POV Vesuvius:
The giant dragon, multiple stories tall, stood unmoving in the black wastelands covered in ash. His massive body towered above a small player in shiny armour with a long blue cloak fluttering behind his back.
The dragon’s whole body was covered in a thick layer of black armour with golden glitter, giving him assurance and contrasted with the shiny armour of the player, the thick veil of smoke perfectly hiding his body.
The air was distorting under the enormous heat radiating from the magma-filled cracks in his volcanic armour, magma leaking out of his body, forming a bubbling puddle on the ground.
Suddenly the player jumped high into the air, his armoured body moving towards the dragon. His sword radiating out the disgusting energy of dragon-slaying enchantment swished through the air closing towards the dragon’s armoured chest.
The radiance of magma in the cracks in his amour suddenly increased, a bright yellow and white light radiating out as Vesuvius fed his mana into it.
A small puff of magma and smoke erupted, sweeping the incoming player from the air and sending him flying backwards, his whole body burning and melting.
‘Such a mistake to jump into the air without wings or any ability to give maneuverability in the air. That is like losing the only thing that he could do, dodging.’
Magical energy kept growing in the distance. The blue electrical light glowed and sparked through the ash-covered wasteland.
Vesuvius couldn’t but scoff at their pathetic attempt, ‘Really, taking such a long time to cast a spell… These players are so bad. If I wanted, they would be already dead.’
The intensity of the blue lightning suddenly intensified, and a loud crackle blared through the surroundings. Multiple loud bangs followed soon after, with a faint glint of something metallic flying towards the dragon.
The world immediately turned into slow-motion, Vesuvius noticing a shiny metallic spike covered in runes blasting through the air at a supersonic speed, the air around it distorting. Its sharp tip was rotating, magical blue light glowing out of it.
Even though his mind could see it, his mobility on the land wasn’t enough to dodge it.
‘Not like I need to doge such a punny attack. This is nothing compared to the attacks unleashed by the demons. Still a smart trick, to use electrical magic to create a railgun to launch spike enchanted to slay dragons.’
The dragon’s massive black hand turned into a blur, moving like a shield to the trajectory of the incoming projectile using the unnatural agility brought by levels to move faster then it was supposed.
The spike impacted against his palm, its sharp rotating tip drilling through his armour, stopping when it reached deep inside it.
‘Now is time for the annoying part…’ Vesuvius felt like vomiting just thinking about what he had to do next.
He opened his mouth, a light radiating out and air gathering in his lungs. The next moment he unleashed it in the form of a loud growl, “Graaah! My hand!”
A magical circuit flared up in his mind, two glowing blue magic hands quietly slithering along the ground, slowly creeping to the golden nugget under the cover of the thick smoke while the players cheered.
They firmly grasped the gold and pulled it back into the clouds of smoke, the nugget quickly moving towards the dragon.
Vesuvius wasn’t such an idiot to mindlessly risk his life for a little bit of gold. It was one thing to defend gold that was already his and second to go and try to rob the royal vault. However, when a bunch of ants started to wave it before his nose, there was no reason to refuse their gift.
‘Hahaha, this is so perfect! They are not only giving me XP but also free stuff.’ the dragon felt like laughing, knowing about the sizeable magical crystal that the player left in his tower and the enchanted spike made of expensive metal stuck in his hand.
Lights kept flashing around him, magical projectiles constantly soaring through the air, harmlessly exploding all over his body in colourful blasts.
‘Well, enough of the fun time to end this charade.’
A blinding yellow and white light lit up amidst the thick veils of smoke around the dragon. A white glowing magma with golden trails, smoke and acid poured out of his throat, quickly entering his mouth. The heat started to rise, the soil around the dragon baking and turning into a brick-like material. The air started to distort, the air around burning in orange flames as it ignited.
Vesuvius closed his mouth, the destructive power of volcanoes gathering in his mouth with the pressure quickly building up.
Dozens of players spread through the desert and started to run, their formations breaking apart.
“Shit, the boss is going to unleash some kind of an ultimate power.”
‘This and ultimate… more like a regular attack.’ The dragon’s heart started to pump faster, the blood pouring into his breath-producing glands to fuel them up.
Finally, he opened his mouth, and a loud bang sent clouds of smoke around him in all directions. A massive blast of golden-white magma and black smoke crackling with lightning surged out of his mouth. In an instant, the explosion blasted through the players, everything dissipating under the bright light. The magma and smoke flooded the desert as an unstoppable tide, not leaving even ash behind it.
Dozens of explosions kept exploding all around as the clouds filled with explosive gasses ignited, everything shaking with magma getting launched into the air, raining and burning everyone.
The dragon’s head slowly turned, moving and unleashing the destructive breath that culled through the players, everyone dying in an instant.
Dozens of notifications kept flooding the corner of his vision, each of them bringing joy.
[+510XP]
[+540XP]
[+520XP]
…
Finally, he closed his mouth, the last remnants of the breath spilling over the ground. Smoke was everywhere, covering the wasteland in the night, with brightly glowing puddles of magma and the dragon being the only light sources.
Ding!
//
You gained a title: [Blast Furnance]
Conditions: Produce flames with a temperature of at least 2500 Celsius in a large quantity
Effects: The dissipation of heat created by you or your actions will be slower by 15%
//
‘That is almost half of the temperature of the surface of the sun.’
Even Vesuvius lost his words, just watching the sheer destruction around him, still vividly thinking of the beauty of his breath, ‘The white, golden and black… such a beautiful combination.’
The heat was still so large that the oxygen and fumes in the air kept burning, orange flames licking through the wasteland.
All of the doubts about his debt to the dragon god immediately vanished, ‘This is more than worth it. What is one hard quest in exchange for such power? There is nothing more important than power in this world!’
The dragon quietly flapped his wings, the wind brought by his wings rekindling the flames once more, the inferno under him regaining its strength. His body quickly rose into the sky, leaving behind the burning wasteland.
The beauty of the white magma and flames finally gave him the insight that he needed to choose the path for his vitality.
‘Manalife is a path for me. To be able to either rotate between survivability and offensive power is too big of an attraction. If I can use it to make flames even stronger when needed, it is definitely worth it. Also, weird skills like this that are bringing in new unique mechanics are like open doors for some potentially game-raking interactions.’
He finally made his decision.
Ding!
//
[Draconic Vitality (lv 10)] –> [Manalife Noble Draconic Vitality (lv 10)]
//
The next moment a pain erupted from his main heart as it stopped beating, a shock spreading through his whole body as his cells started to break apart, new ones quickly replacing them.
Vesuvius lost control over his wings, his body uncontrollably falling towards the ground. He couldn’t do anything but a brace for the impact.
‘Shit, how could I forget that evolving skills affecting my body isn’t a simple matter.’
The massive dragon crashed to the ground, his body sliding through the soil, creating a deep crevice. Soil, ash and smoke were flying everywhere, the whole ground shaking.
POV Pyromaniac:
A player in bright red robes walked through the burned and destroyed forest, his steps feeling brisk as he enjoyed the feeling of ash under his feet. The ash stained his red robes, but he didn’t care as he enjoyed the ash entering his lungs with each of his breaths.
Suddenly the massive shadow of the dragon passed above him, bringing thick clouds of smoke with it.
The grin grew on the face of Pyro under his brass mask, his gaze turning towards where the dragon landed, ‘Fireshow is here!’
In an instant, he threw away his original goal as he stopped walking, just observing dozens of magical projectiles hitting the dragon.
“Hahaha, as if these pathetic attacks could hurt such a majestic boss!” he felt like laughing, seeing the small dots of humans fighting the dragon as he knew the truth after witnessing the powers of the boss even before their last transformation.
‘They are just playing with their food.’
The next moment loud growl shook his whole body, “Grahhh! My hand!”.
‘Ohh, shit, they likely scratched their scales, now, are these idiots officially dead.’ he wasn’t worried for even a moment. All of the attacks the attacking players could unleash felt weak and pathetic when compared to the majesty of the dragon.
The next moment a terrifying force exploded out of the dragon’s mouth, the golden-white magma and black smoke blasting through the wastelands, everything vanishing under its destructive powers.
Pyro fell on his knees as he threw away his mask to see better. His face was malformed in a maniacal grin before he burst into insane laughter.
“These are the flames that I have been looking for, such a beauty!” his heart was beating so loudly that he felt like getting a heart attack in his chair.
‘I must work harder to make these flames even stronger!’
He stood up, his reptilian eyes brightly glowing as he stepped forwards, his whole body itching to burn someone alive.