I kept running simulations and racked my brain till day 200 but I had no idea how to use earth leyline. Maybe I should just try something. Just sitting here and doing nothing will not get me there. I went to the empty hideout of Asshole and connected to the underground leyline currents and tried to figure something out. I remembered how to control sand and I tried something similar but nothing. Ugh so frustrating! I stomped and I felt a surge of earth leyline energy.
Come on it can't be this easy right? Stomping did bring forth earth leyline but it was limited in what I could do. I did slowly dig myself into a ditch by doing this. Hey, this counts as unlocking earth leyline right? I can use this to dig the dungeon out, I mastered earth now, right? I kept trying stuff but stomping while attuned to the underground currents was the only thing that worked, it didn't work when I was attuned to the air leyline currents. How hard do I need earth? I came to the conclusion that earth wasn't my style and that this stomp was enough. I finally mastered all the elements! I went to the buried dungeon and started stomping.
I fell to the gourd exhausted 2 hours later. I didn't make much progress and stomping for 2 hours is exhausting. I did some rough calculations and at this pace, I would be able to get into this dungeon on day 283. Yeah, that is unacceptable. I don't know what I’d rather have, remastering earth or stomping for 83 days. Maybe remastering earth would be for the best. I had to think of what kind of movement stomping was. Elements have certain type of movements in common. I had a constant flow of leyline going in and out so it fell in the same category as water and wind. Maybe simple straight forward movements? I threw a straight punch and it felt like my arm was getting ripped off but a long line of rocks jutted out of the ground that followed the direction of my punch.
Strong, relatively slow, and linear movements… Why am I not surprised… The most unnatural pain in the ass movements for someone as flexible and agile as me. The weight of the earth was the biggest problem. Water was somewhat bearable but earth was just impossible. This needed me to make fists and make straight lines in my movements. In the example where I would make an S shape… I can't do that with earth it would look more like a 5 made out of straight lines. Totally doesn't feel natural. No wonder I couldn't figure this out. Figuring most of the moves wasn't so hard now, the problem was moving all that weight, what’s worse is that the roots of the plants made it even harder to move the earth. I finally figured out how this works but I can't use it at all. Wait! How about earth [Dragon]? As long as I use my leyline avatar everything seems to go easier and become lighter.
I managed to create a shitty earth [Dragon] This was still energy-draining but it was easier than the alternative. I dug out a quarter of the dungeon before I got exhausted. I can't ever see myself using earth leyline in battle. Maybe earth [Dragon] when really needed. I made a temporary hideout close by. I tried to hide from some giant tigers because I didn't feel like dealing with them while being exhausted. One decided to chill on the dungeon I partly unearthed. As long as he’s gone tomorrow. The next morning came and he was chilling there with friends this time. I got a bit annoyed but I just waited till they would change location. On day 207 I got tired of their bullshit and tried to shoo them away. They attacked me and they fell to my [Tempest step] and [Waterfall]. I continued digging and half of the dungeon was dug out when I stopped for the day. I disliked using earth leyline energy. It made me uselessly tired quite fast. The dungeon was almost fully unearthed on day 209 when I got harassed by more giant tigers.
Couldn't you guys have picked a different time? I’m exhausted. I buried half the group under a pile of rocks with [Dragon] but I got sent flying by a tiger that swiped its paw at me. Earth leyline makes me so sluggish, I hate it. I got up and my chest hurt, might have some broken ribs. Maybe I should delay the unearthing and toast these jerks. I wanted to shift my stance to use [Phoenix dance] when I heard a roar that sent the tigers packing. That’s good news because I don't have to deal with these tigers, it’s bad news because anything that sends these tigers packing is probably going to be a bigger pain in the ass. I decided to call it a day and hide in stealth.
Oh, hell no! I saw another jungle dragon appear. This one was way smaller, was this the kid of Asshole? It sniffed at the dungeon and looked around as if it was searching for something. I don’t know much about this one but it seems way more intelligent than its parent. It shouldn't have anything against me besides that I might have turned its parent into ash but I didn't notice any dragons nearby when I got my revenge so he isn't supposed to know that. Something very surprising happened. It started talking in draconian. It asked if the one who killed Murgulotyr is nearby. Do I respond? What if he wants to kill me? I’m not in a state to deal with this even though he is smaller. Maybe I can go for an intimidation factor since I’m curious, why is this dragon way smarter than the other one? I got out of stealth and showed off my tails in an imposing manner. The dragon got startled and backed off a bit.
“A male nine tailed spirit fox? I never thought I would encounter one.” I’m the one who killed uhm whatshisname, I tried to reason with him but he kept attacking me, and even after escaping and leaving him alone he continued to hunt him down so I had to turn him into a pile of ash.
“Well, that seems to make a lot of sense.” He looked at my tails. “Please don't misunderstand, I’m not here to exact revenge for my stepfather I’m only here to assess whether his killer is a threat and to possibly thank the one responsible.” I sat down. You would thank me for turning your stepfather into a pile of ash? Although maybe he was an asshole to you too.
“He killed my father a year ago and claimed my mother as his concubine. He was a brute and an ass, he treated only his own spawn as real dragons.” Hmm, that sounds rough, hey, I’m not familiar with what a year means to you two winged dragons. A year for us foxes constantly changes and the human system is better at this so we use them too.
“Oh, I apologize, we’re also familiar with human years, 1 year is about 100 human years, I would like to ask though, what do you mean with two winged dragons?” Wow, the first time I meet an intelligent dragon! Uh sorry about that, most dragons I’ve met before are quite ehhm stupid or self-centered. Where I come from no-winged dragons are common, they look like this. I shifted my stance and used water [Dragon].
“Ooh, I’ve never seen those before, shows how wide the world is and how ignorant I am.” Hmm, I don't blame you, you are fighting against your nature as a dragon and are also living in a quite isolated part of the world, what is your name and age if I may ask?
“I am Vinyr and I am 4 years old, err I mean 420 years.“ Quite young, I’m Agnis 1 year old, 16 years in human years.
“Wow! You’re even younger than me!” Yeah, a lot of individuals I meet are older than me…
“Interesting, but what is a spirit fox this young doing here actually? I don’t know much about your race only that you are very rare and are very protective of your youngsters because of this.” Well, ehh this and that happened and I got separated from my kin… Anyways how come that you’re so well educated?
“My late father was interested in the races of the world, he was what you could call a scholar and I was very much interested in his work, unfortunately, that brute ended his life…” I’m sorry to hear that… I have one question though, I don't want to sound like an asshole but ehm he was kind of weak, aren’t dragons supposed to be stronger?
“Hmm, I get what you mean but we are the strongest things living in this jungle, it’s just… We can’t compete with spirit foxes unless we have at least 7 or 8 years behind us and none of us are close to that, my stepfather was nearing 6 years. My mother is the second eldest dragon here at 9 years old, and my stepfather's main wife was the eldest at almost 11 years” Huh that’s weird, why are you all so young?
“I have no idea; it is said that a group of young dragons migrated to this jungle a good 15 years ago but that they were met with some problems which thinned out their numbers.“ I see…
“Do you mind coming with me? I’m sure my mother would be happy to meet you!” Uhm, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea…
“Of course, it is! Your draconian is very good, you don’t need to worry!” I guess it’s only polite to greet the rulers of the jungle…
“Hop on my back! We’ll be there in no time!” I hopped on this friendly dragon’s back. I was expecting him to fly but he ran very fast and all the plants moved away from him. I wonder why Asshole never used this, it would have certainly made fighting him a lot harder, but Vinny’s words suggest that he was a moron to which I would agree. Hey Vinny, they won't just suddenly attack me, right?
“My mother won’t at least, she knows from my dad's records what carnage spirit foxes can cause, I’m not sure about Huranivyra, that’s the name of the eldest dragon.” Ugh, I hope they will behave, I like this jungle, I don't want to torch it.
“I hope it won’t get to that…” Vinny rushed and dashed into an enormous hollow tree. The enormous spacious area was full of jungle dragons. I felt a bit uncomfortable. Vinny let out a strange dragon shriek and a big jungle dragon appeared.
“What did you bring home this time Vinny? I hope it’s not another human!” Sup Vinny’s mom, I’m Agnis.
“And it speaks draconian, wait this is not a human!”
“This is Agnis a nine-tailed spirit fox he’s the one responsible for turning Murgulotyr into a pile of ash!” All the other jungle dragons reacted and gathered around us.
“Wow really? Even as a mythical beast, they are rare!”
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“A race of legends!”
“Thank you for killing that brute!” It seemed that everyone seemed to be happy that the Asshole is dead.
“So, you are the one who took revenge for the death of my husband, thank you Agnis.” Uhh, no need he was a thorn in my side so I had to kill him, I also am here to greet the rulers of the jungle. The dragons stepped aside and a bigger dragon approached.
“I am the one named Huranivyra, I thank thee for freeing us from that tyrant.” Hey, you said she was 11 years old right? She shouldn't be old enough to speak like that right?
“Psst! She does it to get an air of importance!”
“Vinyr! Have some respect” Haha you're getting scolded!
“I would like to request thee to be respectful as well but I know that this is thy nature.” Thank you for allowing me to live in your jungle, I won’t stay for long though I will stay for another 271 days for one year total.
“Thou hast been here for over half a year?” The elder dragon looked around to the others and they all shook to indicate they had no idea. Did I do something wrong?
“Well, as jungle dragons we know where and when something steps into our territory, which is the whole jungle but nobody seemed to have noticed that you’ve been living here for quite some time.” Is it my weight?
“I don't think so… It’s probably because it’s hard to detect most things your race does, including their presence. Also, you don't seem to give off any mana which is weird now that I think of it.” Oh that, hehe yeah, I’m currently training to be useful without mana. This seemed to shock the elder dragon.
“Thou must not! This world needs thee alive! Please reconsider!” Uhh, I appreciate the concern but I know what I’m doing, for the most part. I shifted my stance and used water [Dragon]. The jungle dragons seemed in awe and acknowledged its power.
“This seems strong indeed, I guess this works.” Hey, elder dragon, you dropped your act.
“Silence! I didst not!” So far, this dragon seemed more in line with what I know about dragons. I was relieved to see that there was some form of consistency. It was just Vinny who was a bit different. It was nice meeting you guys but I have a dungeon to dig up.
“Wait, that thing there where we met is a dungeon?!” Looks like it.
“Do you mind if I accompany you?” Can you dig? Because I’m tired of using earth leyline energy.
“I can dig, let’s go! Cya mom!” Vinny dashed off with me on his back before any of the other dragons could object. It might be my imagination but getting back to the dungeon seemed to take less time than it took him to get to the enormous hollow tree trunk.
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“This is it right? Why does it smell like you?” How does it smell like me?
“Both you and this dungeon smell like fresh rain, smells quite pleasant actually, it’s just weird because it hasn't rained for a while.” I smelled myself. That’s weird, I don't smell anything but it must be true, I’ve had spirits tell me I smell like rain too.
“Let's get this dungeon fully unearthed, shall we?!” Vinny created roots that dug out the rest of the dungeon. The dungeon was tilted by 30 degrees but it was fully visible now.
“Something might have caused parts of this dungeon to sink into the ground.“ Do you have any idea if there are more like these in the jungle? It was only visible for 30% when I discovered it and even then, it was covered by greenery, without my eyes I would have probably missed it.
“Uhh, I don't know, we can only detect living beings in this jungle, there could be 12 of these and we wouldn't know.” I see, that sounds more like the dragons I know. Only situationally useful, no offense to you! You break the dragon stereotype.
“So how do we get in? Do we just break in?” Ancient technology is sturdy as fuck we would waste less time and energy to open it properly, unfortunately. Can you read the words on this dungeon?
“I’m sorry I can only speak draconian and ancient Kaledonian, I’m working on my modern Kaledonian but I need to interact with more humans for this." Wait, you can speak ancient Kaledonian and Modern Kaledonian?! I almost cried and switched to talking in Kaledonian.
“Hey, why are you tearing up? And forgave me but my Kaledonian needed work” Your Kaledonian isn't that bad and I’m just so happy to see a dragon trying. Reproduce and teach other dragons your way! And please don’t die! You’re doing great!
“Thanks! I would try!” But back to the topic at hand… I can't read this shit either… we might have to brute force our way in after all…
“My knowledge of dungeons was limited; I didn't have an idea how to approach this.” Hmm, also you’re doing great but you’re using the past tense, do you know the present tense?
“Oh, ok Uhm, how about this, My knowledge of dungeons is limited, I don't have an idea how to approach this. Do I did that correctly?” Uhm mostly, keep practicing. I tried whatever worked on opening the Corundum dungeon but nothing worked.
“If we only have… had a dictionary.” Yeah, hmm can you step back for a bit? Vinny made space and I dropped the big paparazzi stone I swiped from the Corundum dungeon.
“Whoa! What is that?” A pretty and expensive rock but more than that, it has 7 languages inscribed on it. I can’t read all of them but the ones I can read all say the same line.
“Look the 6th line had… has symbols similar to this dungeon!” Yes, now this sentence is quite long but it obviously doesn't cover all the words. Let’s try to see if we can find similar words and place them in context. We studied the rock for 10 minutes and only found 2 symbols that matched what we found in the dungeon. So, there is a lot of gibberish we can't understand, the word ‘Night’, more stuff we don't understand, and the word ‘Vow” and then more gibberish.
“Maybe the dungeon can only be open at night.” Worth a shot. We’re still missing a lot of details but let’s proceed based on that. We talked about our experience with humans until the sun started to set.
“Look it’s starting to glow!” As it became darker, the dungeon had markings that lit up. They weren't symbols that represented words or letters. Are we supposed to match the shapes? A jungle dragon flew over us it circled over us, noticed that it was just a spirit fox and another jungle dragon, and continued on.
“We like to patrol during the night.” Hmm, I think I see the picture here.
“Hmm?” Well, this dungeon obviously does something different at night, and you jungle dragons like to patrol at night, this dungeon is attracting attention so maybe its biggest challenge is to not get detected by you guys.
“But as I said we have only come here quite recently…” Hmm, fair point, but the jungle dragon subcategory has existed for a long time so maybe it was still built with this interaction in mind.
“This marking does resemble a jungle dragon.” What does the word ‘Vow’ mean to a jungle dragon?
“Uhm not much but when translated to draconian it means something similar to a [Dragon rush].” Quite random, why is that?
“We [Dragon Rush] at each other when we partner up and whoever wins this exchange becomes the leader of the relationship.” Hmm, better start practicing that [Dragon Rush] then because you need to perpetuate your ideals and legacy! Now back to this could it be as simple as rushing at the door? I started up the movements for [Waterfall] and rushed into the door. Ouch! That hurt!
“Let me try!” Vinny [Dragon Rushed] into the door and nothing happened. “Ow! What is this thing made of?!” Ok, let's not write that idea off yet maybe we’re rushing wrong.
“Maybe we need to put nature energy into it. You said that part of this dungeon is that attempting to open it will draw our attention, right?” Yeah. because having a dragon guard your property is some pretty good security. Another nature dragon spotted the glowing dungeon and checked out what was going on and went on its way once it saw us.
“Well using nature energy most certainly attracts our attention.” I circulated nature energy and I felt several dragons in the area lock on to me and then ignore me after they noticed it was me. So basically, to open this dungeon you will end up getting swarmed by jungle dragons? Quite a nasty mechanism. I can only really use this to heal myself and create a jungle, could you use a [Dragon Rush] with nature energy?
“Sure.” Vinny charged at the dungeon with nature energy and the markings reacted. They grew and intensified in their glow but still stayed closed and then returned to their original size and glow. Hey, try again, but make it stronger. I might have an idea. Vinny created more distance and [Dragon Rushed] into the door. The markings grew again and the glow became stronger. This time the markings became larger than the last rush and it seemed that the different markings would interlock with each other if they could get to a certain size. 4 jungle dragons landed and observed what we were doing.
“I see if we were troublesome humans, they would certainly be dead by now.”
Vinny explained to the curious dragons what we were doing and they wanted to give it a try too. One bulky dragon got the markings the biggest. This looks like a power meter or something… You either bring enough power to open this or you bait a jungle dragon to rush into this… quite a nasty mechanism. Most of the dragons got tired but the bulky dragon and another one were prideful and kept competing.
“Hmm, it is possible that this door is calibrated on possible jungle dragons that lived back then and were older on average. Most of us don't have the power to open this.” The bulky dragon roared and gathered a lot of nature energy and started a [Dragon Rush] that looked extremely powerful. The impact was the best yet, the markings got 9/10th of the size they needed to be to open the door. A question, dragons eat magic right? If I can feed you a lot of mana, would you be able to beat Mr. Bulk there?
“Possibly.” I took out a mountain of elementally charged frost marbles. It's time to feed the dragon! Let's show these dragons that you're the man! Ehh dragon! I hopped on Vinny’s head and Vinny took his distance. I don't know much about dragon expressions but it seems the bulky dragon was scoffing at Vinny. Do I shove all of them in your mouth at once or do I have to keep feeding you?
“Uhh, Just give me everything at once about halfway through my dash.” I grabbed the marbles with my tails and Vinny started dashing, halfway I shoved all the marbles in his mouth and he gained an enormous burst and doubled his speed. I jumped off because I had the feeling the impact would send me flying. Vinny crashed into the dungeon door and the whole dungeon lit up and the door slowly opened. The dragons roared or were they cheering? They flocked around Vinny and he seemed to be getting a lot of acknowledgment.
“That was amazing Vinny! I should've thought about that too!”
“Hey, this was actually quite cool! How about we make this a sport?!”
“Vinny! Vinny!” I guess dragons also have their own personalities and wants, not that much different from 9t or humans.
“Hmpf! I will beat you next time Vinny! I will keep an eye on you!” Bulky dragon flew off. The others flew off too and only Vinny and I were left behind.
“That was unexpectedly fun.” It seems they want to make it a new sport, I don't know if it’s possible to mimic the mechanism of this dungeon.
“I will see if I can figure something out, I’m curious about what’s inside.” Yeah, me too.