Jewel rushed down Drake's arm and dived into the large bag filled with loot, hiding in her box, tucked into the soft emerald green silk pillow.

Drake stared at the boss as the chamber lit up. One by one, torches ignited, lighting the room.

The dungeon boss was tall, the same size as the giant from the road. This time, he didn't have help fighting. He wished he had all his power. He knew why he had two healing potions; he would need them.

The boss looked like a giant goblin, but it carried a glowing staff instead of a weapon. Drake could feel the power radiating from the staff. He didn't like what he was seeing. It was a goblin shaman, and it would be using magic to fight him.

Drake knew the staff would be his weakness. If he could separate the staff from the shaman, it wouldn't be able to use as much magic… in theory, anyway.

Shooting the blade out of his stave, he aimed at the staff's power point; the jewel at the top.

It missed. The shaman saw what he was doing and moved it to the side.

"Speed and strength…" Drake thought. "What can I do with it to help me win?"

The blade of the stave was already back in place. Drake dashed, using his newfound speed, and ran between the shaman's legs. As he did, he switched which hand was holding the stave and pulled out his whip, lashing it around the staff, then yanked as hard as he could.

To his surprise, the staff snapped in half from the speed and pressure of the whip, falling to the ground. The top landed on the stone floor, and the jewel on top shattered into sparkling dust.

The shaman growled in anger, but before it could react, Drake dropped his stave and pulled off his bow, rapid-firing arrows, aiming for the giant's enormous head.

He was able to take out one of its eyes, but that was all. Using his speed, he picked up fallen arrows and fired them at the shaman. It took several attempts and several broken arrows to blind the giant shaman.

The goblin swung his arms about, trying to hit whatever he could, no longer being able to see.

His large fist slammed into Drake, knocking him against a wall. Blood poured out of his mouth. Drake could feel he had multiple broken bones, and he could barely breathe. He had no choice. He had to take one of the healing potions.

He pulled one of the two remaining potions out of the small box and gulped it down. The bones snapped back into place, and his breathing stabilized. He sighed with relief.

However, the goblin heard and kicked its large foot near the sound.

Drake rolled to the side and sped to the opposite side of the room, being careful not to make any noise.

Pulling out his whip, he lashed at the goblin, trying to get it to fall to its knees so he could get to its neck. The whip barely cut the goblin's flesh. He knew the neck would cut through, but it was too high up.

Replacing the whip, he aimed the blade of the stave toward the goblin's ankles, determined to weaken it. He figured if he cut the tendons, the goblin would fall to his knees. He hoped anyway.

Using all his speed and strength, he sliced at the back of the giant goblin's ankles. Long lines of blood appeared, then dropped to the floor, creating a pool of sticky blood. The giant goblin stumbled back, hitting the wall.

Drake ran toward the front, slicing at the goblin's knees, barely reaching the bottom of them. Blood poured as the goblin stumbled. Pounding his fists on the ground, he barely missed Drake as he dashed to the side, avoiding the blow.

The goblin finally fell to the ground, unable to hold itself up.

Rushing forward, Drake sliced across the neck, making a long slash. It wasn't deep enough. Using his speed, he slashed back and forth, acting as a saw cutting deeper with each strike. The large hands moved up, grasping at his neck, knocking Drake to the ground.

He did a rolling fall, avoiding injury. Then quickly rushed back up the body of the giant. Pointing the tip of the stave at the center of the giant's neck, with all his strength and speed, he slammed it down as hard and fast as he could.

The giant burst into light particles, causing Drake to fall yet again to the floor.

He repeated his last fall, doing a roll, and avoiding injury as he did last time. He breathed heavily, sucking in a breath.

Where the giant once lay, in its place was a large gold chest. Drake opened the lid and peered inside. It was a saddle made of emerald. It was made from the same material as the armor that Jewel wore. Drake smiled. "Am I going to be a dragon rider?" He continued to search the chest, just in case. He always double-checked the chests he came across. Inside was a green-colored potion. He knew it was for the baby dragon.

Opening the storage bag, he called into it. "Jewel! It's safe to come out now," he told her.

When she came out, she let the dragon drink the potion. Her body vibrated before beginning to grow. When she finally stopped growing, she was twice the size of Renn, who was the largest of his beasts.

He placed the saddle on her back. It melded into the armor, creating a seat.

"You're much bigger, Jewel!" he praised.

"Bigger!" she beamed.

Glowing words appeared in front of him.

{Quest Complete}

{Lessons Learned: You have learned not to rely on powers in a time of danger; there are times when you cannot use them. You have learned that you are strong enough to fight on your own. Trust your friends and your familiars, because they are as strong as you are. You have learned that each opponent you fight fights differently. You can adapt to your opponent as needed. You have learned that finding your opponent's weakness is important in a fight against someone much stronger than you are.}

{Special Quest rewards: Emerald Dragon Evolution (Jewel), Universal stat boost by +10, You will keep all items and boosts received during the quest, Endless food bag for Jewel, Endless water bag for Jewel.}

{You may now leave the dungeon}

Two large green bags were sitting on the floor. Drake picked them up and put them in the special storage bag. Drake knew they were the food and water bags for Jewel. He smiled.

A wide arch materialized in the center of the chamber.

Drake pulled himself into the saddle, and Jewel immediately leaped through the wide arch, taking them out of the dungeon.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.