7th of Ab, 123 years since megados eruption
So apparently every Esmo follows a theme? I mean, for some it's obvious, like how Desmo is fire, Besmo is poison. But for others I don't think it's much of a theme as it is just what they do. Like Gesmo cuts gems, that shouldn't mean her theme is gems.
I don't know. I'm not good at thematics or anything (clearly). Though according to that cult, I'm an evil deity whose theme is cannibalism. Honestly, I'm offended. Good thing Aesmo annihilated them.
Speaking of cults, apparently Pesmo started their own cult. Something about the ocean? She's never even seen the ocean. Maybe that's the point? I don't know, cults don't need to make sense ok.
According to Fesmo, them and the bees now have a proper alliance in order to fight against ankhegs. I don't know what bees can do against ankhegs, but I know Fesmo can probably deal with it. Ankhegs are too weak to hurt her.
Fesmo did start that pepper farm that Desmo asked for. I wonder if bees are beneficial to peppers? I don't know as much about bees as I thought I did.
26th of Aes, 123 years since megados eruption
The council sent a fucking crow again. I don't think I'm allowed to write down everything, so a quick summary; Dragons dying too fast, population going down, what do?
To be honest, I don't give a fuck. Dragons barely contribute to the rest of the world. I'm sure the ecosystem would be better off without us. I mean, when was the last time you saw a dragon do anything positive to the environment that wasn't motivated by selfishness? Ah fuck, I'm part of the problem, aren't I?
Well, let's think of it like this; Why should dragons continue to live? ...Fuck. I can't think of any reason. If anything, I can think of reasons why we should just die. Wow, never thought I'd have to think about the worthlessness of my entire species. Sucks that I wrote this down in my diary, making it so that I can't just erase this memory and forget about it forever.
If you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm. I can totally just erase this from my memory. But first, I have to respond to the crow. Easy enough; "I don't care. Doesn't affect me."
Now, before I forget, I should clarify that I don't condone senseless killing. If you're killing someone, you better have a good reason. Alright that's all.
28th of Aes, 123 years since megados eruption
Cesmo talks to Leviamuth. What the fuck.
15th of Alm, 123 years since megados eruption
I have a headache so I'll make this quick. First, Cesmo is somehow talking to Leviamuth from across the world. I didn't believe it at first, until Leviamuth came to the edge of the continent just so that Cesmo could deliver that list they were making. (Technically Desmo delivered the list. Leviamuth too hot for anyone else.)
Now, obviously, the council asked why Leviamuth is basically my neighbor right now, but I was kind of busy with the whole Leviamuth being my neighbor problem I have, so couldn't answer them. They then sent the 'fastest dragon lord' to investigate what the fuck was happening.
One thing led to another, and now they suspect that I really do have an army of ciel and maybe a few daevva hidden. I mean I do, but that's not the point. The point is they're keeping a close eye on me now. Which sucks, because I have so much metal that I need to trade away.
Man, this year just keeps getting worse.
21st of An, 123 years since megados eruption
That's it, I'm ignoring all my problems by going mining. Homunculi, move the metals into the blood lake. We can retrieve it later when the price goes up again and we aren't kept under strict council watch. Esmos, please don't attract any more attention. And Aesmo, if any dragon want to talk to me, tell them to fuck off, I'm not accepting visitors while mining. Thanks.
3rd of Ar, 123 years since megados eruption
Mining's been going well. Found some weird spongy stuff. Smelled like sulfur. Probably has sulfur. Blew it up accidentally by breathing too close to it. Whoops.
Fun fact; the pickaxe I'm using is enchanted with 'triple strike'. Each time I hit rock with it, phantom picks hit two more times on the same rock. Basically triple the efficiency. I hate it. If I accidentally hit the wrong rock, it means the rock will be hit two more times, which isn't ideal. Oh well, sacrifice one efficiency for another.
23rd of Ar, 123 years since megados eruption
Found a nice cave system. I think it was made by flowing lava, since the walls are smooth and glassy. Too small for me to explore in my full form, so I took a smaller, tripedal form. It's still getting smaller though. I might have to go bipedal.
The bad part about cave systems is that it's hard to navigate effectively. Can't really fly with the roof so low, can't run without running into a wall a few seconds. Don't think about jumping down a hole; I mentioned gravity is a dragon's worst friend. I mean, I have gravitas, but I'm still in the wastes. Can't rely on magic too much.
12th of Auv, 123 years since megados eruption
Mining in a tight cave is annoyingly hard. Especially when you're in a completely different form from what you're used to. Normally, I'd swing downwards with my hand starting slightly above my head, but with a low ceiling, I can only reach the pick head to my head before getting it caught on a stalactite.
The first solution I tried is swinging from the side, as there's more room for that. However, since I can't rely on gravity, the strike is slightly weaker. For only a few strikes that doesn't matter, but when you're mining out the cave so you can move more easily, you're making a lot of strikes. The inefficiency adds up.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
My second solution came from frustration. It's called thermal shock. First you heat up rock with fire. Then you splash water on it. The rapid heating and cooling makes tons of cracks, which allows me to break apart whole sections with minimal effort. It's dangerous, as it can cause a collapse. Well, not dangerous to dragons, but collapses are annoying since they undo all your progress.
The third solution was unintended. Explosions! I'm not entirely sure what mix of dust and gas caused it, but while heating up rock with fire, something ignited, which chain reacted into an explosion. After cleaning up, the caves expanded enough for me to mine normally.
26th of Auv, 123 years since megados eruption
Now that I consider it, it's strange for stalactites to be in a volcano, in the middle of a desert. When did this place last erupt? Could've sworn it was less than 1000 years ago. Stalactites take longer than that to grow as big as these.
Putting that oddity to the side, I'd like to mention that I am lost. I went down quite far into the cave, without keeping track of which way I turned from. This isn't a problem, just something to note. Another thing to note is a lack of visible ore. No idea whether or not that's normal, since I didn't have any interest in caves until now.
The last thing to note is a lack of sound. I mean, now that I write it out, it seems obvious. A cave isolated from the rest of the world has almost nothing to produce sound. I guess I never expected to be in a place where no sound is the norm, and my footsteps are an anomaly.
11th of Ax, 123 years since megados eruption
I heard a footstep. It was not mine.
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Pov Aesmo
Where the fuck is that damn dragon. She leaves me in charge, goes into a cave, and now we can't find her. If it was just that, then I wouldn't be as annoyed. The problem is she left me to deal with Cesmo's mess.
At least Hesmo managed to disguise the blood lake into a normal murky lake with a large amount of iron bacteria. Though how the fuck am I supposed to explain why a dozen homunculi are dumping various jars of metals into said lake. Hell, how the fuck am I going to explain the homunculi?
As far as those dragon lords know, we're supposed to be the servants. So what does that mean when the homunculi are clearly doing servant jobs and we aren't. "We the servants have servants so we can better serve" does not sound like a plausible explanation.
That's not even talking about the various fucking super weapons that dragon just has lying (or floating) around. Like what am I supposed to say about the floating anti-magic laser array? It's just a decoration? It's made out of high quality light gems focused upward into a central gem that redirects it through rings of tarilite into a target as far as 300 kilometers away. It's strong enough to vaporize anything less than a dragon. Yep, totally a decoration.
At least Besmo can control their poison. That's one less thing I have to worry about. Cesmo is... Desmo doesn't have any way to cause problems themselves. Eesmo should be fine; no one can remember what she does, which should be concerning, except I have a tracker attached to her.
Fesmo is busy with bees and ankhegs and peppers, so as long as the dragon lords don't look to the lonely tree several kilometers away, they won't find her. Just in case, I told her to not use her plant growing abilities. I don't know how unusual that is, and dragon isn't around to ask.
Fuck, I'm referring to Vildra as dragon again. Why do I even bother remembering her name.
Gesmo and Iesmo are staying indoors, so they won't be problematic. The problem is Jesmo, Kesmo, Mesmo, and Nesmo. They can stay inside, but their curiosity is too strong for them to not go outside. I'll have to restrict them somehow... or distract them with something inside.
Lesmo is playing with a laser in her room. She's the easiest to keep contained. Oesmo is in the ocean... where leviamuth is. Fuck. I hope she's alright. I can't exactly check on her. Pesmo is in hiding in her city. No one knows she's an Esmo, and my message should've reached her, so she shouldn't attract any attention for now. Finally Hesmo is in the food room cooking some soup. Nothing to worry about.
So how do I deal with Cesmo. At this point I know she's not as insane as Vildra thinks, but that doesn't mean she isn't insane enough to talk to a giant molten entity. How is she even able to do that? From our perspective she just talks normally, but apparently Leviamuth can hear her and she can hear it.
Is it telepathy? Sound we can't hear somehow? Maybe they're communicating through magical means that no one can detect? I don't know, and I don't think I can prevent it. Maybe if we prevent her from talking, but that's a different problem. How does she speak? Her mouth moves, sure, but she can still talk while eating. Hell, I've heard her talk while drinking. Covering her mouth wouldn't stop her.
Why is Leviamuth still here even? Clearly they can communicate from far away. And they already got the list Cesmo made. Is she waiting for something? Ugh, I guess I should ask Cesmo, or have her ask for me.
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Pov Greater Dragon Nithinhem
That incompetent buffoon. I never should've agreed to that compromise. He went ahead and died before even collecting his first tax. Idiot fell to his death apparently. How the fuck are you dumb enough to fall to death? Unbelievable. Wait no, totally believable, considering he fell for that scam. Dragons don't have princes, idiot.
Ugh, I have to go collect it myself then. The city better not think they're free. Else I might really destroy it this time. Well, it'd be perfect for me to vent out my frustration though. You know what, might as well destroy some buildings. Got to keep them afraid somehow, right?
Wait, why is the city half destroyed already? Oh that son of a bastard. Not only did not collect tax and die, but he also destroyed the buildings that I was going to destroy. I'm going to raise the tax just for that.
Hm? Who's that standing at the gates? Quite a tall fellow for a... actually i can't tell what race they are. The armor they're wearing hides their identity, and they don't have a scent, which is weird. Whatever. You know, they got my attention, might as well kill them. What's another body to the grave?
Hehe, here I co... where's my hand? URGH! YOU CUT OFF MY HAND!!!
That's it, you just gave me a reason to kill you... where did you go? Ack, my back! Stop stabbing my back! What if I twirl around in the air, huh? If you can't hold on, you'll fall!
Wait, why am I falling? Wings... aren't there? Fuck Fuck Fuck. 'Feather fall'!
Good thing I ha URK. Fucker landed on my head. Why're they so heavy? I... oh. I see.
They didn't just fall to their death out of stupidity. They must've gotten their wings cut off. Well, idiot didn't have any spells to stop their fall, but still. I can see why it happened.
So how do I fight this... being. They're on my head right now, with a blade against my skull. I'm confident they can't pierce my skull at least, but that doesn't mean they can't kill me. This 'ciel' is strong enough to cut off my limbs. They can probably cut my stomach open if they need to. So why haven't they?
Simple. If I hit them with one spell, they die. That must be the reason. A 'glass sword'. Yes, this must be Azriol. The sharpest sword, but most fragile body.
Now how do I land a hit? Simple, I use a spell that doesn't care about accuracy. 'Flare zone'!
'Flare zone' is perfect for this situation. A zone of extreme heat. I just need to make that zone include me, and everything within a kilometer.
Ah, I can see the grass burning. The light of the sun is distorting from the heat. Azriol shouldn't've survived this... URGH! My other hand? No, my whole arm! That ba... that's not Azriol.
Azriol is bipedal, frail-looking, has tattered wings, and carries a sword.
This... entity is made of silver threads for skin, with boiling blood visible through the thin 'skin'. That sword they were using wasn't a sword. It was their arm, blood solidified into the shape of a blade. Hollow eyes, no other facial features, no wings. I do not recognize this ciel. When was a new one... Vildra.
That crazy Uildra was right. Where else could a ciel have come from without the dragon lords knowing? I see now why the war ended in Vildra's absolute victory. If she has an army of entities like this, then most wouldn't have had a chance. But why is it over here? Vildra should be in the wastes. If this truly is Vildra's work, then her world conquest has already begun. Well, shit.
Ow. Fucker. Stop poking me and just kill me already. I know you c
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12th of Ax, 123 years since megados eruption
i'm feeling so much better now. i think i'll be going up and check on surface. Don't worry if i don't write for while. It'll just take me long time to find way out.