《The In Betweens》 Chapter 1, A start ''Warm. Comfortable. Dark.'' I felt something hard to my left. I tried using my teeth to break it, it felt right. Something cracked and i fell out, on top of a prickly thing. ''It wasn''t comfortable at all.'' "Ohh you hatched quickly!" I Heard a strange chirping noise. ''How odd.'' ? ''Its been 2 months since i hatched. Mom has taught me how to speak, fly, and use the system! Its fun!'' "status"
Name: Ifar krakin
Rase: half dragon (space)
LVL: 1
Skills: None
Achievements: none
''again'' "status"
Name: Ifar Krakin
Ra-
''And again'' "stat-" "What did I say about playing with your status?" Mom said in an annoyed voice. "Sorry, i won''t do it again." i said unconvincingly. "That''s what you Said the last four times." she grumbled. "..." "..." "IM BORED! When is brother hatching??" I asked loudly. "You hatched extremely quickly, it''ll probably be in a month or two." So naturally, i kept bothering her. ? Two days later, while me and mom were on the other side of the nest, a strong gust of wind came and made our nest tilt a bit and pushed the egg off of the nest. "Oh no!" Mom yelled. "AHHH" i just screamed. "Windy acceleration!" mom activated one of her skills. She suddenly flew fast enough to knock me off of my feet. She flew after it as it fell, she was gaining on it! "Slow fall!" she used another one of her skills. The egg started to slow its descent. But then mom''s wing hit a small boulder, so she tried to pull up, to not fall between the safe peaks of the mountains and into the in betweens, where monsters live.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. BOOM The sound of mom hitting the ground at such a speed was so loud that I could faintly hear it even from the peaks. "MOM!" I yelled uselessly. ''Right! She can''t hear me from here. I need to get down there and help her.'' I jumped off the edge of the nest and started to glide down. It took me 10 whole minutes to get down safely. And then i saw her, lying in a pool of blood, not moving, was my mom. "Mom!" I started running towards her. "Mom wake up! We are in the in betweens, we need to take the egg and get back to the nest before the monsters come!" I shoved her to wake up. But she didn''t move, only then did I notice that her chest wasn''t rising and falling. My eyes teared up and I started sobbing. I cried for a few minutes before I heard a menacing growl. I jumped. Looking back I saw a wolf 3 times my size. I ran. I was in the middle of the flight when I looked back and saw it taking a bite out of the corpse. ''It was trying to intimidate me! And make me run away without a fight! I was seeing red. So I dove claws first, aiming for the neck of the beast. The blow connected and something cracked between my talons.
LVL UP! You killed a level 32 poisonspeed wolf! For killing an enemy 30+ LVLs above you you get bonus XP. You are now LVL 9!
A few more screens appeared but i ignored them for now. ''I need to get back to the nest before stronger monsters come.'' After an hour of flying and resting between flights I reached the nest. I was exhausted and hungry, ''at least we have some extra food here I can eat.'' So I ate. And went to sleep. Still in shock of what just happened. The next day I woke up and saw that it was the afternoon, I was about to ask mom why she didn''t wake me up before I remembered the day before and broke down crying again. after an hour of non stop crying I stopped. 4 hours more and I felt lonely with no one to talk to. And then i remembered the egg. ''I don''t have to be lonely I can be with my brother! But he is in the in betweens. How can I even save him? Wait! I can fight the monsters and get stronger!'' And then I remembered the system notifications I got after i killed the poisonspeed wolf, so i opened them again.
For reaching LVL 5 as a half dragon (space) you get the spell: space manipulation!
Space manipulation description: A simple way to bend what it means to move in a straight line. From dodging projectiles to hitting a weak point, it has its uses.
For killing an enemy 10 LVLs above you, you get the Aim high achievement
Aim high description: For hitting over your weight class and succeeding, you get this achievement, which will help you do it again. +10% for all stats when fighting enemies over 10 LVLs above you.
For getting to LVL 9 from LVL 1 you get: + 12 strength + 15 wisdom + 17 agility + 6 intelligence + 8 perception
''I can do this. I have magic now, I just need to get down there and get brother''s egg!'' I went to the edge of the nest to see if I can see it. ''And there it is! It has rolled down the slope to the deepest parts of the in betweens. That''s where the stronger monsters live! I''ll need to get stronger if I want to rescue him.'' I decided to experiment with my new spell, I instinctively know how to use it so I tried to throw a pebble at the back of my hand. I needed to be thinking of the name of the spell and what I wanted it to do. I could say it out loud and then I won''t need to think of the name but I decided to do it chantless to see what it''s like. It looked as if the stone suddenly stretched and worped around my hand without slowing down. And then I tried to catch it, I used the spell again and moved my hand forward, not enough to reach it but I caught it anyway. "Neat" ''With that done I have nothing to stall with, i guess I should get going.'' And with that I went to the edge again, took a deep breath and jumped. End of prologue Chapter 2, deafening silence As I''m falling, i can hear the air passing by my ears. I slowly open my wings and start to glide. ''I should look for monsters I can fight. Something lower level then the poisonspeed wolf, the only reason I wan against him was that poisonspeed wolves are agility and effects based fighters so they don''t have much defensive skills and they didn''t notice me attacking the or they would have dodged my attack.'' As I scan the ground for monsters I can spot a few that are hunting. ''I should probably wait until I find 2 monsters that are already fighting So I can just finish them off.'' As i glide I can finally see 2 monsters in the middle of fighting. I float slowly in circles above them waiting for an opportunity. And after one of the monsters got a good hit against the other and making it clear who would win I dive. 20 meters. 10 meters. I used space manipulation to change where my claws are going to hit to the back of the skull of the winning monster. CRUNCH! The neck of the beast can''t stop my momentum and reaps apart most of the insides of the nest. As the monster crumbles under me the second monster understands that I''m a flying creature and that they can''t outrun me, so it does the second best option and attacks me. I try to use space manipulation again but I can''t concentrate. So the monster manages to get a hit in, its just a glancing hit to one of my wings but it''ll probably still make me unable to fly for a few days. I managed to use space manipulation to make one of my attacks scratch across both of its eyes. I quickly get away from the now blindly swinging beast. Now I just need to wait until it dies from blood loss. As i wait I find somewhere where it''s harder to see me. Just in case of other monsters. After 20 minutes of waiting for the monster to die I decide to look through the system messages i got.
LVL UP! You have killed a LVL 19 earthdrek! For killing an enemy 10 LVLs above you you get bonus XP. You are now LVL 11!
Level 11 huh. I suppose getting to level 10 is easy but I''m a bit surprised I got to level 11 since it gets harder to level up every 10 levels.
For reaching LVL 10 as a half dragon (space) you can pick one of 3 skills. - Space slam - light bend camouflage - identify Beware, some skills will be permanently lost if you do not pick them.
Space slam description: The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Stretch space around you and then let it go to produce a wave of force that hits everything without care for any physical barriers.
Light bend camouflage description: Bend space around you in just the right way to make light bend around you without reflecting off of you.
Identify description: Instead of running blindly into battle you can see your enemy''s LVL and decide then.
''ok, decision time. Space slam is a good attack spell however, I''m not in real need for an attack spell. the other two skills are a lot more useful. if Light bend camouflage can be active while I''m sleeping it''ll be incredibly useful And identify is one of the most useful low level skills for a monster hunter.'' In the end, I chose identify because if I need to sleep, I can just partially berry myself for camouflage.
For getting to LVL 11 from LVL 9 you get: + 3 strength + 3 wisdom + 6 agility + 1 intelligence + 2 perception
''Ok, wow, I guess level ups above 10 really do give a lot of stats points. Let''s look at my stats'' "status"
Name: Ifar Krakin
Rase: half dragon (space)
LVL: 11
Skills: space manipulation, identify
Achievements: Aim high
''19 levels to go before my Evolution.'' I look at were brother''s egg rolled to but I can''t find it. ''theres a mountain in the way!'' I thought of flying to the top of a mountain to check on it but even if my wing wasn''t broken, but this mountain, unlike the previous mountain I flew to the top of, this one doesn''t have a nest with food at the peak. I''ll lose to much energy if I tried flying to the peak I''ll and be to hungry to hunt for more. ''I guess I can identify the bleeding monster.'' I look out from my hole to see said monster has fainted from blood loss. "Identify"
LVL 15 rage bear
''Level 15, huh? I probably won''t get a level from its death.'' I get out of my hole and prepare to finish the monster off. {=}={=}={=}={=}={=} ???''s point of view. I feel something hard to my right, I tried biting it, it felt like the right thing to do. Something broke and I fell out. Other than the faint sound of liquid sloshing from my egg i was in complete and utter silence. ? A day passed, not that I knew what a day was. I was just born after all. *Tunk, tunk, tunk* Something was getting closer to me. "YO RONALD, COME HERE AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" I heard an incredibly loud barking noise. "I''m coming, I''m coming no need to shout." A different, less loud barking noise came from somewhere else. "Holy hell, You found a baby half dragon. Poor girl, her parents probably abandoned her." The second voice said. "I heard that you and your wife were looking to adopt a kid, do you want to adopt her?" The first loud noise said, now less loudly. "Maybe, half dragons have a mental head start, it will certainly be easier." The second voice said. "Good thing we found her on our patrol then" the first voice said. I felt something lift me up. I was too hungry to resist. It was gentle and I fell asleep. ? Waking up, I smelled something Incredible. Something opened my mouth and put the only thing I''ve ever eaten in my mouth. End of chapter 2 Chapter 3 becoming an adventurer! Ifar opened his eyes. Its been 15 days since his mother died, in the 2 months that he knew her he came to like her. She was always nice to him, even when he purposely annoyed her. He remembered back to when she taught him about cities. They were a gathering of sentient species, all agreeing to do their part to defend it and its people. It could be a good place to get people to help him. And so I went searching for a city. After 3 days of searching he finally saw an outline of a city in the distance. Excited, he started moving towards it. After an hour or two he finally made it. "Can I come in?" I asked the city guard. "Sure, name and reason for entry?" He answered. "Ifar krakin. And to look for help with some problem of mine." I said. "Welcome to The Undying." The man said, with an obviously fake smile. "Thanks" I said while walking past him and into the city. Seeing a lot of advertisement, he noticed a lot of signs that advertised something called ''the adventures guild''. Apparently they are pretty much just mercenaries for hire, except that they do jobs, instead of killing people. ''That could be useful actually, it would help me find people who can help me find my brother''s egg. Walking around the city, as he marveled at the buildings, he saw a building with a sign saying ''adventurers guild''. Walking into it he went to the front desk. "Excuse me sir, where can I get information about the adventurers guild? I asked. He looked at me strangely and said "yes, I''ll get you a worker, please wait for a second." Then he left for a minute and came back with a second person in tow. "Hello there, how can I help you today?"the worker asked. "I''d like to know how the guild works please." I said politely. "Which part?" She asked back.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "All of it" i answered. 1h later: "So I can''t leave a quest to find my brother?" I asked. "No, your quest is too vague and there are to many unknowns." The worker said, exasperatedly. "But I can join a team who are looking to go to the deeper parts of the in Betweens and search for him myself?" I asked. "Yes, exactly." She answered. "Thank you" I said. Going back to the front desk, I requested to join. It''ll be another week until I can get combat testing. ''I guess I can do odd jobs here and there while I wait to earn some money.'' I went to a bulletin board and searched for some non-permanent jobs. There were a few but in the end I chose a merchant who was looking for someone to do a few deliveries. 6 days later "Hey old man?" I asked. "Yeah kiddo?" Said the old merchant. "I need to leave early today to get tested for the adventurers guild." I said. "Ok, well you better go then." "Thanks old man, bye." "Good luck with the test." Entering the adventurers guild, I asked the guy in the front desk if I could start my teat. "Yes, your test will be in that room" he pointed towards a door with a number 3 stumped on it. Entering it, I saw a man with a sword sitting in a very comfortable looking chair. "Ah, a new recruit. Do you know how this is gonna work?" The man asked. "No, do you mind explaining?" "I don''t mind. At the start you will fight me like you''ll fight any other monster, don''t worry about hurting me, you''re not strong enough to do any damage." The man started explaining. "At the second part you''ll be fight me without any skills, just technique." With that said he entered into a stance. Shifting into a stance myself, I prepared a ''space manipulation'' spell. Stepping towards him I crouched and slashed at his leg. Preparing to jump back if necessary. He moved his left my leg back, but while his leg was in the air I used ''space manipulation'' to hit his right leg, breaking his balance. However he didn''t just stand there and take all that, because by the time ''space manipulation'' ended he was already swinging a blade at my back, Thereby making me jump back without being able to capitalize on his lost balance. And like that, our fight continued. Sometimes I backed away, sometimes I attacked, but I never managed to get a good hit in. 7 minutes later I was exhausted. My attacks were sluggish, my Dodges just a bit too late. The end of the fight came when I tried using ''space manipulation'' to hit his sword arm but he dodged and moved his sword to intercept my side. As my ability was on cool dawn, I couldn''t get out of the way in time. Just before the sword hit my side he stopped it. "You''re a natural, still need a lot of training but its a good start. Rank 2 or so." The man said. Rank 2 is honestly better than I expected to get. The guild has 7 ranks. rank 0 is people who don''t know how to fight at all, rank 1 is people who just started to fight, and rank 2 is for people who have been fighting for a few months and can utilize their skills well with their fighting style. "Well, tell the front desk that old Hipsky said you''re rank 2." He gave me a hand to shake. I shook it and asked "should I say ''old Hipsky'' or just ''Hipsky''?" "Heh, how would they know who I am if you don''t call me old Hipsky" he said jokingly. Listening to the man, I went to the front desk. A different person was Manning the front desk, she was in her mid 30s. "Excuse me miss, ''old man Hipsky'' said I should tell you that I''m to be made a rank 2." It took her 2 minutes to give me a plate made of bronze with a tag on it. "You should come back in 2 hours. We have a few people who you''ll synergize with. You will be the group''s ranger. You''re group will be "group 16" until you diceide on a name." Listening to the lady, I went to a table and sat down. ''may as well order something while I wait.'' as i thought that someone came up to me. "Hey, are you part of group 16?" Asked a cheery blond man. "Yeah, I''m the team''s ranger." I answered in a monotone voice. "Did someone scam you? Cheer up! Its our first day adventuring, you should be excited!" He said. "Meh, just got some stuff on my mind. Anyway, what role are you?" I said, changing the topic beautifully. Raising an eyebrow, he answered "I''m the tank of the group." "Do you mind if I order something for the both of us?" I asked. my teammates liking me probably wouldn''t hurt. "Thanks, that''d be appreciated." The blond man said. ''Oops I forgot to ask for his name.'' "What''s your name by the way?" I asked. "My name is Danny Smithson." Danny said. "Mine is Ifar Krakin." I said. We ordered our dishes and ate in quite anticipation until our next team member arrived. End of chapter 3 Chapter 4: Team member number 3 "So, Danny, why are you Becoming an adventurer? I hear it''s a tough profession." "I''m going to join the high gard, but I''m not strong enough to pass their test yet. I thought I could join the adventures guild to get experience and EXP." He answered without looking up. almost as if he already said this many times before. I chuckled and said "You sound like people ask that a lot." Finally look up from his plate, smiling, he said "you''ve got no idea." After a second, he corrected himself "or maybe you do? Because You''re joining the guild and all too, after all." "Not really, not many people know me sense I''m new to the city." "Oh, where are you from if you don''t mind me asking?" He asked. "I''m from the north peaks. I came to this city a week ago." I answered.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. As I said that an aldranien woman with a bow on her back walked closer to us. "You guys part a'' team 16?" She asked. "I suppose that you''re part of our group?" Danny asked back. "Yeah, ma'' name is Djin." Djin said. "Nice to meet you Djin. I''m Danny and this is Ifar." Danny introduced us. "Hello." I waved at her. "Can i sit?" She asked. "Of course." I answered. She sat down and ordered something. "What part a'' the group are you?" She eventually asked us. "I''m the team''s ranger." I said. "And I''m the tank. Are you the artillery?" Danny asked. Gesturing at the bow on her back. "Yes, I am." She said. Artillery is a term that refers to ranged fighters who are focused on delivering devastating attacks from after. But it takes a long time to charge each attack. They are mainly used in teams because in a one vs one if they don''t kill at the first shot they are pretty much dead weight. We continued eating and waiting for our next team member. {=}={=}={=}={=}={=} a deep city gardmen''s POV "I heard that you and Linda adopted a half dragon. Is that true?" A friend of mine asked. "Yeah, I and joe found her abandoned on a patrol." I answered. "What did you call her?" A different person asked. "Lira."