Desert winds drift aimlessly through endless sands; across the horizon stretches only the boundless sands of time. The cloudless sky hangs low, painted in the hazy amber of past days.
Beyond the countless dunes of sand, beyond the lonely desert winds lies a truly ancient demon. Its fossilized skeleton dominates the sky of this desert. Its ancient bones are colored a dark gold by time's ceaseless advance. But no amount of time dulls this demon's presence; even as merely a skeleton, it reaches into the sky with its immense size. Tens of kilometers tall and hundreds of kilometers long, the beast's body alone could be considered a desert.
The demon's body is long and thin and has rows of bones forming an enormous ribcage, extending into truly gigantic, outspread wings. The tail is plated with thick bone and is half as long as the body itself. But the most terrifying feature of the demon is its mouth; the head extends outward into an open jaw, with tens of thousands of sharp teeth inside. Its feet curl into long claws at the ends, digging into the sand beneath with its talons. The beast is no simple creature; it is a dragon.
As the desert winds drift, a figure comes into view, a long black cloak streaming out behind him. Each footprint impresses into the sand; not even the strong northern winds can erase this man's path.
Astraoth sets foot near the skeleton that conceals his next target: the fourth guardian of the north. With this step, the originally relaxed wind excites and begins to accelerate, whipping around Astraoth in a swirl of sand and ancient dust. The skeleton starts to move, each bone linking together and rising up from the ground slowly.
As the dragon straightens itself out Astraoth makes his move, using a pulse of energy to launch himself into the air, clear of the sand formerly trapping him. Astraoth spreads his arms out as Essence Energy gathers around him, creating an aura of energy. Heading directly toward the dragon, Astraoth expels bursts of energy to propel himself at the beast with even greater speed.
As soon as the dragon fully assembles itself, the beast waves its claw and sends blades of sand flying at Astraoth. Astraoth easily avoids the attacks with blasts of energy instantly shifting both his momentum and his position, allowing him to evade all the skeleton's attacks with ease. The dragon flaps its wings, propelling massive waves of sand at Astraoth, covering his entire view immediately.
Astraoth clears his view with a wave of his hand, utilizing Essence Energy to form a shield around him to repel sand and dust. The bone dragon retreats quickly, using his wings to thrust itself backward. Astraoth steps forward, surging forward in a storm of power, leaving only clouds of dust and sand in his wake. As Astraoth thrusts his palm forward, about to attack the skeleton, it disassembles itself and disappears in a tempestuous blast of energy.
The bones reassemble itself around Astraoth, creating a cage of solid bone around him. Astraoth attempts to gather Essence Energy, but the dragon's bones isolate energy from the outside world. Astraoth attacks the cage around him, but the dragon's bones are too solid to injure with merely Astraoth's physical strength. Astraoth continues to attack the cage, despite his attacks having no impact on the bone. Minutes of entrapment turn into hours, and Astraoth remains stuck, with no way out.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Astraoth stops his attacks and begins to ponder his situation,"What is it doing? Why is it just trapping me?...It never really attacked me, unlike the others. Maybe...Maybe it knows it can't kill me. It's a demon and if it knows it can't kill me, it would make sense to avoid directly fighting me."
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"You Who Strive To Inherit All I Have, The First Of My Four Trials Shall Begin Now. I Have Brought You To My World, And Here, To Proceed To The Second Trial, You Must Unearth Four Great Obelisks And Slay The Mighty Guardians That Protect Them. You Have Four Weeks To Accomplish This Task. Now, Begin..."
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"It wants to trap me until the time I have left runs out! I only spent thirteen days to eliminate the other three, so I have two weeks left. This guardian is probably the intelligent one, and it may be the strongest of them all. It is a demon, however, so its power doesn't matter to me."
"How do I escape?"
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Oromius stands above Astraoth as he lay on the floor, tired after a long day of training. Oromius begins to talk to Astraoth, saying:
"Astraoth, I know you do not understand why this training is important. That is fine-you will understand soon. Just know this: the only way to decide your own destiny, the only way to break the bonds of fate is to destroy that which chains you down, to destroy those who attempt to impose their will upon you."
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"Why did I kill the first three guardians, why did I come here in the first place, why did I choose to survive?"
"To succeed."
"Than what do I need to do now?"
"I need to sever the chains that bind me. I need to cleave apart those who tie me down. I need to slaughter my enemies."
Astraoth draws on the energy dormant within his body, pulling from the monster slumbering within. This Demonic Energy rampages out from his body, causing waves and disturbances in the air, eventually forming a long, thin blade in Astraoth's hand.
Astraoth glares. "I will sever your chains." He swings his blade, slashing apart the cage around him instantly. With a wave of his sword, the bones are split, and the skeleton's vulnerable core, only fifty meters away, comes into view. The dragon's bones come hurtling toward Astraoth, but Astraoth avoids the bones easily, rushing toward the core.
Astraoth's blade destroys any bone that comes near, and in seconds, Astraoth arrives at the demonic core. Astraoth brandishes his blade once more, and he slashes the core apart instantly, ending the life of the fourth guardian.
The blade dissipates in a flash of energy, and the rush of energy leaves Astraoth's body. He nearly falls to the floor, but Astraoth manages to maintain consciousness. Astraoth hobbles his way over, behind the leftover bones of the dragon, and he lets himself drop to the floor, immediately falling asleep.