Suddenly, Oris began chuckling, still bound and seated right behind me.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow
“Ahh, it’s nothing, Diablo,” he said. “It’s nothing.”
“Maybe we should exchange those handcuffs for a straightjacket.”
The Knight shut up.
I sighed. “You know Oris,” I turned around. “I try to be nice to you and your faction. But you people always push me past the limit. Every single time.”
“Is that what you tell yourself when you see all the bodies you murdered lie frozen on the ground?” His words were sharp.
I ignored the knight and focused on our path ahead. I didn’t have the tolerance to be taunted right now. I had many things to worry about.
“Sure, ignore me,” the knight said. “You know what—”
I jerked my hand up, and let a dark flame emerge from my fingertips. “Losing control of this is becoming more and more enticing with every word you speak.”
The knight shut up immediately, and not a single sound came out of him after that. I extinguished the flames and quietly chuckled to myself.
The Volcanic Forest Bears moved deeper into the forest, leaving behind the cliffside and the sounds of battle that surrounded it. A part of me wondered where exactly the Dragon we’d seen before had disappeared to. I’d most certainly seen it go down into the tress below. Specifically, I’d seen it go down to right about where the battle should have been happening, and yet I hadn’t really heard anything from that Dragon since.
You don’t think it was defeated, do you? I thought.
“I doubt it,” Acnologia said. “A Dragon would not accept defeat that quickly. No matter what kind of battle is presented to it.”
“And we didn’t even hear a single Dragon roar,” Nyx added
Which makes it all the more weird, I sighed.
“Indeed.”
Acnologia, you remember what is supposed to be happening around this point in time, right? I asked. During the Eternal Dragon War?
“I’m unsure of what specific point in time we are in,” the Shadow Dragon said. “However, I remember almost all of the Eternal Dragon War, so all that is needed is for me to know when in time we actually are within the war itself.”
Do you know what ends up happening to this region? I asked, looking at the forest.
“It is destroyed.”
What? I blinked.
“The Battle of the Alpinian Forest was one of the more disastrous ones for my side,” he said. “You see there are many Dragons that wanted to take control over these forests, specifically because of the rich source of energy that this place had. Herbs and springs existed all around the forest, and these were precious resources — more so to the Dragons than to the Eternals.”
I sighed. But the Eternals didn’t want to give it away.
“Indeed,” he said. “Part of the fault lies on us Dragons of course, because our mindset was not ‘Let us share these lands.’ but more of a ‘Leave. These are our lands now’. That did not prove a good tactic.”
I’d imagine, I said.
“Anyway,” he said. “In the end, an Eternal by the title ‘Fire Lord’ was brought into battle, and he summoned his strongest mass spell, blasting an unstoppable wildfire through this whole place.”
My eyes widened. That’s terrible, I said.
“That was also a waste of everything that this forest possessed,” he said. “Every single medicinal herb growing in this place was lost forever in that fire.”
Wow, I said.
“That was not even the worst tragedy that happened during the wars, Eternal,” the Shadow Dragon sighed.
I felt the urge to ask him what the worse tragedy was, but I was not that inhumane. I glanced ahead and noticed flowers blossom on a creeper hanging next to a tree. I plucked one of the colorful growths as I passed under it.
DING!
Name
Red death
Rarity
Super Rare
Special effect
Eaten alone, the flower has no effect on the user. However, when paired with a catalyst, it can cause an excruciatingly painful death. Victim is left immobilized and non-responsive to all senses but pain when poisoned. Death is achieved slowly, but painfully.
Holy hell, I tossed the flower away, hoping nothing ate it along with whatever this ‘catalyst’ was. That was a frightening Special effect summary to read.
DING!
Congratulations! You have advanced a skill
Herb Lore Level 2!
It seems like it’s been forever since you first learned the skill and you’ve only raised it a level since. You better get working on that soon. It’d be embarrassing for a Phantom Lord to not know his poisons. With this level-up, you can now pluck more delicately structured herbs from the ground with ease. You can also determine the condition of herbs and plants that you find. Consumption of a poisonous herb will now give you heightened capabilities at finding its antidote.
Effect 1
Herb effects +2%
Heightened capabilities? I wondered. I’d rather just not get poisoned, thank you.
Even as an all-powerful Eternal — or an all-powerful Eternal with his powers pretty nerfed — I was still susceptible to status effects, and poison was the worst of them. The Desert Snake ordeal had shown me I should be more careful with things like that.
Suddenly, a massive growl ruptured the air. However, this cry sounded less like a beast, and more like a…bird?
The parade of bears stopped, and the creatures looked around them, at bushes and treetops. That cry hadn’t sounded friendly in the least.
A tree a few yards away from us snapped, and a massive creature dropped to the ground, its wings spread out wide. It was nearly as large as the Volcanic bears. Its grey feathers shone in the dull light, and its dark eyes stared at us angrily. I quickly used my Analyze skill on it and a screen popped into my mind.
DING!
Race
Giant Tree Vulture
Level
503
Its stats are really low for its level, I noticed.
“That’s expected,” Nyx said. “Its race doesn’t seem like it would give it too many advantages.”
Yeah, I said. I lifted myself off the bear and onto the floor. “I’ll take care of this.” I walked forward.
The bird stared at me, and its wings were still outstretched. I hunched down on the ground, my hands hovering over Dawnbreaker’s hilt. I shot out, surging to the bird in less than the blink of an eye. My blade swung out and I struck right through it, cutting it clean. I slid to a stop and shot at it once more, striking it twice this time as I brought myself to a standstill.
The large bird collapsed, its health bar already down to zero and fading.
DING!
Congratulations! You have defeated:
Giant Tree Vulture (Lv. 503)!
If you could kill that thing that fast, why even bother summoning an analyzing screen for it? That’s just being a jerk. Reward: Talons of the Giant Tree Vulture. Reward: 300000 XP.
All of a sudden, a series of cries echoed through the air, and I could tell they were similar to what we’d just heard.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I muttered.
Irmeia laughed. “Looks like they’re not too happy that you killed off their comrade.”
“We’ll just take them out,” I said.
Suddenly, trees around us fell over like toothpicks, as if something large had snapped them. In moments, the immediate greenery around us disappeared, only to be replaced by a pack of Giant Tree Vultures that now surrounded us.
“What do we do?” Freya asked as the bears all bunched together, not seeming that confident about taking these creatures on just by themselves. Luckily for them, they didn’t have to take them all out on their own.
“We fight,” I said and lifted Dawnbreaker.
But that wasn’t actually necessary.
The birds suddenly froze,
all at once. Their heads turned around in random directions, looking through the forest. They cried out once, and then fluttered away, not taking to the air like before, but instead running through the trees.
“That was…odd,” I said.
“Do you think they realized they couldn’t beat us?” Irmeia asked.
“Maybe? I’m not sure what just happened here.”
“I don’t like this,” Nyx said.
An eerie silence filled the forest now. Not that it hadn’t been silent before. It was just that it was more silent now, as if even the ambient noises of the forest — the sounds of the wind running through the branches, the sounds of leaves falling to the ground — had all been made void.
The light around us quickly dimmed down, and the red glow in the sky disappeared as dusk left and nightfall arrived. We looked at each other. There was nothing out of the ordinary that seemed to be going on, and yet we hadn’t moved.
The bears were all still hunched up. Something is bothering them. I quickly activated my Night Vision skill and glanced around. What the heck is going on? I wondered.
“Oh no.” Acnologia whispered.
A monstrous roar boomed through the forest, rattling branches and shaking trees. A gale of cold wind rushed through the forest, blasting into faces like a turbulent wave.
I heard the sound of wings flapping, and before I could even react. It happened.
A massive beast broke through the treetops, and landed onto the ground with a loud thud. A Dragon, I glanced at it, my body frozen. Not just any Dragon, but the Dragon that we’d just seen fly into the forest below.
The great beast turned around, and its navy-blue body glistened in the forest’s darkness. Its eyes of dark purple glared at us, and a deep growl left its throat as it gazed upon me.
“Filthy Dragonborn.” His voice rumbled in my head. “Now, how shall I kill you?”
***
CHAPTER TEN
My body froze.
The dragon’s eyes looked right at me, and then it let out of a terrifying roar. My ears went deaf in the sound, and the world became silent in that one moment.
The Volcanic Forest Bears went crazy, fear gripping their hearts. I jumped off mine, landing on the forest floor, and tapped my ears, trying to get my sense of sound back. The others had disappeared deeper into the forest. The dull flames of the Volcanic Bears glowed a few yards away and faded a second later.
Oh, I forgot to get Oris off, I realized. He’ll just have to figure things out on his own.
I gazed at the Dragon before me, and kept my entire focus on it.
“Dragonborn,” the great beast muttered, still glaring at me.
“I’m not a Dragonborn.” I stood up straight. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Lies!” the Dragon hissed. It opened its mouth and a blast of blue flames shot out. I dodged to the side, and line of fire missed me. It caught onto the forest floor instead, and burned through the dry twigs on the ground, sending an eerie blue light into the air. The flames reflected in the Dragon’s eyes as it walked up to me.
This is bad, I thought.
“Why does he even think you are a Dragonborn?” Acnologia asked.
My fists clenched. I don’t know.
And then it hit me.
“It’s because of you,” I whispered.
The Dragon of blue spewed another blast of fire at me and I dodged once again, letting a line of trees get attacked instead.
“What do you mean it is because of me?” Acnologia asked.
You’re in my mind right now because of the familiar storage thing, I said. This guy must have sensed you and assumed your presence was in here because I’d become a Dragonborn.
“That explains it.”
Nyx, I called out. I don’t have the time to get into my familiar menu. Summon Acnologia for me.
“On it,” Nyx said.
“Why are you running away, Eternal?” the blue Dragon looked at me, and a low rumble sounded from its throat.
“I am not who you think I am,” I said.
“Trust is not something you can win easily.”
“And wild accusations are not something I expect to be thrust upon me.” I quickly used my Analyze skill on the beast as I spoke, and the screen popped into my mind.
DING!
Name
Elizah
Race
Ancient Dragon
Level
1457
Okay, if this thing lands an attack on me I’m pretty much dead, I said. Acnologia, how are you not this strong?
“It appears resurrecting me nerfed a lot of my strength,” he said. “I will gain my true powers soon. In fact, this Dragon appears to be one of the inferiors of my race. The strongest of Dragons were much higher leveled than this, as was I.”
That is both terrifying and comforting, I muttered. I turned to the blue Dragon. “Listen, Elizah,” I said. “Let’s calm down now, shall we? There’s no reason for all this fighting. We can have a civil conversation. There’s no need for battle here.”
“My name,” the Dragon hissed. “How do you know my name?!”
Uh oh. My shoulder’s tightened. The blue Dragon growled at me and sparks of blue flames shot out of its mouth. Nyx, anytime now would be nice. I stepped back.
“I’m trying!’ the spirit exclaimed. “Give me a few seconds.”
I can’t hold him off for that long. I looked into the forest, searching for the clearest path before me.
I turned to my right and shot forward, away from the great beast. My legs pumped across the forest floor as I charged through, snapping fallen branches and kicking stray rocks as I made my way forward. Loud footsteps chased after me, but I could only hope they weren’t fast enough to catch up. I needed more time.
“You’re running for it?” Nyx asked. “You could have tried using Frozen Night or Shadow Travel. Those spells would have gotten you away from the Dragon.”
There are four more people in this forest that I need to protect, I said. This Dragon might go after them if he loses track of me. I am not cloaking myself or teleporting away.
“As opposed to what you’re doing now?” he asked. “You’re still running away. I’m not sure why.”
TO GIVE YOU TIME TO GET ACNOLOGIA OUT, YOU IDIOT, I yelled.
“Whoa, calm down,” he said, and I could hear a bit of tension in his voice.
Nyx, I said. What happened with the familiar menu?
“I…uh…can’t seem to find any option that lets you get Acnologia out.”
“What?” I stopped. My momentum immediately tripped me over and I collapsed onto the floor, rolling multiple times over the forest soil before thudding to a stop against a tall tree.
“Ugggh.” I groaned as I stood myself up. “What do you mean you can’t get him out?”
“The option isn’t presented anywhere in the Ga’em menu,” Nyx said. “There’s a familiar storage system in the Familiar Menu, and I can see Acnologia in it, but I can’t find any way to get him out.”
“You bloody Eternal.” The blue Dragon emerged out of the darkness.
Did he teleport? I grit my teeth. I looked at the Dragon, and stared into his gaze. “You and I are on opposite sides of a war, Dragon,” I said. “Do you want blood and battle to cloud your sense of thinking? Or would you rather be civil?”
“Civil?” he chuckled. “When every last Eternal is brought to their weak knees, when the Dragons I saw tortured to death are avenged, when I kill the men who shed rivers of blood as my loved ones wailed out in pain — then I will be civil.”
I stood still at the Dragon’s words, the imagery invoked stirring strong emotions inside of me, for they were all terrible images, but they were images I knew to be true.
“I know you do not wish to stereotype an entire race,” I said. “Do not group me with those that wish to become Dragonborn. We are not the same. We are nothing alike.”
“I have said this to you before, Eternal,” the Dragon
said. “Trust is not something you can win easily.”
“And I have said this to you before as well. Wild accusations never help anyone.”
“Do not lie to me. I sense the presence of a Dragon with you,” Elizah growled. “Who did you kill? Which poor comrade of mine did you brutalize because of your thirst for power?”
Acnologia, can you not reach out to him? I asked. He might calm down if he hears you speak.
“Your Spirit Space is the only reason I can speak to you right now,” Acnologia said. “There is no way I can speak to Elizah.”
Nyx, I said. Any progress?
“I cannot find a way, Zoran,” the spirit said. “I…I’m sorry.”
Dammit, I muttered. My finger traced a line along Dawnbreaker’s handle. Should I lift the blade? I wondered. Doing so would surely declare battle against the Dragon, but not doing so would make me a simple target for him. And I did not want to die right now. The Resurrection mechanics of a man brought to the past and then killed sounded too complex for me to want to go through.
“Speak to me, Eternal,” Elizah growled. “Or do you not wish to answer? Do you not wish to tell me which Dragon was needlessly tortured for your selfish desires?”
I grit my teeth. “I DID NOT TORTURE ANYONE,” I yelled. The Dragon stepped back, stunned at my sudden outburst. I didn’t blame him. I was stunned too, and I kept my mojo going. “I’ve sat here and listened to you accuse me of things I didn’t do, over and over again. You know what? I’m sick and tired of this. Do you want a battle? Sure, come on.”
I lifted Dawnbreaker out of its sheath, and held it high up into the air. Nyx, run a check on where Freya is, I said.
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 58
