had a chance at ascending.
A gate rises in its tier when the gatebearer is forced into extreme situations, and their emotions become heightened. In simple words, you needed real-life experience to ascend to the next rank. Experience that you can only get with your life on the line.
Fighting an Invoker as a Dormant already fulfilled those requirements. But since his Origin Artifact was of only the Dormant tier, his own rank couldn't be any higher.
Turning to the wolf once again, he saw it slowly walking towards them. So he reached for his dagger... only to realise that he didn't have it, and it was nowhere to be seen.
With no dagger, there was only one weapon in the vicinity that Astor could use...
Sorry Dawn...
[You have received a Divine Artifact — Sword of the Six-Headed Dragon]