Making my way back to the crossroads, I wonder about the other bosses’ power. I hadn't really had the opportunity to test the first one, but frankly, that snake had almost killed me. On my way out of the swamp, I had even raised the Earth around me to keep from stepping in the now clearer water. I totally wasn't afraid of the water…. It was just… I wanted to keep my wounds dry so they would heal faster! Yeah that's right…

Lying down in the clearing, I lied down to take in my surroundings again. Small sounds of wildlife could be heard from the paths I had already cleared and the miasma in the air had mostly disappeared. Gentle breezes came down from the mountain, naturally forming a barrier against the flames of the third path. Its barrier had diminished, and now the blazing heat could be felt coming from it. As a dragon, it didn't really bother me, but Sol seemed uncomfortable even at this distance. It looks like I'll have to leave him her for this fight. Seeming to know my string of thoughts, he gives me a worried look and pecks my forehead. Then he flies off towards the mountaintop. I think that was caring? I really wish he could talk… it's getting a bit lonely to just think to myself.

After about half of the day had passed, I had worked the venom out of my system. My wounds quickly healed after that. Soon, I was ready to fight the third boss. Walking down its path, I watch the flames. At the outer reaches of this side of the forest, they are actually…. Beautiful. Oranges, yellows, and reds flaring up in harmony and nearly… dancing. But as I went deeper and deeper, they began to change. Burning green and purple, they were angry, still predators. When I grew particularly close to a patch of flames, they would lash out. Trying to hurt me.

This is not natural. Fire is part of this world, but this? This is madness! (No, this is… wait sorry wrong book/movie. Please continue). 4th wall break repaired, foolish slave monke... author restrained. Continuing story….

Rage and horror bubbled up within me and I charged forward down the path. Eventually, I arrived at a large open field. Everything here had been already burned, and only a carpet of ashes remained as a memory of the forest’s life. In the center of the field there was a large hominid statue. It's limbs were thick and blocky, and it had metal armor on each of its joints. As I approached it to analyze it further, the statue seemed to glow. When I was barely two feet away from it, it exploded pelting me with sharp, superheated rocks. These were mainly reflected by my scales, but a few managed to scratch me.

Standing in the statue’s place, a tower of flame appeared. It was still wearing the same metallic armor that had been on the statue, but now it was filled in by angry green flames.

Seeing me, it seemed to snort and launched a blast of flame at my head. The flame actually tickled a little, which was really a pleasant feeling. Smiling at the infernal, I taunt it a little saying, “ ooh that was nice! Please feed me more….”

Enraged, the infernal blasted me with its hottest blasts. These were a bit dangerous because if multiple ones hit the same group of scales, they would eventually overwhelm it, melting through to my flesh. However, this was easily avoided by just turning to allow a different side to take the attacks.

Getting tired of this, I raised a field of spikes, which simply went through the flames, doing no damage whatsoever. Sigh, this will take a while. Constantly bashing each other with attacks, both of us refuse to stop. The infernal raises a sea of flames which I simply smother with earth. Unfortunately, when I try to smother it, the infernal just melts the Earth. It tries to launch meteors of flame at me, but I simply meet them with pillars of Earth or dodge them.

Noticing that I'm approaching half of my strength, I change my target and begin to attack the armor while removing the Earth from underneath us as a plan b. If it's armor could not break, I would bury us both and dig myself out. Fortunately, I managed to shatter its chest plate with a well placed pillar of metal. The infernal screeched and fell4 to the ground, it's fires sputtering out and leaving only its core behind.

Smirking at how easy the fight had been I walk over and open my mouth to devour the core, but suddenly it comes back to life! The core launches a beam of pure energy scorching my snout. Desperately turning away, I feel the beam dig into my side burning me down to my organs.

With my final strength, I collapse the ground, burying me under tons of rock and earth, keeping myself safe from the score hinges beam. In the Earth’s comforting embrace I sleep.

After a few days, I dig myself out of the ground and devour the core. Still heavily injured, I stagger back to the crossroads and collapse to Sol’s distress.

P.O.V. Themis:

I suppose maybe it wasn't a good idea to send Terra’s son into danger before asking her to help me. Currently, I was desperately flying around avoiding boulders and fists the size of mountains.

“Please Terra, I promise you I didn't know that those things had gotten so dangerous! You have to…” I was cut off by an asteroid hurtling towards me. Fortunately I managed to jump out if it's path at the last second, but it really had been to close.

Terra’s voice yelled out at me,” You put my baby in danger! He hasn't even evolved yet and you try to do that? No! He's my precious, sweet, little dragon!

“ Terra you know what's coming! Don't tell me you haven't seen it!” I yell back.

The attacks abate and she appears. Formed of the very earth, her eyes sparkle with gemstones and her hair is formed from long strings of precious metals. Her dress if made out of fine grains of sand, constantly shifting around her body, but still accentuating her absolutely monstrous curves. How the heck is she that big and not just bent crooked anyways?

She replies tearfully,” But why him? He's not even a thousand years old yet! Send Amun, or Tritan! But he's just a child!”

“Terra, I know your feelings for your adopted children are strong, but you know we can't send someone down. It would weaken us too much and then we'd lose our fight. He is the one that has to rally the dragons and come to our aid. And you know as well as I that he has to do it on his own.” I reply, relieved that I wasn't going to be crushed to a paste by an elder goddess today.

After an awkward silence, she acknowledges me, with an” I know.” and then turns back and invites me to watch him with her.

But suddenly, she stops and turns around. When I look at her inquiringly she asks,” wait don't tell me you're interested in my boy…” while squinting at me suspiciously.

“Nonononono, of course not!” I quickly answer.

Placing her hands on her hips she angrily asks while lifting up a million spears of rock, “ And why not? Is he not good enough for you?!!? “

Oh this is gonna be one of those centuries….

P.O.V. Terrus

Oww…. It's been four days since I returned to the clearing and I've finally healed completely. Sol, being the mother duck that he is, fussed over me constantly, bringing food and water constantly, while seemingly chiding me for how pitiful I am without his help. Humph, I'd like to have seen him fight that infernal. Speaking of it, it had raised my level all the way to 90 which was a really nice jump for me. Unfortunately, I was really rather hungry.

Anyways, the small cow sized animals he could drag here have barely been enough to sate my appetite, so I return to the outer forest and hunt down a suitable creature. While I was eating the great forest boar however, I felt something hit the scales of my flank. A pitiful trickle of mana spattered out as well.

Turning my head, I see that a long golden arrow is sticking out of my side. Apparently, it had managed to somehow land where one scale met another and get stuck there. Lazily turning my head back, I ignore the pointy eared hominid that had shot me, only to get another arrow for my troubles.

Well then, I suppose we’ll have to do this the hard way….

P.O.V. Elm

“This task does not befit a Ranger of my status!” I complain to my brother in arms Oak.

“ I know Elm. I know. Let's just get it over with. The prince should have been able to kill that great forest boar by now. He does have an enchanted bow so it can't have been too hard on his delicate fingers.” he replies mockingly.

The two of us were Elven rangers. Scouts and hunters for the Elven King, we had passed into the spirit beasts’ world so that the royal heir could complete his first hunt. At the age of 25. He hadn't even killed a beast yet and the pompous fool had actually wanted to hunt down one of the five great beasts of the inner forest. Beings which not even the king’s royal mage could handle. The arrogance of youth I suppose.

Shaking of these slightly treasonous thoughts, we walk into the clearing where we had felt the bore die. We'd felt this through the small mark we had placed on it. When we enter the clearing, we see a dragon ripping the boar apart.

“Oak,” I whisper to him,” species and level.”

Oak had memorized the basic characteristics of all known species of dragons for his mastery exam. I had chosen to study elementals instead, so we made a pretty good team. By carefully putting our knowledge of the species to use, we could use their markings gain information about them.

Wide eyed, Oak replies,” It's an earth dragon, a rare dragon variant and it’s at least level 80. Its scales are nearly impenetrable and it has near complete control over the earth. We can by no means take it.”

And of course that's when the prince chose to shoot the dragon in the side. Wincing, we watched the dragon slowly turn to observe the arrow lodged in its scales. It was a full power shot from a master level enchanted bow and it still couldn't scratch the dragon’s hide. Fortunately, the dragon seemed to be one of the kinder ones. It only snorted in the prince’s direction and turned back to its meat.

Sighing in relief, we make our way towards the prince only to see that he's notched a second arrow.

“No please don…… you idiot!” I practically scream as the shot lands on the dragon's side. Turning to the prince, the dragon slowly walked forward.

“what do we do?” oak asks me in a panicked voice.

“We hope that the dragon is kind and not merely lazy.” I replied as I walk into the clearing.

“Great Dragon, please forgive us. This foolish young one is on his first hunt and can not tell the prey from the hunter.” I yell out in draconic. Seeming to think on my words, oh thank the gods, the dragon begins to reply only to be cut off by another arrow from the prince. This one hit him in the lip, drawing out a drop of blood.

Quickly before the dragon can move on dash over to the prince and slap him across the face. Taking his bow, I brake it across my knee. Turning back to the dragon I profusely apologize for the prince’s continued idiocy.

Behind me, said prince begins to yell at me,” How dare you woman? I am your prince! If you would have let me be, this beast would have fallen by now!”

Meanwhile, Oak came over and clamped his hands over the prince’s jaw tightly. Both of us waited anxiously for the dragons reply.

Finally a deep rumbling voice responds,” You little ones have tried to harm me today. This is an offense, but it was not enacted by the two of you. You have spoken and acted honorably. Therefore, you two may go, but the littlest one should be left behind.”

Well shit. Looking back at oak, I hear him whisper,” Don't grovel or flatter. He wants justice and honor. If you play it right he'll let us go without a fight.”

“Great one, surely you would not take the life of a gnat that drew your blood. His life is worth no more than that gnat’s. Please, for your honor's sake let him live.”

The dragon bellowed,”Do not presume to teach me honor, elf! Your kind is the last to speak of that.”

Ouch, but oak seemed encouraged so I continued.

“ Please great one, he has not yet learned to hunt. Killing him now would be a waste. At least let him grow to be a challenge to you.”

“ Your words hurt your cause little elf. If I had wanted to kill the little one, that would have convinced me to do it now, before his potential could be awoken. Fortunately for the both of you, I want to teach him a truth of this world.”

Shocked, I gasp and breathe out,” you would truly teach him?”

“ Let him come forth. If he can reach me, he shall be taught.” the dragon replies as we begin to feel a massive pressure fall on the area.

Rushing over to the prince I urgently say to him,” Eliadel this dragon is strong enough to level our capital and sow the ground with our people’s blood.” his eyes nearly pop out of his head and he immediately begins to pull out a knife.

“No your highness, no need to kill yourself. His ire has not been aroused. He has offered to teach you a truth of this world if you can pass through his pressure. Go quickly and if you can't continue, stop and turn back okay?”

Nodding determinedly, he pushes forward into the pressure.

As he got closer and closer to the dragon, the pressure began to spike, until finally when he reached the dragon he fell onto his knees before it. The dragon slowly lowered its head and spoke. “Today, you learn humility.” touching his snout to the prince’s forehead, he teaches.

“Once you have truly understood its value, return to me. The mark will guide you.” and the dragon turns and walks away.

P.O.V. Terrus

Bwahahah that had been fun! They were so scared of me! Hmm, I wonder how I'd learned that knowledge transfer thing… it seemed like a really old memory. Ehh, if it's important I suppose it'll come up.

Anyways, let's fight these last two beasts! Walking down into the golem’s cave, I feel for the Earth, only to find that… yeah I still have full control of it. Well that makes this easy!

The golem pops out of the ground, a huge monstrosity with multiple limbs, all made out of stone. With a few well placed hammers of metal and stone, It was very quickly reduced to rubble. Biting down on its core, I feel shadows pour into me.

Shit it was called a corrupted golem wasn't it. I need to stop this! Pouring my energy out, I begin to fight back against the darkness. Ugh why does every fight have to end with me almost dying due to stupidity?! Running out of the cave I burst into the sunlight, burning away the darkness. Well with a little help from a very annoyed bird that is. And finally, with level 99 I was standing before the entrance to the forest's heart.

Walking in with Sol, I am awed by the beautiful, and horrifying sight I see before me. A giant green heart is beating into the center of a massive hollow tree, hundreds of meters wide. It's covered by red and purple veins and arteries that are pumping corruption into it. Everything around the heart is decayed, brown and sludgy. Between the heart and I, a massive Ent stands.

Covered in the corrupted vessels, the ent’s face is frozen in a rictus of agony. It's limbs have stretched out to be spider thin, but they still look dangerously powerful. From its back, a third arm stretches out. It almost looks likes a scorpion's tail and has a vicious venomous tip.

Trusting my time honored strategy, I charge the ent. However, this would not be that easy. It dodges me, and raises spear-shaped roots to score my sides. Angrily I call upon the Earth to attack it with bludgeoning hammers, but it protects itself with shields made of wood.

“Sol distract it!” I yell out. Sol begin a to launch spheres of light towards the ent. It easily deflects them while still keeping its focus on me. Hmm, this is a tough guy indeed. Well let's try this then.

Once again I charge forward. Covering my with Iron, I prepare for the Ent to dodge my attack, only to be surprised as it instead catches me with two of its arms. Then it begins to spear downward with its third one. Fortunately, I manage to turn my head and take the blow on my horn, but it still carves a groove onto the bone. Wrenching out of the Ent’s grasp, I turn and tried to slam my reinforced tail into it, only to be caught by massive roots that raised out of the ground.

Backing up, I reevaluate the situation. Physical attacks probably won’t work too well against this foe, but Sol’s energy didn’t really have an effect either. If I just start blasting out beams of spirit power, I’ll tire out immediately, possibly before it dies, leaving me at its mercy. Hmm, lets try the avatar then.

Forming and avatar with Earth-infused spirit energy, I roar at the ent. I’m now larger than it, and far stronger than I had been when we clashed earlier. Leaping forward, I crush the Ent between my massive jaws. Well that was easy, oh wait. What’s happening to the heart thing?

The corrupted vessels around the heart shrunk to half their size, pumping vast flows of corruption into the heart. Beating madly, the heart pumped this corruption into the nearby massive trees. Massive titans hundreds of meters tall, these trees all began to move. While not humanoid like the ent, they began to bash downward with their branches. Meanwhile, another, taller, ent was growing from the corrupted heart.

Hmm, well I suppose I have to survive until that ent forms don’t I? Curling up, I release the avatar and form a hard shell of Rock and iron. I built it as thickly and strongly as I could, but I still felt the massive blows raining down. Soon, I had to reinforce it, and even expand it into a full sphere to protect me from dangerous sharp roots.

Eventually i feel the attacks diminish and peek out of a hole i made in my sphere. Standing in front of the heart was an Ent Half again as tall as the first. It had four thick Elephant like legs and a huge hammer in its hands. On its head, it had a large helmet with four horns. This monstrosity proceeded to slam its hammer down on my shell, cracking it. Jumping out, I ran back away from it.

This ent was much stronger than the previous one, but it didn’t seem to have as much control over the roots. Raising some spikes of metal, i test its defenses. Completely ignoring them, it lets the spikes shatter against its hide. Well, shit.

Galloping to me, it holds its hammer out to the side, ready to smash it against me. Dodging to the opposite side, I rake my claws down its flank. They barely cut into the flesh. Without its momentum, I probably would have done no damage.

Turning to me, it swings its hammer again, but I manage to jump back, avoiding the blow completely. Rushing forward into the space created by its miss, I activate my avatar and jump on it back. Holding its arms with my front legs, I clampdown on its neck with my jaws, and rip its back apart with my back legs. Snorting in pain, the c-ent-aur tries to slam me into a nearby tree. Simply jumping down from its back, I keep crushing its neck. Slowly but surely, my jaws close as it bucks and throws me around. Finally after an agonizing ride, I rip its head from its shoulders.

Tired out, I watch as the veins and arteries of corruption around the heart disintegrate forming one last ent. A massive monstrosity arises. A tangled mess of limbs branches and vines, it has no identifiable features. With every motion, it spews out corruption. Slowly it drags itself toward me. Covering nearly half of the clearing, the creature blocks any paths of escape, and I simply left watching it slowly get closer and closer.

Crippling fear grips me, and I’m frozen to the spot. A massive aura, many times greater than mine weighs down upon me, and the grotesque monster evokes every primal instinct I have to run. Suddenly three voices sound in my head.

“Oh my baby! Don’t you worry, mommy will keep you safe from that disgusting thing!”

“All right big guy, I didn’t know that this thing would be so strong. For a fair fight, Why don’t I give you your reward a bit early?”

“You can do this Son. Do not fear the unknown for it merely tests you. The time of chaos has passed, and this… This is your moment!

You have received the divine blessing of the Earth! All Earth-based powers will be vastly improved and you gain a nearly impenetrable shield. Note: This buff will only last for the duration of this battle.

Congratulations! You have become a Champion of Themis, goddess of Honor and Justice! + 20 % damage to chaotic units! You can now contact Themis directly!

Congratulations! You have been named The Son of Fire! All fire and energy based abilities are now vastly improved. Having been adopted by two Gods, new evolution paths have been opened for you! The path to divinity has now been opened!

HAHAHA! Now let's fight for real!

Activating my avatar again, I’m surprised by its appearance. Instead of A huge shell of rock and energy, it was now made of magma and had a massive crown of horns protruding from its head. IT WAS AWESOME! HAHA!

I drawback my head and gather a massive amount of energy. Sensing its incoming death, the monstrosity began to surge forwards, uprooting trees and plants from its path. But…. It was too late!

Pushing my head forward I roar releasing all the energy that I had gathered in front of me. Six oriental dragons form, three of earth and three of fire. Flying forward, they circle around the main beam of energy and crash into the forest’s corruption with a resounding boom.

A blinding light forms, and fierce winds shred outwards. Overpressure waves blast out as well, ripping down many of the smaller trees. When the dust settled, all that was left behind was a large core, and the heart of the forest.

Congratulations, you have cleared the forest of corruption. Now you have to choose whether to eat the core or the heart itself! If you devour the core, you will gain far less strength, but if you chose to eat the heart, the entire forest will die. Choose wisely.

Well that’s an easy choice. Walking over to the heart, I admire its beauty while munching down on the core. Once I was done I felt ready to finally evolve. Before I fell into the evolution sleep however, a notification appeared in front of me.

By choosing to save the forest and devour the core, you have gained an affinity. You are now a being of Creation! Unlike order that preserves, and chaos that destroys, you always seek to bring about new and beautiful things. Always seeking strength, you propel the cycle of life and death. Your opposite is Ruin.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.O.V Terrus: Evolution

Again I wake up inside myself. This time, instead of a shadowy nothingness I see an endless sea of Rock. In front of me I once again have three choices.

The first choice is a slim, agile dragon. It has long thin limbs and long leathery wings. Its horns face forwards, and it has a dangerous barb on its tail. Before my eyes it dissolves, blowing away like sand in the wind only to reform in a different position, ready to strike.

(Champion) Sand Dragon: A very rare hybrid dragon. It contains a mix of Air, Fire, and Earth. Agile and Cunning, it specializes in Agility, Dexterity, and Intelligence. While still maintaining the constitution and strength that characterize the dragons, it has weak Resistance. Very strong in Illusion magic, it gains the racial ability “sandform”. SSS growth rate

Hmm, that’s really interesting, but I don’t think it's for me. It requires too much on agility and dexterity. My fighting style is basically bash and rend them until they’re dead! While that sandform would be nice, i don’t think it quite makes up for the negatives.

The second is a glass dragon. Made out of pure black glass, light reflects and bends around it. It is long and willowy, with very sharp crystalline edges. Its wings are made out of many paper thin sheets of glass that slide over each other.

(Champion) Obsidian Dragon. A very rare hybrid dragon. It is a mix of Fire and Earth. It specializes in Intelligence, Dexterity, and Resistance. While it has good Strength and Agility stats, its glaring weakness is its weak Constitution. Very Strong in Light, Shadow, Earth, and Fire magic. It has the racial ability “Perfect Reflect”. SSS growth rate

Again, interesting but not for me. It’s too much of a ‘glass’ cannon. If anything physical could get close to me, I would die almost instantly, and I am not in favor of that idea.

And finally, the third looks perfect. Appearing Earthy like my current form, this dragon is blackened. Raging fires can be seen in the gaps between the rough, rocky scales. Unlike my current form, it has two broad wings jutting out from its back, and a tail that merely thins out. Its neck extends upwards and its head is crowned by multiple horns that jut backwards. Flames burst out behind these horns accentuating them.

(Champion) Magma Dragon. An ultra rare hybrid dragon. It is a mix of Earth and Fire. It specializes in Resistance, Strength, and Constitution, with very good Intelligence and a moderate amount of Dexterity. This dragon is only available to the creation affinity. It gains the racial passive “Blazing Heart”. SSS growth rate.

Well that’s perfect! It lets me keep most of my skills while giving me a big power boost. Also the extra dexterity will be nice. I’m getting tired of just being able to make spikes and pillars with magic. I step into the magma dragon and watch my core change around me.

The rock boils over, forming an endless lake of lava. Here and there, mountains of rock jut upward. Plates of lightweight rocks also float around my glorious lake. All-in-all a perfect place for a magma drake.

However, instead of playing here, I wake up into my new body.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew, typed this all out on my phone. (Rip Thumbs)

Just a few final notes.

When a God calls him son it is basically an adoption. He is by no means a god… yet… (No wait what is this? Spoiler Police? Ahhhh!!! Gets dragged away kicking and screaming, only to be replaced at the typewriter by an identical monkey)

This chapter does mark the end of the grind. From now on, the story will change in pace a little just to warn you guys. Later on there might be a few more chapters, of pure fighting, but until then get ready for interactions between characters!

The humans and the elves will return in the far, far future. We might check up on them occasionally, but they are not currently very important.

Almost tricked you into thinking he’d take the heart didn’t I?

Finally I included a poll at the top about whether the stats should be kept. I did give myself a little leeway plot wise to allow it to be removed at any point. (See conversation with Themis at the end of Chapter 4) Advertisement Previous

Chapter Fiction

Index Next

Chapter RSS About the author 2 Fictions 0 Posts 0 Threads The Eldest Potato Follow Author Monday, September 5, 2016 11:07:39 PM A Dragon's Squire

Bio:

Achievements Comments(13) Set Compact Log in to comment

Log In Load Comments Please enable JavaScript to load the comments! Log in to comment

Log In Settings Theme (Entire Website) Dark Light Dim background 0% 20% 40% 50% 60% 80% 100% Font Size 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 24 28 32 Reader Width Max 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% Font Family Default ————— Open Dyslexic Atkinson Hyperlegible ————— Arial Roboto Open Sans OS Default Comic Sans Lucida Verdana Ubuntu Ubuntu Condensed Franklin Gothic Garamond Caslon Minion Font Color Indent Color Scheme Theme Default OLED Black Royal Road Dark Dark Gray Gray Light Gray Sepia White Paragraph Spacing Close × Give Reputation to User: Points You can specify how many points you want to give (minimum: 0, maximum: 0). Comment (optional) Why are you giving this user reputation? Give Reputation Close About

Royal Road® is the home of web novels and fan fictions! In our amazing community, you can find various talented individuals who write as a hobby or even professionally, artists who create art for them, and many, many readers who provide valuable feedback and encouragement.

Amazon Affiliate Royal Road® is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Theme Select Dark Light

Follow Us On Need some help? Create a support ticket

Contact Contact Us by Email

Advertising Ads for Authors

Programmatic Advertising Royal Road® © 2013-2022 Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Blog | Status Tap again to scroll to the top!