Freya

Nolan explained that dragons had different stages of evolution. Right now, I was at my first stage, and my final stage was a long road away. Finding the later evolution stones was going to be challenging, but I was all for it. After all, I couldn’t stay a baby dragon forever. My main mission was to become stronger as a mage, and I was ready to excel.

That being said, fighting those goblins and then those tainted dire wolves did ruffle my feathers a bit. Understandably, I was rattled by how quickly predators in Etheryn popped up. In my old life, I didn’t have anything to worry about, besides the occasional gas stove fire triggered by our questionable arsonist chef William Orr. Now, I was living in a world where life and death hung on the edge of my itty bitty dragon claws. The contrast was stark, like night and day. But Nolan reassured me that I had nothing to worry about once I learned to master the art of self-defense.

In my stage, learning to maneuver around this place was vital. There was no question about it. After the Dracapod stage was the juvenile stage, Dracuna. Sometimes referred to as Dracunite, for those world under folks. A dragon must strengthen their magical affinity at this point in their life, if they haven’t already. Nolan mentioned rare instances where some newborn dragons didn’t reach that point until their juvenile stage, and there were some cases where they didn’t reach that point at all. Those that didn’t were easy targets for Dragon Slayers or Dragon Hunters. The vast majority of them were human, Nolan emphasizing the great hate between dragons and humans that’d gone on for centuries.

“They steal our virgin women and our gold,” he said, then turned to look down at me like I was a culprit to draconic traditions.

I dunno why he was looking at me like that! I just got here!

Dracuna were still considered lesser dragons. For some evolution types, additional extremities like wings, arms and legs were grown at this evolution stage. Their physical appearances were more intimidating, with a round body and a long neck, their size that of an utahraptor.

Jeez, I couldn’t wait to be five to seven feet tall! That’s one hell of a growth spurt!

After that was the third stage of development, a full-bodied behemoth! The dragon stage also required an evolution stone. At this stage, evolution was nearly complete. Depending on their elemental path, a dragon’s full adulthood varied in size and environmental preference.

In my case, I’d adopted all five elements: fire, water/ice, earth, air, and space. The gunslinger said that was unheard of.

Nolan said that if a Dracuna hadn’t gotten their magic affinity yet, it was all downhill from there. He also said many factors could contribute to that, like natural selection, genetic mutations, or even malnutrition. The evolution path of a dragon was based off of the element they possessed: Bastodon or Wyvern dragon for earth, Hydra or Sea Serpent for water, Drake or Dragon for fire, Caelym or Ether for air, and Cosmyrim, a centipede dragon type, for space.

Apparently, only dragons needed evolution stones to progress in their developmental stages. The reason for this came to me before Nolan said it—crowd control.

Dragons were a powerful race, and that could explain why they had so many enemies.

I wondered which path I was going to take, seeing as I had options….

“All five elements, huh?” he said with a hint of jealousy in his voice. “Which route are you considering?”

‘I don’t know, honestly,’ I said telepathically. ‘They all sound good.’

He walked over to the last wolf, the one he’d put to sleep. I followed him, continuing to think about his question.

“Every dragon is born with a breath weapon, regardless if they reach affinity or not. With the breath weapon comes some extent to resistance of that weapon type. For example, a fire breathing dragon is resistant to fire.”

‘What kind of breath weapon do space dragons have?’

“Astral blasts. They are pretty dangerous, actually.”

‘And earth and air?’

“Earth gets acid. And air is a poisonous gas of some sort. Usually carbon monoxide.”

‘Hmm, I better give this choice some deep thought.’

“Well, don’t you worry. You’ll have plenty of time to think about it. We got lucky finding this evo piece so soon.” He crouched aside the last wolf and looted it. He claimed 1 [Edgor’s Antidote] and 1 [Amora’s Smelling Salts]

-Edor’s Antidote: heals poison-

-Amora’s Smelling Salts: heals confusion-

‘What’s with the names?’ I asked curiously.

“Nothing important. Basically, it just tells us where these dire wolves spawned at. The dungeon core adapts to cultural nuances, allowing the monsters it creates to harbor valuable items pertaining to that culture. Edor and Amora are owners of famous item shops in fae country. Antidotes and smelling salts from other regions typically work the same, and are of the same quality.”

I smiled inwardly. Truthfully, I didn’t know why hearing about the world’s fae culture got me excited. Maybe it was the idea that there were so many races in Etheryn, and just so much to explore in this new world. But suddenly all of that excitement went away when a message from my codex popped up in front of me:

Quest 2

Induct Level 5 Dire Wolf

Time: 48 hours

Rewards: +5% Necromancy Proficiency

+10 Spatial Domain Durability

Punishment: Debuff in all attributes by 80% for 3 days

Say what?!

I squawked, just as Nolan pulled out Scarlett and was about to put an end to the last dark wolf for good. He took the noise I made as me protesting, when in actuality, I was just stunned that my new quest had actual repercussions!

“Hmm?” he hummed, pivoting his head over to me.

When he looked down at me, I gave him a nervous chuckle and said, ‘I need you to not kill that demon doggy.’

“Why?”

‘I have a quest.’

“A quest? I thought you said you just dropped to Etheryn? Who the hell gave you a quest?”

‘My codex. It assigns me quests, to make sure I’m on the path.’

“Right. And let me guess, this quest is asking you to keep this mutt?”

‘For good reason. I need to add him to my thrall.’

“Ah.”

‘I’m guessing that’s normal for dragons to have thralls?’

“Of course. But, not for an infant dragon. It’s uncommon.”

‘Well, I am a special case, aren’t I?’

“True. It’s a good thing that your codex didn’t ask you to take on the higher leveled beast.”

‘There has to be a good reason why it didn’t. I mean, it could have something to do with the fact that I’m not very strong to begin with.’

“Usually a dragon needs high charisma and perception for thrall building. Collectively, the process is called [Conquer], and it’s an innate skill for dragons. Induction requires dominating the target mentally. The lower their willpower, the easier it is to subdue them. Charisma is for impression. Perception is for sensing the induction. The higher those two attributes are, the quicker you can grow your thrall.”

‘It says that I get +5% for necromancy and +5% for domain durability.’

“What the hell is domain durability?”

‘Ugh, the place where I store my minions and how durable it is?’

He looked at me funny, and I exchanged the same gaze before I realized something.

‘Hold on, a dragon’s thrall doesn’t hang out in a spatial plane?’

“Egh, no?”

Well, this was certainly interesting….

He paused for a moment as if to collect what I’d just said, before he asked, “What’s your charisma and perception at?”

‘Charisma is at 25, and perception is at a whopping 4.’ I sulked. ‘Why is perception important again?’

“It lets you know that the submission was a success. It’s a heightened level of sense. There is a thing known as rebellion within thralls. It has gotten a few dragons killed.”

I gulped. Just thinking about my own army going against me in one burst of rebellion had my tiny kneecaps trembling.

“Right now, it’s sounding like you cannot take on this beast.”

‘But I need to! Otherwise, my stats are debuffed at 80% for 3 days!’

He snorted. “Sucks for you.”

I gave him a cross look. ‘This affects you too, you know!’

He chuckled. “That wolf isn’t a collectable item, which means that you cannot store it in your inventory. Not only that, my sleeper’s shot doesn’t last that long. Give or take 30 hours.”

‘I have 48 hours to complete this quest!’ I said, being hopeful that I could do it in time. ‘I think I can make it. Or, maybe I should give it a try with my current stats?’

“That’s not a good idea. Even if you could manage to dominate it, the latch would be weak with those numbers.”

‘I don’t think I really have a choice, here,’ I said, thinking about what he’d said earlier. ‘You mentioned monsters dematerializing after a few minutes to a few days. I’m assuming that rate is totally random, right? So, if this wolf fades, I auto fail my mission. I have to try.’

“Hold on, before you lose your head, here,” he said as he stood up. “A monster only disperses when its HP reaches zero, and this one is currently under a condition– a sleep charm. Which means you have time.” He slipped his gun back into his holster. “Not that I’m up for the idea of keeping a monster around.”

‘We could carry it in the goblin’s cage.’

He scratched the back of his head skeptically, then sucked air through his teeth. “I mean, a three day debuff isn’t that bad….”

‘Nolan!’

“Ugh, all right. If it’ll save me from your nagging. You look like the type.”

I beamed. ‘Thank you!’

He proceeded to drag the beast to the wagon, and I did my part too by snatching a hind leg and putting my back into it! I wondered then, what I’d done if I hadn’t bumped into Nolan? I might have been able to ward off those goblins, but those wolves?

The term dog chow came to mind.

I was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time.

As he hauled the beast in the cage, my exhaustion started to kick in. Nolan then made a comment that made me reconsider helping him drag the wolf in the cage. I didn’t know what he was talking about—I did have muscles! I might have been scrawny, but that 3% of haul power was something to be proud about!

Egh, whatever. I didn’t mouth off to him. After all, I could use the rest. So I sat there panting in the corner of the cage, a mere few inches from the demon dog’s ass.

‘So why were you in this cage anyway?’

“Huh?” he said, my question catching him off guard.

‘How did those goblins capture you?’

He chuckled. “Long story.”

‘We have time.’

“A witch cast a teleporter spell on me, and I was sent to a dungeon.”

‘That sounds like some serious bad times. Why did she have beef with you?’

“No, she didn’t feed me any beef.”

Oops. I forgot for a second that Nolan wasn’t American, or a teenager for that matter. Which meant that he wouldn’t catch onto some of my slang expressions.

I chuckled.

‘No, no. “Beef” is slang for a grudge or conflict. So, what did you do to piss the witch off?’

He looked over his shoulder. “I might have stolen some things from her...” he admitted with a sheepish grin.

‘Stolen? You?’

“I know it’s hard to believe,” he said sarcastically. “But yes.”

His ‘might’ implied there was more to the story, and I was curious to know what that rapscallion had done.

He shook his head disbelievingly and said, “You’re one nosy dragon, aren’t you?”

‘I’m a sucker for juicy secrets!’

“Well, this is no secret.”

‘So? Spill the beans, already!’

Nolan shrugged, his eyebrows furrowing as he said, “I accidentally killed her pet crow... and possibly nicked a potion or two from her hut.”

‘Accidentally, huh?’

“Yeah. A sorry little accident.” He smiled as he slammed the cell door closed and locked it with the key he had looted from the goblins. “Before I knew it, I was teleported to a tier five dungeon, alone, with no party. I was halfway dead by the time I came out, my resources exhausted, and my stamina shot. A pair of dirty ass goblins were along the horizon, but there was no escaping them.” He sucked his teeth. “Those assholes got me good, and they took my eye for the trouble. They had an easy time beating me after I had just fought wave after wave of giant skeletons, zombie boars, and giant mana-sucking leeches.”

I frowned. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that, Nolan…. And I feel even worse that I made you bring it up.’

“You didn’t make me do anything, short fry. And there’s nothing to be sorry about. What’s done is done. Besides, something good came out of it, didn’t it?”

Oh, was he referring to me?

I hope he couldn’t tell that I was flustering up right now!

I joined him at the front of the carriage, where I got smacked with some culture shock. I felt like I’d time traveled back to the late 1800s with this historic mode of transportation. Even so, I couldn’t deny feeling a bit fancy. The air might have been musky with the smell of blood, and my joints might have been tired, but I tried to be positive about our little adventure. Until Nolan opened his big mouth and said, “Let’s go pay the ol’ hag a visit.”

‘Erm, run that line by me one more time?’

“We find a quiet place to rest up until daylight,” he said, determined. “I’m familiar with Bashbee’s Barren Lands in Sbuangarr, goblin country. In a few hours, we’ll head to Yhole Valley.”

Was this a vendetta or a suicide run?

‘I’m sorry, I think I just heard you say that you want to square up, egh, I mean, engage with the same woman who got you beaten ugly by two nasty goblins!’

“I’ll be diplomatic about it,” he said with a wink.

‘That’s not reassuring at all!’

“I understand that you have no backbone.”

I deadpanned him.

“No one could blame you. You’re a tiny fragile thing. But in Etheryn, we settle our debts.”

‘Something tells me that it’s just a Nolan Black thing.’

“We dip in and dip out. Shouldn’t take long.”

I sighed, shaking my head, thinking about all the ways this could go south. Nolan had that stubborn gleam in his eyes that I knew I’d get used to soon enough. I’d learn to understand it meant no amount of arguing would sway him. Despite how bad things got last time they met, his confidence was unwavering. I had to be ready for anything in Yhole Valley. And against a witch, the probability of being eaten was unfortunately at the bottom of my worry list.

There were worse fates than death when in the den of the despicable and dastardly.