pertwk Page 31
Page 31
We acknowledge the ownership of the realm and heavens by the supreme gods AO, and out of respect for our master, we will not interfere in this matter. Therefore, we, the 'ancient' dragon gods, will soon withdraw from the continent of Faerûn due to the loss of our faith.
You have neither the time nor the need to spread our faith, which has long since vanished in Faerûn, to the existing dragons. We have no interest in AO or the games of the gods.
But this isn't entirely without benefit for you, or for the entire dragon race of the celestial realm. At least from this point on, the gods, including our few descendants who are obsessed with the sub-worlds, will no longer be able to directly interfere in mortal affairs at will.
Therefore, the future of the Faerûn dragons rests entirely on your own.
The majestic dragon, surrounded by lightning, flapped its wings helplessly, just like any ordinary dragon: "Although your source of information is a bit strange, you also know the character of our troublesome juniors. Just because they can't directly interfere in mortal affairs doesn't mean they can't cause new disasters."
If pushed too far, they're capable of anything, including wiping you out completely... They're already doing that, aren't they?
If you wish to restore the glory of the Faerûn dragons, you still have a long way to go.
That's all for now. I originally thought I would need to explain a lot to you. I didn't expect that you knew so much after meeting you. You're quite an interesting kid.
The only help I can offer you is through this experience you call the 'Dragon's Treasury'.
"Well, the rules can't be broken. You've passed the test, but the 1000 silver coins are still due. After the offering, continue your arduous journey of growth!"
With those last words, the image of the Great Dragon in Casalos's mind crumbled. It stared blankly for a moment, mouth agape, then, urged by Zoquian, paid for the blessing and left in one swift motion, without a trace of regret.
Dragons are dragons after all, and no matter what, they're greedy. You can never get anything from them for free. Even Lady Tarama, who was so protective of her young dragons, never gave Casalos anything for free, let alone Zoquian, who embodies all dragon traits.
Of course, the blessing of the Supreme Zoquian is very powerful. It is a one-time spell-like effect that grants Casalos a temporary Godhood level of 1 for one hour, greatly increasing his chances of defeating the fourth god-like boss.
After clearing out the monsters and collecting the loot, Casaroz, with his combined stats of a level 25 HD Iron Dragon in his prime, a level 12 Leatherwing Dragon, a level 4 Elemental Master, a level 8 Wizard, and a level 3 Dwarven Defender, along with two legendary spells, a full set of epic gear, and a plethora of spell abilities and feats, entered Room 74.
Standing in the room was a demon covered in black, tar-like scales. Its dragon-like wings were folded behind it, its claws, capable of tearing anything apart, hung at its sides, and its throat was as deep as hell. Its eyes, flashing with the light of an eternal curse, saw Casalos, and its entire body blurred before vanishing completely.
Then, the floor of the room was completely covered by a foul-smelling dark green, from which withered arms stretched out, attempting to grab Casalos, who had already been lifted several meters into the air.
A foul stench lingered around the dragon's body, and it tried to penetrate it but could not get any closer.
With a thought, Casalos released the blessing from the Supreme Being, and bursts of lightning surged from its eyes, encircling it.
84. Difficult to deal with
Even gods can be tempted. From the combination of heaven and hell, a devilish abomination, or divine evil, is born—hellfire.
Casalos is now facing just such a thing.
Logically speaking, if we're talking about challenge levels, Casalos should be a level 40 or higher monster by now, and defeating a level 26 Hellfire should be an easy crushing victory... However, the truth is that the abomination's claws, imbued with divine power, could easily send it back to the main hall with just a few scratches.
After taking off and avoiding certain environmental effects, Casalos cast the Blessing of the Supreme upon himself, then immediately unleashed a burst of lightning breath towards the ground—his level 1 Elemental Mastery allowed him to harmonize the energy form of his breath; upon reaching level 2, he could replace all his magical powers of any energy type with this harmonized form.
Chapter 77
Its energy type. Clearly, it coordinates with the lightning in its own breath weapon.
The reasons for this choice involve certain plans for its future growth and are also related to the ultimate enhancement of the Primal Force's Blazing Branch. These have nothing to do with the battle it is currently facing, but Lightning Coordination - Lightning Conversion, and the exclusive supply of lightning energy provided by the Level 3 Elemental Master, happen to perfectly match the temporary divine power bestowed upon it by the Supreme One Zoquian.
The lightning breath, imbued with divine power and enhanced with specialized abilities, annihilated the dark green pollution from the entire room floor in an explosion, injecting it into the ground to form a static field area densely covered with jumping electric arcs.
The environmental advantage was thus reversed. Casalos folded its wings and crashed to the ground, its forelimbs gripping the ground, its hind legs springing out, kicking its hind body and swinging it half a circle to the side. Its tail cut through the air with a rumbling sound, and then swung over the area behind it where it had just been.
With a deafening roar and a flash of light, the pure kinetic energy collision triggered a sonic explosion. The blurry figure of Hellfire appeared from the point of impact, crashing down to the opposite side of the field like a meteor.
The moment this thing went invisible, it instantly appeared behind Casalos and launched a surprise attack. If Casalos had misjudged even slightly, the outcome would have been either an implosion that would take away most of his life, or it would have grabbed him and drained all his spell slots, including legendary spells.
"Disgusting and troublesome stuff."
Staggering to a stop, Casalos did not take off again. Instead, it stood firmly on its four limbs, raised its wings, and assumed the defensive stance of a dwarven defender, secretly preparing to cast a legendary spell with a long cast time. Although this was a dungeon, the space was quite large, allowing it to fight while flying.
Compared to the Hellfire, which boasts perfect flight maneuverability and doubles its speed when stealthed, its flight ability is as clumsy as a parrot being watched by a peregrine falcon. Relying on its size and ability advantages to hold the ground is the right choice.
Before the hellfire, whose tail had been smashed, could even hit the ground, its blurry figure vanished again.
Casalos then unleashed a burst of flames, his raised left wing slamming into the ground like a tower shield, its four wing toes like iron stakes and nails, the wing surface covering his sides, while his right wing folded into a spear, the sharp tip of his big toe carrying divine power and bursting with lightning as it pierced between the upper and lower arms of his left wing.
Another collision and explosion occurred, and the indistinct figure of the Hellfire tumbled and flew backward. Three scratches appeared on Casaroz's left wing membrane, indicating minor injuries. However, it showed no sign of letting up, and the exploding lightning surrounding its entire body became even denser—with just one attack, the Hellfire had destroyed half of its defensive epic equipment called Shield Wing, meaning its left wing would no longer be usable as a shield for the next attack.
Furthermore, even with only minor damage, the Hellfire's attack was still successful, and Casalos's second-level spell slot vanished without a trace.
Although the Hellfire was being tossed around like a ball, it didn't suffer any real damage. Having regained its balance, the Hellfire once again entered a high-level stealth state to launch a new attack.
Six meteorites made of flames suddenly crashed down from mid-air, exploding with a deafening roar and creating a sea of fire that engulfed Casalos.
"Thank goodness you monsters have no intelligence. I'm immune to fire, you dare to hit me with a meteor shower?"
It remained firmly planted on its four limbs, roaring as it folded its wings together and slashed them forward. The large toe of its wing, like a giant sword of divine punishment, cleaved through the air and struck the blurry figure illuminated by the flames... and then passed right through it.
At the same time, the blurry figure of the real hellfire appeared on its back, like a demonic claw capable of tearing through space, already touching its defenseless carapace, about to tear open its spine.
The enormous dragon's body vanished in a blur, and the explosive divine lightning was stretched into dozens of thick, intertwined arcs, converging 40 meters away, where Casalos's body appeared.
"Made!"
The spell sequence triggered, allowing it to dodge the fatal attack in time, but the preparation of the legendary spell was forcibly interrupted. Its safety was not compromised by the increased distance; the Hellfire's unrestricted teleportation with no cooldown or usage limits allowed it to immediately catch up to Casaroz, who lunged at its face with a claw.
good chance!
Casalos unleashed a burst of instantaneous breath, a beam of lightning converging on the indistinct figure of Hellfire. The storm attached to the necklace blasted it away, the divine power-formed lightning tearing through Hellfire's defenses and resistances, sizzling as it poured into its body. The blazing flames within also silently invaded Hellfire's body, scorching its most basic components.
This was Casalos's first effective damage to the Hellfire; a single breath attack burned away roughly one-fifth of its quantified health. However, the Hellfire, as a divine abomination, was not only disgusting due to its high mobility and attack power, but also its passive spell drain. From now on, this Hellfire was immune to lightning breath. It was practically like a Saint Seiya character, unable to be harmed by the same "attack" a second time.
Even with divine power to tear through its defenses and resistance, the coordinated and specialized lightning breath could no longer have any effect on it.
Only the Blazing Flame can still penetrate and take effect, but since Casaroz is using a pure magic-based build, the Blazing Flame's absorption stacks are very low. Casaroz had already applied two Blazing Flames to it with the previous two Wing Attacks, so the effect wasn't very good.
Casalos's hopes still rest on the two legendary spells, but the casting time of legendary spells is too long, and during the casting process, it does not cast other broad spells, including breath and spell-like abilities.
Selling his right wing shield and a level 1 spell slot, Casalos knocked away the stealthy Hellfire once more, then disengaged from his defensive stance and unleashed a Big Game Grappler to hold it down, buying himself some time.
85. Sigh
Casalos's first breath upon entering the room was released onto the ground, inflicting multiple stacks of lingering effects and turning the entire area into a cage of divine lightning. This effectively disabled Hellfire's ability to summon demons and spawn undead creatures, and also cleared the environmental debuffs; otherwise, it would have faced even more trouble.
This is the advantage brought about by information asymmetry. The memories of the past life that were long forgotten have been abstracted with the inheritance of the Athelon, allowing it to know what abilities and characteristics the Hellfire has the moment it sees it, and thus formulate tactics in a logical way.
But theory is still just theory. It's the first time we've faced such a monster. Tactics based on information asymmetry can only eliminate those options that seem impossible at first glance. The only way to know how to fight effectively is through practice.
If holding a defensive stance on the ground and casting legendary spells doesn't work, then it's time to try overwhelming this disgusting thing with a massive amount of spells and spell-like abilities.
After Bigglesbane's Grappling Palm, Casaroz unleashed a lightning-fast version of Cloudburn to supplement the damage, followed by a Bigglesbane Shattering Palm that slammed him to the ground. He then summoned a cluster of elementals and a group of celestial creatures to gang up on him, before creating an unshakeable black wall that left the Infernal, which had almost instantly killed Casaroz's summoned swarm, dizzy and disoriented. Casaroz then took the opportunity to apply a lightning-fast version of Shadow Plague to it...
One control spell followed by one damage spell, and spells used before are nullified when used again against Hellfire. Moreover, only spells of at least level 6 have a noticeable effect. If this continues, will Casalos's massive spell-like abilities and the large number of spell slots brought by his high casting level and high intelligence "run out" first, or will the Hellfire, which has been turned into a target by the control chain, be wiped out? The result will soon be clear. If this were a board game, Casalos, with his legendary casting level of 22, would be able to unleash a barrage of spells that replace lightning, with the specialization bonus increasing the difficulty of saving throws, and with divine power ensuring a full roll of damage spells, probably killing all five Hellfire.
Chapter 78
However, the monsters in the training dungeon, or rather, the real Hellfire, are not so easy to deal with. As a divine abomination, the Hellfire's divine power severely weakens the effects of non-legendary spells. After Casalorus used up all the effective control spells he had, the Hellfire's quantified health was still nearly half... For Casalorus at this point, the fourth boss of the Dragon's Treasury training dungeon was still an insurmountable wall of sighs.
Perhaps it will only be possible to break through this wall when it truly understands the power of legend, or when it can infuse its flames into any of its spells.
Of course, it's also possible that it just wasn't lucky this time. After all, if a pure spell build encounters a BOSS that counters spellcasters, then no matter how smoothly the build goes, it will still be frustrating.
With defensive stances ineffective and a round of spells exhausted, all Casalos could do next was cast buff spells on himself, combined with debuff spells to weaken him, and then wield his "staff" to engage in a proper melee exchange with the Infernal. As a pure spellcaster, apart from the few feats Casalos possessed, he hadn't really enhanced his melee abilities this round. His innate weapon was naturally similar to a staff, otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to inflict any effective damage on the Infernal in the first few rounds of attacks.
In addition to traditional buffs, the dragon also casts spells unique to dragons, such as Sharp Teeth, Claws, and other spells that enhance their innate weapons. When the Hellfire teleports in stealth mode, the dragon charges forward, grabbing it first and taking the brunt of an Implosion and a Hellfire Orb. Using the power of its epic gear, the dragon uses its tail and forepaws to pin the Hellfire down. A bite, a hind leg kick, and two powerful wing-paw slaps follow. The Hellfire also manages to tear a large hole in its chest shield when it breaks free.
Casalos used his hind legs to lock the claws in place again, followed by another round of biting wing attacks and a burst of spark breath that abandoned energy conversion, successfully reducing the Hellfire's health by a large margin. Casalos was invigorated; there was hope!
Aside from those terrifying claws, the Hellfire's biting wing strikes and tail strikes on Casaroz didn't do much damage either. Unfortunately, the mindless creatures in this instance didn't know how to dodge its grappling, and Casaroz was pinned down by its superior strength. Its high mobility and agility were completely rendered useless. So, as long as you keep burning this monster to death with its teeth, wings, and now completely ineffective breath, there's still hope of burning it to death.
And so, a dragon nearly gigantic in size and a large demon wrestled like street thugs, scratching and biting each other, accompanied by thunderous booms, sparks, and the ever-present arcs of electricity on the ground, becoming the only sight in the room.
The secondary flames split everywhere, igniting the ground as well. The rocks that the white flames passed over were not heated; they simply disappeared little by little, but did not sublimate and crystallize in the cold areas like evaporation.
Every now and then, one of the Hellfire's claws would break free from Casalos's grip, which was held by both its front and hind claws, and deliver a sharp blow to its chest.
Without the protection of the armor's chest shield, even the thickest plate armor on its chest couldn't withstand two claw strikes from the Hellfire. Then, its skin and the pectoral muscles that propelled its wings were completely torn apart after a brief impact, causing its wings to droop and become incapable of further attacks. Next, its sternum and rib plates blocked three more attacks, but its forelimbs, now without skeletal support, were nearly paralyzed, leaving only its hind claws unable to exert any force.
When the Hellfire's health was down to 6.5% after being quantified, its claws broke free from Casalos's grip once more.
Now, Casalos's beating heart inside his chest cavity was completely exposed to the attack range of the hellfire. With a single swipe of its claw, the sharp nails, imbued with divine power, tore the heart, which was like a hydraulic pump, apart as easily as a hot knife through butter.
A high-pressure jet of blood erupted, blasting the hellfire far away, while the dragon's body collapsed with a crash.
Casalos collapsed to the ground, its vision blurring rapidly, and sounds receding into the distance, leaving only the stench of blood and the devil's maw filling its nostrils.
A biting cold, accompanied by thirst, enveloped it, like the last moments of dusk before the sun sets. Its consciousness was gradually fading, its breathing changing from rapid to a weak, feeble breath that was almost gone.
The uncontrollable dragon's fury wanted to leap out and dominate its body, but it receded into the distance along with the entire world.
As its eyes were completely enveloped in darkness, it saw Hellfire, covered in dragon blood, walking towards it, bursting into a brilliant white flame.
Along with the explosion, a shower of gold coins filled the sky.
March leave slip 2...
Saturday is tutoring day, it's so easy to get exhausted - -
86. Troublemakers and Awakening
"Have you made up your mind?" A whisper echoed in her mind. Edgeworth stopped what she was doing in annoyance, traced the whisper back to its source, and cursed, "You rotten mind-devouring demon who'll never find a job in his life, you're disturbing my work!"
“Work…hiss, you’ve had your limbs taken away by it, yet you’re still willing to work for it? This is nothing like the brave and fearless grey dwarves I remember, the ones who dared to resist any enslaver. You don’t even have a slave to serve your daily needs now.”
Guided by the power of the mind, the short-tempered gray dwarf didn't retaliate this time. Instead, he stared blankly at his "hands" and "legs"... if they could even be considered hands or legs.
Its hands are now prosthetic limbs—that's what the dragon cub calls them—encased in a silver shell that shimmers with glittering, sand-like light. And its legs are now wheels supported by three long poles attached to the hemispherical structure beneath its abdomen.
On the day of the riot, the gnoll berserker, whom Edgeworth considered his most obedient hound, suddenly attacked from behind, severing both of Edgeworth's arms. It was the work of a dragon cub, who used a vile spell scroll to break the grey dwarves' mind control and surveillance over the slaves.
Its legs were also lost on the same day, and the culprit was still that dragon cub.
Edgeworth, who was being chased by its hounds and had nowhere to run, escaped outside the cave. The dragon cub seized the opportunity and swooped down, smashing its legs and a small section of its lower abdomen to pieces. Its injuries were as severe as those of an unfortunate slave crushed by a broken lever in a furnace.
Fortunately, compared to those slaves, it possessed the power of a paragon of mind magic and had much stronger vitality, and its treatment after defeat was much more generous.
The dragon cub did not kill it because it needed its power and its skills.
However, it lost its proud hands, its legs that allowed it to stand on the ground, and half of its pelvic organs. Now it urinates through a "urine box" inside its hemispherical structure, connected to its "kidneys" by a tube. It feels nothing, but the box must be removed and replaced regularly, otherwise it risks poisoning. Excretion is even more difficult, as a special tube connects to a hole in its abdomen.
Edgeworth felt that he was not a grey dwarf, but rather a half-construct.
"You know, I'm a shapeshifter, and I can help you regain those lost limbs. As long as you're willing to cooperate with me."
Edgeworth remained silent, its gaze lingering between its hands and legs.
Thanks to the dragon's unique design, the construct arms, which use a large number of complex structures such as lead screws, hydraulic cylinders, gears, and bearings, are more powerful, stable, and precise than the original hands or ordinary construct arms. Although they are less agile and have a mechanical stiffness when moving, they are more powerful.
Not to mention its three-wheeled legs, Edgeworth now runs like it's flying. If it folds up its wheels and unfolds its hoe like it does now, it won't even need a chair to sit steadily and can work anytime, anywhere.
"Shadow Dragon, and your other kinsman"
Chapter 79
The goblin chieftain has already agreed to cooperate with me, but he's chosen to wait and see. Now is your only chance. It has entered a long and fragile intergenerational slumber. If you cooperate with me to gather your kin and incite those mindless ogres to launch a rebellion first,
Our only enemies are those weak kobolds. Once we slaughter them all, the dragon that has caused you this suffering, robbed you of your limbs, and enslaved you will be nothing more than chunks of meat for us to butcher!
The mental manipulation continued, and the gray dwarf mind warlock's resolve gradually hardened.
It made up its mind, but one last concern remained: "But I don't trust you, you parasite with tentacles all over your face..."
It is a consensus among the creatures of the Underdark to be skeptical of what mindflies say, and mindflies are certainly aware of this. The fact that Roar dares to communicate directly with the grey dwarves, goblins, and drow dragons shows that it was well-prepared.
The reclusive Edgeworth is the final link in its chain. Once its trust is gained, a vast net can be cast around the sleeping dragon, trapping it to death. Just like Casalos did with the grey dwarves...
Casalos slowly awoke from its slumber, craning its neck to gaze at its now elongated and thinner, somewhat slender body, and lazily yawned. Its size had increased considerably; the iron ore and other essential nutrients it had swallowed before its slumber were now part of its body.
Its bones are harder, its muscles are stronger, and its scales are thicker. The gaps between each scale are tighter, and at first glance, the metallic reflection and flame light merge together, becoming somewhat like rippling water.
A faint red light lingered around its body, somewhat like an illusion reflecting lava, yet it was undeniably real.
It stood up, lowered its front half, stretched its front paws and neck forward as much as possible, stretched out its folded hind legs, raised its buttocks high, and fully opened its wings to press against the narrow cavity wall. Its large tail drooped to one side, curled up boredly, and stretched lazily.
Its intergenerational slumber lasted longer than expected, resulting in better development than normal. This was thanks to the enhancements from the Dragon Treasury and the final trial during the fledgling stage.
Indeed, the trial ended with Hellfire killing it, but it also killed Hellfire with the burning and slashing power of its flames.
More importantly, it lost consciousness a tiny bit later than Hellfire was killed. Therefore, although its trial ended there and it failed to obtain Hellfire's loot, it didn't lose a single coin from killing Hellfire.
As the fourth boss, Hellfire dropped 2400 gold coins, adding to the 4000+ coins from the previous room, giving Casaroz the resources to chop off its claws again. After paying the hefty "feature tax" and the Vault's unique removal restriction tax, it spent a fortune to acquire the last of the three True Dragon Advancement classes offered in the first phase of the Dragon Vault: Bloodscale Frenzy—an advancement it had previously resisted.
Simply put, Bloodscale Berserker is clearly an advanced class developed based on Dragon's Fury. Having suffered from Dragon's Fury, it instinctively rejects this development path that causes intermittent intelligence and armor reduction. Moreover, Bloodscale Berserker's prerequisite of faction confusion makes it the class with the highest entry barrier and the lowest advancement benefits among the three advanced classes, and it also seriously conflicts with its combat style.
87. Desiring to leave the mountain
In addition, it had long ago positioned its development path as a highly mobile and highly defensive long-range turret. Given the limited resources and gold, it had to make some trade-offs, and giving up most of the enhancements related to melee capabilities was its choice.
The repeated trials within the treasure vault proved that being broad in knowledge but lacking in expertise is a major taboo in combat system design.