Chapter Three
An Eye for a Dragon
Sunlight pooled in the clearing, filling it with golden light that made green clad stone, brush, wildflowers, and old logs glow. He kept his back to the light to peer in the shadows cast by brush and treetops, as he pulled in ragged breaths from a raw throat and tasted copper on his tongue. The sky was blue in the clearing above him, few whitish clouds were present to hide the midday sun, and golden rays punched through holes in the canopy, lighting the forest in patches. The trees were alive with sound and scent, birds and small rodents sang and squealed, and the cloying scent of earth, flowers, tree sap and wild animals filled his nose. Something skittered from the corner of his eye and he moved to follow it. A serpentine shadow darted on his right and he moved again in retreat. The throes of a primordial fear made him flinch back before he could think about what it was, and what it meant.
Pain, like fangs and claws of glowing metal, exploded in the meat of his right calf. He fell. Rolling on rocks and through a brush with thorns as big as his thumb, they felt like a dull drumming of aches compared to his lower leg. The great black iron sword bounced on the rocks and splintered the green flesh of the brush but surprisingly, it stayed in his hands. He looked for the creature, but a cloud of red flames appeared where it had been, and the stench of his burning flesh filled his nostrils. Panic. He screamed and rolled away. The heat from the flames made the air dance in fluid waves before his eyes. He tore his tunic from his body and threw it away. The hand that had been holding the heavy greatsword was empty now. A frantic curse squeezed between gritted teeth. He looked around for the creature first and then the sword, and found the latter resting against a rotten log clad in blue lichen ten paces on his left. The birds that were nearby before the attack, took flight, turning his gaze for a moment, but he could not see his quarry. Strange red flames, dripped from rock making it run, and burnt up grass and flowers before vanishing in a puff of black smoke.
"Dragon fire..." Brandt said to himself clenching his teeth as he tried to make his way to his sword.
The serpentine creature darted at the edge of his vision once more, this time on his left. He lashed out with a kick faster than he could think to attack. His ribcage shook with the force of his heart as he felt his boot connect solidly with the creature, and heard the crunch and the soft shriek as it smashed into the log and his sword. Brandt froze, thunder roaring from his chest, and filling his ears his mouth filling with a sour taste. The small dragon tumbled over the log, one wing bent at the wrong angle, dark bone poking through. Its scales were brilliant beautiful red like jewels, the bone dark scarlet and the blood, red and yellow mixed. He broke from his daze as the piercing cries of the infant dragon brought forth small gluts of red flame. He ran and pulled his sword free as the dragon struggled to its feet. The glittering red gold blood stained the blade and Brandt saw a long gash along the side of the creature. Where the red fire touched, wood burned, stone melted, and grass and earth became ash before turning to black smoke. Brandt took a step back lifting his blade to point at the creature. The infant dragon turned fist sized baleful red eyes upon him showed him small but wickedly curved teeth. It then rose up on two legs throwing out both wings, one mangled the other large and unharmed and made its chest swell.
I am going to die! The thought was secondary to his action that was almost too fast for him to distinguish: Vertical Slash. Its bestial speed allowed it to move but the strike of the sword skill was true. It smashed into the large scales of the small dragon's chest, bounced and slid to the side to cleave the creature's foreleg from its body and to tear a large gash in the membrane of its healthy wing. Red fire shot past Brandt in a mirage of great heat that did not touch him but managed to catch his trousers on fire and burn a lot of his skin on his left from neck to thigh. He screamed and fell, cracking his head on a rock and falling face first into unbreakable night.
+2500 Soulweight
+250,000 Wisdom
He awoke confused. His head ached so bad that he had to shut his eyes and grit his teeth as he tried to sit up. The sun was still high in the sky making the area bright and painful for him to look at and the nausea was too great for him to keep his head where it was. Brandt slowly lowered himself back to the clearing floor and away from the rock that took his waking mind from him when he fell upon it. He smelled burning, but there was no smoke when he first opened his eyes. He felt around on the ground feeling wetness and fine ash congeal on his fingers. His heart leapt and he jumped to his feet recalling the dragon. He fell again just as quickly face first, butt up, into a pool of thickening blood and ash and then rolled away and lay where he was. He turned his head and opened an eye cautiously. A huge dull red eye glared back and he very nearly emptied himself into his ruined trousers. With his heart stuck in his throat, he froze a moment or two before the reality set in. The infant dragon was dead. Brandt slowly and carefully sat up and waited for his vertigo to pass as he wiped ash and blood from his eyes. Brandt knew what those special brown ribbons before his eyes meant for they only showed up after a thing was slain. But the proof of it was in the dragon's corpse right before him.
You Have Acquired Infamy:
Murderer of an Infant Red Dragon
All Red dragons will seek you out to destroy you.
All dragons will fight you to the death if they see you.
All those bound to dragons will see you as a foe.
All those controlled by dragons will attack you on sight.
10% Defense against Red Dragons
1% Defense against All Dragons
+5 Stat Points
+1 Stat Enhance Points
Brandt did not want to move, he felt so drained and so empty that he could have just curled up and gone to a true sleep right then. The banner called him a murderer, and for some reason it brought him a bit of peace. Slayer seemed to be too good a title for a creature like him, too tame a word and too perfunctory. Murder is what he did and how he was alive when that little dragon was dead. The creature was not innocent for it attacked him first and tried to slay and eat him. On one hand it was an infant on the other dragons were wiser than men even when young. Now he did not feel anything for the creature. It was a sentient thing, it would have lived far longer than he would if it survived and could have grown to be as large as a village or town. But Brandt ended it before it could end him. And for him that was enough. The infamy that he gained, whatever that meant, worried him. Having all dragons wanting to kill him on sight was not something he could ignore or hide from even in his grief. He could lie to himself and say that such a thing made it likely that he would die soon but he was still a coward. Brandt did not want to die. Still, he could not truly fathom the enormity of what the banner said. A single dragon was a monster of fable, it breathed fire that melted stone and at its biggest had the size to break a realm. The small dragon was so powerful that it nearly killed him even after he weathered what the goblins did to him. That encounter made him stronger than any guardsman or man in the village or the lord's fiefdom. But it was not enough.
You have Received Special Items:
Infant Red Dragon Blood [???]
Dragon Blood Elixir [Drink]
Raw Young Red Dragon Meat [Food]
Young Red Dragon Hard Scale [1/3 Dragon ingot]
Small Red Dragon Gem [C-Class Item]
This was new, as he had not received any items from the myriad of goblins that he slew for weeks on end. Brandt thought about each of the items and the moment he did, each bloomed in his mind with their own special ribbon.
Infant Red Dragon Heart Blood [???]
Blood from a day to week old red dragon that holds a special energy. It is poison to consume directly.
Dragon Blood Elixir [B+++] (3)
Blood from a day to week old red dragon that has mixed with the tears of the infant dragon, and the liquid fire of its Immature Fire Organ.
100% Heal/+100% HP Regen 6 hours
100% Immunity to Fire 12 hours
Heat Resistance for 24 hours
Raw Red Dragon Meat [D---]
Meat from a day to week old red dragon that holds a special energy. It is fiery plague to consume without special cooking directives.
Young Red Dragon Hard Scale [A+]
Hardest Scale on a dragon that protects its heart. 1/3 of the component of a dragon ingot that can make strong dragon arms and plate.
Small Red Dragon Gem [C]
Crystallized Soulweight (25,000)
Can Hold an High Art at the level of (1) Tier-1, C-Skill or (10) Tier-0, C-Skill
· Replenish every 1-10 days
Brandt breathed out the breath he was holding his mind racing with the possibilities on how he could use the items. First, he wondered how he could practically use them for now they were just words on banners in his head. The instant the thought appeared in his head a variety of items filled his lap. Three clear white crystal vials each as long as a hand rested in the crook of his left arm. A pile of deep red meat dripping with red gold blood sat heavy on his lap next to a brown bottle. A sphere no larger than the width of a man's wrist rested in his right hand. It was as red and facetted as a cut ruby but gold light also shone within it. The scale was twice as large as the sphere and a deep almost black red. His next thought sent the items back where they were before he called them forth. Even the blood from the dragon meat evaporated before he could inwardly complain about it.
Brandt looked at his hands and thought long and hard. Tales from when he was a child told him that heroes used two different types of fighting arts. There was the Martial Art and then the High Art. Both relied on soulweight to perform incredible deeds but High Arts often inspired the greatest awe. It could make fire or water appear to burn or drown one's enemies, move earth and wind, and turn sunlight into weapons. The blow he used to sever the forelimb of the infant dragon was a martial art that allowed him to summon a fraction of the weight he absorbed from the goblins to put that weight behind his blow. Brandt looked over at the small dragon, his chest still cold and free from emotion. Several things glowed on those ruby scales as stars shone at night. He painfully got to his feet and gathered the shining items, not even bothering to look at them before he wished them away with a thought.
Brandt's right leg buckled and he caught himself on the log before slipping on the congealing blood and lichen and bruising his hands on the old rotting wood. His calf hurt badly and felt very weak but he did not want to look at it instead he thought about his status.
Weight: 200lbs
Soulweight: 64,813
Wisdom: 6,785,750
Carry Weight: (12.5/141lbs) (-11.3%/100%)
Level (Stat Points): (65)
HP: 150/300 Attack (dps): Power: 10/10 Stamina: 200:3600/300:7200 Defense: Armour:
Skills: 3
Special Skills: 3
Feats: 3 (2) (439.75% dmg: greenskins)
Titles: 4 (-20% dmg: greenskins)
Renown:
Infamy: (Murderer of Baby Dragons)
Imprimatur: --
· Health Regen: 0.05 (per sec.)
· Endurance Regen: 0.1 (per sec.)
· Power Regen: 0.34 (per day)
· Strength:
· Speed:
· Agility:
· Vitality:
How do I level up? Brandt thought to himself, sliding his back against the log and reaching over to grab the hilt of his black iron sword.
(1000) Wisdom accumulates into (1) wisdoms points resulting in a (2%) increase to the stat is allotted to.
(100) Wisdom points are required to level up in the rank Below Ton.
Once you acquire all (100) wisdoms points and level up, this will provide an additional (10%) increase to every stat.
100,000 wisdom Level 1 >Level 2
9,900,000 wisdom Level 2 > Level 100
100,000,000 wisdom Level 100 > Level 1000
The words appeared in his head as if they were his own thoughts, there were no banners accompanying them and no voice but his that spoke them. It was strange to get knowledge that he knew he did not have spoken by his internal voice.
"How do I turn wisdom into wisdom points?"
You have 6786 wisdoms points. Assign them to the stats of your choice to level up.
"That was easy," Brandt said, before looking at his sword.
It was a hundred pounds of black iron, and though it was familiar to him, it still felt very heavy. The small dragons were so fast, a lot faster than the goblins, he did not stand a chance of hitting them unless he was strong enough to make those hundred pounds feel like a common blade.
"A hundred points into strength," He said, before a cold bolt of lightning shot through him.
Weight: 200lbs
Soulweight: 64,813
Wisdom: (6,686 Points)
Carry Weight: (102.5/155lbs) (-33.5%/100%)
Level (Stat Points): 1 ()
HP: 180/330 Attack (dps): Power: 10/11 Stamina: 230:4120/330:7920 Defense: Armour:
Skills: 3
Special Skills: 3
Feats: 3 (2) (439.75% dmg: greenskins)
Titles: 4 (-20% dmg: greenskins)
Renown:
Infamy: (Murderer of Baby Dragons)
Imprimatur: --
· Health Regen: 0.06 (per sec.)
· Endurance Regen: 0.1 (per sec.)
· Power Regen: 0.37 (per day)
· Strength: 100 (210%)
· Speed: 0 (10%)
· Agility: 0 (10%)
· Vitality: 0 (10%)
Brandt heft his sword in one arm, feeling stronger than he thought he could feel. The blade felt very light compared to before but when he swung it, but his body still went with it. It pulled at him forcing him to spin with it to maintain his balance and then to grit his teeth as he stepped with his injured calf. He dropped the black iron sword and heard the clang as it smashed into a rock and bounced. He dropped to one knee and held his calf as he considered the blade. The weight was the same, but the leveling did exactly as it said it would. Despite his injuries, he felt a lot stronger than two times his strength but he knew he needed weight. The more weight he gained the easier it would be to slay things with his sword without being thrown by its weight. Soulweight allowed him to do that in the form of skills not only adding extra power to the blows but also temporarily adding weight to counter balance his swings. Brandt knew that he needed to find out more about soulweight to see if there was a way to have its benefits without using any skills. Horses and oxen could trample a strong man with ease because they weighed so much more than he did, but even they did not even approach weight equal to his soulweight. Brandt had a sinking feeling that the dragons would, no, he was sure from the stories that they could grow and weigh far more than that.
Still, firstly he wanted to use his wisdoms points to get stronger and faster so that he could actually slay the weakest of the dragons before they tore him to bloody ribbons of meat. Brandt lifted his hand and allowed a thought to coalesce in his mind. A crystal vial appeared in his hand full of a bright burgundy fluid. He pulled the stopper from the top, brought it to his lips, and paused for only a moment, as he smelled its scent of sweet hot spice, before downing it all in one gulp. Brandt shivered as it burned its way down his throat to his stomach. It was pleasant to taste, but his flesh crawled knowing that it was from a creature's blood. Sweat appeared on his body but the aches and pains from his wounds vanished abruptly. He touched his calf gingerly, felt only smooth skin and whole muscle, and smiled big. Brandt felt great! Energy coursed through him and he felt as if life itself threw tendrils of power from the core of his being into all of his extremities. Brandt jumped up and felt his heart skip a beat as he kept rising more than twice as high as his best jump before. When he came down, he was afraid that he would hurt himself, but his knees bent and he hardly felt the force of it travel through his legs. "I am strong, now, a lot stronger than I was before," He said, "This ability to level up is incredible, no wonder heroes can do all those feats I heard of in fables. Can I even call them fables after this? I am only level two and they were thousands of levels higher than me, they could possibly split mountains if they wanted!"
Excitement made his heart leap in his chest as he considered what he would do with the rest of the points. He wanted to be strong, he needed to be strong but he could not disregard the only stats, speed was just as important as strength if he wanted to be able to close with dragons before they could melt him away with their breath weapons but he could use agility to dodge their attacks. And vitality he was sure that it refereed to how long he could survive being cut, beaten, and chewed by beasts and creatures. All of them were important, but he had many points to use.
"Every hundred points I will be able to level up and that will grant a ten percent increase to all my stats so not one of them will be left too far behind." Brandt said to himself. "And so I shouldn't worry too much."
Brandt lifted his greatsword, placed it on his shoulder, and turned just in time to see a wall of red fire fill his world and swallow him whole. He was blinded by brilliant red and the ground crumbled under him as molten stone bled and pooled and trees caught fire. When he felt no pain and no heat, he knew that he was already dead and worse yet likely burned to nothing. But then he felt the weight of his sword in one hand. It must have glowed red for it was lost to the vivid hue of the conflagration. This thought came to him as odd as he felt the wind from the flame slamming into his bare skin. Why am I alive?
Dragon Blood Elixir [B+++] (2)
Blood from a day to week old red dragon that has mixed with the tears of the infant dragon, and the liquid fire of its Immature Fire Organ.
100% Heal/+100% HP Regen 6 hours
100% Immunity to Fire 12 hours
Heat Resistance for 24 hours
The brown banner appeared as if to say 'this is why you are alive, idiot, read things better!' The flames slowed and then stopped altogether revealing three small red dragons all at least bigger by half again than the first one he killed. Their wings glittered in the sunlight flooding the clearing, the membranes lined with purple veins on red flesh. Their scales shone brighter than the first and looked as if it was thick metal armour unlike the first. Only the large scale on the first infant dragon's chest seemed thick and armoured.
"I will not flee from you, creatures!" Brandt screamed over his shoulder as he turned so quickly it made him dizzy for a spell, and then bolted in the opposite direction dragging his iron blade.
The infant red dragons screamed in fury and spoke words in his head that very nearly hurt. Coward, face us in battle and we will rend you as you rent our sister! How dare a profane thing such as you put hold to one such as us?"
Brandt felt sick to his stomach that he had to run and he felt that despondent fury rise within him as it did when he slew those goblins. But he could not survive three of them even with the extra strength that he had and his immunity to their flames, they were still so much faster. A battle cry with no words tore from his mouth as he repented so quickly that he slid back several strides. Bending his knees and going on his toes to keep his feet, he hefted his black sword and screamed a word as he threw it, "Weapon Throw!"
The extra strength added power that shocked him so much that he could only stare as the greatsword shot past the smallest of the three with such force that the creature made it tumble in midair and fall to the ground. His heart sank despite the showing for it did not hit the dragon and it would only slow it for a second at best. He turned and fled again, yelling at the banner to put all the rest of his points into speed and strength.
Warning: You Are In Battle
Slay your enemies or retreat to a safe space to level up
I am really going to die! The thought screamed in his head as ran full tilt away from the dragons. Underbrush clawed at his naked flesh cutting red welts on his brown skin. Vines reached out to entangle him branches sought to knock him from his feet but he crashed through or slipped under them in a fury of fear. Brandt heard the roar of his blood in his ears and through that every rustle in the treetops every movement in the brush seemed an unseen foe. He ran until his lungs burned and his feet were numb and did not slow until he saw words flash before his eyes.
You are in a safe space do you wish to allot wisdom points and level up?
"Yes!" Brandt screamed so loudly that his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach and he clamped both hands over his mouth.
Weight: 200lbs
Soulweight: 64,813
Wisdom:0 (Points)
Carry Weight: (102.5/11,888.5lbs) (0.86%/100%)
Level (Stat Points): 67 (65)
HP: 2540/2541 Attack (dps): Power: 72/74 Stamina: 2541:48,780/2541:52,930 Defense: Armour:
Skills: 3
Special Skills: 3
Feats: 3 (2) (439.75% dmg: greenskins)
Titles: 4 (-20% dmg: greenskins)
Renown:
Infamy: (Murderer of Baby Dragons) (-1% dmg: dragon)
Imprimatur: --
· Health Regen: 0.4 (per sec.) x2
· Endurance Regen: 0.7 (per sec.)
· Power Regen: 2.79 (per day)
· Strength: 3443 (7670%)
· Speed: 3343 (7360%)
· Agility: 0 (670%)
· Vitality: 0 (670%)
The levels hit him as if a stone was dropped on his head sending a bolt of electricity that froze and burned its way through his body. He felt mighty in that moment, powerful, strong enough that he wanted to face those small dragons even without his sword. He turned and took a quick stride in the direction that he fled from, and splintered a tree with his head. He backed away from it, groggily and held his face in a hand as red warmth dripped from his forehead. Brandt moved a dozen strides as quickly as he would complete a step and he was not used to it. Filtered light green and gold from the sun gave the woodland, brush, and earthy lichen clad forest floor a mottled look that moved with sway of the leaves. The birds in the trees called from a distance but there were none nearby. Insects and the lizards and small snakes that chased them made their noises, but he did not hear squirrel or rodents make their calls. He moved slower and managed to get a few steps before he had to stop, the tip of his nose tickled by dark brown bark. He blinked and ground his teeth. Leveling up slowly was the way to go, he realized and leveling up all the stats together maybe would have helped him more.
What does the speed stat mean? He asked himself knowing the power that showed him the brown banners would answer.
Speed refers to how fast you can get from one point to another point will determine access to certain physical skills.
That is pretty much, what I thought it would be, but why is it that I do not have more control over it? Could it be the different in ability that comes from level 1 to 67 is just so high that it will take time?
The Speed and Agility stat are best leveled up together. For Agility best matches with speed and gives those who use martial arts to fight an advantage for one on one dueling.
Brandt rubbed his face smearing blood all over it, he gritted his teeth and spoke to himself, "I could have used that knowledge a bit sooner! What does Agility stand for?"
Agility refers to how quickly you can change direction, affects reaction time, and gives access to special hidden skills.
"That is good to know," Said Brandt wiping the wound that had already stopped bleeding with back of his hand.
Coward, you said you would not flee and you said it as you ran away! Brandt whipped his head around looking for the infant dragons. As he turned, he saw a flash of red coming at him from his right in the same way that the smaller dragon had attacked him. He turned to the creature and lashed out with his foot as he wood at a leather ball. It flew into a tree and broke around it with sounds like peals of thunder followed by long red gold spurts of blood. His relish turned to dismay as claws and teeth tore at his side in a mad frenzy. They attacked as one there were two of them! Brandt was blooded as he struggled to get a hold of the vicious creature. It raked all four claws over his flesh and tried to use its weight to bear him down as it lashed him with a long barbed tail and worked at his neck with its teeth. It is going to kill me! Brandt thought he wrestled with the creature. It does not matter how strong or fast I am if I cannot get a hold of it! He heard the sound of more flapping and a chill went through him. If the other one joins, I will be dead in a few heartbeats, but if the one I kicked against the tree is alive too I will not last a second!
Brandt forwent protecting his chest, and allowed the creature to dig its claws deep and hoped that his health was great enough that he would survive. He then wrapped his arms about the dragon pulled it close and squeezed with all that he had. At first, it welcomed the closeness as it was able to attack more freely but the power of his arms made it panic and soon it thrashed for its life. Brandt tucked his head down and flexed every muscle in his body just as the largest of the infant dragon reached them. The small dragon in his arms mewled loudly like a cat in pain and Brandt felt the wash of its strangely spicy breath pour over his face. The crunch of its broken spine traveled into his body in a sickening reverberation as it went slack in his arms. The largest of the infant red dragons screamed and bathed him in the red flames again. Brandt rolled away vomiting blood that bubbled and vanished in a sea of red heat. Brandt half crawled and half hopped away from the dragon and slammed into a tree making black spots dance before his eyes. His head swam and he tried to focus on calling the dragon elixir to his hand. His limbs were going numb and his body cold, so much blood had already poured from him he thought it was a wonder that he could still move. In that moment, he took a step and his lead leg buckled and fell face first onto the forest floor, just as the elixir appeared in his hand. Brandt put the stopper in his teeth and pulled at it as he heard the shriek of one of the red baby dragons.
It smashed into him and knocking the vial free from his grasping fingers and then began to tear into his back. He screamed in panic, feeling waves of searing pain go through him as the small red dragon tore at him with his claws and then breathed thick red flames upon the open wounds. Brandt flipped around with the strength of the dying and swung his arm. The meat of the side of his fist struck the dragon's side and sent it flying away. Brandt fell flat and struggled to breathe as his blood made bubbles pop over his lips and nostrils. When he looked down, he saw pink staves of bone under blood that ran so thickly it seemed purple. The thought of the dragon elixir must have stayed in his mind under the fear of his imminent demise for it appeared in his hand once more. But Brandt did not have the strength to lift his hand to his lips. His vision blurred and grew dark, his heart beat slowed and his ragged breaths grew faint.
+5500 Soulweight
+500,000 Wisdom
You have Received Special Items:
One of them died. Brandt thought. I slew thousands of goblins and hobgoblins and worse I was only able to murder two baby dragons. I don't want to die, I don't want to face her yet I have not atoned for what I did to her! A chill went through Brandt as he brought the Dragon Elixir to his mouth pulled out the stopper with his teeth and drunk it all, his blood, his sick, and the elixir. His heart grew strong and his vision cleared showing him that he was no longer in the trees, but on a rolling field of grass, and wildflowers with lone old trees dotting the space like bent witnesses. Brandt was naked but he did not watch as the flesh over his chest knitted together and the blood stopped flowing. His eyes went from the largest of the infant red dragons to the other that he missed with his sword. There was energy to his body that lay atop fatigue so heavy that he was afraid that if he closed his eyes he would never open them again. His wounds were healed but they were too great, his stamina and endurance suffered. A fire began to burn in him but his body stayed cold.
You Have Activated
Eternal Slayer (Damage ^ 0.025% for every dragon defeated) +2 Stat Points
"You have burned me mauled me, ripped, rent, and beaten my flesh but I live! Now shall I begin?"
The young dragons were braced before him wings out teeth bared and stained with his blood, the largest directly in front and the other to his left. They shrieked, roared, and charged them as one flapping wings like tents and blasting the grass and him. Brandt shot forward straight for the dragon in front of him, seeing its eyes widen as he moved faster than it could fully react. His charge was also too fast for him to land a blow, all Brandt could do was grab the infant dragon's back left leg and tail, spin and slam it to the ground to cancel out his momentum. The biggest of the infant dragons bounced but tucked its wings to its body and twisted like a cat bearing fangs and claws. The smaller infant red dragon made an indecipherable noise that filled his ears and his head as it flapped to its kin's rescue. Brandt's mad grin made the creature furiously flap its bat-like wings to forestall its lunge, but Brandt's new speed was too much. He tackled the dragon from the air and slammed it to the ground, grabbing its forelegs and leaned back away from its serpentine neck and the maw attacked to it as he stood on its hind legs. Brandt flexed every muscle from his heels to his neck throwing his arms up high and ripping the infant dragon's forelegs from its body. It screamed almost like a human child and vomited bloodred fire all over him. Brandt howled in abandon and spun wielding the torn forelegs like clubs at the other dive-bombing infant dragon. The dying dragon under him stabbed him with the spike on its tail, missing his spine by a fist and throwing his balance off. Brandt only managed to make glancing blows on the larger infant dragon but its dive knocked him a distance away.
He tumbled head over heels tasting iron and seeing sky become grassy earth and then sky again as his mind winked off and on as it slammed against the ground. He stood in a flash, stumbled to the side, and shook his head against the wave of nausea. Brandt chuckled pleasantly at the fact that he still held the limbs of the infant dragon. The earth burned before him hiding the dragons from him. He did not even feel the wound that opened his back and belly from the cold in his body. His fury still burned hot and he could almost make out the voice of Sarah calling him from beyond the red flames to slay the dragons. He darted forward but before he went far he saw a glittering shape rise from the red flames holding another mangled shape. It ascended quickly taking to sky while glaring red gold eyes full of wicked hate at Brandt.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I will slay you human, I rend you to pieces from what you have done to my kin and me, and I will burn your villages and towns and feast on the blood of your children! A mountainous fury, so hot in the cold flesh of his body that it hurt, rose within him and tore from behind his teeth. In his eyes, he did not see the body of the smaller red dragon held in its siblings claws but Sarah brutalized not by goblins this time but by young dragons.
"Weapon throw!" Brandt howled unleashing all that fear and hot rage from him and into the forelegs of the dragons as they left his hands.
The dragons were lost to the black smoke but even over the crackle of burning earth he heard a noise so loud that he heard it keenly even over that distance. Two forms fell from a column of quickly disappearing black smoke both glittering in ruby scales and trailing ribbons of blood.
+4500 Soulweight
+450,000 Wisdom
You have Received Special Items:
Brandt ran to where the surviving infant red dragon fell, ignoring the one that had seemingly transformed into his beloved just moments before. The red fire was gone as was the black smoke in its place was large sections of gouged and ruined earth. Red gold blood leaked from the dragon's eyes and mouth, its wings were so mangled they looked like wads of crumbled parchment. Large lampolent eyes as red as fire with gold sunburst fanning from split pupils seemed to struggle to find him in the haze of pain. Brandt stood over it waiting. When its eyes finally focused on him, Brandt saw those eyes fill with fury and hate that more than matched the goblins he slew by the thousand. Even in his madness Brandt shuddered, here was something that was worse than the greenskins. Here was a thing that was an end to all of mankind. And this was what it was at its weakest. Brandt saw its chest rise and bloat and the red flames leak from its nostrils and the corners of its bloody maw and stomped on its chest with his bare heel. The crunch sounded the way he imagined cannon grapeshot would. He felt the hard scales flex under the power of his step and winced as his stomach flopped in him. Red fire and red gold blood bloomed from its mouth in a grisly ephemeral flower. But Brandt was not done. He coldly grasped the top and bottom jaws of the infant red dragon and pulled them apart as one would fine cheese until he split the neck all the way to its ruined chest. Blood ran down his hands, his bright red blood mixed with the red gold blood of his foe.
+9500 Soulweight
+1,000,000 Wisdom
You have Received Special Items:
Brandt stepped away the ruined mess of the dragon and felt the energy drain from him and a deep darkness pull at the edges of his vision. He no longer felt cold, but raw, hot, and ripe with the smell of smoke and gore. Midday slipped closer to sunset but bright blue sky and the sunlight was strong in their color. It was warm enough for Brandt even though was fully nude but an occasional wind made him shiver. He missed the cover of the trees already.
"I need clothes and I need my sword," Brandt said to himself, "I do not know the full ability of dragons, if they can hear or smell what happened here. Any of the larger ones might be more than I can handle right now."
A bolt of pain shot through Brandt reminding him of the wound he took from the tail of one of the infant dragons. With a thought and a quick subtle motion, he drained a dragon elixir that he got from the last three small dragons. When it was finished, he looked at the crystal vial and had a thought.
Inventory
Infant Red Dragon Blood [???] x4
Dragon Blood Elixir [Drink] x6
Raw Young Red Dragon Meat [Food 10lbs] x4
Young Red Dragon Hard Scale [1/3 Dragon ingot] x4
Small Red Dragon Gem [C+ Class Item]
Small Red Dragon Gem [C Class Item]
Small Red Dragon Gem [C-Class Item] x2
Small Goblin Gem x5881
Large Goblin Gems x1351
Very Large Goblin Gem x232
Special Goblin Gem x58
Very Special Goblin Gem x58
Large Special Goblin Gem x10
Iron Plate (crude/cast/black) x578
Iron Arms (crude/cast/black) x6,985
Steel Plate (common/blue/white) x145
Steel Arms (common/blue/white) x590
Leather Clothing x850
Brandt sucked in a quick breath, awe filling his words as he whispered, "How much can this inventory hold?"
The capacity of your inventory may fill a large world, from the core of that world to thinnest portion of its sky.
"As handy as it is getting my replies answered as soon as I have them, that can get a bit too much." Brandt said, "Still at least I will not have to go around naked. Though I hesitate to put on clothing worn by those smelly, disgusting goblins. I need water to wash the leather but I can barely think to...move correctly."
You are quite animated speaking with yourself spawn of man, can you afford to be so careless after slaying the seed of red dragons?"
Brandt whipped his head about, crouching, hands out in a fighting position. He saw nothing but charred ground, trees some distance before him, rolling grass, and blue sky capped over it all.
Why do you not answer, I am sure the egglings had the ability to speak to you directly, or are you a halfwit? Brandt turned in a circle trying to see where the voice was coming from. It shook him to his core, making a fear bubble up from his gut to choke him. The voice in his head sounded…ancient, for lack of a better word, as if each word came across from a great gulf of time. It was so powerful that Brandt was sure that if it wanted to, it could break his mind with ease. The tone in his head was full of distant thunder that made him think of the storm swept, dark blue sky of the ancient past.
"Where are you, what are you...are you a red dragon? Do you seek to play with your meal before you eat me?"
Brandt felt peals of deep bass shake his mind from within his skull. He ground his teeth to withstand it and gripped bloody hands in his overlong mane.
I eat only the flesh of the worthy men and women who may one day break the world or save it from ruin if left to their own devices. I have fought Treyfour and knocked his silly red spear from his hands. I have tasted the blood of Arvina. I have even cracked the bones of Krachken Baneslayer and supped its marrow when his legend was at its peak.
Brandt felt another chill go through him even as he spoke, "Many know the names of our Great Heroes and any foul creature can claim to fight legends thousands of years old."
But I am not just any foul creature as you may attest. With those words, a dragon of titanic proportions appeared before him glittering in a hue like silver but prettier and purer than any silver he had ever known. Brandt took a step back from the dragon without a thought and then froze. If the tales were true then years allowed dragons to grow larger than any creature should. Brandt had to admit that this dragon might very well have lived thousands of years. It's argent claws were longer than a team of horses and a large carriage combined. And its eye as it dropped its head low to regard him, as he would a bug, was bigger than he was tall. It was frightening how beautiful the orb was, white fire and silver with bands of multicolor light. It was too big for him to grasp that it was a living thing, it was bigger than any building or manor that Brandt had ever saw, as big as he imagined a castle would be.
Brandt clenched his jaw and stiffened his spine he spoke coldly, but he bit off each word with a terrible heat.
"What do you want with me? You could have slain me without me ever once seeing you, why do you reveal yourself now?"
You are the dirt lower than an insect that may stain a beautiful claw, but I will wait before I see them clean. You will fight me and if you live beyond ten heartbeats, I will leave you alive for the lesser dragons that will come for your meat and blood.
"You can kill me in an instant, I will be dead ten times over even if you count a fast heartbeat!" Said Brandt, as he willed leather and armour from his inventory to clad him.
Do not be a spoilsport...you are not without your powers, did you not summon your weak metal scales to protect your flesh? And look, see how gracious I can be, here is your toy. The titanic dragon lifted a claw and after a minute, Brandt heard the hum of an object whizzing through the air. He blinked when his black iron greatsword stuck in the ground between his feet. It was still encrusted with the dried blood and gore from the first infant red dragon.
That is...a curious thing, you will know that the blood of dragons is an omen that can bring common metal to the level of enchanted steel. I might be less bored with it if you slew egglings of my kind, alas it is only immune to the breath weapon of red dragons. Shall we begin?
Brandt wanted to curse the scaled beast to whatever pit that such things were damned to but he could not risk offending it. The armour he wore was not particularly heavy due to his high strength but he wondered how he was able to fare against a goblin who could wear it. It was two hundred pounds of white steel cobbled together from different sets of platemail. Its ramshackle nature made it harder to move in a way that he was accustomed to moving. He also had a white steel sword, mace, and longsword but not one of them were over eight pounds. So even though his black iron sword was inferior in ore quality than the white steel, it hit harder did more damage for its sheer brute weight.
Brandt's heart pounded in his ears as he locked his gaze on the mountain of scintillating scales, bared his teeth and roared. Strings of pinkish white spittle flew, veins stood out on his neck and made the whites of his eyes pink as he charged. The boy was knocked flat on his face and blasted away by the flapping of the dragon's vast wings as it took to the air. It vanished as its last claw left the ground making deep gouges that could swallow a charger. There was clangs and rattling as his sword bounced off his armour and his armour off the earth. He tasted blood from biting his lip.
My ten heartbeats are too precious to waste so quickly but I will allow you to have fun with these! I can smell in your mind that they are familiar to you, may you enjoy them as much as I enjoy watching you with them.
Confusion contorted his face and then smoothed to a placid rage that made him hot from head to sabatons. A half circle of air, as if the surface of a still pond disturbed by a drop of a rain appeared. It grew from the size of a man to what might have been the size of a castle. Then green hands, feet, and bodies with huge heads and noses as long and thick as the thighs of men came through. He ran forward a scream of murder in his head and swung his black iron sword in a horizontal arc, spun and let the arc continue until he completed over half a dozen pirouettes. A score came through the waving air and in a blink of an eye, they were nothing but ropes of gore, shards of bloody bones, and green disembodied limbs.
You Have Acquired a New Skill:
Blade Whirlwind (+5% dmg and spd per swing (x6)) +2 Stat Points
+300 Soulweight
+45,000 Wisdom x20
Those are not common goblins, man spawn, they have been bred and bathed in blood and battle in their bleak world from the time they are born until now. Yet you are more effective at slaying them than the egglings. I wish to see more of your power against them. They are not the only ones who seek to be free of the misery of their world, perhaps a few more doors will do the trick? I do want you to have fun after playing so well with the youngest of my species.
Brandt did not pay any heed to that draconic voice in his head, for he heard Sarah call to him, standing above the parts of the creatures he just killed, just a few paces away. More of the wavering portals opened up and let in a flood of green bodies. Brandt screamed himself hoarse from calls of "Blade Whirlwind". Hobgoblin heads flew freely and in numbers surpassing when a strong wind took the loose leaves from the tops of trees. Red green blood coated him, plate, leather, and flesh, filling his mouth and slicking his eyelashes. A Goblin Brute charged him and he took its lead leg with such force with his swing that it pulped goblins to his side that his blade could not reach. Horizontal slash split its skull, cut through the bones in its chest, and then buries itself into its pelvis. Gore and offal exploded from it filling the space with a ripe stench. Thirty more Brutes were reduced to wet meat splintered bone with Blade Whirlwind. The goblins and Hobgoblins were as much trouble to him as wheat for the scythe. It took a legion of the lesser creature to make him tire but that and more poured through. Brilliant sunshine turned to a starry night, hours to long, lung-burning, teeth cracking days of unrelenting carnage. Goblins rained crow fletched arrows upon him, forcing brandt to use the bodies of large greenskins to cover him. Goblin Shamans made night and day dance with color as bright flashes of yellow lightning, red fireballs, and green fists of pure energy shot for him. He used his incredible speed to get away from the High Arts and to hack the shamans to pieces as soon as they appeared.
+300 Soulweight
+45,000 Wisdom x1400
+3500 Soulweight
+455,000 Wisdom x100
+1500 Soulweight
+225,000 Wisdom x500
Orcs strode through the portals by the dozen and then by the hundreds. Brandt knew them as shadows from the fever dream of his weeks of slaying greenskins before. Their noses were short bare bone snouts and their jaws meaty hinges bearing tusk-like fangs. They had twice the muscle of a human blacksmith but did not stand as tall as a Goblin Brute. They cut through lesser goblins to get to him as one might pick wildflowers and he smashed through them with even less care. The big Orcs that grew as big as the Brutes took longer to slay by a blow or two but soon they too fell by the score. Iron and even steel was rent by his might, plate even metal that most men could not fight in, did not stop him.
+300 Soulweight
+45,000 Wisdom x1000
You Have Acquired a New Feat:
Slay 10,000 of A Kind (+500% dmg, -50% dmg, Greenskin Shadow of Fear: 10% Chance to dominate any Greenskin, +1% for every greenskin dominated) +25 Stat Points
+1500 Soulweight
+225,000 Wisdom x500
+4000 Soulweight
+600,000 Wisdom x200
+3500 Soulweight
+457,000 Wisdom x100
The bodies of his foes grew into hills and then small mountains, and sabatons slipped and slid on the slimy bloating meat. The smell of decomposition made a cloud of foulness that would have strangled warriors who knew war. Flies and crows made a mad cacophony that became background chatter to Brandt. The corpses of many dead greenskins filled the rolling grasslands as far as his eyes could see pushing him to find clearer ground.
You Have Acquired a New Skill:
True Balance (Keep Footing on Unstable Surfaces) +2 Stat Points
You Have Perfected a Special Skill:
Eternal Warrior (Absorb Stamina from Slain Foes) +5 Stat Points
Brandt slew many, but many times the sum he slew ran from him in terror. He tried to chase them down and succeeded in gazing upon a fraction of that number and making their hearts burst, but there were too many. He used Bloodthirst, Slayer's Aura, and Rule by Fear as often as he could and many greenskins died. Many swords, arrows, axes, spears, and maces smashed, hacked, and pierced him but the passive from one of his titles: Life Drain, allowed him to keep his life as he absorbed soulweight. Legions fled from him as a fraction of their hoard turned upon them driven mad by Brandt's power and hued into them. Those that fought him died. But he could not help but think about those that ran from him. They would run into villages and manors and leave them a red ruin. Still, the specter of Sarah, chased those thoughts from his head. He could not bear to look upon her to see her sorrow for him, to taste her rage at being left behind. Some greenskins he was able to command but ten times that number he failed and they were allowed to flee.
It was on the third day of that horrific slaughter that the dragon spoke to him again. It was near sunset as he drug his dulled black iron greatsword through the ribcage of an Orc. Rosy light played upon the wet bent blade reflecting a purple sky with the gold sun resting on red and pink cloud. You are mindless before them but you are weak before true challenge. Among the greenskins, you are nightmare of hacking sword but you nearly die when faced with a dragon eggling. You are no great warrior but I will grant you ten heartbeats to know what it is to battle one. Brandt stared uncomprehendingly at the piles of dead goblins, orcs, and worse. His plate was in tatters, and shards of blades stuck from joints in the armour. Brandt felt dead inside, his mind distant his body acting by instinctively slashing at anything that moved even if it was already dying.
Hundreds of strides before him, the ground, thousands of dead greenskins, and rolling earth vanished in blinding light. It happened in a split second, but motes of glowing energy floated over the freshly leveled area drawing Brandt to it.
Your battle barely entertained and I hoped to wring some fire from your dead flesh before I leave you to lesser dragons. Still, I grant you the honor of facing me, and you cannot even manage a fraction of true terror? Once again the ancient dragon appeared on the spot, filling a space of hundreds of paces across. Its glittering scales were just as radiant as before, this time they shone in the hues of sundown, taking the color in the sky above and casting it against the black and grey earth. The dragon lifted a head that could swallow a cottage, with teeth taller than a man was and blew into the sky. Thunder roared and the sky echoed with peals of its own. Brandt shook in his metal boots. He tasted ozone on his tongue and felt an incredible urge to move, in which he obeyed without another thought. His leap sent him a hundred feet back from where he was an instant before the white-hot lightning struck. Thunder tore at the insides of his ears, and bolts of white electricity numbed his flesh even thirty paces away from where it struck. His scream was muted by torn vocal cords but blood and spittle flew from the intensity of the cry.
You Have Acquired a New Skill:
Quick Retreat (200% speed when evading backwards) +2 SP
His entire being shook as he crawled among the dead flesh of goblins, orcs, and brutes, greenskins all, great and small. From their staring glassy eyes, he could see himself as the wretch he was. He was a mad lad with eyes that burned with such fury that they seemed to give off true light and hair slick with wet filth. Thin white worms of electricity, as bright as the sun, crawled over his torn and beaten plate, leaking red and red-green blood on the white steel. He pushed with all his might from the foul swamp and could barely lift his face above the brackish liquids. When he tasted ozone through the filth on his tongue once more, he screamed "Quick Retreat!"
His legs were forced under his shivering body and launched him further than his last dodge. He was able to avoid the worst of the lightning this time. Brandt looked up at the dragon and felt his right eye burn. Who are you dragon, what are you? He tried his best to focus his thoughts on the enormous mound of bright silver scale.
Ah, so you can hear me and it seems that you can mimic pure speech. I am a beauty of light given scale and meat such as I do not have to answer an apish worm such as you but why should I not? Even a worm may learn to worship beauty in a name and kind. I am the Great Ancient Dragon, resplendent in unmatched beauty, Elixir of Might of all that is called Titanic, Heir Eternal to the Fundamental Powers of this World and the next.
"Why do you..." Brandt began before the words of the dragon drowned out his words.
I am Champion of Pure Lightning of all that may call themselves my true kin. I am the Slayer of Monstrous Foes and Heroes who mock the soulweight of Teraton. I am the Light Blessed Doom of the Myriad Scale Worlds. I am the Slayer of Krachken Baneslayer and breaker of Arvina Dragoneater whom I let live to speed my fame. My true name would break your mind to see it but you lesser things may call me Zierlfulrniel.
"It has been more than ten heartbeats, dragon!"
Zierlfulrniel made his enormous eyes go to slits as white lightning trickled from its nostrils. Do you think yourself cunning spawn of man? I have outwitted kings and wise men in times ancient and I did it when I was but an eggling. Do you truly think you can outwit me? Listen to wisdom, not all have hearts that flutter to their death as quick as a frightened moth. My hearts beats slow, one called Brandt, it may take a day for me to reach ten. And so I can split you in two with my lightning, turn you to dust with my light breath, or crush you to the smallest bits with the forces that bind to massive things. Alternatively, I can tell you great tales before I slay you.
Brandt's knees no longer shook as he stood but he had to peal the raw flesh of his hand away from the hilt of his ruined black iron sword. He ground his teeth in pain and moaned behind his snarl as he looked up at the dragon.
"Let me live, oh Great Zie...earl...furl...nail, leave me to the lesser dragons that will come for me anyways. I will tell others of your greatness, I will speak of it for as long as I live as Arvina did, just spare me!"
Brandt bit off each word, fear making his tone ragged and his voice throaty. His right eye ached badly now, and it felt as if it would catch the air on fire. He was so tired. There were no more greenskins to slay to give him stamina and he had not slept in days. His body was battered from more than a few thousand gut-wrenching fights. His health was down by a quarter even after dodging both bits of the dragon lightning and he felt weak. Still, Brandt held his sword in a warrior's salute before him even as he knuckled his eye, teeth still bared. When he blinked with his left eye, for a short time, the world about him filled with glowing words of every color and they spoke to him when he set his eye on any one of them. He could not readily make out what they said but he felt as if they told him secrets.
When Brandt set his eyes on the mountain of a dragon before him, it took his breath and held it captive. The words surrounding the dragon was more numerous and glittered as if jewels, and he understood the words about the dragon. Brandt saw villages broken and families eaten, and towns and cities burned to bones of molten slag. He heard tales of the dragon fighting giants a hundred feet tall and titans who could walk across the skies. He both saw and heard the battles it had with other dragons, one was so large than it made titans seem as men did before it. Brandt felt a chill as he saw that dragon, a thing called a leviathan; swallow Zierlfulrniel whole, before the dragon ate itself out of the larger scaled monster. It was brutal to see and hear but he could not tear himself away from the sight. It showed him what the dragon truly was, a mad warrior of raw power and fury that he could not hope to match. He blinked and the visions vanished.
Titanic Fundamental Dragon Zierlfulrniel
Singular Hero of the Four Powers
Shield of Light
Light: 2,975,000,000,000,000
HP: 1,525,000,000,000,000
Brandt dropped his hand from his right eye feeling the ache and the heat slowly fade. It was a wonder to be able to see the light of a creature but it was too vast. His hp was only 2500 or so, even if he could not truly suss out what the numbers meant he could see that the dragon had more than that. Thunder boomed in the cloud-matted skies overhead and the lights flashed in rainbow hues. It could have been night or day for the cloud cover was so thick and the wet winds so strong as to pull at his flesh and the metal shards of his armour. Lightning flowed from the nostrils of the Great Ancient dragon and rainbow bits of light lit the dragon's throat. A stray bolt of blue lightning struck the field of corpses with the crash of bass thunder. Brandt knew it was not an attack from the dragon but rather a result of the power that was building in the heavens. Zierlfulrniel had grown serious. Brandt could only guess that the dragon felt or knew that the man was able to pierce its secrets with his eye. I need power to defeat this...foe...power that could break a kingdom as this dragon broke kingdoms and end a legion of lives in an instant as it subsumed lives. He blinked and his left eye opened to the world as it opened before. Then the words came to him in their shining wonder and spoke to him of his weakness.
You Have Power but You are Unworthy of It. To Wield it Fully May Break You.
I am broken already, and death will come to me whether I am worthy of what is mine or not.
It Will Cost You to Wield this Power. The Cost will be Heavy, Do you Accept?
Enough of these dramatics give to me what is mine so that I might survive this. Give it to me now.
You Have Unlocked Seal I Worldcutter of Ten Thousand Irresistible Imprimaturs
(5 Commands)
The lightning struck before the beam of light. The first searing to eyes, the next made him feel transparent and the bones in his body shine through his hands and form. The smell of it was a physical idea of light, like a memory of heat and a golden glow that made the dark flee from the heart. But the feel of it was like being deprived of both heat and cold while the hairs all over his body stood on end. The energy evaporated about him leaving him unharmed and in a crater a hundred feet deep and so vast that it seemed shallow.
4/5
You Have Unlocked a New Innate Skill: Mirror of the Extra-Planar Realm: Void Shield
+ 10 Stat Points
+ 1 Stat Enhance Points
You live, you have fooled me worm perhaps you are worthy of a death by me! The dragon roared making the earth dance under Brandt's feet as the boy shoved his fists against his ears. A light blazed from his right eye searing his mind through to the back of his skull. There was a flash brighter than the light breath and lightning that the dragon shot at him. The force from that flash should have ripped him to shreds and then those shreds to dust and that dust to nothing. The roar from the sound alone should have shattered his skull and turned the insides of his head to pudding. The earth ripped away from underneath him as if giant hands grabbed chunks of it and tore it from the ground and then threw it in the distance.
You Have Unlocked a New Innate Skill: Inverse Mimic: Anti-Light Bomb
+ 10 Stat Points
+ 1 Stat Enhance Points
You Have Used an Innate Skill: Mirror of the Extra-Planar Realm: Void Shield
+ 5 Stat Points
+ 1 Stat Enhance Points
2/5
What have you done to my shield! The roar in his mind and from the deep chest of the dragon made the air vibrate in elemental fury. Lightning cracked about its dazzling form in violet, red, blue, and yellow bolts. Black and green flames that seemed to make the air melt about it shot in glowing streaks from its gapping maw. It fixed its mad eyes upon Brandt the way a man would an insect that dare bite him, after it appeared before him in a wash of wind and scales over plated muscle. It lashed out with claws like vast swords and a foreleg as big as a tower. A space of deep darkness, made of ochre-black bubbles swallowed the foreleg and its apparent clone appeared at the side of the great dragon's head. Blood rained and scales and chunks of meat flew, smashing into the ground and throwing up columns of earth. The howl of rage mixed with a shriek of such agony that it nearly broke Brandt's heart, and he moaned in sympathy with the dreadful beast.
1/5
You Have Unlocked a New Innate Skill: Door to the Extra-Planar Realm: Worldshift Parry-Attack
+ 10 Stat Points
+ 1 Stat Enhance Points
Its face was ruined, terrible gouges so deep that he could hide in the wounds, scarred it and the right orbital was left an empty cavern. Thick ropes of flesh held onto the eye as it swung in a wash of deep platinum blood and viscera. Lips and scales were torn so that its fangs and teeth could be seen even through the open wounds. Standing before the dragon with its fountains of dazzling blood and gore, Brandt could not help but admire how awesome it looked, even in its ruin. in throes of pain, the dragon paused, and its left eye grew wide. Brandt lifted his sword, and made sure the dragon saw it. He almost found it comical that such a titanic creature would look at one so small with such fear. His right eye burned and the light shot through to the back of his skull. He swung his blade and saw the arc of the swing cut much further than the blade could have ever reached.
0/5
You Have Unlocked a New Skill: Dust Disintegrating Strong Force Slash
+ 10 Stat Points
+ 1 Stat Enhance Points
Brandt did not think it was possible for the dragon to make such a sound. It was piercing scream of such agony that he felt tears stream down his face and agony twisting in his chest. The ground shook as heavy meat and bone and flesh fell to it. His knees buckled and his hands filled with black cracked ground as hard as stone. He screamed to himself when the dragon started thrashing, "Quick Retreat!"
The earth shook beneath its fury making a river of brilliant blood flow from the dragon and the ground dance in its torment. He called out the skill half a dozen times before his world tilted forward and his stomach lurched. Darkness swallowed him and then spat him out as he rolled on the earth. He blinked and thought he saw the ghostly form of a girl that made his heart fall to his bowels. He reached out to her, blinked and saw that she was gone. In her place and in the distance he saw the world shimmer in a gate as tall as the dragon had been. A glowing pool of its thick blood with chunks of gore lying like isles, stained the spot where it thrashed. A foreleg cut cleanly from the shoulder and a severed wing that could cover a lord's manor with ease eclipsed the pieces of gore. Smoke rose from the shoulder and wing as bits of flesh turned to dust and rose to meet the clouds above. The wash of blood led into the shimmering portal but Brandt did not care. He survived a miracle!
+125,000,000,000 Soulweight
+12,500,000,000,000 Wisdom
The number was so mindboggling that despite himself Brandt had to pull up his stats
Weight: 200lbs
Soulweight: 125,004,299,213
Wisdom: 12,500,327,400,000 (Points)
Carry Weight: (102.5/11,888.5lbs) (0.86%/100%)
Level (Stat Points): 67 (112)
HP: 1905/2541 Attack (dps): Power: 72/74 Stamina: 2541:48,780/2541:52,930 Defense: Armour:
Skills: 6
Special Skills: 4
Feats: 4 (2) (1035.25% dmg: greenskins) (0.075% dmg dragon)
Titles: 4 (-70% dmg: greenskins)
Renown:
Infamy: (Murderer of Baby Dragons) (-1% dmg: dragons)
Imprimatur: 5
· Health Regen: 0.4 (per sec.) x2
· Endurance Regen: 0.7 (per sec.)
· Power Regen: 2.79 (per day)
· Strength: 3443 (7670%)
· Speed: 3343 (7360%)
· Agility: 0 (670%)
· Vitality: 0 (670%)
You Have Acquired Renown:
Slayer of a Heroic Ancient Fundamental Dragon
5% Damage against Fundamental Dragons
10% Chance to Use the power of a Breath Weapon (10 sec.)
5% Damage against All Dragons
+5 Stat Points
+1 Stat Enhance Points
You Have Acquired Infamy:
Murderer of a Heroic Ancient Fundamental Dragon
All Fundamental dragons will seek you out to destroy you.
All dragons will seek you out to destroy you.
All those bound to dragons will seek you out to slay you.
All those controlled by dragons will seek you slay you.
45% Defense against Fundamental Dragons
10% Defense Against Breath Weapons
5% Defense against All Dragons
+13 Stat Points
+2 Stat Enhance Points
It was true, he could ascend to the highest parts of what it meant to be a hero with this soulweight and attain every level that was possible.
All Soulweight and Wisdom will be forfeit
What does that mean? Brandt's heart froze and his body went numb with shock as he tried his best to figure out how to define those words in a way that would sooth his greedy heart, in any way other than the obvious.
Weight: 200lbs
Soulweight: 0
Wisdom: 0 (Points)
Carry Weight: (102.5/11,888.5lbs) (0.86%/100%)
Level (Stat Points): 67 (112)
HP: 2540/2541 Attack (dps): Power: 72/74 Stamina: 2541:48,780/2541:52,930 Defense: Armour:
Skills: 6
Special Skills: 4
Feats: 4 (2) (1035.25% dmg: greenskins) (0.075% dmg dragon)
Titles: 4 (-70% dmg: greenskins)
Renown: (Slayer of an Ancient Fundamental Dragon)
Infamy: (Murderer of Baby Dragons) (-6% dmg: dragon) (Murderer of an Ancient Dragon)
Imprimatur: 5
· Health Regen: 0.4 (per sec.) x2
· Endurance Regen: 0.7 (per sec.)
· Power Regen: 2.79 (per day)
· Strength: 3443 (7670%)
· Speed: 3343 (7360%)
· Agility: 0 (670%)
· Vitality: 0 (670%)
There was nothing left. Brandt ground his teeth and fell to his knees, for all that trouble, for going through all that pain, he got nothing for it. And worst yet, he could not get away from her. Sarah stood on the lake of near solid dragon blood, pale, ghostly white, face hidden, just before the shimmer of the gate. His heart trembled in his chest and a bolt of fear shot through him as he squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, again she was gone. Brandt pulled back his lips from his teeth and roared his frustration into smoky overcast sky. His right eye ached and both eyes felt dry and overused. Brandt felt stretched out, used, as if he was a threadbare cloth in need of mending. Now that the battle was over, he felt the waves of exhaustion lapping at the edges of his mind and felt the pull of the world tugging at his joints. Still, he did not feel half as tired as the first time he went on a rampage slaying greenskins. And even as tired as he felt now the bent and broken greatsword in his hand felt almost as if it was a part of him. The first time he used it, it took all his strength not to let it pull his arms from their sockets. The strength stat he poured his wisdom into was so useful that he could easily recall how near useless he was before he did it.
The skills that were gifted to him allowed him to fare so well against the greenskins before, and a bit of madness. The speed stat made him a lot faster but he could only attack in the most obvious ways. He needed agility and just because he used those skills called Imprimaturs, he could not level up. More dragons were coming and he barely survived facing baby dragons. Sure, the imprimaturs could slay a creature like Zierlfulrniel but they took all the soulweight that he had to activate and the penalty for using them seemed to take all the soulweight and wisdom he could get from slaying the creature. This cycle was not something that he could keep up, what if a dragon came right now could he used the imprimaturs without soulweight?
I should be grateful to be alive...fool, idiot be grateful that you survived a dragon that slew legends with ease! Brandt let out a mournful chuckle. I am a mess, a jule hungry, loot obsessed coward who let the love of my life die just to save myself. I am a mad man too, I know she is dead but I see her every time death comes a-calling. Brandt took a moment to look around. And I do not know whether to run from her vengeance or to chase her down and beg her forgiveness.
The land was still covered with dark clouds that occasionally flashed with distant light. Darkness clad the open space and distant trees but he could still see well enough to gape at the devastation. The titanic dragon had reshaped the area for thousands and thousands of paces around him. The crater where the light bomb struck was the worst of it. Soil and grass were blasted to cracked black deadpan and stone. Glass glittered where lightning touched down; taking the lumens that flowed when the red sun dropped below the cloud and sat on the horizon and making points of rose light.
You have Received Special Items:
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Blood [???]
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Skin
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Horn x4
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Bone
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Fang x4
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Teeth x 100
Ancient Dragon Blood Elixir x15 [Drink]
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Heart x5
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Breath Organ x4
Raw Ancient Fundamental Dragon Ambrosial Meat x100
Raw Ancient Fundamental Dragon Meat x10,000 [Food]
Ancient Fundamental Dragon Hard Scale x1000 [50,000 dragon Ingots]
Titanic Fundamental Dragon Gem x2
Key to Zierlfulrniel's Great Treasure Hoard
Keys to Zierlfulrniel's Lesser Treasure Hoard x3
Brandt smiled despite himself, sure, it was not a heap of soulweight and wisdom but it was much better than receiving nothing. Brandt started for the portal. The dragon blood seeped into the crater and made a river that run sluggishly toward him. The ground was hard from the forces that compressed earth and flora into stone and cracked it but it was still slowly being absorbed. The blood smelled of rich iron, and a sickly sweet aroma that made Brandt's nostrils itch. It should not surprise him how much blood the creature had but it still did, and there were chunks of its flesh, as large as hills and bloody scales as big as barn doors. A thought gave him pause. Wisdom gave him wisdom points, which allowed him to level up different stats, but there was another number right next to his level.
"What are stat points?"
Stat points independently boost the level cap for a single stat or skill. This grants an extra 10% bonus per point every time you level as you earn and apply more wisdom points, complete feats, acquire titles and learn skills.
Stat Points is accumulated by learning new skills. The first Stat Point awarded provides an instant 20+% increase to the stat of one's choice. This distills in the form of a + 1 or 20%, +2 or 40%, +3 or 60%, and so on.
Stat Points are limited by Ton Ranks. And Stat Points can level up Stats or Skills that are not designated as special or Imprimatur.
"I want to apply as many stat points as I can to agility and vitality." Brandt said immediately.
Weight: 200lbs
Soulweight: 0
Wisdom: 0 (Points)
Carry Weight: (102.5/11,888.5lbs) (0.86%/100%)
Level (Stat Points): 67 (72)
HP: 4540/5082 Attack (dps): Power: 72/74 Stamina: 2541:48,780/2541:52,930 Defense: Armour:
Skills: 6
Special Skills: 4
Feats: 4 (2) (1035.25% dmg: greenskins) (0.075% dmg dragon)
Titles: 4 (-70% dmg: greenskins)
Renown: (Slayer of an Ancient Fundamental Dragon)
Infamy: (Murderer of Baby Dragons) (-6% dmg: dragon) Imprimatur: 0/5
· Health Regen: 0.8 (per sec.)
· Endurance Regen: 1.4 (per sec.)
· Power Regen: 5.58 (per day)
· Strength: 3443 (7670%)
· Speed: 3343 (7360%)
· Agility +20: 0 (1070%) ^x20
· Vitality+20: 0 (1070%) ^x20
Another thought occurred to him, making him want to kick himself, "Now apply as much as I can to Health, Endurance, and Power regeneration,"
Weight: 200lbs
Soulweight: 0
Wisdom: 0 (Points)
Carry Weight: (102.5/11,888.5lbs) (0.86%/100%)
Level (Stat Points): 67 (12)
HP: 4548/5082 Attack (dps): Power: 72/74 Stamina: 5082:1,058,600/5082:1,058,600 Defense: Armour:
Skills: 6
Special Skills: 4
Feats: 4 (2) (1035.25% dmg: greenskins) (0.075% dmg dragon)
Titles: 4 (-70% dmg: greenskins)
Renown: (Slayer of an Ancient Fundamental Dragon)
Infamy: (Murderer of Baby Dragons) (-6% dmg: dragon) Imprimatur: 0/5
· Health Regen x20: 16 (per sec.)
· Endurance Regen x20: 28 (per sec.)
· Power Regen x20: 111.6 (per day)
· Strength: 3443 (7670%)
· Speed: 3343 (7360%)
· Agility +20: 0 (1070%) ^x20
· Vitality+20: 0 (1070%) ^x20
Brandt studied the brown banner before his eyes feeling his eyelids droop. He peeled the bits of white steel plate from his body and spoke again, "Show me the skills that I can give the skill points to."
Vertical Slash- Vertical Slash Vertical Slash
Level-0 (15% dmg) ---> Level-1 (35%) ---> Level-2 (50%)
Horizontal Slash- Horizontal Slash Horizontal Slash
Level-0 (5% dmg) ---> Level-1 (25%) ---> Level-2 (40%)
Weapon Throw- Weapon Throw Weapon Throw
Level-0 (25% acc) ---> Level-1 (45% acc) ---> Level-2 (60% acc)
Blade Whirlwind- Blade Whirlwind Blade Whirlwind
Level-0 (5% dmg x6) ---> Level-1 (10% dmg x8) ---> Level-2 (15% dmg x12)
Quick Retreat- Quick Retreat Quick Retreat
Level-0 (200%^ spd) ---> Level-1 (225%^ spd) ---> Level-2 (250%^ spd)
"Increase all of my skills to level 2, then put the rest into Blade Whirlwind," Said Brandt, as he held up his ruined black iron greatsword and then dropped it to the hard ground after inspecting it. "I need a weapon of equal or greater weight than my old greatsword, the bigger the better."
You Have Leveled up a Skill:
Horizontal Slash Level 2 (+40% dmg)
You Have Leveled up a Skill:
Vertical Slash Level 2 (+50% dmg)
You Have Leveled up a Skill:
Quick Retreat Level 2 (250% speed when evading backwards) +2 SP
You Have Leveled up a Skill:
Blade Whirlwind Level 4 (+25% dmg and spd per swing (x36))
You Have Leveled up a Skill:
Weapon Throw Level 2 (+60% Accuracy on thrown arms)
Goblin Brute Ramshackle Anvil Mace-a black steel anvil attached to a thick wooden pole by chain
* Weight: 500lbs Crushing Damage: 680,000 +75% Armour warping
Ramshackle Sword Heap Greatsword-a rainbow hued greatsword amalgamation, with a distinct color from dozens of different sword metals
* Weight: 220lbs Hacking Damage: 440,000 +55% Armour piercing
Brandt's eyes drooped low and his breathing filled his ears in hoarse moans. Movement at the lip of the crater where he sat made him look about himself. Cracked dark earth crumbled and fell into the hole spurred by a wash of lumbering forms. The moan that he thought was his breathing, rose into a ghastly wail joined by a host of torn, crushed, and lifeless throats. As if black ants the dead greenskins fell into the crater falling over gore slick bodies, whose bodies were still swollen and black with puss and gas, with some exploding and cracking the air like pistol shot. When Brandt's left eye burned he opened it and saw a large draconic shadow hanging over the thousands of dead. A roiling bubbling smoke oozed from it covering the hills and mountains of dead like matte paint and mist all at once.