Imri slowly repelled down the sheer cliff face. Despite having spells that allowed him to teleport or manipulate gravity, the lizard part of his brain gaped at the distance to the ground below. Reminding himself that it didn’t matter beyond a certain point didn’t help his anxiety. He also wasn’t the only one feeling this, as Emelia’s terror blared through their bond, though she looked remarkably composed on the outside.
The entire descent took over an hour, with stops at nearly every ledge that protruded more than a foot. Most of those switchovers didn’t have enough room for everyone, so they worked in pairs, with Zhaire going solo. As they reached the base of the cliff, everyone exhaled in relief.
However, that anxiety was replaced with a sense of foreboding that was too severe to be natural. Imri felt small and insignificant, like a rabbit about to be devoured by a predator. It struck him at an instinctual level, a primal fear. Fortunately, his rational mind remained somewhat in control. Shakily, he was able to move forward.
For as bad as Imri felt, he noticed he was far better off than everyone else. Emelia seemed to be handling it nearly as well, though she looked deeply disturbed. The rest of the group was almost incapacitated with terror, with Caroline and Ashlyn having collapsed to the ground. The forest was affected, as there were no animal or insect noises.
Suddenly, the mental weight subsided, returning everyone to their normal state. A moment later, life returned to its normal state, with the sound of the thick forest returning.
“What the hell was that?” Vallo asked.
“That was Corrolth’s presence,” Zhaire said with grit teeth.
“If this is how we’re going to be treated, I say we turn around,” Ashlyn suggested.
“No one else needs to go, but I’m not turning around,” Imri said.
“If it makes anyone feel better, she didn’t mean for it to have such a dramatic effect,” Zhaire said.
“How does she not know her own strength?” Sylvi asked, clearly shaken by the effects of whatever Corrolth had done but equally annoyed.
“Supposedly, Dragons start at tier 3, so she’s never had any experience interacting with creatures lower than that,” Zhaire explained.
“Starts at tier 3? So, she’s at least that high?” Sylvi asked.
“She claims to be tier 4,” Zhaire confirmed, which was met with a flurry of curses.
“Good,” Imri said.
“How is any of this good?” Sylvi asked.
“The goal was to gain a powerful ally, and that hasn’t changed.”
“If the dragon doesn’t accidentally kill us with its mere presence,” Ashlyn said.
They continued onward, no one backing down. It was slow going through the verdant terrain, as they frequently needed to bushwack their way forward. Despite their levels and magically enhanced weapons, the thickets still required a significant effort. An Identify revealed that the trees had a higher quality level than anything they had seen and by a significant margin. This was good for the future settlement but was a nuisance in the short term as they cleared their way through. The mana density of the valley was around twenty percent higher than Celestia's and was the highest Imri had recorded.
As they made their way further in, the presence began to affect them again. It was initially subtle, creating a sense that they should go in a different direction. Unfortunately, Corrolth was unable to suppress her aura completely. This explained how no one had noticed her if they were unconsciously influenced. The closer they got, the worse it became. To Imri, it was a minor inconvenience, a sense of unease. However, the others were unable to continue.
Imri went alone, unperturbed. The forest gave way to a clearing, with a colossal boulder sitting at its center, nearly as tall as the trees in the surrounding area. The massive rock was rimmed by a crater almost a kilometer in diameter. As Imri studied the strange boulder, he noticed fissures evenly spaced throughout the surface.
When it began to shift, it immediately became apparent that it wasn’t a rock. It moved slowly, and features became discernible. Corrolth stretched out, moving from wholly curled up to an upright position. As she moved, some loose dirt shifted, revealing dark scales. Her wings extended up, larger than any sails. She stood on legs that were colossal pillars the size of small buildings. Her total size exceeded any building and was closer to an aircraft carrier. She extended her neck, moving her head to nearly level with Imri. Her eyes, which were slit with dark irises, stared intensely at Imri as if trying to bore through to his soul.
Imri felt her presence now, and a primal part of him wanted to turn and run. Instead, he stared back, unwilling to give in to his emotions. He needed to be respected and treated like an equal.
“Fascinating,” Corrolth said in a deep, reverberating voice that echoed throughout the valley. It took Imri a second to comprehend that she had spoken in English.
“You can speak our language?” Imri asked. The dragon snorted, which produced a gust of wind that threatened to throw him off his feet.
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“Very astute of you to notice,” the dragon said sarcastically. “Learning the language by listening to Zhaire’s thoughts was easy. Now, enough with the silly questions. I can sense the mana coming out of you as if you are the origin point of this world. Tell me, how is this possible?”
“First, I want to know why you care so much?”
“I’ve lived for many millennia; it’s not every day I get to see something so…unique,” Corrolth explained.
“Then why not come to me? Surely a tier four Dragon would have no trouble traveling such a short distance?”
“Tread carefully, human. I have my reasons, but they are my own,” Corrolth said with enough force to shake the trees.
“We need to trust each other, or this conversation will go nowhere. Yes, mana is flowing out of me. I have the world’s core stored within me using a spatial skill,” Imri said.
“That’s absurd. Even I couldn’t do that, and I’m a tier four. Attempting to put that much mana in a spatial storage should have been…explosive.”
Imri just shrugged and looked at the dragon expectantly. After a long silence, the dragon sighed, producing another gale.
“You are right; I could not leave this location, and it wasn’t just curiosity that made me summon you. I need the mana inside the core. Not all of it, but not an insignificant amount,” she said.
“Why?”
“The mana in this newly integrated planet is abysmally low. Anything beyond a tier three will struggle to support itself with what little mana is available. In my case, the mana isn’t enough to sustain my body, as the mana needed just for minimal functioning is less than the amount of the nearby ambient mana. Think of it like a planet with insufficient oxygen to support your body, slowly suffocating you to death. However, don’t think you can easily defeat me; I still have more than enough strength to defend us,” Corrolth said.
“Us?” Imri asked, but as he did, he noticed why Corrolth had been moored down—two ovals about the same size as Imri lay near the dragon's feet. They were dark black but had white speckles, reminding Imri of the stars in outer space.
A deep growl emanated from the dragon as he stared at the eggs. It was immediately accompanied by increased pressure from the aura, exceeding anything he had felt. Imri felt confident that he was about to die. His heartbeat quickened to the point where he thought it might pound directly out of his chest.
Trait Gained Mental Resistance (1F): Improves your resistance against mental-based effects by 5%
The pressure eased slightly, though it still felt nearly insurmountable. Imri still smiled, pleased that the ordeal was progressing his abilities. Fortunately, Corrolth had made her point, and she released him from the effect. Hopefully, she had contained the effect to a nearby area, and hadn’t hit the others.
“Sorry. I’m a bit defensive instinctively and am not used to restraining my aura. Now, you understand my urgency. If it were simply a matter of mana for myself, I could have flown to the star and recharge my mana levels that way, but I can’t leave my eggs unattended for more than a few minutes.”
“So, you need more mana than the ambient mana but can’t leave to get it,” Imri summarized.
“Precisely. If you could use the core to slightly increase the ambient mana of the local area, that would be sufficient. Do this, and I will be in your debt,” Corrolth said.
Imri shook his head. “I would if I could, but I can’t control the core. I’m simply storing it, but I could take it out.”
“NO!” the dragon roared, causing a small earthquake. “No, that would be a terrible idea. Dragon eggs are sensitive to the mana density and requires a specific level. Placing them next to the planetary core would be like putting a human baby in a sauna. The current density is close, and if my mana weren’t depleted, I could give them the last mana needed to hatch.”
“We have an alchemist with us; perhaps she could concoct something to give you a bit of mana,” Imri suggested.
“No offense to your alchemist, but anything a tier two could concoct would have a negligible effect on a dragon.”
Imri considered the problem for a long while. He needed to get Corrolth a mana source, which he had in his Inner Domain. However, the eggs couldn’t be unattended for more than a few minutes. He smiled as he had an epiphany.
“Corrolth, what If you went inside my Inner Domain? With access to the mana supplied by the world core, you could recover,” Imri said. It was a big risk for him, giving the dragon access to the core. For all he knew, she could use it like the Azala Queen. However, he didn’t think the dragon would. She was a concerned mother, not an all consuming parasite.
“Were you not listening? I cannot leave my eggs unattended.”
“What if time didn’t pass for them?”
“You have such a spell?” Corrolth asked skeptically.
“I do,” Imri said, explaining the spell he had used to stop Troglodyte venom.
Stasis (2F): Stop the flow of time within a system. Any resistance will prevent the effect, so the target must be incapacitated, inanimate, or willing. Mana cost / second depends on the mass of the target and distance from the target to the caster.
“Ah, you are a time mage then. It is impressive to have such mastery of the discipline at tier two. What about your spatial storage trait, your Inner Domain? Does it have enough room to fit a dragon?”
Imri focused inward and surveyed his domain. He quickly reorganized, moving items within like he was playing a video game. When it was done, he had an open space that should be sufficient.
“It will be a tight fit, but it will work,” Imri said confidently.
Corrolth took a long time to consider the plan. Eventually, after nearly an hour of silent contemplation, she bobbed her head. “I cannot find any faults in your plan. If this succeeds, I will be in your debt. However, if this is a trick…”
“It’s not.”
“If it is, no force in the universe will keep you safe,” the dragon finished.
When Corrolth was done making her threat, Imri reached out his hand, touching a scaled leg that was thicker than a tree. He activated his Inner Domain, and the dragon disappeared. His mana plummeted, taking hundreds of mana to transfer such a large amount of mass into storage. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any time to recover.
Imri focused, casting Stasis on each of the eggs. While the mana expenditure wasn’t too significant, he wasn’t sure how long he would need to hold the spell. He sat down and began concentrating, forcing himself to meditate while maintaining the spell.