Disclaimer!
I don't own anything from DC Comics, and I don't claim any money from this Fanfiction. The only thing I own are my OC's/Original Characters.
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Issue #2: Draconic Blood
10th of March/2024
Gotham City
"You're picking up on things quickly." Timothy complimented his friend as he and Neo exchanged blows with wooden swords.
Neo insisted that he should be trained in the old school ways of swordsmanship to get the most out of it instead of using magic as a shortcut through progress. In his games and livestreams, he isn't afraid to grind for rewards and since his life had become a game, he sure as hell wasn't going to miss out on getting the maximum benefits of training in the proper ways.
Plus, unlike a few games. Real life didn't have any exploits that he could purely take advantage of.
"I'm trying my best, but we both know that your skills easily outclass mine." Neo replied as they exchanged blows that alternated from slow to fast depending on the type of strike and the form required along with the proper footwork.
"I'm serious Neo. You're already becoming adept at swordsmanship in a relatively short time. Although you aren't wrong about our skill levels." Timothy said with a cocky smirk before giving Neo a smack on his outer right thigh, making Neo tense up a bit while his friend chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Neo groused in slight annoyance before he continued his strikes with the wooden long sword while alternating between that and a wooden short sword for some time before both teens decided to rest for a bit.
[Long Sword Mastery has leveled up! Level: 14-15!]
[Short Sword Mastery has leveled up! Level: 13-14!]
[You have gained 1 CON and 1 DEX from your training!]
Neo simply let out a breath of exhaustion while he sat on the grass with his sweat clinging to his body in an uncomfortable way. He's a gamer and isn't used to constant exercise like he has been doing lately.
"I've got to ask. Why are you so insistent on training? I expected you to have quit by now." Timothy admitted before walking over to Neo and handing him one of the ice-cold bottled waters he had in each hand.
"I'm glad you think so highly of me." Neo replied sarcastically before taking a long drink from the water. "Seriously though…I don't know. Maybe I'm processing this as if I'm playing a super immersive RPG sim. Maybe I'm still in a bit of shock or maybe I'm off my rocker. But I feel like this isn't something I should stop doing. I don't mean I feel some kind of destiny or anything, but if anything, I can say that this is a good way for me to finally start exercising and getting a bit of muscle."
"Sounds like you don't really know what you want." Timothy replied honestly before sitting down next to his friend.
"I guess I don't. I'd like to know why I have these weird powers though." Neo admitted before a new screen appeared before his eyes.
[Quest Alert!
Name: Discover the system's origin.
You have questioned why you have been given the power of the System and what it means. So, learn more about the supernatural and discover the answer through diligent study and persistence.
Objective: Learn who gave you the Player System and why.
Rewards: 1,000,000 XP! Other rewards are hidden from view.
Failure: Never getting the answers you seek and constantly wondering what if.
This quest has been automatically accepted.]
The quest was written in gold lettering and completely confused Neo and basically had him stun locked for a moment before he shook his head and came to his senses while accepting the quest and explained what had just happened to Timothy.
"From what you said. It sounds like a God might have given you this power, but since you're not especially devote to any religion. That seems a bit unlikely."
"You're telling me that literal God's also exist? Like God's from Greek or Norse mythology?" Neo asked while Timothy nodded his head.
"They do and so do many more. Even God's that haven't been documented can and will affect the world on a whim." Timothy explained bluntly while Neo simply groaned before bringing his hands to his face before slowly falling onto his back as he laid down on the grass with his face covered.
"Why did my life have to get so complicated."
"It is what it is. Now, stop moping and let's get back to training. Today were going to be working on your ability to sense magical energy." Timothy explained before both teens stood up and Timothy brought his hands together in a clap and Neo instantly felt the air around him shift.
[You have entered a magical barrier.]
"What was that? It feels like I just walked into a giant bubble of water even though I didn't walk anywhere."
"You could already sense the magical barrier?" Timothy asked with a raised eyebrow. "That cuts down on the study time but it's still a bit worrying. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you could be a magical prodigy."
"How am I not when my power is the world's biggest cheat code?"
"Fair enough. Anyway, working on your senses is difficult but it's no harder than learning how to ride a bike. Simply focus on expanding your magical energy outwards like sonar and understand the feedback you receive to sense other magical energies." Timothy explained before Neo closed his eyes and focused on doing what he was told.
The process wasn't too difficult for Neo, much to his surprise as he focused his magical energy outwards and almost immediately, he was able to sense Timothy's magic near him as well as the magical energy of the barrier he was in.
[You have learned the [Mana Sense] skill!]
[Mana Sense, Level: 1
Active skill
Tier: 1
You can extend your senses via your magical power to sense other magical energies and beings within a localized distance around yourself.
Range: 10 Feet
Cost: 10 MP per minute.]
[You have leveled up! Level: 3-4! You have gained 5 stat points and 1 perk point!]
[Due to unlocking a magical skill instinctual to your bloodline and race, you have unlocked a previously locked perk.]
[Dragonborn
Rank: MAX
You have the blood of the dragon within you along with the soul of a dragon, thus you are a forgotten magical race known as Dragonborn.
You can now learn and use draconic magic and incantations but be warned that with draconic magic there is the risk and danger to the user.]
"What the hell?" Neo asked in confusion.
"What?"
"Timothy, what do you know about something, or a race known as Dragonborn?" Neo asked causing Timothy to look at his friend with a serious look of worry before Neo explained his newly gained perk.
"You shouldn't be a Dragonborn or even have powers similar to them. Your parents were both normal people without any dragon blood lineage and on top of that, the old Dragonborn bloodlines were supposedly wiped-out ages ago." Timothy replied before explaining how the Dragonborn were basically annihilated during the times of knights and wizards.
"So, I'm a rare case. Cool."
"No, not cool. This raises questions that shouldn't be asked in the first place." Timothy replied sharply before Neo cracked his neck a bit.
"There's no use worrying about something we can't control dude. Besides, if this is anything like being a Dragonborn from Skyrim, I'd say that this is a good thing." Neo said with a carefree grin while Timothy gave him a flat look of annoyance before he released a sigh.
"Fine. Let's just continue, you're training. Your job is to sense the magical beacons I'm going to put around the general area of the barrier without using your eyes and simply use your ability to sense magic." Timothy explained before Neo closed his eyes and waited.
After several minutes, Timothy gave the go ahead to use his mana sensing skill. It took Neo a few minutes to get used to this newfound sense he had awakened but sure enough he pointed in the direction of the nearest orb of magic that he was able to sense.
"The first beacon is five feet across from me to the right."
"Good. Now for the next one." Timothy said before he created more beacons and each time the distance expanded a little bit at a time and with the training, Neo's magical sensing skill leveled up at a decent paste based on its usage and accuracy in sensing specific magical energies.
The last bit of training revolved around hand-to-hand combat which took Neo by surprise since he had no clue that Timothy knew traditional karate. Afterwards, Neo made his way home and after performing a small livestream he went to bed feeling rather sore and exhausted physically and mentally.
Dreamscape
"Where am I?" Neo asked himself as he suddenly found himself on the top of some stone mountain that had some form of shrine built atop it made from stone and wood.
There are dozens of statues of dragons in the form of both eastern and western styles of dragons. Neo walked on the stone ground and noticed that he was dressed in rags with no socks or shoes on his feet. The shrine-like complex was massive indeed and the sun poured down intense heat from the sky that threatened to boil Neo alive as it couldn't have been less than one hundred degrees.
"What is this place?" Neo asked himself as he walked and looked on at the various statues and pillars of the shrine before he made his way to the center of the large courtyard where he saw a large cauldron in the center of the ground with a strong fire lit underneath it as smoke rose from the cauldron into the sky.
As Neo drew closer the smoke got thicker and more intense as it began to block out the sun and sky. Neo then heard a monstrous roar that caused him to bring his hands up to his ears to try and block out the sound.
The world seemed to shake when a monstrous being landed in front of Neo and behind the cauldron. Neo knew enough to recognize a dragon when he saw one. The dragon was enormous in size, roughly thirty feet in terms of height and thirty feet in length with body size to match. It stands on four massive, clawed legs with each one bearing sharp talons. Two massive wings on its back as its body is covered in metallic gold scales with dark red secondary coloring around its lower body and throat. Crimson eyes and a maw of razor-sharp teeth as its mouth released crackles of gold flames with each breath the best took.
Neo was stunned by what he saw and didn't know what to do as the dragon simply stared him down before it spoke.
"Child of man, my name is Xandur, and you are too weak to challenge me yet."
"Challenge you?"
"Yes. I am a part of you, but I won't explain how or why. I will give you no power or aid as well. You must earn these things. Defeat me when I am in this form, and I will speak with you further. Until you are ready, you won't see me again. However, I will warn you. Don't say a word of this to the child of Merlin. He may be your ally, but that doesn't mean he will trust you if the truth were to be revealed." Xandur explained before he released a gout of golden flames towards Neo, causing him to scream out in agony as he felt himself being burned alive.
11th of March/2024
Gotham City
Neo woke up from his sleep with a painful burning sensation washing over him as he sat straight up in bed drenched in sweat while his skin felt raw.
"Jesus." Neo said through labored breaths before bringing his hands to his face as he struggled to calm himself down after such an intense dream that felt as real as possible. The feeling of being burned, having your body melted by heat, the feeling of powerlessness was nearly too much for Neo to bare before his perk Players Mind activated and forcefully calmed him down and allowed him to collect himself and think carefully about what he had just experienced.
Later
"You're not comfortable with swords?" Timothy asked after Neo had requested a change in his training in order to incorporate staff combat as Neo had been training with a quarterstaff.
"Honestly no. I've leveled up the skills a bit but wielding a sword just doesn't feel right. I'm more comfortable using a weapon that requires both hands instead of it being an optional thing like with swords." Neo explained as he practiced his slow strikes with the quarterstaff for the entire day of training. He didn't mention anything about the dream he had because for some reason the dragon's words replayed in his head for the entire day.
14th of March/2024
Gotham City
The past few days have been days of rest for Neo as he hadn't trained with Timothy or done any live streaming and instead was simply lying on his bed wondering what he should do with after recently leveling up from his time training as well as studying in school.
[Statistics
Name: Neo Rangel, Race: Dragonborn, Age: 17
Title: The Player, Alignment: Neutral, Level: 4 [130/1,000 XP]
HP: 175/175, Energy: 260/260, MP: 175/175
Strength: 17, Constitution: 19
Dexterity: 17, Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 13, Charisma: 10
Stat Points: 5, Perk Points: 1
Perks: Players Mind-MAX, Players Body-MAX, Dragonborn-MAX]
"What am I supposed to do? In a game I could go for a specific build but in real life that might get complicated real fast." Neo said to himself as he looked at his game screen that was hovering in front of his eyes thinking about what he should or shouldn't do with the stat points as well as figuring out what it was, he was even aiming for with all this training.
Timothy and his mother are nice enough to let him train but Neo didn't even know what he was going to use the training for since he wasn't going to actively go out looking for danger like a superhero would.
"Well, I guess putting points into my brain power couldn't hurt." Neo said to himself before he started altering his stats.
[Statistics
Name: Neo Rangel, Race: Dragonborn, Age: 17
Title: The Player, Alignment: Neutral, Level: 4 [130/1,000 XP]
HP: 175/175, Energy: 260/260, MP: 200/200
Strength: 17, Constitution: 19
Dexterity: 17, Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 16, Charisma: 10
Stat Points: 0, Perk Points: 1
Perks: Players Mind-MAX, Players Body-MAX, Dragonborn-MAX]
"Now for the perk." Neo selected the perk tree available to him and saw dozens of perks he could choose from. The list ranged from mundane and general perks to ones that required certain skill levels and other perks that were needed and throughout the list, Neo saw some perks that would be nice to have, and sure enough he made his choice.
[Perk Selected!]
[Iron Scales
Rank 1
Your body is tough as nails due to your draconic physiology and as a result you now gain a permanent 25 Armor resistance and resistance against magic and energy attacks that aren't classified as dragon slayer magic or weapons.
Prerequisite: Dragonborn perk unlocked!]
"That's either a lot of protection or a little bit of protection…I haven't seen what actual armor or bullet proof vest offer in terms of defense." Neo said to himself with a sigh before dismissing the game screen before seeing a brand-new screen appear.
[Quest Alert!
Name: First Dungeon
After gaining your first perk you are eligible to go raid a dungeon. You will be directed to the closet dungeon with the lowest level requirement so you can conquer it.
Rewards: 500 XP, New Main Quest unlocked, access to the Gamer Store.
Failure: Death.
Do you accept this quest? Y/N?]
"What? Real life doesn't have a main quest line!" Neo practically shouted at the game screen in front of him before groaning and placing his hand on his face before dragging it down and thinking about the quest that he was just given.
"If I do this, I can gain access to a store for my abilities which sounds like something from a typical RPG but that implies that this power doesn't just affect me and instead affects the world since I doubt even my powers can create something from nothing. Also, what would the main quest line even be? How would it work and what would I have to do?" Neo asked himself while weighing the pros and cons of this decision.
Neo came to the thought that there are far too many variables in play but the chance at getting access to something like a store would be an invaluable resource even if it contained items that he couldn't use in the world without danger, so despite his concerns he accepted the quest and saw light blue markers appear on the ground prompting him to follow them to the dungeon.
"Alright, I guess this is happening." Neo said before getting dressed in a dark hoodie and jeans with sneakers on his feet before he headed out of his home. It was late into the night and Gotham city was still very much alive with noise and businesses, but during these night hours were some of the most dangerous times for a person to be alone, however Neo had long since learned how to fly under the radar.
He didn't flash any money or dress up overly fancy. Keeps his head down and minds his own business. Doesn't speak to people and just carries his own way and if he ever had to do any shopping this late, he would stay in well-lit areas and make double and triple sure that he wasn't being followed before making his way into his apartment.
The walk was decently long but sure enough the arrows pointed Neo to an abandoned arcade in one of the rougher neighborhoods or more specifically the rear entrance of the arcade and when Neo grabbed the doorknob, he saw a warning appear.
[You're about to enter 'Abandoned Draugr Dungeon' with a level requirement of 4! Do you wish to enter? Y/N?]
Neo took a deep breath before hitting the yes button and entered the place to see several long dead arcade machines in the spacious place. Neo looked around for any sign of a hidden room or something to no avail before he entered the managers office where he not only found a bloodied skeleton on the ground that gave off a foul smell along with having several bite marks on the bones, but the skeleton also has a small notebook next. Neo quickly placed it in his inventory for a later read before he saw a red button underneath the desk and pressed it.
The rear wall of the office opened vertically and split to reveal a metallic hallway lit up with florescent lights. Neo walked his way into the room as the door sealed behind him, but luckily the lights didn't go out as he walked the hall until he came up to a small room with two doors. One on the left and one on the right but in the center of the room is a wooden chest of all things.
It was clearly out of place and Neo was scared that the monsters known as Mimics might be real, but after inspecting the chest he found no signs of life or boobytraps. So, he carefully opened it and retrieved the chest's contents for himself.
1x Order Flint (Silver) under armor!
1x Iron Cuirass!
1x Iron collapsable Quarterstaff!
Neo quickly equipped both pieces of armor and noticed that the under-armor replaced his clothes and left him in a silver bodysuit stopping at his ankles, wrists and neckline. The suit has a unique symbol of a shield with a halberd behind it and a motto; Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee I will break in pieces the nations, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms.
"This…This is the symbol of a hate group." Neo quickly realized after taking a loot at some of the signs on the walls dictating the rules and beliefs of the Order who worship the Nordic God's and seek to create a world of only Arryan subjects. "Wearing this feels dirty, but it offers some mild protection. At least the chest piece doesn't have any similar markings."
After that was said, Neo looked at the collapsable weapon in his right hand and with the press of a button. The stick in hand became a quarterstaff and was ready to be used at any moment.
"Now, time to see what's in this place." Neo said to himself before collapsing his weapon into its stick shape before using his free hand to open the door on the right which allowed him to see a horrible sight.
Kneeling on the ground and eating a corpse is a shriveled and partially decayed corpse that was fully animated as it was taking bites before looking up at Neo. The corpse wears rags as clothing and made a wild charged towards Neo while speaking in some old forgotten language.
Neo quickly readied his newly gained Quarterstaff and bashed the Draugr's head, which sent it staggering back before Neo struck it repeatedly until he heard a loud crack of metal against skull which netted him some experience points and signaling him to stop beating the walking zombie.
[Would you like to activate auto-loot? Y/N?]
Neo slowly hit the yes button before gazing at the blood dripping from the tip of his staff.
5x Rags
10x Human teeth
5x Bones
5x Rotten Flesh
Neo felt like he was going to be sick after seeing the items being placed in his inventory. With that said he had a brand-new respect for videogame necromancers and alchemists who take items like this as spell casting items or alchemical ingredients.
Sadly, Neo's rest wouldn't last long as he made his way down the hall and through several rooms of this place killing more Draugr.
[Staff Mastery has leveled up! Level: 10-11!]
[Close Quarters Combat has leveled up! Level: 6-7!]
[Blocking Mastery has leveled up! Level: 16-17!]
[Protective Ward has leveled up! Level: 1-3!]
[You have leveled up! Level: 4-5! You have gained 5 stat points and 1 perk point.]
Developing a combat skill for close quarters engagement wasn't something that Neo thought he would get, but he was thankful none the less as that made this experience go by much faster as he cleared out each room of this dungeon which sadly offered nothing but corpses.
The final room was in front of Neo and sealed off by a heavy door. He temporarily stashed his quarterstaff, away in his inventory before he pushed the door open and saw a large and vast room that looked to be that of a blacksmith's laboratory.
Worktables and a literal forge in the corner but standing in the center of the room wasn't a blacksmith and instead it was a Draugr that reminded Neo of the hulking variant in Skyrim.
It has a buff appearance and is dressed in metal armor covering his chest, arms and legs and it has shoulder length black hair and an equally long beard and when the door closed behind Neo, the monster let out a wail before it charged at Neo.
Instead of outright summoning his quarterstaff again, Neo extended a hand and fired his Magic Missile spell which took the form of a bluish-purple blast of energy that flew towards the Draugr and stopped it in his tracks as it hit him right in the face and staggered him. Neo fired the spell repeatedly at the undead monster before finally stopping after the twelfth blast.
During this entire dungeon raid, Neo worked out his attacking and blocking abilities, but he hadn't gotten the chance to use his magic attack and found this to be the perfect chance as he managed to do significant damage to the Draugr apparently as it was now on the floor with its lower body being blow off from the waist.
The Dragur's body was also severely damaged, and Neo quickly summoned his quarterstaff and with a running start, he slammed the weapon down hard on the undead monster's head with a wet snapping noise as Neo had bashed in the skull properly.
[You have defeated the Hulking Draugr boss monster and gained the following rewards.
1x Random skill Book!
1x Iron Technomancy Helm!
500 XP!]
"That's everything?" Neo asked before he walked over towards the worktables and forge before looting a few tools and equipment before heading to the end of the room where another door was and when he entered it he found a meeting room of sorts with a few other corpses sitting in chairs and several notes and maps across the table and on those maps were several well populated and important sections of Gotham.
"This group is planning to attack Gotham in full force?" Neo asked in shock before taking all the notes and information into his inventory before he quickly headed out of the dungeon where he not only re-equipped his normal clothes, but he also saw that he had just completed his quest.
[Quest Complete!
Name: First Dungeon
Rewards: 500 XP, New Main Quest unlocked, access to the Gamer Store.]
"This store better have some cool stuff." Neo mumbled to himself as he made his way home as quickly as possible.
15th of March/2024
Gotham City
4 AM
Batman is an undeniable force in Gotham and strikes fear into the hearts of criminals, so it isn't often when an unknown criminal faction not only appears in Gotham but completely flies under his radar.
Batman was kneeling to the ground as he looked over the semi destroyed corpse of the massive undead that Neo had previously defeated alongside his sidekick known as Batgirl.
This hidden base somehow released an alarm on a hidden frequency that the bat-computer picked up on which caused this situation to unfold.
"Sorry sir but this individual's DNA isn't located in any known database. The same as the others." Alfred replied through the headset located in Batman and Batgirl's masks.
"What on earth was going on in this place? And how did they go under the radar for so long?" Batgirl asked no one as she forced herself to look at the corpse that she could swear was staring back at her while Batman was seemingly unphased.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Someone tore this victim and the others apart with a blunt weapon and unknowingly set off the base's silent alarms. Whoever this person is, they are new and going after an unknown group that is possibly altering humans and mutating them into something else. We need to put a stop to both this organization and this new unknown as soon as possible." Batman explained in his usual serious manner before he and Batgirl entered the meeting room where Batman managed to find a few notes that Neo hadn't picked up and with some portion of data recovered, Batman and Batgirl left the formerly hidden base and returned to the Batcave.
END!
A/N: So, Neo just conquered an easy dungeon with hardly a scratch. How long do you think that luck is going to last, especially with Batman following some breadcrumbs our hero had unknowingly left. Only time will tell what can happen and if Neo will trade blows with the Bat family.
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Moo.