Chapter 4: Inheritor of Super Armor
"So, tell me again why we are heading off with him?"
Demios, Phobos, and Cronus are now standing close to the main gate. The news about Cronus's bounty being taken down causes quite a stir among the residences. The official explanation of the guild is, 'We're investigating a related incident regarding The Reaper.' Hunters weren't happy about this development, although there is nothing they can do about it.
"I told you. The guild demanded me to take care of him and there is nothing I can do."
Despite his bounty has been taken down, Cronus is still wary of his surroundings, afraid that anyone might recognize him. To take care of that problem, Phobos is the one that keeps his weapon, much to his displeasure. Not that it helps, since his helmet already draws a lot of attention. Phobos can't do anything about it though, as Cronus refuses to take it off.
"Speaking of which, why are you dressed like that?" Demios points at Phobos' outfit, which is the same attire he wore when they first met. Around them are various participants that wear light armor. Phobos is the only one that wears heavy armor today. Even Cronus, choose to wear a black shirt instead of loght armor. They also each carry a bag with them.
Cronus himself avoided going out during those times, preferred staying in Phobos's room. This caused Phobos unable to move around too far lest he risked getting found out for housing Cronus and caused a lot of problems as people are still wary whether the Reaper's threat is still lingering or not. The situation has gotten better these days.
"I'll take protection any time compared to some comfortable clothes," he gestures to Cronus, "besides, since we're leaving for some time, I don't have any choice but to bring him along."
Demios doesn't reply back. His eyes continue to stare at Cronus intently, watching his movements for suspicious activity. Phobos himself scans the small crowd; all of the participants are dragons, perhaps around twenty in total, including them. Yet one certain figure sticks out due to everyone doesn't talk to him. He is looking at his own equipment for this expedition. Phobos immediately recognizes him with his trademark long horn, and his slithering movement.
"Anima! You're here too?"
Anima turns around and smiles upon seeing Phobos, "Phobos. I see you are participating as well."
"Sort of. I am curious about this expedition, as in why gather us?"
"Usually, official expedition is done with the natives' approval. Perhaps there is something else is going on."
Phobos and Anima continue their little chat.
"Will you stop glaring at me?"
Demios is still silent, his eyes remains at Cronus. He still didn't trust him.
Someone's footsteps gets his attention. It is Ray, with his halberd and shield behind him. Demios ignores Cronus and approaches Ray, much to Cronus's relief. He begins using this personal time to pay attention, whether people seem to eye him or not. So far, most of them seem to be busy with their stuff rather than their surroundings. Cronus decides to look for Phobos. Standing around doing nothing will make him stand out quickly. He quickly regrets that decision.
"I thought The Halberd's doesn't participate in these kinds of jobs." Demios inquires regarding Ray's reason to present at this expedition.
"We're more like private guardians at times. But this one should be good enough for me to try."
"Try? This is your first outside this city?"
"No, I mean my first real adventure," there is a sparkle on his eyes. He is really looking forward to this, "the leader should be here soon."
Ray and Demios look at the empty streets, waiting for signs of someone to arrive.
"So, this is the one they called 'Reaper'."
Anima had been examining Cronus for some time, checking him out. The only reason that Anima comes to that conclusion is that Cronus match the description that Phobos gives out the other day. Cronus is slowly becoming uncomfortable with Anima's constant examinations.
"Can't you do something?" Cronus asks Phobos.
"Sorry, I can't stop him. Well, I tried." Cronus sighs in defeat from Phobos's response.
Anima begins checking Cronus's hand. Cronus quickly pulls his hand off, "Hands off," he glares at Anima.
Anima stares at Cronus for a bit, "Fine, I will back off, for now."
The sounds of wings flapping in the sky catch everyone's attention. Two giant dragons fly overhead the city, landing just outside the town. The main gate opens up as a figure descends from the dragon. Everyone walks outside the city as they approach the figure.
Upon closer look the figure reveals itself to be a large red dragon, wearing a lab coat. Behind him are two humans, Dragon Knights, taking care of their dragons as the red dragon address the crowd in front of him.
"First of all, thank you for gathering here today. I am Galvanic, the head of this expedition."
The crowd's reactions are all the same thing, curious as a red dragon usually isn't in this kind of profession. Galvanic himself eyes the crowd, especially noting those who doesn't fly with wings, and the fact there is a white dragon. His eye remains at Ray for a few seconds before addressing the crowd again.
"Because I know that some of you that participate can't fly, I have enlisted the help of these fellow Dragon Knights," he gestures to two humans behind him, "Allow me to present you, Dragon Knights, Tutankhamun, and Dragon Knights, Geronimo."
Two humans stand in front of the crowd. One is a tan young human with yellow and blue hair, wearing an Egyptian outfit. His attire seems to indicate that he is someone with high authority. He also carries with him a staff. Behind him is a white dragon wearing a similar armor.
The other one, a tall man wearing an Indian chief outfit with two axes dangling from his waists. Behind him is a giant black dragon with colorful markings which resemble some sort of totem.
"Tutankhamun? The king of the western sands? How did he able to get him?"
"And that one is Geronimo! The chief that is known to destroy any enemies that oppose him."
Murmurs spread through the crowd; their shock is understandable as two well known figures is now standing within them.
"Tutankhamun or King Tut, the ruler of the sands. I've heard several of his attempts to create a better kingdom for his subjects. Never though I will meet him here," Anima eyes the two dragon knights intently.
After the murmurs become quiet, some of those that can't fly are meant to ride alongside the Dragon Knights. Out of those that can't do so, only five that fell into that category. Phobos opts to ride alongside Anima as he is the heaviest among them. They were set to ride with King Tut.
"Can that dragon even lift me?" Phobos asks after Anima feels that he is secure on top of the dragon.
"There is nothing Horus can't lift. Now let us go, before we waste any more time," the king commands as he checks over his passenger.
"Okay…," Phobos leaps and lands on the dragon's back. The dragon, Horus falls flat to the ground, the weight of his armor also adds to the sudden fall. Snickers of laughter among those who watch just add to Phobos's embarrassment.
"I shouldn't have worn my armor…," Phobos laments.
"Yeah, you shouldn't," Anima shakes his head.
"It will be a long journey. Prepare yourself, for we are taking off. Horus! Let us rise!"
The dragon gave a roar before flapping its wings, slowly ascending to the sky. Beside them Geronimo also commands his dragon to fly; with the remaining others fly as well. Ray flies between Horus and Geronimo's dragon alongside Demios and Galvanic, while Cronus flies beside Horus.
The journey proves to be a miserable one for Phobos. The armor absorbs the heat and causes him to sweat profusely. Anima ends up lending him an umbrella for the duration of the travel while he wears a hood.
Around 2 hours goes by since they begin the travel. The group is now travelling the desert. The entire area around them is nothing but sand. The heat began to intensify at this time. The heat causes some of the members to lag behind, not helping the fact that they have been travelling without rest.
"Ahead of us is an oasis. Let us take our rest over there for the day," Galvanic points forward.
"You've been here before?" Anima questions.
"Sort of. I've scouted the area a few times."
True to his word, an oasis can be seen ahead. A large lake with lush green natures surrounding it is visible from above. All of them lands as they begin to gather their own stuff.
"Let us set a camp here."
The camp is set down close to the lake. Dragons begin to pile up various wooden stuff they carry with them to make a fire for the night. Phobos set up a tent alongside Demios. Due to the small space available, a few dragons end up bunking tent together to save space. Phobos ends up with Anima and Cronus while Demios stays with Ray and Galvanic. The Dragon Knights stay close to their dragons while sharing a tent.
"That is quite a burn over there."
Phobos is now inside his tent alongside Anima and Cronus. Phobos has taken off his armor. His entire body stings from the pain due to the heat. He is laying face down on one of the mattress. Anima speaks an arcane sentence. Ice envelops his hand as he presses it against the burn mark. Phobos clenches his teeth in pain as a cooling sensation covers his body.
Cronus simply looks at the scene all while sitting in the corner. Anima covers Phobos with a white sheet before Phobos decides to sleep. Cronus pulls out spare clothes from his bag, setting it beside Phobos before sleeping himself. Anima decides to read a book he has with him.
It is still afternoon, the sun beats down harshly among the sands as everyone remains inside their tents.
"Honestly, I'm actually surprised," Galvanic begins, "To find that one of the Halberd's participate in here,´ He points at the emblem Ray possesses with him, "A white dragon no less!"
"My participation here is nothing more than my own personal accord," Ray replies firmly.
"With that kind of outfit, I am surprised that you didn't attract a lot of attention," Demios stares at Ray's attire. His main emblem is still on his chain mail and shield. He turns to Galvanic, "So, why are you alone? I thought archaeologists usually travel together in groups, but there is only you here."
Galvanic turns away from them, "I can't answer that yet. It is better if you see the reason for yourselves…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ray asks, but Galvanic remains quiet. Demios and Ray stares at Galvanic, hoping for more information. But he still remains quiet.
Hours goes by, it is now evening. Participants begin to clean themselves off on the oasis. Anima remains inside the tent while Phobos and Cronus meet up with Ray, Demios, and Galvanic respectively. Phobos wears the clothes the Cronus pulled out earlier.
"What's with the helmet?" Ray asks Cronus.
"Don't ask," Cronus responds back, moving away from them.
"What's with these entire unanswered questions today?" Ray asks in confusion.
"I wish I knew…," Phobos massages his temple.
Cronus stands by a tree, looking around the oasis while Ray and Galvanic proceeds to clean themselves, while Demios and Phobos talks.
"I can't trust him Phobos, you know that," Demios sighs before continuing, "Phobos, do you really trust him?"
"I don't know, but what can I do? I practically brought this to myself," Phobos takes a deep breath, "But I can't just turn away, especially after what I have discovered. I did tell you about it right?"
Demios sighs in frustration, Phobos did tell him about the discoveries.
"Look; I know you don't trust him. But at the least, I will ensure that he doesn't randomly attack anyone."
"All right, but I will keep an eye on him," Demios says, turning his attention towards Cronus, but less staring compared to earlier, "By the way, how are you feeling now?"
"Better, it doesn't sting anymore."
"Good to know," Demios takes a look at Phobos's outfit, black shirts and pants, "and your armor?"
"Safely kept inside my tent," Phobos grins.
Back at their tent, Anima stares at Phobos' bag. Phobos keeps the armor into a bag and then proceeds to tie it to the tent so that no one can take it away. It looks like as if the bag will tear itself apart any moment.
Anima shrugs and returns to the book he almost finished reading.
After everyone finishes wash themselves up, including Anima, all of them gathers under a fire where they began eating their food.
"So, mind telling us what these 'ancient artifacts' is all about?" Everyone wants to know regarding the object of interest in this expedition.
"I suppose I can tell you…," Galvanic begin, "Have you ever heard of 'Super Armors'?"
"You mean those armors that are believed about granting its user incredible power? They really exist?" Anima is curious that this expedition is about them, as most believe them to be a myth.
"According to our scouts, there is a ruined temple that hasn't been explored yet," the king begins explaining, "Although to be more accurate, we can't. Once we reached the ruins, you will understand why."
No one speaks a word, silence overcome everyone as all of them wonders about what King Tut speaks of.
"Can't explore the ruins?"Anima's voice pierces through the silence as he heads forward, "Why is that? What happened to the previous group?"
Both Galvanic and King Tut closes their eyes, it appears that Geronimo knows nothing about it.
"We have a right to know. After all, your ads already claimed that we will be paid if we returned alive," Phobos in turn speaks out, "And allow me to guess, they died."
Finally Galvanic nods, "I sent out a small group previously, and they were never heard again. All that remains are one last communication, telling that the sandstorm covered the ruins is too strong to break through, and they saw something within it."
Various feelings rush through the participants. Some are in fear, and some are wondering to find out what creatures lies within the desert.
"How did you get approval in the first place?" Anima asks, eyes still at Galvanic and King Tut.
"Reports of suspicious activities have been reported from the ruins. We cannot confirm who or what caused this," King Tut gestures to Galvanic, "it was around the time where he requests an approval. Since the destination is also located at the source, I gave them my approval."
Anima rubs his chin, pondering. Galvanic proceeds to announce, "If there is no more question, let us take rest for the night. Tomorrow, we reached our destination and...," he pauses, "confront whatever that is..." he turns back to his tent, King Tut followed suit to his own.
"Come to think of it, why are you participating as well? Sorry if it sounds offensive, just curious, "Phobos asks Geronimo.
The man closes his eyes, crossing his arms, "The time of the hunt draws closer. The being shall fall before me."
He turns away to tend to his dragon, leaving Phobos speechless.
"He..., he just ignored me!"
"It appears that he participates to hunt down this monster," Demios concludes, "but this is the first time I heard of this."
"The reputation of Geronimo as an incredible hunter is greatly known to those who look for information about him," Ray begins explaining, "If there is anyone who can, he can."
Anima looks at Cronus, still looking around with a somewhat suspicious stare. Anima feels like that watching Cronus gives him the feeling that he is practically looking at himself.
He approaches Cronus, nudging him by the arm, "Why don't you go talk with them?"
He looks towards Anima, "Why do you care?"
"I know what it feels like to be alone, without anyone to talk to," Anima chuckles, surprising Cronus, "Actually, I am glad to meet him," Anima points to Phobos, "Because of him, I get to be a little more confident in here. Now, why don't we head together? After all, it's better than being alone."
Anima heads off towards the trio, with Cronus follows behind, pondering what Anima said, especially a part that sticks out.
'I know what it feels like to be alone.'
Both dragons now join the little chat. Each of them discovers a little bit about each other. Demios reveals that he likes reading about history.
"So that's why you head off to the library that day," Phobos says.
"Did you seriously expect something else?" Demios retorts.
Ray reveals that he actually doesn't have any outside experience, much to Demios's shock.
"Never have any outside experience? Really?" Anima doesn't really believe what Ray said.
"This is the first, and won't be the last," Ray said confidently.
"Training must be heavy over there...," Demios wonders.
Anima shows that he has an almost perfect accuracy, by throwing knives that he carries with him to falling leaves. Those knives slices through the leaves as it hit the tree before he pulls them back using telekinesis.
"Whoa! How do you exactly train yourself?" Phobos says in amazement.
"I make good use of my spare time," Anima shrugs.
"Spare time, you have one?" Cronus asks skeptically. Anima doesn't seem the type to have free time.
"Yes. Spare time, as in, various times when I was bored."
Phobos reveals that whenever someone angers him, he will beat up anyone.
"So you're saying that you have a horrible temper," Anima concludes.
"Horrible is a harsh word there Anima...," Phobos sweat drops.
"I have never seen you being angry before," Demios says.
Cronus raises his hand, "I did."
"Really? Do tell us."
Cronus seems to open up a bit more towards them, as he reveals that he can't cast magic.
"Can't cast one? Even the most basic healing?" Anima never expects that someone actually claims that they can't cast magic.
Cronus tries recite back the way dragons usually cast 'Dragonic Heal', by concentrating the flow of magic in his body to speed up healing, but nothing happened. There is no magic can be sensed from him.
"How mysterious," Anima examines Cronus's hand for a moment, "Magic is an innate ability to dragons. To actually unable to use them..."
Phobos gets closer to Cronus feeling the muscles on his arm for a moment, making Cronus a little uncomfortable.
"Hmm..., you have incredible physical prowess, but that's it. I can't think of anything else."
Cronus responds by smacking Phobos on the head. Phobos falls flat to the sandy ground while the rest laughs. Despite this, Cronus realizes that he is slowly opening up towards them. They see him as someone, not a monster or an outlaw. The line of thinking brings a smile to his hidden face.
Everyone returns back to their tent with Phobos, Anima, and Cronus goes their way while Ray and Demios go the other. All of them take their rest for the night, under the starry skies within the oasis.
Morning arrives once more; the entire group has wakes up. Once again, the group prepares to take flight.
Now, all of them are flying above the desert. It isn't really hot right now, but no one wants to risk wearing heavy armor right now. Everyone wear light armor right now, except Phobos who still wears the clothes Cronus lend him yesterday.
"So where is this ruins located?" Anima asks as he holds down Horus as they fly through.
"According to the map, it is just a bit further. We are almost there," Galvanic replies.
Ahead of them, an ancient ruin can be seen. Sandstrom suddenly obscures the clouds; heavily reduce the group's visibility. Strong winds began blowing through them. Everyone tries to press on, but to no avail. The Dragon Knights decides to stick together alongside everyone so that they don't get blown off easily. They are all struggling not to let themselves blown away.
"What's with this sandstorm!?"
Everyone covers their eyes as the sandstorm continues to rage on.
A quaking sound makes its presence, "Something is coming!"
From the ruins, a gigantic being approaches the group. Its entire body is covered with sand. Two red eyes flash through the sandstorm. The being roars loudly, shaking the air with the force it unleashes.
"W-What is this monster!?" Galvanic looks at the being in horror by its appearance.
It raises its fist, aiming at them, "Everyone, disperse! Now!"
All of them flies to various directions as the first punch miss them. They all began to attack its hands, but the sharp weapons prove to be useless as the sand absorbs their attacks. In particular, Demios fast attacks proves futile, as the cut mark close itself down by even more sands.
The being wails as it swipes its hands, smacking a few of the fighters away. Phobos tries to aim his trident, but the sandstorm disrupts him too much to get a clear shot. Anima tries to look for any possible weakness, but the sandstorm is too intense for him to check out. Phobos also hands Cronus his scythe for this battle.
Ray gets the beast attention by flying around him. The beast tries hitting him in vain. Even if he manages to hit, Ray's shield prevents any additional damage.
King Tut begin chanting as flames erupted from his staff, incinerating both hands.
The fire ends up heating the sands, turning it into glass. The beast proceeds to slam Ray with its glass hand. The sudden increase in impact sends him staggering. The beast finish Ray by slamming Ray downwards with two fists.
"Ray!"
Unconscious, Ray fell to the sands below; Demios catches him before he lands. Ray's entire body has bruises on him; his head also bleeds as blood begins leaking out. Demios quickly takes him to a green dragon to patch him up. The healing is risky as it is done midair, and the sandstorm doesn't help at all. Fortunately, the beast is busy with the remaining fighters, while Demios shields Ray using his wings.
Cronus proceeds to cut down the section that the glass hasn't covered yet while Geronimo takes care of the other arm by damaging the glass. The hands fall as it lay on the sands. The beast proceeds to roar as sands below him moves into his body, replacing the lost limb. The beast lifts the fallen glass hand and hurls it at them. It manages to miss them, but scratch a few of them, drawing blood.
Anima tries casting something simple. Since the fire element proves to be disastrous earlier, he tries 'Dragonic Thunder' this time.
A bolt of lightning pass through his palm and hit the beast leg directly, piercing it and creating a small hole with stone edges around it before it fall apart, sending the beast to the sands below with a leg missing. This gives him an idea.
"Phobos, rally up the blue dragons. Tell them we need more lightning to crush him," Anima orders.
"You sure?"
"I am, now go!"
Phobos began rallying up the blue dragons, "We need more lightning power! It will finish this beast off!"
Seeing as there is no other way, all blue dragons, four of them begin charging up electricity power. They intend to unleash a union lightning power on the monster.
The remaining fighters began to distract the beast, having it try to smack them by waving its hand around. King Tut fires bolts of lightning from his staff alongside Phobos and Anima.
Three of them began picking off the creature's sandy limb little by little, but the beast regenerates its limb faster when comparing it to the additional damage from others.
"We don't have enough power!" One of the blue dragons' shouts as the sky above the creature slowly turns blue, and the clouds part way. The charges within their body become stronger as they continue to build up power. Some of them struggles to keep charging electric power.
"This isn't good," Anima warns, "If this keeps up, then everything will be for nothing."
"It is still too soon to give up!" Galvanic appears besides the blue dragons, "We can't lose here, not when we almost reached it!" Galvanic roars as his body is charged with electrical power, surprising the rest.
"What? How!?" Anima is in shock at how a red dragon could exert such natural power. Only blue dragons could unleash that much power.
"This is no time to be shocked!" Galvanic commands the blue dragons. All of them nod as they sends lightning power to the sky above, and chants together.
"With the aid of noble spirits, strike the enemy with blasts of lightning! Dragobulk Stormshlag!"
Thunder rains down on the beasts. Each strike crystallizes its body as they begin to shatter. In no time, the beast is no more, leaving a red gem that disappears into the sands below.
All participants quickly land on the ruins. The green dragons begin to patch up those who in need of recovery, while some treat their injuries themselves.
Ray is still under treatment by a green dragon while the rest catches their breath. Galvanic takes the time to look at the place.
Ahead of him is a tall building made of stone, with pillars on the sidewalk. There are no markings on the building, but the place has various small cracks on the building. Various drawings are visible on the pillars, yet they don't seem to show any important points to him.
Galvanic turns back to the recovering group. So far they haven't seems to have lost anyone, which is good. All of them need to rest and recover after the battle. 'It appears that they won't be getting any progress for now', he thinks as he resumes looking around the area, searching for a place they can pitch a tent.
Anima approaches the pile of sands, remains of what the monster used to be. It is impossible for him to search for the fragments buried under this sand. Sighing, he returns to the group, unaware that the gem is no longer there.
After some time, the group decides to pitch up tent as the heat becomes too much. Everyone scampers back to the each of their own tent before they got sunburn.
"I thought only blue dragons has lightning powers," Demios inquires. He, Ray and Galvanic are inside their tent. Ray chooses to sleep while Demios and Galvanic talked. There are bandages on his body, including his head.
"It is supposed to be, but as you can see," he waves his hands, small crackles of lightning dance around his arm, "That is not the case. In fact, this power is even stronger than I thought."
Demios stays silent, unsure how to feel about this development.
Meanwhile, Cronus and Phobos are sleeping, except Anima. The fact that a red dragon used lightning spell isn't a problem as most could cast a simple spell with ease. The problem is that Galvanic himself has shown a degree of power that no blue dragons should be able to contain alone.
Anima gives his hand a stare as they glow soft green.
"Should I reveal this...?" he ponders to himself.
Evening is here. Everyone gets out of their tent to assemble and hear what Galvanic has to say next. A small fire has been lit in various positions near the tents for heat.
"So," he began, "after all this, I am thinking that we should begin exploring tomorrow. But the rest depends on you, whether to continue now, or later."
A quick discussion is made. The result is that half of them stay, while the rest follows Galvanic. Those who remain here to stay guard includes Ray, Cronus, Phobos and some who stayed as night guard or resting while Anima, King Tut, Geronimo and Demios and the rest joined Galvanic. King Tut and Geronimo take care of their dragons before entering the ruin alongside the rest.
Galvanic quickly wonders whether entering the temple at night is even a good idea in itself. The place is dark; a flame in each dragon's hand is the only visibility they have. He guesses that the entire ruins must be a single room, and the rest is hidden behind whatever obstacle there is due to the seemingly large area they are exploring right now.
"This place is darker than I imagined," Anima comments as he stays close to Demios.
"Now is the time where human inventions really come in handy," Demios adds, "What do they call those stuff? Oh yeah, lanterns."
"Anyone carries them?" Galvanic asks the group that follows with him. All of them respond negatively. Sighing, they continue on, mindful of the steps, ensuring they don't trigger any possible traps.
Phobos is sitting by the fire; Cronus is beside him as some of the dragons' ends up sleeping for the night, mainly green and blue dragons. The remaining that is still awake are red and black dragons as guards for the night. He, Cronus, Ray, Anima, and Demios are the only white dragons of this expedition.
Cronus sits across him. Both dragons don't even speak a word to each other, causing a very awkward silence. With Phobos doesn't have a subject to talk about and Cronus doesn't know whether to talk or not, both dragons end up staring at the fire in front of them.
Phobos eventually tries to break the ice, "How are you feeling...?" He hopes this is enough for a start.
Cronus continues to stare at the fire. He doesn't even respond back. Demios tries to look at Cronus carefully. His eyes are in fear, as if there has been something that scares him really bad.
"Um..., Cronus?" Phobos tries to touch him.
"NO!" Cronus shouts, smacking away Phobos's hand. He backs off in surprise. Cronus's shouting catches the guard's attention as they all look. Cronus looks around frantically before running back to his tent, confusing the guards as they return to their position while Phobos gives chase.
Phobos finds Cronus crouching on the edge of the tent, shivering. He put his hands on his head. Phobos cautiously gets closer to Cronus as he sits behind him, "Burn...," he mutters.
"Huh?"
"Everything's burning around me. Everyone is dead, no one is alive. Why...? Why...? Why must he too...?"
'He?' Phobos recalled the drawing with the word '2C'. He pulls it out of his bag and shows it to Cronus.
"Is this him?" Cronus's eyes go wide upon seeing that drawing. He swiped the paper away from Phobos, trembling as he sees the drawing. He folds the paper neatly and put it away, shedding a silent tear.
"How...?"
"I can only guess," Phobos put his hand on Cronus's shoulder, "I don't know what you have gone through. But never forget this, you aren't alone." He pats him as he heads out, leaving Cronus lay in his bedroll.
"I can feel the regret on this decision," Anima mutters.
Earlier, they accidentally set a trap that proceeds to separate them. Galvanic have to continue alongside Demios, King Tut, Geronimo, and Anima as the rest, around 5 more dragons is left behind. Monsters also present themselves after that, ranging from spiders to mummies.
"Seriously, how do these creatures even live?" Demios asks as he chops down an approaching mummy.
"Don't ask me! I'm not a necromancer!" Anima shouts back as he hurls a knife at a spider, killing it, "Just stay dead will you!?" He throws another knife at a mummy as it drops dead.
"They are everywhere!" Galvanic fires a blast of lightning at the incoming wave of spiders, burning them to a crisp. Behind him is Geronimo, hacking three mummies apart quickly.
"We're disturbing the ancient graves of Pharaoh," King Tut explains as he burns an approaching spider, "All those mummies must be defending this place."
Five of them force themselves to push onward as they fend off the incoming enemies until they reach a large room with an altar with a drawing depicting a dragon wearing a unique feathered armor. A grave is there, below the drawing. In front of the grave is a stand; there is nothing visible on it.
"Finally!" Anima takes a deep breath, slowly relaxing. A block of stone fell on the entrance, sealing it. "Or not."
"I'm going to hate temples like this for some time," Demios mutters.
Galvanic approaches the altar, something is written on the stand in front of the statue.
'They chose their wielder.
Why or who, no one knows.
They become stronger
As the wielder becomes stronger.'
"A riddle?"
"Hey look, another one," he points to a panel sticking out below the statue.
'Only the worthy may wield us.
Those who are not shall receive it.
Our punishment.'
"Are they talking about sentient armors?" Demios tries to guess.
"That sounds dumb," Anima says.
"Is it kept inside that tomb?" Galvanic ponders as he reads the inscription, pointing to the sarcophagus.
"Why don't we check it out," Anima says as he tries to open the sarcophagus, but the lid won't budge. A keyhole is visible on top of the tomb.
"Why don't we examine the room? We might find something," King Tut suggest. Everyone agrees as it is the only thing they could do right now.
Ray has woken up from his sleep. He is alone inside the tent. Everything feels blurry to him as he looks down at his bandaged body, the mark of his injuries earlier. Feeling a bit off, he step out of the tent only to see Phobos sitting by the campfire alone while a few dragons stay guard. Ray takes a seat across Phobos.
"You're awake," Phobos greets Ray, "How's your body?"
"Not bad, could be worse," Ray shrugs, and then he looks around, "Where is everyone?"
Phobos points to the temple, "They have already begun. Some of us are still here though."
"I see...," Ray grips his bandaged hand, staying silent.
"The first is always the hardest, Demios suffered something similar too. Well, alongside me," Phobos sighs.
"It feels different," Ray begins, "Whenever I lost a match, all I got is something light like bruises from fighting. But this," he grips his hand tighter, "this is the first time I fight, a real fight." He closes his eyes, the possibility of dying never cross his mind, "I always thought that we will prevail, but I was wrong. Fighting here makes me realize that I am still weak. I need to get stronger."
"Good for you then," Phobos lay on the sand watching the stars, wondering how the other is faring right now.
"Is there really something in here? We have been searching this room for a while now," Anima complains as he finishes looking at the wall around them, searching for a hidden secret.
Demios keep staring at the panel. He tries pushing it, but the stone doesn't budge. "What are you doing?" Galvanic asks. Demios doesn't answer. This time, he tries to pull it out. Nothing happens too. Demios scratches his head in confusion as Galvanic left him.
King Tut have been watching the tomb for some time. "Have you found anything my lord?" Galvanic asks in a formal tone. King Tut shakes his head, not facing Galvanic. He decides to leave the king to whatever he is doing.
Geronimo is staring at the statue. He doesn't seem to realize Galvanic has been watching him for a while. Sighing, he left Geronimo to his own accord.
Anima finally finds something interesting as he notices an odd block of stone. Pulling it out reveals a secret place where a key is hidden. Sealing back the space, he returns to them, with key in hand.
All of them wait in anticipation as Anima unlocks the tomb. The sound of lock opening prompts them to push the lid off, revealing the armor and weapons inside.
It is a black armor with wings decoration on its shoulder, with purple gems. But the armor itself only covers half front until below waist. The user's side is left open. It also includes a pair of gauntlet, and a pair of leg guard. A sword and a shield are also there. The weapon and shield has an odd green marking on them.
"This is...," Galvanic says in amazement by what they found. As he lifts the armor, it begins to glow a bright yellow, causing him to drop it as everyone back off and shield their eyes.
"What's happening?" Anima asks as the entire armor piece soars to the air, assembling them as a full set of equipment. The only thing missing from them is their user.
The armor descends on Galvanic as it equip itself into him, much to their shock. The light dissipates as Galvanic opens his eyes, and sees himself.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" He yells.
Cronus returns from his sulking with Ray and Phobos notices him.
"Oh hey Cronus," Phobos greets, "How are you feeling?"
"Better," he says as he sits down in front of the fire again with less staring at it.
"How long I have been out?" Ray asks.
"Around five hours or so," Phobos replies, "You've taken quite a number from being smashed like that earlier."
Ray nods. His eyes turn to Cronus, staring at him, "You look familiar, have we ever met?"
"I don't think so," Cronus replies.
Ray keeps staring at him for some time, before his eyes turn to realization. He quickly grabs his halberd just as Phobos recognizes his intent. Ray and Phobos quickly point their weapons to each other, halberd and blade respectively. Cronus stands back behind Phobos. Once again, the guard's attentions were on them.
"You! You're the one that assaulted my brethren a week ago!" Ray roars.
"Ray, calm down," Phobos attempt to reason with him.
"Calm down!? How can you protect someone like him!? He also annihilated you and Demios!"
"I get that, but there is more than just something like this."
"How!? How does attacking someone can be anything else that an attempt of misdeed!?"
Phobos turns to Cronus, "I really need to know. What have you done with the young red dragon when we first met? You never told us anything about it,"
Cronus lowers his head as he stepped beside Phobos, "I understand," he raises his head, "I actually know him. Hal is his name, correct?"
This sentence catches them off guard as they drop their weapons, "WHAT!?" both dragon shouts.
"Will you guys stop laughing now?" Galvanic begs.
Right after the armor equips itself, the only reaction came from Anima is how ridiculous the design of the outfit is. The armor doesn't do a good job covering the side body, and his back thigh also will be completely visible if isn't due to the clothes underneath it. Even Geronimo turns away, quietly laugh to himself.
"The ancients have an odd sense of outfit," Demios says as he tries to stifle a laugh.
Anima takes a deep breath as he stops laughing, "So, can you took it off?"
"Let's see...," Galvanic tries to pull the gauntlet off. It comes off quite easily, "Huh, I thought it would be a lot harder," he says as he wears it again, "I suppose this is the only way I could preserve it, for now."
A scream echoes through the room, "What's that?" Demios looks around.
A section of the wall beside them explodes as a figure come out, revealing themselves to be one of the dragons that got separated earlier. Demios and Anima quickly run up to him as four other dragons piles on the poor dragon. Four of them began helping the poor dragon as they recollect themselves.
"Where have you been?" Galvanic asks.
"A giant spider chased us," one of them says, "We've been running around as we tried to fend the beast off," he notices Galvanic outfit, "Uh..., what's with that?"
"Huh? This is-" A sound of something breaking in catch their attention.
It is a giant spider, about three times larger than Galvanic, one of the biggest dragons in their group. Everyone takes a battling stance as the spider hisses fiercely, advancing on them.
"Back off!" Demios shouts as he outstretches his hand, speaking an arcane sentence, "Dragon Flame!"
The fire breath burns the spider; it steps back and hisses back fiercely. Galvanic attempts to cut the monster leg using the sword, but without any experience in battling, he performs horribly as the spider smack him upwards, launching him to the air as the blade falls off his hand, landing at the spider's back. Demios catches Galvanic and put him down as he gathers himself.
The spider approaches Anima as he tries to throw knives to its eye. The spider screeches as the weapon strikes its eye. Anima uses telekinesis to forcefully pull it out from a distance, leaving trails of blood.
"Ugh, gross," he mutters before cleaning it.
The remaining dragons assault the spider as King Tut readies his staff. The tip glows bright yellow as he swings it forward, sending a blast of fire at the gigantic spider.
"This thing is persistent!"
Galvanic notices that the sword keeps emitting sparks of electricity, electrocuting the spider a little. He notices that his right hand is also sparkling, as if waiting for something to be unleashed.
'Could it be...?' he thought as he stands up, signaling Demios to keep his distance from him as he raises his hands to the air.
"O noble spirits, hear my plea! With the power of lightning, strike my enemy and grind them to dust!" The spark in his hand becomes brighter as it envelopes his hand. The remaining fighters keep their distance as a rumbling sound is heard.
"Dragobulk, Stormshlag!" He pulls down his hand. From where the blade is, torrents of lightning pierce through the building. It strikes the blade first as more thunder fall on the beast, quickly disintegrate it to ash. Everyone stared in amazement as the blade fall to the stone. Galvanic take the blade and sheathe it, looking at the night sky, and the hole he just created.
"The association will kill me for this...," he sighs as he turned around, "Come on, let's get out." He begins to take flight, carrying King Tut with him. Anima decides to ride on Demios's back as the remaining fly off together, returning to the camp.
Earlier, Cronus is telling them a quick story of he met Hal. They actually met on the assault day, around an hour before Demios and Phobos arrive. The talk becomes sour after an argument regarding those who deserves of protection.
"It's their duty to protect the defenseless, he said," Cronus says, "But it was the same innocent people that used honorable dragons like you to protect themselves!" The sudden outburst catches Ray and Phobos off guard. The entire conversation turns silent for a while.
"Hal is a good kid," Ray begins, "Ever since the encounter with you, he works harder than ever," he grips his halberd tightly, "But if what you say is true, then..." he cast his head down. His faith regarding his own belief has been shaken a little.
"In the end, it's all a matter of perspective," Phobos begins, "Those who stand in the way is an enemy, and those who stand beside us are a friend."
Ray doesn't respond. He let go of his halberd and remain contemplating in his current position.
A loud sound catches their attention. A blast of lightning have strike a part of the ruin, creating a big hole when seen from above. The noise also wakes up those who are sleeping.
"What the-"
Smoke comes out of the hole. Everyone readies themselves should something appeared. A group of flying dragons appears. Noticing that it was the group, they let go of their weapons as they greets them, until Phobos notices Galvanic's new armor.
"What's with that armor?" Phobos asks, while stifling a laugh. Some of them have a similar reaction while there are those who stare in amazement. Galvanic really wishes that he has a box for keeping armors with him on this journey.
"It's the armor," Anima begins, "The same thing we have been looking for."
Phobos has a dumbfound look on his face, "Huh?"
"I'll explain later," Anima says, heading off to his shared tent, "Goodnight." Anima enters the tent with Phobos's eye darts back between the tent and Galvanic's armor.
"I think I will sleep as well," Phobos says while holding his head. Cronus follows him as everyone decides to sleep for the day.
Is what they say. Actually Phobos, Cronus, and Anima are still pretty much awake.
"Can you at least tell me how to be more confident in going outside?" Anima begs. It is odd to see him like this.
"Umm... why?" Phobos asks, unsure.
"Since that you don't mind much as a big white dragon wearing hunter's equipment walking around. How do you ensure that a legless white dragon walked around without looking ridiculous?"
"Let's see...," Phobos is in deep thought, "I usually ignore them, because they have nothing to do with me. It pretty much means 'leave me alone if you have nothing to say' stuff."
Anima stares at Phobos, "I guess I could try..." he proceeds to head to sleep quickly. Phobos sweat drop at the sight before noticing that Cronus have been looking at him for a while.
"What's wrong?" Phobos asks.
"Nothing," Cronus quickly looks away.
Phobos shrugs as he goes to sleep, with Cronus lay on the mattress.
A shuffling sound wakes Cronus up, someone is coming out of tent catches his attention. It is Galvanic. Curious, he decides to look.
Ray still lay in his bed, Cronus sentence still haunts him.
'It's their duty to protect the defenseless, he said. But it was the same innocent people that used honorable dragons like you to protect themselves!'
Feeling the need to clear his head, he heads outside the tent. It is dawn; the sun is rising on the horizon. Ray sits near the empty fireplace as he watches the sun slowly rise.
He enjoys the view for a bit before someone comes out of his tent. It is Galvanic, still in the armor.
"You're up early," Galvanic greets.
"So do you," Ray says before turning back to the sun.
"Something troubles you?"
"How do I put this...," Ray scratches the back of his head, "have you ever felt like, everything that you believe is actually wrong?"
Galvanic sits beside him, "Like what?"
"Feels like, you have been raised with a certain thing in mind, only to find out that all of those are wrong."
Galvanic takes a look at his hand, "Aren't I am something like that?"
Ray's head perks up, "What?"
"You should know, "Galvanic begin, "Red dragons are known for their fire innate power and aggressive style. But me, I can't breathe fire from my own mouth or anything like that. All I can do is shooting thunder, like a blue dragon."
"Tell me," he turns to Ray, "When what you believe is wrong, what do you do about it?"
"I... I don't know," Ray finally says, "I have been raised as a Halberd to treat others with respect and honor, and to fight as a shield to protect others," Ray bury his head, "does everything I have done is meaningless?"
Galvanic takes a deep breath, "There is nothing meaningless. Have you ever thought what it means to live on the other side? Not as a Halberd, but as you?" he looks at Ray intently, "Now tell me, who are you?"
Ray takes a look at his weapons, the halberd and the shield. A certain memory resurfaces; the time when he is officially becomes a part of the clan.
"As of today, you are now a part of us. Always remember, we fight not only to protect our comrades, but to protect those who are important to us, for we are the honorable defender of the weak."
"Fighting to protect those who are important to us..." Ray closes his eyes; he stands up and raises his shield, "I am a Halberd. It is my duty to protect the weak from the strong. My name is Ray, a defender from the Halberd clan!"
He feels it within him, the confidence that shapes up what it means to be a protector. He smiles towards Galvanic, "Thank you Galvanic. You have my gratitude," he bows down to him.
This entire conversation happens to be overheard by Cronus, who listens intently.
"Protect the weak from the strong..." he muttered to himself, looking at his hand, "Then what part am I...?"
Early morning have risen. Galvanic decides that he had enough of the ridiculous comment about the armor, so he take it off and seal it in his bag. The journey back to Dravagan is uneventful as everyone arrives back safely. Anima also has been explaining what they have been through during the exploration back then. They also get the money as a pouch with 200 Dracoins each inside. Phobos is pretty sure that almost all of this money is actually the budget for the expedition.
"I don't know about this," Ray says as he holds the pouch, "I mean, it's not like I am here for money in the first place..."
All of them have arrive in Dravagan when it is evening. They decide to eat together for once.
"It's not that bad," Anima comments, his own money pouch safely put away in his pack, "At the very least, it is a bonus since I have managed to record a lot of stuff."
"But still, you said the armor attached themselves to him. It sounds too ridiculous for me to believe," Phobos says.
"I suppose that's what everyone will say if they don't see it for themselves," Demios replies.
"It still sounds like a fairy tale to me," Cronus comments.
The lively talk continues for a while, until their food arrives. Each of them pays their own shares and head off back to their own homes, except Demios, Phobos, and Cronus who still stay at their own inn for the moment.
Phobos decides to reserve a room with two beds this time since he needs to take care of Cronus during his time in here. But first, he wants to look at Hunter's Guild for new update on the current situation.
"There are a lot of hunters in here today," Phobos comments as they arrive. Cronus remains close to Phobos. Demios already returns to Familiar for the day.
Right now, many hunters are reading the current update on the wanted list. So far, Cronus's bounty remains taken down. Feeling there is no things of interest, he moved on to the recent news board, in front of the building.
It appears that current information around Dragon World is in the board. A few things manage to catch his interest.
There is an article about the expedition that Galvanic leads, an old news since they just arrived today.
News about the Reaper's bounty is also there. So far, the investigation still remains underway. The claim that the Reaper doesn't commit the crime seems to have gain support after the guild interrogates various victims. That doesn't really make Cronus going to take off his helmet though.
Another article seems to be speaking about the existence of underground organization that distributes illegal stuff within Dravagan, essentially, a giant black market.
There is also a rumor of another upcoming expedition. Yet so far, no one can confirm this.
There is also news that hunters now band together to form groups. The guild seems going to make this official soon, although the details are yet unknown. This is because some units within the group itself aren't hunters. Despite the fact that those who participate in coliseum battles can also be about as good as a team when together, and some even aren't hunters.
The most surprising thing however came from the news about the coliseum. It is showing the most popular fighters that crowds love to cheer on. The picture is none other than Valon, the dragon that Phobos and Demios have taken down over a week ago.
"They move him to the coliseum!? He must be getting a lot of attention," Phobos comments as he read the news board. Cronus seems to notice that hunters didn't really pay attention to him, which is good as he tends to get nervous whenever a lot of attention is on him. Looking around, there are several hunters, humans and dragons that also wear helms too. Though, some did stare at Cronus for being big, white, and with a helmet on his head.
"Come on, let's go back to the inn," Phobos drags Cronus as they struggle to get out of the crowd.
Returning to Hearth's, Phobos manages to get a room with two beds for seventy five Dracoins, in which he bargains after asking for a small discount.
Taking time to clean himself up, Phobos takes the bed in his usual clothes just as Cronus takes the bathroom to clean up.
After he finishes bathing, Cronus wears his usual black clothes and helmet and head off sleeping again, enjoying the warm bed after this expedition.
Somewhere else…,
"Finally!"
A female dragon just finishes decorating the entrance of a building. The building itself appears to be a tailor.
"Oh, you're done."
A taller white dragon appears beside her. The dragon is somewhat lean in build.
"Of course, have you finished with the preparations?"
"I am just finished. We will be able to open tomorrow," he confirms.
"Great!" she smiles before giving him a stern look, "Can you at least don't appear in your usual?"
"Well, if I don't appear in my usual, our customers won't take me seriously won't they?" he says, chuckling.
She sighs in defeat, "Fine, just please don't be overly feminine for me, please...," she says as she enter the building.
The older dragon simply chuckles as he follows her inside.
To be continued…