“What do you mean you DROWNED IT?! Stop, stop, you’re gonna give this weak old lady a heart attack!”
“Well hey, at least I would become a Dragon slayer for real. It would be an honor. I promise to give you a nice and comfortable afterlife inside Bookie. So anyway, I finished first, do you already know what the last floor is?”
“Killing me off already? I’ll have you learn I have three perfectly healthy hearts, so I’ll be fine even if you burst one. And yes I know, but I am being serious; let us skip the trial, I don’t want the Angels to get pissed at me bypassing the censor too much again.”
“What is even the censor? Can you talk about that?”
“Oh it’s just a set of orders your scribe can’t disobey,” Erredis explained, tapping her temple with a finger. “Like a leash the system uses to control its scribes and users, to make sure things go how the system wants. Mess with it too much and your scribe’ll self-destruct. You don’t want that.”
“You sure know a lot about the system.”
“I see what you’re trying to do, Sofia. I know things, yes, but until you find a way to prevent the Angels from coming to bother me at my door, I’m not telling.”
“Are they even really strong enough to bother you?”
Erredis looked to the side as if something else had caught her attention causing her to miss the question.
Fine…
“Well, I think you’ll want to hear what comes next, since it has to do with another Dragon.”
“Really?! And he’s not found you yet?!” Erredis sounded thoroughly annoyed.
Sofia had recounted the events up to the moment she learned Saria had been taken away by a Dragon and how she was now looking for them. She had even brought out another copy of the dragon’s handprint sculpted in bones for her to see.
The rabbit-dragon-woman frowned as she observed the sculpture. “Must be a young one,” she remarked, “And one with very bad manners, at that! I can’t believe he would have gotten your sister and left you to rot in an orphanage!”
“It’s not like they owe me anything…”
“No. You do not understand. We Dragons have many strengths. Do you know what’s not one of them?”
“I don’t know, being humble?”
Erredis’ face contorted a bit, she tried to look serious but half her mouth still smirked. “You could use some of that, you really ought to stop drinking that moonspring water for now, young lady, it’s getting to your head.”
“Sorry.” It is a bit like alcohol somehow… But it has water in the name…
“Bah! Back to my question, all humbleness aside, we Dragons are bad at having offsprings. Terribly horrendously bad. And there is no workaround. So, there is something deeply ingrained in our culture. Each person counts. Family is sacred.”
“That… It’s not how I imagined it at all but if you say so. A far cry from the fire-breathing calamities of nature the books paints you as.”
“One does not exclude the other. Point is, family is sacred. If you are going to rescue someone, you better damn well see it through all the way and not be a fucking boor leaving the siblings to die some unknown fate!”
“Well… It would have been hard to find me until I got my class and started moving, especially if they thought I was dead because of the tide…”
Erredis listened to Sofia but her one raised eyebrow said a lot. Sofia almost expected to see the disguised Dragon shake her head and call her an idiot or something along those lines.
Erredis nodded decisively. “Sure. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, better have a good explanation.”
“Explanation? How-”
“What? We’re going to go and find out.” Erredis didn’t let Sofia talk. She came closer and almost whispered, “Listen, sweetie. This old grandma does not do charity work.” Having said that, she took a step back, standing straight like a marble column, with the countenance of an Emperor. “But if a Dragon is tarnishing our glorious name! Then, they are going to be getting an earful! And it just so happens that you, my guest, might want to tag along. I couldn’t possibly refuse such basic courtesy now, could I?” Erredis finished with an awkward but cute wink.
Really?
“REALLY?!”
Just like that?!
All this searching around the necromancy, Richard, the ebb, the diviner, and I’m just getting handed what I long for on a silver platter? Because I slammed into the moon of all things???
YES PLEASE!
“No need to react so strongly, come on, we are just going to investigate a troublemaking kidnapper. Ah, but not right away, let us go through things in order, finish your story first. Then we will compare your copy to my breath. And finally we can go.”
Ah… Yeah. It’s alright. Fine. Perfect even. I can wait a few more hours…
“Thank you. I…” Sofia tried her best to keep the tears from flowing but her vision was blurry anyway.
“Hoy! Hey! Don’t cry! Hayia… My ancestors will come back to curse me from the afterlife for making a child burst out in tears. You might just get your Dragonslayer title yet, if you keep this up!”
“Sorry, I, really, thank… so much…”
Erredis audibly sighed, she came closer and ruffled Sofia’s hair. “It’s alright to cry. But keep that for your sister, alright? We’re not even there yet. Be strong! Look at you, the old green goblin did not put this crown on your head by mistake, did it?”
Sofia really tried to calm her emotions but the moonspring water she had drunk's influence only made it harder. Now she wished she had listened to Erredis’ warning after she took her third sip and not kept drinking only to make a fool of herself but it was too late to take her actions back now.
“See, that’s why kids should do kid stuff, not battle with Gods and crap. Leave the shit to us old farts to deal with, would you? You’re gonna put us out of a job at this rate.”
Erredis sat back down, waiting for Sofia to get a hold of herself.
“Better?” She asked after a while, when Sofia had stopped sobbing.
“Yes…. Sorry, again…”
“Gods…” Erredis did shake her head this time, she handed Sofia a with cloth to wipe her face. “This is all it takes to break you? You really haven’t had it easy until now. You should slow down, Sofia. Enjoy life a bit. If you keep only pushing forward all the time you’re going to break at some point. There is more to life than the system’s levels and power. You hardly had a choice until now, but don’t you think you can slow down a bit? If that shitstained rag of a scripture God comes to stir more trouble, you’re always welcome to rest here, alright? No other God would be foolish enough to approach Moon… Or me.”
Sofia woke up in an unknown bed.
Wha-
Oh, the moon castle.
I fell asleep on the chair?
By reflex, she checked her things, everything was still there, but she was wearing the three pieces of her saint set for some reason. And Sofia sensed Pareth standing guard right outside of the room.
Did Erredis carry me here?
… What guest? I’m just a freeloader now…
But why…
Why is an old outcast dragon so nice to me?
I didn’t… Do anything to deserve it…
Dealing with all these old monsters, powerful people, out of reach. It’s always tense. They always have their own motives. I’m left wondering, everytime, whether I’m really making a good deal or being taken advantage of. They could all so easily get rid of me. A fly they can just swat away and make disappear.
But this time… I don’t know. I just lost control…
Outside the door, Pareth moved. The door flung open, revealing Erredis in a different form. Gone were the cute bunny ears and flowing dress. She had three pairs of dark horns growing from her head, black eyes deep like an abyss, and a black, battle-worn heavy plate armor, making her look more imposing than the almost twice as tall skeleton standing next to her. She held her helmet under one arm and a rune-covered halberd in the other.
“Finally awake! I was starting to think you’d be down forever.”
“How long was I out?”
“Oh, about three hours. An eternity!”
Just three hours? I feel like I slept for a week.
“You look refreshed. I slipped the anklet on you while you were down, I hope you don’t mind. The four piece set effect should have helped. Now come, if you’re ready, we have some rot to play with!”
“Ah! I’m coming. But why the armor though? Also, is that a mithrium halberd?!”
“You can tell from there? It is, yes, this baby served me well in my prime, a lot more practical than giant claws. And the armor, well, if we’re going to compare rot, we need to do it for real. I was thinking we could give some moon pests a bit of an accelerated diet.”
“D- Do the moon pests have enough strength to harm you if you’re not wearing armor?”
I’m not going!
“Not in a billion years. But a fight is a fight. You should respect your opponents and always fight like your life's on the line. And it very well may be! You never know who’s hiding in ambush waiting for you to turn your back and stab you eight times in the kidneys with a jagged poison-coated cursed dagger of dragon-slaying. How do you think I lived to become so old? Better safe than sorry!”
So specific! That totally happened to you didn’t it?! And she survived that?!
Wait… Yeah, no, of course she would have survived. She’s a dragon. A level 524 dragon.
“What do you mean you DROWNED IT?! Stop, stop, you’re gonna give this weak old lady a heart attack!”
“Well hey, at least I would become a Dragon slayer for real. It would be an honor. I promise to give you a nice and comfortable afterlife inside Bookie. So anyway, I finished first, do you already know what the last floor is?”
“Killing me off already? I’ll have you learn I have three perfectly healthy hearts, so I’ll be fine even if you burst one. And yes I know, but I am being serious; let us skip the trial, I don’t want the Angels to get pissed at me bypassing the censor too much again.”
“What is even the censor? Can you talk about that?”
“Oh it’s just a set of orders your scribe can’t disobey,” Erredis explained, tapping her temple with a finger. “Like a leash the system uses to control its scribes and users, to make sure things go how the system wants. Mess with it too much and your scribe’ll self-destruct. You don’t want that.”
“You sure know a lot about the system.”
“I see what you’re trying to do, Sofia. I know things, yes, but until you find a way to prevent the Angels from coming to bother me at my door, I’m not telling.”
“Are they even really strong enough to bother you?”
Erredis looked to the side as if something else had caught her attention causing her to miss the question.
Fine…
“Well, I think you’ll want to hear what comes next, since it has to do with another Dragon.”
“Really?! And he’s not found you yet?!” Erredis sounded thoroughly annoyed.
Sofia had recounted the events up to the moment she learned Saria had been taken away by a Dragon and how she was now looking for them. She had even brought out another copy of the dragon’s handprint sculpted in bones for her to see.
The rabbit-dragon-woman frowned as she observed the sculpture. “Must be a young one,” she remarked, “And one with very bad manners, at that! I can’t believe he would have gotten your sister and left you to rot in an orphanage!”
“It’s not like they owe me anything…”
“No. You do not understand. We Dragons have many strengths. Do you know what’s not one of them?”
“I don’t know, being humble?”
Erredis’ face contorted a bit, she tried to look serious but half her mouth still smirked. “You could use some of that, you really ought to stop drinking that moonspring water for now, young lady, it’s getting to your head.”
“Sorry.” It is a bit like alcohol somehow… But it has water in the name…
“Bah! Back to my question, all humbleness aside, we Dragons are bad at having offsprings. Terribly horrendously bad. And there is no workaround. So, there is something deeply ingrained in our culture. Each person counts. Family is sacred.”
“That… It’s not how I imagined it at all but if you say so. A far cry from the fire-breathing calamities of nature the books paints you as.”
“One does not exclude the other. Point is, family is sacred. If you are going to rescue someone, you better damn well see it through all the way and not be a fucking boor leaving the siblings to die some unknown fate!”
“Well… It would have been hard to find me until I got my class and started moving, especially if they thought I was dead because of the tide…”
Erredis listened to Sofia but her one raised eyebrow said a lot. Sofia almost expected to see the disguised Dragon shake her head and call her an idiot or something along those lines.
Erredis nodded decisively. “Sure. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, better have a good explanation.”
“Explanation? How-”
“What? We’re going to go and find out.” Erredis didn’t let Sofia talk. She came closer and almost whispered, “Listen, sweetie. This old grandma does not do charity work.” Having said that, she took a step back, standing straight like a marble column, with the countenance of an Emperor. “But if a Dragon is tarnishing our glorious name! Then, they are going to be getting an earful! And it just so happens that you, my guest, might want to tag along. I couldn’t possibly refuse such basic courtesy now, could I?” Erredis finished with an awkward but cute wink.
Really?
“REALLY?!”
Just like that?!
All this searching around the necromancy, Richard, the ebb, the diviner, and I’m just getting handed what I long for on a silver platter? Because I slammed into the moon of all things???
YES PLEASE!
“No need to react so strongly, come on, we are just going to investigate a troublemaking kidnapper. Ah, but not right away, let us go through things in order, finish your story first. Then we will compare your copy to my breath. And finally we can go.”
Ah… Yeah. It’s alright. Fine. Perfect even. I can wait a few more hours…
“Thank you. I…” Sofia tried her best to keep the tears from flowing but her vision was blurry anyway.
“Hoy! Hey! Don’t cry! Hayia… My ancestors will come back to curse me from the afterlife for making a child burst out in tears. You might just get your Dragonslayer title yet, if you keep this up!”
“Sorry, I, really, thank… so much…”
Erredis audibly sighed, she came closer and ruffled Sofia’s hair. “It’s alright to cry. But keep that for your sister, alright? We’re not even there yet. Be strong! Look at you, the old green goblin did not put this crown on your head by mistake, did it?”
Sofia really tried to calm her emotions but the moonspring water she had drunk's influence only made it harder. Now she wished she had listened to Erredis’ warning after she took her third sip and not kept drinking only to make a fool of herself but it was too late to take her actions back now.
“See, that’s why kids should do kid stuff, not battle with Gods and crap. Leave the shit to us old farts to deal with, would you? You’re gonna put us out of a job at this rate.”
Erredis sat back down, waiting for Sofia to get a hold of herself.
“Better?” She asked after a while, when Sofia had stopped sobbing.
“Yes…. Sorry, again…”
“Gods…” Erredis did shake her head this time, she handed Sofia a with cloth to wipe her face. “This is all it takes to break you? You really haven’t had it easy until now. You should slow down, Sofia. Enjoy life a bit. If you keep only pushing forward all the time you’re going to break at some point. There is more to life than the system’s levels and power. You hardly had a choice until now, but don’t you think you can slow down a bit? If that shitstained rag of a scripture God comes to stir more trouble, you’re always welcome to rest here, alright? No other God would be foolish enough to approach Moon… Or me.”
Sofia woke up in an unknown bed.
Wha-
Oh, the moon castle.
I fell asleep on the chair?
By reflex, she checked her things, everything was still there, but she was wearing the three pieces of her saint set for some reason. And Sofia sensed Pareth standing guard right outside of the room.
Did Erredis carry me here?
… What guest? I’m just a freeloader now…
But why…
Why is an old outcast dragon so nice to me?
I didn’t… Do anything to deserve it…
Dealing with all these old monsters, powerful people, out of reach. It’s always tense. They always have their own motives. I’m left wondering, everytime, whether I’m really making a good deal or being taken advantage of. They could all so easily get rid of me. A fly they can just swat away and make disappear.
But this time… I don’t know. I just lost control…
Outside the door, Pareth moved. The door flung open, revealing Erredis in a different form. Gone were the cute bunny ears and flowing dress. She had three pairs of dark horns growing from her head, black eyes deep like an abyss, and a black, battle-worn heavy plate armor, making her look more imposing than the almost twice as tall skeleton standing next to her. She held her helmet under one arm and a rune-covered halberd in the other.
“Finally awake! I was starting to think you’d be down forever.”
“How long was I out?”
“Oh, about three hours. An eternity!”
Just three hours? I feel like I slept for a week.
“You look refreshed. I slipped the anklet on you while you were down, I hope you don’t mind. The four piece set effect should have helped. Now come, if you’re ready, we have some rot to play with!”
“Ah! I’m coming. But why the armor though? Also, is that a mithrium halberd?!”
“You can tell from there? It is, yes, this baby served me well in my prime, a lot more practical than giant claws. And the armor, well, if we’re going to compare rot, we need to do it for real. I was thinking we could give some moon pests a bit of an accelerated diet.”
“D- Do the moon pests have enough strength to harm you if you’re not wearing armor?”
I’m not going!
“Not in a billion years. But a fight is a fight. You should respect your opponents and always fight like your life's on the line. And it very well may be! You never know who’s hiding in ambush waiting for you to turn your back and stab you eight times in the kidneys with a jagged poison-coated cursed dagger of dragon-slaying. How do you think I lived to become so old? Better safe than sorry!”
So specific! That totally happened to you didn’t it?! And she survived that?!
Wait… Yeah, no, of course she would have survived. She’s a dragon. A level 524 dragon.
