Ander watched in irritation as a hand of magma rose out of the ground, using Kyrion’s blood as fuel while becoming an extension of his body. He had made up for the inability to use expert tier levels of high magic by using his blood and D.E. It was a powerful technique, but it was also too much for a dragon like that.
“So…Even if our people managed to draw blood, he’d just use it as fuel for his magic?”
“Better that then let it get used against him in some sort of weapon.”
“Ander, can you move like that in the air?”
“Faster actually. But moving that quickly for extended periods causes me to lose sight of what’s important. I essentially become a force of nature. Lightning that cares not for friend or foe.” Ander sighed.
“Doesn’t seem like we’ll be having any trouble.” Chiyo sighed.
Ander looked at the various rifts that were still present. Given the number, it was likely that the dragon came from one of those rifts. When it was defeated, only one rift seemed to weaken.
Like a vulture, Ander pointed his spear at the rift he’d noticed.” Honored father, send for an elite group to join us. These rifts seem to be dungeons.”
“Honored father? You must really want something.”
“More of a confirmation. If that is a dungeon, then there will be more monsters coming.” Ander bowed.
“And you want me to keep it a secret long enough for you to confirm.”
“The difficulty at least. If people from your world can handle it then I’ll gladly step aside and help with the big beasts.”
“What’s so interesting about dungeons?” Chiyo asked.
“Personalized loot. Also, the cores can be quite useful, or so I’ve observed. I don’t think anyone can just absorb them though.”
“That’s mighty greedy of you.”
“It is a recent vice. I’m not sure why but I have a new desire to obtain all the treasure I can.”
“You’ve become a capitalist. You haven’t had access to this world’s currency as of yet…”
“Treasure is more than just money,” Ander said with a scowl. He usually saw himself as a minimalist, but now he craved power and riches. Ander sent a bolt of electricity through his brain and scowled as it connected with something with a powerful barrier, causing him to fall to a knee.
“Ander!” Chiyo caught her stumbling fiance.
“I’ll be fine. It’s the blood. All that draconic essence flowing about caused my mind to go a bit haywire. We should learn from the dungeon and use it to grow your world’s powerbase.”
“Draconic essence?”
“In my world it is known as the curse of the dragon. When one becomes a dragonslayer certain changes happen to their body. One being an increased appetite on top of greater physical prowess, and greater potential for physical growth. It also helps us mentally allowing us to sense the power within other dragons and the blood of dragon slayers, although it also imparts some of their instincts. This power passes on for one generation and usually dies out, unless that child also kills a dragon and awakens the bloodline. I recently killed a dragon, thus I’m not used to it but now that I can sense the gap in out power, I now know the way my captain kept ahead of me.” Ander said calmly as his sclera darkened and his canines extended into fangs.
“Demonic white tiger. I can see it now.” Junichiro nodded. If he was being honest, he had a similar greed when he was younger, though he didn’t exactly have an excuse. It was just his nature. Given that he could plan decades ahead, he may have been a bit of an investor.
Ander’s eyes slowly faded as he realized what he was doing. Pulling on Byakko subconsciously seemed easier.
“Sorry about that.” Ander didn’t speak again until after the transport vessel was close enough to safely let him down.
Ander’s party consisted of an old man, a lightning user, his fiance, a ninja with black cloth over their eyes, and a wiz–onmyoji. It was a diverse party, and despite saying he wanted his group to mostly sit out, his order was rebuffed, and they were limited to a five-person group.
“Ok. Simple, you all have one job and that is to survive and come out alive. I won’t step in unless it appears as though you’ll take a lethal injury. How does that sound?”
“How will you know if we’ll get a lethal injury?” The Onmyoji asked.
“Experience,” Ander said bluntly and directly. If he was being honest, he’d know the difference between someone holding back and someone pushing their limits in a fight for a while. It was something he’d done to match opponents in the past. A fight wasn’t a learning experience if your opponent ended up in a heap on the ground before they could process what happened.
“You’re too young to have that kind of experience.” The Ninja stated.
“Are you calling me short?” Ander asked in a polite tone. He was wary of people who hid their eyes. But if the Ninja wanted a fight, he’d give them one.
“No, you are yet to reach twenty, based on your scent and presence.”
“Oh, things work differently back home. I’ve trained since the day I learned to walk, practiced many forms before I gained my spear. I have been leading my peers through training regimes for years now. I can tell when someone is pushing their limit, or when constantly trying to hold back.”
The Ninja frowned briefly before their face went blank.
“He’s probably the strongest person in this group in terms of offense. Although I asked that he takes a more active role if more than two monsters appear. I won’t be much help after all.” The old man stated matter of factly.
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“I will do so when I deem it necessary. This is a test of your people. Dungeons tend to be balanced for teams of three or four. Or so I’ve been told.” Ander recalled his trip through Kyrion’s dungeon. The spirit in charge was pissed when Ander overpowered monsters with Kyrie. It also confirmed that Kyrion held back in many ways during battles against humans.
Ander stepped into the rift and watched as the world became a room made of blue stones. There was a group of eight blue-scaled tiny lizard people in rags, holding torches and slingshots that were made to sling ice cubes.
“If trained warriors can’t handle these guys, the earth might as well give up now.” Ander shouted as he poked his head through. Ander returned to where he stood and eyed the eight creatures who had readied their slings with ice cubes.
“Let’s see… Chain weak stun.” Ander shot an arcing blue bolt of lightning that passed through all eight kobolds in less than a second, causing them to seize. Within the next few seconds, the seizing stopped, and all the kobolds gave up resisting.
The other four members of Ander’s team entered momentarily. Surprised by the statuesque kobolds.
“These eight are pretty weak. The three of you should be able to hold them.” Ander canceled his spell and watched as the confused kobolds regained their faculties despite being dazed.
“Attack.”
“Right.” The Ninja vanished as a series of metal shuriken flew forward and pierced the creature’s scales, causing three to fall over dead easily.
The Onmioji threw a single paper doll into the crowd and watched as it connected with the creature, causing it to vanish into a blue light. The shape changed, and the paper doll now resembled a blue box.
“Come forth Icy Flame Draklin!” From the box appeared a slightly bigger blue kobold with a katana that burned in blue flames.
“I thought they were kobolds… Must have been sacrificed to form that dragon. Oh I think I get it… The dragon was the combined form of a bunch of these Draklins, essence. This dungeon may be much weaker than I expected if that’s the case.”
“Omi guy, did you just tame that monster?”
“I formed a contract. It only wants bugs and small tributs of meat.”
“Ugh…” Ander felt a familiar tug of irritation. Pride he didn’t recall having in the draconic species. He zapped his brain again, the influence fading.
“Why are you zapping yourself?”
“That creature may not be a dragon, but it’s disgusting? I dunno, looking at it makes the draconic energy in my soul burn. I need to subdue it.” Ander emptied his mind and let Byako’s influence counter the draconic energy. If Ander told anyone that the reason he was vulnerable to charm effects had to do with him keeping Byako caged within his mind, they’d be more worried than they are now.
The tiger in the mental prison smirked. “So, you have finally entered Hell.”
Ander scowled, “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing that should matter to you. I have been here before. After I was banished from my homeland. Now I live within you. Why don’t you let me offer you a deal. You let me eat that draconic energy you’ve been absorbing, and I’ll prevent its influence from bothering you. All the benefits, none of the detriments. In return I’ll gain strength as well and the barrier between us will weaken.”
“How are you better than a dragon?” Ander didn’t trust it, but it chose him.
“Because we can only bind due to compatibility. You won’t get shorter by sharing that power with me if that’s what has you concerned.”
Ander was concerned about it, but he wouldn’t say that aloud. “Fine, we need to trust each other if we are to survive together. So why a spearhead?”
“I was curious about what you’d use it for.”
“And I attached it to an enchanted wooden pole my brother bought.”
“Good on you for using a spear to compensate for your height as well as help you master flight early. I didn’t expect you to figure out magnetizing the metal prongs to channel lightning without my help though.”
“Yes… I doubt I’ll pull that out during a match. The potency increase would bypass any wards killing anyone pierced lethally before they could activate. I’m better off using my fingers to dilute my discharge. I have nothing against you if all you want is to offer me power, for power but. What will happen to the potential I gained from killing the dragon?”
“It will go into me and in turn you, when you reach expert, and the realm above, we’ll duel for supremacy.”
“I don’t intend to follow that path. So you should ask for something else. Maybe reincarnation or another body altogether.”
“Ander? Are you ready to continue?” Chiyo interrupted Ander’s internal dialogue. He’d finish it later.
“A pact, I can put it off a bit longer.” Ander summoned his spear and snapped the metal bit off his head; he pulled the remaining wood out from there. It was a secret he’d kept close to his heart. He was already short for his age, and when his spirit awakened a long arrowhead, he was concerned, and with great effort and training, he’d managed to get it to grow. Now that he knew what the item was, he understood that the spearhead was the manifestation of the top of Byako’s claw.
“Or! Isn’t that wooden part important?”
“That? The wood was something my older brother bought me to help me get over my usefulness. Nothing but training wheels that I need to lose.”
“Is that so?” Chiyo examined the small object and watched as Ander placed it in the palm of his hand and pressed down. In moments, half of the head sunk into his flesh while the other broke off. With some irritation and loud crackling, the second part entered his opposite hand.
Mana flowed through his body while life energy followed, pushing him to walk and move differently as though his hands naturally rejected being close. When he gathered them together, the repulsion grew. Pushing them caused lighting to crackle between his fingers, and he pushed them away from each other. Before a chain snapped, claws of black lighting could be seen.
“Come to me, Raijin,” Ander said in their language, and a broken hilt appeared in his hands. The lighting on his fingers formed a black blade of condensed lightning in moments.
“Where did you find that katana?” Junichro looked at the Kanji written on the hilt with recognition.
“Well…my captain was responsible for the destruction of the blade, and the spirit was given to me as a gift. I have been able to summon the hilt for a time and use black lightning, but this is the first time I managed to get the blade to ignite like this.” Ander focused on slowing mana flow through his body to a relatively normal state and felt the limits in movement were released as his spirit returned to his core and the hilt in his hands. The marks on his hands stayed along with the sensation of power. But the draconic pride was slowly fading.
“Good to go?”
“Lead the way, my duty is as backup here.”
The following few rooms were full of puzzles and traps that proved straightforward to the humans from this world, and the fights were laughable. Within two hours, the group made it to the end, as the boss had already been beaten.
Chiyo received a black lower-face mask with ivory fangs and tusks. It was quite intimidating to look at and may have been the result of her slaughtering small dragon creatures like a merciless demon. The exorcist received a new hat that was a foot taller than his previous one and black in color. The Ninja was going to open his box when Ander shocked him.
“Follow me.” Ander moved towards a wall in the room, punched through it, and pulled out a twelve-sided die.
“What’s that?”
“The dungeon core. Place it above your heart.”
The Ninja did so, and pain shot through his…no, her body. The scream that they let out was noticeably feminine.
It shouldn’t cause pain, should it? “Ander moved to remove the die when the kunoichi grabbed his wrist with a vice-like grip and wouldn’t let go. Unlike his captain, Ander couldn’t heal a broken wrist or removed hand, and it would be wrong if he’d taken it.
“Grandfather, a bit of help! She grabbed my hand and won’t let go!”
Chiyo looked up and saw the scene from a very bad angle. Within seconds, three things occurred.
The kunoichi integrated the core into her body and passed out, pulling Ander forward.
The pommel of Chiyo’s Katana slammed into Ander’s temple instead of the gut, giving him a minor concussion and causing the ninja girl’s wrist to break before she let go.
Old man Junichro managed to steal a relatively revealing Nina uniform from the chest that wasn’t opened and hid it. It may have been a bad habit, but chances are, it would be for the better if it was found somewhere else.