Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for the support you've given me, I hope you all continue to enjoy Life of a Zero Dragon to its fullest.
Enjoy the chapter!
Life of a Zero Dragon
Chapter 21: Depths of Lore
Louise Valliere walked alongside Erisdar through the elven village… Town… City? She didn't really know how the elves would classify this place in accordance with human terms. She would call it somewhere in between a village becoming a town. Regardless, Louise was on edge for any hostilities from the elves around her, her figure quite close to her familiar's side as her mind subconsciously sought comfort from the fear.
But, there were a few questions in her mind that plagued her thoughts.
"Louise, I need to talk to these guards real quick, you stay right here. The elves won't hurt you, I do not believe they are the same elves that humankind has been enemies with," Erisdar said to her.
"Alright…" She trailed off, the Rule of Steel would prevent her from panicking in face of the elves, whether they were the same or not didn't matter.
As Erisdar hovered over to discuss with the elven scouts, another elf walked up to Louise.
She gulped, the elf that went to meet her was dressed in elegant armor, the leather sewn and padded on the woman was of fine craftsmanship, and the amulet carried around her neck made Louise very, very cautious. It was quite odd that she would be more wary of the jewelry the elf wore than the presence of two pointy ears.
"I'll be brief, human partner of Erisdar," The lady spoke without a hint of malice or hatred, letting Louise lower her guard slightly around her.
"Yes?" Louise questioned while barely maintaining her composure.
"Do you know the implications of what exactly Erisdar is?" She questioned in return.
What? The implications? Did the elf mean did she know what Erisdar is?
"He's a dragon, a Chosen Dragon," Louise answered with uncertainty.
"And you realize what a Chosen Dragon is?" Once again, an odd question.
But it confused the girl, "Explain," Louise said. "Please."
"Naive child," The woman said. "Very well, I will illuminate your ignorance."
Louise frowned at the insult but remained silent.
"A Chosen Dragon is not the norm, they indicate a coming storm for which they are hatched into the world to prevent and safeguard Kayla from destruction. Chosen Dragons only number in five, a single clutch that goes through a cycle of rebirth only after all five have died from the curse of mortality."
"A Chosen Dragon does not age like the other dragons, they grow quickly, their strength, wisdom, and power increasing boundlessly in a remarkably short time. A Chosen Dragon that is a dragonet can slay beast taller than man, a young adult can massacre whole squads, adults, entire armies… Do you now realize, human child?"
"They can become any other dragon by choice, they can wield items of great power whether or not made for humanoids, they have the potential to become stronger than demi-gods. That's their greatest strength, child, the limitless potential."
"Keep all that in mind, to become a companion to a Chosen Dragon will lead you to strife and amazement beyond your wildest dreams, but to become one's enemy will make you haunted with nightmares."
With all that said, the elf turned and left, vanishing into the crowd.
Louise was at lost for words, not even answering with Erisdar returned to guide her out of the elven village and back into the depths of Moonshine Grove.
The roaring campfires lit up the dark night of the region, a large encampment, surrounded by a sizable fortification of barricades, watch towers, and hastily build tents was a temporary resting place for a number of warriors. These warriors, whose skins were in different shades of red and orange, ate their hunted meat and foraged roots around the many stones encircled fires. In the midst of the entire encampment, the center ground so to speak, the Fel King, also known as the Warchief, sat outside his own tent.
His blade remained in its sheath, lying on top of a nearby rock, the Warchief tearing meat off the bone, savoring the taste before swallowing the meal down, dropping the bone into the flames to discard it.
Grom, a human placed within an orc's body, grumbled to himself.
'I miss modern day cooking…' He thought to himself, while he couldn't fault the orcs for their less than desirable non-combat skills, after all, they just suffered near loss of their civilization according to their lore, he had hoped there was somebody in the Empire that could at least cook a meal without burning anything.
But apparently, he was the only one with any knowledge of matter not relating to warfare.
A nearby Fel Orc Veteran sat next to him, "Something troubling you, Warchief?" He questioned while snapping a root in his grasp, then tossing a small piece into his own mouth.
Grom looked to the veteran, "My thoughts have been distant of late," He responded. "The old times cross my mind, the time before all of this."
Of course, Grom referred to his time back on Earth, but he worded it differently. The small speech quirks gained from being in a Warcraft Hero character had its benefits.
"Yes, the time before the demons attack on our world…" The veteran trailed off, "I can only vaguely remember the time, when we were grand, our civilization spanning across the continent… Heh, we would foolishly squabble against ourselves…"
"We still do, in some ways that are," Grom responded, the player waving his hand to showcase the sight of the encampment before them. "We destroyed an entire clan of strange, misshapen orcs. Though I know they aren't related to us, the similarities are there. Though now we own their lands, I doubt it will be so easy."
"You refer to the creatures you titled as the humans?" The veteran said.
"This is most likely the human's world, must like our own was ours," Grom said. "I doubt they will be easily dealt with, do you remember what our scouts reported before the portal shifted to this strange new world?"
"In the land of Kayla, those humans had strong fortifications," The veteran said.
Grom nodded, he knew the term of Kayla to refer to the world of Life of a Dragon Sequel.
"I am certain they have similar ones here, though we may not see them at first," Grom stated.
"How do we proceed then, Warchief? We have stood our position for the past three days, not venturing forth into the lands. The scouts can only report so much as they do not understand the language of this realm's humans. Those of Kayla were understandable, but this world's is unintelligible."
"These past few days I have been studying the language in my own time," The Fel Orc Player responded, but it was a lie, he already understood the language bizarrely. He could speak it quite fluently, if he had to hazard a guess, it was another positive perk of being a Warcraft Hero, the ability to understand any language. "I have a vague understanding now, we will take a small band of warriors and head towards the nearest town… What was its title again?"
The veteran hummed in thought, "An odd name, La Rochelle, appears to be some sort of port."
"Then we will make way to this port city in the morning." Grom finished.
Celdrahil, Dragon Slayer from the lands of Kayla, held the leadership an entire village's worth of men. It has been quite easy to 'persuade' them in joining his quest to secure the future of this nation which entitled itself the realm of Gallia. The people here had long since been forgotten and abandoned by the region's nobles, their King completely absent minded of their troubles or afflictions. The more information he bartered from the villagers, the more he increasingly began to plot and weave the potential thoughts and opinions of the townspeople.
Did that make him evil?
Celdrahil scoffed at the thought, 'The only evil here is the self-inflicted idea that these people can do nothing in face of such oppression.'
The 6th player in Life of a Dragon Sequel pressed a sharpening stone along his blade's edge, the slight screeching sound of metal filling the air around him for the briefest moments as the Dragon Slayer contemplating the possible future actions he may take in leading these hopeless people.
'Hopeless for now,' Celdrahil thought to himself, 'But even the smallest flame can become a wildfire with the right spark and fuel.'
If Celdrahil were to aid these people, not only against the creeps of Kayla but against the very kingdom that had forsaken them, he would have to incite a revolution.
Not something as feeble as a rebellion, but a revolution on the scale that would be rivaled to those of Earth's history.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the historical knowledge outside of a few, more popular, events that enacted Earth's own revolutions. But what he lacked in history, he had in excess gaming knowledge. Perhaps he could take some ideas from the game series such as Fable, Dragon Age, or Far Cry?
But without the bad endings, crazed theological factions, or anti-climactic boss fights.
However, knowing what limited information he had, the people of this world had tight ties to their religion… But, the common folk seem to be a bit more… Loose in that regard. If he could twist the truth here and there, imply some false information by using the religion to inspire but not overcome them with zealous fanaticism, then he'll have an army behind his beck and call.
"Sir Celdrahil?" An innkeeper, a lady just a bit shorter than he wearing common clothes carrying a tray of stew, bread, and wine came through the doorway.
Celdrahil was currently staying at a small inn located near the center of the village, which was actually pretty close to becoming a full-blown town if not for the recent years causing its deterioration back into a smaller community. He motioned with his hand, allowing the lady to enter the room.
"Please, set the tray down on the desk, I'll take my fill of it in a few short minutes," Celdrahil said to her.
The blush on the woman's face was not lost on him, but he had no interest in investigating or pursuing a relationship with any of the villagers. If he was to even begin with his future plans, he couldn't get distracted by side activities. Which also meant the neglecting of tempting pleasures awaiting him due to his recent aid against the golems that had attacked the place a few days earlier.
He had to mentally sigh, because of this, the ladies viewed him as a 'chivalrous knight that would do no harm to those of innocence,' the looks on the townspeople were not easily discarded from his thoughts, at least the admiration was appreciated and they left him his own personal time within his freely given quarters.
Celdrahil could pay, the Golems have given him gold, and only him as he was probably the only 'Player' around for Life of a Dragon's triggers to register an award. Of course, then he'll have to worry about a conversion rate between Warcraft III's gold and the local currency equivalent.
"You know, Sir Celdrahil, the children of the village have been most entertained at reenacting your heroism of your actions against the stone creatures," The innkeeper stated while she placed the tray on top of the desk, the steam of the meal rising above the bowl, begging Celdrahil just to rise up and devour its contents.
"That is gratifying to hear," Celdrahil said as he decided to take up on the offer that the food provided him. "But those heroics of mine were not just my own actions, all the townspeople that fought alongside me are also equally heroes."
The common people loved to hear praise, it was something he picked up quite early on. Celdrahil reasoned it was because the nobles often or not viewed those without magical abilities as below them.
What horse shit, the common people had many more skills than the nobles and outmatched the mages in both numbers and physical conditioning.
"Y-yes!" The women said with a smile, "But it was also you're magic that helped us! The nobles never do anything but a mage knight such as yourself went out of your way for the betterment of us all!" She bowed to him, "We can never thank you know, Sir Celdrahil, for your gracious and kind actions!" The innkeeper exclaimed.
"Please, don't bow to me, we are all equal in the eyes of the Maker," He said in return.
"The Maker?" The innkeeper said curiously.
"Pardon me," Celdrahil apologized. "It's my hometown's name for God, they are one in the same."
The lore of Kayla, the speech quirks that would slip into his tongue, they are both gratifying and annoying at times. Especially in moments where something that doesn't have any background in this world comes through.
"Oh, it is no issue," The women said. "If the title of Maker only means God in another way, I'm sure it is fine by the Church! They have let your hometown say it for quite a while if you have been raised to speak it so casually!"
"I've always assumed as much, so I've been speaking as such," Celdrahil said. "If you'll excuse me, I'll like to eat in peace."
"Oh, of course!" The innkeeper exclaimed, leaving the room, "Enjoy your meal, Sir Celdrahil," She said before closing the door behind her.
As Celdrahil started to eat, he absently wondered if he accidentally started a new religion by complete mistake. It wasn't as if the Human Kingdom of Kayla had crossed over into this world with its entire populace believing in the lore written religion of the Maker.
If it had, well, religious tension and conflict were sure to follow.
But thankfully, that wasn't the case…
Right?
Current Status: (Forgot to update Dragon Levels Last time)
Chosen Dragon Player 1: Saito Hiraga - Alive - Dragonet (Agility) Level 10
Chosen Dragon Player 2: Alex Storm - Alive - Bronze Dragonet (Strength) Level 8
Chosen Dragon Player 3: Asuna Godiva - Alive - Nether Dragonet (Strength) Level 10
Chosen Dragon Player 4: Artos Archway - Alive - Green Dragonet (Agility) Level 7
Chosen Dragon Player 5: Cora Rune - Alive - Blue Dragonet (Intelligence) Level 8
Dragon Slayer Player 6: Celdrahil - Alive - Slayer Level 8
Dragon Catcher Player 7: Rosina - Alive - Catcher Level 10
The Human Kingdom Player 8: Aylmer and Abigail - Alive - King Level 3, Princess Level [Error]
The Fel Empire Player 9: Grom - Alive - King of Fel Empire Level 5
Mercenary Player 10: Elizabeth Loyal - Alive - Sorceress Level 7
Observer Map Maker: Map Maker - Alive - The World Editor