Arson not only managed to find the demon egg. He killed all the demons. After he found out that each type of demon had different element combinations, all of which included dark mana, that is.
Arson had begun to change the element mixtures with every strike by the time he made it into the palace. It was there that he lost an arm to a dragon made out of pure sunlight. He currently read the prompt that flickered into his vision; the maw of the creature a breath away from complete consumption of his right arm.
Trial 3103-0 Help a lost kingdom recover, first chain event trial. Further prompts to come… proceed to aid the once princess and now queen, Amorra Glory.
“So, boy, will you be my king or lose an arm to my dragon,” asked Amorra. The heterochromatic princess stared up at Arson who sat in her father’s chair. The throne. Albeit that he’d sat down to take a break, and had been snuck up on by the dragon as he hadn’t yet realized the invasion had been thwarted.
He’d met many strong individuals as he battled toward the palace. It was odd that most had listened to his direct commands, then he sighed again in thought.
“Was your crown out this entire time, Arson…,” he asked himself. He didn’t even look up to check, as the manifestation of his will into reality seemed to have a mind of its own. No longer hidden with a simple thought, his crown grew in power as he did.
“What?” asked Amorra. Arson looked up and glanced at the young queen before he looked into the eyes of the dragon.
“Take my arm, and I take you with me,” said Arson simply. The gaze of the creature told Arson that it knew the depth of his threat, and cared little. It didn’t matter what the queen told the creature, Arson would loose his arm today.
“Don’t play with your life, boy. You may be strong but you won’t fare well with one less arm,” said Amorra in the same moment the creature closed its mouth completely. Arson roared, and in the same moment the creature reared its head back with his arm, he made a decision. He would make the creature pay.
A rune lit the palm of his left hand just before he clamped an iron grip around its neck.
“What no Aurora!” The queen charged toward Arson an her apparent pet but didn’t make it in time.
Aurora’s your name then huh…
Aurora had already begun to thrash wildly in an attempt to escape Arson’s grasp. When the creature turned invisible, Arson laughed deeply, before he roared in the area he knew the dragon’s face would be. Then slammed the creature.
The brand on his left hand a magical rune that could be severed with a thought, was far more dangerous for the dragon to remain in contact with than it was for Arson to use. A fact the creature was entirely aware of. The restriction of mana that would occur would cause any creature to panic naturally.
The creature spread its wings, a detail noted only by the large flap followed by its unfurled appendages.
Sparks. Arson felt a fool for the expulsion of his constructs during his moment of rest. He was now the one to be slammed repeatedly by the dragon, while it flew through as many walls of the palace as possible to break Arson free of its neck.
Arson grew slightly desperate and began to kick the dragon. The beast had broken through the palace’s ceiling and flew upward at an astonishing rate. A situation that wouldn’t normally be an issue for Arson, but he couldn’t fly currently with the little to no mana he’d been left with after the demon invasion, nor could he let it fly away with his arm in its mouth, even if his arm was already being regrown slowly.
"Not today, you sparking winged wretch.” Arson punctuated each word with straight kicks to the dragon’s belly. The dragon then decided to flatten its wings against its body in a way that gave Arson pause.
Instead of the tucked wing position birds used, the dragon took the tips of its large scaled bat like wings and laid them in front of its eyes. The rest of the wing laid flat around its head and horns to form a shell of protection from its back, up its neck, all the way to its snout’s end.
“Son of a...,” started Arson. The dragon’s movement caused the shift in G forces that shot Arson’s stomach into his chest and throat. For the briefest moment it was as if they froze mid air. Arson took in the sight of the broken kingdom around him and his heart broke at the sight. Only for his concentration to be taken in force back to his current dilemma, by the dragon’s dive.
Aurora was in a spin, and had taken the precautions necessary for it to survive a dive from the incredible height they managed to reach in such little time. A feat Arson respected. Not only because the creature was currently being magically branded, which Arson knew to be painful, but he also had his hand clamped down on a pressure point below its neck.
Arson had done everything he believed he could in his current physical state, and almost let go, but remembered his watch once more. It was the first thing he’d ever received from his mother. This creature was either going to give his arm back, or it would die today. Arson swore it to himself as he roared.
As they spun Arson focused his entire mind on the magical brand, it was his only remaining option, and if he could manage to seize the creature's mind before they struck the ground he could maybe have it pull out of the dive? He was unsure, but concentrated fully.
Arson closed his eyes, and felt the resistance that Aurora put forth. He quickly made ground in his effort as his mana begun to fill Aurora’s brain, which Arson could feel through the mental link that slowly formed between the two of them.
Then, they smashed into the ground and Arson’s mind went blank momentarily. He then felt like he relived the first time he tried to do a back flip.
In that instance as well, he had also closed his eyes at an inappropriate time. Then he would have known to extend his feet to land safely, and now, he would have known to let go and maybe experience less harm.
When his mind cleared. Arson awoke to pain and potentially more danger.
The dragon thrashed around violently, moments away from a collapsed lung and being magically branded. They’d apparently landed in the palaces gardens and were quickly being surrounded by the few dozen guards that remained in the area. Apparently drawn in by the queen's screams and the battle.
“What are you doing just standing there? Stop him, you fools!” screamed Amorra. Arson slowly came to his feet and looked at the guards with their drawn weapons, but none came closer, even at the queen's words.
“Ma’am, please don’t go any closer, we cannot protect you from the will of a runic king,” said the guard closest to Arson and Aurora. He gestured above Arson’s head, and Arson looked up to see the changes in his crown.
The physical manifestation of his will had become more solid, and even flickered with runes that shifted constantly, both in size and design. The patterns displayed were even more vibrant and intricate than the types that his runic sets displayed across his clothing.
“Arson rolled his eyes as he confirmed why so many of the people in his journeys through the trials probably listened to him. His core was a symbol of power that was respected across time and space. One he could never be free of.
He turned away from the crowd and kicked Aurora as hard as he could in the stomach. Once, twice, three times, which caused the creature to vomit everything it had recently eaten.
Arson immediately stopped the process of the magical brand. He didn’t want anyone’s pet to be forcibly under his control, as he knew what kind of bond slave brands could make, and that wasn’t anything Arson wanted attached to his soul, ever, for any reason.
“I’m no king, just hear to help your queen rebuild the kingdom,” said Arson as he was forced to rummage through dragon vomit in an effort to reclaim his watch. The feeling of relief when he found his arm and even was graced with a smile and wink from Anastasia before her face disappeared and his screen went dim, settled Arson down slightly.
Enough to read the prompt that had popped up during his flight. The trial update gave him a long list of instructions that excited Arson to start. He wrapped his watch around his left hand and looked at his missing right arm as it very slowly regrew. He knew it would be season’s before his dominant hand grew back, and sighed with the realization that his long list wouldn’t be as easily accomplished with one arm, but dismissed the excuses as small matters and moved on.
It was then that he felt the large dragon’s snout sniff his hair and neck. Arson jumped when the dragon’s tongue swept across the entire side of his head.
“What do you want, creature? Leave me be or I’ll really beat you up once I get my arm back,” said Arson to Aurora with a single raised fist toward the dragon’s nose. Arson heard whispers come from behind him and looked back at the princess and her guards.
“It seems you have made a friend instead of a foe today, my king,” said Amorra. Arson ignored the king comment and had to force down another eye roll. He instead looked at the young queen and then back at the dragon, which did seem like it was about to pounce on him,
Arson pointed at the creature, while he wore a confused face in the queen's direction. His cocked headed expression made the queen giggle as she responded.
“She is ready to play whenever you are,” said Amorra. Arson frowned and looked at Aurora.
“Play…? With you? After you just bit my sparking arm off? What’s wrong with you? Shoo...shoo... go away!” said Arson with a one armed gesture that made the guards laugh. Arson didn’t like being laughed at, and told himself killing guards wouldn’t help him complete the trial series any faster.
Just keep smiling Arson, just keep on smiling. Don’t punch people because they think you are funny, just let it go… It's not a big deal.
“She is irregularly strong for our realm, my king, not very many people have ever been able to move her bulk enough for her to play,” said Amorra. It was Arson’s turn to laugh.
“That’s hilarious, the dragon made out of light you mean, Aurora can be any size and weight she wants within the confines of her own power. I think you may just have a pet that likes to bully people, Queen Amorra. And for the last time I am not your king, nor will I be…” The words started playful, but Arson’s tone had shifted near the end and many around them took a step backward.
“If you refuse to be king, I will accept it for now but only if you stay in the palace while you help rebuild the kingdom,” said the queen. Arson smiled and gave the queen a nod, before he bowed at the waist.
The queen didn’t know that Arson didn’t sleep, but she would soon figure that out when he worked through the night and day, every night and day.
“As you wish, Queen Amorra,” said Arson with a huge smile. The sun fully rose at his back and he turned to face its brilliance. The majestic green dazzled him as the light shifted the landscape around him.
He had a lot of work to do and didn’t know where to begin, so he started at the top of his new list.
1. Rebuild the walls of Aspire.
Arson worked simultaneously on his breathing technique, increasing the amount of times he could fold his mind, and the series trial.
To his astonishment the people around him used runes for everything. To build, farm, and even basic things like shower and cook. Arson had been dazzled by the rune work he’d seen on the stone stove that made it indistinguishable from a modern stove back home.
As he rebuilt the walls that surrounded the kingdom of Aspire, he came across many intact wonders. Creations of runes and metal craft that made Arson wonder if he shouldn’t push himself into a set of crafting trials when he finished the runic skyscraper he was in.
By the time he finished the wall, Arson had a new understanding that made the rest of his work to rebuild far easier. Over time through the use of runes Arson could determine the structure of an item through the breaks in its form. He would use soft pulses of energy like sonar to find debris and clutter that would fit each broken object he fixed.
With the use of runes he was also able to fuse the once broken materials seamlessly back together. Combined with his Living Hands, and a newly gained sense for telekinesis, Arson seemed to be reversing time as he walked through the destroyed city around the palace.
He couldn’t lift large or heavy rubble with his mind quite yet, but the small debris that often blocked his path was easily dismissed. So to onlookers, all that was noticed was who they thought to be their future king, wave his hand and the world around him be remade. The city restored more and more with his every gesture.
Soon Arson came across people. People who waved and smiled in his direction as he worked. Most even did their best to make his tasks easier with their own efforts to clean.
Arson hadn’t realized but as he closed in on the 100th task on his series trial, he’d already made several laps through the city. From the sections designated for nobility, all the way down to the slums.
He made the entire area look almost as finished and clean as the richer sections of the city and even extended the sewer systems to include the slums. A feature he felt was small, but actually awarded far more praise in the eyes of the individuals that returned to their once devastated home to a new outhouse or indoor toilet.
Nothing was made of anything but stone and wasn’t exactly the most luxurious of amenities to Arson, but the people appreciated his additions. When citizens saw him arrive in their section of the city, from noble to peasant, people either kneeled, or bowed.
Arson never stayed in any one section for too long, but grew to know many of the people by name, or at the very least, their occupation. After the city was rebuilt entirely, Arson finished the given list, and was given the next trial in his series and smiled to himself while he read the prompt.
“Trial update: find the lost crypt of the last Rune King within the depths of Aspire's palace,” said Arson before he would probably have to deal with Queen Amorra and her crazy dragon again.
He truly didn’t mind Aurora as the dragon just bothered him to rough-house occasionally, which Arson felt he needed to keep his battle focus sharp. On the other hand, the queen wouldn’t give up on him becoming her king. It didn’t help that the people who’d returned home in droves after the invasion both revered and respected him. He’d not only been a large part of the invasion's crippling, but he’d also dealt with the majority of the aftermath of the battle.
“Hmmm,” said Arson with a sigh.
“Just get it over with Arson, before you lose another year in this place…”
He came to his feet and jumped from the roof he’d sat on. The only thoughts in his mind were his journey home, and the hurdles in his way.
“Let’s see if Endless wants to make a crypt robber out of me…”