"A-a-achoo!"
We were at Lucy's door, with me on Natsu's shoulder, Happy flying above us. We were here to pick her up, but…
"Hold up," Natsu asked, his arms folded, "You're not gonna go? What's the matter?"
"Trust me!" Happy smiled as he floated in the air above us, "You don't wanna miss Magnolia's flowers!"
"It's-*sniff!*-not by choice…" Lucy sniffled.
Just like in canon, Lucy got sick on the day of the flower party. Geez, the poor girl looked rough! I feel kinda bad, she was really looking forward to it! It's all she talked about on our walk home from the guild yesterday.
"I wanted to go so badly…" Her voice was stuffy, and she was wrapped up in a blanket, looking absolutely miserable.
"Well," Happy asked, "What's keeping ya from going?"
"Ya both blind or somefin'?" Lucy sniffled, "I caught a nasty cold."
She turned around, hobbling away from the door, "Thanks for stopping by, I'm going back to bed."
Natsu and Happy let out unhappy groans of acknowledgement, looking at Lucy with sadness and empathy.
"Okay…" Happy said softly, "Hope you feel better."
Natsu stayed put for a moment, before he turned to walk out. I flexed my claws, before letting out a small whimper. Natsu paused to look at me as I jumped off his shoulder. I made my way over to Lucy, looked back at Natsu and nodded.
Natsu looked at me with surprise for a moment, before a small, sad smile crossed his lips. He gave a short nod in return, then he and Happy walked out the door.
I looked over at Lucy. Poor thing was crawling back into bed. I closed the rest of the distance between us, then jumped up to her bed. I pressed my snout against her face for a moment.
"Hey, little guy," She gave me a small smile before going into a little coughing fit. I curled up next to her, sitting over the blanket.
I wonder if I can create a rune of some kind to cure sicknesses or poisons. I'll have to experiment later, those sound like things that would require a higher level.
Lucy sighed when she stopped coughing, then got a sad look over her face. Uh oh. I recognize that face. The FOMO face. I saw it a lot in the mirror in my previous life.
"I bet everyone is having the time of their lives right now…" Called it.
"Ya know somefin', Kilgara? I've been in Fairy Tail for less than a year! I have a hard time believing it…" She's speaking quietly, almost as if she were alone.
"Seems like forever ago that I ran away from home, dreaming of becoming a part of Fairy Tail…" I remember the story. I turned my head to get a better look at her, twitching my tail as she began speaking more.
"I ran into Natsu pretty soon after that, and my dream became a reality…" A small smile crossed her lips; I'm assuming she's reliving the memory of how Natsu literally dragged her from the army and swept her off her feet in a mad pursuit, "So much has changed in my life, and it all happened in the blink of an eye…"
"So many adventures, in such a small amount of time…" She chuckled nervously, "Come to think of it, it's a miracle I'm even still alive." She paused for a while, and after a minute or so had passed, I thought she had fallen asleep.
"Achoo!" She let out a small sneeze, sniffing before speaking again, "There were so many times I nearly lost all hope; so many desperate situations, and countless enemies with unbelievable strength. But no matter what kind of obstacle we faced, I knew the guild would always be there for me," She had a fond, far away look in her eyes.
"We laughed together, shared our tears, and so much more," She continued, "Through it all, we've shared in each other's pain…" She turned her gaze to me, "Because that's what family does. That's what this guild has taught me. No matter what, through the good times, and the bad; that's what Fairy Tail is all about," She slowly raised her hand to rub my neck, "Welcome to the family, Kilgara. Thanks for being here…" Her hand fell back to her side, as she fell asleep.
Lucy…I blinked at her, then nuzzled her forehead with my snout. I raised my head, looking at the mark on the back of the hand she used to rub my neck. Fairy Tail…
I'm feeling something. Something I don't think I've felt in a long time... A family, huh? That would be something…
I awoke to a lot of noise outside. Lucy also began stirring in her sleep. As I opened my eyes, I saw lights of all colors coming from the window.
"What time is it?" Lucy rubbed her eyes as she sat up, "And why is it so loud outside?"
We both looked out the window. What I saw brought a smile to my face, and made Lucy's eyes widen. She opened the window to get a better look.
Floating down the river, in a giant flower pot sitting in a row boat and strapped down, was Magnolia's prize cherry tree; its petals were glowing all the colors of a rainbow. In all honesty, it was a magnificent sight. Quite bizarre too; a giant tree in a giant flower pot, hah! But it had Natsu's desired effect.
Lucy sighed, smiling as she leaned on her elbows, "Beautiful…" She watched the tree float further and further down the canal, before it faded from sight.
How Natsu pulled this off, I will never know. But I'm glad he did. I squeaked a bit, nuzzling my head into Lucy's side.
She chuckled tiredly, still smiling as she rubbed my head and neck. She looked back out the window one last time, before closing it.
"Good night, Kilgara," She whispered as she pulled the covers back over herself. She must still be fighting off the last of her sickness, because she fell asleep pretty quick after that.
I flexed my talons, exhaling through my nostrils. I've made my decision.
I know there are at least three days before Edolas' Royal Army 'kidnaps' Magnolia and Fairy Tail. Three days. I know this because the race they did with the wyvern scales hasn't happened yet, Wendy hasn't taken her first 'big' job, and Gildarts hasn't come back yet.
I looked out the window, the slight pink glow of the dungeon portal on Cardia Cathedral still visible. I looked down at Lucy again, steeling my resolve. I need to level up. If I take a full hit from someone like Natsu, one hit, I'm finished.
I leapt down from Lucy's bed, cast Hidden, (there were still a lot of people out and about after the tree had been discovered in the canal) and walked out the door. Then I booked it, running all the way to the forest.
As I was running, I ran past South Gate Park. I came to a hard stop, pausing for a minute; Natsu and Happy were putting the massive cherry tree back in place. How he managed that…I smiled before I took off again.
Here's another cool thing about the Gamer's Body perk. I don't get tired from simply jogging. When I start sprinting, My stamina goes down at a constant rate, but surprisingly enough it doesn't go down all that quick. I'm also surprised I didn't get a sprinting skill or anything like that. Regardless though, this meant I could lightly jog forever if I really wanted to.
I ran through the forest, before I got deep enough that the trees were all closer together and much larger.
I jumped up, using my talons to climb high before I began leaping and gliding through the trees. I flapped from branch to branch, all the while keeping an eye out for any signs of a dungeon portal.
I flapped, leapt and glided for what seemed to be hours! Can't say I wasn't having fun though! I may not be able to jump very high or far, but my wings helped make up the difference!
The sun was barely shining over the horizon now. Geez, these things are rare! Maybe I'm better off taking my chances with that Super Rare dungeon back in Magnolia.
I leapt from the branch I was on, gliding down to another branch, which was pretty far out; ya know, I've gotten a pretty good grip on gliding now. If nothing else, this trip made it so that I wasn't so wobbly on my wings! As I landed, I crouched down, getting ready to jump again.
Racial Skill Unlocked!
"WAGH!" I yelped out in surprise, falling off the branch I nearly leapt from. I wildly flapped around, crashing into the ground.
"Ow…" I groaned as I got up, "What could be so important that-!" I froze mid sentence as I read the new skill.
Flight
As a dragon with wings, you are able to fly. Your grace and agility in the air depends on your DEX stat and size, while your ability to take off is based on your STR stat.
It happened. It finally happened. All these hours have finally paid off! I may not have found a dungeon portal or anything to level up with, but this makes it all worth it! I can finally fly!
I looked at my wings, giving them a flap. Oho, this is going to be good, I smirked.
I crouched down, then jumped, flapping my wings. It worked…I was climbing the air with my wings! I flapped faster, harder! I zoomed past the trees, scaring some poor owl to death! I soared above the treeline!
I flapped higher and higher, until I was nearly at the cloud line …Holy crap, that is high! I yelled at myself, but I couldn't bring myself to care…until I noticed the wind was really strong up here. Agh!
The wind blew me out of control and I went crashing down again! Only this time from what must be thousands of feet! I roared out, my instincts yelling at me again! As I fell further down, the wind died down to the point where I could maneuver myself into a dive.
I tried to angle myself, praying to every divine being I knew that this wouldn't break me. I wasn't nearly stable, but I spread my wings again slowly, angling up from the dive, shakily stabilizing myself…
I glided down, landing (more like crashing) on my feet before collapsing onto my stomach. Note to self, I thought, The sky can be scary… After a moment or two of stunned silence, I began to laugh. I laughed so hard it hurt.
"WOOHOO!" I turned over, pumping a clawed fist at the sky, before sighing in content. After another moment of chuckling and calming myself down, I stood on my feet, looking around.
Where the heck did I land? I was still in a forest, but I could see a mountain now. It wasn't Mount Hakobe, this mountain was green and rocky. I looked on the other side of the clearing I landed in, before inhaling a sharp breath.
A couple dozen feet in front of me was a purple dungeon portal. An Epic Dungeon…
Epic Dungeon: Elemental, Earth
Huh. I weighed my options here. On the one hand, the recommended level for Epic Dungeons is at least 110, the max being 200. On the other, this is the only dungeon I've found in almost six hours of searching (at least, I think it's been six hours). I also have earthbending, which has potential to be a huge advantage here, and my small size makes me pretty dexterous, even though my DEX stat says otherwise…And I have an ally.
I'm probably going to regret this…I thought to myself as I pulled up my earthbending skill tree. I selected two perks, spending a total of twenty stat points.
Earth Manipulation
Earth is a broad term that can describe many things, not just rocks. With this skill, you have an easier time manipulating not only rock, but also coal, gems, and even meteorites.
Earth Smash
Destroying the boulders in your way has never been easier. With this skill, you can turn large rocks into piles of pebbles with a single strike. The size of said boulder depends on your SP and STR stat.
After getting these, I put twenty points in END, and then my last ten in DEX. Now my stats looked like this:
Name: Kilgara
Age: 0
Race: Arcane Royal Dragon
Rank: Hatchling
Alignment: Neutral Good
Level: 30
Class: Runecaster – LVL 30/100, 42%
HP: 600 [Regens 120 per minute]
MP: 2,700 [Regens 390 per minute]
SP: 600 [Regens 120 per minute]
STR: 65
END: 60
DEX: 40
INT: 108
WIS: 78
CHA: 50
LUK: 40
Points: 0
Not too much of an improvement, but it should be enough. Hopefully. Was I really going to do this? I'm better off doing the Super Rare dungeon on Cardia Cathedral instead! At the same time though, I have no idea where I am…better not miss this chance.
Let me try something here. This'll be the perfect opportunity to test some new runes I've been thinking about.
I put a rune together; it was the kanjeic rune for shield. I wrote it in the air with Mana Ink, then poured 10 points of MP in it. A circle then lit up around the red glowing rune. Then, I roared my arcane breath at it, using 5 MP. The breath attack was stopped by the shield, and the circle around the rune was now a half circle. It works! This is my first effective defensive spell! Now comes the more difficult part…how to make it a timed spell that'll follow me. I need this to become an instant defense, and unless I somehow am able to write at bullet speeds, this rune won't be as effective…
After a few trials and errors, I found out that I could actually write the runes on myself. I was able to angle myself so that I could draw five runes on myself, though it cost more MP to do so. I was only able to put 1,000 MP into each of them; seems that's the limit for my current level. It took some time as I had to wait for my MP to regenerate, but I have a feeling it'll be worth it.
I sighed, satisfied with my work. Next, I pulled out Tyrfina's card.
"Hello, Master!" She exclaimed as I summoned her, "What can I do ya for?" She casually swung her black and blue sword over her shoulder.
"Follow me," I nodded my head at the portal.
"Understood!" She smiled big, before frowning thoughtfully, "Well, not really, 'cause I can't understand your words, but I'm being compelled to follow you, so let's do this! What exactly are we doing?"
"We're about to have a hard fight," I mimicked a boxing match, letting my nervousness flow freely, pointing at the portal.
"Oh, you're nervous for a fight, and the fight's gonna be…somewhere over there?" She looked in the direction of the portal, but didn't seem to be looking at it, before nodding at me, "Don't worry, I'll be ready!"
Wait, can she not…? Oh, you need to be in my party to see or use the portals, whoops. I built up some magic in my palm, before releasing it in her direction; a red light surrounded her as I got a notification.
Notice!
Tyrfina has been forcefully added to your party.
Looking at my stats, that arcane manipulation took 500 MP. Wow, more expensive than I thought, but it was recovering at a decent rate.
"Oh!" Tyrfina flinched a little at the appearance of the portal. I pointed at it again.
"Oh," She said again, "Alrighty, let's get this show on the road!" She brandished her sword.
I took a deep breath before we walked through the portal.
Quest Received!
Complete the Earth Elemental Dungeon!
Rewards:
75,000 XP
5 Gacha Tokens
Wowza, that's a lot of XP! And that loot is…actually, I'm not sure if that's a lot of rewards or not for an epic dungeon…it's still the most I've ever seen! Geez!
In any case, going through the portal was like walking through a doorway, except when you walk through, the doorway disappears. No fancy lights or anything like that.
We walked into a large cave, except it wasn't dark. The whole place was being lit with some kind of blue crystal. There were patches of the stuff everywhere…looking around there wasn't much else in the cavern we were in.
I walked over to the nearest outcropping of crystal; I could feel something in here, and it almost felt like magic. It must be, I'm not able to sense anything else, unless I'm sensing something from my earthbending abilities? I used Observe on the crystal.
Raw Lacrima Crystal
Holy what now!? Lacrima!? So it is magic I'm sensing! This is what lacrima feels like? Interesting…it feels different from the kind of magic I've sensed in people.
"Tyrfina," I said, turning to her, "Come here," I beckoned her with my talon to come my way.
"What's up?" She came over, watching as I turned to the lacrima. I wonder…can I use my earthbending on this? Earth Manipulation should give me the ability to work with gemstones…
I grabbed a hold of a large lacrima crystal, and tried using my earthbending to break it off the wall. Nothing happened. Interesting. If its crystal isn't made of earth…is it made of magic, then?
I closed my eyes, putting my Arcane Manipulation skill to good use. I could feel the magic in the crystal; it wasn't flowing, like how magic moves in living things, it was stationary. Completely still. I used my own MP to break the crystal off the wall. Arcane Manipulation for the win!
I turned to Tyrfina, pointed at the lacrima, then pointed to myself as I placed it in my inventory.
"Oh, you want to harvest these weird crystals?" She questioned, to which I nodded, "Okay!"
We spent the next few minutes harvesting as much lacrima as we could. This one room didn't have too many, but with my earthbending we were able to get to all the nooks and crannies these beautiful babies were hiding, so we managed to get a decent stash! Though some of them completely shattered, which caused the magic to disperse into the surrounding air and rock. Apparently, lacrima is fragile.
Of course, this lasted for all of about ten minutes before I stumbled upon something else. I had just ripped up a larger chunk of a lacrima from the ground, when the rock beneath it began to move. A quick use of Observe told me all I needed to know.
Stone Elemental
Race: Elemental, Earth
Age: 10 years
I froze as it rose to its full height. It must have been at least ten feet tall, taking on a kind of humanoid form. I'd say it looks like some kind of cross between a human and a gorilla completely made of stone. Except way taller, with a round rock for a face.
"Uh, hi there!" I gave it a smile and a small wave. It didn't even hesitate to raise its fists. In my head I heard, "HULK SMASH!"
Acting quickly, I leapt back just before getting crushed. My talon shot forward; I used Earth Smash to completely obliterate its arm. It let out a low, rumbly groan, swinging its other arm at me. It was relatively slow, but still quick enough to keep me on my toes. Taking a gamble, I flapped up, out of the way of its fist, before grabbing its head, once again using Earth Smash, obliterating it. The dang thing wasn't even fazed! I flew up, out of the way of its arm that followed me. What do you have to do to kill one of these things!?
I dove at it again, this time using Earth Smash to destroy its center, its very core. That seemed to do the trick. Once that was destroyed, the thing finally went down.
"Wow," Tyrfina commented, "That thing was big! I didn't realize you had that much brute strength, master, you're so small! Do you use earth magic?"
I made a so-so gesture (ignoring her comment about me being small), before turning my attention back down the cavern. I used Observe on every boulder and rock I could see. There were two more dormant stone elementals with big lacrima growing on them just down the hallway of the cavern, both of them under the age of fifteen. The dormant form of the stone elemental was one giant boulder. I wonder…
I went up to the first one, being as quiet as I could; as soon as I got to it, I immediately used Earth Smash on it. It completely drained my remaining SP, but it also completely destroyed the elemental. Unfortunately, this activity seemed to wake up our second big friend here. Stone went everywhere as this guy burst into existence. Tyrfina and I immediately leapt into action. As I flew around the elemental like an annoying fly, which it tried to swat, Tyrfina brandished her sword, and cut clean through BOTH of its legs!
Holy smokes, this little girl packs a punch! The stone elemental went down, and by this time I had a little stamina built up. I used it to demolish its core. I then turned to Tyrfina, who could probably feel my shock.
"Yeah, I'm a little strong," She smirked slightly, "I'm a Mythic class NeoMonster; we're legends among legends of our kind."
Level up!
Sweet. Double sweet. Tyrfina is a monster among monsters and killing three of these things leveled me up once already, and these were the small fry. I'm also pretty sure being an earthbender here automatically makes me OP as heck in this dungeon. I almost feel like I'm hacking. I shouldn't be able to conquer this dungeon for another seventy levels, yet here we are!
…Then again, maybe I shouldn't speak too soon, we literally just started.
I turned to Tyrfina, nodding my head down the dimly lit cavern, "Let's go," I growled.
"Yes sir!"
It felt like hours had passed. The cavern began to get bigger the farther down we went, and the golems got older and bigger as well. The biggest one we've faced so far must have been at least twenty feet tall; it was over a hundred years old. We collected all the lacrima we passed by, which only added more time. We also had to stop every now and then so I could recharge SP and MP. Looking in my inventory I currently had 42 chunks of various sizes as far as lacrima went, the smallest being the size of a golf ball while the largest was the size of Tyrfina. I only had one that big.
I had no doubt that if I got hit by these elementals even once, I'd be a goner, completely one-shot. That's another reason why it was taking us so long to make any sort of progress; we were being overly cautious against every foe we faced.
I've also managed to level up six more times. It was tedious, but worth it! The stronger the elementals got, the more XP they gave! Earthbending practically makes you a god in here! It's insane!
Tyrfina and I just finished killing another elemental. We ran past the falling pebbles; the cavern took a sharp right, which we followed. We found ourselves dashing into a large, open chamber, more brightly lit than the other caverns we had come across. The lacrima in here were among the biggest we had come across, sweet!
I went over to harvest it, only for a spike of crystal to jut out from the ground and bash into me, sending me flying!
-100 HP
"Master!" Tyrfina screeched.
OW! That nearly impaled me! And it took nearly half my health with it! Not to mention the shield runes I had! Holy shoot! I looked over at what hit me, using Observe.
Crystal Elemental
Race: Elemental, Earth
Age: 80
An elemental made of crystal. Should've expected that, how could I have been such an idiot? I let my guard down, it won't happen again. As I readied to take to the air, I felt a build up of magic power. The crystal elemental had its mouth open, with light building up in it!
"Dodge!" I roared at Tyrfina, flapping out of the way. Thank goodness Tyrfina naturally understands commands like that from me, or she'd have been hit by that blast. A concentrated beam of magic blasted apart the rock where we once stood.
I let loose my own power breath at the crystal's head, only for it to dodge!? Crud, this thing is faster than the other golems! It jumped up…it was gonna hit me again!
Tyrfina got into a stance, raising an open palm as I felt magic pulse through her, "Punish," She flexed her fist, clenching it shut. Quite suddenly, the elemental looked like it took a cannonball to the gut, part of its core cracking as it went flying off course, crashing to the ground.
Tyrfina rushed the thing with her sword, slashing straight through the remainder of the crystal core, shattering it.
Level up!
Wow! I'm gonna have to reapply my shield runes now…and what was that spell she used?
As I walked over to Tyrfina, I used Observe on every crystal and boulder in the cavern I could see. There were three more crystal elementals in here, but they were pretty spread out.
"You okay, Master?" Tyrfina looked at me with concern.
I nodded, before I started reapplying my shield runes. It took a minute, but when I was done, I wrote the same rune on Tyrfina's head, then had her turn around so I could write it again on her back.
By the time I was done, my HP and SP had fully regenerated. I looked over at the three dormant crystal elementals. This was going to take a while.
I can't believe how stupid I was. Earthbending works on gemstones, and that's exactly what the crystal elementals were made of too! It wasn't as easy to control as stone or dirt, but I got the hang of it pretty quick.
As soon as I made this connection, we were able to get through this section pretty quick. Crystal elementals hit pretty hard and have a high concentration of mana, but they were physically weaker than the stone elementals.
When the last three elementals in this cavern were defeated, we moved on further down the caverns, but not before stopping to collect all the lacrima we could.
At this point, looking in my inventory, we had collected 56 lacrima in total of various sizes. Most of them were no bigger than a human sized fist.
Tyrfina was getting tired, I could tell. She was starting to breathe heavily. And there was no telling how much more of the dungeon we had left. I was doing fine physically, and I wasn't even exhausted mentally. I was actually pretty excited, even though I was quite anxious for the boss.
Level Up!
By now, I was level 45. A leap of fifteen levels from what I was. Wowza! Five more levels and I'd have the option to change my class!
Tyrfina and I continued on our way. We came across a large cavern that descended further and further into the earth.
Eventually, the cavern came to a sudden drop-off. Not only that, but it also opened to a wide space, filled with all kinds of different pillars and sea stacks. You could fit a whole city in here if it weren't for the fact that you couldn't see the floor. It was also dark now; no crystals to be seen or give off any light. I was able to still see everything, though only in shades of gray.
"Master," Tryfina said, "I don't think I'll be of much help if it stays so dark…" she began wandering forward.
"Hold up!" I roared, extending my wing and stopping her from stepping off the cliff side.
"What is it?" Tyrfina's gaze sharpened as she took a stance, brandishing her sword.
Thrusting my fist forward, I broke off a small boulder from the cliff side using earth bending, then released it, letting it fall to the ground. It was at least a solid thirty seconds before we heard a distant bang.
"Oh…" Tyrfina said.
I pondered our options here…
I took Tyrfina's card out of my inventory, then held it up to her, "Time to go back," I said.
"Hm…it seems you no longer require my assistance, master," She bowed, "If I can be of any more service, you know where to find me!" She smiled big, before her body flashed into her card, enveloped in golden light.
This was going to be risky, but it had to be done. Tyrfina was completely blind in this section of the dungeon, and I wasn't big enough to have anyone ride on me. Without further ado, it's time to fly.
I leapt from the edge, extending my wings. I descended through the air for a little while, using Observe on every pillar and strange rock formation I could see. So far, nothing but normal rocks and stones.
As I continued my descent, I got a message.
Boss fight initiated!
Great, I thought, turning my head around sharply, looking for anything out of place. In the distance, I could see the ground, but it was still pretty far.
It wasn't until my instincts screamed at me to move that something happened.
I dashed forward, feeling the air behind me woosh down my spine and tail! I turned sharply, only to see a large rock spike flying in my direction! I flew up, barely dodging the stone spike. I looked where it came from, and saw a massive figure made of gray and black stone. It was beating massive wings to keep itself in the air, with red, magma like glowing eyes trained on me.
Draconic Elemental
Race: Elemental, Earth
Age: 467
"Oh, you're kidding me!" I squeaked, absolutely horrified! The final boss is an earth dragon!? How does this thing even have wings?!
I felt a sense of calm wash over me. I pulled myself together and started flying towards this thing. It was gigantic, probably at least 120 times stronger than me in terms of brute force, but it was still made of earth.
I dived passed another stone it hurled at me, going straight for its head; I used earth smash to blast half its head apart! It roared in anger…but not pain. It used a massive claw to smack me straight into next Sunday!
-555 HP
OW! My shields were history! And now I only have 45 HP left! I spread my wings, stabilizing myself. I'm way over my head here! I shook said head, before taking off again.
Circling the larger dragon, I thought as quickly as I could! Elementals don't operate like normal creatures; they have a core, and destroying that is the only way to kill them. And though this thing's shaped like a dragon, it's still just an elemental. They operate by magic, so I should be able to sense where the core is…
As I circled it, I opened my senses to the magic around me. I could feel the flow of magic power in the stone dragon, which was most concentrated around where its belly would be.
As I circled it, the massive elemental wasn't being idle. It was building up power. It flicked its tail in my direction, launching several smaller spikes of stone. As quick as I could, I wrote out a basic rune, SHIELD, and held the spell up in front of me. Each spike that hit dealt about 100 damage, draining my MP with each hit. I couldn't take too many more hits!
While I was holding up the shield and being pelted with spikes, I charged straight towards the belly of the beast. As I did so, I put 25 points into my END stat (I was going to need more SP).
I slammed into the stomach, using my shield to cause more of an impact; I used earthbending to dig a whole big enough for me to squeeze into, then glanced behind me. It's massive talon was coming straight for me again! I raised one arm, then clapped my talons together, bringing down a stone wall, enclosing myself inside the beast's own body!
The stone around me shook with the massive impact that I can only assume it created by whacking its own stomach. I turned my senses to the source of magic power I felt, and began digging my way through. All the while, as I was bending the rock around me, I had to use my wings and tail to hold myself steady. The area around me was shaking and quaking A LOT!
I ran out of SP twice, and had to wait for it to recharge. Eventually though, I made it to the core. A highly concentrated source of magic power. It looked like a red and brown lacrima, roughly rounded and about the size of four bowling balls.
"Yes!" I breathed out, before inhaling a big breath.
I roared my arcane breath at point blank range, destroying the core, which exploded in a release of power. When the red-brown particles of light hit me, I knew it wasn't over yet; where the light touched me, I began to turn to stone.
"WHAT?!" My eyes widened. I was in a tight space and couldn't do anything about this! I tried clawing and scraping it off as I backed away from the remains of the core!
Notice!
Stonification spell has been negated due to Arcane Resistance
Oh, good, that's a relief, I sighed, smiling. I waited for about ten seconds longer before the world around me went BOOM! The small tunnel I was in shook so violently that I was sent flying around as if I forgot a seatbelt in a car accident!
-20 HP
Good grief! I'm sick of hitting rocks! If I had to guess, the massive dragon just fell and hit the ground. Ouch!
I took some time to scrape the stone coating that had begun to cover my scales, waiting for my HP, MP, and SP to recover.
I breathed in a deep breath, before crawling my way through the tunnel. Luckily for me, the earth dragon landed on its side, so I was able to make my way out relatively easily. I didn't even have to bend my way out, the elemental seemed to have been trying to claw out its own stomach to get to me.
I looked around me, only for my jaw to drop. This guy may have been an elemental, but he took his draconic shape to heart! I was surrounded by a hoard of raw gold ore, gems, and precious metals of considerable size!
I've said it once and I'll say it again; gold is such a good color!
It took me a while to get everything in my inventory. I was hoping for something a little more interesting than just gold and gems, as dragon hoards are notorious for having the most bizarre things at times, and I wasn't disappointed. Buried beneath the raw minerals, gems, and gold was a lacrima that must have been seven feet tall.
Sweet.
Quest Complete!
Complete the Earth Elemental Dungeon!
Rewards:
75,000 XP
5 Gacha Tokens
Hidden Quest Complete!
Find the Elemental's Food Storage!
Rewards:
1 Gacha Token
Food storage, huh? I guess that makes sense.
As soon as the notification for the quest's completion appeared, so too did a purple dungeon portal, leading back to the outside world.
Man, I feel like I've been in here forever! Still, I'd say it was worth it, considering the rewards.
Level up!
Level 50 has been surpassed! To change class, tap your class title.
I'll take a look at that later. Right now, I wanna get out of here!
I walked through the dungeon portal, and found myself in the same little clearing near the mountain I…landed by earlier.
Now that I was out, I took a look at my stats.
Name: Kilgara
Age: 0
Race: Arcane Royal Dragon
Rank: Hatchling
Alignment: Neutral Good
Level: 70
Class: Runecaster – LVL 70/100, 82%
HP: 850 [Regens 170 per minute]
MP: 4,700 [Regens 790 per minute]
SP: 850 [Regens 170 per minute]
STR: 145
END: 85
DEX: 40
INT: 188
WIS: 158
CHA: 50
LUK: 40
Points: 175
Wow…Not bad at all! I still have no idea where I am on the power-scale in this world, but being near level 100 must be a good thing, yeah? Though it also didn't take too long for me to get there…I've barely been here a week! Dangit, I really need Observe to level up more! It's still only at level 2.
In any case, what should I do with all the points I have? I could save them…My LUK and DEX stats are really low, though. I'm pretty sure the only reason I didn't get hit more in that dungeon was because of my small size, so it would be very beneficial to raise those stats.
Another thing to take into account, however, would be the class, racial, and ability skill trees. My stats can increase with every level up depending on the class I have; I can only get abilities from the skill trees through the points I obtain. Hm…
I'm level 70 in my Runecaster class now, bringing me to the upper Expert rank. Nearly a master, almost a legend.
Let's see what we get from the gacha tokens before I decide on anything. I've got six of them now! I pulled out the first one and snapped it!
You have obtained Revan's Mask!
Who's mask? The mask dropped in front of me, and as soon as I saw it, it stirred a memory in me. Darth Revan, the Force user who mastered both the light and dark side of the Force! Holy what now? That's so cool! Does it have any special properties? Let's try using Observe!
Revan's Mask
The mask Revan obtained from fighting in the Mandalorian wars.
Kind of already knew that, but oh well! I may not be able to wear it, but this thing still looks cool! It was a dark gray and black Mandalorian helmet with red outlining the black visor. So cool! A darn shame it won't fit my head!
I snapped the next gacha!
A gust of ominous wind brushes past you.
A cool breeze that left a slight chill in my spine blew by, ever so slightly.
That's it? Okay…Next one up!
You have obtained a STR point!
Just one point in STR? I guess that's better than nothing…let's try another one.
You have obtained a Familiar Sphere!
Ooh, this sounds interesting! Let's see what this can do! A smooth crystal orb the size of a human fist dropped on the ground in front of me. It was glowing an erie blue-green on the inside, and looked like it was filled with fog.
Familiar Sphere
Upon crushing, one has the chance to obtain a familiar of any kind.
Awesome! I'll do that as soon as I finish my last two gacha here. I wonder what kind of familiar a dragon would have? As I recall, in most fantasy worlds, dragons are the ones that can be familiars.
You have obtained 4 ingots of Vibranium.
Woah! Vibranium? As in the strangely OP metal from Marvel? Cool! I have no idea what I can do with it, but hey, I'll take it!
Four ingots appeared in front of me, and they were pretty big too! Each about the size of a large football. Now for the last gacha.
You have obtained a rare LUK potion!
Rare LUK Potion
Drinking this potion increases one's LUK stat by 500 for 60 seconds.
That's what I like to see! A shame it's not a permanent increase, but it's perfect for a rainy day!
I put the gacha loot away in my inventory, before taking the Familiar Sphere back out. Ooh, I'm getting all giddy with excitement! I set it on the ground, turned, and crushed it with my tail.
The sphere shattered easier than I thought it would; the fog trapped inside rose, creating a miniature mushroom cloud before fading. In the space of the mushroom cloud, floating a few feet above the air, was a metal sphere, about half the size of a human head, with a red camera lens.
Familiar Gained!
A.I. Unit
I have…an A.I. unit for a familiar? As in a piece of technology that thinks on its own? That's…actually that's kinda cool! But…what can it even do in a world where everything operates on magic, while it uses electricity?
"Uhm… Hey there mate!" I waved, "So you're my familiar…what do I call you? Can you speak?"
"I have no title as of yet, sir," It said after a moment's pause. Interesting…I have to pick a name now…
"Then I'll call you…Luxion!" I declared. Luxion was a very sarcastic robot from that one show where the main character gets trapped in a dating sim game, and this guy reminds me of him a lot, from his looks to the tone of his voice.
"From now on then, my dear master, I shall answer to the title of Luxion," Luxion stated plainly.
"Follow me," I nodded my head; I continued questioning him while I walked and he hovered next to me, "So, tell me what you are and what you can do."
"I am an A.I. unit, programmed to learn," Luxion stated, after another pause, "I am equipped with a few scanners, ones that allow me to analyze physical properties as well as spiritual properties. As your familiar, I am able to store myself inside your soul. You need simply think or say my title for me to appear, though it will cost a single unit of MP."
"Hold on, MP?" I turned to him; there's no way… "You know about my…abilities?"
"You asked me a question," Luxion's lens turned to me, "To give my best answer, I analyzed myself, which led me to our bond, which led me to analyzing your soul. I am a learning A.I. unit; it is this programming that allowed me to learn the language you speak after analyzing the vibrations your voice box created in the air, along with your brain. Thus, I understand to a degree your abilities as 'The Gamer.'"
"That…is scary!" My eyes widened, "Are you able to scan anything and come up with that much detail?"
"I have been scanning everything my scanners are able to process, and only you have come up with such detail," Luxion reported, "I understand this to be because of our bond. This is why my scanners can discern such detail from you."
"Oh, okay," I sighed. Wow, if he were able to scan everyone that thoroughly, he'd be OP as heck! I began moving forward again, "So what else are you scanning right now?"
"Any unfamiliar substance or life form in the current vicinity of 10 meters," Luxion reported, "Thanks to my analysis of your mind, and the surrounding vicinity, I am now acquainted with various substances known to you as trees, wood, stone, minerals, grass, worms, microbes, mice, snakes-"
"Okay, good to know," I interrupted him. As cool as that is, I don't need to know about all the data he's gathering, "Well, when we come across people-that is to say, other life that's intelligent like us, you should probably hide yourself in my soul. We don't want the people I live with to be alarmed by you."
"As you wish," Luxion acknowledged. With that, I took to the sky, Luxion hovering next to me. All in all, it was a pretty good day today! And with the sun now coming up from the horizon, I was ready to keep getting stronger!
Now to find my way back home…