Chapter 63: Start of the Journey

POV Random Minions:

Few players in iron dragon masks were talking inside of the cave while placing massive brick-shaped stones on top of each other, slowly rising a wall.

Suddenly a loud noise of wind swooshing and electrical crackling came from the outside. All players immediately looked at what was happening.

A huge wyrm covered in black smoke with lighting crackling all over, making blue sparks and small arcs, landed in front of the hideout. It looked similar to their faction master but bigger and with lightning all around it. The only reason why they didn't reach for their weapons was a blue mark above it, marking it as an allied unit.

"Have you found a runic enchanter?!" a deep thundering voice similar to that of their faction master, but a little bit deeper, came out of the crackling smoke.

The players immediately used analysis on the wyrm in front of them. It had the same name as their boss, but its race changed from Volcano Wyrm to Lightning Volcano Wyrm. Their mouths fell wide open in surprise as they unleashed a storm of private messages.

''Is this our boss? Did he evolve?''

''No, that is not possible NPCs can't evolve.''

''Maybe this one can. It is probably an important and unique NPC as the mysterious NPC that appeared out of nowhere.''

''He evolved after we helped him to defeat his enemies...''

''That's cool. Our boss can evolve as we make the faction stronger. That is cool!''

It was common knowledge that factions could quickly grow in power when players supported them, but this one was the first faction they knew that could evolve their faction leader as it grew in power.

Their eyes quickly grew wide in excitement, imagining new forms that the wyrm would take on in the future as it would grow into a terrifying endgame boss.

At first, they thought it was an empty boasting speech when the wyrm spoke about dominating the world, but now when they witnessed how he grew in power, they couldn't stop being excited about it being true.

Suddenyl, the dark smoke partially dispersed, revealing an outstretched dragon limb covered in terrifying black stone with lightning arcs running through it. Its long claws gave players goosebumps as they could easily shred them into confetti. Inside of it were two potions.

They were stats-boosting drugs!

"Your mission to find that enchanter is crucial. So I will give these potions to the person that finds them first!"

The players awkwardly looked at each other before one of them coughed up and said with worry in his voice, "Your Highness, please excuse me, but I will be honest." the player took a break, "This region is a shithole. There is no way that an advanced artist like a runic enchanter would be in the barony capital."

The dragon suddenly shouted, causing a large cloud of dust to rose and the whole cave to tremble, "In that case, go to other towns! It is crucial!"

POV Vesuvius:

The dragon took one last look at the players and swapped his wings shooting towards the sky like a rocket, leaving a trail of dark smoke behind him. He quickly flew towards the river and turned to follow it up the stream.

Land under him quickly turned into a blur. He flew high above the snow-white peaks, moving deeper into the mountains. He finally reached sufficient altitude and stopped flapping his wings, letting the wind currents do the job for him as he glided into the distance, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

As he flew, the day quickly turned into night. But he didn't feel tired as his wings were no longer small as when he hatched. They instead turned into massive wings, allowing him to keep in the air only with a few flaps. Also, as normal dragons couldn't level up as they didn't have access to the system, and their only growth came from natural growth as they age, he had disproportionally high stats for a dragon of his size and age.

That made him realize what the power he gained from the ritual mentioned by the dragon god was, 'Was it access to the player system?'.

In Lorenia were four high magical species known as four pillars of balance. Each of them had control over a specific aspect of existence and could use it to fuel their unlimited potential. The first one were demons. They symbolized evil and darkness, allowing them to quickly harness power through corrupting people and land or through torture and other evil deeds.

The second were angels representing light and good, gaining powers through reversing the work of demons or turning people on the path of good.

The third one were reapers symbolizing death. They could gain power by killing enemies or being present in a place with lots of death. It was similar to how players kept getting XP from killing enemies.

The fourth and last one were dragons. They symbolized life and nature. They gained power just from existing and aging. That may sound as powerful at first, but when one thought about it, one would realize that it had one huge setback. There was no way to speed it up, no matter how talented a dragon was.

Two ancient dragons of the same age and kind would always be similarly strong. The other three races had to work for their power but could quickly gain immense strength, allowing them to rise truly talented and powerful individuals. On top of that, such existence made dragons extremely passive, mostly spending their time sleeping in their territories.

'And me having access to the system totally changed this...'

Dozens of powerful monsters under him kept turning their glowing eyes at him, but they couldn't do anything with his height and speed.

Soon the night changed again into a day. White peaks under him decreased in size and got replaced by a labyrinth of grey cliffs, sleek stone masses and weird pillar-like stones rising into the skies. Beautiful and clear mountain lakes popped up like dots on a mushroom, reflecting a blue sky in their crystal clear water.

He flapped his massive wings, accelerating even more. Then his eyes fell upon a large flying beasts. They were covered in grey scales and had powerful and muscular hind legs with their front limbs merged with massive wings. One of them dived towards the lake, opening its mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. Its hind legs pierced through the crystal clear water creating ripples on its otherwise smooth surface, and when they resurfaced, they were holding a massive fish.

The dragon's eye glinted as he easily recognized the beasts under him, 'They are wyverns! Such great luck!'

The dragon immediately stopped his flight, exiting out of the wind current and slowly gliding downwards in a large spiral.