Chapter 26
Dragon’s Scale
The roar shook June’s bones and sent Kotor scampering deeper into the cart for cover. June had half a mind to join him until Bullin stared cackling to her side.
“What, never heard the Scales Roar?” Bullin questioned between chuckles.
Indignantly, June responded with a pointed glare and tone, “what?”
“Local festival used to take place inside the bones of a giant ancient dragon,” Bullin said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. “They sound this big horn every day to announce the feast.“
June, on the other hand, grew even more confused. Internally, she tried to recall the mention of such an event from the game version of this reality, but nothing came to mind.
Tilting his head, the dwarf explained with a soft smile, “It’s a yearly festival that takes place around the time of the last Summer harvest. Used to take place inside the skeleton of a giant dragon, and everyone used to show up. Hell, even the dwarves used to saunter down from the mountainhomes.”
“But now, it’s all about the spectacle. Guess the folks that run it got burned one too many times.”
June didn’t even try to get his poor joke.
Bullin let out a throaty laugh before continuing. “Come on, let’s go see what new contraptions they have this year.” He paused before turning to look at the living ember perched on the edge of the bench. “Best put him up, folks ‘round here don’t take too kindly to open displays of magic.”
With a sour frown, June mentally asked Kotor to comply with Bullin’s wishes. He seemed a lot more chipper about the whole thing. “Yay, more naps,” he chirped. Wordlessly, his form turned to orange vapor and snaked its way into June’s Class Gem. Grumbling, she pulled her gloves back over her hands.
The cart bounced its way over the hill, a mess of color came into view. Down in the open field sat a mess of carts, vendors, and erected tents of all shapes and sizes. At the periphery of the scene was a large series of stripped red and black tents that reminded June of a circus’ main tent. Vendor tents formed an enormous ring around the entire fair, with an entrance facing the road. They erected stalls with bright flags fluttering in the soft wind, each one advertising what was being sold. Images of frothing beer mugs and roasting meat dominated the tapestries. Other tents advertised their ways with overflowing treasure chests or stylized weaponry. And as the cart rolled down the hill, the scent of sweet and spicy food rolled toward them.
A curious mix of noise and smell came from within the festival as the cart stopped. Spices and smoke whirled through the air from grand fire pits lined with roasting meat and vegetables. Giant communal tables sat around the entrance, with multiple people sat, idly talking in animated conversations. Laughs aplenty rolled over the yellowing grass like leaves.
In her old life, June would have felt something akin to a mix of nervous excitement. Even though crowds of people made her anxious, fall weather and good food were always welcome. The strangest thing was that June didn’t feel hungry at all. Her senses were being drawn towards other, more foul, scents. The scent was almost metallic, burning its way through the pleasant food aromas.
Blood.
June could almost smell the blood in the air. And despite what a normal person would have experienced at the scent, she fell under a tide of elation and anticipation. Heat built in her bones, like sitting next to a blazing fire. The alluring call of combat addled her mind, pulling her in with its siren call. It wasn’t until a nasally voice broke through her fixation that June snapped out of her distracted state.
A wrinkled old human sat atop a pile of hay just to the side of the road. His plain clothes were composed of a woolen shirt and plain beige pants, likely the same fabric, as June could tell. The old man wore a plain black eye patch, dominating his wrinkled features.
“Come to watch the fights?” he drawled from his wrinkled, toothless mouth. As he spoke, he hobbled off of the hay bale, sauntering over to the cart and throwing a surprisingly meaty arm onto the side.
Bullin and June both shared a quizzical look before the dwarf spoke for them, asking the question lingering in both their minds, “what fights?”
With a wheezing cackle, the man slapped his knee and spoke, “You folks are in for a treat. Just two crowns each gets ya a seat to our newest attraction. Those new-fangled adventurers were eager to tear into each other, so we gave ‘em a place to do just that.”
A quiet glance between the pair ended with a nod of agreement. June was excited to see what other players were doing. Bullin’s face was neutral, but she guessed he would just be happy to get out of this cart.
June always played MMOs from a PvE-focused experience. PvP had never been a big draw. But her experience here had been moving, if not terrifying. And something within her burned to see more of this chaotic land. The experience she had since coming to this nightmarish new life was much different than she expected, but not all bad. Her only experience with PvP in Duneria had been talking to her friends who regularly engaged in the battlegrounds, asking what items they used regularly. And now, she’d consistently fought through multiple encounters with players in this ‘game’ world. It was likely that she could learn a few tricks that would help her in the future.
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Bullin paid their entrance fee, and the old man directed them down the road towards another gathering of people and vendors. At the top of another hill, a mass of people jockeyed for position around a wooden fence. Already, they cheered some unseen brawl, their voices mixing into an indistinguishable mass: a vocal orgy of violence and emotion.
Bullin directed the cart towards a nearby stall with other carts, and June hopped out to help him hitch the horses. After a couple of minutes of work, they had their cart safely stowed and their gear on their person. June left her pack behind, carrying her weapons and belt pouch on her person.
The fence enclosed a simple open skirmish circle, carved into the muddy grass by previous combat. Several sets of ramshackle wooden stands stood over the space on two sides, offering somewhere to sit and watch the carnage, though most had shoved their way to the front in the recent melee, it seemed.
In stark contrast to the bright colors and cheery sounds, this new assembly was positively foul. No bright flags flew, except for tattered and old red triangular ones. June’s attention snapped to the arena as it came into view. Blood caked the muddy pit, and the smell of evacuated bowels wafted through the air.
As June jostled her way through the crowd, the hulking dwarf following closely behind, she saw two men dragging out another. The guy’s leather-covered legs were the only recognizable feature about his body as they dragged away its bloody mass.
After a moment, two new combatants lumbered into the ring to a new chorus of cheers. June flared her Mana Vision for a split second and could gain insight into the two combatants.
One, a giant mountain of muscle and tattoos, was a prototypical barbarian. At level 30, he was an enormous beast of a man. His olive skin was mostly bare, though he wore leather in key areas, mostly to protect his modesty. The shockingly bright colors of his armor stood out against the dead brown mud of the arena. The other combatant was a bald Monk with alabaster white skin, wearing a loose-fitting cloth armor made of brown fabric. White wraps enclosed his fists, with the ends of the wraps billowing in the wind. Being level 25, he was at a marked level disadvantage, but June figured speed might be crucial here. Unsurprisingly, the monk had a far higher Speed score compared to their opponent.
Everyone in the stands around the duo watched, holding their breath.
The two adventurers circled each other, dropping low to the ground like two predators on the prowl. With a roar and flash of spent mana, the Barbarian charged, forcing the Monk player into a backpedal.
The barbarian’s silvery axe came down in an angled slash, cutting into the air itself, cooking the atmosphere with fiery energy. The Monk player swirled on his feet, stepping away from the hack with ease. With a boom that echoed across the hilltop, the axe slammed into the earth; before its wielder yanked it out of the ground and leapt toward its foe, screaming.
A flurry of blows pounded against the barbarian’s flesh as the Monk charged in with fists flying. A staccato of wet smacks echoed from his sweat-covered flesh, leaving bruises behind. And on went the melee. The two fighters danced around each other, parrying and dodging blows. Around them, the gathered crowds grew more demanding in their calls for blood.
“Stab him, ya blind cow!” shouted one man.
“Go on, kill him!” shouted an older woman
The cheering around June was infectious, enrapturing her with its song. After just a few seconds, she joined the chorus of bloodlust. Her voice joined the calls and shouts. Stoic, Bullin sat amid the crowd, silently watching the fight.
The pair of combatants closed on each other again, with a fiery axe blow streaking down towards the Monk as his own fist sped towards the sternum of the Barbarian, glittering with white energy. Blood splashed across the mud as a sure blow finally landed. A howl of anguish echoed across the hilltop, drowned out by cheers as the Monk backpedaled from the landed attack.
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His hand shot to the gash across his arm, with glowing light falling across the wound like a rain of pearls. As his magic splashed across it, loose blood trailed back up his arm like it was being vacuumed, then the wound stitched itself closed. But before he could go on the attack again, the Barbarian rushed in, charging into the Monk with a shoulder tackle. The mud beneath the Barbarian’s feet smoked, as if seared by some great heat.
Stumbling, the Monk rocked backward across the arena. As the Monk retreated to the other side of the space, he widened the distance between the two. The Barbarian stalked his way toward his prey. The gap between them closed as the Barbarian charged once more. Slashes of red and white light passed over and around the two as they came to blows once more, and rivulets of blood flowed from the Monk. Burning holes in the muscled flesh of the axe-wielder revealed several fists had found their mark.
With a roar, an overhead swing of the axe came crushing down, looking as though it might split the earth beneath its target. At that moment, a lightning-fast strike snapped out like a striking serpent and landed with a boom. A strange lull settled over the combat as the Monk fled.
“Had to be a stun ability,” June thought as she watched the melee with a keen eye.
But the pause didn’t last as the Barbarian let out a new roar, their skin smoking and turning ruby red. A howl filled with rage ripped through the arena, threatening to shake the whole thing apart. As the slash cut through the air, a sheen of white energy spread over the body of the monk. Their raiments glittered under the sun like a giant shining bronze statue.
Flashing brilliantly, their blows came down in one last pair of ultimate attacks. Concussive booms spread across the space as the axe met magically hardened flesh, and one gave way. With a wet slap, two severed arms fell from the Monk’s still glowing form. His skin cracked and break as magic left his body, breaking like the most brittle of glass. In seconds, his shining form was gone, replaced by a pile of ash.
The crowd went completely out of their mind. Everyone was screaming. Some had been upset that the Monk had been felled and screamed a litany of obscenities at his triumphant opponent. Amid the ruckus delight of the crowd, June even saw Bullin crack a grin.
June’s curiosity got the better of her, and she shoved her way through the crowd, away from the fighting pit.
A rush of people headed off towards a small wooden stall that June hadn’t noticed, just off to the left of the main arena. She could see only the purple fabric of the surrounding tent amid the mob. A trio of plain-dressed people worked to appease the mob, addressing each person as they came rushing up.
“Has to be gambling,” June thought as she got closer, seeing small leather sacks changing hands to some patrons. Others rushed up, trying to place new bets, shouting at the people on the other side of the counter.
Interestingly, the victorious Barbarian didn’t head in this direction, so she trailed after him; she kept her distance as best she could, routinely flaring her Mana Vision to spot him amid the mass of people.
The warrior headed back down the hill to a simple, but massive, black tent and pushed his way inside.
Several other people, all of whom turned out to be players, stood outside. Some appeared to be conversing, but June couldn’t hear their conversations. Their words were soft, and in a language June couldn’t understand. June slid in with the crowd, hanging back to watch. A man sat at a table behind the simple wooden desk, his white beard standing out even at a distance. June flashed her Mana Vision and fed power into her Tongues perk.
Inside the tent, a mix of large tables with food and other items on display. The place was alive with the activity of mercantile trade and explorative players. Vendors shouted over the din of movement, conversations and barkers. Weapons and armor sat on display alongside fresh foodstuffs like cheeses and meats. The swirls of smell spiced the air with sweet, sour, and other notes. Cinnamon-esque scents also wafted around the field, hinting at stranger spices June couldn’t quite place.
June casually walked through the space, following the gazes of the players as they rushed from vendor to vendor. As June moved her way through the crowd, the differences between her and these players was startling.
And to June’s dismay, the players all had those strangely stoic facial features. If not for their faces, June wouldn’t have been surprised to see them smiling excitedly. As it was, these folks looked more like hollow corpses pretending to live, just silently shuffling along in the void. Further adding to the contrast, many of them were wearing rather fancy gear. Warriors of various classes in glittering metallic armor were all over the place. Among them were many ranged and spellcaster classes as well. Many of these players adorned their frames with visually loud fabric robes that used every color of the rainbow. June thought it was rather strange to see such bright colors amid the world she’d mostly seen simple fabrics in beforehand.
Comfortingly, there were a few familiar sights. A few Summoners among the crowd were interacting with various NPCs...
Are they NPCs? Should I call them something else?
Her thoughts snapped as she sighted the victorious Barbarian, still bruised and bloody from their melee, slouched down against a bench on the far side of the tent. After a minute or two, a greying man wearing a simple brown robe walked over and knelt down next to him. The barbarian looked positively massive next to what June surmised to be some kind of merchant. The unknown man’s long grey hair and unkempt beard fit rather well with the messy look of his stained garment. As June watched, the two conversed quietly, though she was too far away to hear any detail. However, it was the mystery man’s actions that caught her interest next. His wrinkled hands passed over the wounds and bruises on the warrior and, in a flash of white light, they were gone.
With a simple check, June found that this man had a much tighter Mana Spiral than the players scattered around him. She further scanned the crowd, noting several more obviously injured players that similarly dressed people attended to. After his wounds healed, the Barbarian stood and departed wordlessly, passing right by June as he made towards the tent exit.
So that’s how healing vendors work.
Having your wounds healed without using potions in Duneria Online had been as simple as going to a medic NPC, of which the players had all manner of gross nicknames for, and paying a tiny fee; usually after a few coppers, your wounds healed. Trouble was, they were only really common in major cities, so seeing them out here was entirely new to her. There was just so much about magic in this world that was alien to her, too much. June had to wonder, were there other magic users around here? Maybe there were spell vendors that she could learn from?
The feeling of a heavy hand on her shoulder shocked her out of her thoughts. Whirling around, her eyes settled on the smiling visage of one very familiar dwarf.
“Having fun?” Bullin asked with a glittering smile.
“If you can call gathering information fun,” June admitted with a shrug.
With a predatory grin, Bullin responded, “Learning about the world around you will help when we get where we’re goin’.
“You said we’re headed south to Sunspear, and that we’re a few days away. But what are we actually doing there?”
A soft chuckle slipped from Bullin’s lips, then he spoke, “I’ll tell you later, I promise. For now, maybe you should try looking around a bit more.”
“I was just about to do just that. Know where I can find some magic around here?”
Another sinister smile spread across the dwarf’s lips before he motioned for June to follow. A few minutes later, the pair stood outside a majestic purple tent.
Just how many vendors are there here?
The fabric of the tent shimmered amid the fading sunlight, looking like a field of purple grass blowing in the wind.
As she walked toward the tent, a stream of people flooded in and out. The busy mass of people all wore shiny armor and incredibly fancy robes. A sea of greens, blues and reds glinted in the sunlight, casting twinkling rays that looked like they were passing through stained glass. As June passed through the entrance to the tent, the wondrous look of the inside nearly overwhelmed her. Knick-knacks of all kinds sat on polished wood shelves, whirling away and sending out waves of sparks. Tapestries displaying wondrous spell casting feats in stitched artistic expressions hung along the entire upper section of the tent. A rainbow of colors inside potion bottles swirled on a shelf to one side. Magical energy permeated the place. Even without her Mana Vision active, June could feel power thrumming all over the place. Latent magic must saturate this place.
At the center of the tent stood a massive circular wooden counter, and displaying all manner of magical implements. The wood itself was as black as night, and that made the trinkets on top stand out even more. June’s eyes darted around, taking in the sights, a content smile spreading unbidden across her features. Some bejeweled items that reminded June of wands sat on one side of the counter. On the other side, whoever ran this magnificent place had placed a mix of different potion reagents in various bowls and bottles. Tiny bugs flittered around inside glass jars, like fireflies but much smaller. Piles of dust pulsed with dull light of various colors. There were also bits of grass-like plant matter that looked like bloody guts. June peered closer and even saw black veins running through the mass of meat-like substances within the bowl. Smells danced around the space. Sweet perfumed scents flittered about the tent, like a thick fog, dominating it. More earthy tones swayed around as well. There were even smells like burnt meat here and there.
June sauntered up to the counter, looking for a proprietor to speak with, having to shove her way through several people perusing the items on the counter. As she reached the counter, June noted a small brass bell with a sign, telling her to ring it. As she rang the bell, a kaleidoscope of colors extended out from it, slithering their way across the counter and spilling onto the floor below like streams of spilled paint.
Brief spurts of sparks popped off of the streams of vibrant colors, sizzling as they did. The dizzying array of sparks flew across the space like trains of light running on invisible tracks. Over a few seconds, the two streams of color coalesced into a form on the opposite of the counter. Light spilled from the growing mass, burning brighter as the seconds ticked by.
“Holy—” June nearly shouted as a woman appeared before her in a flash of light.
“Hello,” sang a positively beautiful blonde to a gobsmacked June. “Welcome to the purveyors of all your magical needs, The Dreaming Mystic. I’m Marie.”
Do you say that every time? That must get old.
Over her initial shock, June recovered and engaged in earnest. “I’m June. I’ve come looking for some spells to learn, if you have any.”
“Of course, feel free to peruse our wondrous selection,” and with a snap of her slender fingers and a wide smile, Marie summoned a large tome. A thunderous thud echoed through the tent, drawing several curious glances, as a humongous black tome slammed down on the counter.
June flipped open the cover with reckless abandon and was amazed at how many spells she saw. Each page had a series of runes arrayed on it, each configuration pulsing with dim blue light. At the bottom of each spell page, June read the prices and descriptions of the spells. There was even a tiny rune that looked suspiciously like a thumbprint at the very bottom. A tiny subscript beneath the rune said to channel here to purchase.
Moving through the giant book, June found sections for each school of magic, and even ones she didn’t recognize. There was even a section of Death Mana spells, which she would have thought would be some kind of forbidden art.
Guess it can’t hurt to protect client anonymity.
The prices made her nearly guffaw, with simple Tier 1 spells she already knew costing 5 gold.
June flipped through the pages of death spells. She found a few curses she liked the idea of. Curious, she inspected the runes of a few spells, all essentially upgraded versions of Hex. Settled, she chose a Tier 3 Binding spell, as well as a Tier 2 one that she just liked the name of: Moon Nova.
She just had to hope the process wouldn’t interfere with her glamour. As June pressed her thumb to the run at the bottom of the page, a rush of mana flowed between the two. The outward reaction was extremely muted. Only a small pulse of blue light was visible.
June returned to Marie to finish her purchase.
A small smile played at the edges of Marie’s lips as a mix of red and blue flashed in her eyes. Her eyes returned to the color of deep amber shards just as soon as they’d changed.
Shit, does she know?
But much to June’s relief, Marie said nothing about her glamour, if indeed she knew.
Placing the majority of her gold out on the counter, June completed buying two new spells, and what happened next was even more surprising. A flash of images ran through her mind’s eye. Runes that would allow her to cast these new spells with ease floated into her ethereal vision, burning into her memory.
With a near-skip in her step, June left the tent, finding Bullin waiting to the side of the entrance. He looked to be people watching.
“Where to now?” she asked Bullin, her voice full of eagerness.
“Now, we meet a few friends of mine,” he said with a hint of glee in his voice.