(Day 61) December 27th, 11th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

Alberon had been traveling to this accursed mountain for the better part of two months. Now. His sources said that weasel Apolyn was back and that his Place of Power was once again active. Which was absolutely fine with Alberon. After the shit Apolyn had pulled 13 years ago in the Labyrinth, Alberon had every intention of killing that piece of shit and claiming the Hearth’s Crystal for himself. As the only survivor from the party that had helped Apolyn get into the Labyrinth, he was absolutely not happy with that little piece of shit.

As he’d traveled north There had been one telling moment when he’d seen a Black Dragon flying around. He was sure that it had seen him, but it had just turned and flew off to the Northeast. Not discounting his good fortune, he continued up the pass. It was another three days before he found himself on a cliff face looking down onto the entrance of Apolyn Abode. Utilizing Camouflage and Stealth the Ranger Assassin drew his bow, a really special arrow, and waited.

Adaline, also nearby, watched as the Human Ranger Assassin moved into an overlook position to the entrance of Adam’s residence then cast invisibility and found a perch from which to watch. While she could admit that the Ascendant Human, whatever the hell that was, deserved her respect for the way he’d treated her. This man Adam had been nothing but polite after all, she still wished to know exactly what she was dealing with. As long as she didn’t step foot inside the Abode, their vows would remain in place. Satisfied that she wasn’t breaking her vow she settled in and waited.

For the next three days, the human did not move from his perch. Neither did Adaline. The patience of Dragons, especially Ancient Dragons was well known. Finally, at sunset on the 30th of December Adam stepped out of Abode and looked around, as if looking for someone or something. As he was turning back to re-enter the abode Adaline witnessed something that would forever prove to her that messing with this Ascendant Human would be one of the worst ideas she could ever have. With an ease that was indescribable, he moved slightly to his left and pushed his hand to deflect a red glowing arrow the assassin had shot. Knowing what was coming, she was not surprised when the arrow exploded as his hand tried to deflect it. From the level of the explosion, she was sure that the explosion had been from an arrow that was at least level 50. As the explosion was expanding, she saw a blur and lost track of Adam. Her perception allowed her to track the direction he’d moved in, but she could not keep up. Adam was there, then he wasn’t. She moved her eyes and head at a rate that seemed much too slow. Finally, she brought her eyes to rest where Adam was holding the crushed pulp of the head of the Human Ranger Assassin against the mountain behind where he’d been perched to shoot that arrow. Well, it was definitely supposed to be the assassin's head, but it had pulped exploded sideways onto the rock behind it.

Adaline had let me know sometime later that there were only two reasons she did not move and flee for her life. First, to move would have been to possibly draw attention to herself. Second, from her vantage point, she saw the look on my face and realized that I did not know my own power.

From my viewpoint, things happened at a speed I had not realized I was capable of.

Combat Log

Human Ranger Assassin makes a surprise attack with a level 50 fireball arrow against Adam.

Surprise failure,

Action 1 - Adam uses skill Deflect Arrow

Arrow Deflected.

Action 2 - Perception Check Successful.

Arrow and will explode when it strikes or is touched.

Action 3 - Perception Check Successful.

Direction of Attack Noted

Action 4 - Perception Check Successful. Human type archer camouflaged and stealthed, moving to draw another arrow.

Action 5 - Prior to Arrow exploding – Jump with maximum force, called strike to grab the head and slam into the stone behind the attacker location.

Attack Successful, Critical Strike,

Total Damage to the target's head 24,102

Durability insufficient.

Head explodes like a melon shot at a concrete wall at 290 mph

Target Alberon has died.

End Combat Log.

The look on my face must have been one of shock, horror, and a realization of my power. I was definitely going to have to learn to tone down my attacks or every single normal human I struck was going to die. Dropping this piece of shit’s mess of a head from my hand, I stood up slowly and looked around. I made sure there were no additional threats. My tracking skill kicked in and I was able to tell that the assassin had been here for a couple of days. Sucked to be him, he’d just waited around to die.

My tracking skill also noted the tell-tale signs of another figure moving into a position up behind the assassin. Those tracks looked a lot like Adaline’s. How to play this. Well, it was New Year’s Eve and I had come outside to see if she was about.

Raising my voice, I called out, “Adaline, the danger has passed. If you would be so kind as to make your way inside. I need to make sure this mess is cleaned up.” I turned my back towards the location I knew her to be near and bent down to inspect the man I had killed. Was I becoming desensitized to the loss of life? Smashing someone’s head in, even by accident would have horrified me not too long ago. As I thought about it and analyzed myself I realized that knowing magic was real and that there was a strong possibility that there was an afterlife was having an effect on my perception of death. It wasn’t such a permanent loss anymore. This asshat I’d just killed had a soul that should be moving on. I’d have to learn more about souls. Also, I needed to tone down my terminal responses to threats. I also thought about how fast I’d moved. Looking back to the door I realized I was about 200 feet from the door. 200 multiplied by seconds and minutes divided by 5,280 feet per mile and I’d moved at 136.36 miles per hour. Why hadn’t the friction burnt my skin or slowed me down, then I remembered that one of my Air Spheres gave me “’The Wind Flows By.’ You can move through Nonmagical Air without disturbing it. This has two effects. No matter how strong the wind is while flying, running, or walking you are unaffected. Your movement does not disturb the wind. There is no mana cost, and this ability can be utilized at will.” The ability must negate any speed-related damage I’d take from wind resistance, which meant it would also counter any drag. I should actually be able to run at my top speed now. That was crazy.

While I was thinking, I quickly stripped the body of all his worldly possessions. I also had my nanites infiltrate and investigate the body to ensure there were no hidden items under his skin. It seemed that once an aura had fled a body my nanites could infiltrate the body. Once I was sure I had everything off the body, I picked up the naked torso and threw it to the south. It flew over the tower and fell off the side of the mountain to the hills below. I’d never utilized my full strength to try such a feat before so was again surprised when the body flew as high as it did before it started to fall and disappeared over the edge. I was sure Adaline had seen that display of strength as well. There was nothing I could do about that now.

I picked up the items he had taken off the body and made my way back to the entrance to the Abode at a much more leisurely pace and willed the door to open. I stepped inside, placed the pile of clothes, weapons, and supplies on the ground, and let the hearth get to the task of cleaning them. Moving to the kitchen I began washing my hands in some very hot water and turned as I heard the front door open.

Adaline stepped through, looked at the pile of clothes, weapons, and supplies then made her way to the dining room table where she willed a goblet of the finest wine in my stock into her hand and also a second glass for me where I usually sat. Raising her glass, she waited until I returned to the table and picked up my glass, and raised it towards her. Simply, and with great respect, she nodded her glass towards me and said, “To the victor, the spoils” then brought the glass to her mouth and drank deeply. Understanding that something had changed in the dynamic between Adaline and myself I nodded and drank deeply as well.

We sat down and started eating in silence. Eventually, I spoke, “First, Adaline I would like to properly introduce myself to you, now that you have witnessed firsthand some of what I am capable of.” Pausing for a moment to collect my thoughts I continued, “After arriving here, I chose the identity Adamantadine and while that is not my original true name it is my more proper formal name here. I would still like you to refer to me as Adam but thought it only appropriate that I properly introduce myself to you now. Second, I would normally apologize for killing someone in front of another person but honestly, that idiot earned his fate. Finally, I am sure that you have questions about what I did out there. I would ask that perhaps we discuss this tomorrow or the next day and just enjoy each other’s company tonight. Where I am from, we celebrate the last day of a calendar year by spending time with friends and acquaintances and toasting to the new year at midnight. As you are both my guest and acquaintance, I would very much enjoy a night of simple gossip, dancing if possible to spend some time with someone I’ve come to respect and enjoy the company of over the last couple of weeks. Would that be acceptable to you?”

Adaline nodded thoughtfully, smiled, and said. “I would like that a lot.”

I decided that we would indeed need some music in the background. I spent just over 10 million of my experience to level my Nanite Companion Ability and raised it to level 500. This would allow me to create things from my home Universe up to 500’ away from me. Quickly forming a home entertainment system, I had my nanites form and create a speaker system that began to play Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven lightly in the background. Maybe at some future point, I’d play something more contemporary but right now, I just wanted some pleasant music in the background.

Adaline watched with interest as the items formed and then gasped as music came from the speakers. “That is not magic,” she said with interest.

“No, it’s not, nor is it permanent. I can maintain the constructs so long as they are close to me but once I leave the area, they will return to their original state, which would take a really long explanation. Let me say that they were made from the stuff that is in the air, as that is as close to the actual truth as I can come without confusing you. Sort of like magic, but not. Also, there is no duration, proximity to me determines whether the devices remain or not.”

“That music is exquisite. I can hear instruments that I have never heard before and some I do recognize.”

I nodded “I’m sure you do. The individuals that composed what we’re listening to were considered savants back home. I have always found listening to them relaxing. Later perhaps I will ask if you’d like to dance. For now, let’s just let the music play in the background while we enjoy dinner and relax for a bit.

The night played out as I had wanted. Adaline and I talked, gossiped and I believe she began to realize that I had far more knowledge than I’d ever let on, even if that knowledge was somewhat strange and not exactly what she was used to. That I treated her with the utmost respect and dignity was not lost on her either. We celebrated the “New Year” with an Elvish dance she taught me and at the end of the night, she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, Adam, for sharing the customs of your homeland with me. I can honestly say that I have not had a more pleasant, peaceful night in some time.”

“You are most welcome, Adaline. Thank you for sharing this night with me also”

Adaline walked to her room locking her door behind her as she normally did. I also made my way upstairs to my room.

The next morning Adaline was at the table drinking a strong herbal tea. It seemed that hangovers could even affect dragons too.

Whispering softly, I said, “Good morning, I hope you slept well?”

Adaline looked up from her tea and smiled. “Good morning, Adam. No, I do not have a hangover. I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking. Please do not interrupt and understand that what I’m about to say to you comes from a place of deep respect. Fear led me to this point, but respect draws forth my breath now.”

I nodded and motioned for her to continue as I sat down opposite her.

“First, I would like to assure you that should that attack have succeeded I most likely would have stepped in to protect you. The hospitality and kindness you have shown me these last two months have made these my happiest days in a very long time. However, I had absolutely no time to react or help. Though, I know that you discerned that I’d been there watching the assassin for just about as long as he’d been there. I figure you tracked my movements with a common skill but noticed that you could not see me. That was because I used an invisibility spell. I noticed that your eyes could not lock onto my location.” She paused for a moment taking a sip of her tea before continuing.

“When you struck, I realized then and there that I had been extremely lucky that you had not decided to kill me while I was unconscious. I do have a lot of hit points but have no doubt that you could have finished me off if you’d chosen to. I did not see the combat logs for those attacks yesterday you did but from my vantage, I’m figuring you took something like four actual actions within a second. That is literally unheard of. Then the speed you moved at. You moved so fast yet did not leave a shockwave or disturb the air. When my eyes finally found you again you had already smashed the assassin's head into the stone and done so with such precise controlled fury that his head had exploded, and you had taken no damage. Legends speak of Monk-type individuals that could perform actions like that, but I had never thought to witness someone pulling off such a feat in front of me.” She paused for a moment collecting herself then continued.

“In the simplest terms I can explain my nature is evil, as you surmised. There are different types of evil in this world, and we are anathema to those of good normally but in my case and a few like me, our “evil” revolves around one core idea. That of selfish self-interest which revolves around self-preservation. After what I witnessed yesterday, both the response to the attack made against you and the delightful night we spent together I can and will say that I will never raise breath, claw, or tail against thee. There is no gain to be made from such a foolish endeavor and truthfully the power you displayed yesterday both outside and inside your home here, they were intoxicating.” She paused again then continued.

I was too shocked to speak for a moment then asked. “Exactly what are you trying to ask me, Adaline?”

Adaline looked back into her tea, then up into my eyes. “If you could have this evil-hearted dragon as a friend, I would ask for that”

I realized what that simple request had cost her to ask and moved to sit in a chair next to her. Reaching gently for her hand I held it in his and looked deeply into her eyes. “In my world, your actions towards self-preservation would not be considered inherently evil, though I’m sure some of the actions you’ve taken throughout your long life are judged as such. And I will be honest and say that no one knows what the future holds or how our future actions will be judged, yours or mine. Some would call the way I killed my would-be assassin “evil.” That said, I would be honored to have the evil-hearted dragon whose hand I now hold as a friend in this crazy world.” I said with a smile.

Adaline looked back into my eyes searching for any hint of deception or revulsion. When she saw nothing but my acceptance she did something completely unexpected. She jumped up like a little schoolgirl, squealed, and hugged me as she laughed merely.

I was surprised for a moment then hugged her back.

Adaline smiled mischievously. “Well, it’s good to know that you can be surprised in a good way too at least,” she said with false innocence

I laughed as I said, “You sneaky old girl.”

Adaline moved as if to lightly slap him, then stopped. Thought about it and stepped back as she said “No roughhousing until the vow is up. Slapping you, or you slapping me, even lightly, could almost be construed as an attack. Better not to test that. If we need another vow, we’ll need to make sure that accidental damage while roughhousing doesn’t count as an attack next time.”

I nodded. “Good call. Question? What are you going to do today?”

Adaline smiled. “Well, you know that corpse you threw off the mountain last night. I’m sure it drew some attention to itself so after we’re done here I was thinking about going out and supplementing my diet with something a little juicier.” She said with a smile.

I didn’t even grimace. I was starting to understand Adaline and her needs and truth be told if she was out there hunting, I didn’t have to worry about critters I didn’t want to deal with encroaching on my new home. “Sounds good. I need to get back to studying. I have learned a lot over the last two months but there are so many books down there and it takes time to go through all of them. It’s going to be about another 30 or so days before I’m ready to venture South towards the city. Feel free to come and go as you please and we’ll try to get together and talk during the nights you're around. I may even introduce you to some more contemporary music from my world, which I guarantee you have never heard the like of before”

“Sounds good, Adam. I think I’m going to head out now though. I did have fun last night, and this morning’s talk was good, but I am a dragon and I need to fly and flex.”

“Have fun, I’m sure we’ll talk again soon.”

Adaline stood, walked to the front door, stepped out into the morning, and shifted back into a black dragon as the door closed. I heard her flap her wings then she was gone.

“That went well” Abi commented

“Yeah, I’m beginning to think I understand her a little more.” My thoughts returned to not being able to see Adaline yesterday as I said, “not being able to see invisible creatures. I think I’m going to ask Eric to bring up the spell books and start going through them to see what spells Apolyn had here. Can’t learn them all of course, nor would I try but spells like Detect Invisibility, Invisibility, and who knows what else might come in handy”

“Sounds Like a plan. I must admit you haven’t been finding as many skills as I thought you would from that deeper library” In fact the only prompts you’ve earned and leveled are:

Congratulations, you have learned “Common Magical Lore.” You have learned about the eight primal spheres of magic. Air, Life, Water, Dark, Earth, Death, Fire, and Light. 1% chance per skill level to be able to learn new spells from these spheres of magic

Congratulations, you have learned “Master Magical Lore.” You have learned about the next circle of magic outside of the Primary circle of magical spheres. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical spheres, Mental, Proper, Gravity, Time, Space, and Anti Magic.

Congratulations, you have learned “Rare Magical Lore.” You have learned about the next circle of magic. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical Spheres, Spirit, Absolute, Order, and Putrescent

Congratulations, you have learned “Mythic Magical Lore.” You have learned about the sphere of Soul Magic. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical sphere, Soul

Congratulations, you have learned “Legendary Magical Lore.” You have learned about the last two spheres of Magic. 1% per skill level to be able to learn new spells from the Magical sphere, Divine and Chaos

“And while useful by themselves. Wait a minute. Adam, did you level Legendary Magical Lore to 101 last night?”

Thinking about it for a second and reviewing my personal interface I said, “No, right before I went to check on Adaline, I achieved level 1 through my Jack of all Trades ability but then I got sidetracked and forgot all about it. Why?”

“Spend the skill experience. I have a feeling” she said

Abi’s feelings usually turned out okay, like a Spidey sense for good things so I did as she requested and directed my experience to level Legendary Magical Lore to level 100.

Congratulations, you have studied and learned all the knowledge there is to know concerning magical lore. The level of dedication required to reach skill level 100 in all Magical Lore skills grants you the ability: Identity.

By simply concentrating on a spell, spell effect, or item you can automatically recognize any spell you have learned. Additionally, if you concentrate on an item for one full minute you can determine if it is magical and have a chance to determine its magical properties. Chance to determine property of magic item +1% per skill level – 1% per item level.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed. I’d need an ability like this for sure. The ability to determine if something was magical and what it could do. I’d absolutely needed a skill or ability like that.

“Thought so,” Abi said smugly. “I think you need to ask Eric if there is a Tomb in either Library concerning Legendary Monsters. You have the Legendary Creatures skill but not the Legendary Monsters. I wonder if there is an ability like Identify except usable against creatures and monsters.” Abi said thoughtfully.

Excited, I quickly made my way towards the upstairs library and walked up to Erik. “Eric, sorry to interrupt. I was wondering, is there a tome either up here or downstairs concerning Legendary Monsters?”

Eric thought for a moment then stood, moving to one of the walls close by. He pulled a book forward and pushed a button directly behind it. Off to the side of the bookcase, a panel slid open and Eric pulled out a tome. “I believe this is what you’re looking for.”

Dumbfounded, I took the book from Eric, turned as if to go, turned back, turned to go, turned back, then shook my head and settled myself at the desk next to Eric. I’d have to ask Eric about other hidden books later.

For the next 10 hours, I hardly moved. I went over the books from front to back at least three times and at the end of the day was rewarded when my Jack of All trade’s ability activated

Congratulations, you have learned the “Fundamentals of Recognizing Legendary Monsters.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Legendary Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Immediately I directed my experience to level the skill to 100 and was pleasantly surprised when a trumpet went off.

Congratulations, you have studied and learned all the knowledge there is to know concerning recognizing creatures and monsters. The level of dedication required to reach level 100 in ten different skills has granted you Legendary Ability. Analyze.

Analyze can be used in two ways:

First, by simply concentrating on a creature or monster up to 1 foot away per ability level you can determine the creatures or Monster type, level, name, and hit points. This does not require a roll and is automatic though defenses, skills, abilities, or spells placed on the target can prevent this ability from working.

If you are able to touch the creature and use Analyze, you have a 1% chance per ability level to know the strengths and weaknesses of the creature or monster you are touching. Defenses, skills, abilities, or spells placed on the target can reduce your ability to analyze them.

Two new abilities in as many minutes and both extremely useful. My luck attribute must have been working overtime.