Excerpt from 'Desire through the Ages' chapter 3; Dragons:
...All dragons desire to be better than any other dragon. However, dragons are smart enough to know that it is nearly impossible to be the best. And thus, their desire warped into the desire to become a dragon lord.
To become a dragon lord, one must have wealth, fame, repute, and strength. And so, their desire warps further to a desire for each of these things. Dragons do whatever they need to in order to gain these things. They plunder money and goods, gathering material wealth, and spreading their name far. They fight each other to prove their strength, and to gain reputation among witnesses. Worst of all is war. For the victor of war gains everything, wealth and fame and repute, while proving their strength.
War needs soldiers. And this is where the most twisted version of their original desire materializes. The desire for offspring. Certain dragons seek out others in hopes of producing strong offspring, who can participate in their wars. However, such an investment was not always desirable. And thus bastards came about. Quick to produce, decently strong, and non-sapient and thus thought to be incapable of betrayal. The perfect soldier for war...
...Of course, there will always be exceptions. The only true desire is to be better than other dragons, and you can do that in many other ways. Liberos is the most well known example; a dragon who desired all the knowledge in the world, to the point of sacrificing their true form to obtain books lost to history...
"Strange. Even here, it says all dragons have that desire. Is it that unbelievable for a dragon to have no desire at all? It's starting to make me worried for her..."
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11th of Ax, 119 years since megados eruption
Aesmo here. Vildra is busy. So are we. Preparations for the war is almost complete. Includes a fake den filled with poisoned food. Us Esmos have been preparing traps in case anyone finds the real den.
Eesmo is supposed to go out and sabotage the enemies' food supply. She has a secondary objective of attaching herself to an enemy and hinder them without detection. Unfortunately, we won't know if she's successful until later. I hope she is.
Vildra is... troubled. She got another message; we have too many pigeons now. She isn't telling us what it's about. But we overheard her cursing. Undeniably problematic.
14th of Ax, 119 years since megados eruption
There is an army at the horizon. We're out of time.
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Excerpt from 'Necessity of mana'
...Therefore, every known organism requires 7 pr of mana per kg per day, or 2 pr while hibernating. Most are capable of absorbing this mana from their surroundings, though some parasitic organisms obtain mana from others instead.
...Manacus is a rare disease that prevents the victim from absorbing ambient mana. There is no known cure, and the only treatment is direct mana transfer. Unfortunately, the life expectancy for victims is less than a year, due to a high likelihood of manauriunt...
...Manauriunt is a common illness caused by having more mana in the body than it can handle. The primary effect is an expulsion of excess mana. Normally, this itself is mostly harmless, if slightly nauseating. However, for those with manacus, it is a painful expulsion of all of their mana. Additionally, while under manauriunt, the body is nearly immune to all spells, making it impossible to directly transfer mana...
"Fuck. Is there really no cure? No... this was written by a sapient. They have limitations, we do not."
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Pov Aesmo
I think in the last fight with Mike, Vildra was holding back. I say that now, as she's flying much faster through a wall of winged bastards. Their claws bounce harmlessly off of her scales, proving the superiority of us Esmos.
Well, that may be an exaggeration. After all, we cannot fly by ourselves. Maybe the bastards below us can leave a scratch. I wouldn't be so boastful if that turns out to be true.
Anyways, Vildra uses her own claws to chop through the airborne army. She doesn't bother to aim; a single strike is enough to kill. No, her focus is on the dragon behind the wall. They should be her cousin, but I don't see any resemblance.
Honestly, it's strange. A whole army of bastards, and only one actual dragon. Could it be that Eesmo succeeded? I hope so.
Oh look, Vildra just broke through, and is now jetting straight for that dragon. I think they're preparing to cast a spell. Not a good idea when in the wastes.
Not that it matters. Vildra just circled behind them and grabbed their wings. And now they're both falling. Ah, I see, she's trying to get them to surrender. Right, she can't just kill them in war. Unfortunate, but rules are rules.
Wait... ah, that's where the other dragons were. Hiding among the bastards on the ground. Were they preparing an ambush? No, they're a bit green? They really did get food poisoning! Nice job Eesmo!
It seems Vildra noticed too. She just threw the dragon she was holding right into the rest. Oh, and the spell they were casting just went off. A wave of frost is going across the bastards. That definitely used too much mana. Works well in our favor.
Hm? Vildra's trying to say something to us. She's a bit too far, but Cesmo should be able to hear her. Hey Cesmo, what's she saying?
"There's another army."
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Unknown Diary published by Former Greater Dragon Liberos
(Translator's note; several sections seem to have been magically erased. These sections will be denoted by [missing]. Untranslatable sections are denoted with {untranslatable})
7th of Alm, [missing]
I plan on asking [missing] what she wants to do when she grows up. Whether it's to help her father or me, or something else, I am willing to spend my own resources for her. After all, she's the most promising among the three.
9th of Alm, [missing]
Strangely, she says she doesn't want to do anything when she grows up. She admits that she'll probably make her own den, but other than that she has no desires.
She wasn't lying; her wings flinch while lying. No, she simply cannot think of any desires. I'm not sure if this is a problem or not. I guess I won't have to be worried about her though. Maybe she'll have desires when she's older.
[Several pages are missing]
28th of An, [missing]
{untranslatable} (ends in curse akin to 'fuck'. rest is unknown)
4th of Aos, [missing]
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
She has manacus. I don't know since when, but the worst of the symptoms started last week. I can't let another one die so soon. Not her. Not with her {untranslatable}. I'm sure such an old illness has some form of cure. Or at least something better than directly transferring mana.
I'm going to go visit Liberos. If anyone knows of a cure I'm sure its them.
18th of Aos, [missing]
All they had were books telling me what I already knew. Sapients know no cure for manacus. Luckily, [missing]. Unlike sapients {untranslatable}. (mentions name of ancient hero, city, civilization, and weapon. Unknown which they are referring to.)
More strangely, I found a book about the desires of dragons. As far as anyone knows, all dragons have a desire to be better than others. Which makes [missing] lack of desire more strange. I worry that it is related to her manacus.
22nd of Aos, [missing]
I am working on two theories right now. First is that [missing] can still absorb mana from ingesting mana-rich materials. I just need to find such material. Second, is that her manacus is either causing or caused by her lack of desire. Under the assumption that it is caused by a lack of desire, I will be attempting to encourage her to desire something.
I understand that this may not work, in which case I am perfectly willing to attempt other treatments. However, I fear that I will run out of time. David is trying to flirt with me again, and I doubt I can help [missing] while in war.
1st of Ar, [missing]
[missing]'s funeral will be private. His body will not be visible. There are some that are suspicious. However, I did what I must. I am willing to accept the consequences.
10th of Ar, [missing]
The suspicions were not aimed at me. They were aimed at [missing]. I panicked. They used 'reveal truth' on her! I did what I could. But that reputation will stay with her. I... if anything I made it worse.
But there is good news among the bad. Her symptoms are lessening! Her desires remain unchanged, and so I won't pursue that anymore. At this rate, she'll survive, and I will have found the cure to manacus. I'm sure Liberos will be overjoyed at hearing about this.
[several more pages are missing]
15th of Ab, [missing]
It wasn't a permanent cure. Fuck.
No, I know how to buy time. David is still being dumb. If... if I do this correctly, then I can buy us more time. But how do I trick the council. There's too much evidence.
27th of Ab, [missing]
[missing] learned a new spell. 'Erase memory'. Where the fuck did she even find that scroll? It's a forbidden spell that got destroyed ages ago. The only one who has one is probably dragon lord [missing]. Did they do this? Fuck, there's something happening that I don't know about.
11th of Aes, [missing]
David is dead. No one can find the body. And worst of all, I didn't kill him. At least, I don't remember killing him.
The circumstantial evidence all points to me. But a lack of body and my own memories prove my innocence. At least, legally it does. Honestly, even I'm suspicious of myself. Because I don't remember anything that happened last week.
14th of Aes, [missing]
[missing] no longer has manacus. At least for now. I don't know what to do about her anymore. She's my daughter but she's so...
I worry I will forget her.
25th of Aes, [missing]
The taste. I can't get the taste out of my head. I can't believe I've done this. This is all my fault. I only wanted to help. I truly did. Dragons can desire other than superiority. Is it truly so wrong to desire to save someone?
1st of Alm, [missing] days since 'megados eruption'
Manauriunt is not simply an expulsion of excess mana. Or rather, it is the body forcefully casting a spell using excess mana. The strength of a spell is proportional to the amount of mana used, usually up to a max. Manauriunt can exceed that max.
'Erase memory' is weird. No one can remember what happens if you increase the mana you use to cast it. Ironic. Or maybe this is the first time it happened. The first time a dragon with manacus, that knew 'erase memory', experienced manauriunt.
Now, no one will know. No one but me. Eimhil was a rash dragon. He attacked while I was away. While [missing] was undefended. Turns out she didn't need my protection. I learned about it from dragon lord [missing]. [missing] was found eating the corpse of an unknown dragon. The dragon had no records of ever existing, and so she could not be judged, as legally, there was no one to seek justice for.
But I recognize the body. Eimhil is my brother. But nobody remembers him. Even father; he says I'm an only child. Truly, the only explanation I can think of is manauriunt. The only way for a magic this powerful to happen. If that is true, then I have a wonderful new discovery. It is possible for someone with manacus to survive manauriunt.
I'm afraid. Afraid that I will be forgotten. Which is why I'm writing this. I made a timed oath with Liberos. In 100 years, they will recover this diary. The recovery ritual is automatic, so even if it is forgotten, the diary will be recovered.
If you, future me, are reading this, I apologize. You will have to be the one to take care of Vildra.
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Pov Vildra
This is the worst. Day. Ever.
Not one, not two, but three fucking armies of fuckers are heading straight for my house. I swear the greater powers are out to get me. Actually, that just might be true. Apparently everyone had some sort of prophetic dream of something? And they just assumed it was about my war in particular?
I just took down my cousin and half of the first army, so at least there's one piece of good news. The bad news is that I can see a couple of dragons flying from the east. And some from the west. Ugh. At least there's no one from the north.
Huh? Why is there clouds coming from the west? The wind's coming from the east. It's probably a big spell, 'change weather' maybe? Are they using that to hide something? Do they think I'll fire a laser at them or something? You're just wasting a lot of mana!
Ah, I'm asking rhetorial questions again. Aesmo told me to minimize that. Apparently it 'isn't good to overthink situations'. To be honest, I think war is a valid exception to this rule.
I dive down to avoid the first dragon, slicing their stomach along the way. No bleeding, but it should hurt badly. Worse if it's the first time they're in the wastes. The second aims below me to catch my fall; I just reverse into an ascent and cause him to miss by a castle's length.
I can see two readying some spells, but the amount of mana is low. Are they trying to conserve it? How foolish; it's better for a big spell to subdue than be exhausted by casting small, ineffective spells.
Sure enough, a fire bolt and water bolt splash ineffectually against my scales. Hm? Why are you so surprised? Those flimsy things wouldn't even hurt dad.
Before they can cast any real spells, I lunge towards them. A third, huge dragon intervenes. Or at least, tries to. A quick lesson on momentum; even if a fast object collides into something twice its weight, the total speed will only be reduced to a third. And 1/3 of 600km/h is still 200km/h, fast enough to concuss a dragon if struck directly in the head. Which I did to the two casters.
Behind me, a strong spell gets casted. It looks like some sort of laser, hard to avoid. So instead, I use the stunned body of the larger dragon I crashed into as a shield. Even then, I get a little chilled from the frost beam. Must've been a strong one; which means they're now exhausted.
First I use the large dragon's body as a surface to jump off of. As I fly towards the caster dragon, I curve into another who was trying to crash into my side. I grab onto his throat, then stop to let a fast dragon burst past where I would have been. I throw the dragon I'm holding into the fast one's path. They collide beautifully.
This time when I reach the caster, they simply raise their hands in surrender. Unfortunately, the idiot behind me doesn't notice that. I dodge left, causing the idiot to crash into the surrendering caster. Shame, but that's what happens when you rush in blindly. Speaking of blind; the clouds are now above the whole area. Which means a massive blindspot right above me.
Crap. There was a dragon from the north. They're going for my den. I don't think Aesmo can handle that one in particular, so I'll have to intervene. It'll bring me closer to the clouds, and I won't be able to punish those who cast spells, but I have to deal with them now. After all, they have the most mana; which means biggest spell potential.
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Pov Dragon Lord Entyl
It's been a few months since I audited Vildra. Now it seems a war has broken out, with her in the center. Luckily, we have planned for this. Right now Diphen should be negotiating for peace, before the council will have to intervene. After all, officially speaking, Vildra has been nominated for promotion to Dragon Lord, and it'll make it harder to vote on it if a war is taking place.
Unfortunately, this is only a temporary solution. We can't keep her at nominated status forever. Either we reject her, or we promote her, both have their own issues. However, at the very least, we have time now.
Oh, a messenger pigeon. It looks to be from Diphen. Did he succeed? Let's see...
'Emergency. Behethen is awake. Traveling towards Northern Nuvil at rapid pace. I cannot intervene. Unable to negotiate.'
Well, fuck.
Let's see... who else can do the negotiations? I think Niprot was nearby a... oh, another messenger pigeon?
'Emergency. Leviamuth is awake. Moving towards Nuvil. Unable to intervene due to them being under water. Will maintain watch.'
...Fuck
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Pov Vildra
They were a bigger threat than I expected. Unlike the others who were lethargic due to the wastes, this one seemed to have adapted already. Either that, or they were just much stronger to begin with. I don't like either one, as it means my advantage up to this point isn't present.
We clash again, arm colliding with arm. I zoom away, my arm stinging from past clashes. At this rate, they'll win. I'd like to do something else, but I'm in a tough position of dodging point-blank spells. Their only opening is the arm they're casting with, and if I over-commit, they can restrain me with their other arm.
I guess I'll use 'that'. Aesmo's plan C. A small clay jar full of tarilite dust. If I can hit them with this, it'll prevent them from casting any spells. Hopefully I can use that opening to subdue them. I just need to get this to them.
As the clouds above start turning grey, I gather speed circling around them. The moment they start casting, is when I launch the jar. Then, I go for the wings. We're so high up, that one wing getting damaged will result in losing half our altitude. A perfect height for dive-bombing.
Then lightning struck. Weak, it won't even leave a scar. But bright. i didn't see the adamantite threads until it bound my wings. Next thing I know, I'm falling towards the mountaintop. I fell for their trap. And now I'm falling.