Felling a Dragon (VIII)

Chapter 281

Cain roared at the top of his lungs, blinking sideways and dodging a breath of fire. Wings behind him fluttered violently as he gushed Mana forward, turning it into a cyclic loop that spun at an immeasurable speed, generating gravity of its own and pulling the world's Mana toward it. A mere breath later, it created a singularity within its center before Cain belted it forward with a palm, sending it toward the Dragon. The creature weaved sideways, dodging it as the skill went on flying onward, dragging rubble and debris from down below toward it, disappearing in the horizon.

Without taking a break, Cain fashioned yet another skill, consuming nearly a quarter of his total Mana, Heaps of invisible energy plateaued against the skyline, forming a wavy box of sorts around the two that began collapsing unto itself immediately. Gravity within the box took a major shift, increasing tenfold, but not for Cain. The Dragon merely jostled for a moment before he adjusted and flapped its wings to root himself in place.

"Even without a direct access to 'Gravity', you still see means of manipulating it," the primordial voice spoke into Cain's mind. "Your understanding of the Elemental Truths… is fairly passable. Especially for someone your age. What else, tiny one? What else can you show me?"

Cain gnashed his teeth in frustration. He hardly enjoyed being treated as a child even if, in this case, he actually was one, comparatively speaking at least. Nonetheless, it strung; it stung being looked down upon, being seen as a mild form of entertainment more so than anything else. Grunting inwardly, he took a deep breath and settled his blood flow, normalizing it. Additionally, he sucked all the surrounding Mana inwardly with a deep breath, settling it into a bundle within him.

With all his passive and active enhancements working at full, at the moment, he was likely unmatched until at least the 14th floor. And yet… it wasn't enough. It was nowhere near enough. Even if he pooled together far more, even double the amount or triple or even quadruple… it still wouldn't be enough.

Slapping his palms together, a surge of Mana blew out around him, framing him like the gentle wind; sharpening his gaze, he focused it directly into the Dragon's eyes and cast the strongest Mind-enhanced Skill he had: [Gaze of a Thousand Blades].

[Gaze of a Thousand Blades(C+)]

Cast: 0.2

Channel: for as long as gazes remain locked

Mana Cost: 8,443

Cooldown: 18min

Cast: lock gazes with the target and immediately freeze it in place for 2-16 seconds (depending on their Mind Resistance). For the duration, deal damage equal to 3x 'Intelligence' per second. Damage is increased by 15% every 4 consecutive seconds. Note: the skill ends the moment the target manages to look away or close its eyes.

Was Cain confident that [Gaze of a Thousand Blades] would manage to lock down the Dragon and even harm him? Not at all. However, it was another showcase—the fact that he could use 'Mind' with a decent Mastery ought to account for something, he figured. The Dragon's eyes widened slightly as their gazes locked whereupon a window popped up in front of Cain, causing him to sigh.

Your Skill was completely resisted.

It was one of two things, Cain figured: either their levels were simply an ocean that a simple skill like that couldn't cross, or the Dragon was simply completely immune to 'Mind' element. After all, virtually any Tower creature with a 'Dragon' in its name, including the Drake and even Wyvern offshoots, had extremely high Mind Resistance to the point that people actively hunted down low-level Draconic Creatures to raise as pets to act as shields against some of the most difficult bosses of the Tower.

Just as he was about to set up another Skill and begin praying it all ends soon since he was running low on Mana, the world around him vanished in a burst of blinding light. When he opened his eyes, he was in the sky still, but it wasn't gray or clouded or ashen. Instead, it was a vast sprawl of beautiful blue, a painted horizon as though done by a painter's brush. Down below, rather than ruined mountains and lifeless dirt, vast stretches of green and cyan and pink and yellow expanded into infinities, forming the world.

All around, he noticed at last, he saw winged creatures flying, sprawled across the untainted sky. They roared and roared, each flap of their majestic wings causing winds to surge. It was truly a sight to behold, as there were possibly thousands of them flying all around. Cain stood there in awe, his lips parted in shock, when he suddenly realized there was another beside him: it was a tall man, nearly seven feet tall at that, his skin as black as charcoal, as though light itself gets absorbed within it. What gave the man away was the pair of eyes that spelled out every hue know to man in their cycle, over and over. It was the Dragon… in human flesh.

"… what the hell Is this?" Cain asked. "Where did you take me?"

"Nowhere," the man replied in a low, hung tone. "We are still in the skies above my home that your friends have flattened."

"Then… what is this?"

"A memory."

"A memory?"

"Over there," the man pointed at a nearby mountain peak where Cain spotted a tiny, house-sized Dragon, its scales as black as the night. "That is me, many, many, infinitely many Cycles ago. It was before the Divines discovered my species. It was before the Eternal Cosmic Wars and it was before the suffering and pain and being treated as a game animal. It was… a time of peace. Calm."

"Why are you showing me this?" Cain asked with a frown. A bad feeling surged within him, as though he was about to get wrapped into something insanely complicated once again.

"On you, you have plenty of stenches—some of which make me wish to burn you alive and some of which make me curious. My dream, once upon a time, was to see this sight once again, and to have our children grow up in a world in which they are not expected to wage wars from the cradle. Divines, they pride themselves on killing us off… but their pride is vain. We take… so long to mature, to grow up. Throughout all of our history, the Divines have only managed to hunt down and kill two fully grown Dragons.

"In fact, whenever they faced one of us, their loses were so severe it forced them into a hibernation, oftentimes for at least a Cycle."

"…"

"As such, they learned to recognize us—and instead chose to hunt down our young."

"… that's how they managed to wipe you out?" Cain asked, genuinely shocked for a moment.

"Yes. All else aside, it was a smart decision on their part. If they instead chose to wage an honorable war, it truly would have become an Eternal One. While they would never be able to eradicate us, the same could be said for the other way around—if we ever took one step too far, their Creator would crawl out of whatever hole he's in and push us back. Somedays, I ponder… which of the realities is better? Perhaps, it best be my kin is extinguished if the alternative is to be born in the war, live in the war, and die in the war, never knowing anything besides it."

"So, how do I fit into this eulogy?" Cain asked, glancing at the tall man.

"It will all depend on you," the man—nay, the Dragon replied. "Should you so choose, you can simply request to leave. I'll ensure whatever quest you received is marked as complete, and you and I will go our separate ways, never to meet again. Or, you can stay. And listen to a story and, at the story's end, make a choice."

"How badly and how deeply in the ass will I be fucked if I choose to help you?" Cain asked immediately, knowing fully well where it all led. He was beyond tempted to just call it quits, to take his rewards and run while he's ahead… but something in him told him not to. And however faint it was underneath all the pleas of his fears, the mere fact that he could hear it meant that it was, in reality, fairly loud.

"Believe it or not, the Divines and the Crucibles aren't the absolute overlords of the Cosmos," the Dragon said. "Their situation, instead, is precarious. Beyond us and other innately strong species that didn't bow down to them, such as Leviathans, there are numerous other factions, and creatures even more ancient than their Creator and even those of its generation.

"Crucibles, or Towers as you call them, are their means of breeding new Champions," the Dragon continued as wires began firing off inside Cain's head. "Finding fresh, talented blood to fight and die for them. They go around either magically-deprived or lowly-civilized worlds and collect their strongest, crafting their army as such. If they were so dominant, why would they need to do that?"

"…"

"Because it is entirely possible to topple their reign, if it can even be called reign. After all, they entirely circumvent any advanced worlds, especially magically-charged ones. Their soldiers may strut across the cosmos, but only around select areas—past that, it's a no-man's game. But, to understand all of this… you need to listen to a story. What will you choose, tiny one? Will you leave, or will you listen to my story?"

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