Hello, fellow adventurers. Centurion Maximo here and welcome to my very first fantasy epic inspired by DND itself: Dystopian Odyssey! I've had this idea in my head for years and finally, I'm bringing it out! This one will be OC heavy if not completely, just to let you all know. This may be an original work, but this is heavily inspired by DND itself as well as Legend of Vox Machina which we're finally getting the third season of next month and I am freaking excited for it!
Also, I deeply apologize for my absence, but IRL stuff was infuriating, so I was going through the motions, but I hope I can get back into a schedule here despite my work and life itself. Plus, a death occurred in my family rather recently in the form of my pet cat that I've had since 2007, so that didn't help, either.
Goodbye, Jane, you furry bundle of joy...
My cat, Jane: 2007 - 2024
Now, let's dive right into this awaiting adventure!
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Many millennia ago, dragons brutally warred with each other with other species always caught in the crossfire. Every conflict ended in bloody, violent, slaughter leaving dead dragons in the wake. However, one day, a normal Black Dragon that found its way into the dark realm known as the Shadowfell to try and find more power. Instead, it discovered Vile Magic which was so evil and powerful that even normal Healing Magic couldn't restore the damage it caused.
This new Vile Black Dragon had gathered such concentrated evil that even the Shadowfell feared it. However, with power always came recklessness and arrogance as this dragon's actions didn't go unnoticed. A church of powerful holy warriors caught wind of the destruction and traveled to the Shadowfell to rid the world of this new monstrosity. After many hours of grueling battle, this vile beast is slain, but not without many holy warriors dead and others with permanent damage. Inside its lair was a lone black egg.
The church's champion was the one to find this egg. He decided to adopt the egg and turn a being of inherent evil into one that would fight evil. Besides, killing a child wasn't the church's way. When the new dragon was born, he began teaching it the seven virtues of man, naming it Yami.
Decades of great effort later, the Vile Dragon was raised to be a good creature. Obviously, it was very difficult as Black Dragons were inherently evil and it's parent was mutated with vile magic, but with the church and it's caretakers, it could become a holy monster, a creature of light rather than darkness, wielding both the vilest of vile magic and holiest of holy power, creating the strongest mortal dragon in existence, able to overpower Lich Dragons and even avatars of God Dragons themselves!
Further years went by and the Yami's adoptive parents, the champion and a nun of great love and patience passed on. After taking time to liberate the land of its strongest evils, he began his greatest arduous task: Uniting all of his kind and creating a kingdom of benevolent rulers.
Centuries passed by and in that time, Yami had actually achieved what was thought to be completely impossible: Creating the very first united dragon kingdom of Neonia. Even after that, he accomplished arduous impossibilities time and time again. He then set his sights on the leaders of Shadowfell to rid the lands of their evil and give their people a real chance to have a new beginning.
Thanks to the immersion in vile and holy energies, Yami was able to grow much older than the average dragon by several millennia, allowing him to guide his brethren to be the ultimate guardians of the world. Chromatic and Metallic Dragons alike managed to find love and peace in Neonia. Over time, this grew to a variety of dragon species.
During his reign, he succeeded in liberating Shadowfell of it's greatest evil, defeating many evil champions, cleansing lands of their greatest threats, and even taking on avatars of evil gods themselves!
Unfortunately, Yami's time eventually dawned upon him. As he laid on his hoard of gold and the bones of his family and friends, he told his brethren how proud he was in how unified they became. With that said, Yami took his final breath and passed on.
Before passing on, Yami had dealt with dragon haters and made friends with every other race outside of his own. Something his brethren and descendants would uphold for their days.
Or so he thought…
At first, the dragons upheld Yami's wishes, helping people and protecting the world, but corruption has a nasty way of slithering in on even the noblest of goals.
Thousands of years later, corruption seeped as resentment and frustration began building up in the dragons. They started feeling like they were being taken for granted. Animosity only grew as the pride of the dragons was being pushed. This led to the dragons looking down on the other races of the world with disdain as the former weren't appreciating them enough. Slowly but surely, Yami's teachings were being forgotten.
Accidents started happening leading to older dragons' injuries and/or deaths and the dragons blamed the people that still worshiped them on high pedestals. However, the tipping point was a Red Great Wyrm Dragon that had fallen in love with a Giantess, an old enemy of these great creatures. They both died in an accident.
After that, the peace between dragon and giant was torn asunder and the former decided they'd finally had enough. From their council, now full of corruption, decree to take the entire world by storm as they feel the non-dragon races have abused their kindness long enough…
Years later, a dragon war was waged. The giants were silenced by the dragons' unity while all the other races were subjugated within days. No one saw anything like it coming as this was the same army that took on the Shadowfell in Yami's reign. No one stood a chance in fucking Hell… The world, like it or not, was in the dragons' iron claws…
-Many Generations Later-
A twenty-five year old man with blue eyes, short brown hair and a scar in the shape of an 'X' on the left arm wearing a slightly tattered armor set he most likely scavenged off somewhere, and a large battle ax on his back was walking down the small town of Odira. He had a slightly disgruntled yet bored look on his face as he silently looked around seeing people, some human and others not just walking around minding their own business. He could only sigh as things were the same in the town for years ever since he was born. Walking further, he made his way into the local tavern, finding a spot at an empty table.
"Ah, Rex!" The bartender called out with a friendly smile. "Usual, I presume?"
"Please!" Rex called back as he took his seat. He took out his ax and began inspecting it. It didn't take him long to see that there wasn't anything wrong with it as he put it down. Looking around, he saw a couple older paintings of dragons and lightly snarled. The artwork may have been master class as the dragons wouldn't settle for anything less, but he didn't really care about that as Dragons were something that he hated with a passion. Oh, how badly he wanted to do something about them, but he knew he wasn't nearly strong enough.
"Oi! Pretty boy!" A new voice called out and Rex looked to see who it was: An older man about forty, a bald head, brown eyes, tan skin wearing a black shirt, pants, and sneakers that was looking at him. "You gonna stare or talk?"
"Well, what do you want?" Rex asked with a raised eyebrow and bored tone in his voice.
"Oh, just to chat with you. You're always so quiet." The older man smirked. "Plus, your armor is tattered and shit. Where'd you even get it from?"
"Sorry, but it's not something I like to talk about." Rex answered stoically.
"Aww, is that so?" The older man taunted. "I pegged you as a conversationalist."
"If you're done bothering me, I'm gonna check the board." Rex suddenly got up and went to check the board.
The older man stared at Rex for a minute in slight shock. "What is with that guy?" He asked himself.
Back with Rex, he walked up to the board and was looking things over. All there was on it was the standard these days: Hunting beasts, dealing with vermin, finding lost items, and so on. "Is this all there really is?" he groaned silently to himself. Suddenly, he saw one beast hunting job that may have caught his eye. He saw that an Awaken Tree was the one that caught his attention. He started making his way out of the tavern.
"Woah slow down Rex, that's not a monster to fight alone" The bartender warned, but Rex didn't bother saying another word and left quickly.
However, what he didn't see in his haste was a twenty-four year old woman with slightly long, dirty blonde hair just reaching to the top of her back in a long braid, green eyes, peach-colored skin. And freckles wearing an archer's attire attributed by the large quiver on her back. She watched Rex leave the establishment. "Hmmm…" She hummed to herself. Getting an idea, she got up from her seat and followed the human warrior.
As Rex walked down the path, he didn't notice the woman following him at first, but after two minutes of walking, he suddenly stopped and turned around, looking at his follower with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you following me?" He asked in a stern tone.
"Couldn't help seeing you walk out the tavern like you're on a mission." The woman smirked. "Heard you're called Rex. I'm Rin." She held out her hand which Rex didn't shake. "Okay, not the talkative type, I see."
"Look, I'm on a mission. If you'll excuse me…" With that, he resumed walking, but Rin started following him again.
"Oooh, I think I'll join you." Rin smiled widely.
"No." Rex said simply and firmly.
"I'm already walking with you, so it looks like you have a partner." Rin was still smiling, though her eyes were closed in a cute manner.
"I said no." Rex repeated.
"Too bad, I'm coming anyway." Rin said, still cheerful.
"Why?" Rex asked, already annoyed at Rin's attitude.
"You're off to kill a rare monster. I'd like to take part in it." Rin explains as she shows off an innocent smile and tone.
Rex could only sigh in annoyance. "You're just going to come along no matter how many times I say no, aren't you?"
"Yep!" she says cheerfully, making Rex sighs.
"Just don't get in my way." he then says in defeat.
The girl giggles before rushing ahead of him and begins to walk backwards as she extends her hand again, "I'm a Arcane Archer Wood-Elf at your service" she shares.
Rex raises an eyebrow ever slightly. "Your skin's a little bright for a wood elf." he points out bluntly.
"I've been told it's because I have high elf blood in my lineage." Rin explains.
"I see." He nodded before finally shaking her hand, albeit slowly. "Alright, let's go. I have a good idea where we have to go to find this thing."
"You know, we'd have a better time if you talked more." Rin pointed out with her smile present.
"What's there to talk about?" Rex shrugged, not really wanting to talk to his tag-along.
"Oh, anything, really." Rin shrugged back. "Your hobbies, perhaps?"
"I don't have a hobby. No time." Rex explains knowing full well Rin will just pester him if he doesn't answer.
"That's a shame. I love playing around with magic whenever I can. Helps me learn more about my abilities and is a fun pass time." Rin explains as she walks besides Rex, the young man remaining silent. "Come on, can't you hold up a small conversation?"
"Maybe you missed the part where I'm the strong silent type." Rex replies sounding annoyed.
"No, I got that part. I'm just going to keep making small talk with you. It'll help pass the time." Rin added.
Rex stares at Rin for a bit as he slowly realizes his usual silent treatment was not going to work. Normally all it took was mean expression and curt responses to get people off of his back but this woman had enough pep for the both of them. "Well, what're we gonna talk about?" She asked.
"What's there to talk about?" Rex asked.
"There must be something you like to talk about." Rin wouldn't let up in the slightest and her smile was already starting to grate on Rex.
He groans silently before huffing, he was not in the mood to keep arguing, "I like weapons" he lets himself say.
"See? There we go. That ax, where'd you get it?" Rin asked, happy that she was getting somewhere with the young man.
"That's personal." He explains, making her sigh a little.
"So secretive.~" She says as she wags a finger in front of him. "Some would think you have some big dark skeleton in your closet that would push others away."
"..." Rex just stares at Rin with a blank expression.
"Well, we're going to take down an Awaken Tree, right? Now, let's do this!" She cheered excitedly.
"You're annoyingly energetic." He admits aloud but only earns a giggle.
"And you're more tightened up than a royal vault.~" Rin replies as she wiggled her long ears.
"Well, at least it's an Awaken Tree we're taking on." Rex sighed. "If you're ready, let's get this done."
Rin giggles, "We better stay on our toes. Who knows how big this one is." she noted wisely as she stays near Rex.
"No matter how big it is, it will go down by my hands." Rex said intensely.
"You good at tree chopping, Rex?" Rin asks.
"I'd say so." Rex shrugged, though he did have a very small smirk answering her before quickly regaining his stoic look. "Now, let's not waste any more time."
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An hour later traveling a little far from Odira, Rex and Rin had entered the nearby forest and started searching for the Awaken Tree. The poster back at the tavern showed them that the Tree would be different from the norm and have a small scar on its trunk. There was also a warning on the poster to be careful as Awaken Trees struck without any hesitation.
"So do you know what an Awaken Tree is?" Rin then asks as she skillfully skips along not at all bothered by things like stones and roots.
"I have an idea." Rex said stoically. "Look, this is the very first time I'm doing a quest with someone else. When I decided to do this, I wasn't expecting a tag-along."
"But you're happy to have me, right?" She voiced, smiling at him. Rex's face remains calm and emotionless as he wonders how Rin would react if he said the truth. He really wasn't sure at this point. "You gotta give me something here."
"You're… odd." he admits believing that was the best word to describe her.
"Odd how?" Rin responds.
"You act friendly even though I clearly don't like you and acting aggressive. What's pushing you to stay with me?" Rex then asks.
"... Hmmm…" Rin takes a moment to think, "I guess I just like interesting guys." she admits.
Rex gives the most expressive perplexed look thus far. "Why are you this insistent?" He asked.
"Would it surprise you to say that I'm bored? I've been trying to find people to work with me but shockingly most people who are capable tend to stay in town. You're the first guy I've met here that went to the board without any hesitation." Rin explains.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"I see. So, I'm just a source of amusement to you." He deadpanned.
"No it's not that simple, silly! I've wanted a partner to go on missions for a while and you're the first person who I think would be good to have. Sure I do find you interesting but you're more than just entertaining." she assures Rex. The young man looked at her with a confused and annoyed expression. Why can't he get a read on this girl?
"I don't really get you." He admitted.
The elf girl laughs loudly in a pure jovial tone, "No one does!" she says proudly.
"Let's just find this thing and kill it." Rex sighed as he walked on ahead of the archer. Not noticing that he was about to pass a tree with a small scar on the trunk.
Suddenly, a living branch reached out poised to strike Rex down, but he managed to jump out of the way, and readied his ax as Rin got beside him, her bow ready to kill. "Guess we found it." Rin growled as the two got a good look at the Awaken Tree.
It was around 25 feet in height making it an average sized tree on the lower end. It had bright green leaves, numerous branches, and a pale near yellow color bark. As is made out of skin and bones instead of wood the tree begins to shake its many branches making loud rustling sounds as if trying to intimidate the duo. When the two did back off it leaned back and then bent forward swiftly forcing the two to dodge as they parted.
In retaliation Rin took her first arrow and with a bit of magic gave her weapon a small boost as it lets it fly. The arrow struck the side of the tree and made it shutter as it went through its tough exterior.
Rex was less range-based and just ran up to the thing at high speed and slashed the mid area of the Awaken Tree with his ax, and made sure to avoid any branches that would attack him. The Awaken Tree retaliates, swinging down multiple branches at once and as Rex tries to dodge he finds himself caught up in a delayed assault.
The multiple branches came down one after another at slightly different angles meaning even as the warrior dodged he was still hit multiple times making him hiss as he was pushed away and felt his armor easily give into the wooden lashing. Rin then fires off a steady stream of arrows, each one empowered by magic but the tree blocks most of them by whipping its branches around. But one of them manages to get through striking at the tree again and making it flinch.
Rex was busy still evading multiple branches that were striking down at him. "Godsdamnit!" He cursed audibly. He wanted to slash this thing to ribbons, but those stupid branches were preventing him from getting close enough. Seeing this Rin tells Rex to step back as she takes an arrow and charges it with magic and draws her bow again, "I said step back!" She then yells with immense authority but seeing Rex still ignore her.
Seeing him still trying to stubbornly break through on his own she groans as she dashes forwards and as he hops to get out of the way of a branch swipe shoves him away before aiming her drawn arrow and letting it fire. The branches of course try to intercept the attack only for the arrow to explode the moment they touch the arrow head, shattering a bunch of the branches and leaving it open.
"Time to bring you down!" Rex shouted, his ax gripped tight in her hands as he ran forward
The tree leans back and swiftly leans forward aiming to crush Rex under its weight but he was able to side step this and then go for a strong overhead swing and slicing clean into the tree's hide. Still it wasn't enough for it to die as it shot itself back up while Rex's ace was still inside bringing him with it and to make it worse it began to flail about shaking all of its branches in every direction. Rin tried to take a shot but the tree was moving wildly and blocked any arrows that came its way and Rex was hanging on for dear life. "Rex! Jump down or try to keep it from moving! I need a clear shot!" Rin shouted.
"I am NOT letting go of my AX!" Rex replies stubbornly.
"You got one hell of a death wish!" Rin replies before charging her arrow with another spell "Here this should help!" She then yells before letting the arrow go and as if it were alive it weaves its way past the swinging branches before striking the wedge just below the ax. Then with a small magical burst dislodges the weapon from the tree's body.
"Yes!" Rex eagerly regained his grip with his weapon and performed a slashing motion, cutting off some of the tree's bark.
The three rattled but it was hard to see if the damage was really getting to the tree as it still flailed about with as much energy as ever. Panting, Rin draws another bow, "you're high maintenance Rex." She breathed heavily with a smile as she enchants her arrow with a third spell, the arrow lighting up with fire. "Arcane Weapon!" She shouts before firing off the now fire light arrow. Striking at the tree's scar on its trunk and it visibly vibrates with pain.
Suddenly it begins to rip its roots out from the ground causing a huge radius to crack and tear apart as long and thick roots come out to all strike at the wood elf. "Oooh, that's your second trick, huh?" She looked to her companion. "Hey, Rex, how do you feel about some uprooting?!"
Seeing the situation and seeing how she's helped him twice now Rex sighs before rushes away from the tree and begins to chop away at the roots about ready to strike at Rin. Reflexively they turned around to strike back but as they did Rin pulled more arrows and began to strike at each root with fire lit arrows. In a state of panic the tree splits the roots into two sets and now attacks both adventurers at the same time.
"Oh, you think that's gonna work a second time?" Rex raised an eyebrow as he was hacking up roots with his ax. Sure, he got a few, but there were a lot of roots and of course, some got through and hit him which had him staggered a tad.
Rin meanwhile manages to dodge a few of the roots herself but a fair few still manage to get in their stabs making her grunt in discomfort. "I can take care of the roots now Rex, chop that tree down!" She assures her partner as she draws more arrows, all of them lighting up with fire.
"With pleasure!" Rex acknowledged as he chopped through a couple more roots before getting to the tree and began hacking at it like a wild lumberjack. It tries to defend itself but many of its branches were now blasted off and as it tried to attack with its roots Rin struck them with lightning infused arrows to stun them. Rex hacks away at the tree aiming to cut it down and he gets to the halfway point when in one final bid for survival the tree twists its body in a manager that makes its bark rupture in several places before attempting to curl around Rex's body like an overgrown snake.
Rex just laughed. "Really?! You think that'll work?!" He continued hacking away at the Awaken Tree with youthful abandon. His inner self was starting to emerge from his stoic outer shell. But he only got two more swings in when the tree successfully wrapped around him and restrained his arms. The young warrior was too caught up in the action to realize he should've moved. Even with all of his strength he found the tree had him in a vice grip and was now trying to crush him.
"Rex!" Rin yells as she tries to fire off more elemental arrows but the tree was adapting and was now using both roots and branches to bat them away. The roots now carry dirt to block whatever elements she tries to use. Rin was also looking exhausted having expanded a lot of her magic to support Rex.
Unknown to the two of them, they as well as the battle were being watched by an individual. Rex tried to pry himself loose but his arms were pressed too tightly and he could move his ax and his partner fired arrows as fast as she could as she moved about. But it was simply too much for them at this moment. Suddenly a massive figure with heavy steps rushes forwards and in a blur of dark green and blue the figure attacks the tree. It retaliates with roots and branches but they all bounce off of the person's shield and armor before the being imbues their sword with magical cold before slashing at the already heavily damaged side slicing clean through.
"What the hell?!" Rin exclaimed in astonishment. "Who's this guy?!" She'd never seen this guy before.
The two slowly fell over its form stiffening as it became a normal tree, its life snuffed out. When it crashed to the ground the parts wrapped around Rex splintered, unable to hold such a shape. As Rex recovered he looked up to see a massive looking Tortle. What he and Rin saw was a humanoid turtle tortoise creature with a dark blue shell that's rigid on the sides. They had a set of spines from the top of his shell going all the way down and even some on the relatively small tail. The tortle had a long neck, and its head, arms, and legs were scaly and rough, the color of dark green. Their hands and feet claws were dark black. On the face they have a small beak and four blue head cresses in the shape of a curved X that wrap around his head from the front to the back.
They looked down at the fallen tree before turning to Rex and smiling, "Ah good, no broken bones." The male sounding Tortle then spoke with a grin.
"Excuse me!" Rin called out as she made her way over. "Not that we don't appreciate the help, but who the hell are you?" She asked.
The massive tortle smiles as he turns to the smaller elf, "Ah my apologies. I am Mountain, a Blood Hunter." He explains with a massive smile.
"A Blood Hunter?" Rex was shocked to see a Blood Hunter all the way out here near Odira. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Doing what all Tortles do! Exploring and researching!" Mountain says before laughing loudly. He then takes out a notebook and a quill and begins to write things down as he examines the fallen tree.
"All the way out here near Odira? No offense, but there's really nothing to explore or research out here." Rex pointed out as he finally stood up.
"Well an Awaken Tree is nothing to gloss over." Mountain points out before putting his book away. "Neither are you two." He adds.
"Oh, you saw that, huh." Rin rubbed the back of her head. "It would've gone smoother if someone wasn't caught up in their own head." She added, looking at Rex.
Rex huffs as he stands back up and sheaths his ax. "Yes I saw most of the fight. It was close, you two would have done it but our warrior here has too much tunnel vision." Mountain noted aloud.
"So what if I do? We had it." Rex retorted stubbornly.
"More like it had you!" Mountain points out before laughing aloud, Rin doing her best not to laugh with him but snorted slightly.
"Oh, please! You only showed up near the end! I would've hacked it down!" Rex was raising his voice as his annoyance was building again.
"I won't take any credit here, don't worry. But as far as I could tell. You were about to become a broken mannequin" Mountain replies in a calm tone. "Who would I be if I saw a person about to be crushed and didn't decide to help?"
Rex could only snort in annoyance and frustration at Mountain's chill attitude. "Well, you showed up and you helped. Simple as that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to head back to Odira and get my reward for killing this thing."
"Our reward Rex." Rin points out.
"She did help you a lot and saved you a few times. She could've easily ran away but stuck around even at her own risk. And before you say you didn't ask for her help. I really should point out that if you had done this alone young man. You'd be dead." Mountain assures Rex bluntly before chuckling slightly.
"Whatever. I'm heading back." Rex began to walk off, his ax returned to his back to Odira.
Mountain watches Rex for a bit before chuckling again, "He's a rough one."
"Yeah. Seems like he'll get himself killed if someone doesn't watch his back." Rin noted before giggling and rushed after Rex to stick near him.
"Hmm… well best to not let you do that alone." the tortle shrugs before following after Rin, his steps heavy and steady.
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Soon, the trio were back in Odira with many people just staring at Mountain. Not often did they see a tortle in their quaint little town. He paid the onlookers no heed as he was with Rex and Rin as they reached the tavern again. "Oh yeah, what's the reward exactly?" Rin then asks as the three enter the tavern and walk up to the bartender.
"Honestly, it was never specified, but it better be good as we killed a firckin tree." Rex commented.
"Hey, you're the one who took it without really asking what the reward would be." Mountain voiced, a smile on his face.
"Shut it tortle." Rex growls as he slams the paper onto the desk. "Awaken Tree has been silenced." he explains to the man behind the desk.
"Did you bring proof?" he asks calmly.
"I did." Mountain brought out a few twisted branches and put them on the desk.
The man looks at it and makes sure to pay attention to the color and nods. "The reward money is in the back. Give me a moment."
"The money should go to the human and elf. I didn't do anything." Mountain assures the barkeep getting a nod.
"Really? You're not gonna take a share?" Rin asked, a little confused.
"Nah. You two went on your way to go into that forest to kill that tree. You two deserve it more than I do." Mountain smiled. "Besides, first comes first serve, that's the adventurer's code." he adds jovially. "I just helped at the end there." he then says with a laugh.
"You like to laugh a lot." Rin noted.
"That I do." Mountain affirms.
"Whatever." Rex groaned. "As soon as we get our reward, I'm gonna go home and rest. Then it's business as usual."
"Hee hee hee!" Rin laughs cutely as she stares at Rex.
"What?" he replies, getting a very bad feeling.
"You think I'm going to leave you alone?" Rin responds with a mischievous look in her eyes.
"Well, what would be the point of hanging around me now that the job is done?" Rex asked.
"How about making sure you aren't bored to death by having no friends.~" Rin teases making Mountain cackle loudly.
"What's so funny?" Rex growled.
"That she wants to be your friend badly and you're trying so hard to shrug her off." Mountain grinned. "Though, I can already tell that she's going to stick with you whether you like it or not."
"He's not wrong. Besides, having a friend would do you some good." Rin added.
Rex groans audibly, having hoped he at least gets a chance to sleep soon. Soon the bartender comes back with two sacks and places them onto the table. "Here you go, split evenly."
"Thanks." Rin smiled as she took her sack and Rex took his. "So, partner, where's your place?"
"Wow. She works fast, doesn't she?" Mountain smirked.
"OK look. If we're going to work together. I have one rule I am demanding you follow." he then says in a stern tone, Rin nodding along. "Do not. Get into my personal life." he then says. "If I want to talk about it then I'll share but don't hold your breath."
"Good enough! Let's get going!" Rin cheered as she and Rex walked out, Mountain following a couple feet behind them.
"Well, I hope I'll see you two around." Mountain smiled. "You two are quite fun."
"OK why are you sticking around?" Rex then asks.
"Well… I got my reasons." Mountain chuckles before walking in a different direction. "Do tell me if you're going out!" he then says as he walks away.
"I think your life is going to get a lot more interesting, Rex." Rin's smile didn't falter.
Rex could only sigh as he started walking to his home with Rin in tow. "I'm gonna regret this, I know it."
"Regret having company?" Rin asks.
"Regret having you as company." he replied bluntly but only makes Rin giggle.
Meanwhile
Mountain made his way to the town's church which was ginormous in size, designed to house one colossal dragon inside and still have room for much smaller races. He walked on inside and in the center of the building laid a Gargantuan Green Dragon. Naturally thin creatures with great grace and long limbs. They opened their eyes and narrowed them slightly, "You're late" they spoke in a feminine tone.
"Caught jumped by an Awaken Tree." Mountain explains.
"I see. Am I correct in assuming you helped people who were there before you to kill it." The Green Dragon guessed.
"Help is a little small. More like I saved their lives but they did well on their own." Mountain assures as he walks up to the green dragon while grabbing a chair and then taking a seat in front of them. He then took out a long smoking stick and began to put some herbs inside of it. "Want some?" He then offers the green dragon.
"Keep an eye on those two, but don't get too close to them. We must gauge them properly." The green dragon instructed. "We must always be vigilant."
"I'll take that as a no." the tortle replies as he finishes preparing his smoking stick before taking out a tiny red stone and heating up the other end. He then took in a breath the herbs having a soothing effect. "Baaaaaaaaaah~ You dragons should try smoking once in a while." he insists, making the green dragon sigh.
"If I didn't know better. I'd say you're taking things too lightly." she responds.
"I'll be staying near the human and wood elf." he assures the giant dragon.
"Good. Don't get too, as they say, chummy." The green dragon said. "We don't know what they're capable of."
"Hard to get to know them if I don't get close though!" Mountain points out while laughing.
The green dragon stares at Mountain, having always found the tortle to be the weirdest type of charming. Not that she'd ever admit it, "You knew what I meant."
"Of course, of course!" Mountain waved off, "Now, how about the real business? You summoned me to search for a rogue dragon?"
Silence hit the air for a second as the large dragon took a moment to think. "An Electrum Dragon, yes. We've managed to track them here but the trail has gone cold. As one of the most if not the most magically inclined of our kind. It is not safe to let them roam around, even if they're just barely an adult." she explains.
"And if they're found they are old enough to be punished within the main city of Neonia." Mountain adds, "But tell me, Emerald, is that what you really want?" he then asks in a serious tone even as he takes in another puff, his eyes did not leave the dragon's. "You may hide it my lady. But you hate the idea of your kind dying." "
"Of course I hate the idea of my kind dying." Emerald growled before sighing sadly. "But what can I do? I'm not old enough to defy the council, nor am I strong enough to challenge them. So, I'm stuck in a hard place."
"What would you do if you were allowed to punish them?" Mountain then asks.
"Does it matter?" Emerald asks back.
"Come on. Friends talk." Mountain points out.
"... the blasphemy you just spoke." she responds with a deadpan expression.
"Strike me down with acid then if you feel so obliged." Mountain then says casually before snickering as smoke comes out of his lips.
Emerald stares Mountain down for a second vapors leaking from her mouth before she sighs and the vapors disappear. "Your bravery knows no bounds. It is always refreshing." She admits.
"Thanks." He smiled. "Seriously though, if I find this rogue dragon, I'll let you know. Best to let you know before any of the others."
"I appreciate it, Mountain." Emerald nodded.
"Mmm…" Mountain responds before puffing more smoke.
"If I had the choice. I'd punish them by removing their wings. Betraying the dragons is the worst thing you can do as a dragon. But while not being able to fly would be harsh, you can still become powerful and be useful as long as you learn your lesson." Emerald says, before she shares a sad look in her eyes.
"So, kind of a double-edged sword." Mountain said.
"It's the best possible punishment. Our wings are useful for sure. But they are simply for travel and at best decent at combat. Losing them would hurt but a dragon can live without their wings." she explains.
Mountain puffs out more smoke as he takes a moment to think. "Anything I should know about this Electrum Dragon?" he then asks.
"First and foremost, they are very magically inclined, more so than other dragon types. Thus, they're more adept with the mystical ways that we others struggle with." Emerald started.
"Wow. Okay." He nodded.
"And this one in particular is extremely well adept at morphing. They've learned to hide their true form from spells such as true sight and can maintain it even after being struck down. We don't know for sure but it's possible that even if they're killed they won't revert back to dragon form." Emerald explains.
"Sounds like this will be a tough one to find." Mountain acknowledged. "Don't worry, though. I'll find this dragon and bring them to you."
"I hope so. I don't want to rely on others. I prefer my town to be nice and clean." Emerald noted.
"Of course Emerald." Mountain replies before standing up and stretching, "Now excuse me I must go and rent a room."
"You could just sleep here in the church." the green dragon points out.
"I'm supposed to be a wandering adventurer with no strong connections. What would sleeping here accomplish?" Mountain points out.
"If I need to chat with you urgently, I don't have to contact you telepathically." Emerald deadpanned.
He thought about that for a minute. "You make a valid point there."
"Plus, I can sense some people in this town look at you with some disdain because you are reptilian." She continued.
"Tortles are not… sigh. I suppose it's hard for most to tell the difference." Mountain sighs. "Still, it would be odd for me to sleep here. Visiting is fine but sleep here? Out of the question." he points out.
"I feel it would be better for you to do so." Emerald was insisting.
"I…" Mountain knew it was impossible to question a dragon's request. "Fine. Where do I sleep in this place?"
"There's a set of rooms beyond the door to the left side of the chapel." Emerald pointed out.
Mountain chuckles, "You are a stubborn one." he noted in draconic before walking past the green dragon, her lips curling slightly upward. before smiling. "Thanks." He then walked off in the direction instructed.
"And he says I'm a stubborn one." Emerald playfully spoke in draconic before retiring herself. If that rogue Electrum Dragon was out there, she was confident that Mountain would find them and bring them to her before the Council.
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Hello, everyone. I hope you all liked this chapter of my new story. We've already met three OCs here, two of my own creation and one contributed by Golork. We meet Rex and Rin, a human warrior and Wood Elf Archer respectively. We also saw the very first monster of the story in the form of an Awaken Tree. Not only that, but an OC provided by Golork was shown in this chapter: A Tortle named Mountain In the end, we also met the Green Dragon Emerald which is the very first dragon in the story and won't be the last.
With characters, Rex is the stoic type while Rin is definitely more the bubbly cheerful, social type. Mountain is just happy to be around the duo.
As usual, if anyone has any ideas or OCs for this story, please let me know in the comments/reviews, or personally PM me. If you want to support me, please let me know and we'll talk.