POV ???:
Sounds of hooves resonated through a lush green forest, the tall trees throwing their shadows over an old, unmaintained road.
Riders in black appeared from behind the turn, their mantles fluttering behind them as their horses galloped at a speed that could compete even with modern-age cars.
"Something is wrong... There are no traces left behind by predators, and also this looming silence." The raider in the forefront murmured with his weird and large punk haircut, almost hitting the low branches of the trees.
//
Main story quest: The Connection with Living
Objective: Travel to the locations marked on the map and deliver the black letters.
Quest items: Black Letters x 12
Reward: Calculated upon the acceptance of the letters; Main Story Quest: The Four Stepping Stones will advance
//
"Faster!" He rushed his horse, the wind howling around him as they galloped even faster. Trying to take at least some distance from the arguing riders behind him.
"Damn, I hate that we have to go by horse... I want to fly."
"Dummy, we would bring on us too much attention..."
He ignored them, returning to his thoughts, 'What is in the letters, and who are we supposed to deliver them to? We are in the middle of nowhere...' The question was constantly burning in his mind. But he didn't dare to discuss it too much, worried about the ears that could be listening.
'The forum is full of people that got the quest to stop us. Our best defence is that they know even less than us.'
His determination peaked as he no longer saw his faction as evil after the attacks, 'The dragon and his kin just want to live in peace. They are defending their small piece of the world against an evil that decimated their whole race. Someone is not evil just because they killed a murderer that killed their family.'
POV Vesuvius:
The clouds of smoke and ash drifted across a vast, sprawling, but dead valley. The ground was blackened after burning, with no plants and trees as far as one could see.
Suddenly something moved in the smoke, temporarily revealing the huge black dragon with its rough yet glossy armour filled with shiny pieces of gold and diamonds.
Vesuvius was mentally and physically spent, his head still hurting after all the divine energy he moved through his body. The longer he rested, the worse he felt as all the adrenaline from the battle fizzled out.
'It doesn't even feel like hurting body. It feels like something else, something that is connected with it but not physically present. Is it my soul?'
However, the dragon couldn't hold himself back anymore, his eyes shining as he wanted to open the potentially amazing loot he had obtained. The greed pushed back all the tiredness.
'The grade of these boxes is top notch. On top of that, they are from the high-level dungeon of good elements. The potential gain is beyond amazing!'
He finally confirmed his choice to open them, and shiny platinum light flashed. A small pile of objects appeared before him.
Ding!
//
Opening: 3 X Platinum Mystery Box
Rewards: 8200 gold coins; 1 x Skill Book: [Fiery Devouring (LV 5)]; 1 x Greater Skill Upgrade Token; 1 x Chaos Attribute Ability Upgrade Token
//
A wave of energy exploded from the dragon as he saw the rewards. His eyes kept darting between them all, all sounding like something great and powerful. His eyes especially lingered on an old-looking book bound in old leather.
'Most importantly, they look like they will fit me! Even the chaos attribute one. It isn't like sand, which would be useless. It is a chaos element, one of the most damaging elements, and almost nothing has resistance against it.'
The dragon hovered his long crystal claw above the book lying on the ground. As if listening to his thoughts the book exploded into pure energy that surged into his claw, like a bolt of lightning towards a lightning rod. Immediately a warm feeling spread from it into his heart.
Ding!
//
You have learned a new skill: Fiery Devouring (LV 5)
Description: Technique to feed upon the fire and its derived elements.
Effects: Allows the user to consume fire, lava, and so on to rapidly regenerate their body and mana. The regeneration effects depend upon the quantity and temperature. It can replace nourishment, allowing users to subside only from the fiery elements.
//
"Hahaha, this is so fitting. Just this one skill made it all worthwhile. This..." Everything shook, with tremors passing through the mountains as the dragon burst into laughter.
He couldn't even imagine its possibilities, but what made him even more excited was one player who gained a similar devouring skill.
'She evolved it multiple times, then it changed and gained one of the most op power ever. Power to gain stat points through devouring. Instantly propelling her to the top players. However, that is still far.'
He was sure he couldn't eat his own fire breath for the same reason his golden breath produced only fake gold that would dissipate. However, he saw a way to bypass it and circumvent it.
'I can use the fake fire made of magic created by my breath to either melt stone to real lava or ignite the air to once again create a real fire that is not consisting of mana... or maybe it isn't necessary. Maybe my fire breath is burning mana which would still be real fire... as it is really burning and is just using mana to fuel that burning, but the gold and magma would make sense to be fake as they are basically matter created from shaped and transformed mana. It is bound to lose its integrity.'
Vesuvius shook his head, knowing that he would get a definitive answer to how it worked only by doing some experiments.
'This is kind of embarrassing. I used my fire breath for a long time, but I have no idea how it works.'
With his finger already itching, he opened the last box, the diamond box. A brilliant light shined out of nowhere, making patterns that looked like the sun shining through a large diamond.
A single flamin' crystal materialized on the ground before him, playing with colourful lights.
Ding!
//
Opening: 1 x Diamond Mystery Box
Rewards: Unique Special Item: 1 x Space-time fragment of the Small Fiery Hell
//
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