POV Kidnappers:
A large covered carriage with no windows rolled down an old unmaintained road through the night-covered fields, its wheels wildly shaking with clouds of dust rising in its tracks. Four horses pulled the carriage, their hooves rhythmically drumming on the ground.
An average-looking player with an absurd-looking punk haircut and two curled horns sat in the driver’s seat of the carriage, his face hidden under the black hood.
The sound of bickering was coming from behind him, making him shake his head.
“Why are we always getting such weird quests.”
“I don’t get it; why can’t we just kidnap some people in the town?”
He immediately sighed, knowing how challenging this quest would be, ‘We need to find good artists and then kidnap them. There would be multiple of them this time, making it much harder.’
He almost felt a headache rise in him. However, he still refused to even consider making any compromise with the quality of artists, ‘There will be the following quest, and cheaping here would likely affect the future production capabilities of the whole faction. I can’t fail this.’
“Hey Punk, just one question… why are we kidnapping them? Can’t we just hire them?”
He didn’t even look behind, paying attention to the road, “Do you even realise how expensive it would be to hire skilled masters and let them leave their homes for who knows how long?”
“Can’t we ask the boss for funds?”
PunkGuy and everyone immediately froze, looking at the idiot who said it. His slow friend immediately shrank under the gazes as if he wanted to vanish.
“You want to ask our boss for gold? That is the worst idea that I have ever heard!”
He threw his last glance at the white mountain peaks illuminated by the silver moon behind them as they quickly moved further and further away from them.
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon’s scaly lids opened, revealing a pair of golden reptilian eyes. His massive body, covered in armour, slightly moved, the sound of stone scraping against stone resounding through the roof. His body and mind finally felt rested as the days became more leisurely.
Ding!
//
You have grown up!
All of your physical stats increased by 4
//
He didn’t feel much different as with his already big body; such a minor increase in size made a slight difference.
‘It looks like sleep is important for dragons. It accelerates my growth by not a small margin.’
Ding!
//
You are now level 41
All stats increased!
+5 stat points
+1 ability point
//
Vesuvius couldn’t help but feel proud at how well his plans went. With his monsters and factions, his XP was growing at a rate that would cause regular players to die from envy. The battles were happening all over his lands, almost every fight involving his forces, giving him a steady income.
His gaze penetrated into a distance, watching players fight against his monsters, quickly closing towards his tower, ‘They are still far. It will take a while before they even reach this tower.’
A gash of cold wind bashed against him, ‘It looks like summer will end soon.’
A loud yawn escaped from his mouth, causing the cloud of smoke around him to whirl. The legendary laziness of dragons slowly seeped into his mind, whispering to him to close his eyes and take a nap.
A while later:
POV An Overconfident Raiding Group:
The dark tower rose towards the sky, shouting and sounds of battle coming from inside, the dark clouds of thick smoke whirling all around its roof.
A cacophony of steps on the stone kept rising as a sizeable well-equipped group slowly marched the spiralling staircase, everything around them dark except for large runic letters engraved on the tower’s walls. Blood stains littered the walls and the rough stone ground, the air getting hotter and hotter as they slowly kept rising, a bright yellow light entering through the opening above them.
“Alright, remember our task. We need to force the wyrm to leave the tower as there is not enough space on its roof.” a player with a long blue cape flowing down his back whispered, the light reflecting on his shiny and polished plate armour, his metallic greaves tightly griping a large sword covered in runes.
He was the player who discovered that the wyrm was vulnerable against the dragon-slaying weapons, giving him enough prestige to organise a large group. His name was MarcAntonius.
“Prepare the focusing crystal!”
Five players with massive tower shields before them walked forward, pointing their shields towards the opening, their bulky armour clattering as they prepared to fight.
A tall player wearing thick skin over his muscular body stepped right behind them, holding a massive crystal clear crystal in his arms, its whole surface covered in glowing runes quietly pulsing in dim light.
“Mages, go on your positions. The wyrm should be sleeping, but be careful when we step on the roof. They will likely detect us and wake up.”
Antonius was brimming with confidence, ‘Now it must work. We had prepared a plan and items necessary for a successful attack. This may be our last chance to slay the boss before the church attacks and steals it! They are almost ready to attack.’
Rustling resounded through the dark room as ten players in different robes pointed their staffs at the crystal.
Antonius tightened his grip on his sword, calming his nerves before the large attack, “Alright, let’s go! This will be our victory!”
The heavy shield bearers stepped on the roof, the runes on their shields and armour flashing as the heat wave hit them, all of them desperately holding their breath not to inhale deadly gas. The bulky player followed behind them, raising the crystal through the opening, the bright yellow light from the roof refracting in it.
Suddenly the whole tower shook, dust falling from the ceiling, and the temperature rose even more. The magical energy erupted above them, passing through the thick stone ceiling as if it didn’t even exist.
‘Shit, the wyrm woke up too fast!’
“Quickly cast already!”
The staffs of the ten mages suddenly flashed pure blue mana light radiating from them, flowing into the crystal.
The crystal started to shake, and a bright blue light radiated from it, blinding the players behind them.
The radiance kept increasing, looking as if a star was contained within the crystal, thick magical energy spreading out of it, pushing against the tide of the wyrm’s magic that started to flood down the tower.
‘Quickly charge!’ Antonius kept looking at the crystal, ignoring the bright light, his whole body tense, hoping it would charge as soon as possible.
Finally, the light-filled the whole crystal, and the runes on it flared up in bright blue light.
“Merlin now!” a player looking like an old man with a white long-haired and a beard with a point wizard hat and starry robes raised both of his arms into the air, waving them towards the crystal.
“Mana, mega beam!” his old voice boomed through the tower, and bright blue light flashed once more with a giant beam firing from the crystal, leaving through the opening in the roof.
“GRAAAAH!” The shockingly loud growl sent shivers of excitement and fear through their bodies.
The next moment the tower shook, stones fell from the ceiling, and a powerful wave of magic seeped through the rock. The tower rooftop took a blue tint as the pure mana spread through it.
“It worked. The wyrm is in the air!” one of the shield bearers shouted, his voice beaming with excitement.
Antonius woke from his glory moment, ordering his men, “Quickly ran!”
The next moment, the air turned insanely hot, yellow light descending through the opening, and the yellow flames passed through the shield bearers instantly, all of them evaporating in a yellow light.
The rest quickly ran downstairs, running through the spiralling staircase. Their metallic boots dinged as they moved at their top speed through the large empty interior. The yellow inferno followed behind, the heat waves turning all of the walls orange.
More and more players kept perishing, their bodies instantly vanishing in flames.
Everyone’s eyes glinted as they saw safety in the form of another floor that would separate them from flames.
The heat on their backs turned their armours red, their skin burning as they finally jumped through another opening. The ceiling about them turned red as the flames hit it.
“We have made it!” Loud cheers erupted from the surviving players, their armours still red from the heat, only the fire-protection potion saving them from the gruesome death of being cooked in their armours.
The sound of drinking and gulping down filled the room, everyone holding bottles of red, watery liquid in their arms, slopping it down, their burns slowly regenerating.
“Ohh shit, prepare for a battle!”
Someone shouted, and everyone immediately looked down, shudders passing down their bodies as they realised that elite mobs had arrived.
Dozen of neon-red spots with golden centres ignited on the floor under them. The terrifying wolves with bodies of neon-red magma with long pitch-black spikes growing out of them flooded the floor under them, red sparks flying between them.
‘Now we need to hope that the other teams will be as successful.’