Dragon's Road
Chapter 10
Rewards of a C rank Quest
The barrier created by the mage was still intact even after his death. Nature magic was used in its creation and it lasts a while. Still, Ryuu could leave the barrier without difficulty by simply walking to its edge and passing through.
Although the sun could not be seen through the trees, it was still early enough in the morning for it to be clear that the direction of the sunlight was east, which gave Ryuu his bearings and informed him of which direction to take to leave the forest. The territories of the large beasts within were known to him enough, so on his way through, he passed through some to check on the beasts within. It didn’t take long for him to find several groups around the forest. A pack of giant boars roamed peacefully, eating some of the fast growing foliage that littered the forest floor. A family of horned apes passed him by, but although they noticed his presence, they did not engage him. He even saw a pair of tusked hulks, male and female, walking together through the forest.
Ryuu sat down and took in a few deep breathes. He used Natural Ki absorption and felt the energy of the forest flow into him. It felt clean. Ryuu was satisfied.
When Ryuu reached the edge of the forest, he found the wood elf from before. The elf spoke, “You appear to have succeeded. Here, take this.” The elf held out his hand, in it was a leaf wrapped around something, tied with grass.
Ryuu took the item.
The elf said, “You have done service for the forest, now the forest has repaid its debt. Good luck to you on your adventures monk. May the guardian of the forest watch over you.”
With that the elf left.
Ryuu returned to the farmer who had given him the quest and told him all of what happened.
“It that so? Hmm, a mage you say? Well, thankyou for dealing with the problem. Now the beasts of the forest can live in peace.”
Ryuu nodded and said, “It was a privilege to help.”
“Hmm, yes. So. What was that gift the elf gave you?”
Ryuu took out the leaf, he had already opened it, revealing a small seed.
The farmer’s eyes opened wide in shock. “My word. I don’t believe it.”
“What?”
“That is a seed of the guardian of the forest.”
“It is?”
“Yes. It is a tree considered sacred by the wood elves, a sentient being that watches over the elves and protects them. This seed is a child of that tree.”
“Why give it to me?”
“Hmm. The elf said ‘the forest has repaid its debt’ yes? Perhaps it was the guardian itself that wished you to have this seed and told the elf to give it to you.”
Made some sense to Ryuu, that would also mean that the elf’s final message was spoken literally, ‘may the guardian of the forest watch over you’ referred to this seed.
Ryuu asked, “So what do I do with it?”
“Hmm. Leave it here for now and come back in a week. I think I’ll have something for you then.”
Ryuu returned to the city. There was a few things he wanted to check on. In the marketplace of the city was an item identification, or Appraisal shop. Getting the skill Identify was not all that difficult, but using it successfully required a fair amount of the Intellect stat, which most classes other than spellcasters lacked.
Ryuu checked into the line at the first floor. After about five minutes, he handed over the orange orb to the appraiser and a fee of 65 copper pieces. The young wizard held it and said, “Item Identification...Hmm? Identify! Hm.. It isn’t working. Sorry, but you’ll have to go to the second floor, maybe third. Appraisers on the upper floors have higher skill.” He handed Ryuu back the orb and his money.
Ryuu went up to the second floor, the price was 8 silver pieces for identification, but even that appraiser failed, and told him to go to the third floor.
An old man at the third floor said, “Welcome, how may I be of service today?”
Ryuu answered, “The appraisers downstairs said to come to the third floor.”
“Ohh? You must have something interesting. I’ve seen scrolls and equipment and treasures, but few items of any interest. Hmm, how about a little bet, if your item is of interest, I’ll give you a discount for the appraising, 20 silver. If not, full price, 50 silver. Deal?”
“Sure.” No one would call Ryuu a frugal man but nor was he cheap. He had simply not encountered anything in the game he wanted that he needed money to get. He still had yet to buy himself a pair of shoes.”
Ryuu handed him the sphere, and he said, “Identify.” It glowed for a moment before an information window appeared.
Dragon’s Eye
Durability 20/20
This is a piece of a dragon statue forged with magic. The statue was created to seal a powerful dragon, and seven pieces were removed. These pieces act as a key, if all seven were to be re-attached to the statue, the seal would be undone and the dragon would be freed.
The old man laughed heartily, “Oh my, that that is interesting. Well then, 20 silver pieces please.”
Ryuu paid the man and left with the eye. He figured this was apart of a large quest of secret event. He he wanted to know more, there was only one place to go, the library.
Libraries within Royal Road were interesting things. The content of each is affected by the city within, and almost every single book co-relates to some quest in the area. Therefore, almost every quest in the area, has a book within that deals with it. By this thinking, since the eye was found in the forest near this city, this city’s library must have a book on the quest it deals with. Or so Ryuu hoped.
In this instance he was right. It took about four hours of research, but he located the book that contained a passage about a trapped dragon.
Legend of the Emerald Dragon.
2700 years ago, there was a dragon whose greed was mighty. It scoured the continent in search of treasure to increase its fortune. It burned down castles, destroyed tombs, and plundered from every kingdom. Where ever there was gold or jewels, the dragon was not far behind.
One day, a group of over a thousand mystics who called themselves the Scarlet Sorcerers Society, combined their magic to capture, trap, and seal the dragon in a space where time does not flow behind a door that does not exist. The power behind the seal came from a dragon statue created to look exactly like the Emerald Dragon. Seven pieces were taken off in a spell that sealed the properties of the statue so that the magic would never wane. One eye, two teeth, two claws, one horn, and one scale. Returning these pieces to the statue would undo the magic and free dragon.
Legend says that before the magic fully sealed the dragon, it spoke a single sentence. “To whoever frees me from this prison, I will grant one wish.”
With that, the Scarlet Sorcerer Society separated the pieces and hid them around the continent.
Ryuu could only smile. It sounded so fairy tale. But one such piece was in his possession. Although keeping a dragon confined sounded bad, if time was stopped in the prison, the prisoner wouldn’t even notice. Also it seemed that if the dragon was released, it would likely continue to terrorize the continent and steal from everyone it can, which would be bad. Then again, the wish did interest him. Not that he could think of a wish. He wanted his master’s style to be known throughout the world, but what could any wish within the game do to affect that? It was only through his own skill that he could spread his style.
Ryuu spent another week doing odd jobs and monster extermination quests, afterwhich he returned to the farmer’s house.
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“Ahh, welcome back. Come, I have something to show you.” The farmer took Ryuu to an area with a small plant growing in a small plot of dirt.”
“There it is, a guardian sapling.”
“You planted it?”
“Yes, that is the first step. Of course taking care of it for the first week is no simple task. Only those who know how can raise such a seed without killing or weakening it. Such is the least I can do for what you have done for the forest.”
“The first step?”
“Yes. Come, come.”
He lead Ryuu to the sapling and said, “Now grasp it.”
Ryuu did as he was told. The sapling was no more than ten or twelve centimeters high. He put his hand around it and grasped. Nothing happened at first, then suddenly Ryuu felt a sharp pain and released the sapling.
You have been dealt 10 damage.
Ryuu looked back at the plant, it had no thorns or sharp edges, but some how it pricked him strong enough to draw blood. The blood soaked into the sapling, and suddenly it started growing, taller and taller. In ten seconds it had grown to be a meter tall, its small branches and leaves shrank and were absorbed back into the plant. It grew straight up, without growing any thicker, until it was taller than Ryuu himself. Suddenly it stopped growing. Ryuu realized almost immediately what had happened. “It turned into a staff?”
“Yes, that is step two. Now grab it again, it won’t bite.”
Ryuu grasped it again, and felt a small vibration. The roots of the sapling were shrinking, retreating from the ground. Eventually it detached completely, the whole of the tree had become a bo staff. When Ryuu lifted it, he realized that its thickness was deceiving, it weighed more than a solid iron rod of the same height and twice the width.
The farmer smiled. “Guardian trees do not become strong like normal trees do. They separate themselves from the soil, and fight along side the one they choose to become strong. Right now this stick is remarkably weak. But if you fight with it, it will become stronger and stronger.”
Ryuu knew what he meant. He once heard that some weapons could gain experience points just like Users, and grew stronger. This mean that although the stick was likely weaker than his quarter staff, he could fight with it until it became stronger than his quarterstaff, and as he grew stronger the staff would become stronger, meaning he would never have to buy a new one.
“Does it always become a staff?”
“No, it could become a bow or wooden club as well. It depends on the wielder. Of course if a person who wishes to become its wielder does not have proficiencies in any wooden weapon, then he cannot be chosen.”
“I see. But what do you mean chosen?”
“Well, it took a drop of your blood didn’t it? It has bounded itself to you, only you can use it. You cannot give or trade this to anyone else, and you cannot sell it for anything other than firewood because it has no value to anyone else.”
“Hmm. What else can it do?”
“I do not know, it varies from seed to seed though all share some basic abilities. It is still young, but in time it will gain sentience.”
“It will talk?”
“Well, yes. After that, it will develop its power.”
“One last question, how do you know all this?”
The farmer smiled, “That is not a story for today.”
In other words Ryuu didn’t have enough familiarity for him to go into it, but enough of his curiosity had been satisfied for the day. “I see, well thankyou for all you have done.”
Ryuu placed the staff into his inventory and looked at its stat information from there.
Sapling Staff level 1 [0% ]
Durability 40/40
Attack 15-22
A sapling from a guardian tree, it will grow stronger and develop through combat. This weapon cannot be repaired by normal means. Lost durability can be recovered by coating the staff in fresh soil and dipping it into fresh water.
Equips:
+20 AtN
Attack +10% in natural settings.
Restrictions:
Only the monk Ryuu can equip.
Ryuu had to take his quarterstaff to a woodcrafter and pay to get it repaired, but it seemed this staff could repair itself if the right conditions were met. It was alive after all.
Ryuu wanted to test out the heavy staff, so he took it to a kobold dungeon. A weapon's damage was determined by the weapon's attack, the user's stats and skills, and the way the weapon was used. With his polearm proficiency, heightened stats, and knowledge about the skillful use of staffs, Ryuu could wipe out the entire dungeon of kobolds with a broom handle.
The sapling staff was of course better than a broom handle. His stats made it easy to get use to the staff’s weight, and it took little time for him to use it as well as any staff back home.
Without Ryuu even being aware of it, the living staff was learning Ryuu's fighting style and preferences. It constantly adjusted its hardness and flexibility to see which Ryuu could fight best with. After two hours the staff felt better in Ryuu's hands than the one he purchased for 167 gold.
Sapling Staff has advanced to level 2.
Ryuu opened his equipment menu and saw the stats of the staff. The maximum durability had increased by 4, and the attack had increased by 2.
He spent another two days in that dungeon. Eventually he received a new message.
Sapling Staff has advanced to level 5. Properties of the staff have changed.
Before he could look at the staff's stat screen, Ryuu heard a voice.
- A name.
"What?" No one was around him.
-Please give this one a name.
It took only a moment for him to realize it was the staff. It had gained sentience and was talking to him.
"Ishibo." It was the name of the first bo staffs. They were made out of stone. Ryuu first thought of this when he picked up the staff.
-My name is Ishibo... Hello master. Thankyou for fighting with me.
"Thankyou for choosing me."
-It was my parent, the elder who chose you. But he chose well. I will serve you to the best of my abilities.
"Oh, and what abilities do you have?"
The staff vibrated for an instant before suddenly shrinking. Its width did not change, but in about a second it shrank to the height of a soda can. Its weight however, was the same. Then it vibrated again, over the course of two seconds it grew to be two and a half meters tall, the tallest a quarter staff could be.
-For now my only ability is to control my size and flexibility. I cannot become any smaller than before, but as I grow stronger, I can be longer than this, and grow or shrink faster.
Ryuu smiled. Such an ability had a lot of potential if one knew how to use it.
Ryuu spent another week in the dungeon killing hundreds of kobolds. After the staff reached level 11, getting it to advanced became much harder, so Ryuu left the dungeon.
The next tournament was not for about a month and a half. Ryuu felt he had exhausted the city for all he could, and decided it was time to leave. There was a large river to the east that lead north to the ocean. Ryuu heard of a recently discovered country known as the Principality of Thebe that could be reach by ship from a port of Brent Kingdom. It seemed as good a place as any to head out to. There would be new places to explore and to its discoverer would come great fame.