Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 46: Purpose

As Sadie saw Elijah standing there, wearing an innocent expression on his face, she just shook her head. Even after he’d explained his theory of how the challenges work, the notion that he’d stepped into the ocean and, after less than a day, emerged having defeated one of the Trial’s challenges, marked him as an absolute monster. And he’d done it alone, proving that he was a true anomaly.

Most classes in their new world were focused on filling a very specific role. Even her Crusader class was geared toward defending others while taking damage exceptionally well. She wasn’t the quintessential tank that Lamar claimed to be – the man seemed absolutely indestructible – but she had a few other tricks up her sleeve that allowed her to assist in a variety of roles. She could heal a little. She had a buff she could give to her companions. And she had abilities like Sense of Sin and Confession that were purely non-combat in nature.

Even so, if she’d tried to conquer one of the challenges on her own – even one that had already been defeated and was thus less dangerous – she would have died. Or if not that, then it would have taken her ages to defeat. The same was true of Dat, whose power was most comparable to Elijah’s.

Or one facet of the Druid’s skillset, at least. But while they could both move around undetected, Dat couldn’t heal. And he certainly couldn’t survive the sorts of things she’d seen Elijah endure. Were there other people out there like Elijah, who were capable of doing everything alone?

Maybe.

The demon seemed like one. Sadie could grudgingly accept that the man was powerful, and the presence of his demonic minions – which he saw as mostly disposable – meant that he didn’t have to put himself in the line of fire. As despicable as he was, that made him uniquely suited to going alone. Which was probably for the best, because she couldn’t imagine anyone enduring his loathsome presence.

Then there was Oscar, the Pack Leader. Unlike the grotesque demon, he seemed to care deeply about his dogs. They were like a family, and as such, he wouldn’t throw them to the proverbial wolves. Still, the fact that he’d spent much of the time since Earth had been touched by the World Tree at the very top of the power rankings said volumes about his capabilities.

Perhaps there were a few other anomalies who could survive – and thrive – alone, but Sadie didn’t think any of them could compare to someone like Elijah.

“What?” he asked, running his hand through his still-wet hair. “Is there something in my hair? It got kind of bloody down there, so…I mean, if I’m honest, I usually don’t have to worry about that kind of thing. Most of the time, I end up having my hair singed off. Or dissolved, I guess. Did I tell you about that time I was digested by a whale monster? Yeah – I went for the full Jonah experience, minus the God stuff, I guess. I never thought to pray while I was in there, but –”

“You’ve told that story a million times, bro,” Dat said, cutting Elijah’s babbling short.

“Oh. I guess I need new stories,” he said, obviously a little disappointed. “But we’ve been together for a few months now, and that’s a lot of nights around the campfire. Plus, you’ve all been there for my latest adventures.”

“Is that what you call getting ripped in half?” Ron asked.

Elijah winced. “Misadventures, then?” he suggested.

“To put it mildly,” Ron agreed.

Meanwhile, Lamar and his team just stared silently at the exchange, and Sadie knew precisely what was going through their minds. She hadn’t developed the ability to read thoughts, but she expected that everyone who met Elijah felt something similar. The man was infuriatingly flippant about the most serious of topics, and he seemed to regard his own death-defying stunts with something akin to amusement.

Maybe it was a coping mechanism.

But even so, the newcomers had been struck dumb by his demeanor.

“What’d ya get?” asked Kurik, who’d been engaged with building his traps since they’d stopped outside of the Niflara challenge. Sadie respected his work ethic, even if she found his demeanor a little off-putting. He wasn’t particularly rude, but he definitely hadn’t made any overtures of friendship – not with her at least. And Sadie didn’t know how to bridge that gap, which she attributed to their different cultures. “Please tell me you found some power crystals. My supplies’re runnin’ low.”

“No such luck, bud. But I did get this,” Elijah said, reaching into that grotesque-looking satchel he always wore. It looked like someone had skinned Frankenstein’s monster, then turned the resultant grey leather – which had been crudely stitched together – into the world’s most macabre purse. He pulled a blue gem out and tossed it to the dwarf. “Not sure what it does, but if it helps your traps, you can have it.”

Kurik caught it, but before he could inspect it, Dat said, “Let me see, bro.”

A second later, what Sadie suspected was the reward for defeating the challenge was flying through the air. Dat caught it deftly, then used Hex of Scrying. He cocked his head to the side as he listened to the voices that came with the skill, then said, “It’s called A Drop of the Ocean. Not much use for any of us, but the ghosts tell me it could be used to make a water-breathing treasure like that ring of Elijah’s.”

“A bit late for that, ain’t it? He already beat it.”

“I think –”

“Wait. I have an idea,” Elijah said. “So, the Nexus Town is what? About a thousand miles that way, right?”

“Uh, roughly, yeah,” said Helen, who was the Explorer who’d latched onto Lamar’s group. Her class was some sort of hybrid that afforded her a few combat abilities, but she still maintained the advantages of her archetype. One of those was an impeccable sense of direction. Another, which was the reason Lamar and the others had managed to find their way through the challenge at all, was geared toward sensing what she called points of interest. Those abilities, along with the one that let her party survive underwater, made Explorers and their variants a highly sought-after archetype. It didn’t matter that they weren’t really capable of filling the other group roles. They didn’t need to defend, heal, or do damage if they could help the party avoid unwanted dangers while pointing them toward important areas.

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“So, what if I go back to the city real quick?” he asked. “I take any of the other stuff we’ve picked up along the way, and I’ll see if Atticus can’t hook us up with a crafter who can make these water-breathing rings? I can farm those little gems pretty quickly, and if we all have rings like mine, we won’t have to worry about running into this problem again. Plus, we can use this challenge to push our levels a little. There are thousands of those alaken down there, and all together, they represent a lot of experience.”

“We have been looking for a place to farm, bro.”

“That’s my point exactly,” Elijah said, grinning as he pointed at Dat. “It might take a couple of days to set it all up, but we can devote a week or two to this, and I think we’ll all gain a level or three.”

Sadie asked what she thought was the obvious question. “What are we supposed to be doing while you’re flying back and forth and killing mermaids?”

“Merpeople, bro.”

“Not important, Dat.”

“I just call them alaken. It’s more accurate, and if you saw them, you probably wouldn’t call them mer-anything. More like eels with arms and carrying fancy pitchforks.”

“Tridents, bro.”

“Again, not important, Dat,” Sadie persisted. Then, she looked at Elijah. “So? My armor has been completely repaired, and I don’t feel like wasting more time just sitting around. I can’t afford to be lazy.”

“That’s the last word I’d use to describe you,” Elijah said. “But I’m not talking about a few days. I’m talking a day. Maybe two at most. I can slip in there and kill the appropriate targets without issue. Honestly, I think the going back and forth to town will take the longest, even if I use Lightning Rush. Which has a cooldown and only covers about seventy miles.”

Sadie didn’t know the full breadth of Elijah’s new ability, but from what she’d discovered, it seemed wholly unfair. Rather than feeling envious, though, it made her look forward to her own spell evolutions even more. If she could upgrade Consecrated Shield, for instance, she could better protect her allies.

“In the meantime,” Elijah continued. “There’s a horde of wraiths about ten miles from here. I sensed them on the way in. You could set up a defensive position and grind a little until I have enough rings for everyone. Then, we go down to the City of Toh and get some levels.”

“Can I say something?” asked Lamar, who’d remained silent the entire time.

“You don’t need to raise your hand, bro.”

“Right,” the former linebacker said. He shrugged his massive shoulders, continuing, “You people are crazy. You know that, right?”

“What?” asked Elijah, again with that innocent look on his face.

“We’ve done a few of these challenges,” he said. “None were first clears like this one, but it’s safe to say that we know a thing or two about how dangerous they are, even after monsters like you all sweep through.”

“And?” asked Elijah.

“They’re not to be taken lightly,” Lamar said. “We’ve come close to dying a hundred times since this Trial started. Most of those came in those challenges. I had an aviak almost rip me in two –”

“Been there. Don’t recommend it.”

“Not the time, Elijah,” Sadie said with a shake of her head.

Dat added, “Read the room, bro.”

“Ain’t no room. We’re outside.”

“It’s an expression, Kurik,” Ron provided.

“Guys…”

They all looked at Sadie. “Let him finish.”

“Oh. Right. Proceed,” Elijah said, gesturing for Lamar to do just that.

“My point is that you’re talking about going in there and grinding? Do you know how insane that sounds?” the big man asked. “I’m no stranger to hard work. Or danger. I’ve risked my life hundreds of times since all of this started. But I just don’t…I can’t imagine going back in there and…”

He sighed, looking down at the fire they’d built. “I’m beginning to think that I’m not built for this,” he admitted.

“You’re built like a brick house, bro.”

Sadie said, “Not what he’s talking about, Dat.”

“I know,” he said. Then, he looked at Lamar and went on, “You’ve got the tools. You’re strong. Seems like you have a good class, right? But nobody is ‘built for this’. You have to change your mindset. You need to inoculate yourself to danger. My uncle was a Gurkha. He –”

“You’re Vietnamese. Aren’t Gurkha’s Indian?”

“Uncle by marriage. Do you want to let me finish?” asked Dat. “And they’re Nepalese.”

Elijah held up his hands, saying, “Sorry.”

“Right. Anyway, Gurkhas are famous for their bravery and battle prowess, but my uncle said they aren’t just born that way. They’re trained. They’re forced to endure far more than they should be able to handle. Then, they’re put into terrible situations, over and over again until it becomes routine,” Dat explained. “I think about him a lot, about some of his stories. That’s the mindset we all have to adopt. It’s the only way any of us are going to survive. We can’t run from danger anymore. We can’t fear death. We can’t walk around expecting to live a life of safety, because I don’t think that exists anymore. And it won’t return for a long, long time. So, the way I look at it is that I’m fighting for the future. Every time I risk my life, I’m doing so because that contribution might bring safety back a little bit quicker. So, you say you aren’t built for this, right? Well, I say you are. You have the physical abilities. A good class. People to support you. The rest of it is up to you, bro. You have to turn yourself into the sort of person who can do what needs to be done.”

It was one of the longest statements Sadie had ever heard from her friend, and probably the most earnest. Many times, it was easy to see him as an unserious person. His demeanor supported that. But beneath that exterior was a thoughtful, fiercely loyal, and, above all, good man who truly wanted to do what was best for everyone. Seeing the insightful side of him – as rare as it was – usually left Sadie in awe of just how much lurked beneath his affable surface identity.

More importantly, Dat’s speech seemed to affect Lamar as well as the rest of his group. Even the one-armed Derrick adopted an expression of resolve.

“I guess that’s what we’ll have to do, then,” Lamar said after a few moments of silence. It was a simple statement, but one carrying a mountain’s worth of meaning.

“I just want to say that this is a nice moment,” Elijah said, reaching out to grip the former football player’s massive shoulder. “Humanity coming together.”

“What am I? Crushed rocks over here?” asked Kurik.

“And dwarfanity. Is that a word?” Elijah asked.

“No.”

“Is there a better –”

“Just stop,” the dwarf said. “And for what it’s worth, I agree with him. This is a good opportunity to grind.”

“What about what I said, bro?” asked Dat, switching back to his normal demeanor.

“That was good too. A bit obvious to anybody with half a brain, but I guess it needed to be said.”

In the end, everyone agreed that Elijah’s plan was probably the best course of action. So, after resting for a few minutes and taking a shower, he transformed into that great, dragon-like beast and took to the skies. For their part, Lamar and the rest of his group decided to stick around long enough to recover, then head toward their next target – the challenge of Ignis. Even as Lamar gave voice to that plan, Sadie hoped that it turned out better than her own experience within that volcano.

But after everything she had endured since the World Tree had touched Earth, she agreed with Dat. Anything that didn’t kill or permanently maim her would only make her stronger, both in mind and body. With that in mind, she turned her attention to the horde of wraiths Elijah had mentioned.

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