119. Unarith

Defeated [Skeleton Warrior - Lvl. 102]!

More experience is awarded for defeating an enemy at least 30 levels above you!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

...

Defeated [Unarmed Skeleton - Lvl. 93]!

More experience is awarded for defeating an enemy at least 20 levels above you!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Class [Summoner of Guardians] Level Up!

[Summoner of Guardians - Lvl. 65] -> [Summoner of Guardians - Lvl. 66]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

Class [Summoner of Guardians] Level Up!

[Summoner of Guardians - Lvl. 66] -> [Summoner of Guardians - Lvl. 67]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

Edithe downed the healing potion and tossed its bottle to the ground. The wounds— the myriad of cuts— throughout her body began to close as she steadied herself on her staff. Daniel glanced over at her, a worried look on his face.

“Are you alright?”

He pulled his sword out of a pile of bones. Wiping the sweat from his brows, he shook his head.

“You’ve leveled again.”

“I did. And I’m fine.”

She replied curtly. In reality, Edithe was not fine. She watched how Daniel disposed of the group of [Unarmed Skeletons]. He barely needed her help— all she did was stand at the side and cast a few spells. It frustrated her.

It was one thing seeing Salvos, a Demon, completely overshadow her. And while she had known Daniel was quite talented— considering that he had kept up with Salvos— it was a different thing entirely to see him in action without the Demon around.

“Let’s just go back.”

She shook her head, knowing that she should not be upset. He was helping her. He had no reason to be here… other than being roped around by Salvos into doing what she wanted. But she was gone, and he was helping Edithe now.

Edithe let out a frustrated sigh. Daniel glanced back at her, but said nothing.

The pair made their way back towards Ghostlight in silence. It was almost awkward— Edithe realized now that she did not actually know him that well. Sure, they chatted and hung around each other, even when Salvos was not present. But fighting together? Just the two of them? That was a completely new experience.

“...maybe we should just wait for Salvos to return.”

Daniel finally spoke up. Edithe frowned.

“Why?”

“This is too difficult with just the both of us— I mean, sure, we’re getting more experience with each fight since we don’t have to share it with her. But it’s dangerous. If either of us messes up once… there won’t be anyone else there to correct our mistake.”

That was certainly true. The red-haired woman could not forget that she would be dead right now if it were not for Salvos. And yet, Salvos brought them here so that Edithe could get stronger.

She was not going to let the thought and effort there go to waste.

“We’ll just have to be more cautious, then.”

“...if you say so.”

Daniel shrugged.

“We’re free!”

I threw all four of my hands in the air and rolled on the grassy floor. Xidra eyed me with an intrigued look. She picked her claw at her scales.

“We have just exited the Dead Zone, Salvos the Demon. However, we are not back at Unarith just yet.”

“I know that, Xidra the [Herbalist]!”

I did not stick my tongue out at her, since that would have conveyed the exact opposite meaning I wanted it to. She started past me, heading up into a valley of rolling hills.

“It is not far. Not with your speed. Let us continue.”

I got to my feet, glancing back one last time in the direction of the Plaguelands. The miasma was thick there— the brown blight which slowed ebbed away at my strength, speed, and magic. A small field of blight flowers was visible in the distance. I had not fallen into one just yet, but I wondered what would happen if I had.

It’d probably cripple me, I thought as I continued on.

Xidra was not slow by any means. She might have had a non combat Class, but she was rather high leveled. Which meant that she had all the Stat Points a Level 70 would have, and even if she distributed them somewhere else, she would still have some spent into [Agility].

It might not have had the same bonus granted as a [Rogue] or an [Archer]. I was told by Edithe that each Stat served different functions for different Classes. A [Seamstress] might have needed the [Agiility] Stat to speed up her weaving, maybe even make her movements more delicate, but it would not help her run faster than a [Rogue] of the same level.

The two of us made good progress. I was not sure if she knew where she was going, however she seemed to be using the sun’s location in the sky to guide her, as well as a… Skill?

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

I asked her as the sun began to set. We were cresting up to the top of a hill. The landscape here was moundy— a lot of rock and stone. It made for a very boring trek, since all I saw was a dull-gray wherever I looked. A cloud passed overhead as she answered.

“It is not far. I can sense the vegetation returning.”

“What do you mean by vegetation? All I see here are rocks and…”

I trailed off as we reached the top. I saw peeking over the undulating lines of gray the first signs of civilization. They poked out like odd, sharp rocks. Thin and long. They appeared by the dozens filled my view before the city came into sight.

There were no walls girdling around it. It was not a sprawling metropolis like the cities I saw in the Human lands— the buildings here were short. Many of them only had a single floor. They were mostly orange or brown in color. Not made out of wood, but some kind of stone with a similar shade.

The only anomaly were those tall towers. None of them were as wide or large as a clock tower or guard tower. Yet, they filled the city with their presence. I narrowed my eyes and pointed at one of them.

“What are those?”

“Minarets.”

Xidra replied simply.

“Places of worship for the Old Gods.”

I stared at her before crossing my arms.

“You keep bringing these ‘Old Gods’ up. What are they even?”

The Kobold woman’s tongue slithered out of her mouth. The edges of her eyes curled up as she spoke a word.

“Dragons. The Old Gods are Dragons.”

“...what?”

—--

Apparently, Kobolds worshipped these bigger versions of themselves that had wings and flew around breathing fire. That sounded like me, except I did not have wings.

Can I get an evolution with wings? That’d be so cool!

I stopped at the bottom of a valley with Xidra. She told me I would have gotten a few angry members of the Scale Sentinel coming after me if I went in looking like I did. She had me transform into my Mortal Form.

“No, not as a Human— you told me you could transform into any Species, Salvos the Demon.”

“Oh. I’m just so used to… also, I can only transform to some. I can’t turn into dogs, but I think I can turn into a Kobold?”

I tested it out and it worked. My body shifted and I grew even shorter than I was as a Human. Silver scales covered my body, and a tail sprouted out from my back. Claws growed out of my hand, however they were far more dull than what I had normally. I blinked and looked at myself.

“I look fancy now, my skin is all weird feeling. But wait…”

I frowned as I took a look at my Stats.

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 84 (+5)

[Strength]: 60 (+5) (-4)

[Endurance]: 84 (+5) (-4)

[Wisdom]: 120 (+5) (+5) (-4)

[Agility]: 173 (+5) (-4)

“Huh. I have higher [Vitality] as a Kobold—”

General Skill [Racial Skill: Mortal Form] Level Up!

[Racial Skill: Mortal Form - Lvl. 3] -> [Racial Skill: Mortal Form - Lvl. 4]!

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!!

I jolted back as Xidra spoke a reply.

“Yes, that is what distinguished us Kobolds from Humans. Some say it is what makes us better, but I disagree. I’m sure you realize that by now.”

“Yep! You think Kobolds are the same as Humans. Which is true! You're both worse than being a Demon!”

I nodded before grinning, and she laughed.

“Your sense of humor fascinates me. It is like a child if a child knew what she were saying was wrong.”

“Daniel calls it banter.”

“And Daniel is your Human friend?”

“One of my companions! Edithe is the other!”

“Yes… the ones your wish to return to.”

Xidra handed me some clothes and turned around. I quickly put on those robes— they were not like the difficult to wear Human clothing. I could get dressed in mere moments. Then I followed after her.

“I have acquaintances who shall be able to help you with that.”

“Yay!”

I cheered as I tightened the cloth belt around my waist.

We reached the periphery of the city. Unarith was what Xidra called it. I remembered hearing that name before. From Adan. He told me he was headed here to trade his wares. My head snapped around, glancing between the small buildings, searching for a Cyclops man with a large sack.

I did not see him.

Instead I saw a lot of Kobolds. Many bright colored scales. Blue, green, yellow, red. They did not fill the streets like a Human city would. They were not bustling about their day, rushing to get to work. Instead, it was a lot more laid back atmosphere.

There were no street vendors shouting and pointing at you, trying to get you to buy their goods. It was quiet. Almost serene. We walked past a thin stream of water cutting through the streets. I saw plants growing alongside it— some kind of vegetable. Their farmland was integrated into the city. Even in the back of houses, I saw fruits and other kinds of agriculture being grown.

Xidra led me to a large minaret standing at the center of the city. As we walked through, a few faces turned towards her. Many of them were in recognition, while others were in shock at the state of her appearance. She had just returned from the Plaguelands. Her clothes were torn, her scales were cut, and her entire body was covered in grime.

We arrived at the base of the tower and a few Kobold men with spears rushed at us. I thought they were preparing to attack at first, but they quickly bowed at her.

“Xidra the [Herbalist]! You have returned!”

“Nav the [Warrior], I see you have been well.”

“Where have you been, First Dragonling? Who is this strange woman with you?”

I waved at him.

“Hi! I’m Salvos!”

“You would be wise to refer to her with some respect, Nav. This is the woman who saved my life. She is a [Mage] of tremendous power.”

Xidra spoke, stepping forward. We crossed a small bridge towards the minaret just ahead of us. It was surrounded by water— the entire area around it some kind of farmland. The Kobold men sputtered. The one named Nav turned to me, eyes wide.

“Wait, saved your life? What happened, First Dragonling?”

“The Scale Sentinels stole me from my own abode. Gexli was behind it, however she slayed him.”

“She killed Gexli?”

“Impossible, she’s only Level 80—”

I beamed at their reactions. I had not seen such surprised looks in a while. And with their whispery voice, it made it all the better. Like they were spreading rumors of my greatness behind my back. Nav clenched his claws.

“That Gexli… he went too far this time.”

He bowed my way.

“I thank you, Salvos the [Mage], for what you did for the Risen Dragons.”

I raised my chin and waved a hand dismissively.

“Aw, it’s fine. I was just passing by…”

“We owe you a great debt. For saving our First Dragonling— we cannot thank you enough.”

Giggling, I placed a hand over my mouth.

“Well, if you insist, then I’d like a few things… but wait, what do you mean by First Dragonling, anyway?”

I glanced over at Xidra. She stopped right before the minaret. Her hand was at the door. She turned around, facing me with her tongue out.

“Ah, apologies. It seems I never did formally introduce myself. I am Xidra, the highest leveled [Herbalist] and head of the Risen Dragons in this city of Unarith. And for that, I have been granted the Title of First Dragonling.”

…

“Nice! So, you’re someone important, then?”