Daniel Stesk had only been a mercenary for a few years. His pay was decent, the job was exciting, and the levels were fair. It was a cushy gig for any [Junior Mercenary], so there shouldn’t have been any reason to complain. Right? Wrong.

Daniel was sprinting through thorn stinging underbrush cursing his new job in the name of every god he could remember. He’d already run out of the war gods and moved on to gods of harvest and rainfall. Eventually his backwoods education would run out before his anger did. Maybe at that point he’d start cursing the gods themselves too. The gods could get bent for all he cared.

Daniel had a stitch in his side and blood covering every inch of exposed skin. The blood wasn’t his, the pain very much was. It was difficult to focus with the rush of fear in his body, fight or flight his "dad" at the orphanage used to call it.

Daniel considered praying for the power to fly.

His company was gone. Sure, some of the other mercs were running alongside him through the dust and smoke, but their largest customer in the two years of Daniel’s contract had been eaten right in front of him. Yes, eaten.

The caravan was heading east from the western coast, the wilds were the only things standing between them and a small fortune in spice profits. Oh, and the dragon. The caravan lead hadn’t bothered to do any scouting of their route, or even pay for a guide through the wilds. They just hired a bunch of mercs and called it a day. So from the dragon’s point of view, a small parade of armed humans with donkey driven wagons just came a traipsing through their territory on a silver platter. Too good to miss.

The first attack had been weeks ago already, but Daniel could remember it like it was yesterday, those memories would likely haunt him for decades to come. Assuming he made it out alive. It had started with a rumble like distant thunder. A low, echoing sound that resonated in his bones the longer he heard it.

Daniel was in the middle of the caravan with the other junior mercs, the veterans split between the front and back. Some of them must have recognized the sound, or recognized danger, because the call to form up rung out only a few seconds after the thunder stopped. They would not get a chance to fall into formation.

Wind kicked up arround the caravan as if a hurricane descended around them. The currents whistled in Daniel’s ears and stung at his cheeks. He had to close his eyes just to avoid all the dust, driving the butt of his spear into the ground to anchor himself. It barely worked, the only thing keeping him upright was his boosted strength stat. A few of the younger mercs near him were bowled over into the dust.

Just as quickly as it starterd, the wind died out. There was half a second of calm eerie silence, not hardly enough time for Daniel to even realize what happened and open his eyes. Then the ground shook. Dust and rock fragments stung against his face, kicked up by the sudden seismic activity. Slowly, with fear building in his heart, Daniel opened his eyes. Instantly, his blood ran cold.

A beast bigger than his company headquarters had just dropped from the sky, descending on the caravan and sizing them up with a cruel glint behind its reptilian eyes. It raised itself onto the hind legs, wings stretched wide, and stood taller than a three story building. Those gleaming eyes betrayed the creature’s intelligence long before it spoke. The voice smooth and decadent, flowing like liquid gold.

“What brings you tiny apes through my terri-” the dragon began speaking only to be interrupted by the lead merchant. A mistake on his part.

“Oh great dragon!” were the only words the portly man had a chance to call out before being scooped up in a single claw and swallowed whole. Not so much as a bite from the razor sharp teeth. The creature was just too big, a single tooth was nearly the size of Daniel’s spear.

“I wasn’t finished speaking. Does anyone else want to interrupt?” The dragon asked rhetorrically, thankfully there was only silence in response.

“Good.” The creature smiled. Smiled. Long snout glittering in the sunlight. Those deep red scales seemed reminiscent of rubies, or crimson blood. Beautiful yet terrifying.

“You humans have tresspassed on my personal territory, and by sacred tradition of the dragons I am within my rights to kill you all.” The great red wyrm began to explain. “However, I am a sporting individual. I will allow you all the chance to flee, hide, or fight back. Whichever you prefer. If you attempt to leave my territory, you will be killed. If you fight back and lose, you will be killed. If you hide and I get bored, you will be killed.” Daniel’s heart pounded in his chest, the wanton cruelty and cold calculation from the enemy before him sent shivers down his spine.

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Everyone knew the legends, Dragons fought side by side with the gods in ancient times, what hopes did these mercenaries have against a demi-god?

“Your only hope is to be cunning and quick. Entertain me and play your cards right, you might live for a few extra days. I think you’ll find this valley to be fertile with life, food shouldn’t be an issue.” and with that the dragon spread their wings to the fully massive outstretch.

With a single word, they leapt into the air, leaving behind another hurricane in their wake. “Begin”. They called out a single word before hell descended.

Daniel grabbed his spear and made an immediate sprint away from the caravan. Turning hard right and dashing into the dense forest. A primal fear gripped him the moment the dragon released all the tension, and his instincts were proven correct.

A few of the veteran mercenaries immediately drew their weapons, hoping to deal decisive blows once the dragon’s attention faltered. [Spear of Light], [Blade of Wind], and [Reckless Warcry] were activated in dozens of places, interspersed with other attack skills Daniel didn’t recognize. The dragon smirked

“A passable starting effort. A shame you’re so foolhardy though” and then the beast sighed. Its breath was fire, searing all it touched and pouring through the remains of the caravan. Daniel could feel the heat even as he ran, it only deepened his fear. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw more than half of his company, friends and allies all of them, burnt into blackened carbon. Their weapons and arms melting around them, holding them in place when they tried to flee the conflagration. Less than a hundred mercs survived, all the merchants were dead.

They’d barely managed to scratch the dragon.

1 week

Over the next week the biggest danger to the remaining fighters was stress. They’d managed to group together and scratch out a little camp, the highest ranking officer having defaulted into command. Though officer was a stretch, he was barely a sergeant, having only been promoted at the start of this contract mind you.

The problem was not the dragon, but the lack of a dragon. Since the initial attack, they’d only seen the beast twice, and both times from a distance. It was as if their would-be hunter was watching them, waiting, and toying with their fear. It was infuriating for some, horrifying for others. Daniel didn’t know how to feel about it. He felt constantly on edge, with lightning in his veins, jumping at every sound. He knew what he didn’t want to do though, he didn’t want to give up.

Two of the recruits that signed up with him did. They wandered out into the forest around the camp one night and weren’t found until the following morning. By that time the scavengers had already found them and there wasn’t much left to bury. Their armor and weapons were taken as emergency supply and their bodies left where they were. No sense risking a funeral pyre to make them stand out even further.

The second biggest hurdle was food. Most other resources were fine, water, usable wood, anything you could wish for. The wilds were untainted by the hands of mortals, it was a veritable paradise. Just not for food. Every fruit, every plant, even the seeds that looked edible were some kind of minor poison. Anything from numbness to stomach cramps, even hallucinations. One of the older mercs suggested higher mana density was soaking into the wildlife, either following the dragon or attracting it here in the first place.

Foraging wouldn’t be safe until they acclimated to the mana levels, and the only way to do that was to level up. To hunt beasts in the wilds other than the dragon, and hopefully find some of them to be more edible before they starved. This became the second hurdle to food.

It didn’t take long to realize it would take their entire group to hunt even a single monster. The presence of a dragon was well known to be a battle ground for opportunistic creatures of lower order. The first one they encountered was no different.

A forty foot long snake with a body thicker than a tree raised up out of the brush, beneath the scaled hood of a cobra sat the face of a human man. The sergeant tried to speak with it, hoping it to be somewhat intelligent like the dragon. It did not return his gesture. Instead, the creature began slinging spells, plunging the entire area into chaos instantly.

The first spell seemed to do nothing, but when a corporal drew his sword and slit the sergeants throat from behind, the mage squad began screaming about mind control. From there the battle got more physical.

All the physical built mercs rushed in unorganized, command structure collapsing with two of their highest ranked members out of commission. Skills of all sorts were once again fired out before Daniel could register what was happening. A bolt of lightning struck the ground next to him, sending up a shower of dirt. He drew his spear and charged forward, head on a constant swivel to spot the elusive monstrosity.

Fire would rage from the treetops, causing Daniel to pivot and run towards it, only to find the spot empty by the time he arrived. Lightning struck from a burrow, frost from a thicket, wherever Daniel wasn’t always seemed to be exactly where his enemy was.

He chose to abandon his plan of melee engagement, and fell back to the half circle of tightly grouped spell casters. Without even a need to ask a weapon enchantment was placed on him, the mage giving him one command. “Throw it!”

Daniel never needed to be told what to do more than once. He hurled the spear in his hand at the next flare of magic he saw, hearing a sharp thud and a low hiss immediately after. He took the first step towards his enemy to retrieve his spear and only stopped when he felt the hand of a mage on his shoulder. “Catch it!” the spellcaster called out to him, pointing in the direction of the strike and alerting Daniel to his spear flying directly towards him, albeit in reverse.

These strikes would repeat a half dozen more times, each throw landing true. However, Daniel was only able to choose his targets so easily thanks to his comrades chasing the creature relentlessly. Comrades he was quickly running out of.

When he saw a wave of decay begin to ripple from a nearby burrow, Daniel activated every skill he had available to him, pulled on every muscle in his body, and prayed. The spear flew through the ground in a straight line, impaling something deep within the rock and eliciting a scream that sounded all too human.

Congratulations!

Your party has slain a [Naga Spellsong - Lvl 216]

Congratulations!

[Junior Mercenary] has leveled up to 32

[Junior Mercenary] has leveled up to 33

…

[Junior Mercenary] has leveled up to 41

Ten levels from a single creature. Seven more mercs dead on the ground.

It had been a long week, and they’d only fought the dragon once.

35 mercenaries remain.