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The day of the joint quest had arrived so the Misteltein Guild was packed with adventurers ready to move out, and citizens cheering Nova on and donating food, clothes and various other items to help them on their journey.
Arnold sat in his office for a bit, trying to wrap his head around things.
He had cleared another flag, this time one belonging to Tenma. Howver, unlike Victoria's, this one had a reward. He can deduce one reason for why that is—
Victoria's questline is technically not finished, whereas Tenma's ends with killing off the spirit. That means Victoria's questline still needs to be resolved for him to receive a reward.
He's had a suspicion lately that her business with Vealle had a deeper meaning to it.
"I probably shouldn't get involved in her business immediately so I'll ask her if she needs help when I come back."
He's not willing to finish the quest for the sole purpose of getting the reward. The real Arnold loved Victoria so he doesn't want to see her struggle. Even right now he's dying to embrace her and listen to her worries.
Since her family are the center of this questline (from what he understood), should he just kill them all?
He set that thought aside. For now, he'll focus on the joint quest.
"No, hold on. I think I can do Ladiath's quest now." He said as he looked at the status window.
A new feature had appeared in his A.I system skill tree. It was that skill tree with his cloning technique and hologram avatar he can use for training.
The change happened to the former skill.
· Player Arnold is now capable of allocating how much strength each hologram can have. However, Player Arnold's strength will be drained as a result.
'It's great to have the system with all its convenient uses but it's so annoying how these game mechanics restrictions also exist.'
At least the timing of this was perfect since he had a buff skill with Tenma active. It was a relief that the buff only activates when they're in close proximity so he was able to finish their business over the past few days in the end without wasting it.
By the way: Cameria, Lucia, Galadriel and Tenma all had ascended classes now. He tried to take Alice as well but the trial dungeon rejected her.
This must be because it's not suited to divine users. The aforementioned for don't have classes of divine origin so they could take the same trial dungeon and grow stronger.
Alice, unfortunately, has to take a different trial, which will be annoying since the only ones suitable for her would be in some troublesome places. It can't be helped—he'll have to see if there will be enough time to take her during the joint quest.
"If I allocate 80% of my strength into my clone, that should be enough to take Suarif Elipus down, right? I can just have Tenma stick close to me while I'm weakened."
In addition…
He glanced to the side.
The Star Shop was finally open to him. As Selia said, any quest would count towards the Star Shop unlocking requirement so he's been doing a few small quests: helping an alchemist gather plants in a dangerous monster zone, protecting a kid as he travels between the empire and his home village, etc.
There were various booster potions and XP buffs, which were ridiculously expensive. He wouldn't dare glance at the equipment tab. That will just make him cry tears of blood.
"Did the devs hate pay-to-win players this much that they'd overcharge on these items…? Either you spend a whole month's salary on a Star-Class item or you grind several boss raids with your guild." he checked the milestone section, "At least I can convert XP points into Star Points comfortably with the conversion system. I don't have lots of XP right now but when I get to Thalivielle, I should be able to find powerful monsters in the roots."
If this were in the game, he'd have to compete with other players taking on XP farm zones. Since bosses, including field bosses, still respawn, aside from the above he can have his clone farm them endlessly while he's away. Of course, he'll recall it is he needs the strength.
'I might as well use this new skill I got from Tenma. I thought the system was a stingy bastard but it's actually very generous sometimes.'
-….
'Tenma's been sticking to me like glue though so I should get to hunting immediately once we leave the empire.'
Arnold heard his name being called: "Sir Nova, we're ready to depart!"
He looked out the window, seeing the entire street swarmed with adventurers, with his party standing right in front of the guild. Beside Elora who was waving at him, stood Daraia, Flord's older sister and the guild master of the headquarters in the imperial capital city, Toril.
Starting today, he's going to share Daraia's responsibility as a leader.
All these adventurers, numbering in the hundreds, will be relying on his leadership and judgment.
Among the crowd, he spotted Alice smiling up at him.
He had this thought at the back of his head many times but there was a striking resemblance between her and Alecs.
◊◊
"My brothers and sisters… you have endured well…" Nyrathrom, exhausted and drained of most of her mental energy, addressed her siblings, her scales giving off a weaker radiant light than it typically does.
It had been several weeks since the ritual began and they've been performing it daily, taking only a few hours' break inbetween.
If they succeed, they'll welcome a new Dragon Lord… and a new sibling.
It has been a century since the last "invader" set foot in this world, trying to take it over but Nyrathrom wants to be ready to strike at any time. But it's not always possible for them alone to fend off invaders. They need two Alphas at the very least.
Plesiduxus and Thalgrimm were their Alphas but the former was on the verge of death when he challenged a human and lost his life while the latter chose to serve the Hero Promethius in the Demon-Human War, dying by the hero's side.
Nyrathrom's role has always been the mediator or negotiator. Due to this, she cared more to study and increase her intelligence than fighting so she was quite rusty when it comes to fighting. That said, she's still the most powerful of her siblings.
But that can't always be enough, can it?
If Plesiduxus' reincarnation—Arnold von Berkley—can take his seat after awakening his inherent power, they'll have a better chance at winning if facing powerful entities from other worlds.
Speaking of that human, one of Nyra's servants—an Elf she's known for a thousand years who's been gathering information for her liege—found out that that human challenged the previous Demon King.
If a child could be born between her and Plesidixus's reincarnation, how powerful would it become?
Nyrathrom stroked her belly with her claws. She had never been with other dragons before because she wanted her first child to be a pure-blooded Dragon Lord.
Something like that can happen in two ways: she mates with either her brothers or find the successors of her dead brothers. They may be halfling dragonkin, but their role as Dragon Lords can't be denied. The first successor has already been spotted so if things go well, she can immediately approach him with this request.
Of course, since he's a human, she needs to learn the duties of a wife and mother. She already has a plan to go into human society to learn this if things do go well. But the priority is awakening her brother's successor.
"Sister, does something bother you?" asked Vireskar, the youngest dragon of the siblings.
If she contemplates this deeply, it means something is bothering her. When she speaks, her siblings always listen to her troubles. They maintain this respect because she is the eldest and mightiest.
"My siblings, don't you think it is time for us to integrate into human society instead of protecting them from the shadows?"
All of them widened their eyes at this.
"Are you crazy, Nyra!?" shouted Retruk, the lightning dragon lord, "We cannot have children with that species for a reason! Coexisting brings only trouble to us. It may interfere with our purpose as we get complacent!"
Though she partly agrees about the trouble part, she couldn't think of any way how humans could pose a threat to them. Still, it helped being cautious. The second point, however, is ridiculous as the more things you have to protect, the greater your resolve to not lose it. Think of fathers. If they have a wife and children, they'd do everything in their power to make sure nothing happens to them.
"What say you, my other siblings?" she took note of her little brother's advice and looked to the others, "Our eldest brother showed that the blood of Valkyries run in the veins of the humans. If we take advantage of that, we can even raise our successors who can spread their influence throughout the Nine Realms and protect other worlds."
Her mother used to tell her stories of other worlds, as she fought many different individuals from various worlds. Through travelling like this, the Dragon God was able to find her own loved one and always returned to the mortal realm to give birth.
Once her first child was able to fend for himself, she left again, this time falling for a different male and getting pregnant with Nyrathrom. For the longest time, Nyra could only remember being raised by her eldest brother while their mother fought beings from other realms while simultaneously fighting ones that tried to invade this world.
If their mother could do that, perhaps she can too?
Plus, through infiltrating human society in her human form several times, she was able to learn that mothers become their strongest when they have children to protect so Nyra may undergo an awakening. She's a far cry from her eldest brother's strength, not to mention her mother. And yet she's expected to lead her siblings in this new era.
"I suggest we continue living as legends in their minds. Our Stormbreach Castle has cast a powerful illusion over these mountains for centuries to hide our existence. Why would you want to leave our dwellings?"
"…As a second child, I have lived far longer than all of you. Though my brother was there, he was not always there. While I fulfilled my duties as protector from the shadows—protecting the humans from aliens from other worlds, invasions from unknown species—our brother was spending his life as a human, loving and nurturing his own family. Though he may be gone, his blood runs in that family to this day. I have wondered for that long how it feels to be embraced by a man you love, dream of starting a family, carry a child born from our love…"
"Sister, you have become delusional in your old age. Remember our purpose for existing—"
"I can still fulfill my purpose even if I am pregnant or caring for my husband." Her sharp glare made her little brother shut up, "It takes thousands of years for emotions and desires to form in us dragons. Don't you think there is a reason why we yearn? It could be a sign that we have a great purpose other than protecting this land our mother called home."
Dragons, due to their long lifespan, are incapable of perceiving emotion throughout their prime so all they think about is their purpose for living and what meal to have next time. They never think of what it feels like to embrace or to be embraced—until centuries pass.
Naturally, Nyra wants to be embraced and give birth to a child, after living for ten thousand years. Dragons are social creatures and crave all kinds of connection but they only realize this when many years go by.
"Nyra, you've refused every suitor who came to these mountains over the past thousand years, and now you're yearning for a child? Ridiculous." Said Retruk, a green-scaled dragon, his twin Egerak nodding in agreement.
"I am not trusting our mother's blood with our subspecies. We must preserve our bloodlines, not taint it!"
"And breeding with humans is better than wild dragons?"
"They have the blood of Valkyries, Demigods! So of course they are!"
Vireskar nodded along, "I trust elder sister's words. Though I have not experienced these emotions myself, the fact that mother did the same thing tells me it's meant to be. Though our fathers may have passed away by now, I believe we can fill the hole they left by becoming parents ourselves."
"Humph! You're just sister's loyal pet so of course you agree with everything she says!" Suarif remarked, "Why not become her little breeding mate if you're so loyal to her. She can just use your tiny thing to satisfy herself. Can't say it will be a capable child since you are so weak."
Vireskar is the youngest at 2500 years old, and have been nurtured by Nyra ever since birth. Due to their resemblance and similar Ice element affinity, some might assume she's Vireskar's mother.
"Brother, you tainted our blood by mating with wild dragons. I don't think you have the right to slander me." Knowing that his sister will protect him, Vireskar clapped back.
"Little bastard! I'll rip that smug mouth off your head!"
"Calm yourself, Suarif." Nyra, who was two times larger than all of them, stood in front of her little brother.
"Tch!" knowing he would certainly lose if he fought his eldest sister, he backed off, "Let's just finish this darned ritual so that I can leave for my dwelling! Some sneaky bastard might take all my women!"
"…Yes, we must make haste."
But a shiver suddenly went through Nyra's spine when a voice interrupted them—
"—I came in time—what a relief."
All five dragon lords looked up, spotting a hooded figure floating near the ceiling of the room, looking down at them with his arms folded.
"Levitation!? A demigod!?"
'Why Is such a person here!?'
Demigods haven't visited this world in centuries to Nyra's knowledge. To her knowledge, demigods never travel outside their own realms.
It was a person the size of a regular human but all of them hesitated to attack the brazen intruder. If he could levitate, that meant he's in the realm of Gods so attacking recklessly was foolish. The way he looked at them through his dark hood was so calm, it disturbed them slightly.
"…What are you doing in our territory?" Nyra, as the leader, had to stand in for her siblings so she addressed them first.
"My liege said I must take one of your souls for one of his subordinates. So, comply by giving up the weakest amongst you—the one without an element—Suarif Elipus."
"What did you just say, bastard!? Me, the weakest!?" Suarif's roar made the entire mountain rumble and his voice carried over hundreds of kilometers.
Even Nyra was confused. Suarif might not be the strongest but he possesses the greatest physical strength and endurance second only to her. How could he be the weakest?
She looked down at her little brother.
'Could it be his element awakening that he's deemed stronger than his older brother?'
To Dragons, their Breath and Magic are their strongest cards. Physical strength doesn't matter if your element has awakened. It might not automatically make you win a fight but you have a better chance at beating event those beyond your level.
That aside, who is this "liege" this person mentioned? Also a demigod?
No, wait…
"Are you… an Outer God's lackey?" she asked, fearing the worst.
They're by far the most powerful and dangerous entities their kind have ever faced. Even the Dragon God hesitated going into the Between Realms beyond the Dark Forces, to get rid of them. The Gods were against any living creature going in there so long as Goddess Aedri maintained the wall that separates the nine realms and that dimension.
The man didn't answer, simply descending slowly as if he was going to the park. It was as if he wasn't face-to-face with the most powerful beings in this world.
Nyrathrom is in her prime so she's far more powerful than even her eldest brother before his death. For comparison, she would be Guinevere's equal if both were to go all-out. Sadly, she wasn't this powerful during the Demon-Human War, so she couldn't fight the demons at her peak.
Her ice breath can create an Ice Age at her full power and engulf this entire world in a sheet of white, freezing everything solid.
That's counterintuitive to their goals as dragon lords so she has never gone all-out ever.
"Sister, are we really going to let this demigod take our brother simply because he's annoying?" Vireskar asked worriedly.
"Y-You little! How dare you insult me!?"
"Silence, Suarif!" she roared at her brother, making him tremble and click his tongue, "Ser Demigod, why must you side with the Outer Gods? They are using you."
"I have no choice. He's a being beyond your or my comprehension. I've fought several powerful individuals in my life and he is the strongest out of all of them by a thousand-fold. Until I find a way to counter his ability, I have no choice but to obey him. You don't have to believe me since I don't want pity or your help." A black sword appeared in his hand and white energy surrounded his body.
"I don't intend to leave this place without taking Suarif's soul. If you quietly step away and don't help your brother, I promise no harm will come to you."
"Insolence! You're brainwashed by the Outer Gods and have the gall to threaten us!?" Suarif roared and charged when the man was near their eye level.
Following suit, all dragon lords charged at him with ferocious speed.
However, he merely spread his arms, making a powerful force push them away, making each of them crashed into the castle wall. Even their powerful claws digging into the thick flooring couldn't stop them from being pushed that far.
This castle was built specifically for the dragon lords so it could accommodate any amount of force and battles. It's basically a coliseum on top of being shelter for dragons. Yet that force made this entire castle rumble.
W-What is this power!?
The next moment, he cut his palms, bleeding onto the floor. But then his blood began to move by itself and created a strange symbol appeared on the floor behind him that glowed red, akin to a runic magic circle but having no connection to arcane arts that Nyra knew.
"[Blood Arts of The Sovereign – Blood Torii Gates]]" several strange gates, each reaching as high as the average dragon lord, appeared from the magic circle behind him. Talismans were all over the gate, each holding strange runes on their surface.
Before they could even grasp what was happening, the gates flew towards them and restricted their neck and limbs.
Nyra tried to exert force to break free but the castle only rumbled as she was locked in place.
"Can't have you interfering."
'What are these gates!?' She possesses the highest physical strength amongst them but no struggle could free her. In fact, it felt like she was slowly losing strength.
Wait a minute.
She looked at the gate binding her arm.
'Red energy…? Is my lifeforce being sucked out? Curses, he means to make me too weak to break free!'
That was definitely a martial art of some sort yet it had ritualistic properties (since it summoned these gates).
"You have underestimated me, human!" Nyra's roar was even more powerful than Suarif's, almost making Arnold's ears bleed.
"…I guess I have no choice but to do this, though it's possible you might snap out of it if I don't focus." the strange human's eyes glowed red the next moment and he made eye contact with all of them.
Nyra's consciousness then faded but the last thing she saw was each of her siblings being imprinted with a certain "eye", as their resistances died down.
Draconic Halo.