Chương 98: White Dragon

After resting for the night, I had recovered enough alteration essence to toss some more healing at both Sallia and the Scout. This, combined with a night's rest, put the scout back to a point where he could walk unaided, and even jog a little. He still couldn't quite reach the ground-eating pace he had set when we traveled to the Orukthyri cavern, but he was at least able to move quickly. Sallia, due to her vastly higher Fortitude, was nearly fully healed after I threw some alteration essence at her.

She was probably at 90% of her normal strength, and in a day or so she would be fully recovered. We traveled for a few hours, before we heard another Orukthyri. Sallia and I looked at each other, and after a few furtive nods, settled on a quick course of action. We could only hear one Orukthyri right now, and we had come here to thin out the horde a bit before the big fight. Sallia was nearly fully recovered, and I had most of my Alteration Essence.

I had estimated that I could kill one Orukthyri with just extinguish, as long as I was at full alteration essence. This was an opportunity to make our trip a little more worthwhile. We quickly gestured for the scout to hide, and then hid in one of the side caverns. The moment the Orukthyr walked by us, I resisted the urge to grin. It was hobbling. It had clearly ran into something stronger than it was in the underdark.

No wonder it was alone: its partner might have been killed by whatever this Orukthyri had run into. A lone, injured Orukthyri was definitely a winnable fight. I blasted it with an Extinguish, obliterating most of its life force in a fraction of a second. The creature wobbled, and then collapsed face-first on the tunnel floor. Sallia sprang forward and began stabbing at its neck moments later.

The thick skin and muscles of its neck, which would normally make cutting through its neck a nightmarishly difficult task, seemed soft and weak after I had blasted away most of its life force. Unlike our previous two encounters with Orukthyri, for the first time, Sallia and I got an easy win against the blasted creatures. Slaughter: Assist in killing an Orukthyri variant warrior for the fifth time Achievement +250 I felt a small sliver of relief worm its way into my stomach.

Orukthyri were incredibly dangerous, but a large part of the reason they were so terrifying was because they traveled in groups and were organized. At the very least, in a one on one fight, I could demolish an Orukthyri as long as I had enough alteration essence. It was a small realization, but it helped stem some of the numb horror I had started to feel in the past few days. The Orukthyri were very strong, and Tier 4 worlds were terrifying.

However, if we picked our fights carefully and managed our surroundings well, perhaps there was still a chance for us to thrive in this world. We just needed to be intelligent and careful. With this influx of Achievement, I was also pushed from 6, 220. 89 Achievement to 6, 450. 89 Achievement. Which was still rather low for this world: honestly, I was growing increasingly worried about my income. However, for now, I put that aside. There wasn't much I could do to boost my Achievement right now.

I didn't have any bright ideas for how to influence the upcoming conflict with the Orukthyri in any meaningful way. My only plan had been to ambush a few Orukthyri with collapsing caverns and extinguishes, but we were running out of time. We had killed 4 Orukthyri this time, and that would have to be enough. We only had a week left, at absolute most, before the horde starting going for the city, according to the scout reports Nells had shared with us before we left. It was best to be back in the city by that time.

With any luck, news of creatures from outside would provoke the white dragon into annihilating the Orukthyri for us. It was a slim hope, but it was the city's best chance to get out of this calamity without suffering huge casualties. And I would probably get at least a little Achievement for bringing the news back, which would also be nice. The next day and a half passed largely without incident.

We hid from most unknown creatures we heard, because we had no idea what the strength of each new enemy was, and while the odds were slim, we held news that might bring the aid of the white dragon. The scout felt that it was too risky to pick any fights we could avoid during that time, and I honestly felt that he had a point. When we returned to the city, I got another small notification.

Influence: Play a [Major] role in the scout raid on the Orukthyri base Achievement +300 Since no Orthanoid lives besides those of the scouts had been at stake this time, and the Orukthyri we had killed didn't make a huge difference either way, the rewards weren't that high. However, 300 Achievement was still better than no Achievement, so I decided to take what I could get. The 300 Achievement boosted me from 6, 450. 89 Achievement to 6, 750.

89 Achievement, which was enough to buy the alteration keyword ability and still have a little left over to boost some stats. I finished scanning my achievement notification, and glanced at Sallia, who I saw was also staring into space. I decided to give her a moment to look over her System notifications. I glanced at the scout, and saw that he was staring at the city. There was a certain lost expression on his face. I sighed.

When we had left this city, we had been a group of eight people, determined to do what we could before the Orukthyri onslaught reached the city. We had done our part. Four Orukthyri had been slain before the final battle started. However, five scouts had also died in the process. I wished that I had been able to save more of the scouts. But right now, in the multiverse, I was still a small fry. I barely had the ability to protect myself, much less keep others safe. This book's true home is on another platform.

Check it out there for the real experience.

"Let's go to the military office and report," said the scout, when he noticed me looking at him. His voice sounded hoarse, as if the realization that the other scouts were never coming home was finally hitting him. I felt a lump appear in my throat for a moment as well. I didn't know the scouts who had died. But they had been good people. The scout leader had been willing to take the most dangerous position in this entire mission, and she had died because of that. She had been an admirable leader.

She deserved better than what she got. I swallowed down the lump in my throat, and followed after the scout as we started moving through the city. I took in the sight of people, bustling about in their day to day lives. However, there was a certain edge to the air that hadn't been there a week ago. People knew of the Orukthyri threat now, and people's responses varied wildly. Some people were lining up near soldiers, asking to be given weapons to defend their homes.

Others were packing up, preparing to flee to one of the other cities in the underdark. Others were decked out in symbols of the white dragon, and tried to lead random passerby on the streets in prayer. I listened to one of them for a moment, wondering what they were doing, and realized they were hoping that with enough prayers, the white dragon would awaken and save us from the coming battle. I felt a small, grim chuckle bubble up in my stomach, before I suppressed it.

It even pushed back the bitterness of losing the five scouts. In a very strange way, the three of us were trying to do the exact same thing as the pious dragon worshippers on the streets. We were bringing words back to the city, in hopes it would make the white dragon save us from a bloody and painful fight that we might lose. At least so far, nobody had seen any signs of the creature awakening. The scout quickly led us back to the military building in the center of the city.

After a few minutes of waiting at the desk, we met with scout leader Nells. We reported everything we had seen during the excursion to the Orukthyri cavern, and Nells adopted a thoughtful look when we mentioned running into thought worms. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"You did well, although the loss of five brave scouts is a tragedy to be mourned as well." He sighed.

"If the city still stands after the battle with the Orukthyri, I will give the families of the fallen the highest honors. They deserve nothing less. Now, about the creatures from outside," he said, giving me a curious look.

"You're sure about them""Yes, I am," I said.

"They were creatures with no physical body, which existed purely within our thoughts. They… infected our minds and then started devouring us. Luckily, my attunement let me see them and kill them, or else our entire group would have died there." Nells pushed himself up from his chair, and gestured for the three of us to rise.

"In that case, I think that it would be best if you reported this to the white dragon. It is asleep, but dragons harbor particular dislike for the creatures that originate from outside of this world. We have a great deal of gold to tribute, and while the outsiders clearly weren't close enough to wake the dragon from its slumber, it is still worth begging for aid. Perhaps it will save us from the upcoming battle." Nells quickly led us to a storage area, where he retrieved a large black bag.

He grunted as he tried to lift it up. Then, seeming a bit embarrassed, he turned to Sallia.

"I'm sorry, but could you lift this for me?" Sallia quickly grabbed the bag, giving it an experiment tug.

"What's inside?" She asked.

"Gold." Said Nells.

"It's best to bring snacks when dealing with dragons. Most merchants from other cities, as well as our historical records, agree that they're quite grumpy when they're hungry." Hungry? I blinked. Did dragons eat gold? That was… different than what I had imagined. There, we encountered an elaborate metal gate. Nells quickly reached for a key in his pocket, before unlocking the gate and swinging it open. Seeing my curious look, he grinned for a moment.

"It's to keep any kids who don't know any better out," he said.

"The gate is also a lot sturdier than some of the other gates for other tunnels. We don't want to bother the great white dragon with unimportant things, after all." I nodded, growing increasingly curious. It seemed that I was about to see the white dragon firsthand. I couldn't help but wonder how strong the creature would be, and what it would look like. I had seen depictions of the white dragon everywhere in the city, since it was the god our city worshipped, but I had never seen the real thing before.

After scout leader Nells opened the gate, we spent another half hour walking, before we finally came upon a large cavern. Nestled near the bottom of the cavern, on a small bed of rusty metal, lay a large white serpent. It was a bit different from what I had imagined. Its body glimmered with light that nearly caused it to illuminate the cavern. Its body was pure white, as I had imagined, and its body was also covered in gleaming scales. However, its scales seemed to be made entirely out of metal.

And it wasn't just its scales: its eyes also seemed to be made out of metal. I had a sneaking suspicion that its entire body, including its internal organs, was made out of pure metal. Rather than a dragon, this creature was more like a snake-shaped metal elemental. The dragon was also a little smaller than I had imagined. It was still quite a bit larger than me, but I guessed that if it opened its jaws all the way, it would only be two Mirias tall.

Out of curiosity, I focused on my soul vision for a bit, to see if I could find anything unusual about its soul, and also tried to observe its 'candle of life.' This thing was decked out in a completely absurd amount of mana. If other humans absorbed little splotches of mana when they improved their skills, it looked almost like the white dragon had simply devoured its body weight in mana. And its candle of life also looked like a forest fire.

Even if I had ten times my current alteration essence, I wouldn't be able to extinguish this thing. It was much stronger than me, and it showed. Before I had time for further observation, Nells gave the giant metal dragon a respectful bow.

"One of the descendants of the Ortha greets the white dragon," he said respectfully. I glanced at Sallia, and then the two of us followed suit.

"Another descendent of the Ortha greets the white dragon," we echoed. The creature didn't respond, or give any indication that it had heard us. Nells slowly and carefully walked forward, before gesturing for Sallia to follow him. She moved closer, and he quickly reached into the bag Sallia was carrying. He pulled a metal bar of gold out of the bag, and then placed it right in front of the white dragon's face. Its body twitched a little bit, and then its tongue snaked out of its mouth.

Without a word, it wrapped around the golden bar and dragged it into its mouth. I heard a few grinding sounds, and then the dragon's jaw stopped moving. He turned to Sallia and I.

"Speak of what you observed in your journey. Especially focus on the creatures from outside this world. Then, leave a tribute of gold near the white dragon's mouth, so that it may enjoy a snack. It is important to thank it for taking time to listen to us, after all." Sallia nodded. The three of us recounted our journey yet again, placing special emphasis on the encounter with the thought worms, before each depositing a hunk of gold near the white dragon's mouth.

It moved to eat each brick of gold, but didn't show any other signs of responding. Nells had us wait around for perhaps half an hour, hoping for some kind of response, but the white dragon didn't deign to move after hearing our tale. Apart from eating the gold we had brought, it didn't show any signs of being awake at all. Absently, I wondered if the dragon was still asleep: perhaps it was simply able to munch on things in its slumber?

Finally, after a great deal of waiting around, Nells sighed, and began leading us out of the cavern. The white dragon had not awakened. We were on our own.