Chapter 37: Plentiful rewards.

Alseace stood in front of the dragon's heart which was beating really fast. It was as big as a truck, and it was really hot inside that he was bathed in his own sweat. He took a deep breath and pointed the sword at the dragon's heart. He then stabbed the dragon's heart and slashed it open with all his might.

Blood started gushing out and hitting him in the face like a broken dam. The blood was hot like a hot spring, and it slowly filled the inside of the dragon with its own blood.

Alseace was trying to swim out of the dragon's body, but then he saw something hanging inside the dragon's heart. It looked like a gem, and he remembered what the dragon had said earlier about his score. Alseace then decided to pluck the gem and swam out of the dragon's mouth.

"Thank you, Alseace LaRoze... if you encounter another dragon just mention my name, Azoss," The dragon stared at Alseace with its eyes barely open.

Alseace nodded his head, and the moment the dragon closed his eyes, a notification appeared in front of him.

[You have proven yourself an amazing feat!]

[God has bestowed you an Achievement!]

[Achievement]

[-Dragon Slayer-]

[Dragon Slayer: The dragon's scale will be ignored when you attack them and will take 30% more damage. Wyverns, Drakes, Wyrms, Lindworms, Amphitheres, and all the Dragonkin will take 50% more damage. This Achievement is attached with a unique skill called [Dragon Fear] for the Achievement Holder]

[Dragon Fear: Dragons will fear you with a 30% chance that reduces 30% of the dragon's status. Other Dragonkin will fear you with a 70% chance that reduces 50% of their status. Can only be used once to a target that is affected by [Dragon Fear] skill]

"That's a lot of bonuses," Alseace said as he looked at the description. "Now, what about this," Alseace looked at the gem in his hand, and its color was black, just like the skin of Azoss'.

[Azoss' Core: A core that belongs to Azoss, one of the 7 Elder Dragons. The core that grants unbelievable power]

"That's a bit ambiguous," Alseace said as he looked at Azoss' body.

Alseace realized something was off about Azoss' body, and it turned out his body started to crack. His body turned into ashes and was blown by the wind until there was nothing left of his body, not even flesh, bones, or blood.

"Alseace?!" Renata's voice could be heard from behind the door. "Are you there?" Renata sounded so worried.

"Yes, I'm here," Alseace answered as he walked to the door.

Renata came in and used the flashlight to light the castle. She saw how big and hollow the inside was, and she looked at the dragon raider's body lying on the ground. She then looked around for the dragon, but she found nothing but 8 shackles on the ground.

"Where's the dragon?" Renata asked as she looked at Alseace but then realized his face was covered in blood. "Wait, what happened to you?! Are you okay?!" Renata hurriedly walked toward him and checked his body.

"I'm fine, this isn't my blood but the dragon's blood," Alseace answered as he looked at his suit, but since it was water-proof. "By the way, you should take that guy's armor, it was powerful enough to withstand dragon's breath, dragon's claws, and fangs," Alseace pointed at the knight's body.

Renata and the others immediately went to check the dragon raider's armor. They looked at it and realized that Alseace might have told them the truth because it looked like legendary armor.

"So, what happened to the dragon?" Renata asked as she tried to remove the armor on the dragon raider's body.

"I killed it," Alseace answered as he wiped his face with a towel that Renata gave him. "It's a bit hard to believe, but I'll explain it to you guys later as we go back to the vortex," Alseace said.

Renata nodded with understanding, and she hurriedly removed the armor from the dragon raider's body. They were surprised when they saw an old man underneath the armor, a very old man that might be in his 70s.

They looked at the old man with his neck snapped by Alseace's brute force, and they were thinking if they should bury him or not. But since the old man had been possessed by demonic power, they were afraid if they didn't take the fragment, it would be taken by another monster. Before they could decide what to do, Alseace drew his sword and started to cut open the old man's stomach.

Renata and the others looked away because they didn't have the heart to do it. They could hear the squelching sound of the guts being cut and moved. They never thought that Alseace was brave enough to do that, especially to a human being.

It wasn't a big deal to Alseace since his time on the endless war made him see things that he shouldn't see. He learned a lot about human anatomy from just watching the remaining parts of the human body that he carried.

"I got it... it's bigger than I thought," Alseace said as he looked at the fragment as big as a coin.

"Alright, let's leave then. We don't have anything else to do here," Renata said as she carried the gauntlets.

"Did you kill all the monsters back there when we were in the forest?" Alseace asked.

"We did, why?" Chris asked.

"I'll go there and I'll meet you guys near the vortex in an hour," Alseace said and immediately left the castle.

When Renata and the others tried to catch up with Alseace so they could ask why he disappeared. They were confused as to how he suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace, not even a presence. They then decided to go to the vortex since that was what Alseace said.

The sun was on the right side of the area which gave Alseace an advantage because the forest was on the left side of the area. There weren't that many lights because the mountains blocked the sun, and he could travel faster than before. It only took him half an hour to reach the forest and he saw dozens of notifications appear in front of him.

[0.000931% EXP gained]

[0.000865% EXP gained]

...

[Dexterity has increased by 0.45 points]

[0.000916% EXP gained]

...

[Strength has increased by 0.48 points]

...

[0.000881% EXP gained]

...

[Agility has increased by 0.51 points]

...

[0.000899% EXP gained]

Alseace went back to the vortex and he came almost at the same time as Renata and the others. They were surprised that he came back earlier than they thought because they were so sure the forest was tens of kilometers away from the dragon's mountain. Not to mention the pathing that made him have to go around the mountain to reach the forest.

"About the reward, which reward do you want me to choose?" Alseace asked as he looked at everyone standing in front of the vortex.

"Isn't it obvious?" Renata said as she crossed her arms. "The reward is yours because we didn't even help you with anything. You can choose whatever reward you want and we will be fine since we also got our reward on our bags," Renata pointed at her bags filled with the gauntlets and the wyvern's skins, fangs, and claws.

Alseace looked at the others, and they were all nodding their heads in agreement. The loots that they got inside their bags were worth more than millions of dollars. They could live their lives to the fullest and didn't have to worry about working thanks to him.

Alseace didn't hesitate and took the [Random Legendary Skill Scroll] from the reward. They all looked at the scroll with the gold frame in Alseace's hand. They were wondering what kind of skill he would get, but that skill scroll alone would be worth tens of millions of dollars.

[Random Legendary Skill Scroll: A scroll that contains a Rare, Unique, or Legendary skill. The chance of each rarity is 33%, and the skill that will be obtained is random]

"You're going to use it?" Renata asked as she fixed the bag on her back.

"Yes," Alseace answered as he stared at the scroll.

Alseace slowly opened the scroll and slowly words were engraved on the scroll. He looked at the unknown language that was written on the scroll. It was the result of the skill that he got from the scroll. He didn't know what it was, and so he ripped the skill scroll so the skill would be transferred to his status screen.

[You have learned a new [Legendary] skill!]

[You have learned [Poison Art] skill!]

[Poison Art: Allows you to use the poison attribute proficiently and understand the use of each poison]

"What kind of skill did you get? A legendary? Unique? or Rare?" Renata asked.

"It's a legendary skill," Alseace answered as he closed the panel in front of him. "Let's head back," Alseace continued and left the vortex ahead of the others.

The moment they came out of the vortex, they were surprised when they saw Gratya and Sierra standing in front of the vortex. The Agents of Emissary were gathering around the vortex, and they were surprised that a single group was enough to clear the red vortex.

Renata immediately reported what happened inside the vortex to Gratya. Alseace on the other hand, was dragged by Sierra since she wanted to hear it from him directly because she knew what the mission was inside the vortex.

"The dragon, did you speak with it?" Sierra asked.

"I did, its name was Azoss, and it told me to take this with me," Alseace answered and showed Azoss' Core to Sierra.

"You killed Azoss?" Sierra asked and she looked angry and surprised at the same time.

"I did, but Azoss was the one who asked me to do it. Azoss didn't want to become a puppet and he was shackled by golden shackles on all its limbs," Alseace explained.

"Keep it close to you no matter what, and don't let anyone touch it," Sierra said as she glanced at her surroundings and made sure nobody listened to their conversation.

Alseace put it back in his trousers' pocket as he looked at his surroundings.

"I read the description and it's ambiguous because it doesn't explain anything about it. It only says that it will give me unbelievable power. Does that mean it's used for something?" Alseace asked.

"Yes, but if you use it for a material, it would be such a waste," Sierra answered with her arms crossed.

"A waste? Why?" Alseace asked.

"Dragon is a divine creature, and when they die, they're not actually dead. You can resurrect them back to life, and the core is the main ingredient for their resurrection. So keep it safe because having a dragon on your side is worth more than legendary or even mythical equipment," Sierra explained.