Once I was back on my feet, it was time for us to go. To my surprise, quite a few of the city’s residents were waiting near the southern gate to see us off. Among them, I spotted Sana, happily waving her hands next to a human woman that seemed to be her mother. “I wasn’t really expecting people to come out for this…” I chuckled awkwardly, pulling the car out near the gate. “It’s not like we won’t be coming back.”
Part of the patch notes with the big update allowed the king to create a portal to return to their lands whenever they wanted. I could only assume that this was to help assure players that it was fine for them to continue leveling up, as they could just immediately come back if anything happened.
“Maybe.” Bella said, waving her hand towards the crowd before getting into the car. “Still, to them, you’re offering them a better life than most nations. Most of them would have to live like beggars because of their low levels. At least in Fallcry, they can find jobs. They might not be exceptionally well paying jobs, but it should be better than nothing, since they trust Nuoda and Ennolf enough to follow them here.”
I nodded my head at that, driving the car up into the air. “Speaking of which. Diane, any news on Hammerhead?”
She shook her head, leaning back in her seat. “Not yet. He still needs a couple more days before he can finish his current work and come over.”
“Right… by the way, there won’t be a problem with the skill book sales if you leave, will you?” I asked, but she shook her head again.
“I already discussed it with Nuoda and the auction house offline. She’ll be acting as an agent for me to deliver the books. Twenty percent of the profit will be converted to real money for my account, and the rest will go to Fallcry as platinum or other valuable resources.” She had a small smile on her face as she said that, though Bella soon spoke in disbelief.
“I still find it hard to accept that people will pay so much for a novice skill book.” She muttered, but Diane chuckled.
“That’s nothing. There used to be games where people would pay a fifth of what I’m asking for, just for a single-use item to change their appearances. And that was an item that didn’t need any work to mass produce or harvest, so it’s not like supplies were limited. Like I said, players live for cosmetics. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people bought the skill book, just so that they could give it to an NPC to hand out missions. That’d be what I would do if I saw the chance.” She said in a knowing tone.
“Two hundred platinum for the skill book, then make a contract with the NPC to make the quests require twenty platinum to complete. Split the profit fifty-fifty, and with just twenty players ‘buying’ the skill, you make your money back.”
My eyes widened when I heard that. “Won’t that mean that your books will drop in value once there are NPCs offering them at a tenth of the price?” I asked, but Diane shook her head.
“It doesn’t bother me. If anything, those people are my target demographic right now. I’m selling high because I know that I won’t be able to sell this high later. In the meantime, it’ll take a while before there are enough NPCs around for people to easily be able to get the skill.” Diane answered calmly, shrugging her shoulders. “The real money maker’s probably going to be the mimic items. Items capable of evolving and changing their appearance, but not easy to reproduce by outsiders.”
I nodded my head slowly, watching the city fade into the horizon behind us. “By the way… I don’t suppose you’ve gotten any information on where we’re going? Or are we just driving blind for now?”
Diane wryly smiled at that. “This is unexplored land for anyone from the prime realm. If anything, we’ll be the ones mapping it.”
“I’ve actually got some information.” Bella said hesitantly, lifting a hand. “There’s another village about fifty kilometers south, but it’s tucked inside the forest biome. The village elder there is named Nora, and she’s an old friend of Aetra’s.”
Diane and I both blinked, looking back at Bella, who smiled innocently. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the village while I was training lately, so I asked Aetra some questions. Apparently, while chimerae don’t have skills naturally, they do have something similar to traits. Some chimerae are innately born with special gifts.”
“One of the qualities to be an elder is to have one of these gifts. For Aetra, she has an intuition that lets her detect truth and falsehood. Nora’s gift is a bit more practical, because she can control beasts. That’s why they moved their village into the forest, where the terrain is better for farming, but typically more dangerous.”
I nodded my head at that. “Did Aetra tell you anything else about Nora?” I asked, shifting my path to fly over the trees near the edge of the forest biome.”
“She said that she’s eccentric. And that she probably won’t easily join Fallcry in our current state. Nora believes in strength triumphing over everything else, and won’t submit to anyone she sees as weaker than herself. Given the natural strength of the chimerae… we’ve got a ways to go before we can challenge them.”
My brow twitched, but I couldn’t help but agree. The chimerae really were breaking common sense with their natural strength. Even if I used my skills, if I was fighting one-on-one, I might only be able to compete with an average adult, unless I managed to get a sneak attack in. However, I wasn’t sure if such an individual would consider a sneak attack to be a real sign of strength.
As I was thinking that, Diane’s brows narrowed. “Drake. Smoke.” She said simply, and I looked ahead. Sure enough, there was smoke on the horizon, rising from within the forest.
“…Diane, do you have any information about dungeons appearing naturally in these new planes yet?” I asked, and she gave a small nod.
“I know that they can appear.” She answered, which was more than enough for me. I pressed down on the gas, racing over the treetops.
“This might be an emergency. You two, be ready to jump.” I told them, and Diane was already grabbing onto the handle for her door. Bella yipped, but quickly followed suit. I’d do the same, but I couldn’t store the car into my inventory without first taking my backpack out of the trunk.
Once we were over the scene and I started slowing down, the two of them immediately jumped out of the car. Diane shifted into her draconic form, swooping over to catch Bella and bring the two to the ground while I pulled to a stop.
By the time I was able to get my bag out and put the car away, I could already hear the sounds of fighting below. Just to be safe, I left the respawn anchor with my ki clone, having it create a safe respawn platform as I jumped down to join the others.
When I landed, I was able to make out the scene of the battle. On one side, there was a group of wounded beasts and chimerae, while on the other was a group of flaming humanoids, their bodies floating a few inches above the ground. A quick appraisal had my blood running cold. “Two-thirty, Inferno Spirits! Their core is in the middle of their chest!” I called out, the two girls tensing up as they heard the news.
“Who are you!?” A chimerae asked from the crowd, a wolf pelt cloak draped over her shoulders.
“Friends of Aetra! Ask more later!” I responded curtly, turning my attention back to the group. Level two hundred and thirty was definitely beyond our typical abilities. Bella was already charging her first volley, knowing that she couldn’t hope to injure these creatures with normal ki arrows.
Diane’s eyes were narrowed, scanning to look for an opportunity. Soon, she vanished, and I could only imagine that she was rushing for a sneak attack. “If you’ve got any wounded, bring them over here!” I called out towards the chimerae group, activating Vitality of the Forest-X. My body began to glow, the scorched grass around the battlefield beginning to regain life.
At the same time, I used my Water Clone and Water Intent, the former rushing into battle while I used the latter to fashion spears to launch at the spirits.
The chimerae woman grit her teeth, but seemed to notice the restorative effects of the aura. “Dammit, you better answer later!” She yelled, before looking at the wolves and letting out a low growl. One of the wolves whined, and they began to carry over some of their injured members to rest at the edge of my aura.
“I’ll answer whatever you want, once the fight’s over.” I called back, focusing on the battle.The best that I could do in this situation was try to provide support while harassing the enemy. Diane appeared behind one of the spirits, her dagger stabbing into its chest. However, a gout of flame erupted behind it, so I quickly covered her with a barrier to protect her.
“Not deep enough.” She reported through clenched teeth. “Drake, can you try to channel your King skill to give it more range? I can’t hurt these things if I’m not in your buff area!”
I blinked, but nodded my head. “I’ll try.” I responded, focusing on my King of All Trades skill. The golden glow returned to my body, mingling with the green glow from Vitality of the Forest-X, gradually expanding. Once it covered the nearest spirit, Diane turned invisible again.
Of course, the spirits weren’t just sitting idle through all of this. Their main attention was focused on the chimerae, sending torrents of flame towards them. Most chimerae were strong enough to withstand this flame, but their wolves were not so powerful. More importantly, the damage was already adding up for the chimerae, and they seemed weary from repeated battles.
As I was thinking that, Diane appeared behind the closest spirit, her dagger stabbing forward again. This time, she managed to land a fatal blow, shattering its internal core. With a slight puff, the spirit was extinguished, falling to the ground as only a few shards of shattered crystal.
At the same time, Bella released her arrows, striking three of the further spirits in their core. This effectively got the attention of the spirits on us, a few turning to fire in our direction.
Eyes wide, I activated my True Dragon Embodiment. Because I was focused so much on buffing the others, I prioritized King of All Trades as the skill to use with it. My scales became layers of silver and gold, horns rising atop my forehead in the shape of a crown. In addition, my wings softened, wrapping around my shoulders and hanging down like a cape.
As I erected barriers to protect us against the fire spirits, I could feel an immediate increase in my stats. Enough that my barriers could withstand three hits from the powerful monsters before I had to renew them. Diane, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes in focus, disappearing again to launch herself at the spirits. “This is more like it.” She said, her voice echoing throughout the field.
With our intervention, the tide of the battle quickly began to shift. Originally, the chimerae were being pushed back. However, after we got involved, the spirits began to perish one by one, while the chimerae were being healed and strengthened by my auras.
After the last spirit died under the chimerae elder’s spear, she turned to face us. “Alright. Time for explanations, before they come back.” She stared at us, clearly ready to turn her spear against us if we proved to be shady individuals.
I let out a deep breath, about to cancel my draconic form when a notification appeared in my vision. True Dragon Manifestation had finally reached level fifty, and was ready to evolve. As much as I wanted to evolve it, turning even more draconic might set Nora off at this point.
