Crovithius Dreadclaw:
The leader of the Dreadbringer herd was ecstatic! They were going to finally get rid of Dragnoria Luminoth. After settling in the Dolven region, she had cooperated with the foolish mortals and tried to bring the herd down, but they had escaped her every single time. However, she hadn't been too far behind them. Every time they moved, she would catch wind of it immediately and send her swarms of lightborn to intercept them. She hadn't discovered where their home base was, and hadn't managed to trace their teleportations back to it, but it had always been close. They barely had any room to breathe. But they were dragons, and dragons excelled in conflict. Dreadclaw flew in front, Umbra Deathwing on his right. Her black wings gleamed in the sunlight, as they traced shadowy rings behind them. Evnera Dreadshadow flew to his left, her slender body swaying in dizzying arcs to show off her agility as she always did. Behind him, Dolatoth Doomshield and Zarthog Stormeater flew close together, the Korithian and Morthen possessing a wind and hunger dragon corpse having enough power to deserve his respect, though they knew their place as second in command below him, Crovithius Dreadclaw, the Unstoppable. Further behind were eighteen dragons of average to weak power levels, only used as cannon fodder.
There were two reasons that led to the mission they were on. The first was obviously the eradication of the upstart who impeded their operations and humiliated them by forcing them to retreat time and time again. However, the second was to sacrifice those weak members of the herd in order to leave more room for the ones more deserving of the meals they hunted. The swarming tactics the unified weaklings could use would be a problem to deal with, which was why they didn't outright antagonize them directly, resorting to underhanded tactics to use them as sacrifices for the herd's cause.
"To the vanguard, my herd!", he rumbled, and the eighteen dragons, which didn't deserve to be called dragons at all, slowly advanced. Some of them grumbled, but Evnera Dreadshadow violently flapped her wings, creating a forceful gust of wind that moved those making a fuss by force. She could only do that by tapping into his own will to enhance her body, otherwise she was too weak to produce even a quarter of that power.
"Move it you imbeciles, didn't you hear the lord's command?", she said. "You don't want to be punished, do you?"
"Good work, Era. Keep it up and you will be rewarded.", he said in faned approval, still acting clueless and unaware of the diminutive dragonling's attempts at worming her way into his good graces.
"Thank you, my lord!", she said in a subservient-sounding voice. "I am your wing and your claw, your voice and your roar, your judgment and your fury!", she proclaimed. Dreadclaw understood her somewhat. She had been inducted into the herd by its leader, a great and proud dragon like himself, and she was smart enough to know that the only thing she could do if she wanted to survive would be to serve faithfully. She hadn't served long enough to actually earn the privilege of being called his wing or his claw, but she was trying. And for that, he decided to test the veracity of her claims in this battle. He didn’t expect her to do much, but she could at least stay with him and not run off like a cowardly weakling.
Umbra snorted at the wyrmling's declaration to Dreadclaw's right, but Evnera either didn't hear it or chose to ignore it. They moved, and he sensed the young Korithian child rousing her enhancement core array, tuning it to his own dread skills that gave him his title of Dreadclaw. That was another reason as to why he even let Evnera step anywhere near him, her talents as an anchor. An anchor was a creature that could be used to focus and strengthen energy skills like a spirit focus. The longer Evnera was exposed to his own energy, the higher the enhancement of it would get, so he chose to cultivate her primarily for his own gains. His train of thought was interrupted by a dragon's words.
"Massssterrr, ussssss have sssspoted target’ssss den eassssstwardssss.", one of the scouts who were at the front of the vanguard said, his voice undeveloped despite his relatively late sapience age. It just spoke to how much of a bunch of trash his pathetic herd contained, not even managing to learn how to speak at their age.
"Keep moving, we shall end them today!", he roared, and the herd grunted in acceptance, roaring in unison:
"Glory to the Dreadbringers!"
"Zarthog, move us closer.", Crovithius Dreadclaw ordered. The possessed dragon corpse nodded its head, and started shaping a technique, its spirit energy roaring forth like a storm being molded. Currents of raging air swirled toward him and were pulled into his open maw, entering the mold of spirit-wind energy. Then, the dragon breathed out, and a small storm of wind-like energy roared forth from him with extreme speed and force. The gust moved the pack closer at an accelerated rate, speeding their advance by the second. Then it reached a crescendo, at which point they were buffeted forward by a violent burst of air that sent them catapulting toward their destination at the speed of sound, crossing a mile in less than five seconds with a cataclysmic boom. Their collective roars, which mixed with the boom, made it seem like the Apex himself had descended from his lofty plane and roared his wrath at his enemies.
Queltsom and the dragons:
"Wait, what are the Bread bringers? Do they sell a lot of bread to people? If so, then why are you acting like it's about to get wild? Oh, and the roars I am hearing don't really sell the bread thing very well. In fact, I'd dare to say they're doing a horrible job of it!", Queltsom said in a tone that started out lighthearted, but transformed into a serious one after he sensed the telltale pressure of someone preparing powers beyond his comprehension.
“It's the Dreadbringer herd, a nasty band of raider dragons who have been terrorizin' the Dolven region of the Iglergo continent for decades with no one bein' able to catch em whatsoever.”, Gelrahk rumbled. “When Dragnie and I moved here, we agreed to hunt em down for the good folk out here, but not even Dragnie's Lightborn swarms have been able to trap em for good. They are always careful, always cautious, cause they know that if they let us, we would knock em out of the air, so to speak.”
“Oh, curse the Blight, the Mana's calling me again. Feels like there's another skill for me to learn. I'll have to come with you guys to watch the fight. Don't worry, a good Awakened Shield should be enough to protect me, and I can still receive the insight and learn the skill.”, Queltsom proposed, his voice serious.
“Remember when I got Steel Body from being punched in the face by that grumpy guy, and then Warstorm's Echo from witnessing the battle between the winged Tharovir and the Wargriffin? Same idea, but I can feel that the skill that's calling to me is the final skill to complete a set of abilities that all complement one another.", he added. The dragons were surprised at that. At first, when the boy had been requesting to go to specific locations, they had been dubious about it. But as soon as he displayed the ability to harden his body to the level of steel after getting punched in the face by an arrogant adventurer who was not at all happy with the idea of a little brat challenging him to a duel, they had believed him, and that belief was reenforced when he had gained the ability to enhance his strength and speed beyond what he could achieve with the long chanting, eliminating the vulnerability chanting represented and letting him mentally invoke the ability. As such, they weren't very surprised when he appeared to get a chance at learning yet another skill. Even so, they thought about it as carefully as possible, considering the urgent situation with the Dreadbringers.
“We don't have time to discuss this, as the cretins are only twenty miles away, so they'll get here in only half a minute at their current pace.”, Dragnoria hummed thoughtfully. “I guess it is alright to bring you to watch the battle.”
“Let's give the Awakened Shield a bit of an extra kick, just in case it gets even rougher than normal.”, Gelrahk suggested, and the two dragons quickly used their spirit energies, imbued with their daos of Luminous Mind and Flaming Frost, to form a white-gray dome in front of their charge that settled in front of him, extending and morphing into a suit of well-rounded non-physical armor. It would protect from all kinds of damage in equal measure.
“I call upon the Third Bond, Child of the Cultivator, Moonstorm!”, Queltsom chanted, and the air shimmered, before a diffuse, vaguely draconic mass of glimmering wind appeared beneath him and carried him forward. Dragnoria glanced at her daughter for a while, as she followed the dragons, who ascended into the air and flew outside. They moved forward, passing by gardens full of plants and spirit trees that rustled at them in greeting before they passed them by. At their hurried pace, it didn't take a while to arrive at a glimmering house made of ice that was more solid than stone. Gelrahk flew in, exchanged words with his wife Talgia, telling her to activate the formation set in the house. She did so, and the house disappeared, a barrier of cold energy replacing it. His family protected, he rejoined Dragnoria, and they resumed their flight. They quickly arrived at their chosen destination, a wide, enormous clearing that didn't obstruct site and was far enough that no attack would damage nearby structures.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Dragnoria saw the herd as specks at the end of the horizon, at first. But they became larger and more defined as they came closer. At the front of the group, eighteen weak dragons flew forward, a mixed assortment of Elems, Draspers, Morthens and a few Korithians here and there, the latter standing out with their crystalline bodies and thin frames. Behind them, a larger Korithian who was bulkier than the rest flew alongside an animated corpse of an Elem that seemed to be possessed by a more experienced Morthen, the two of them likely being the leader's lieutenants. Behind them still, three dragons followed, the ruler of the herd, Crovithius Dreadclaw himself, right in the center. On his left was an even more slender Korithian that almost looked to have just hatched. Dragnoria despaired at the thought of fighting a little kid who was forced to do as the herd leader decreed. A strange power linked her to the leader, so she likely wasn't helpless. And on his right, a black and gray Elem dragon trailed impressive rings of shadowy energy from her wings, the Korithian shadow dragon either unable or unwilling to stop showing off.
Dragnoria took in the sight quickly, noting the considerable number of Korithians among the group's leadership, and started summoning lightborn. Using her connection to her own branch of the light plane, she called forth the legions of light spirits and Esperians that dwelt there, ready to fight by her side. White humanoids made of light and its various combinations with related Elements, like Burning Light and Starlight, appeared by the scores, moving in position to intercept the waves of techniques thrown by the eighteen weaklings. Volleys of fireballs, lightning bolts, ice spears and wind blades exploded out at different intensities. The Korithians among them were naturally more capable, their techniques much more powerful and their Dao emanations more solid, highlighting the advantage that particular dragon race gained in exchange for a crystalline body vulnerable to physical damage. To keep up, the Elems had to merge with the Draspers to gain more power, but their merging methods were crude and liable to kill the incorporeal Drasper dragons. The Morthens stood guard, ready to possess the corpses of their companions when they inevitably died.
The lieutenants moved, trying to kill the Lightborn squads, but an additional infusion of light energy from the white dragon allowed them to form lesser awakened shields that would protect them from all damage for a time. Dragnoria herself acted, ascending into the air to battle the bigger threats alongside Gelrahk. She swiped with her claw from afar, aiming at the Morthen-possessed dragon. A white claw made of light flew in an arc, targeting the red-green beast. Hungry winds moved to intercept the light dragon's claw, but it flowed around the miniature cyclone and hit the Morthen, burning and rending a patch of scales where it struck. The parallel layer of mind energy she had imbued into the skill also activated at the same instant, dealing mind damage to the Morthen directly. Morthens were one of the two spectral dragon races, with Drasper being the other one. They were akin to living ghosts, feeding on life energy to sustain themselves and grow in power. They had the ability to possess any creature with a physical form, gaining their abilities and affinities. However, the true bodies of those dragons were ridiculously frail constructs of mental energy housing a soul. That meant they would be easily able to slip into unsuspecting minds and read them as they wished, but also that once you could bypass the physical defense of their possessed bodies and hurt their mental true bodies directly, they would quickly fall. Thus, it was no surprise that with an additional point-blank Luminous Mind Dragon's Breath attack from Queltsom's mentor, the enemy that had the power of hungry wind at its disposal was eliminated, unable to bring its might to bear. Just like that, one of Dreadclaw's lieutenants was defeated. Things were looking up, it seemed. Dragnoria didn't even need to use her massive stores of spirit energy, solely mobilizing the external energy around her. Normally, if a dragon of her caliber used their spirit energy offensively, their weakest strike would be able to flatten an area like Dolven, which was around 3600 square miles. However, opening a gateway to the light plane had cost her severely, rendering her spirit energy unusable for forming techniques. The only thing she could use that way was the external energy she grasped with her mind. So now her vast reserve of spirit energy was used as fuel to allow the Lightborn working under her to teleport between the physical reality and the plane through her. A burst of unique energy that torpedoed into her innerspace yanked her out of her revery, prompting her to glance at the System notification that shone in green.
“You have defeated a [middle-stage Starbronz rank] Morthen dragon. Moderate Essence gained.”
Gelrahk Emberfrost:
Gelrahk fought against two dragons at the same time. The shadow dragon, whom his skill identified as Umbra Deathwing, bombarded him with waves of shadowy energy, clouding his perception momentarily each time, causing him to be sometimes unable to dodge the sneaking shadow daggers that hid behind the shadow waves. He was forced to blindly follow his instincts and combat experience, as his senses were clouded by the waves. He would try to fire ice spears at Umbra, but they would immediately impact the solidified aura of the other dragon, Dolatoth Doomshield. To Gelrahk's surprise, the other Korithian's aura was an actual solid shield that easily withstood his strongest attacks. Not only that, but it directly reflected the force of his own strikes straight into his insides, as if the shield had some form of link to Gelrahk's internal structure.
“Behold! This is my special technique, the Doomshield. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, it is the reason behind my name. But you know what they also call me, Frozenbrain?”, Dolatoth said in a deep, baritone voice. “The Diamond Demon! Here, let me show you why. Come and hit me with the strongest attack you can muster!”, he taunted.
“So be it.”, Gelrahk rumbled. Of course, he wasn't going to hit the fat bastard with everything he got that easily. The shadow dragon and the so-called Doomshield were a nuisance, but he reckoned he could easily deal with them if he needed to. He advanced, mustering the strength of his icy body. His claws extended, and he started to ram them into the shield consecutively. With each hit, an increasingly strong burst of destructive force hit his insides. He quickly figured out that every time he attacked the force Elemental dragon, he would receive a backlash equal to the combined force of all the previous attacks he had hit him with so far, so if Gelrahk had taken the bate and committed to hitting him with the actual strongest attack at his disposal, he might have died the next instant after their subsequent clash. He quickly sobered up. He was wrong about being able to easily dispose of that particular chap that easily without drastic measures. Gelrahk's only saving grace was that when the rebound struck his body, it didn't count the latest blow he delt to Doomshield. If he managed to figure out exactly how strong the aura shield was, then hit it with a greater force than what it could withstand, he would be able to break it without receiving any backlash.
“I guess it's time for drastic measures now, innit?”, he thought, inwardly sighing in anticipation. “Nothin' for it, I need to do it. Now's not the time to worry about somethin' comparatively trivial like soul damage."
“Greater Formshift!”, he rumbled, and the duo ceased their attacks, as something within the ice dragon's aura that fluctuated wildly seemed to captivate them. Gelrahk's crystalline ice body swelled and bulged, as if something within was attempting to get out. Then the glittering carapace burst into shards of ice that fell on the ground, as another, larger body with a deeper icy color emerged. It grew taller and longer until it was twenty meters tall and fifty meters long. Red spikes lined his back, and flame-like orange stripes were scattered across his scales, but they were most concentrated on his two white horns that curved backward and met in the middle, pointing upwards.
*ROOOOOAAAAARR!*
The dragon let out a sound that combined intense pain and infernal rage. The duo facing him, who looked like tiny drakes or even large dragonets from his vantage point, trembled at the voice they heard. It was bassy, deep, and more intense than a dozen Dreadclaws combined. Yet that was only the beginning. The air seemed to pull back like the tides, then it surged forth once again, carrying with it a heavy wave of ice that engulfed and surrounded him in an impressive display. However, in a clear declaration of war against logic and common sense, this ice froze and burned at the same time, as tongues of flame licked out from the ice, causing scorchmarks to appear on the ground, despite the freezing temperature and snowflakes that fell throughout the area. “Emberfrost Domain!”, he thundered, the earth quaking and the wind blowing strongly at his booming voice.
“Come on, little ants, it's no fun squashing the two of you without any resistance! I bothered to wound my own soul in order to grace you with my presence, so at least have the decency to give me a good fight!”, the dragon rumbled, his voice sounding like the voice of the very earth. “I can feel you holding onto the key to a gate of the Chthonic Plane, Dreadclaw, you better open it up before I come crashing down on your pitiful head. Give me the joy of stretching my limbs! I've waited too long for a fight like this, so you better make it worth the hype and wait!”
Crovithius Dreadclaw:
The mission was going out of hand. Dreadclaw had some heavy tricks available, but he never expected Gelrahk Emberfrost to have this transformation ability that made him at least five times stronger than himself when using orthodox techniques. But no, the ash energy would be saved for last. But now that the secret of the Chthonic Key was somehow discovered, he might as well use it and give the crazy dragon what he wanted. Dreadclaw would gamble all his spirit energy on the key. He would still be able to use the ash without spirit energy. He began activating his chthonic key.
“Black against the Gold of Light, Corruption against the Purity of life! Antithesis, Antithesis, Antithesis! Open, Gate of the Chthonic Plane! Kabbith, Maeleon Maeleon, Moadab Moadab Moadab, Narvakod, Salgohanam! Honor my father's covenant, oh dwellers of the Chthonic plane, the time for fulfilling the bargain has come! Dwellers of the Dark, Ascend and crush the Light!”, he chanted, driving all of his spirit energy into the key's intricate and unfathomable formation. He ignored the bout of weakness that overcame him at the loss of all his spirit energy at the same time, enduring the hellish, demonic screams that only he could hear, and directed the gate to open above Gelrahk's huge head.
“Yes, bring on those Chthonic beasties of yours, I'll crush your sorcery like I've crushed everything else that has decided to cross me!”, Gelrahk laughed and waved wildly with his claw, as if telling the beasts to hurry up and crawl out of the dark portal that appeared in the air already. The portal, when looked at, seemed beyond simple darkness. It was the abyss, the depths of the underworld plane made manifest. It tried to drag whatever it could find of him into its depths, but his temporary pact with the Chthonians protected him. Unsurprisingly, Gelrahk also seemed unaffected. Dreadclaw knew that his spirit was strong, easily able to resist the pull of the Chthonic Plane. Indeed, this power was called sorcery, as it involved worshipping demons and making pacts with them to use their services. That's why Dreadclaw only invoked his father's pact rather than making his own. The pact key had been implanted in his spirit, which was why it couldn't be removed by the Shadow. But if he tried to make a pact of his own, the Shadow's lightning punishment would be the least of his worries, as the very creatures who kept the cosmic balance would erase him from existence without a second thought.
The pact's key dissolved as his spirit energy slipped into its divots and holes and fulfilled the Chthonians' demands. They wanted to unleash their destructive might upon the physical world in exchange for giving him more strength, strength that not even Umbra and Dolatoth knew about. But all that strength was returned to its Chthonic source in order to further increase the power of the spirits emerging from the portal.