"Well Done," Draven said looking proud at his group. You guys managed to deal with that on your own. I was about to step in to help towards the end there but you guys pushed through."Seeing Draven there they all sighed in relief May was reluctant to throw out any more heals as she was getting low on mana but she felt safer to do so now that Draven had arrived and she began to walk around patching everyone up with lesser heals. Im especially surprised at Greg you did a really good job calling the shots I don't think you guys would have made it had he not done so." Draven said praising him. The only negative I have is at the end you allowed yourself to be put into a situation where you as the tank were separated from the rest of the group. In a sense, you were the one being tanked by the enemy giving them an opening to charge the rest of the group.
Greg was happy with his review Draven was right he had been pushed to the side he could have backpedaled towards the group to have stayed in position because of him the rest of the group became vulnerable. "Ross I like your motivation but if you keep charging in without using your head you're going to die real fast. I get that you can't see the level of your enemies like I can but there were plenty of signs that those two were different from the other enemies you had faced. They were bigger and had a different color they let the weaker ones attack first and stayed back to observe all of you before attacking themselves. you need to be more cautious before jumping into a fight." Ross hung his head a bit low he thought his heroics would be praised but Draven was right all he managed to do was get bitch smacked by that Lizardman the second he got near it and had it been even a bit stronger he wouldn't have been able to stand up again afterward.
The rest of you did great you stayed in your position and fulfilled the roles that were expected of you. May paid attention to her mana reserves and only healed wounds that required healing which was a smart move. Had the fight dragged on or someone was more seriously wounded she wouldn't have been able to help otherwise. Jennifer may have exhausted her mana completely to kill the second last Lizardman but I'm not going to dock points for that as the situation demanded a spell at that strength to win. Being able to place your trust in your party members to handle the rest is also important. Celine did what a rogue does. I'm sure she had hoped to kill the Creature with that sneak attack and it was a good plan but you didn't follow through with the attack. I'm sure you remember the hit-and-run tactic I taught Greg and Ross before when dealing with creatures stronger than you. After stabbing it you should have run out of its range again. But instead, you found yourself merged with the wall over there. After telling them what they did right and wrong to learn as much as possible from this experience Draveen told them to go ahead and father all their orbs split them equally and then consume them so he could check their levels.
After confirming they were all level 10 Draven decided to take them back to the village to Rank up. Draven kept his orbs in the inventory he wasn't sure if they were enough to get him the last 2 levels but he didn't want to be surrounded by the party during his rank-up process. They managed to exit the cave in one piece there was a slight hiccup where a chameleon Lizard had dropped from the ceiling to attack May but Greg was able to deal with it before she was stung. After another 20 minutes of walking down the mountain they had arrived at the town and the five of them excitedly went to the Adventurers Guild to rank up. Remebering what happened last time he ranked up Draven ran a few kilometers away from the village and ate all the XP Orbs he had on him. The thirty Iron Veteran XP Orbs were swallowed with ease but the after math was another matter.
Congratulations User has Reached Level 19
Congratulations User has Reached Level 20
Congratulations User has met the requirements to reach the next Rank.
Initiating advancement to the next Rank.
Immediately Draven grabbed ahold of his head with both arms while collapsing onto his knees. His horns began to grow thicker He felt like it was being torn off as something was trying to burst through the skin on both sides of his head. Starting from his temple a line of bone spikes could be seen going all the way down to his lower jaw. The spike totaled 14 with 7 on each side. But his transformation wasn't complete yet. At first, he felt an itch on his tongue. Then that itch turned into a burning sensation to then feeling like someone was cutting and splitting it in half. Draven opened his mouth as blood began to spill out. His tongue was spreading apart until it was quite a bit longer and forked like that of a snake. Before he closed his mouth he witnessed a tooth fall out.
"No no no no he yelled in a muffled voice as all his teeth were forcefully pushed out of his gums. More blood spilled out his mouth as new teeth began to emerge cutting his gums along the way. They were longer, sharper, and tougher than before. His scales began to grow as well but he was already used to the feeling of his skin tearing to make room for new scales what bothered him more was the intense feeling of more spikes bursting through his back running all the way down his spine. He arched his back and screamed in pain. With every spike that grew out of his spine, his body jerked and twitched as his nervous system shifted to make room. The same feeling came from his hands as spikes split the skin on his knuckles forming short bone protrusions that would make his fists even deadlier.
Beep! The user has successfully advanced to the Rank of Bronze.
Djinn DNA 7% installed.
Due to the User's level further installation is not possible.
Ancient dragon DNA 7% installed.
Due to the User's level further installation is not possible.
Raiju DNA 7% installed.
Due to the User's level further installation is not possible
Finally, the pain began to subside as Draven fell on his back drenched in sweat and covered in blood from everywhere the spikes had come out. "Fuck that was rough," Draven exclaimed. As much as he knew the others weren't at fault for his situation it didn't stop him from hating their guts for being able to use the Pods to rank up. Maybe he could take some sleeping potion next time and try to sleep through the pain? He would definitely look into all his options he didn't want to deal with this anymore. He even got to live a personal nightmare of his. Nearly having a panic attack after witnessing his teeth falling out. After seeing this he even welcomed the pain that came after as new teeth grew out. His teeth felt much stronger than before he felt like he could chew through metal now with these choppers.
He struggled to get to his feet as his back was killing him from the changes that occurred in his spine but he managed to get to his feet. He waived his hand and formed a mirror of water to check his appearance. He was both pleased and displeased. The spikes on the side of his face were cool but did he really want to have those forever it was like a niche tattoo that you really liked until you didn't anymore. He was a big fan of the spikes on his knuckles but hated the spikes on his back. How was he supposed to sleep on a bed now? he would ruin his mattress every day. He would be forced to sleep on his side which meant the spikes on his face would ruin his pillow. Draven took sleeping seriously so he would have to come up with an idea to make this work. After staring at the spikes on his face Draven started to laugh hysterically. Remembering how his dad freaked out earlier due to the horns he would react even better with spikes coming out of his face. Draven made a mental note to ensure he was present for his Dad's next rank-up.
Draven then opened his mouth and saw that his teeth had gotten longer not so much as to where he couldn't close his mouth anymore but still noticeably larger. He was more interested with his tongue as he struck it out. He could control both sides of his forked tongue independently which was a weird feeling. Draven canceled the mirror spell and formed the water it was made of into a ball and started to clean off all the blood on his body. After he was all cleaned up he made his way back to Ironforge. After returning he remembered all the damage that was caused by his father and opened the menu to repair it all but after finding the affected buildings all of them were already repaired. Maybe his Dad already took care of it? His father had the authority to use the mayor's terminal in his office but it was much easier for Draven to supply the raw materials with his Inventory. Scrolling through the lists of buildings he even noticed a new building called Resource Trading and storage facility.
Draven checked the map after pinging for his dad and saw that he was at the location of that new building so Draven made his way over to check it out. Draven sunk into his Shadow and teleported over to his dad stepping out of his shadow. "Sup Dad." James nearly had a heart attack seeing his son emerge from his shadow he wasn't sure he could ever get used to that. He quickly regained his composure not wanting to give Draven the satisfaction of having scared him. But after looking at his son he could feel the heart attack coming back. What the hell happened to your face? Yelled out as he touched the spike protruding out of the side of Dravens face. Yea take a good look when you hit Level 20 You will be rocking these bad boys too. Don't forget the ones that run down your spine that were particularly painful not that you have to deal with that though. Also, check this out Draven said as he opened his mouth showing his new teeth and more importantly his forked tongue. James went pale as he could feel the blood drain from his face. This was too much. A forked tongue spikes on my face and horns on my head... he muttered as his soul was ready to leave his body and fly away.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Draven decided to change the topic quickly. So looks like you not only calmed down but even repaired everything you broke and built something new. Draven said poking his side. James snapped back to reality as he looked back to Draven "Yes, when I went to fix the buildings I broke earlier I noticed a big problem," James announced. "Which was?" Draven asked. "Which was if you're not around we have no large supply of resources. A town this large can't rely on one person to have everything on their person all the time in case we need something done when one of us is up and about. so I found this building in the terminal and had it built. It makes it easy to buy or sell resources while also making it easy for us to store them. It is all handled by the terminal we set the prices per kilogram of stone, iron, or whatever and people can then sell what they have gathered to us or when they need it they can purchase those same materials from us. The best part is that the storage is linked to the major's terminal meaning we can use what is in there to repair or build other things. There is also a sales tax of 10 Percent meaning we earn money with every transaction that takes place through the building which will in turn help us buy the things we need from the auction." He thoroughly explained.
Draven was speechless how did he miss this building? To be fair the list of buildings he could build was ridiculously long but still, it was such an important building it should have come pre-built in the town. Well, I'm glad you took the time to find it on the list. Did you notice any other buildings that could be profitable like this as well? Sadly no it's not like I scrolled through every building. After farming the stone needed to repair the damages I made I didn't know what to do with the excess stone so I searched for the word storage and found this building.
That makes sense Draven said as he walked up to the terminal and placed the majority of the materials he had in his inventory into the storage. Thousands of monster materials and tonnes of stone and raw metals were deposited. He then placed 15000 gold into the terminal to get the business up and running. James checked the terminal as well to see what Draven put in there and his jaw almost dislocated seeing the sheer weight Draven could carry on his person. That inventory of yours is incredible i had no idea you had this much stuff on you all the time. Yeah, it adds up pretty quickly, and then after a while, you forget that you have it. It will be much better off in here making me money than it would rotting away in my inventory not like things can rot in there but you get what I mean."
Before James could ask if food stayed warm in there a beastman with tiger traits came running over. James the prisoner has woken up and seems to be stable enough to speak. Draven smiled upon hearing this. It's about time," Draven said. Let's pay him a visit i want to know where his Novice Village is located. Draven stated looking at James. What do we plan to do with him after he tells us?" He asked with a grim expression on his face. We will decide that after making contact with the village. But needless to say at some point we will kill him. There has to be justice for the people he slaughtered." Draven stated as a matter of fact. "So you the judge now?" James asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm the judge, jury, and executioner," Draven said sternly. "If you want that responsibility you can have it but our old justice system is worthless in a world with no countries and where everyone has superpowers. Here the strong decides what the law is. I'll do my best to make everything as fair as possible for everyone so that we can make progress together with a common goal. But make no mistake we are running a dictatorship here and I won't have people who are weaker than me tell me what I can and can't do." Draven confidently said without a shred of doubt or uncertainty on his face.
Draven had no problems saying how things were going to be. If anyone had a problem with it they were welcome to leave and survive on their own. What he wasn't going to do was deal with politics. He didn't have the time to waste trying to convince others that what he wanted to do was the right thing to do. He would consider it if they were his equal but no one here was his equal in terms of strength. He had no issues if some genius came along and gave him advice he would actually welcome it with open arms but the final decision would always be with him.
James was shocked to hear this. He initially wanted to test Draven to see if he was capable of understanding that the justice system would not work in this new world. He wanted to instill the qualities of a king in his son and explain how a king would approach such topics as that was much more applicable in their situation. But he realized quickly after hearing Draven speak that this wasn't necessary. His son already understood his place and his value. In his mind, he already was a King. James just needed to make sure to occasionally knock him off his high horse if Draven started going overboard.
"I'm glad you understand that. This will make moving forward easier on you as we grow larger we will reach a point where thinking like a Monarch will become necessary. just don't let that authority corrupt you. We're here to save humanity not take part in its destruction." James said giving his opinion. Draven nodded in surprise. He was almost certain his father was going to chastise him for saying such audacious things but turns out they were on the same page. Maybe the Ancient Dragon was influencing the way they think making them prouder than before? Draven pushed that thought experiment to the side for now as he was interested in visiting the next Novice Village. "Let's go see Craig then," Draven said as he sprinted across the town his dad was easily able to keep up when flying. Draven reached the jail and entered the cellar where Craig's cell was located. "So Craig I heard you were up and about," Draven said casually as he turned to look at his prisoner. Craig was still badly burnt and although awake he didn't dare move his body for fear of cracking his skin causing the pain to become even worse.
"Please make the pain stop I'll do anything. Just make it stop he pleaded. "You and your men killed 58 of my people without any warning or reason you deserve every bit of pain that you are feeling right now," Draven answered without batting an eye. "I'm sorry. I'll do anything you want just make it stop I can't take it anymore. I'll never bother any of you ever again I'll just disappear and go far away, please heal me." He continued his plea. "I want to know where your Novice village is, how many people are still there, and if you know of the locations of any other Novice Villages," Draven said making his demands known. "Why do you want to know that? There are only useless weaklings there. Nothing but a bunch of women and children and men who were too afraid to become stronger." Craig asked confused. "Don't worry about the why and just answer my questions. How many are there and where is it? Draven repeated. "It's been a while since I've been there but last I checked there were still roughly 2 thousand people there and it's located about a day's walk north of here. Just stay on the path and you will run into it." He answered to the best of his ability there was no point in lying to him all his men were dead and he was at this man's mercy.
"Have you found any other villages or anything else you discovered I might want to know about? Keep in mind ill will check everything you're saying today so your situation could change pretty quickly but the information needs to be accurate and worth my time." Draven said in a calm and friendly voice. "Yes, we initially traveled east before ending up here but after we discovered the village we realized it was another novice village we couldn't enter so we changed directions. Also far to the east of my Village, the terrain becomes that of a horror movie." Craig said remembering that day he went to hunt in that area he was glad to return alive and he never went back there again. "What do you mean horror movie?" Draven asked intrigued. Like everything is dead it's like the life was sucked out of the world or something. The animals had deep infected gashes all over while the stench of death was everywhere and I saw a ghost."
"A Ghost?" Draven asked looking suspicious. "I swear it was a ghost i went there to look for new places to hunt and it was a dark creature that could pass through solid objects. I ran for my life and never went back there again." He said. "That is interesting," Draven said smiling. Must be an undead area. He might be able to find a creature that could teach him new magic like necromancy or something that would be cool. Draven had spent countless hours discussing with friends about what they would do in a zombie apocalypse. it would be pretty awesome to go and kill a few zombies. "Good thanks for your time," Draven said sarcastically while he scanned the healer on duty to find out her name.
"Jean be a dear and heal some of the more painful wounds but don't be too generous," Draven said smiling Jean stood up right away and quickly did as she was told surprised that Draven knew who she was. She was reluctant to help this monster in any way but after what Draven did to the Orb hunters in the training ground she trusted that he would deal with this piece of shit when he got what he wanted from him. Good, we will discuss your situation after I confirm what you have told me Draven said with a smile as he left. James followed Draven he was proud of how Draven was handling the situation. He was becoming more of a leader every day. After they stepped out of the jail Draven turned to his father. Dad, can you organize some people who are level 10 and are good at negotiations? I want them travelling with me tomorrow to these Novice villages i want a diverse party group of 5. They must be all level 10 and not 11 have them check at the guild if they are uncertain. That party will speak with one novice village while my group will talk to the other. In the meantime, I'll check out that undead zone.
"Sound good I'll come with you, "James said You sure that's the smart thing to do i mean what if a monster invasion happens when we are both away? No worries I will double the watch duties and make the rest of the Orb hunters stay in the area while we are gone there are enough people to make up my strength. Draven reluctantly agreed he was worried about an invasion but he also thought it would be cool to kill zombies with his dad. Ok will do that then make sure everyone is ready by tomorrow morning he said as he waved to his dad heading toward his home. "Time to spend some SP daddy wants a pair of wings."