I was burning inside. Lorna rejected my offer to extend her life and died peacefully, only to be desecrated in the vilest way possible. What we felt for each other was corrupted beyond my wildest fears.
I wasn't as confused as when the mind-benders ambushed me in Pekothas but I had the same mindset to just blow things up. A dazzling pattern of magic drew my attention as I felt a weak mental attack through them. It came from Marlowe.
"Haru, gather your wits about you," the [Diviner] urged. "Or you'll destroy Windemere faster than the dragons ever could."
I could swear the cloth golem added, "damn [Sorcerers] and their emotional casting," under the breath he no longer had.
"I'm going to kill all of them," I swore.
"I understand and support you, my lady. But get me out of the Ethereal first, please."
I opened a rift and stumbled through it, right into Mirina's arms.
----------------------------------------
A rift in reality announced the return of the world's most interesting creature.
Haru's face was burning red, her jaw clenched and her eyes beyond fierce. Those narrow slits seemed to want to burn the world to cinders. Something happened, something really bad. Marlowe stepped behind her and the rift closed. Mirina noticed she was shaking. Without words, she embraced the small girl and pushed her head against her chest. The fox ear poked Mirina's nostrils and she pushed it away before realizing what a faux pas she'd just committed.
Haru didn't seem to care. Her tiny hands hugged Mirina's sides and she started to cry. The pain, the loss in her weeping was so sharp it cut the [Princess]'s heart like a vorpal blade. As words failed her, Mirina just caressed the back of Haru's head.
She mumbled incoherent words, "Dragons... Lorna… Ritual... Soul… Kill me."
The ominous glowing and indecipherable spell diagram still floated in the front of the classroom. Mirina met Marlowe's diamond eyes and the Headmaster gave her an approving smile and nod. He communicated in Adventurer's hand signals. <
Haru kept bawling. Her despair was heart-rending.
A minute later, the elder water fairy appeared. Nenandil landed on Haru's head. "I'm sorry, Haru. Mirina, can we take her somewhere more comfortable?" She nodded. "Good. Pandora, come out. We need you."
The [Wisp of Creation] floated out of Haru's back. The golden orb pulsed with a calming light. The effect on the grieving girl was minimal, though.
She passed a hand underneath Haru's thighs and stood up, the kitsune's tails hanging over her forearm. "I'm taking her to my dormitory."
"We're coming with you," Jocelin declared and the girls behind her nodded.
"Over here, we'll use the inner corridors," Marlowe led them.
They took over the couches in Mirina's sitting room, with the half-dwarf-kitsune nested on Mirina's lap. Haru was just sobbing every now and then. The unspoken question stamped on their faces was, "what happened." Nenandil volunteered an explanation.
"The dragon [Saint] used a forbidden spell to attack Haru. The magic was powerful enough to kill her three times over and it was fueled by sacrificing [Queen] Lorna's soul. I know she's alive," the fairy anticipated the question. "She has a kitsune Perk that every time she should die, she loses one tail. She lost three to the spell but still has another eighteen. They can't use that spell anymore."
Everyone was taken by the gravitas of the situation but Camilla and Melania became pale as they realized what the dragons did.
"Is she sleeping?" Jocelin asked.
Sitting on Haru's shoulder, Nenandil answered, "No. Haru needs only a little sleep each day and she can keep vigil even while she rests. We're just giving her some time to calm down before she does something harsh. Last time she was this distressed, the capital of Pekothas was destroyed."
"That's why I can't decide," Haru suddenly spoke and sat up. "They are coming to attack Windemere, I know that much. The brood-bitch won't let me rest and they know they can use Windemere to hurt me. What should I do?" Her voice was laced with indecision and barely suppressed tension.
"What do you want to do?" Marisol's sharp question was laced with a bit of disdain. "How can we even consider what you should do? That's something only you can decide."
Haru's glare was icy cold, "You are right, Marisol. I was a fool for trying to rely on your help. I know what I'll do. Hunt every single one of these bastards. Mirina, I have a task for you. Will you fulfill your oath?"
A shiver ran down her spine, making the [Princess] believe she was inside a glacier. She sheepishly nodded, "I will, Haru. What would you have me do?"
Haru produced the Tabard and a pile of subordinate ones. "Don this. Claim Windemere. Enact the changes I told you and Julia. I'll be back once the dragons are extinct."
She brushed her fingers against the green cloth, "Do you want me to become [Queen]?"
"Yes. I need to know Windemere is in capable hands. You'll have a lot of people helping you. Marlowe, Julia, and Vanagon are more than capable of doing so. Please?"
Mirina took the Tabard. Holding her breath, she slid it over her uniform robes. She felt something invade her mind, sift through her memories. The heavy gravitas of being judged. She remembered her oath. Her dream. Learning about this new system of government Haru wanted for Windemere. She was duty-bound to do it. Finally, the pressure vanished and a notification appeared.
> CONGRATULATIONS. You have been added to the Windemere dynasty line of succession. Right now, all other eligible heirs have refused to take the throne. Do you want to claim it for yourself?
"Yes," she thought.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
> CONGRATULATIONS! You are now the [Queen] of Windemere!
>
> You gained the title [Queen].
>
> Your Species received an upgrade. You gained a +1 bonus to All Attributes for each Rank.
>
> Your Class received an upgrade. You gained a +1 bonus to All Attributes for each Rank.
By Galbarar's gilded gavel, she gasped. That's why everyone wants to wear the crown! She'd just gained fifty-six Attribute Points in one go [1].
----------------------------------------
Time is the ultimate equalizer. The hour spent in quiet contemplation allowed me to calm down under Pandora's {Gifted Divinity} power. I still felt the urge to go and slaughter flying fire lizards but it wasn't blind rage. I knew I had things to do before I could set out and commit genocide. Cold, calculated mass murder. To hurt the Goddess, I would need to shake her foundation, her worshippers. The jury was still out on whether I would spare any dragon that didn't worship her, but I didn't think I would find any.
The first thing was to secure Windemere's future. A constitutional monarchy with a parliament was the way to go, after talking it over with Mirina, Julia, and Vanagon. The only way I could do more for Windemere would be to seize the crown for myself. I couldn't. I had to go hunt those assholes. I took a leather bag from storage and filled it with platinum and gold coins.
"Here, Mirina. This should help you jumpstart the treasury. Tonight, I'm going to put a new building where the old Royal Palace was but feel free to get the dwarves building a new one."
I carefully held Nenandil in my hand and stood up.
"Are you already going?" Mirina asked, worried.
"No, my [Queen]," I smirked. "I need to skin a huge dragon now. You guys can come and see if you want."
They did. Spoiler alert, they regretted it.
----------------------------------------
I had nowhere safe to skin the big-ass dragon [Saint] corpse. I took the girls to the Ethereal and we went to the Academy arena. A big, flat space. I made them stand next to a wall as they couldn't interact with the building itself, only the ground. Then I took the corpse out of my storage. It reeked of divinity.
I was glad I decided to do it in the Ethereal. No dirt or sand to kick up a dust cloud. The dragon's body was massive. Its head alone was the size of a school bus, the horns as long as a flagpole. The neck was a subway train, then the body was bigger than a Long Island ferry boat, not counting the wings, feet, and tail. It didn't even fit inside the arena.
. I saw searing hot blood start to ooze from thousands of puncture holes and I sent it back to storage immediately. A veritable pool of dragon blood remained on the ground, spreading evenly in the featureless dimension.
Big mistake. I put the guy in a magical iron maiden, what could I expect? I summoned a malleable surface of Force magic and scraped the fresh blood from the ground. Holding it as a giant sphere, I shaped a container out of stone from the item box and poured the blood inside. Closing the stone cask, I stored it.
The next step would take a long time so I returned the girls to the real world.
I removed several large boulders from storage and shaped them into a platform with several meter-deep grooves that would collect the blood into more stone containers. I also set an elevated platform for the girls. Two hours later, I brought them back and put myself to work.
Fearing the dragon would crush the stone, I placed a horizontal sheet of Force with openings over the stone, then set the dragon's body on it. The blood started to pour and run down to the containers. Nenandil was responsible for closing them and swapping a fresh one from the item box. I revealed all of my tails, eighteen full tails, and three stumps.
> Shadow Workshop
>
> Force Tongs
I prepared my {Dismantling} Skill only to remember I no longer had it. It was consumed by either some Skill Fusion or by a weird conversion into a proficiency. Well, fuck it. The hide is ruined, most scales are either broken or burnt. The eyes popped. I started to hack and cut, following what I remembered. Without System assistance, I made a mess. The workshop helped only with the tools. Twenty percent of nothing was still nothing.
The System quickly gave me proficiency in butchering. It rose by twos and threes, probably because of the rarity of the material I was totally ruining. Not exactly. Missing a cut and ripping a gash a handspan wide might ruin a cow's hide, but in a creature this big it was but a small prick.
But it would all be impossible without the {Shadow Workshop}. Cranes made of shadowstuff appeared all over the dragon, giving my workspace the appearance of a modern construction site. I hooked the dragon's hide and, with a mental command, the cranes pulled the hide up, ripping it free from the flesh underneath, revealing a layer of thick lard wider than my arm's length.
Fiction would paint dragon lard as the ultimate frying grease and dragon flesh as the tastiest steak one could ever taste. That was as far from the truth as I was from Earth. Dragon lard didn't melt and the flesh was so sinewy and coarse that maybe giants could find it edible. With a normal medium-sized person's teeth and jaw strength? Forget it. You'd have better luck chewing on steel cables.
Hacking the level two-hundred body of the dragon [Saint] was ridiculously and shamefully cathartic. Another crane with dozens of meat hooks appeared from a cloud of shadows and I went around, attaching the hooks to the hide around the neck right below the head.
The cranes tugged and pulled, revealing the neck's vertebral disks. I clamped the head in place hovering above the Force platform and the workshop created a gigantic band saw bone cutting machine. I turned it on and it whizzed until it touched the disk. With some horrifying crunching sounds, the saw dug through the disk, slowly making its way through the giant spine. I willed another funnel and groove underneath to collect the spinal fluid of this titanic creature.
As the head swung free from the neck, I heard the girls calling me and looked up. The show had lost its novelty. In fact, they weren't looking very well. I sent them back to the real world.
Dismantling the dragon corpse took two weeks of dedicated work. I was through. Tons of useless dragon meat, barrels of dragon blood, a relatively intact dragon skeleton, fangs, horns, the heart, an important alchemical component, viscera, etc. But the real prize was its beachball-sized Core.
> Dismantling [ 85 ] Select 5 Abilities
>
> * Fast Dismantling: You can process carcasses (3*Proficiency/2)% faster.
> * Finesse cuts: The quality of processed materials increases by (Proficiency/5)%.
> * Ease Flesh: The carcass is (Proficiency/3)% easier to cut.
> * Strip Hide: The hide is (Proficiency/3)% easier to remove and faster to tan.
> * Butcher's Prowess I: Add (Proficiency/20) to all Attributes while out of combat and engaged in dismantling a carcass.
I think I know where to spend the next Proficiency slot.
> Dragon Saint's Core - Level 200
>
> Monstrous Gourmet: This [Unique] dragon's core grants 400 (468) Attribute points, minus the amount already gained from other cores.
> You devoured a level 200 (unique) magic core.
>
> Source: Dragon [Saint].
>
> You unlocked the Faith Attribute.
>
> ERROR: Your user ID is flagged as _no_faith. Attribute unlock pending Administrator evaluation. Please wait.
>
> You gained the perk, Divine Magic Affinity (rare): You have an affinity with divine magic.
>
> ERROR: Your user ID is flagged as _no_faith. Perk pending Administrator evaluation. Please wait.
>
> Half the Attribute points were given to your familiar.
>
> You gained +13 to all Attributes, and +2 Endurance, and +10 Magic.
>
> Attributes above the cap were redistributed.
>
> You gained the Perk, Pinnacle of Soul (ultra-rare): You are immune to the negative effects of Blight. You are immune to possession. Attacks that affect your soul are 50% less effective. Multiply the limit of the negative HP before dying by 100. At the pinnacle, this Attribute cannot be reduced by any means.
Finally, a full Pinnacle set.
> Level 156
>
> Strength*: 98+23 (121) / 104 - Dexterity*: 92+31 (123) / 104 - Endurance*: 102+24 (126) / 104
>
> Mind*: 100+36 (136) / 104 - Willpower*: 97+43 (140) / 104 - Charisma*: 104+24 (128)
>
> Magic*: 104+43 (147)
>
> Ego*: 103+32 (135) / 104 - Luck*: 87+34 (121) / 104 - Soul*: 87+34 (121) / 104
>
> HP 138.632.122 (2.213.079 HP/s)
>
> Energy 105.972.848 (181.090 E/min)
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[1] She actually gained eighty but Mirina has only the standard 7 Attributes unlocked.