“Indeed,” The monk said, turning to face me. My eyes struggled to comprehend what I saw. Scars adorned the sockets where Kin’s eyes should be and damaged flesh covered where his nose once protruded. “That man tried to turn me. I trained for many years along the Path of Fire before I was discovered. They did not capture a weak trainee, and my ability to [Sense Heat] aided me. Even without my sight, I managed to kill my captors and escape. The dragon has protected me for many years.”
“Shit tits,” I whispered, and not sure what else to say I blurted out, “welcome to the Order.”
[Order of the Dragon (Summary)
Tier 1 (Next tier requires 5 members)
Members: 2
- Deuce Bigbelow (Owner | Dragon Fist)
- Kin - Monk (Path of Fire)
Next Tier Bonus: At 5 members you will be able to establish a hideout or base.]
“Now we begin.” The monk said smiling, and I found myself flat on my back. I groaned and rolled out of the way of a stomping foot. “Don’t move. Take the hit. I won’t kill you, but you’ll wish you had died.”
Chapter 13
Location: Shreddit – Kin’s Residence
The next hour felt like an eternity, and each time I was close to dying I silently prayed I would. However, the deranged eyeless lunatic blasted me with healing flames, and we went again and again until finally, an alert appeared in my vision.
[You have learned: Dragon’s Density.
Iron Skin and Dragon’s Density have merged.
You have learned: Skin of the Serpent
Skill: Skin of the Serpent
Skill Rank: Novice (Next Rank: 15 AP)
Acclimation Points (AP): 1
Type: Passive (Restrictions: Wearing metal armor disables this ability. Cloth and Leather are the only armor types allowed.)
Leather Armor Effect: Armor increases by 3*Your Current Level. (Currently: 9 AC)
Cloth Armor Effect: Armor increases by 4*Your Current Level. (Currently: Wearing Leather Armor)
Details: This is a more powerful version of Iron Skin and Dragon’s Density. You may not relearn either of these passives while you are using Dragon or Serpent based classes.]
“Okay, please stop pummeling me. I got the skill,” I groaned through split lips, and warm flames covered me, soothing away my aches and pains.
“Very good, much faster than I anticipated. Now take this manual,” Kin handed me two books, one was for Fire Breath, and the other was for Dragon Strike. “[Dragon Strike] you’ll need to learn on your own, but learning [Fire Breath] is the key. I will walk you through the basics of [Fire Breath], but I do not the specifics. It make take a trial and error process to figure it out.”
“So you really cannot teach [Dragon Fist] skills?”
“Sadly, no. The manuals still exist, but the elders hunted your kind out of existence, so there is no one to teach you.” Kin sat once more on his stump. “Truth is, you are forging a new path. Liaki had no guidance, but he persevered, just as you will. The skills you learn may differ vastly from Liaki’s, but you will know them more intimately than any other [Author] will know theirs.”
“Ok, teach me what you can,” I told him, and the monk smiled.
“Ironically, using [Fire Breath] is similar to the way you absorbed the fire earlier. Breathe it out, and if you successfully perform it on your own, you will learn it.”
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the fire burning in my belly. Gently, I pulled on it and felt it climbing towards my mouth like magma pushing through the ground. A belch escaped me, and a small ball of liquid fire fell out of my mouth and landed in the grass like a flaming pile of vomit.
Kin coughed, but I think he was hiding a laugh.
“I… got nothing. But—uh—practice.” Kin said, trying to hide a smile.
[Skill: Fire Breath (R)
Skill Rank: Not Learned
Acclimation: Grows in strength based on Inner Dragon
Type: Activated (Requirements: Ignited Inner Dragon)
Effect: Allows you to breathe fire. Burn damage has a damage-over-time effect. Also, because fire from a dragon is hard to extinguish, all Damage Over Time (DOT) effects from this fire last 50% longer.
Effect: Your internal organs are immune to fire, heat, and cold damage. Your external body is resistant to fire, but you will still suffer damage. (Hint: Swallowing a fireball won’t hurt you, but blocking one will)]
I was not sure about my [Ku] at first, but it was growing on me.. The warmth that burned inside me felt good and right. Now I had a taste of what it could be, I wanted more.
“Your last skill is [Dragon Strike]. Touch the book to see the information inside, but as I told you it is not like normal skill manuals, it’ll only give you the knowledge the rest is up to you. You now walk the path of legendary heroes and mastering your abilities will test you mentally and physically. Finding synergy between your many limbs and the dragon inside of you will make this task tougher than normal. If you learn it, the ability will scale in strength with your [Inner Dragon]. Tell no one you have learned a [Legendary] ability, or you will gain no peace.”
[Skill: Dragon Strike (L)
Skill Rank: Not Learned
Acclimation: 1
Type: Activated (Requirements: Ignited Inner Dragon)
Effect: Focus your Fire Ku into your strikes. This can applies to any part of your body you used to strike your opponent. (This is a very difficult attack to master. Ideally you want to balance your fire and physical damage perfectly. The closer to perfection you get the higher your damage. If you strike with a perfect balance with less than 1% variation, you will land a critical strike. A critical strike is 200% damage to their Base HP, plus another 20% because of your Inner Dragon.)
Effect: Ignores 15% of AC (Armor)
Effect: Fire Resistance to this attack is reduced by 15%
Effect: 30% Chance to Burn your target. (Burn deals 2 points of fire damage every 5 seconds. Its duration is 30 seconds. Duration is 50% longer because you have an Inner Dragon of Fire.)
Class-Based Effect: Absorb Heat (Learned) - This is a dangerous technique. Use with caution. This ability is not recommended for use until you have increased your external fire resistance. Fire is chaotic magic and rarely behaves the way you would like. Absorbing fire without control takes the heat as fast as your mana channels can handle it. If you cannot absorb the fast enough, there is an excellent chance you will create a Firestorm.]
“This is—”
“These are the core powers of a [Dragon Fist]. Learn them well because they define your class. The only other skills I have for you are the basic Monk skills [Mend] and [Kick]. I have no guidance on converting them into [Dragon Fist] skills but assume there is a way to blend fire into them. At least these are easy, take these manuals and touch them. You’ll learn the skill immediately.”
[You purchased Mend (Cost: 10 Tokens of Acclimation)
You purchased Sweep Kick (Cost: 10 Tokens of Acclimation)]
[Skill: Mend I (C)
Skill Rank: Novice (Next Rank: 15 AP)
Acclimation Points (AP): 1
Type: Activated (Cool Down: 5 Minutes)
Restriction: Must touch target, range is 0.
Effect: Recovers 75% of your base health.
Skill: Sweep Kick (C)
Skill Rank: Novice (Next Rank: 15 AP)
Acclimation Points (AP): 1
Type: Activated (Cool Down: 5 seconds)
Effect: Damage is based on additional factors, but base damage is (5*Rank) and modified by strength and other skills.
Details: Kicks are both common skills and a class skills. The common version is much weaker. Later on, monks learn new kicks. Do not neglect these because they are used in Katas. ]
[Mend] looked useful, and I would use that at every chance to improve its effectiveness. It sounded like an ability worth pushing to the next ranks immediately. [Kick] appeared dull until I got to the details.
Query Kata. I thought and waited
for an answer.
[Query: Kata………
Data Found: A Kata is a choreographed pattern of movement using known skills. These combat techniques could include hundreds of steps, strikes, blocks and attacks—all of which allow the practitioner to react from any point in their technique. Example, if you are attacked and find yourself at a position in the middle of a kata, you could respond from that point moving forward through the remaining steps. Attacking and blocking on an intuitive level. ]
That sounded like a ton of work, not my thing. Internally, I sighed, because I knew I’d have to create or learn a [Kata]. On some level it just made sense, and—I wonder if there was a skill for it? I mean a skill that could develop a [Kata] based on observation would be powerful. Either way, I had an eternity to figure it out.
“Anything else?”
“Even if I had more, I would not teach you.”
“Why?”
“Confucius said once, ‘Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.’ You, my student, haven’t yet learned to dance. Become attuned with the flames, grow the power of your Inner Dragon, and then come talk to me again.” The monk turned to face the water once more. “There are some who wait for the rise of our Order, but if we are not strong, the elders will crush us. Do not fail.”
“I won’t.”
“Oh—before I forget. This is yours. A reward for not interrupting my meditation. Few [Authors] have that kind of patience.”
He tossed the item over his head, and it flew unerringly towards me. I caught it out of the air and saw he gave me arm wraps. I equipped them and was surprised to see the item appeared on all four arms covering the flame tattoos. They granted a few points of armor, but it was the speed boost that was impressive.
“Try to keep the flames hidden. There are other orders out there that would like to see you dead, and I’d rather you stayed alive long enough to revive our order. Despite what they think, they have not eliminated us yet. We have a dragon’s rage inside of us and want our revenge. Our fire is our blessing and curse.”
[Item Name: Beginner Monk Wraps
Item Type: Mundane - Uncommon
Durability: 30 of 45
Armor: 2
Effect: Strength +1 per arm; Agility +1 per arm
Effect: Increase striking speed 20%]
“When you reach the next stage of development, I can provide you with an upgrade.”
“I’m headed to Sharmon soon, is there a trainer there that could assist me?”
The monk was quiet for a long time. I was not sure he heard me, but then he nodded.
“There is someone, but you will need to gain her trust. Since Sharmon is in the Kongdom, you could kill gnoks and take their brands. It's burned into the flesh above their heart. Skin several of those vicious creatures and bring the flesh to her.” Kin opened his robe and showed a partial brand on his chest, and it appeared to be a circle of fire with a flaming tree in the center. “Gnoks cut out my eyes with rusted ritual daggers. So maybe I’m more inclined to kill them, but they would convince her. I’m sure you could find another way.”
“And she is?”
“Sonya, the Redd Eden. But don’t use her title publicly, it might garner the wrong kind of attention. Finding her is easy because they shaped the city like a horseshoe. Around the outside, along the wall, is the Outer Course. Cut through a side street to reach the Inner Course, and her home is at the northern tip of the east arm. The residents call that road the Walk of Shame because it has more brothels than actual shops. Locals call her place Chateau d’Lewd. Approach her with caution. She might be a mistress of the night, but she has weapons hidden on every part of her body. Even if you captured her and stripped her naked, she would still have weapons on her.”
“She sounds like a badass.”
“Respect is good. You’ll need it where you are going. See you soon, young one.” Kin cackled like he told the best joke ever and returned to sitting in the lotus position on his stump. I left as silently as I came, but I did not see or sense the dragon on the way out.
The monk was right about one thing, I needed to train, and knew Blaze Bot was an expert in combat, so I made up mine to visit him. I turned down the street and headed towards the training grounds.
Chapter 14
Location: Shreddit
More people crowded the streets than when I passed through before. Taverns and inns were filling up with locals. Merchants were bringing in their wares from tables out in front of their shops, and the city felt like it was alive with activity. There was an energy to it all, and I took it all in.
Smells, sounds, and—
“Shit tits, what’s that smell?”
“Must be new to the city, eh?” The potion merchant from earlier was standing on the porch of her shop and watching me with smiling eyes. She was the one that admonished the innkeeper for robbing people. “That is the alleyways, it's where people dump their waste. Once a month Shreddit pays the Mage Tower to send fire mages to burn it out, and water mages to spray it down. Getting close to time for the purge.”
“The purge?”
“That’s what we call it; people dump all kinds of trash out there, even bodies. Most of the mages burn the stuff using masks to limit what they inhale and what they see.”
“Why not build sewers? I mean you are paying for fire mages, get earth ones and tunnel out underneath here, and then send all that waste down there.”
“Could work, except we are on top of a massive dungeon. The Father tried to destroy us with it, only it backfired. It might be the one good thing he did, gave this town some life. Sir Sauerkraut declared the dungeon as a Divine rank, and no one would risk destroying the core.”
“Why? Logically that seems like a good course of action.”
“Lit Dungeo, the God of Dungeons, from all accounts, he is an asshole. You kill a Divine level dungeon, and he will destroy you, your town, and anything associated with you. The monsters don’t come up into the city as long as [Authors] clean them out periodically. [Authors] do all kinds of dumb things for quests.”
“You have a quest for me?” I grinned at her, and she huffed at me. Then she grew thoughtful as she went silent and thought about my request.
“I could use a little help. I can sense the fire in you, and I have a recipe I need to brew under extreme heat. You help me, and I’ll give you several potions, including some from the batches we will brew.”
“Uh, the fire is new, but if you allow me to go train with Blaze Bot 7—”
“8, Blaze Bot 7 is the Poet. Don’t even bother talking to the Poet until you have published two accomplishments and have over a thousand followers. Or you can spit prose better than him, like that Eminem guy. Blaze Bot 8 is the weapons trainer.”
“Eminem plays this game?” That was neat, even I had heard of him in my radiation infested town. “What about Blaze Bot 6?”
“Don’t even joke about that. The kids at the orphanage he runs call him Newt, short for neutered. Overall the man is a saint, but he cannot have kids of his own.”
“Oh. Anyway, I’ll be back in a few hours, will that work for you? I’m Deuce.” I was only joking about the bots, but now I wondered how many Blaze Bots existed.
“Nice to meet you. I am Delilah, and I will see you in a few hours—” At the sound of a shrill voice, Delilah and I turned to see what was happening in front of her shop.
“Dave, what are you doing here?” An [Author] said approaching the table where the potions sat. The Delilah and I both watched.
“Connie Lipstick?” Dave growled. “Fuck off.”
“Connie, leave him be. The Father took exception to something Dave wrote and had him removed from the Kongdom,” Baul Pillows, Connie’s companion, explained quietly. They were close enough I could hear every word. It felt like the Father was at the heart of every bit of [Drama] in this realm.
“Welcome to Wil-Marth; we have your tinctures, potions, and more,” Dave called out, ignoring Connie and trying to attract more custom
ers.
“Oh, when he is in a better mood I’ll see if he wants to join PowerUp, my [Writer’s Guild],” Connie muttered while walking away with her companion Baul.
“Dave’s a good man, but same ol’ story. The Father betrayed him. If you go into the Kongdom, be careful. He laces his honeyed words with a poison more potent than any concoction I can dream up. The only thing that man loves more than adoration is power. Anyway, see you in a few hours, just come around to the back of the shop.”
Arriving at the training grounds, I found Blaze Bot 8 had a line of [Authors] waiting to work with him. One by one he dismissed them.
“… that’s not how you hold a fucking knife, get out of here…”
“… da fuck weapon is that? Get the fuck out of here…”
“… you are like four foot tall. I don’t train midgets, scram…”
“… You suck—just go…”
“… Hmmpf, you might work. Go over there and strike that pole…” Blaze Bot 8 finally said to someone but kept moving down the line.
The guy in front of me had a sword that was taller than he was, and it was as broad as a shield. “Oh, fuck me. As my brother, Blaze Bot 3, would say, ‘I’m about to drop a truth bomb on you.’ That sword is an abomination, and no one in their right mind would wield it. Get the hell out of here with that shit.” The clockwork machine grunted as it grabbed the blade and snapped the massive thing into two pieces. There was a sliver of a jagged blade still attached to the hilt, and it was a little shorter than the man’s arm. “Look I improved it for you. Here.”
Blaze Bot 8 moved to stand in front me of me. “Woah, what the shit? How the hell do you have four arms? Please don’t tell me you plan on wielding a three-handed ax?”
“Just fists. I got this too.” I showed him [Mister Fister], my metal fist weapon.
“Finally, someone with some brains in their head.” Blaze Bot 8 looked over at the big-sword-newb. “Hey! Yea, you. Why are you still here you fucking idiot? Take your broken piece of shit sword and scram.”
The [Author] took his toys and ran home crying. Or at least that’s how I pictured it in my head.
The Land of Trademark Online Page 9
