Chương 113: Chapter 111: The power of the god slayer

"You spoke to her?" El asks. The tone of voice sounds like she is considering the god slayer to be a major celebrity. Balak shifts their head a bit in a sort of nod.

"Indeed I did," they say.

"Not too long ago. She did much the same as you, offering me a tribute in exchange for conversation."

"Did she threaten you?" I ask.

"What did you talk about?"

"We spoke about much the same as you and I are speaking about," Balak says.

"This is how I know she intends to become a god. And how I know that Wrax is both right and wrong. She may indeed turn to slaying other gods, though she has no intention of killing one of the major gods. She seeks to protect this world, as I said."

"Why didn't you fight?" El asks.

"She did not want to fight me," Balak says.

"And I am not so ready to go into my next cycle. I know that I will remember all that happened to me while I was a dragon, but death is still death, and I do not seek it out any time soon." Makes sense, with that comment about those who die of old age having 'escaped' the cycle. From what I know of dragons, mostly from books and games, they live a ridiculously long time. Maybe Balak is tired of living, and doesn't want to go through the cycle all over again. Maybe they don't want to become a minor god.

"She did try to convince me to stop harassing caravans," Balak says. They look at me with a brief flash of intensity.

"She is much like you, Caleb Strong. She is very persuasive, just on the face of it. She wants me to stop stealing from caravans, and has even offered to help me grow my hoard in other ways."

"What other ways?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"That is between her and I," Balak says, closing that line of conversation.

"But I can assure you that we had a long and fruitful discussion before she moved on."

"What level was she?" Ash asks.

"Was she higher level than you?" Balak nods again.

"She was level seventy three," Balak says.

"Truly, I have never met an adventurer that high of a level. I think if anyone is likely to become a god, it is her." Seventy three? My god. We don't stand a chance against her. She's already been through the death cycle presumably more often than we have, and she's got at least thirty levels on us. The three of us together couldn't kill her. Assume she has a vigor of three hundred. That would mean she's got at least 21, 900 hit points. More likely, she's taken the toughness talent and has 43, 800.

That's a lot of hit points. And she probably hits for more than a thousand damage per hit. I mean, if all her stats are at three hundred, that means that her defense is at least that high, which would reduce my sword blows to under two hundred damage per hit I'd need to hit her like two hundred and twenty times to kill her, and that's without her casting any kind of healing spell. Yeah, I can see why the god slayer would be a match for a dragon, even one as powerful as Balak.

"So she's trying to become a god," Ash says.

"But she didn't want to fight you?"

"She did not," Balak says.

"Because she could not. She could not fight a dragon without cause. If I did not attack her, she could not attack me."

"Could not?" I ask.

"Is that more of what you're talking about with the changes that the death cycle has made for us?"

"It is," Balak says.

"She cannot initiate combat with a dragon, because there is too much danger of there being repercussions."

"What kind of repercussions?" Ash asks. Balak stretches out, their claws digging furrows in the road.

"You should not attempt to slay any dragons," they say.

"It would be far better to avoid that. You never know what might happen. What if you kill someone destined to become a god?"

"Wait a second," I say.

"Are we talking about predestination now? I thought you said that a dragon had to die a specific way to become a god. Maybe they're intending to become a god, they're supposed to become a god, and us fighting and killing them is how that happens."

"That is against the natural order, though," Balak says. I'm starting to think that they don't really know what they're talking about.

"That isn't consistent with what you said before. You said that you needed a proper death, like one fighting us, to become a god. Now you're telling us that we shouldn't kill dragons, because it might stop them from becoming a god. Which is it?" Balak lets out a loud sigh, air flowing from their nostrils powerfully enough to almost make take a step back.

"I think there are limits to how many minor gods there are meant to be," they say.

"And if you create too many, that would be problematic." I shake my head.

"That sounds like too fragile of a system to work at all," I say.

"You're saying that the more we become natives of this world, the less we will want to kill dragons. But you also said that us killing dragons is how a dragon goes from being a dragon to being a god."

"That is not the only way," Balak says.

"A dragon must die the right death, in a battle against a worthy opponent."

"Which you just said we could be," I say.

"But then you said that us doing the killing would be a bad thing." Balak is silent for a few seconds. The silence stretches, grows legs, and runs away. Finally, Balak speaks again.

"I do not know that you killing a dragon would help it become a god," they say.

"All I know in the past is that a dragon must fall to the strikes of another dragon to become a god. Another dragon is the only thing that can give us the proper death." I nod.

"So you have to be killed by one of your own to move forward in the cycle," I say. Balak nods.

"But you also said that Wrax used to be a god, and became a dragon after his god self was killed by the god slayer. Not by another dragon or by another minor god." Ash nods to what I'm saying.

"Yeah," she says.

"This is making less and less sense the more you talk about it." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"I do not truly understand it," Balak admits.

"I know that normally, it requires another dragon to be a worthy opponent. But I have never seen one of your kind defeat a god. I have never heard of such a thing. It is unprecedented."

"So you don't know that us killing a dragon would be a bad thing?" I ask.

"I do not. But I know that the god slayer does not want to slay any dragons. I know that she said that it would be a bad thing for her to do it, and so I assumed that it would be bad for you to do it as well."

"So we're back to theories rather than facts." I let out a sigh.

"Okay. At least we confirmed that the god slayer is a real person, and not a group of people."

"And female!" El says.

"Yes," I agree.

"And we know the god slayer is female. But that doesn't matter, right? That's not integral to her ability to kill a god?"

"I do not believe gender has anything to do with it," Balak says.

"Do you believe that if the god slayer had killed you, you would have become a minor god?" I ask. Balak taps a claw against the ground a few times.

"I do not know," they say.

"Honestly, I am unsure. I think that perhaps she could have given me the kind of battle I would need to ascend. But I know that she could not initiate the battle. That is certain."

"How do you know?" Ash asks.

"How can you be sure that she couldn't initiate the battle? Maybe she just didn't want to." Balak bares their teeth for a second, then taps their claw against the ground again.

"I know that she was unable to attack me." they say.

"Did she try?" I ask.

"No," Balak says.

"She could not even make the attempt." So we don't know. She might have just said that. She might not have been able. But maybe she was.

"We can test this out," I say.

"At least we can test if we've gotten to that point of being unable to attack a dragon."

"How?" Balak asks.

"We could try to attack you," I say.

"If it isn't possible, then we won't be able to. We won't even want to. But if we can, that means it is still possible."

"If you attack me, I will defend myself," Balak says.

"I will not let you just slay me. I am not suicidal."

"I'm not asking you to let us slay you," I say.

"I'm just asking that you let us each attack you one time. A single hit, nothing more." Balak considers for a second, stretching out their wings. The wings spread out almost a hundred feet in either direction. I can understand how a dragon this size might blot out the sun if they flew at just the right height.

"Very well," Balak says.

"You may each strike me a single time."

"I can heal you right afterwards," Ash says.

"As a show of good faith." I shake my head.

"Knowing we were planning to do that would skew the results," I say.

"We have to attack as if it were possible that we were going to straight up kill the dragon. That's the only way to be sure that we are still capable of it." El steps forward, drawing her new two handed sword.

"So I can just attack?" she asks.

"Once," Balak says.

"If you strike me a second time, I will assume that you are trying to kill me and I will defend myself appropriately." Balak braces themself. El draws the sword back and swings, the blade cutting against Balak's scales. I can't tell how much damage she did, but it seemed like a fair amount. The dragon scales didn't deflect too much of the damage. Actually, wait. I can tell how much damage she dealt. We're not in battle; I can take the time to be sure. Balak. Legendary Special dragon, level 50.

HP: 248, 943/250, 000. That's a pretty hefty hit. Harder than I can manage. Ash takes the next strike, casting one of her spells that makes the mace glow before she hits. Balak. Legendary Special dragon, level 50. HP: 247, 543/250, 000. Another massive hit. Balak grits their teeth and turns their eyes towards me. I have to try. I have to do everything I can to try to kill this dragon in one hit. I have to know if it's possible for me to really make the attempt.

So I draw my sword, I cast Killing Blow, and I swing for Balak. For a split second, I worry that I'm about to do more than two hundred and forty seven thousand damage with a single strike. It would be a sort of poetic justice for Killing Blow to actually work in this circumstance. I can just imagine the looks on El and Ash's faces if I had. The shock, the awe. I wonder if they'd laugh, just out of the absurdity of it all. But I don't kill Balak with a single blow.

Instead, their scales block a fair amount of the damage that I do, and I only end up dealing 464 damage. About a third of what Ash dealt.

"Okay then," I say. I smile at Balak.

"Thank you and sorry about that."

"So you can still attack me," Balak says. I can't really read draconic facial expressions, but if I had to guess I'd say that they're frowning.

"That means you are not as bound to this world as the god slayer is. I still do not think it a good idea for you to go around and try to slay dragons."

"No," I say.

"I agree with you there. I don't want to fight any dragons. I've never wanted to fight dragons. And not just because of how tough you all are."

"Then why?" Balak asks, tilting their head a little bit.

"Dragons are just awesome," I say.

"Yes, we are."

"Dragons are beautiful creatures, intelligent and magical," Ash says.

"The only reason to slay one is if they try to slay you first."

"Or if they're like, killing kids or whatever," El says.

"I might fight a dragon to protect the innocent."

"So as long as I do not attack the innocent, I need not fear you?" Balak says. I laugh at that.

"Do you fear us now?" I ask. Balak looks at me for a few seconds. I notice that they are casting a spell, and I look to see that they have healed themselves back up to full health.

"No," they say.

"While I acknowledge that there is a chance that the three of you could kill me, I do not believe you are going to try. I do not believe that it would be an issue."

"You'd probably kill all three of us," I say.

"That or fly away," Balak says.

"I always have that option."

"So which way did the god slayer go?" I ask.

"We still need to find her."

"Why?" Balak asks.

"Are you going to try to kill her?" I shake my head.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. But I would like to talk to her, to see what her goals are. Maybe we can help."

"The last I saw her was six days ago," Balak says.

"I do not know which way she went after our conversation, but she was heading to the west, towards the ocean." Not the ocean I've seen. That one was to the east, and took Wrax a good long while to fly there. We're on the opposite side of the great forest, at least a thousand miles away from the ocean. How big is this continent? How big is this world? I've always assumed that this world was basically the same size as Earth. The gravity is the same, after all.

The day is just as long as it was on Earth, or near enough that I can't really tell the difference. Time seems to work the same way. So I assume that the planet is the same size. But how big is the continent? North America is about three thousand miles from side to side, give or take. Is this continent the same size? Bigger?

"How far is it to the ocean from here?" I ask.

"Fifteen hundred miles," Balak says.

"As the dragon flies." So that's pretty close to the width of the united states, from one ocean to the other. Interesting.

"How much of that is your territory?" I ask.

"My territory covers around a hundred square miles," Balak says.

"We try to keep our distance from one another in order to avoid fights between dragons."

"Why?" El asks.

"Because that's how minor gods get made?" I'm still not convinced on this whole situation. Even if Balak is right, it doesn't quite make sense. Why don't the dragons seek each other out and try to become gods? Isn't being a god better than being a dragon? I mean, being a dragon sounds pretty great, but surely being a minor god is even better. Right?

"Because not everyone has a death wish," Balak says.

"And no matter how powerful you are, there is always someone stronger. Something that you should consider before you seek out the god slayer."

"I told you, we have no intention of harming her," I say.

"But can you be certain she will feel the same way?" Balak asks.

"Maybe she will see you as potential rivals, and want to take you out before you become a major threat." Ash shakes her head.

"If she kills us, that will just make us closer to being like her."

"Hmm." Balak taps a claw against their chin.

"That is an excellent point. You three present a conundrum for her. I am curious how she will react to you." Personally, I hope she just talks to us. I don't want to have an epic showdown between us. I don't want to try to kill her, especially knowing that she'd just come back more powerful than before. We'd be like a group of immortals locked in combat that would never truly end, just pause as one of us leveled back up. That sounds kind of hellish.

"I'm curious too," El says.