Adam floated 10 feet in front of the red dragon as he dropped his invisibility. He immediately felt the change in the dragon and tried to say something as the dragon's muscles tensed and he prepared to strike, “I wouldn’t do that if I were…”
Adam never finished the sentence because the red dragon's maw flashed forward surrounded him and tried to close. As the dragon's teeth and jaw broke against his body and blood flowed down all over him, Adam finished his sentence, “…you.”
The dragon was in so much pain that his wings had stopped flapping and he started to lose altitude. Adam watched him drop as he checked his combat prompts.
Red Dragon Bite Attack
Base Damage 24 + Strength Bonus +56 = 80 Total Damage.
Minimum Damage Threshold: ERROR!
Durability Damage done to weapon (Teeth)…Destroyed.
Damage Transferred to Jaw…Jaw shattered.
Dragon takes 159 of 172 Hit Points.
Constitution Check Failed
Dragon knocked unconscious.
Adam watched as the dragon fell to the ground and then a new message entered his combat log
Red Dragon strikes ground for 56 points of damage.
Red Dragon Killed
Congratulations you have helped kill a Young Adult Red Dragon. As you are directly responsible for 92.4% of the damage and indirectly responsible for the terrain damage, 100% of the experience award is awarded to you.
Red Dragon Level 100.
Adamantadine Level 1.
Dragon is more than four times greater than your current level. Experience adjusted accordingly.
Base Experience Award: Level x 100 XP.
Base XP Award: 10,000 XP
Double XP Award when the challenge is more than 2 times the current Level.
Quadruple XP Award when the challenge is more than 4 times the current Level.
Octuple XP Award when the challenge is more than 8 times the current Level.
Sexdecuple XP Award when the challenge is more than 16 times the current Level
There are no additional awards for killing creatures more than 16 times your current level.
SYSTEM NOTE: If you’re killing creatures 16 times higher than your current level something is broken with the System, You know it, The System knows it and you are NOT receiving an additional award. Take your bonus XP and be happy we allowed the bonus to reach this level.
Also, pick on something your own size!
!ERROR!
Total XP Award: 160,000 XP
Adam read over the SYSTEM NOTE and realized that the System here must really have a problem with something as powerful as him showing up. Even so, he knew the System was doing its job when he received his next Prompt.
Congratulations, you have reached Levels 1 – 17. You have 68 attributes to distribute.
Adam assigned his attributes, but he knew they didn’t really matter. He was boosting all of his attributes with Chaos anyway so a couple of points here and there wouldn’t matter. Though he did take the time to spread them out evenly which left him 13’s in all of his base attributes except Charisma and Luck, which were 18’s before he added Chaos.
Adam was brought out of his thoughts by a loud roar before he was hit with the intense heat of a fire-based breath weapon of another dragon. Fire washed over and around him. As Adam looked around he noticed that another Red Dragon, one much bigger than the one that had attacked him and died had swooped in from above and strafed him. If he was being honest, he hadn’t noticed it because he wasn’t paying attention. This red dragon at least had enough intelligence to note that Adam hadn’t moved during the attack, nor did he appear to have been affected by it. The huge red dragon took this in and glided over to hover fifty feet in front of Adam.
Adam continued to float and waited. The Red Dragon projected its aura in an attempt to strike fear into Adam which merely caused him to raise an eyebrow, Spock style. After waiting a few moments the large Red Dragon spoke in a guttural voice filled with controlled rage, “You killed my son!”
Adam nodded, as he replied, making sure to project his voice so he could be easily heard, “I can see how that would anger you if it were true. Technically, the ground killed him.” Adam watched as the Red Dragon controlled his rage and his eyes went crafty.
“Will you fight me or do I swat you from the sky like a fly? the Ancient Dragon bellowed.
Adam quirked his mouth as he thought about what to say then simply decided it wasn’t worth his time to kill this old wrym if he didn’t have to so he said, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you one attack, one!” Adam said as he held up a single finger, “which I will not retaliate against or dodge. It must either be a claw attack or a tail swipe. I will not be responsible for you killing yourself as well if you try to bite me. If I’m lying either of your two attacks should kill or maim me. If I’m not lying we will talk, amicably. As a fair warning, know that you will probably damage whichever appendage you strike me with.
“I accept!” The Ancient Dragon stated a moment before his tail whipped around and struck Adam's head as if he was trying to knock a baseball out of the ballpark. The Wyrm had enough control to make sure that only the last portion of the tip of his tail hit Adam’s face which was a very smart move on his part.
Adam had perceived the attack long before it had hit and had locked himself spatial to the location he was in. The move had been instinctive and racial. He became an immovable object that wasn’t going to budge no matter how hard he was hit, which was very bad for the tip of the tail that struck his head. The scales and flesh of the tail pulverized as Adam was covered in pulped flesh and blood again as the tip of the tail exploded and the Dragon before him grunted. The dragon curious to see what had caused it so much pain brought the tip of his tail up to his eyes where both the Dragon and Adam could see that the last five feet of the dragon's tail was a ragged mess. Adam also noted that the tail was already regenerating. An old Wyrm indeed.
The dragon's eyes narrowed and he was about to say something when Adam shifted into his Adamantium Dragon form and released his full Aura. One thing Adam noticed immediately was that his Aura followed the inverse square law rules of energy dissipation, but it seemed that the energy fell off at a greater distance than one foot. Adam knew this because the red dragon was just about 50 feet away from him and the Red Dragon’s aura of intimidation and fear folded like a house of cards in a hurricane. As Adam’s aura washed over the red dragon his muscles froze, his wings stopped flapping and he started to fall out of the sky.
Adam rushed forward and reached out with his tail around the Red Dragons wings and arms as he lowered the red dragon to the forested ground on the hillsides below them. As they landed Adam released his aura and came to land in front of the Red Dragon as he recovered from Adam’s aura by taking a few deep breaths. As the red dragon recovered he looked at Adam and sighed as he transformed into a gruff-looking human with a head of red hair and a beard to match. He stumbled over to a nearby tree that had fallen when he landed and sat down heavily.
Adam switched to his human form, walked over, and took in the “Old” Man.
“We always knew there would be a reckoning?” the old man said as he looked up and met Adam’s eyes. “I can smell the scent of Adjra on you. Are you her brother or father?”
“I believe I’m her son?” Adam said honestly.
“Her son, yet so powerful?”
“Yeah, reincarnations a bitch. I was human once upon a time, I found myself waking up and hatching from an egg, and well, now I’m an Adamantium Dragon,” Adam said honestly.
“How is that possible, Adjra, your mother was last seen over 100 years ago. Since we haven’t run into you before you must be a youngling or newborn, yet your body is that of an adult?”
“I’m not going to give away all my secrets for nothing old man. You’ve felt my power. I’m sure you understand you have no chance if you attack so how about we trade? You tell me something and I’ll tell you something?”
“An information exchange? That’s reasonable. As you have verified that you are the son of Adjra it is your turn, ask your question?”
“Why the ruse concerning the nine areas that seem to be ruled by dragons?”
“Simple answer, the world was becoming crowded, and we needed a refuge. The longer answer, we grew lazy.”
“Lazy?” Adam asked encouraging him to elaborate.
“Have you looked around yet?”
“Not yet, I just arrived,” Adam answered.
“If you have some form of invisibility, go fly around this ‘sanctuary’ and then come back here. I give you my word that I will not move or let anyone else know you’re coming. Besides, I believe even Aeris would have a problem dealing with you so I’m happy to take a break if you’re willing to talk?”
“Very well, you wait here, and I’ll be back shortly,” Adam said as he willed himself invisible and then launched into the air and headed toward the center of the sanctuary.
Adam gained altitude until he was cruising along about a mile above ground. This allowed him to see what was going on at ground level as well as what was happening in the air around him. As he flew over the hills he saw men and women of all races running this way and that as they tried to get away from young dragons of all colors that were hunting them mercilessly.
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Adam immediately noticed that there seemed to be a barrier where people were hunted and where villages and even small towns cropped up. Unlike the towns and cities, he’d seen before these towns looked more like medieval places without electricity or the conveniences of the modern world. As he looked closer he saw that a train came from underground where people were ushered out, separated, and led away. Some were led deeper into the towns where they entered buildings while others were led to the edge of the city toward the hunting grounds for the dragons, stripped, and thrown outside. Adam flew close enough to listen as a group of five people, three women and two men had just been tossed through a door that slammed behind them. A guard on the wall above peered through an open hatch and called down to them
“Alright, you rebel scum, Listen close. While we do not summarily execute anyone on Gemma we do have a death penalty of sorts and guess what your sentence is? Anyway, this area is a dragon sanctuary. The young are out in the forest around you while we are safe behind this wall. You are not safe. The good news is that the area you’re in is only 10 miles across. If you can make it to the other side without dying, you’ll be brought back here to become citizens of Gemma once again. If you don’t make it, well dragons need to eat, don’t they?”
Adam watched as one of the prisoners was about to speak and the guard simply closed the hatch he’d been calling down to them through and walked away. By his demeanor and attitude, Adam picked up that he wasn’t going to waste his time on the five prisoners because he already considered them dead.
Adam considered helping the five but he still didn’t know enough about what was going on to offer any kind of solution, so he continued toward the center of the sanctuary. As he did so he noticed that the towns became more frequent, and the people here started to take on a more religious tone to their dress and movements. There were more temples depicting dragons as well as quite a few dedicated to Aeris. As Adam approached the center of the 50-mile radius he noticed shuttles coming down from high altitude and exiting along the same vectors which were almost vertical descents and ascents. There were also some dragons flying around, all of which were older and seemed to be flying between destinations, not performing patrols and such.
Adam took it all in and returned to the small clearing where the Old Red Dragon, now in man form, sat on the log. As Adam came in for a landing, the old man looked up and didn’t seem at all surprised when Adam reappeared from invisibility after switching back to his human form.
“If I might ask, how did you know I was back? I’m pretty sure my invisibility makes me undetectable to almost everything?” Adam asked.
“Almost everything is correct,” The Old man said, “I could smell you?”
“You could smell me? Do you think the other dragons I flew near and around smelled me also?” Adam asked.
“Yes, but only a few would have known what it was and been unable to find you based on your scent alone. However, they are probably looking for whatever created the scent they can’t define in this sanctuary.” The Old Dragon explained.
“By the way old timer, what should I call you?” Adam asked.
“I go by Fenris, it’s a nickname I received a long time ago and I kind of liked it, so it stuck,” Fenris said.
“Very well Fenris, let me see if I can guess what you have going on here. The dragons worked to wipe out all the good dragons and then set up nine incubation zones around the world. Each of those is cut off from the rest of the world for the most part. Something I saw leads me to believe that political activists and criminals are being brought here for reprogramming or to act as hunt targets for your young while the rest are added to the clergy of Aeris and sent back out into the world to act as spies. In this way, the Dragons have kept control of the races all over Gemma and prevented anyone from knowing what has really been going on?”
Fenris looked at Adam with a little surprise before he asked, “You picked up all that in the little bit of time you were away?”
“It wasn’t hard. Also, I’d already reviewed a lot of classified files within the UDC so knew something was influencing them, I just didn’t know what. I also didn’t know that people were being hunted and eaten like game animals or cattle.”
“They’re not dragons, they are game animals or cattle to us?” Fenris said.
“Yeah, that’ attitude really doesn’t work for me, but I do understand your point of view, or I can at least understand why you would think that way,”
“My turn for a question?” Fenris asked.
“I’ve asked a couple now, go ahead,” Adam said.
“Very well, what are you?”
“I’m an Adamantium Dragon who has polymorphed into a human right now?” Adam said.
“That’s not what I meant. Are you a mortal or are you a God?” Fenris asked.
“I’m not a God, as far as I know. I’m more than a mortal though?” Adam said before he asked, “Is Aeris a God or is she a Dragon masquerading as a God, which by the way is my guess?”
“She is a Dragon masquerading as a God and quite powerful in fact. Probably as close to godhood as is possible here.
“Interesting, where is she?
“She’s in Athens of course?” Fenris said.
“Seriously, she’s masquerading, let me guess, she’s masquerading as an Elf, isn’t she? Probably as a High Priestess of Aeris,” Adam said as he mused the idea over in his mind.
“Yes,” Fenris said.
“Very well, I guess it’s time to go big or go home,” Adam said. “My suggestion to you is that you get all the dragons together and prepare to go into hiding. I am one of those types of people who believe in karma so whatever is about to happen to the dragons that remain in this world, well you all probably had coming. That said, I understand that not all dragons were involved so this is your warning. I’m about to make knowledge of the nine sanctuaries public. I’m also going to go talk with Aeris.”
“Why would you do this, Feris asked.
“Because it’s the right thing to do. This world is currently being tricked into worshiping a false god who is actually a dragon masquerading as a God. Once I put a stop to that, there will be a reckoning,” Adam said.
“Let them come, we will kill them all?” Fenris said.
“You have been warned of my intentions, perhaps we’ll meet after the fallout, perhaps not,” Adam nodded once and flew off towards the southwest at Mach 10. Not so fast that the friction would be more than his regeneration rate could handle or his perception couldn’t take in his surroundings. As he reached one mile up he switched to his dragon form and remained visible. He wanted everyone to see him.
As Adam headed toward Athens at 7,300 miles per hour, he had just over 16 minutes to activate Technomancy and create a computer virus that would tie up any technological devices which was more than enough time because, of course, he cheated. Instead of creating a computer virus he pulled the memory of Thor's original programming and released a semi-sentient artificial intelligence into the network that multiplied and spread. Within the first five minutes all networked computer systems, which included all of the floating carriers and the aircraft on board had been compromised. His instructions had been direct and simple, no weapons system could lock onto or attack him. That ruleset was in place as he flew into position above the center of Athens in his Adamantium Dragon Form and hovered for a moment before he bellowed, “Aeris!”
Adam floated there as ships tried to engage only to veer off as their computers took over and refused to allow their pilots to engage against Adam. This was also true for the Anti-Air and ground-based defenses. Floating a mile up a few high-caliber rifles and energy weapons that weren’t computer-controlled were fired at him but his damage resistance of 7.46E+43 completely negated any damage they might have done.
Adam floated there and waited as aircraft flew in circles around him until a troop transport flew within 100 feet of him. Adam knew what they were going to try to do and allowed his Chaos-aspected nanites to spread out around him and break down any physical weapons fired at him. When the military personnel opened the side door and fired their net gun at him to try to grapple and drop him out of the sky the net evaporated before it came within 50 feet of him. That caused all the men onboard to open fire. Becoming bored with the altercation, Adam tweaked the programming in the nanites and all of their weapons within 156 feet of him started evaporating as well.
Adam had his voice projected over the frequency the soldiers were using so that the pilots and all the soldiers in the vicinity could hear him, “Next time your aircraft melts out from under you, now go away!”
While the UDC was deciding how they were going to respond, Adam converted some of the Chaos-Aspected Nanites into normal Nanites to see if they could survive within the System of this Universe. They were quantumly linked to him as gravity took hold and they floated to the ground below. He didn’t lose communication with them and they were able to remain functional. It seemed that the system within this Universe didn’t automatically destroy them, nor was the magical density automatically destroying them. Maybe that had been something someone had added in the previous systems.
Regardless, that was going to make this a whole lot easier. Using his Chaos, Adam started converting his subatomic Chaos Aspect Nanites into their quantumly compacted versions. He’d done this so many times now as himself and Thor that getting the process started was second nature. The nanites started to spread and replicate as they infiltrated and converted 1% of all inorganic matter. When they tried to spread into organic materials, that’s when the System safeguards made themselves known. Any nanite that tried to enter living animals or plants was immediately rebuffed. So he could have his nanites spread through inorganic matter but not organics, good to know. Adam altered his plans and opened microscopic portals to eight other equal-distant points around the planet so that nanites could fall through and spread even faster as he modified their programming to only enter organic materials.
While his Semi-sentient virus tied up the computers that were networked his nanites started infiltrating and taking over all computer-based systems they came in contact with. In the first minute, Adam had a radius out to about 1,000 feet around all nine points on the planet he had his nanites spreading out into. After five minutes the radius was a mile and expanded exponentially each minute after that.
While he’d been concentrating on spreading his nanites out so he could discern the truth about Gemma, the military had continued to try to harass him to no avail. He’d even been hit by an energy weapon from orbit which had tickled. He wasn’t trying to be a smart ass; the attack had actually tickled. The individuals that had targeted him had aimed right behind his right ear and the sudden temperature change had stimulated the nerve right behind his dragon ear which he compared to a cat being scratched lightly behind the ear. Before he’d known what he was doing his hind leg had twitched which allowed him to realize he still had a lot to learn about his dragon anatomy.
Of course, he’d looked up, easily discerning the satellite the energy weapon had fired from due to his perception and his Heads Up Display. He’d opened a portal to it, pulled the satellite through the portal, and destroyed it with his tail. The broken pieces had fallen through another portal that had opened below him and dropped the satellite back into a decaying orbit which would destroy the satellite upon re-entry. After that display, they’d pretty much left Adam alone, which was great for him because he wanted to check a few other things while he waited for Aeris to make an appearance.
The first thing he tried was to stop hovering and lock himself into the position he was in by locking space around him. It took a few tries but eventually, he figured it out and he was able to move through space by his will alone without the use of his dragon wings. He discovered that this was a byproduct of his Adamantium Dragon Heritage. Adamantium Dragons in this place were able to use Space-Time. One difference between himself and the Adamantium Dragons described in the books he’d read; his breath weapon was not Time-based. No, his breath weapon could be one of three types, Fire, Ice, and Electricity. Damage was 10 per age category plus damage bonus which for him was farcical. As an Adult his damage started at base 50 plus, well it was a large number. He’d have to be very careful if he ever used any of his breath weapons.
So, Adam hung in the sky above Athens and waited for Aeris to show up as he allowed his mental focus to drop into his Mindspace. Once there, Adam focused on his Soul Core and the Animae Core within. Something he’d been thinking about since his last test was that he wondered if the Animae were free-ranging and could be drawn into the material plane or more importantly into a soul core. Specifically, Adam was wondering if he mentally willed an open slot in his Animae Core, would another Animae pop through and fill that hole? This idea stemmed from the need to bring Adaline and the rest of his family and friends back. He didn’t want to just bring them back. Adam wanted to bring them back stronger than ever. He also wanted to give them the ability to resist what had been done to them before. When Justice had tried to shred his soul his Animae Core had filled in automatically which had prevented his animae from being ripped from his memories. Maybe it was that simple. Well, not simple for anyone but maybe it was that simple for him. Maybe this was the path that had to be taken to better prepare for whatever came next. As he’d figured out you could do it yourself, but maybe getting help from someone else was required?
Adam looked over the Heptadecagon of his Animae Core and willed it to become an 18-sided Octadecagon. Adam watched as a gap formed as the Animae Core adjusted and an empty node became available. A moment later a new Animae appeared in the empty spot and locked the connection in place. Adam released his will on the shape and watched as it stabilized into its new form. So, The Animae seemed to be looking for, or waiting, for places to fit into. Did that mean that anyone who figured this out could increase the complexity of their Animae Core with just a little willpower?
Of course, his mental prowess was off the charts so doing so had been easy for him. How strong would a normal person’s will have to be to pull this off? As he’d never seen this before, Adam was betting that their willpower would have to be very strong indeed. The good news, as far as Adam was concerned, was that he was betting that he could create at least a pyramid-shaped Animae structure for each person pretty easily especially if the animae kept refilling his Animae Core as he gave them a body. If he did that he should be able to lock their memories inside the Animae Core which should protect them from what had happened to them. Using his Chaos to create bodies that broke the rules, was just going to be the icing on the cake and a small price to pay to ensure his loved ones could take care of themselves when he wasn’t around.
Adam thought about it for another moment before he willed his Animae Core into the configuration of a 24-sided Icositetragon. He didn’t have time right now to attempt bringing one of them back, nor was he in a location he deemed safe, but he wanted to make sure he could lose four of his animae while creating a new body and still have at least 20 tied up within him. It looked like he need not have worried. As soon as the openings were made, all six empty nodes filled with a new Animae that just popped into existence. A moment later the 24-point Animae Core stabilized, and Adam knew his path forward was tenable.
Adam pulled his focus back to his mind space and noticed that while it had only felt like a few moments had passed in the Animae Core almost an hour had passed in the real world. He quickly reviewed what had been happening around him while he was concentrating on his Animae Core and was pleasantly surprised that no one else had harassed him. That is until he noticed a female High Elf in a shimmering prismatic robe floating up to him.
Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and transformed into his human body, clothed in his black jumpsuit as the high elf came into range. He also checked on how far his nanites had spread out. They were spreading fast and had already reached a radius of five miles around him and every other location he’d sent them to.
As the female high elf came within 100 feet her robs started to disintegrate and soon she was left nude floating before him. She looked down at herself and then over to Adam as his eyes focused on hers.
“Was that necessary?” she asked in a tired voice.
“No, it wasn’t necessary, but you stopped moving toward me didn’t you? It serves as a good warning for anyone getting too close,” Adam said as he instructed his nanites to replace her clothing exactly as it had been.
“How are you doing that? You’re not using magic?” The high elf asked.
“First things first, what name should I call you by or would you prefer Aeris,” Adam asked.
“I am High Priestess Chivall. Yes, I do serve Aeris.” She said.
“My nose says otherwise,” Adam said.
“If you would come with me, we can talk in a more appropriate setting,” The High Priestess said as she waved her hand, and a 10-foot circular portal opened to somewhere that was nearby. She stepped through the portal and waited for Adam.
If Adam had to guess it was probably an adjacent dimension. Adam sent out a series of commands to his nanites to continue their expansion. Adam also chose a location near the volcano he’d first appeared in and set instructions for the nanites to create an underground lair for him, at least 10 miles from the magma chamber and deeper in the mantle of the planet. If there was an eruption he wouldn’t be affected if he was down there. He left the safeguards in place so the nanites wouldn’t try to affect anything living and floated toward the portal. When he was only inches from the portal he said, “If this is a trap, this is not going to go the way you expect,” as he floated through the portal which closed behind him.