Clyde's room…
After improving upon his plans, Clyde pulled out the Book of Dark magic, grinning. Learning a new skill felt addictive. Maybe he had a problem. Pfft, one might never know when said abilities would become useful.
He wanted as many magic options available to him as possible to protect his child, especially with the stone-viper games running on full blast. At least the other "players" didn't have to participate—and even if they did, Dark and Tessa were on his side.
He pulled a tube of Chapstick from his pocket, applying it. Even though anime logic protected his lips, he still couldn't shake the old habit. In fact, he bought the most expensive kind, using Ashfall money. If he got to taste delicious lips, why not the girls?
The book before him didn't activate.
"What the hell?"
[Your aura of holy and purity suppresses the book greatly.]
"No, this is bullshit!" Clyde snapped. "I didn't forget the prompt that said I'm capable of learning all elements."
[To use this book, you must first learn Blood Ki. Good luck with that.]
System, come on, help me out here, Clyde thought.
[No.]
Clyde's eyes widened. Did the system just tell him no? He fumed, glaring at the useless book before him. Holy aura his ass. He was capable of learning it all. The young man didn't make it this far just to be stopped like this.
"This book may contain one hell of a spell," Clyde thought aloud. "System, what's Blood Ki?"
No response. He'd just have to ask Maki. There was no way in hell he'd attempt to learn this on his own. Clyde had enough of charging headfirst into things, ignorant. What if Blood Ki had some kind of personality-changing effect? The young man didn't want the arrogance of the War Mode to return to him. Nor did he want to be the cause of…more people dying. Fuck.
He shook himself. Never again. Now's not the time for a guilt trip, Clyde, he thought. You did your best…right?
He warped the book back to his inventory, hopping up to go search for the purple-haired girl, when Noona popped into existence.
I'm never going to get to Maki, Clyde thought.
"Clyde, we have a problem," Noona said. "It's pertaining to the dragon investigation."
He nodded.
"What's up?" He almost asked about the Sherlock Holmes getup, but remember that Noona was simply being Noona.
She placed her hand on Clyde's arm. A brief feeling of vertigo and blackness struck the young man before the duo were in the boardroom. The young man nearly stumbled over.
"Clyde. Glad you could join us," Tear said. She patted the seat next to her. When he did, the succubus snuggled close, enticing the young man with her nice perfume. Tetra shot the pair a blank stare. Hinako looked a bit murderous.
"So, what's this about?" Clyde asked, quickly deterring any heat. Now wasn't the time for Team Stone to start going at each other's throats.
"Here, take a look at this photo," Tear said, passing him her phone. "Natalia's slave fairy caught us a good glimpse of someone who followed a few of us all day. A dragon."
Clyde gazed at the picture of the orange-haired girl with skepticism.
"A dragon," Clyde deadpanned. "This girl?"
"She's in her human form," Tear said, poking the young man's forehead. "They're able to shapeshift at will."
Clyde nodded, then clapped.
"Damn that's fast." He grimaced. "Let's see if she'll talk with us. I doubt we'll get anywhere by trapping her."
"Are you crazy?" Tetra said. "I don't know where you're from, but even my homeland don't take kindly to dragons. They're a divisive bunch—you may never know who is decent and who will backstab you. There are rumors some years ago, they went back on a peace agreement with the Kitsunes, attacking after centuries of peace."
Clyde's eyes widened.
"You know about that, Tetra?"
Tetra shrugged.
"It's a rumor, spoken in hushed conversations among some within the supernatural community. I can't confirm anything, since I wasn't there. I also never met a kitsune…other than Harumi. But you know, I'm not insensitive enough to ask a horrible question like that to her. She's so sweet."
Clyde sighed.
"Tell me what you know about the rumor."
Tetra nodded.
"It's best that I start from the beginning. You clearly don't know much about the kitsune-dragon conflict." She grabbed her mug from the table and took a sip. "Yuki is one fine brewer of coffee."
Tetra looked Clyde in the eye and told him the situation.
Dragon and kitsune were natural enemies, seemingly destined to fight each other for an eternity. Their clashes often doomed everything around them, damaging Satovia, nature, and the survival of either species. The clan leaders of that time realized this and developed a treaty. A dragon and a kitsune married in their human forms to bind it. Centuries later, the largest dragon family in the world, the Soulless teamed up with some other clans to dishonor the peace treaty, under the command of someone who claimed to be the disciple of the Thousand Year Dragon. The Disciple supposedly led the charge against the kitsune, although some rumors stated he or she watched from afar. No one knew of any survivors.
During Tetra's tale, an ability activated.
[Talent. Main character stuff: Brief glimpse into the past.]
The image was shown to him for maybe a second, but the carnage of people…of Harumi's family burned into his brain and made him sick. The talent activated a few more times, revealing two young girls, struggling to survive on their own. The older girl received a vision ten times worse than Clyde's—almost a real-time video. She was traumatized and refused to return to the nation. The young girl stayed. Fearing she'd be taken advantage of, the older girl doubled her work and constantly sent money to her sibling.
However, no matter how much she tried, she could not convince her to leave the nation. The fires of revenge burned strong within the younger girl.
"Do you know why they broke the peace?" Hinako asked. "The books of mythology always placed them as natural enemies, but nothing beyond that is mentioned. What is the Thousand Year Dragon?"
"I was just getting into that," Tetra said softly, then gulped. "Every time I think of this rumor, I get nervous."
Clyde eyed her. Tetra smiled. "I'm glad you're here." She reached over and squeezed the young man's hand.
[Your relationship with Tetra has increased to Friend, closer level 5 and still has Endearment. She will never forget the time you saved her amidst powerful enemies.]
Tetra's eyes hardened.
"The Thousand Year Dragon or as some call it, The Thousand-Eyed Dragon, was the supposed god of all the serpent bastards. A creature of evil, according to some of my peoples' tomes. One of the original terrors of mankind, elf, and all species alike. It was so powerful that it took fifty gods to seal it. Yet…despite the seal, the rumors of it somehow killing the Nine-tailed fox, the Kitsune's deity, spread all over the place. That apparently served as some kind of sign for the Disciple to launch an assault which ultimately led to this day."
"But that's impossible," Tear said. "The dragon god is sealed. So the question is, what really happened to the Nine-tails?"
"Well, it's not like we can communicate with the heavens and ask to speak with the Nine-tails," Tetra said flatly.
"I do not believe the Nine-tailed fox is dead," Noona said, gathering all of their eyes. "I think…the torch has been passed on."
"What do you mean by that?" Clyde asked.
Noona shrugged.
"It's speculation. I have no evidence for my words. You may even call it a feeling." She smiled. "So let's not worry about the Nine-tails, she's a kind survivor."
Something about those words bugged Clyde, but now wasn't the time to worry about a missing deity. She certainly wasn't there when Harumi and Liru needed her the most. The young man's blood boiled with righteous fury. He stoked the anger in the back of his mind knowing damn well that his pink-haired fiancée still tackled each day with a smile.
"Where does the Soulless family live?" Clyde asked.
"Clyde, you can't be," Tetra said. "You must keep in mind that they're dragons! And the new generation was not involved in the attack."
"Relax," Clyde said. "I'm not going to stupidly charge in there to attempt genocide. I just want to know more about them." His voice darkened. "And who our enemies are."
"The Soulless family are the owners of the Dragoon Corps," Tetra said. "You can find Dragoon stores and colleges all over the world. As for our enemies, my guess would be the elder dragons."
"What are the chances that this Disciple is a Soulless?" Clyde asked.
"I have no idea," Tetra said.
Clyde sighed.
"I guess…the dragons are pretty much untouchable, until we have more information."
"Sorry," Tetra said.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Clyde said. "But, thank you for filling us in on the situation. Hinako, do you mind texting a summary of this to all Team Stone members, including Harumi. I'll send you any phone numbers you're missing."
"I've got them all, well, except you, Noona."
Noona eagerly traded numbers with the professor. A prompt surprised the fuck out of Clyde.
[Quest completed. Investigate the Dragon threat. Reward: 4 million EXP. Alonian Chicken Soup Recipe.]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 124! Stats increased.]
[With an intellect now at 400, you can see recipe ranks.]
[CKP: 20
Recipes:
- Sweet-berry Alethian Soup recipe. Rank: C.
- Comforting soup recipe. Rank: D.
- Alonian Chicken Soup Recipe. Rank: C.]
This couldn't be it. No. System, what the hell, Clyde thought. No replied. Then a thought occurred to him. Maybe Asu, the lich could provide him with some insight. That is, if she wasn't pissed about being left behind.
He tossed that idea to the side. Alice's mother would most likely have the best information, but contacting her was impossible. What about…his eyes widened. Naoko.
[Quest. Dragon business, step 2. Go ask Naoko, the entity about the Soulless family and other dragon-related questions. This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused. Reward: unknown.]
[Quest.???. Visit the capital city of Terravon. This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused. Reward: unknown.]
Mandatory main story quests. It's been a while, Clyde thought. Why did the system want him to visit the capital city? Well, he was technically adventuring, so why not?
[System alert! You must visit the capital city first thing tomorrow morning.]
Clyde revealed to his team about the sudden trip to the capital city without giving any details. As expected, they gave him skeptical looks.
"Just a feeling," he said. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'll ask Naoko about some dragon things in the morning."
The crew nodded their agreements. He could see a full moon outside the large window, surrounded by a starry sky.
Tomorrow, they had work to do. Clyde did an inventory and equipment check while on the way to his room. To his luck, he bumped into Maki down the hall and without Sophia around.
Inventory:
$ 991,445,400
-Map of Lot City, Satovia.
-Map of Libado Grasslands, Satovia.
-Map of Ashen City, Satovia.
-Map of Niyoto, Satovia.
-Map of Ring City, Satovia.
-Smartphone.
-Key.
-Reminder for practice- note.
- Zelt's printer. Level 1/25.
- Deed to the Ashfall estates, treasures, etc.
-Wind blade. (very rare) +16 to attack. Wind element.
- Place of Power Core (item class: Relic) (item value: priceless)- establish a place of power. [Lot City House…]
- Forger's hammer. Item class: very rare
- Exploding blowup doll. Item class: *One of a kind* Unsuspecting enemies will experience a nice surprise. Does dark deity damage.
- Root Tree seed. Item class: epic.
- Mysterious Harp. Item class: *One of a kind* this special harp is loved dearly by a special type of harpy called the Gandharva. Handing this to her will get you a *World Star Fragment* and another reward.
-Breast enhancement potion x 2. Item class: bizarre.
-World Map. item class: *legendary*
- Universal dungeon key. Item value: well-above standard
- Holstaur breast milk.
- Potion of Sharpness. Item class: very rare.
-Goblin dust. Item class: meh. Item value: worthless. Maybe a crafting ingredient, maybe trash.
- Book of Dark Magic. Item value: mysterious. [Requires Blood Ki to remove barrier.]
- Wind blade. Item class: very rare. +16 to attack. Wind element.
Plants and herbs:
- Uni-plant. This plant can be used in medicines and potions. An alchemist could make use of it.
Equipment:
-[Legendary Sword: Bloodlight +150 to attack. Solar element. Can fire raw magic from the weapon. Does magic damage. Lv. 5]
[Clare upgrade: Be careful with swinging this magnificent weapon. It can slash a giant mountain in two with its ability: Flood Slash.]
[Clare upgrade: Flood Blast. You can fire an enormous about of solar magic, capable of vaporizing enemies. Does Intense solar damage. Change to blind at 4% Chance to mute at 11% Chance to roast every cell in someone's body at 1%] Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com <a href="https://www.webnovel.com">www.webnovel.com</a> for visiting.
- Executioner Staff of Merlin. Item class: *Legendary, One of a Kind*. Does Dragon and Volcanic damage. You may trigger its special attack: Balinor's Havoc, after filling the weapon's soul bar to 100%.]
-School uniform or casual clothes.
-School shoes or casual shoes.
- Necklace of Her Devotion. Item class: *One of a kind* This necklace was made with love. Unknown benefits. Has a 1% chance of triggering Enlightenment mode 1 during battle. All stats will increase by 100% during the mode.
- silver dagger- +ice and earth damage. Item class: rare.
- Bullet-proof vest armor set. Item class: very rare. +250 to defense
Clyde's room…
After improving upon his plans, Clyde pulled out the Book of Dark magic, grinning. Learning a new skill felt addictive. Maybe he had a problem. Pfft, one might never know when said abilities would become useful.
He wanted as many magic options available to him as possible to protect his child, especially with the stone-viper games running on full blast. At least the other "players" didn't have to participate—and even if they did, Dark and Tessa were on his side.
He pulled a tube of Chapstick from his pocket, applying it. Even though anime logic protected his lips, he still couldn't shake the old habit. In fact, he bought the most expensive kind, using Ashfall money. If he got to taste delicious lips, why not the girls?
The book before him didn't activate.
"What the hell?"
[Your aura of holy and purity suppresses the book greatly.]
"No, this is bullshit!" Clyde snapped. "I didn't forget the prompt that said I'm capable of learning all elements."
[To use this book, you must first learn Blood Ki. Good luck with that.]
System, come on, help me out here, Clyde thought.
[No.]
Clyde's eyes widened. Did the system just tell him no? He fumed, glaring at the useless book before him. Holy aura his ass. He was capable of learning it all. The young man didn't make it this far just to be stopped like this.
"This book may contain one hell of a spell," Clyde thought aloud. "System, what's Blood Ki?"
No response. He'd just have to ask Maki. There was no way in hell he'd attempt to learn this on his own. Clyde had enough of charging headfirst into things, ignorant. What if Blood Ki had some kind of personality-changing effect? The young man didn't want the arrogance of the War Mode to return to him. Nor did he want to be the cause of…more people dying. Fuck.
He shook himself. Never again. Now's not the time for a guilt trip, Clyde, he thought. You did your best…right?
He warped the book back to his inventory, hopping up to go search for the purple-haired girl, when Noona popped into existence.
I'm never going to get to Maki, Clyde thought.
"Clyde, we have a problem," Noona said. "It's pertaining to the dragon investigation."
He nodded.
"What's up?" He almost asked about the Sherlock Holmes getup, but remember that Noona was simply being Noona.
She placed her hand on Clyde's arm. A brief feeling of vertigo and blackness struck the young man before the duo were in the boardroom. The young man nearly stumbled over.
"Clyde. Glad you could join us," Tear said. She patted the seat next to her. When he did, the succubus snuggled close, enticing the young man with her nice perfume. Tetra shot the pair a blank stare. Hinako looked a bit murderous.
"So, what's this about?" Clyde asked, quickly deterring any heat. Now wasn't the time for Team Stone to start going at each other's throats.
"Here, take a look at this photo," Tear said, passing him her phone. "Natalia's slave fairy caught us a good glimpse of someone who followed a few of us all day. A dragon."
Clyde gazed at the picture of the orange-haired girl with skepticism.
"A dragon," Clyde deadpanned. "This girl?"
"She's in her human form," Tear said, poking the young man's forehead. "They're able to shapeshift at will."
Clyde nodded, then clapped.
"Damn that's fast." He grimaced. "Let's see if she'll talk with us. I doubt we'll get anywhere by trapping her."
"Are you crazy?" Tetra said. "I don't know where you're from, but even my homeland don't take kindly to dragons. They're a divisive bunch—you may never know who is decent and who will backstab you. There are rumors some years ago, they went back on a peace agreement with the Kitsunes, attacking after centuries of peace."
Clyde's eyes widened.
"You know about that, Tetra?"
Tetra shrugged.
"It's a rumor, spoken in hushed conversations among some within the supernatural community. I can't confirm anything, since I wasn't there. I also never met a kitsune…other than Harumi. But you know, I'm not insensitive enough to ask a horrible question like that to her. She's so sweet."
Clyde sighed.
"Tell me what you know about the rumor."
Tetra nodded.
"It's best that I start from the beginning. You clearly don't know much about the kitsune-dragon conflict." She grabbed her mug from the table and took a sip. "Yuki is one fine brewer of coffee."
Tetra looked Clyde in the eye and told him the situation.
Dragon and kitsune were natural enemies, seemingly destined to fight each other for an eternity. Their clashes often doomed everything around them, damaging Satovia, nature, and the survival of either species. The clan leaders of that time realized this and developed a treaty. A dragon and a kitsune married in their human forms to bind it. Centuries later, the largest dragon family in the world, the Soulless teamed up with some other clans to dishonor the peace treaty, under the command of someone who claimed to be the disciple of the Thousand Year Dragon. The Disciple supposedly led the charge against the kitsune, although some rumors stated he or she watched from afar. No one knew of any survivors.
During Tetra's tale, an ability activated.
[Talent. Main character stuff: Brief glimpse into the past.]
The image was shown to him for maybe a second, but the carnage of people…of Harumi's family burned into his brain and made him sick. The talent activated a few more times, revealing two young girls, struggling to survive on their own. The older girl received a vision ten times worse than Clyde's—almost a real-time video. She was traumatized and refused to return to the nation. The young girl stayed. Fearing she'd be taken advantage of, the older girl doubled her work and constantly sent money to her sibling.
However, no matter how much she tried, she could not convince her to leave the nation. The fires of revenge burned strong within the younger girl.
"Do you know why they broke the peace?" Hinako asked. "The books of mythology always placed them as natural enemies, but nothing beyond that is mentioned. What is the Thousand Year Dragon?"
"I was just getting into that," Tetra said softly, then gulped. "Every time I think of this rumor, I get nervous."
Clyde eyed her. Tetra smiled. "I'm glad you're here." She reached over and squeezed the young man's hand.
[Your relationship with Tetra has increased to Friend, closer level 5 and still has Endearment. She will never forget the time you saved her amidst powerful enemies.]
Tetra's eyes hardened.
"The Thousand Year Dragon or as some call it, The Thousand-Eyed Dragon, was the supposed god of all the serpent bastards. A creature of evil, according to some of my peoples' tomes. One of the original terrors of mankind, elf, and all species alike. It was so powerful that it took fifty gods to seal it. Yet…despite the seal, the rumors of it somehow killing the Nine-tailed fox, the Kitsune's deity, spread all over the place. That apparently served as some kind of sign for the Disciple to launch an assault which ultimately led to this day."
"But that's impossible," Tear said. "The dragon god is sealed. So the question is, what really happened to the Nine-tails?"
"Well, it's not like we can communicate with the heavens and ask to speak with the Nine-tails," Tetra said flatly.
"I do not believe the Nine-tailed fox is dead," Noona said, gathering all of their eyes. "I think…the torch has been passed on."
"What do you mean by that?" Clyde asked.
Noona shrugged.
"It's speculation. I have no evidence for my words. You may even call it a feeling." She smiled. "So let's not worry about the Nine-tails, she's a kind survivor."
Something about those words bugged Clyde, but now wasn't the time to worry about a missing deity. She certainly wasn't there when Harumi and Liru needed her the most. The young man's blood boiled with righteous fury. He stoked the anger in the back of his mind knowing damn well that his pink-haired fiancée still tackled each day with a smile.
"Where does the Soulless family live?" Clyde asked.
"Clyde, you can't be," Tetra said. "You must keep in mind that they're dragons! And the new generation was not involved in the attack."
"Relax," Clyde said. "I'm not going to stupidly charge in there to attempt genocide. I just want to know more about them." His voice darkened. "And who our enemies are."
"The Soulless family are the owners of the Dragoon Corps," Tetra said. "You can find Dragoon stores and colleges all over the world. As for our enemies, my guess would be the elder dragons."
"What are the chances that this Disciple is a Soulless?" Clyde asked.
"I have no idea," Tetra said.
Clyde sighed.
"I guess…the dragons are pretty much untouchable, until we have more information."
"Sorry," Tetra said.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Clyde said. "But, thank you for filling us in on the situation. Hinako, do you mind texting a summary of this to all Team Stone members, including Harumi. I'll send you any phone numbers you're missing."
"I've got them all, well, except you, Noona."
Noona eagerly traded numbers with the professor. A prompt surprised the fuck out of Clyde.
[Quest completed. Investigate the Dragon threat. Reward: 4 million EXP. Alonian Chicken Soup Recipe.]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 124! Stats increased.]
[With an intellect now at 400, you can see recipe ranks.]
[CKP: 20
Recipes:
- Sweet-berry Alethian Soup recipe. Rank: C.
- Comforting soup recipe. Rank: D.
- Alonian Chicken Soup Recipe. Rank: C.]
This couldn't be it. No. System, what the hell, Clyde thought. No replied. Then a thought occurred to him. Maybe Asu, the lich could provide him with some insight. That is, if she wasn't pissed about being left behind.
He tossed that idea to the side. Alice's mother would most likely have the best information, but contacting her was impossible. What about…his eyes widened. Naoko.
[Quest. Dragon business, step 2. Go ask Naoko, the entity about the Soulless family and other dragon-related questions. This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused. Reward: unknown.]
[Quest.???. Visit the capital city of Terravon. This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused. Reward: unknown.]
Mandatory main story quests. It's been a while, Clyde thought. Why did the system want him to visit the capital city? Well, he was technically adventuring, so why not?
[System alert! You must visit the capital city first thing tomorrow morning.]
Clyde revealed to his team about the sudden trip to the capital city without giving any details. As expected, they gave him skeptical looks.
"Just a feeling," he said. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'll ask Naoko about some dragon things in the morning."
The crew nodded their agreements. He could see a full moon outside the large window, surrounded by a starry sky.
Tomorrow, they had work to do. Clyde did an inventory and equipment check while on the way to his room. To his luck, he bumped into Maki down the hall and without Sophia around.
Inventory:
$ 991,445,400
-Map of Lot City, Satovia.
-Map of Libado Grasslands, Satovia.
-Map of Ashen City, Satovia.
-Map of Niyoto, Satovia.
-Map of Ring City, Satovia.
-Smartphone.
-Key.
-Reminder for practice- note.
- Zelt's printer. Level 1/25.
- Deed to the Ashfall estates, treasures, etc.
-Wind blade. (very rare) +16 to attack. Wind element.
- Place of Power Core (item class: Relic) (item value: priceless)- establish a place of power. [Lot City House…]
- Forger's hammer. Item class: very rare
- Exploding blowup doll. Item class: *One of a kind* Unsuspecting enemies will experience a nice surprise. Does dark deity damage.
- Root Tree seed. Item class: epic.
- Mysterious Harp. Item class: *One of a kind* this special harp is loved dearly by a special type of harpy called the Gandharva. Handing this to her will get you a *World Star Fragment* and another reward.
-Breast enhancement potion x 2. Item class: bizarre.
-World Map. item class: *legendary*
- Universal dungeon key. Item value: well-above standard
- Holstaur breast milk.
- Potion of Sharpness. Item class: very rare.
-Goblin dust. Item class: meh. Item value: worthless. Maybe a crafting ingredient, maybe trash.
- Book of Dark Magic. Item value: mysterious. [Requires Blood Ki to remove barrier.]
- Wind blade. Item class: very rare. +16 to attack. Wind element.
Plants and herbs:
- Uni-plant. This plant can be used in medicines and potions. An alchemist could make use of it.
Equipment:
-[Legendary Sword: Bloodlight +150 to attack. Solar element. Can fire raw magic from the weapon. Does magic damage. Lv. 5]
[Clare upgrade: Be careful with swinging this magnificent weapon. It can slash a giant mountain in two with its ability: Flood Slash.]
[Clare upgrade: Flood Blast. You can fire an enormous about of solar magic, capable of vaporizing enemies. Does Intense solar damage. Change to blind at 4% Chance to mute at 11% Chance to roast every cell in someone's body at 1%] Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com <a href="https://www.webnovel.com">www.webnovel.com</a> for visiting.
- Executioner Staff of Merlin. Item class: *Legendary, One of a Kind*. Does Dragon and Volcanic damage. You may trigger its special attack: Balinor's Havoc, after filling the weapon's soul bar to 100%.]
-School uniform or casual clothes.
-School shoes or casual shoes.
- Necklace of Her Devotion. Item class: *One of a kind* This necklace was made with love. Unknown benefits. Has a 1% chance of triggering Enlightenment mode 1 during battle. All stats will increase by 100% during the mode.
- silver dagger- +ice and earth damage. Item class: rare.
- Bullet-proof vest armor set. Item class: very rare. +250 to defense
