“Bandits? Really?” Brian sighed as the party looked at the group of men and women lying on the ground, completely frozen, “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”
“I apologise,” Grisha muttered, “I had not realised that my words would bring this upon us.”
“It’s fine,” Brian replied, “They were taken out pretty easily anyway, so it’s not that big a deal.”
“May I eat them?” Karen asked, already starting to drool, “Perhaps one of them will have a useful Ability.”
“No,” Brian groaned as he saw the look of fear in the bandits’ eyes as they lay on the ground, “Let’s just leave them here.”
“And allow them to harass others on the road?” Grisha said, glaring at Brian as he sighed, “No, they should be killed to prevent them from doing so again!”
“Killed?” Brian asked, looking at the girl in mild shock, “Wait, but they’re people. I can’t just…kill people!”
“Why not?” Karen asked, walking over to one of the frozen bandits, the man’s eyes spinning in his head as he tried to move, “Tis simple. See?”
The booted foot came down on the man’s head, crushing it instantly, splattering blood, bone and brains across the road, Brian turning pale as he spun to look away.
“It’s not like that!” he shouted, “I know that they’re bad people, but…”
“But you have never killed another human before, have you?” Karen sighed, shaking her head in disbelief, “Well then, this will be a good lesson for the both of you. I shall not allow us to move on until you have killed off all of these vermin.”
“What?” Brian snarled, glaring at the Dragon in a woman’s skin, “You know I can Paralyze you as well, right?”
“Yes, but it cannot kill me, nor will it last forever,” Karen smiled, her sharp teeth glinting, “At which point I shall simply track you down and bring you back. This cycle may last as long as you wish, but it shall continue until you have killed them all.”
“Can you not just give them, what did you call it? Heart attacks?” Grisha asked, “That sounds relatively painless.”
“Not you too!” Brian groaned, “It’s not like you’ve killed someone before, have you?”
“I have,” Grisha nodded, answering immediately, “A maid that was paid off to assassinate me when I was ten years old. It was…unpleasant, but a good lesson.”
“Seriously?” Brian shook his head in defeat, “So neither of you is going to let me carry on without killing these people?”
“I cannot stop you, per se,” Grisha shook her head, “But it is an important lesson for anyone who is an Adventurer to learn.”
“Well, I can and will stop you,” Karen hummed, “Until you kill all of them. So, hurry up, Mage, do not keep me waiting.”
Brian looked at the twelve, now eleven, bandits sadly, his mind reeling as his stomach churned. Lifting a hand, he increased the strength of his Paralyze Ability to maximum, all of them stiffening, before falling limp. He retched, staggering to the side of the road, throwing up in a bush, Grisha hurrying over to rub his back gently.
“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Karen laughed, kicking one of the corpses lightly, “Now, we should take all their valuables, there is no point in leaving such things on corpses.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Brian coughed as he turned to look at the bodies again, his face going pale as he spun around and tried to vomit again, nothing but bile coming out of his stomach, “Can’t we just leave them be?”
“Fine, you can,” Karen sighed, “But if you are not going to take their valuables, then I am. They may not have much, but it is an addition to my hoard.”
“Hoard?” Brian muttered as he wiped his mouth, “Dragons have hoards in this world too?”
“Of course,” Karen chimed as she waved a hand, a sea of black energy flowing out from beneath her feet, all the corpses sinking into it a moment later, “Though few are blessed with a truly safe way to store those hoards, as we True Umbral Dragons are.”
“Spatial Magic?” Brian muttered as he looked at the blood stain on the dirt, trying to ignore the returning feeling of nausea in his stomach, “You can do that?”
“Of course,” Karen huffed, “Did you truly believe that I would not have a way to carry my valuables without them weighing me down? I can carry several tonnes of items in my spatial zone easily.”
“So, it functions kind of like my bracer, then?” Brian sighed as he carried on down the road, spitting into the underbrush to try and get rid of the taste of vomit in his mouth.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Except so much more,” Karen shook her head, quickly launching into an explanation, “True Umbral Dragons such as myself are able to store items in our shadows, it is an Ability we are all born with. The stronger the Umbral Dragon, the more they can carry. While you need to consciously extract an item from your tool, I can do so instinctively.”
“That’s…actually pretty cool,” Brian hummed, looking at the woman in amazement, “Are there any other kinds of Abilities Dragons are born with?”
“Yes,” Karen nodded, “All Dragons are born with one Ability linked to their heritage. Nature Dragons, for example, can make plants grow around them. Some have been reported to side with mortals and assist them in farming in exchange for gold or other payment, but most live in seclusion and grow increasingly powerful plants for their toxins and poisons. This, in turn, becomes a part of their hoard.”
“They sound…dangerous,” Grisha said softly, Karen letting out a loud laugh.
“Compared to a True Umbral Dragon such as myself, they are nothing,” she said, “But to mortals such as yourselves? Yes, I could see them as being dangerous, as would all Dragons.”
“Fair enough,” Brian nodded, looking up at the sun, which had already passed midday by now, “Looks like we’ll have about six more hours until it gets dark, and we set up camp.”
“Ugh, again with you mortals and your constant need for rest,” Karen growled, “This is why I so kindly offered to carry you to your destination upon my back.”
“And doing that would bring the entire Dwarf Lands down on our own backs,” Brian sighed, “We’d have to fight our way through who knows how many people just to get out again.”
“And a good time it would be,” Karen hummed happily, “Not to mention that it would surely boost your level substantially, Mage.”
“Is that all you care about?” Brian groaned, “Me getting stronger?”
“Of course not,” Karen replied flatly, “But it is a point of interest for me. The greater your power when I do eat your heart, the greater the gain will be for me.”
“Right, whatever,” Brian sighed, continuing down the road, “Let’s just see if we can find a roadhouse or something to stay in along the way.”
------
Captain Alister scowled at the man sitting behind the desk in front of him, shaking his head in disgust.
“I assure you, Captain,” the Guild Master of the town’s Adventurer’s Guild said again, “The Heroes have not passed through here in the last week. Nor have they in the last month.”
“False Heroes,” the soldier growled, “And you are sure?”
“We have given you access to our records, you have seen that no group of that size or level have registered with us in the time since the Heroes escape,” the Guild Master hummed.
“False Heroes, and they abandoned their duty,” the captain repeated, “What of the two recently registered Steel Ranks? You are positive that neither of them could have been one of the false Heroes in disguise?”
“Absolutely positive,” the Guild Master sighed, “From what you have described of their levels and skills, they would not be allowed to be higher than Copper Rank when they first joined. I am sorry, but it would appear that your search here has been for naught.”
“Dammit,” the man spat, “I knew that they’d probably headed west, but no! They had to send that damn Duke’s Heir in that direction instead of me! I have been working for the kingdom for years! And they just hand the promotion to that brat because his father has money? Pathetic!”
“I am sure you have many grievances to work out, Captain,” the Guild Master sighed again, “But my office is not the place to air them. If you would, I still have much work to do today.”
“Fine, but I want you to inform me, and only me, the second a suspicious character walks through your doors!” the other man barked as he stormed out of the room.
“If I did that, you would never sleep, good captain,” the Guild Master chuckled, rubbing his sore leg, “As most who come through our doors could be considered “suspicious”.”
------
“Camping it is then,” Brian hummed as he set up the tent, Grisha building the fire to cook their food as Karen watched, unamused.
“So much wasted time,” she sighed, “All spent on sleeping.”
“Well, what do you do instead, then?” Brian asked as he walked up to the woman.
“I meditate,” she replied, scowling slightly when Brian indicated for her to continue, “It allows me to better attune to my Abilities. As the brat has already explained, Dragons do not gain Skill Points from levelling up. In fact, we do not have Ability Trees at all. Rather, we must learn our Abilities from the knowledge of our ancestors and increase their levels by meditating on them.”
“And that’s why you were after that spell book so badly,” Brian nodded, “Actually, do you still have it?”
“Of course,” Karen hummed, holding out her hand as the purple scaled book shot out of her shadow, catching it easily, “I was foolish enough to leave it not properly guarded once, I shall not be doing so again. Why? Do you wish to attempt to read it again? Steal more of its secrets?”
“No, I remember most of it almost perfectly,” Brian shook his head, startling the Dragon with his words, “I was just curious.”
“The fact that you were able to read the Ancient Dragon Script at all without going insane is already a marvel,” Karen hummed, “But to even recall a small portion would be a challenge for any mortal. Yet you claim to remember the majority of the book…How?”
“I guess it’s Ability synergy or something,” Brian shrugged, getting a confused look from both women, “I have an Ability that overlaps with all of my others, making them stronger, I think. It’s one of the ones I got from my first Title.”
“Yet that does not explain the how of it,” Karen growled, “What is this Ability?”
“It’s rude to ask that, you know?” Brian chuckled as the Dragon glared at him blankly.
“As if I care for your mortal graces,” Karen huffed, “Tell me.”
“Fine,” Brian shrugged, “I think the one that’s allowed me to do all this weird stuff is called Ancient Knowledge, all the description says is that is gives me access to ancient and lost knowledge. I think I could read the Ancient Dragon Script because I have my Literacy and that Ability at level ten each.”
“Interesting,” Karen hummed, looking up at the evening sky as the sun finally set, the stars twinkling in the void above them, “Very interesting.”
“The fire is ready,” Grisha called as the flames started to climb up the neatly stacked wood, “We should be able to cook soon.”
“Great job,” Brian smiled as he patted the girl on the head, making her freeze, before leaning more into the hand happily, almost mewling in disappointment when he lifted it off, “Anyway, I’ll cook tonight. Nothing fancy, but it should be tasty and filling. I was able to get a few spices and other ingredients from the last town we were in, as well.”
“What are you making?” Grisha asked as Brian started pulling out cured meat and vegetables from his bracer.
“Nothing much,” he shrugged, “Just a stew.”