Chapter Twenty-Three
Ambrose gave the dragon a wary look,
“I’m listening.”
A part of him still expected her to pounce on him. He hadn’t lived this long by taking unnecessary risks, and he was ready to use his skills at a moment''s notice. Akaroth raised a single claw,
“BE AT EASE, I WILL NOT ATTACK YOU.”
With a single claw, she traced a line in the air, and as she did, a slit not unlike Ambrose’s portal split open the air. Beyond the small portal was a vast space filled with even more treasure than was in the room. Akaroth reached in with her claw, removing it a second later; she parted the claw in front of him to reveal an item.
It looked like a jewel, and an inner blue light shone within it. Ambrose used [Retributions Gaze] on it.
[Blue Dragons Heart-Akaroth (Mythic)]: Akaroth, the Mother of Storms, was once an A-Grade Blue Dragon. This is her heart. A Dragon Heart contains the totality of their being, including their spirit. It can be used to create a powerful mythical item. Note, doing so will trap all that Akaroth is within the item.]
Ambrose looked up at the dragon, whose huge eye blinked at him.
“No way you’re giving this to me?”
“INDEED I AM, MORTAL.”
He shook his head, more than a little baffled.
“Why?”
Her other claws needed the treasure below her.
“THERE ARE MANY REASONS. I AM TIRED OF BEING TRAPPED HERE, ENDLESSLY KILLED AND REBORN. USING THAT ITEM WOULD GIVE ME BACK A SEMBLANCE OF THE FREEDOM I ONCE HAD.”
He blinked,
“You know about what the System is doing to you? I thought only the priestesses knew.”
The great dragon shook her head,
“OF COURSE I KNOW. THE SYSTEM FORCES ME DOWN TO D-GRADE WITHIN THIS ACCURSED PLACE, BUT I REACHED A-GRADE IN MY FORMER LIFE, HUMAN. I KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN SHOULD I PERISH WITHIN A DUNGEON. THE SYSTEM BOTHERS NOT WITH ALTERING MEMORIES OF THOSE THAT ALREADY POSSESS THE KNOWLEDGE AND DO NOT CONTEST ITS WILL.”
He scratched at his chin, eyeing the heart. He was very tempted, but he wasn’t about to jump into anything.
“That still doesn’t fully explain why.”
“DOES IT MATTER? YOU WILL GAIN A POWERFUL ITEM FROM THIS.”
Ambrose laughed,
“Yeah, maybe I would. Yet the description says you will be trapped in it. What does that mean? What level of control will you have? Last thing I need is to be in a dangerous situation only to have an item I have come to count on for survival turn on me.”
Akaroth’s body shook, and a coughing sound came from her throat. It took him a moment to understand that she was laughing.
“SO CYNICAL FOR ONE SO YOUNG. NOT UNLIKE THE CLOAK YOU WEAR, WHATEVER ITEM I BECOME, I WILL BE BOUND TO YOU. BETRAYING YOU AT THAT POINT WOULD BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. AS TO THE WHY OF IT…OTHER THAN MY FREEDOM FROM THIS PLACE, I WILL ASK A BOON FROM YOU. A TASK I WILL WISH YOU TO COMPLETE.” Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
He crossed his arms. He didn’t have time to complete random tasks. He said as much to the dragon and then added,
“I have my own goal that I will complete. Anything else, everything else, is secondary to that goal.”
Akaroth rumbled her eye regarding him with intensity.
“A STORM RAGES IN YOUR HEART, MORTAL. IT YEARNS TO FREE ITSELF, TO RAGE ACROSS THE LAND UNSHACKLED BY YOUR WILL THAT CHAINS IT. I WILL RELISH SEEING THAT. FEAR NOT; THE BOON I ASK IS BEYOND YOU FOR NOW. IT WILL LIKELY BE AN AGE BEFORE YOU COULD COMPLETE IT.”
Ambrose felt his arms tighten, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Sounds like you’re not even sure I can get this task done. Why not anyone else? Surely, you’ve been spoiled for choices.”
Akaroth shook her head, snorting. A tiny bolt of lightning struck a pile of treasure.
“THAT IS NOT SO. EVERY WOULD-BE ADVENTURER THAT COMES BEFORE ME MERELY TRIES TO KILL ME. THERE IS NO TALK, NO DISCUSSION. USUALLY, THEY ARE WEAK. THE ROGUE YOU DEFEATED OVER THERE, HE SLAUGHTERED A PRIESTESS, VANISHED, AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, MANAGED TO GET THAT ACCURSED COLLAR AROUND MY NECK. RATHER THAN JUST KILLING ME, YOU FREED ME. YOU’RE THE FIRST TO TAKE ANY ACTION AGAINST ME THAT WAS NOT VIOLENT OR SELF-SERVING.”
He took a deep breath. So far, the dragon had been very forthcoming with her answers. He had more questions, but he allowed the edge of suspicion he held within his mind to deflate. He could understand her desire to get away from this place if it was anything like the priestesses had explained.
He had one more pointed question to ask, however.
“What happens to everyone else? Lizella, the kobolds, all of them? When you vanish, the whole point of this dungeon goes with it.”
Akaroth cocked her head, her tail swishing and her wings ruffling.
“I KNOW NOT. I CARE NOT. THE SYSTEM WILL LIKELY RE-PURPOSE THEM.”
He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he thought. If he could, he’d free them too. Yet he only had one dragon heart, and it worked only for the dragon.
“Is there any way to address the System directly? Lizella said she accepted a deal with it.”
Akaroth rumbled.
“THE SYSTEM IS NOT A SENTIENT BEING IN THE WAY YOU ARE THINKING, MORTAL. THERE ARE MANY THEORIES SURROUNDING IT, BUT IT IS WIDELY ACCEPTED THAT IT OPERATES BASED ON PARAMETERS KNOWN ONLY TO IT. YOU CANNOT SPEAK TO IT LIKE YOU WOULD YOU OR I. IF IT OFFERS A PACT, IT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN NEGOTIATE. IT IS A YES OR NO.”
That was that, then. He couldn’t free them, and even if he did, where would he take them? Avalon had room, but something told him they wouldn’t be happy there. Accepting it as impossible, he looked at the dragon.
“I accept your proposal then, Akaroth. What item will you be?”
“THAT IS UP TO YOU, MORTAL. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CHOOSE. YOU ALREADY WEAR ARMOR AND A CLOAK. PERHAPS I SHALL BE A WEAPON FOR YOU? OR MAYBE A HELMET, HMM?”
He tugged his lips downward,
“Not really a helmet, fan,” he muttered to himself.
Maybe an axe? There was an argument to be made that an axe would be a waste. He could already form an axe out of hellfire. The problem with that was any situation where he either ran out of mana or was in a place where he couldn’t use mana. There could also be beings that were resistant to it, like Akaroth, who was resistant to lightning.
Plus, he just liked the feel of a weapon in his hands, of having something physical he could hold and use. As he thought about it, he grew warmer and warmer to the idea. His basic axe had been with him for a long time, and now it was gone. Surprisingly, he found himself missing it.
He nodded to himself,
“Very well then. Give me the heart. I hope you like being an axe, Akaroth. It’s about to be your permanent form.”
He took the heart from her claw, focusing on it.
[Would you like to use the Dragon Heart? Think of the item you wish as you do. Note that this will bind Akaroth’s consciousness and spirit to the item permanently. The item will be bound to you.
Y/N?]
He willed his answer to the System and watched as Akaroth burst into a cloud of gray-blue light. The heart in his hand, as if pulled by an invisible force, lifted into the air. It began to elongate and twist as the storm light wrapped around it, delving into it and becoming one with it.
Before long, an axe settled into his hands.
It was a marvel to look at. He had never been an art person, but the weapon he held was as much art as it was a tool of violence. There was a deadly beauty to it. The blade was curved, not unlike a dragon’s tooth, with jagged edges like mini fangs taken directly from the great dragon''s mouth.
Its handle was carved from obsidian, wrapped in scales that shift from dark blue to the gray of lightning. At the center of the blade is a glowing sapphire embedded in a spiral of runes that constantly crackled with blue and white energy. The axe hummed with latent power, not unlike a brewing storm.
Lightning arced around it, jumping over its surface like a living thing. He could feel Akaroth’s mind within it, giving the new weapon an ancient feel.
Smiling to himself, he used [Retributions Gaze]. Time to see what it could do.