We landed back on the Isle of Cathar after a flight over the ocean and it was fun to watch Tristan's reaction to going through the illusion barrier. It was night, so I was worried that he wouldn't get to see the same things I did when I first came. It just so happened, though, that the volcano illusion was erupting as we neared, and the molten magma was lit up on the side of the mountain. I must have looked somewhat like that when we first came here. Sudden panic was on his face to see us flying straight toward an active volcano and then, as though we were going to crash right into the side of it, nearly jumping out of his skin, only to see a shimmering barrier pass you by and then the remains of the great city below. There were lights lining the streets in the city below, making it look a little bit like the cities on earth. His terror seemed to change to anger at not warning him about the barrier, then to amazement in the blink of an eye. The city below was genuinely amazing, and I felt the same way the first time I saw it. Not only was the city a spectacle to see, but the island itself was beautiful as well. I would have to show him the rest of the island in the daylight when it could be seen. For now, the city was enough to keep his attention.
We landed where we had previously, which appeared to be some kind of platform designed to have dragons land and take off from. Now that I took the time to look around instead of gawking in awe, I could see it was a large squared-off area with a worn, but still visible red X painted on the ground. It made me think of helipads back on earth, or at least this world's equivalent. Al'Doran had landed right in the middle of the X and we hopped off his back and he led us down the stairs back to the main street of the city. Once there, Al'Doran turned to Tristan again and gave him a fierce look, showing his teeth, and growling slightly.
"This is a sacred place. It is also a secret place. I need to impress upon you that if anyone finds out about this place I will know it to be your fault. And at that point, I will roast you. There will not be enough of you left to identify your remains, and the only way they will know it was you will be through eyewitness accounts, which I will also make sure there are none of! Am I making myself clear?"
Al'Doran had spread his wings out, coiled his neck into an S-shape as though he were a viper going to strike at prey, and all his spines were standing on end as he looked at Tristan.
"P-p-perfectly, sir," Tristan managed to stammer out.
"Good. Now that the unpleasantness is out of the way, we can continue more of your training. I sense you have leveled, have you allocated your points, Callan?"
Everything on Al'Doran relaxed at once. I blew out a sigh of relief that he had done that as an act to scare Tristan rather than his being truly angry.
"Not yet. We were busy, and I didn't want to delay us by stopping every time we leveled. But I would like to do so now with you here if that is ok?"
"Certainly. Let me know if I can help with any questions you have about it."
We walked over to what appeared to be some kind of restaurant or cafe long ago, as there were some tables and chairs outside on the patio area that we could sit and rest in. Aeolith chose to curl up on the ground nearby while Tristan and I sat in some of the chairs.
"Since you worked hard, let me give you a small reward."
Al'Doran came over to the patio and stared down at the table. A beam appeared from his face and shot down to the table. When the light spots were gone from my eyes there was a meal laid out on the table and food on the ground for Aeolith. It was almost a feast with roasted meats and specially prepared sides. Even Aeolith had some kind of steak prepared for her.
"Is this food magic?! Is food magic a thing here?!"
"No, there is no such thing as food magic, don't be ridiculous. You cannot eat mana. It would make you sick, give you mana poisoning, and, if you ate enough, eventually kill you. But just as someone can be teleported from one place to another, so can food."
Al'Doran then turned, walking down the path a bit to find a spot to lie down as well.
After we ate the food I pulled up my stats to look at what I had to work with. Going from level seven to level twelve was a nice jump for only one day of grinding, but it was hard-earned. We were dead tired. Also, I had thirty attribute points to use and twelve skill points. That meant only two new skills, but that was still a step forward. I looked over at Aeolith for a moment and she seemed to be deep in thought as well, sitting up with eyes unfocused as though she was looking at something that only she could see. She had grown a lot with her levels, being level nine now, she was about the size of a great dane now. As I watched her, she glowed again and got slightly bigger. Not taller or longer, but bulkier, heftier. I turned back to my own page to see what I had to work with.
My Wisdom, Charisma, and Luck were falling behind the other stats. Dexterity was also not quite as high, but not as low as the others. Charisma and Luck didn't seem too applicable right now so I could let those go for the time being. That left Wisdom and Dexterity as the lowest two stats. I was having to be our tank for the time being so I needed to take that into account as well. Being tough was going to be something that would be really helpful for me. Maybe I should look at upgrading my armor as well. That would require I look at a Strength boost as well then to ensure I could keep moving. Looking over where the stats were and wanting to try to stay well-rounded, I decided to put four points into Strength, six points into Constitution, four points into Dexterity, five points into Endurance, and eleven points into Wisdom to try to round most of my stats out while leaving me in a better position to tank for the team.
Name: Callan Ryder
Race: Human
Class: Dragon Rider
Level: 12
HP: 260/260 *(+20 Necklace)
MP: 270/270 *(+20 Ring)
SP: 250/250
Total XP: 79,000
XP to Next Level: 19,000
Attributes:
Unused Attribute Points: 0
Strength: 23 *(+7 Items & Skills)
Constitution: 24 *(+2 Skills)
Dexterity: 20 *(+2 Skills)
Endurance: 25 *(+2 Skills)
Intelligence: 25 *(+7 Items & Skills)
Wisdom: 25 *(+2 Skills)
Charisma: 12 *(+2 Skills)
Luck: 13 *(+2 Skills)
Unused Skill Points: 16
Non-Combat Skills:
Combat Skills:
Inspect: Beginner 1
Unarmed Combat: Beginner 1
Dragon Spirit: 1/5
Spears: Beginner 2
Dragon Scales: 1/4
Short Blades: Beginner 2
Dragon Armor: 1/5
Swords: Beginner 1
Stealth: Beginner 1
Dragon Slash: 1/5
Dragon Breath: Beginner 1
Dragon Shield: Beginner 1
Thrown Weapons: Beginner 1
I was getting close to hitting twenty-five points in most of the main attributes and had even done so with Endurance and Wisdom. I could feel myself getting stronger and at the same time felt the fine-tuning of the dexterity and endurance to make my body able to go longer and harder than I ever could have on earth.
"Did you get your stats to twenty-five Callan?" Brutus flew over and asked.
"I got two of them there, Endurance, and Wisdom. Can you see my stats?"
"No, but I can sort of feel when you hit certain thresholds."
"Threshold?"
"Yeah! In your stats, there are some points called thresholds that are at key milestones. Twenty-five is the first major milestone. When you hit it you can really feel a difference in your abilities."
"That makes sense. I did really notice a change this time more than the others. It's hard to quantify how I feel other than that I can tell there was some difference."
"Well, for most humans the average level of stats is ten for everything. That means a person with a strength of ten would be about the average strength of a man on earth. Same with the other stats. So when you reach twenty-five you have hit a quarter of the maximum possible power for that stat."
"So there is a maximum level for a stat?"
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Yes. One hundred is the max for any given stat."
"So, would that make me the strongest creature on the planet if I had a strength stat of one hundred?"
"No, obviously that is based on size. A human with a strength of one hundred would be nowhere near the strength of a dragon of the same strength attribute level. Though, you might be the strongest human on the planet."
"Pretty sure I won't have to worry about being there anytime soon though. However, if I was at twenty-five strength and the average human is at ten does that mean I am two-and-a-half times stronger than the average human on earth?"
"That's about as good an explanation as you can get. There are a lot more subtle nuances to it, but for the purpose of understanding, that will work. Bear in mind, the average human doesn't work out every day. So you would likely be about as strong as the strongest humans on earth at a Strength of twenty-five, if not slightly stronger."
"Thanks, Brutus, this has definitely been helpful. It gives me some context for the growth of the stats."
I also noticed I had forgotten I had some leftover skill points so it looked like I was going to get three skills. I had been thinking about this one since I took the last skills though, so I decided to go ahead and take Sharp Claws, Strong Blow, and Confusion. With the fighting style our little party had currently, the Confusion skill would allow Aeolith to confuse any creatures lower level than her into attacking those around them, Sharp Claws would make her deadlier in close combat, and Strong Blow would allow both of us to hit harder. With those skills selected, I was down to one skill point left, which wouldn't buy any skills so I closed my screens.
I looked over and Tristan was staring, unfocused, at what I guessed were his screens also. He seemed to come to a conclusion as well and looked over at me and smiled.
"I hadn't leveled up in quite a while. I was having to do a lot more running than fighting. I thought I knew what I wanted to do with any points I had coming in, but that was before I met you. I had to rethink my strategy now that I'm not just trying to stay alive in the wilderness. So I put them in places that I thought would complement the team. Al'Doran even had some advice once I had narrowed down some of my selections. I can't tell you how happy I am to have run into you. I had resigned myself to just living alone for the rest of my life, and now I really feel like I have a purpose again."
"Well, worry no more, you are in a party now and we will grow together. I promise that we will help you grow, just as you will be there to help us as well. In fact, let's go look at the armory to see if we can get you any equipment to help you."
Tristan's eyes lit up at this idea.
"You mean it? We can find something better than my old rags?"
"Of course. Al'Doran said we could use what we need. I know he meant us as Dragonriders, but if you are part of our party helping keep us alive and fighting with us, I would assume we could equip you too."
I connected with Al'Doran mentally where he was, up the street resting in a building apparently, and asked if we could equip Tristan as well. He wasn't keen on the idea at first, saying that the equipment was meant for the Dragonriders, but I explained how he was now part of my party and that the safer he was, the safer we were by extension. He thought about it for a few minutes but reluctantly agreed with my logic. So we went over to the building where the armory was. This time when we entered though it was different. Not only were the items that I needed available, but there were now mannequins with robes on as well as armor and a rack with what looked like wizard staves.
"Al'Doran, why is there more equipment here than last time? Did you bring it out?"
"That armory is enchanted. It will show only items that will aid the person that is in the armory at the time. Mage armor and equipment would do you little good at this point compared to the armor and physical weapons you have been using."
This world was truly amazing. Rooms could be customized to fit the particular persons inside. I never would have thought of that. There was so much to know about this world. We went to the mannequins and looked at the armor first. The items here looked mostly like robes. Some were more ornate than others, but robes nonetheless. They had sigils stitched into the fabric around the edges that glowed slightly when I inspected them, and some had single lengths of what I could only describe as chains where pieces of metal of different shapes were linked together across the robe.
"Do you know what to look for when picking a robe that will work for you, Tristan?"
"For the most part. It's not too difficult for a base robe, as being a magic user we want something that boosts intelligence and wisdom. Sometimes there are extra enchantments that will be more specific to the type of magic we use, but I'm still at quite a low level for now. So I can expect to see more of that in higher-level gear."
He stopped at a purple robe and looked it over more carefully than the others.
"You like this one?"
"I do, but I'm confused."
"By what?"
"I just finished telling you there are not many armor pieces with enchantments specific to the type of magic one chooses until later, and here one is that has properties specific to my necromancy."
"That's great news right?"
"It's almost unbelievable."
"Well, this is the island of the Dragonriders. They seemed to have some of the best of everything."
Tristan took off his old robes and was about to put on the new ones before I stopped him.
"Let's wait until we get cleaned up from the day before we equip the new robes."
"There is a place to clean up here?"
"Of course there is. Now put your old robes back on and I'll put these in my bag to take to the rooms. I can take whatever you want with us and we can equip it after."
He suddenly looked more tired than I had ever seen him as he put his robes back on.
"Thanks, Callan. It's been so long since I had somewhere to really rest, that I'm just not used to this. I'm so glad we met."
He then looked at me with true admiration and gratitude. It was so genuine I began to feel like I didn't deserve it. I could see tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes, and the light glistened off them. He had such a look of innocence at that moment. All of his trials and turmoil seemed to bubble up at once, and everything he had been holding back to survive was surfacing. I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"While I can't promise you will never be in danger again, I can tell you that as long as you will stay loyal, I will be there to keep you safe as best I can."
He broke down then and hugged me, sobbing slightly into my armor. I wasn't normally someone to just hug people, but I felt an odd connection to Tristan. Almost like a kid brother. He had been through so much at such a young age. He didn't deserve that. I hugged him back for a moment, then put my hands on his shoulders and pulled him back to get him focused on what we were here to do.
"Let's look at the equipment again, OK? We can then rest and you will feel better. Rest always helps relieve burdens."
He nodded, wiped his eyes and nose, and we turned to look at the equipment again. He moved to look at the staves and I went over to the armor. I wanted something that was only medium armor not heavy armor. As I thought this the room shifted and some of the mannequins who had been holding full plate armor were pulled to the back and another set of mannequins was pulled forward. On them were several types of armor that I could only assume were medium armor based on my last thoughts. One caught my eye though and I walked over to inspect it.
Item:
Dragonscale Cuirass
Item Type: Armor
Durability: 300/300
Armor: +15
Item Quality: Excellent
Item Rarity: Rare
Weight: Medium Armor
There were also a set of tassets, boots, bracers, and a helmet that went with it. The scales were made of metal but seemed to be shaped like the scales of a dragon in that they were overlapping to form a cohesive piece of armor, but also provide flexibility since they were attached to leather. The boots had scales down the sides, and the helmet was more of a piece of iron bound in leather than the scales. All of them were of excellent quality and considered rare. I wasn't likely to find anything this good for a while. A Dragonrider wearing Dragonscale armor. Was it too on the nose? Nah, it was just what I needed. I put them in my bag of holding and turned to look at Tristan. He was holding a staff with a purple gem at the top. There were a lot of purple items he was picking.
"Hey Tristan, a lot of your stuff is purple. Is that because it's some kind of necromancy color?"
"Actually yes. Most things associated with necromancy, or really rather, death magic, are purple in color so it's considered the color of death."
"Weird. Where I come from Black is the color associated with death."
"Black is the color associated with dark here."
"Well, that just makes sense now doesn't it," I couldn't help but chuckle at the obvious association. "In the world I was from originally, the die to make the color purple was so hard to find and so rare, it was only worn by royalty for a while, so it became the color of royalty."
"Well, in this world, if a noble or royalty wore purple all the time people would think they were dabbling in death magic."
"Does that mean you will have a hard time walking around with it?"
"Possibly, but it's just too good to pass up right now."
"Perhaps you should look at having the clothing dyed in the dye station?" A voice in our minds said.
"Where is the dye station?" I asked, and as I said this a wall opened in the room and a standing bureau came out of the wall and opened its doors to reveal a hanging rack with a selection of colored dyes on a shelf.
"That sure is handy," Tristan said, staring in fascination.
We walked over to it and a menu popped up in my vision.
Clothing Dye Station
Would you like to change the color of a set of clothing or armor? Just select the color you want from the shelf, and select Yes after hanging the clothes on the rack.
Yes No
I took the robes that Tristan had selected for himself and hung them on the rack on some hangers that became available as I pulled each piece of the robes out, including the hat he had chosen. Once this was done I looked at the color selection.
"Is there a color you want here Tristan?"
"Do they have like a dark blue color? I don't want it to be black, but light colors show a lot more dirt."
I looked at him confused for a moment.
"I've been outside a long time, Callan. I don't want to make them white and then look like I fell in a pile of dirt a few mins later."
"I see your point. There is a darker color blue. It's called Archdemon Blue. Kinda ominous."
I tried to pick up the color, but it wouldn't come off the shelf. I got a notification telling me that the vials were only examples and not meant to be removed. So, instead, I moved over to let Tristan see the colors. He looked each one over for a moment, then stepped back.
"Archdemon Blue looks the best."
"Alrighty then," I said, touching the blue color and selecting Yes in the first prompt.
The doors closed on the bureau and there were some rattling and spraying noises followed by a heat coming from the bureau, and then a ding like a small bell. The doors opened again and the items were all there, but now showing in a deep blue color rather than the purple they had been before. Tristan picked up the clothes, confirmed they had the same stats and enchantments and handed them to me to put in my bag. I smiled broadly at Tristan while I put them in my bag, thinking that had gone remarkably well. Tristan smiled back at me and went back to looking at the items around the room. He picked up a dagger, and looked like he wanted to find something else but didn't know what to do.
"Have you looked under the table at the chest?"
He shook his head and put his stuff on the table, then looked under it. He pulled out the chest and looked inside. His eyes went wide. I peered over his shoulder and noticed there seemed to be two rings and a necklace inside. Tristan took all three items. He paused though and looked up at me.
"Are you sure we can have these items? They would be worth a lot of money out on the market, and I don't want to take advantage of anyone."
"These items belonged to the Dragonriders. They are no longer alive, so they are just sitting here. We are not here to get rich off the items but to use them to stay alive. As long as you are not greedy about it, you can use the items."
He bowed his head low.
"I promise to not abuse the trust you have in me."
"Tristan, I can tell what you need is just someone to help you. You aren't a bad guy, you are just young. You get to decide if you are good or not."
He nodded and put the rings and the necklace on. He stood a little taller when he did and we headed out for the dorms.
"Hey, Tristan, why did you take a dagger? Was it magical?"
"No, it's not magical. But even as a magic user, it's always wise to have a sharp weapon on you. You never have unlimited mana and need a backup."
"That is very wise thinking Tristan. I applaud your foresight."
We made it to the dorms and I showed Tristan to the showers, then to a room next to mine. We went back to the showers after finding his room and setting his items there, showered, and met back at the rooms after. We bid each other good night and turned in for the evening. I had to get out a new bed for Aeolith as she didn't fit in the last one I had used for her. If we kept going at this rate she wouldn't fit in the room before too long. I wondered if she would stay with Al'Doran when that happens. I thought about the ways in which we could better our tactics together and wished we could find a tank to replace me with so I could focus more on damage. I fell asleep that night thinking of new strategies, and about Tristan and what he must have gone through.
The poor kid. Having gone through his life with so much tragedy in his short time alive. To lose your parents, one right in front of your eyes, then be forced to survive out in the monster-ridden wilderness was something I'm not sure I could say I was strong enough to do at his age. I felt a strong connection to Tristan, stronger than I had felt with people back on earth. I couldn't explain the feeling, but I felt like I needed to take him with me, protect him and show him kindness and help keep him on the right path. He already seemed to look up to me, so I would take him with me on this journey. I never had a younger brother I got to be close to. Maybe this was my chance.