Dorian grunted, his eyes flaring as he drilled invisible lasers into the entrance, his staff at the ready. As if demons would start pouring out any moment through that tight choke. Zaine would have to be the dumbest high-tier world boss in the history of Aeon Chronicles if that happened. Highly unlikely.
All high-tier world bosses were intelligent, calculating, and not hotheaded like Dorian. A brash world boss would be easy to out-smart.
Simpering and shaking his head at the Fire Lord, Jonathan floated over to Lance and Rain and the Beastmaster. She gave off a unique confidence sitting on the back of that giant bird with that shit eating grin. It hovered far more unstably looked like it could fling her off any moment. Or whack Jonathan off his if his Light Shard Mastery skill was a lower tier.
“I feel sorry for you guys,” the Beastmaster said in a relaxed tone, “Three darkies based on your continent including LeMort. Must really suck.”
“Four now,” Lance said, “And Rowan was confirmed to be a new player yesterday. LeMort found enough sense to power level one of her creations for once.”
Of course, Lance knew the true story behind Rowan and Gabby's high school friendship thanks to Dorian. But he'd decided to keep the tidbit under wraps to protect both Dorians and the darkies' privacy. The guy was far too noble. Jonathan played along, "I agree. For a darkie to power level another. Even LeMort and Ambiguous had their long spat back in alpha." Those were the good old days—when the dark class players had been few and divided. Now there were… six. A horrible number.
Rain huffed, smirking. “It’s not that bad. LeMort’s hiding somewhere training her professions most of the time so we tend to leave her alone. She is a high-level Runecrafter. Impressive, I have to admit. Boring skill.”
Leave it to Rain to compliment LeMort of all people. Jonathan stopped an eye-roll.
“Wooow.” the Beastmaster whistled. “I can’t imagine hiding out somewhere all day chanting over rocks. She must be really insane.”
“More insane than Not Insane,” Jonathan said, then remembered an important detail he’d missed all this time. “I’m Jon Bladestrider. Or Jonathan. Nice to meet you.” He gave her a polite, warm smile and held out a hand. Yes, there was Examine… but politeness broke the ice rather well. And you had to start somewhere. So why not treat this like real-life in this hyper-realistic world?
“Lily Mannequin.” She accepted in a split-second. “Bladestrider and you’re not a Blademaster?” She shot him a quizzical look. The eagle blinked at him, its head tilting.
Confident. It was clear why she wasn’t afraid around and on top of beasts. “Nah, I heard it doesn’t have a pain suppression skill.” He winced at the thought. Even with Paladin’s pain mitigation passive, he’d almost passed out on a few occasions.
“Difficult class too,” Lance said, “I tried it once and underestimated the complexity. It’s one of the few classes with a katana-like weapon. Many rush into it and regret it soon. I went to the king for a class reset after a week.”
Oh, that was right. Lance had tried out the majority of the classes back in the first in-game year. And went to the capital for a class reset every time. That’s how he’d gained such a high status among the Draconian elite. The snobbish nobles had been impressed by the guy’s attitude.
Rain nodded and chuckled. “Mmmm. Melee damage dealers are tricky patients.”
“Fair enough,” Lily said and plopped some kind of candy into her mouth. “So, tell me, got any ideas why they’d do an S tier raid? They really think a player Necro can beat a T8 Demon-Knight?”
Lance exhaled as Jonathan was about to speak. Better to leave it to the guild leader. He said, “Worst case scenario—”
"Rowan and LeMort make a deal with Zaine," Dorian said, voice hard, "If that happens, we're fucked."
Lily’s brow lifted. “Bit of a potty-mouth?”
Dorian’s back straightened. “How else would you put it?”
“We’re in deep dog-shit.” She flashed a wide grin of perfect teeth like most players sported.
“Exactly,” Jonathan said. There were few other ways of putting it. This could be the deepest dog-shit since day one of Aeon Chronicles.
Lance coughed. “But, best case scenario—they’ve gotten overly arrogant and Zaine kills them with a few attacks.”
A different voice cuts into the light wind. Hadrian, on his blue Mana Shard. "Which could be very likely, if you recall the king's tale. Zaine Everlight hated Draconians. LeMort's character is one. If Dorian's memory is accurate and the illusion wasn't false, then Rowan is one too, judging from those eyes. Two Draconians greeting his unsealing could work in our favor. I doubt they've heard of the king's tale."
All very true and well-thought-out. But… “Ambiguous is a human.” The other guys nodded, Dorian stone-faced.
“True,” Hadrian said, “But Zaine is a Fire-Dark Demon-Knight. He can’t be completely sane, even if he’s a T8 boss.”
Dorian's neck tensed at that, his tendons showing, but he said in a practiced, diplomatic voice, “I agree. He’d see LeMort and Rowan and probably kill them on sight. The only thing which could hold him back is their classes, Rowan’s especially. But he has to be still low to mid-level, one-sixty at most, even if they cleared the whole mine and dungeon.”
Solid acting. Jonathan silently praised the man.
“And he can’t raise elementals either,” Lily said, “They don’t leave behind corpses. Not sure about demons though.”
“Hmmmm,” Rain mumbled, “I heard somewhere they turn into ash like in other games.”
Lance grunted. “Likely. Synaptic confirmed the AI controller draws inspiration from other games and media. I don’t think I’ve played a game before where demons leave behind usable corpses. They usually die in a burst of fire or crumble to tatters.”
Dorian said in a brighter tone, “Then that would mean they cleared a whole world event dungeon up to the boss with just three players. This has to be just A rank difficulty event.”
Hadrian’s head swayed left and right. “You could be right. The seal could’ve severely weakened him and his minions over the millennium.”
“In that case,” Lily said and balled a fist, “We should go down there and kick some ass if there is any left. We won’t even need your faction leader for an A rank.”
“Sounds very, very reasonable actually,” Lance said and began pumping out orders into the raid chat.
Oh no… Jonathan listened in growing horror. They’d convinced themselves of an advantage in a dangerous stew of group-think. By the look on Hadrian’s face, he seemed to share the same thought but the peer-pressure was too much for him. But Dorian, Rain, and Lily were so sure. So adamant about their newfound dominance.
Jonathan fidgeted on his Light Shard. Should he speak up? Part of Jonathan didn’t want to rain on rain’s parade, pun definitely intended.
Yes, he should. He took a breath and said, “Hey, guys—”
“YYYAAAAAARRRR!”
The deafening, high-pitched roar gnawed at Jonathan’s eardrums.
But he was an experienced Raider and quick reactions were second-nature. He fed a bucket of mana into his Light-Shard and pulled back at top-speed, drawing his shield and sword, preparing to utter Divine Mark at any second. His innards churned as he tossed Dorian, Rain, and Hadrian a Life-Link. Lily would just have to manage on her own.
“Just a dragon,” Dorian drawled, looking up at the mountain range. “Relax.”
A red dragon circled the peak over the mine, its scaled body a sight to see. It roared at the entrance again, Jonathan covering his ears.
“It’s probably looking for LeMort,” Lance said, “That quest, remember?”
Lily reeled and slashed him a glance, her ornate leather armor flexing. “What quest?”
Right. She was from the western continent, the most distant from the Draonican Kingdom.
Jonathan flew over to her side. “LeMort kidnapped a baby red whelp and they’re looking for it. We think th
ey can roughly sense it on LeMort.”
“On her?” she chortled. “Like she’s carrying it around with her all tied up?”
“No,” Lance said gravely, “Like she took its soul with one of her Witch-Doctor skills. She has a few which can.”
“More or less,” Jonathan confirmed.
Lily’s jaw dropped.
The dragon roared louder, descending down the mountain like it heard Lance.
Its crimson eyes met Jonathan’s and time seemed to slow. A foreign presence wormed through his head, fiddling, searching, dusting every last corner of his mind. A stark feeling told him not to resist—or else.
The dragon. It was searching through his mind.
But the whelp’s soul wasn’t in his head!
Jonathan projected the plea as loudly as he could through the link.
It kept sifting through him—turning over every brain-cell that made up the eighteen-year-old known as Jonathan Lee. It examined every memory of his life, violating his being.
The feeling grew, demanding him to not resist.
The scene of Max’s murder played before his eyes in full clarity. That scream. That knife. All that blood gushing from his neck. Rowan’s insane laugh and the triumphant look on his face. Jonathan coughed, a vomit coming. Enough. Please, enough. He knew this was his burden to bare. His crime to make right. He should’ve stopped Rowan but didn’t. Simple as that.
A different feeling emanated from the link, challenging, taunting, beckoning. A fight?
Suddenly the dragon’s ancient mind withdrew and Jonathan was back on his Light Shard. His whole body trembled as Rain furiously cast an assortment of heals and cures. “Jon,” he said in a trained, strong voice, “Do you hear me?” His staff waved in front of his eyes. He examined him as a doctor would.
Rain’s warmth continued flooding him till the shaking stopped—till the memory sank back into the dark depths where it belonged. “Ye— Yes. I’m fine.”
Rain shone light into his eyes, looking into his pupils. “What did the dragon do in your mind? It only brushed against mine but you got it far worse, much worse than Dorian.”
Jonathan glanced at the Mana Phoenix at the corner of his eye. Dorian breathed heavily, eyes flushed with concern. Concern for Jonathan.
He swallowed. “I don’t know. I saw my memories play before me.” He didn’t dare mention that one memory else it’d float up again. “But I think it wants to fight me.”
Lily’s laugh fluttered through the wind. “A level 346 dragon with over a million health wants to fight you? Are you sure about that? It had the chance to attack you right there but it kind of just flew off after eyeing down each of us.”
“That’s what happened,” Lance said, “It was less than ten yards away from you.”
Damn. Ten yards away from a humongous dragon. And he wasn’t even conscious of it.
But Jonathan was 100% sure that the dragon had issued that challenge. He shook his head. “It wants me to follow.”
“Jonathan!” Dorian called and flew over. His Mana Phoenix buffered him with warmth. “Are you sure you’re not under a spell? Not one has left a Dragon’s Den alive. The black dragon raid wasn’t even a boss.”
“Absolutely certain.” He hardened his jaw. “It saw… a memory while looking for the whelp.” He cast Dorian a knowing look. “And this was its reaction.”
Dorian’s brow pinched before understanding flashed. “What? Why would it care about that?”
“About what?” Lily asked.
Rain and Lance gave her a look, requesting some privacy. Hadrian had returned to the ground sometime before.
“Hmph, alright. Have your sausage-fest.” Her eagle squawked as she turned.
Truth be told, Jonathan didn’t mind if she knew of his crimes or not. It was his shame to bare. But Dorian deserved the privacy. Max’s brother. The brother who had forgiven him.
Dorian sighed, his features darkening. “So why does it care about my brother’s murder?”
“I think it was just curious and judgmental.” And that Jonathan didn’t deserve forgiveness.
Truthfully, he didn’t deserve that forgiveness. The dragon was right—this was the game telling him that he needed to right his past wrongs.
In the form of a fight with a giant reptile?
A dialog popped up.
New Quest: Red Dragon’s Challenge
While trekking through your mind and memories, a Red Dragon has issued you a challenge. Will you follow or will you cower?
Difficulty: A
Length: Short-medium
Success Conditions: ?
Failure Conditions: ?
Rewards: ?
And another.
Quest Update: Baby Red Whelp
You are now sure that the Red Dragons are searching for a lost whelp. But why is this whelp so special?
“Jonathan?” Lance said.
A difficulty. Short-medium. Follow or cower?
Jonathan made up his mind in an instant. He will never again be a coward. He will fight that dragon and prove to the AI controller that he will once and for all correct his past crimes one way or another. He is no coward.
He took a large breath. “I got a quest for its challenge. It’s short-medium. I’m going to go and complete it. Maybe the reward will help us against Rowan.”
Their eyes widened in unison. Though Dorian recovered in seconds. “You should do it. I would like to see Rowan barbecued by a dragon. That would make my day.”
Lance shook his head at that, Rain chuckling.
“Very well,” Jonathan said and nodded, “Be back in a bit.” Heaving on his Light Shard, he sped up the mountain-side at sonic speed.
Chapter 34
0.671 Miles
Rowan blinked through the portal’s mouth and landed on the grass in a streak of frost. The ambient water mana washed through his body the moment he touched down and his vision cleared. Rolling grasslands and springs stretched to each horizon, bluer than it was green. Rivers, lakes, and waterfalls sparkled under the morning sun. Fauna not found in the real-world sparsely decorated the wetlands. A dinosaur-like bird grazed a few hundred meters down the hill.
The Water Mage spire caught his eye in the distance. Three white spires of ascending height. On an estuary at the coast. An immense sapphire hovered in the midst of the three and projected a wide dome-shield over the small city. A web of additional sapphires sprinkled through the landscape and floating on the sea glowed in light-blue every other second. A harvesting network.
So this was how much ambient mana was needed to create a virtually unlimited well. Several hundred square miles of mana-rich landscape. Rowan hadn’t felt such an intense radiation of mana before. Every breath he swallowed bolstered his mana reserves, the water somewhat compatible with his ice.
Flapping noises sounded from behind. The assembling twenty-thousand imps. They gathered in a valley filled with jagged rock formations next to a small waterfall feeding a skimpy spring and river. One of Gabrielle’s hideouts, probably.
Her party icon returned to full-color saturation. She stepped out of a portal, leading her Worker Dolls. They carried disproportionate stacks of building materials.
“There ya are.” Gabrielle pointed with a finger and puffed to him.
What a cute minion she could be. Though Rowan knew well she wasn’t just a minion anymore. Never. “Did you give out the orders?”
“Yup.” She grinned. “Ambiguous is doing a great job!”
The chain of command was established then. “Good.”
The first packed trebuchets rolled out of a larger portal, owls guiding then with their mana. A Colossus Enforcer burst through another with stacks of lumber in its muscled arms. The other followed with dark metal and stone in its grasp.
“Are we building portals and siege weapons on-site?” Rowan asked. They’d barely discussed the attack strategy because Zaine and himself hadn’t seen this place before. It looked like it’d be a simple frontal-assault. The city
was mostly surrounded by water and they had no air or naval capability.
“Shield generators for our battle line,” Zaine said from the right, “They’re highly immobile.”
“For the trebuchets?” Ambiguous asked from the left, “Will they be able to fire through?”
A good question. And again, Rowan was about to ask something distantly similar before she could. He added, “How do area shields work? Are we able to pass through them? Does that city have an infinite shield?”
Zaine looked at him like he hadn’t read this game’s manual.
Rowan threw him a quick grimace and turned to Gabrielle.
Aeon Chronicles Online_Book 1_Devil's Deal Page 39
