Dragon World: Monster Tamers

Chapter 10 - Freedom

 

Freedom. Glorious freedom. It was all mine. But for how long?

A month had passed since my escape and the battle with Draconis. I still had no access to my character sheet and no longer received notifications. I was locked out of seeing anything except my Health and level and the health and level of other creatures.

The Dragons lived few and far between large swathes of forests and lakes, and yet monsters were a rarity even with all this open land. That was until one close encounter with a group of monster-hunting dragons while scavenging for berries. I followed the group of three smaller humanoid dragons, hiding above between the leaves and shadows.

“We should just go back,” the first Dragon said. He stood on two feet and had smaller wings. Nowhere near the size of Draconis but still many times larger than me. He was a murky brown color. “What do you think, Elra?”

“I agree. We’ve been here for hours and all we’ve seen are Flamouse and Ragehawks, and they are the lamest monsters you can find!” The second one was shorter than the first but had a wider wingspan and was mustard yellow. 

“Guys, we’ve been planning this for weeks! We can’t give up now!” The third was the same in stature as the first, a teal color that reminded me of Draconis. He seemed like the defacto leader of the small group for sure. “Unless you want to go to the Forbidden Zone,” he said with a grin.

“No, Gaius,” the mustard-colored dragon, Elra, replied instantly.

“Maybe,” the other replied.

“Maybe? WHAT DO YOU MEAN MAYBE!” The mustard yellow dragon rounded on the brown one, “You know how dangerous is it! Do you want to get shredded by a Silverfang?! Fuck that noise.”

“I know, I know. It’s dangerous. But we’re not getting anywhere here. How are we going to be the best monster tamer champions in the world with an attitude like that?”

I could probably kill them all right now, I thought, watching them argue back and forth. The information was useful, though, and I opted to wait and see what happened. More importantly, what the hell was a Silverfang and why were they afraid of it? I didn’t feel incredibly threatened by the small group from my vantage point in the trees. I was small and easy to hide. 

They had very little equipment with them, just two nets on the ends of sticks and each of them had a backpack. The mustard-colored one and the brown one had spheres around their necks that looked like the device Draconis kept me in during the tournament. 

“Champions? You can’t be a champion if you’re dead,” Elra finally said loudly to the both of them.

“Maybe Gaius is right, Elra. I’m tired of working day to dusk working my life away for nothing. Tournaments are where it’s at.” 

“And that’s for nothing if you get yourself killed.” 

“With great risk comes great reward,” Gaius snapped back, “or something like that.” 

“Whatever. You guys can do what you want, I’m not risking my life for this.”

“Easy for you to say, you have an Elf!” Gaius eyed her necklace.

An Elf? I remembered one I thought I saw from Tyrannus’ office. Tall and slender with pointed ears and blond hair. Angeknight had also mentioned them when recounting his brief history lesson. 

“It was a gift from my mother,” she reached up and clutched the ball in her hand. “And I don’t use her for battle. You know that! Why don’t you use some of your gold to buy some eggs?”

“The drop rates are shit. Seriously. Just last revolution I gave up three Spider Drones and another Flamouse because I’m at my owner’s limit!” Gaius spat on the ground, “Four draws took me a while to save up for and the free points for the ones you give up are trash. I hate the entire system.”

Something we can agree on, I thought. 

“Best I’ve ever got is my Shadopus,” Varus said, “and that was an era ago. Hasn’t won me any tournaments.” 

“You guys do what you want,” Elra shrugged and extended her wings, lifting off and hovering above them. “If you survive I’ll see you later.”And she was gone.

Should I follow her? Them? Definitely interested in the Forbidden Zone.

“Shall we?” Gaius grinned.

“Yeah, let's do it. “

The trip to the Forbidden Zone as they called it was an hour’s fly away. I went high, blending in more with the sky than the ground. I couldn’t hear anything against the rush of wind, but it felt amazing flying through the air like a superhero. Was I a hero? To them I’d be a villain for sure, a rage-fueled villain bent on Dragon genocide. But I wouldn’t just sit by and risk being recaptured by the Dragons while they enslave other creatures on their behalf. 

The forest below was thick and overgrown to the point that seeing through the canopy was impossible. The trees were even larger and taller here, spanning across as far as the eye could see beneath the silvery light of the sun. Unbelievable. I would barely count as an acorn here. The two dragons below began a rapid descent to the edge of the forest, and even they were small comparatively. I followed.

“This is it,” Gaius stood on a rock jutting from the ground. “Our destiny.”

“Yeah!” Varus said, releasing the Shadopus from his ball and sitting it on his shoulder as they entered the deeply shaded woods.

There was so much detail to take in. Bushes and foliage with leaves and berries the same size as me and trunks of trees as big as skyscrapers. Moss and mushrooms clung to the trees and it smelled earthy with a hint of spice and a tinge of sweetness. One monster I’d never seen before caught my eye, but unfortunately, it was out of range of my Analytical skill. It was a bright orange furry mass, unmoving, perched on a branch just above the Dragons. To me, it was the size of a small bus, but still smaller than the Dragons. They didn’t seem to notice.

Gaius looked straight at it and kept moving without so much as flinching. The thing turned to look at me. A wave of dread and excitement washed over me. Kitty! The feeling of dread subsided when it looked away, leaping silently from branch to branch above the dragons. They took no notice of the creature even if it was glaringly out of place and bright. Danger Kitty, I corrected myself. It was larger than me, comparatively horse-sized if this were my world. 

“Aha! Found one!” Gaius frantically swung his net at the ground, chasing something through the underbrush. “Get back here!” 

“Wait up!”

I shot through the branches to keep up. I was too focused on Gaius and if not for my enhanced perception and Vapor Sense, I'd never have been able to duck the claw that nearly took off my head. Another Orange fur ball had appeared but gave no chase. Instead, he chittered and slunk back into the canopy leaves with an oddly cute wiggle. My heart was racing. 

A delighted scream pierced the air. Gaius was holding up his net triumphantly with a small green-skinned humanoid inside. “On Orc! A real Orc! I knew this was a great idea!”

Varus stumbled over a downed branch and stopped to catch his breath. “T.. That's. Great! Ahhh!”

His scream was less than delightful. From above one of the Orange kitties dropped, claws out. The dragon’s left wing was shredded to ribbons instantly. The Shadopus leapt from his shoulder, unleashing a barrage of projectiles that sent the orange creature ducking for cover. 

I was close enough to see what it was. Silverfang. Level 53. Varus’s Shadowpus was level 43.

Then I knew why it was called a Silverfang. Like an orange flash it shot up the tree, pounced, and landed on the Shadopus. Two wicked metallic fangs extended like sabers when it opened its mouth and it crunched down. The health bar dropped to zero from the one crunch and its body went limp. 

“Gaius! Help!” Varus stumbled through the foliage as a second Silverfang, the same one that’d

attacked me, leapt from the canopy above and latched on to his back. Screams quickly turned to gurgling as the Silverfang finished the fight with a last bite. The Dragon’s scales proved little resistance to the metallic fangs.

Gaius was on the move, flying through the trees toward the exit. “This isn’t happening! This isn’t happening,” he repeated in a panic. As he passed I used my Shadow Tether to grab the net. Orc and all, and yank it from his grasp. It landed below me in the branches and a confused Gaius stopped mid-flight. “What the hell? Seriously!?” 

I dropped down to the net and it was empty. Fuck. In the branch below the Orc girl had fallen into a spiderweb. She was frantically thrashing and shouting, drawing the attention of spiders and Dragon alike. I had to stop them. 

CRACK!

I picked up the Dragon’s net and smashed it over his wrist when he reached for the Orc. He hissed in pain and glared up at me. “HUMAN!?” Gaius’ eyes lit up greedily and he grabbed for me with his good hand.

I dodged and used Shape Metal on the metal bracelets that adorned my right arm. I could target more than one item and create larger items now. The sword I crafted was taller than myself, an oversized greatsword like you’d see in video games and anime. They were always my favorite. 

SLASH! 

I cleaved off two of the Dragon’s fingers when he reached for me again, moving swiftly through the gap they made and going straight for the eyes. Gaius tilted his head down just in time and my blade unsuccessfully impacted against his forehead scales for little effect. 

“This isn’t worth it!” Gaius shot off in the other direction. 

I went after him but he was faster. I activated my final form and I could barely close the distance. We exited the forest but I didn’t stop. I shot beam after beam unsuccessfully before landing a paralyzing web onto one of his wings. It was over. I caught two more as he slowed and he began an out-of-control downward spiral toward the ground.

Thud!

Gaius hit the ground on the bank of a river. He’d unsuccessfully aimed for the water. I landed on his twitching body and he was barely conscious. 

“Should have listened to your friend,” I jammed my blade into his left eye and his body stopped twitching. I ripped out the other as I had previously, wondering if the same thing would happen as it did with Draconis.

As before the body evaporated into a sparkling mist the same color as the Dragon, teal in this case. The dust swirled around me and again I felt strong feelings, this time of deep regret and longing. Then it was over and the eye remained. I stuffed it into the makeshift bag that I had around my waist.

But it wasn’t! The Orc girl was still back there! I’d used up most of my Final Form catching up to the Dragon and had to fly back at normal speed, hoping for the best.

She was gone. The web was empty, but I could follow a track of web residue into a nearby hollow in the tree itself. I couldn't see or sense any creatures within but wisps of old webbing clung to the inner bark. Remnants of a bird nest were scattered to all sides of the hollow and it continued deeper into the tree. As I went deeper, the light practically vanished. I was left with nothing but my Vapor Sense to see by. 

It’s a good time to learn how to make a torch, I thought. 

Flash!

The moment I stepped into the next area I was met with a blinding light that sent me into a daze. Then another. I couldn’t see a thing! Something touched me and I punched through it. My senses were a jumble and my Vapor Sense felt like static.

I ducked away from several shots of web but stepped into a different one. The bright spots in my vision began to fade and I could just barely make out the huge outline of a spider outside my range of senses. It was massive! It had blue and green psychedelic markings along its back and stared at me with all eight of its mirror-like eyes. 

“Let… me… go!” I ripped through the webbing the smaller spiders were beginning to string around me.

 I slashed through two more spiders but three more took their place. Two bit me, but I couldn’t feel any poison effects. No matter how hard the spiders tried they couldn’t spin me. Thanks to my Stable Core trait, I couldn’t lose my balance or be knocked down. Instead they were spinning the web around me where I stood in the doorway to this darker hollow. 

I couldn’t see anything in the darkness and my Vapor Sense was still shell-shocked from the flash. They knocked my sword free and were trying to tie my arms above my head but I kept ripping free and killing them. If the big spider didn’t have a fluorescent glow, I wouldn’t have seen it at all. It was the target. Now I just had to get over there. 

Flash!

I suddenly felt dizzy and everything fell out of focus. 

Flash!

I felt slowed and my limbs wouldn’t respond. My vision was an empty whiteboard and I couldn’t speak. Time even felt slow around me and my Vapor Sense was nothing but the static of a thousand moving legs. I felt another bite or three, but the small ones could barely penetrate my skin. 

A far-off chittering and a great slow thud caught my attention. Barely. Something heavy moved swiftly behind me and I felt a sudden pressure between my legs. Something slimy thrust into me and I couldn’t react at all. Something was being slowly pushed into one after another for what felt like an eternity. It was definitely eggs. Even in my current state, I knew that much. Minutes felt like hours and my sense of perception were shattered.  

A familiar feeling of disdain, frustration, and pregnancy returned. I hadn’t felt like this in a while. I couldn’t even think. Every thought was a far-off concept that never reached my limbs. Every scream and curse was lost to the void. Every sensation was there but disconnected and just out of reach.