“Hmm…”
Sofia contemplated her options, she quickly decided that since what she wanted first and foremost was protection for the bolts, she wouldn’t settle on a low grade resistance, no matter the bonus.
Then the question was, S grade resistance with a random bonus and enchantments, or SS+ resistance with nothing on it.
What are the chances that I’ll outpace the resistance of the S grade? It’s still a Dragon’s scale. Even the lowest grade would probably last me until level 400, wouldn’t it?
But then again, when am I getting another chance to get an item made from Dragon parts by a Dragon? I would rather never outgrow it.
Seeing Sofia take forever to decide, Erredis looked up from her book, “Having troubles? Maybe I can help?”
“I was thinking I might just get the blue one since it’s the sturdiest, but I’m having second thoughts. The red one can be enchanted and the unknown effect could be good without compromising too much durability…”
“I’m surprised that you even consider taking Thrayk’s, Sofia. That’s some really long term investment. Any of the other ones would be more useful for your next hundred and fifty to two hundred levels.”
“The Angel bolts are pretty crazy so maybe I’m being a bit too careful, but I would hate to have the item you made for me become useless too soon, so it’s really hard to choose,” Sofia sighed, leaning back in her chair and looking at the ceiling. “I’m really bad with choices, between the keywords and everything. Choosing between things that can cripple my growth if I pick wrongly, all the time, it’s tiring…”
Erredis patiently listened to Sofia’s rant, she thought for a second before giving advice, in her own style. “Overwhelmed by choice, eh? Well, to anyone else I would say there’s no need to sweat it so much. But in your case… Asking for help is my advice. Just look where you are, I let you in my home, and you’re choosing between Dragon parts. Who could give you good advice I wonder?”
“I thought…”
“Tchh- let me finish. I let you choose by yourself because you look like you value making your own choices in life. Even with your skill, you know that when you asked me, you already knew deep down what you were going to take. Be honest. Wanting to take control of your own fate like this, I respect it. But you also need to learn to depend on others a bit, not always, but when the situation calls for it, then without a doubt.”
Not wrong…
“Th- Then please, help me choose, grandma Erredis.”
“Now we’re talking business! Alright: pick the blue one.”
“Really?! I was sure you would tell me to pick the other one…” Considering the comments you made before…
“Well, honestly, it’s better for me if you pick anything else, because Thrayk’s scales are a giant pain to work with. Just like he was a giant pain to get rid of, but that’s beyond the point.”
“Then why?”
Erredis stood up to grab the red scale of a nameless Dragon. “Look.”
Sofia saw the arm muscles of Erredis swell, she was exerting a lot of pressure but the scale held perfectly within her hand.
She’s trying to break it?!
Then appeared a dense flow of mana, perfectly contained within her arm, the mana in the scales was already a bit overwhelming and yet Sofia could feel the change. Erredis’ arm trembled her face contorting because she was clenching so hard.
With a *clunk*, a chunk of the red scale the size of Erredis’ hand was broken off. She smiled and waved to show off the broken piece.
“See, that took some effort. Now, there aren’t many things or people around who can exert so much strength, but in the end, it broke. You’ll get some fancy bonuses yes, and I can add some magic on top, maybe one of those soul-links, and perhaps another defensive function. But you won’t get the reliability of knowing it absolutely won’t break. And sometimes just having one less thing to worry about is exactly what you need. With Thrayk’s scale, let me tell you, you can even go tell the system to fuck off, because it’s not breaking it.”
“Can you really make armor out of it if it is that tough?”
“Of course I can, I have my ways. Developed specially for this bastard’s remains, even. It’s boring, hard, and takes forever, but I can work with it. And honestly if they were any tougher I wouldn’t be able to do even that. So this is how it is. Also, though you cannot have any magic on it, you can look at it that way: nobody else can use any magic on it. It’s good stuff, essentially unbreakable.”
“Actually… Won’t that be an issue? Can I even cast my bolt through it?”
“Unless I craft your armor inside out you can. All Dragon scales share that one thing in common, they let us use mana while defending us from it, it can only go one way, you can test it just pick one of those up and send some mana against each side.”
Sofia did not doubt Erredis’ words but she tried by curiosity. She was still hesitant but decided to trust Erredis again. She had to admit it: Unbreakable armor does sound good.
Erredis sighed, complaining that it was going to take forever, and that Sofia would have to come back on the moon after waiting at least four or five months if she hoped to see the finished product. While doing so she used weird magic to make a copy of the shape of Sofia’s arm and right shoulder.
While she was letting this happen, Sofia asked a question that had been in her head since Erredis said she had killed this Thrayk Dragon with such hard scales. ’
“How did you kill him?’”
“We have no scales on the inside, sweetie,” Erredis replied with a ‘perfectly normal’ smile.
Right, I’ll remember I need to get swallowed whole if I ever fight a Dragon…
Sofia and Erredis were walking towards the external gates of the castle.
“Didn’t you say you had a map? Show me.”
“Here it is,” Sofia answered, taking her bone map out of the storage ring.
“Hmm, really down there then. Honestly I have no idea whose kid that could even be, no Dragons around these parts, none that I know of at least. But admittedly I haven’t been paying that much attention the last few thousand years… Well, let’s get flyin’!”
“Do we have to worry about the leviathan? I heard it attacks anything that flies over it.”
“Nah, the big thing is annoying but all things considered, its territory isn’t too big, we can just approach the planet from another angle.”
“I think I’m going to have a hard time following you.”
“Following? You’re not following, little one, you’ll hop on my back, just don’t get in between two scales if you don’t wanna get crushed. You have this thing which cancels acceleration forces, right? Be sure to have that up the whole time.”
O- On your back?!
“I- I can only keep that up for a minute…”
“That’s plenty! Now just stand right here.”
Erredis took a few steps outside of the castle, lowered her stance a bit and jumped up and forward. She was taking distance quite fast, when her body suddenly collapsed in on itself, in a fraction of a second all that was left was a small flying ball of black energy. In a bright flash of light, the ball expanded, revealing Erredis’ true form. Her draconic body spread out like a prisoner forcefully breaking out of its chains.
Sofia’s mind blanked so much at the sight she even forgot to curse. Her legs went a bit weak.
In the sky the gargantuan form of Erredis’ flew up, her black scales reflected the light of the moon as she ascended, propelled by six giant wings. The three jaws of her singular head, crowned by six large and sinuous horns pierced the night, opening the way for her sleek and long body, followed by a long and majestic slithering tail.
Turning in the sky, Erredis flew back down as fast as she had flown up. She landed about a hundred meters away from the castle, her massive form supported by four stout legs, she created giant clouds of moon dust as she touched ground.
There was no need to even mention Sofia’s mana senses, merely standing even at that distance from the Dragon, she could feel thick tides of mana washing over her, pushing her and blowing her hair back like violent gusts of wind.
Stop gawking and get on, kid! Erredis’ voice resounded in Sofia’s head. It was the happiest she had ever sounded.
Sofia still had a hard time accepting the reality of the beast in front of her, but she obeyed the command nonetheless, deploying her own wings. She could fly by riding on Erredis’ overwhelming mana easier than she ever could in any normal environment. Without giving it too much thought, she flew up to Erredis’ neck. She quickly settled on the middle ridge of a scale taller than herself, grabbing onto one of a few small protruding spikes with both hands.
Aren’t you forgetting something?
The bewildered saintess was just now regaining her ability to formulate coherent thoughts which weren’t all a stream of expletives. [Runeforged Overlord], third tier. Her arms, chest and wings lit up with a thousand runes. She could see Erredis’ muscles tighten.
The moon suddenly teleported far away.
“Hmm…”
Sofia contemplated her options, she quickly decided that since what she wanted first and foremost was protection for the bolts, she wouldn’t settle on a low grade resistance, no matter the bonus.
Then the question was, S grade resistance with a random bonus and enchantments, or SS+ resistance with nothing on it.
What are the chances that I’ll outpace the resistance of the S grade? It’s still a Dragon’s scale. Even the lowest grade would probably last me until level 400, wouldn’t it?
But then again, when am I getting another chance to get an item made from Dragon parts by a Dragon? I would rather never outgrow it.
Seeing Sofia take forever to decide, Erredis looked up from her book, “Having troubles? Maybe I can help?”
“I was thinking I might just get the blue one since it’s the sturdiest, but I’m having second thoughts. The red one can be enchanted and the unknown effect could be good without compromising too much durability…”
“I’m surprised that you even consider taking Thrayk’s, Sofia. That’s some really long term investment. Any of the other ones would be more useful for your next hundred and fifty to two hundred levels.”
“The Angel bolts are pretty crazy so maybe I’m being a bit too careful, but I would hate to have the item you made for me become useless too soon, so it’s really hard to choose,” Sofia sighed, leaning back in her chair and looking at the ceiling. “I’m really bad with choices, between the keywords and everything. Choosing between things that can cripple my growth if I pick wrongly, all the time, it’s tiring…”
Erredis patiently listened to Sofia’s rant, she thought for a second before giving advice, in her own style. “Overwhelmed by choice, eh? Well, to anyone else I would say there’s no need to sweat it so much. But in your case… Asking for help is my advice. Just look where you are, I let you in my home, and you’re choosing between Dragon parts. Who could give you good advice I wonder?”
“I thought…”
“Tchh- let me finish. I let you choose by yourself because you look like you value making your own choices in life. Even with your skill, you know that when you asked me, you already knew deep down what you were going to take. Be honest. Wanting to take control of your own fate like this, I respect it. But you also need to learn to depend on others a bit, not always, but when the situation calls for it, then without a doubt.”
Not wrong…
“Th- Then please, help me choose, grandma Erredis.”
“Now we’re talking business! Alright: pick the blue one.”
“Really?! I was sure you would tell me to pick the other one…” Considering the comments you made before…
“Well, honestly, it’s better for me if you pick anything else, because Thrayk’s scales are a giant pain to work with. Just like he was a giant pain to get rid of, but that’s beyond the point.”
“Then why?”
Erredis stood up to grab the red scale of a nameless Dragon. “Look.”
Sofia saw the arm muscles of Erredis swell, she was exerting a lot of pressure but the scale held perfectly within her hand.
She’s trying to break it?!
Then appeared a dense flow of mana, perfectly contained within her arm, the mana in the scales was already a bit overwhelming and yet Sofia could feel the change. Erredis’ arm trembled her face contorting because she was clenching so hard.
With a *clunk*, a chunk of the red scale the size of Erredis’ hand was broken off. She smiled and waved to show off the broken piece.
“See, that took some effort. Now, there aren’t many things or people around who can exert so much strength, but in the end, it broke. You’ll get some fancy bonuses yes, and I can add some magic on top, maybe one of those soul-links, and perhaps another defensive function. But you won’t get the reliability of knowing it absolutely won’t break. And sometimes just having one less thing to worry about is exactly what you need. With Thrayk’s scale, let me tell you, you can even go tell the system to fuck off, because it’s not breaking it.”
“Can you really make armor out of it if it is that tough?”
“Of course I can, I have my ways. Developed specially for this bastard’s remains, even. It’s boring, hard, and takes forever, but I can work with it. And honestly if they were any tougher I wouldn’t be able to do even that. So this is how it is. Also, though you cannot have any magic on it, you can look at it that way: nobody else can use any magic on it. It’s good stuff, essentially unbreakable.”
“Actually… Won’t that be an issue? Can I even cast my bolt through it?”
“Unless I craft your armor inside out you can. All Dragon scales share that one thing in common, they let us use mana while defending us from it, it can only go one way, you can test it just pick one of those up and send some mana against each side.”
Sofia did not doubt Erredis’ words but she tried by curiosity. She was still hesitant but decided to trust Erredis again. She had to admit it: Unbreakable armor does sound good.
Erredis sighed, complaining that it was going to take forever, and that Sofia would have to come back on the moon after waiting at least four or five months if she hoped to see the finished product. While doing so she used weird magic to make a copy of the shape of Sofia’s arm and right shoulder.
While she was letting this happen, Sofia asked a question that had been in her head since Erredis said she had killed this Thrayk Dragon with such hard scales. ’
“How did you kill him?’”
“We have no scales on the inside, sweetie,” Erredis replied with a ‘perfectly normal’ smile.
Right, I’ll remember I need to get swallowed whole if I ever fight a Dragon…
Sofia and Erredis were walking towards the external gates of the castle.
“Didn’t you say you had a map? Show me.”
“Here it is,” Sofia answered, taking her bone map out of the storage ring.
“Hmm, really down there then. Honestly I have no idea whose kid that could even be, no Dragons around these parts, none that I know of at least. But admittedly I haven’t been paying that much attention the last few thousand years… Well, let’s get flyin’!”
“Do we have to worry about the leviathan? I heard it attacks anything that flies over it.”
“Nah, the big thing is annoying but all things considered, its territory isn’t too big, we can just approach the planet from another angle.”
“I think I’m going to have a hard time following you.”
“Following? You’re not following, little one, you’ll hop on my back, just don’t get in between two scales if you don’t wanna get crushed. You have this thing which cancels acceleration forces, right? Be sure to have that up the whole time.”
O- On your back?!
“I- I can only keep that up for a minute…”
“That’s plenty! Now just stand right here.”
Erredis took a few steps outside of the castle, lowered her stance a bit and jumped up and forward. She was taking distance quite fast, when her body suddenly collapsed in on itself, in a fraction of a second all that was left was a small flying ball of black energy. In a bright flash of light, the ball expanded, revealing Erredis’ true form. Her draconic body spread out like a prisoner forcefully breaking out of its chains.
Sofia’s mind blanked so much at the sight she even forgot to curse. Her legs went a bit weak.
In the sky the gargantuan form of Erredis’ flew up, her black scales reflected the light of the moon as she ascended, propelled by six giant wings. The three jaws of her singular head, crowned by six large and sinuous horns pierced the night, opening the way for her sleek and long body, followed by a long and majestic slithering tail.
Turning in the sky, Erredis flew back down as fast as she had flown up. She landed about a hundred meters away from the castle, her massive form supported by four stout legs, she created giant clouds of moon dust as she touched ground.
There was no need to even mention Sofia’s mana senses, merely standing even at that distance from the Dragon, she could feel thick tides of mana washing over her, pushing her and blowing her hair back like violent gusts of wind.
Stop gawking and get on, kid! Erredis’ voice resounded in Sofia’s head. It was the happiest she had ever sounded.
Sofia still had a hard time accepting the reality of the beast in front of her, but she obeyed the command nonetheless, deploying her own wings. She could fly by riding on Erredis’ overwhelming mana easier than she ever could in any normal environment. Without giving it too much thought, she flew up to Erredis’ neck. She quickly settled on the middle ridge of a scale taller than herself, grabbing onto one of a few small protruding spikes with both hands.
Aren’t you forgetting something?
The bewildered saintess was just now regaining her ability to formulate coherent thoughts which weren’t all a stream of expletives. [Runeforged Overlord], third tier. Her arms, chest and wings lit up with a thousand runes. She could see Erredis’ muscles tighten.
The moon suddenly teleported far away.
