Iron Dragon's Advancement Journey

Page 10

　"Just let it go like that?" Shaving asked, tilting its head. It was very familiar with Casaroz, and after breaking through the anti-magic barrier, it immediately understood from its posture that Casaroz didn't really want to fight.

　Casalos's true purpose in summoning the Shaving Tooth and the Thinker was to force back the "Changing Dragon".

　"Otherwise, a legendary sorcerer who has developed a large number of bizarre spells will inevitably be... well, you should know what I mean. Now is not the time to provoke those giant babies!"

　96. Giant baby

　Shaving teeth reveals the truth.

　Regardless of their positions, it is undeniable that "The Fickle Dragon" Laricera is an extremely talented arcane spellcaster.

　Centuries ago, long before she even reached the realm of the legendary, she had already developed a new shapeshifting spell that allowed her to transform into a dragon and gain some of its abilities. If this spell had spread, it would most likely have been known as Larissa's Shapeshifting Spell, according to tradition. Later, based on this spell, she developed a bizarre technique capable of completely possessing and controlling a real dragon; by the time she faked her death, she had possessed the bodies of at least four real dragons.

　Centuries have passed, and she is still alive and well, having entered the realm of legend. She must possess a life-extending spell similar to the Iolum Longevity Spell, and most likely, she achieved this by drawing upon the life force of the dragon she possesses. Such an arcanely gifted individual would undoubtedly have garnered the attention and favor of the goddess of magic, Mystra.

　She is now very likely a chosen one of the Goddess of Magic—everyone knows that the second-generation Goddess of Magic loves to elevate her chosen ones, and her chosen ones are active in every event in Faerûn. Even if Larissa is not currently a chosen one of the Goddess of Magic, she is one of the candidates for Her chosen ones, just like "Shaving Teeth".

　The thinker attracted the attention of the god of war, and it was only natural that the legendary shaving would arouse the interest of the goddess of magic. There was no way around it; the goddess of magic really had a thing for it.

　As Shaving Tooth said, Casalos wasn't helpless against Laricera. Besides its robust dragon body and unexpectedly enhanced elemental power, it held many secrets. Humanoid legendary spellcasters weren't ancient dragons; their bodies were far too weak... Well, Casalos was at least an ancient black dragon in appearance, but against a tantalum-copper alloy warhead packed with 200kg of inert high-energy explosives, it was essentially no different from a humanoid body.

　Casalos has two of these things hidden in the bulge between the pectoral and latissimus dorsi muscles of its lower wings. It is prepared to deal with certain unexpected situations, such as when it is currently covered by an anti-magic barrier and cannot fly or run.

　It would be quite difficult to defeat the Black Dragon with such a clumsy work of art, but the jet of energy was more than enough to break through the rock and soil layers and wipe out the core of the anti-magic array in the maze about ten meters underground.

　Once the anti-magic barrier is removed, Casalos has countless ways to find and eliminate all of Laricera's hidden clones. But what happens after that? Will it attract the attention of the goddess of magic?

　Casalos knew all too well what kind of deity the Goddess of Magic was: the gods were nothing like those described in their church's doctrines. A giant infant was the most fitting description of the pan-Faelion pantheon before the turmoil, and the Goddess of Magic was no exception.

　On the issue of voters, any being on the continent of Faerûn with exceptional arcane talent is a beloved toy of the Mysterious Lady. Without her permission, no one can touch it, let alone destroy it. Even if this toy poses a devastating threat to the entire continent, even in self-defense, anyone who dares to touch her toy will face her omnipresent hostility. She is the embodiment of the magic network, the controller and manager of all magic in Faerûn. Incurring the hostility of the Goddess of Magic is essentially equivalent to gaining the hostility of the magic network, making one's future life unfortunate—a significantly increased spell failure rate, successfully cast spells suddenly malfunctioning are minor issues, and even casting a spell could result in a meteor explosion that blows you into the sky.

　Even worse, she might be besieged by her equally eccentric electorate. Given that the Goddess of Magic was one of the first gods to support the Harpists' Alliance, and that her elect are mostly Harpist Masters, Casalos, who is currently building up her reputation with the Harpists' Alliance, has to find a way to avoid this negative reputation-building behavior.

　Before goodness, the primary attribute of the Harpists' Alliance is chaos!

　"It's good to see you still alive and kicking, Casalos." As they spoke, the Thinker landed on the plaza in front of the Temple of Dawn. It glanced at the remaining traces of the battle on the plaza, and with some disappointment, shot two arcs of electricity from its nostrils, ionizing the air and producing a foul odor: "You didn't even demolish this plaza, so it seems the battle wasn't too intense... Hmm, you called us here to make it back down, is this what they call subduing a dragon without a fight? The best of the best!"

　"Tch, a desperate measure, a pointless trick." Shaving Tooth scoffed, shaking its thorns as it stood up, tilting its head to reveal a mouthful of spear-like fangs, and chuckled, "Regardless of..."

Chapter 170

　Despite her pretense, she remained hidden within the West Gate City, carrying out some unknown dark plan.

　Now, she has joined the ranks of legendary arcane spellcasters.

　Realizing that the Iron Dragon cubs, who knew a lot, had guessed his identity, the "Black Dragon" roared furiously, raising his head and pouncing like a lion once more, the air of death billowing from his wide-open jaws—Casaros had also guessed why Laricera had targeted him.

　It was also quite obvious that the ancient black dragon body possessed by the warlock had inexplicably died, and the decaying aura of the black dragon itself could not conceal the unique stench of the underworld. She didn't have much time left and desperately needed a new body, and Casalos just happened to deliver herself to her door at this opportune moment.

　Easily dodging the attack and delivering a powerful slap to her face with its tail, Casalos leaped up and glided low to the other side of the plaza, far away from the terrifying sorcerer. This spatial separation created a temporary truce, and Casalos took the initiative to initiate a stalemate of stalling for time.

　"The spell you prepared underground was meant to let you possess my body, wasn't it?"

　"So what if you guessed it?" The black dragon possessed by the sphinx warlock straightened its somewhat fractured head, and rotting chunks of flesh and rotten teeth dripped from its crooked mouth, sizzling as they corroded the ground: "Dragon cub, I really didn't expect that I would lose in melee combat using this strong dragon body, but so what?"

　Now that you know my identity and have guessed what I'm doing, I'm not afraid to tell you. My other body is still focused on maintaining the spell. If you dare to fly above the height of a building, I can easily kill you. Don't even think about escaping from the ground. I don't care how much damage this already rotting black dragon body will suffer. You absolutely cannot escape the range of the underground spell before I dismantle this black dragon."

　Casalos nodded indifferently and sat down on the ground again: "You never thought you could win from the beginning, did you? All you had to do was use this black dragon body to hold me off. Whether you could defeat me or not was irrelevant. Using this black dragon body to fight me was just making use of waste."

　Theoretically, I have no way to dig through the rocky ground and enter the underground labyrinth to stop the spells being prepared there, even with your black dragon body interfering. The fundamental purpose of your anti-magic barrier is to prevent me from summoning elemental creatures to do this, and this is only the first layer of protection.

　I suspect you have other defensive measures in place. Besides a few powerful followers, there might be another body you've taken over waiting for me there.

　From the moment I appeared at Ximen City last night, you've been preparing to seize my body. No matter what, I can't escape the cage you've meticulously designed.

　It raised its head and turned its face to feel a strange fluctuation coming from outside the anti-magic barrier through the magic network. It watched as two beams of light flashed by under the dark sky, then completely folded its slightly outstretched wings and wrapped its tail around its body.

　This is one of the most relaxed postures of a dragon.

　"So you've given up resisting? Heh heh, clever little dragon cub, that will certainly save you a lot of pain and prevent your precious dragon body from suffering too much damage..."

　“No, of course not.” Casalos shook his head. “You’re waiting for the spell to complete, while I’m waiting for my allies!”

　With a cracking sound like glass breaking, the anti-magic barrier shattered, the magic net began to function again, and the magic power returned to its original activity.

　Black Dragon looked up in horror and saw a gray dragon covered in hard, thorny bone plates, with its tail split into a pair of huge scythe-shaped bone blades, crashing onto the plaza.

　The dragon's crimson eyes were fixed on Laricera, and it spoke in a low, trembling dragon language: "Casaros, what kind of vile thing have you encountered, an evil spirit possessing the body of a true dragon?"

　“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ramosada, but this is not an evil spirit, but a living sphinx.” Casalos turned his head to the south side of the city, where a huge figure with scales gleaming in the moonlight of Suren had crushed a tower and was fighting with the spellcasters flying out of it. The light from the collision of magic in the air illuminated Westgate City.

　"You came here yourself, and you're leaving Ohmora Cedar to deal with a legendary sorcerer all by himself, is that alright?"

　"Aren't you underestimating it a bit?" Fanglong sneered. "Although it can't beat you in melee combat, don't forget that in terms of magical prowess, you're still as shallow as you are at your age."

　95. I have many friends.

　The dragons that arrived were none other than the Toothless Archmage "Shaving Tooth" Ramosadar from Waterdeep and the Ancient Bronze Dragon "The Thinker" Ohmora Serdar, who were the "reinforcements" brought by Casalos.

　Having been locked down by legendary magic the moment it delivered the vampire to the Temple of Dawn early in the morning, how could it possibly just sit idly by until nightfall? Faced with the choice between exposing its elemental abilities in full view of everyone and summoning "people" for a group fight, it chose the latter without hesitation.

　Casalos is no longer a lone dragon!

　Back then, why did he transform into a male dragon and travel all the way to Waterdeep, offering sacrifices, showering gifts, and building relationships? It was all to gather allies and form cliques. In recent years, "Dragon" Ratambillor has made frequent trips to Waterdeep. He's showered away head-sized nurturing gems and other dragon-themed handicrafts, finally establishing good and stable social relationships with a few specific dragons in Waterdeep. Of course, he'd introduce them to his "other allies," like the Iron Dragon Casaloz.

　In this way, Casalos bypassed the Keeper of Secrets, Tona, and made connections with powerful Waterdeep dragons such as the Tooth Raiser and the Thinker.

　Dragon friendships can sometimes be quite simple. Compared to Ratam, the wealthy and worldly-wise singing dragon, Ratam and the Thinker are more likely to be on the same page with Casaroz. Ratam's generosity in gifting treasures is certainly appealing to other dragons, but dragons' possessiveness of wealth is pathological and greedy. In the common philosophy of true dragons, a dragon's treasury is a symbol of its status and power; the two must be matched to fulfill the dragon's life value. Clearly, the "weak" male singing dragon possesses wealth far exceeding its strength and status. Therefore, no matter how many gifts it gives, it may never gain the true recognition of powerful true dragons like Ratam and the Thinker; they can only maintain a mediocre alliance… In the eyes of other, less powerful dragons, Ratam is indeed very "reliable" and "loyal."

　Casaloz and Ratam were different. Although young, it was already powerful enough to easily become friends with Shaving Tooth and The Thinker—literally friends. It often sneaked out of Waterdeep to challenge the two to duels. Sometimes it would exchange combat tips, sometimes it would just be a boring hunting competition, and sometimes they would go together to beat up some wild dragon that had foolishly provoked the Waterdeep dragon gang... In short, apart from being more destructive, they were essentially no different from a small human gang.

　Of course, friendships built solely through fighting are not long-lasting. It was through mutual learning, leveraging each other's strengths, and helping one another that the three dragons quickly established a stable social relationship.

　"Shaving Tooth" was an archmage who provided Casaroz with ample guidance in the realm of arcane magic. In return, Casaroz reciprocated with his profound understanding of the characteristics of the True Dragon elemental subspecies and the magic of dragons, helping him achieve the unification of his sorcerer and mage classes within the True Dragon and guiding him on the path to becoming an elemental master.

　Now, "Shave" has merged his True Dragon Warlock spellcasting level with his Mage class level, firmly entering the ranks of legendary spellcasters, and is now searching for his arcane destiny.

　As for Ohmora Sedar the Thinker, true to his name, he is a bronze dragon who enjoys contemplation. Aside from his various philosophical observations about dragon life, he, like other bronze dragons, is also interested in…

Chapter 169

　It paced slowly around Casalos, circling again and again, its eyes, burning with a ghostly green light, fixed on Casalos, as if trying to imprint the shape of every scale on its body into its mind.

　"Many of the names you mentioned are unfamiliar to me, but as far as I know, each of them has entered the hall of arcane legends. Judging from your tone, the black dragons whose names I haven't heard of should also be like that. That's truly astonishing."

　Surprising to "people"?

　Noticing the strange wording in the black dragon's language, Casaloz's indigo pupils contracted slightly: Or perhaps, this black dragon isn't a black dragon at all!

　In that case, the range of possible identities for this guy would be far too wide.

　Black Dragon seemed unaware of the inappropriateness of his language, and continued to speak to himself: "It doesn't matter if we didn't know each other before, now that we have names, it will be much easier for me to find them. You have really provided me with many good targets. I almost have no heart to kill you like this... Perhaps, if I capture you and keep you alive, I can get more useful information out of you?"

　"Indeed, I know more than you think. Whether you have the ability and the luck to acquire them depends on your skill and ability."

　Within the anti-magic barrier, the smaller yet robust Iron Dragon and the enormous but gaunt Black Dragon conversed like old friends bumping into each other on the street. The Losanda Temple, which should have been guarding its home turf, remained closed, its doors and windows shut, as if long abandoned and deserted. The Dawnbringers were unwilling to participate in this battle between dragons, as were most of the other inhabitants of Westgate City; even the few who dared to peer in were shielded by the anti-magic barrier.

　The anti-magic barrier set up by the black dragon is extremely powerful. At least Casalozs's spell-like abilities with a casting level of 20 have been disabled. This almost means that no non-legendary magical effects can work within the barrier anymore, not to mention its weak casting ability.

　However, the anti-magic barrier couldn't block Casalorus's arcane perception; it could still detect the unnatural distortions and fluctuations in the magic network's warp and weft. The core of the spell, woven into the anti-magic barrier, lay hidden deep underground. The black dragon didn't waste the entire day fighting Casalorus. Realizing that Casalorus had discovered its legendary spell lock and remained motionless in the city, it entered the West Gate labyrinth dungeon to make ample preparations.

　In addition to the anti-magic barrier, the twisted warp and weft of the magic network are constructing a larger and more powerful magical structure deeper within it. It is not a legendary spell, but it is full of eerie aura, completely different from the various offensive spells that Casalos is used to in the Dragon Vault.

　What the black dragon was waiting for was this spell that was constructed outside the anti-magic barrier.

　Casalos only appeared in Westgate last night, deciding to settle in front of the Temple of the God of Dawn while circling. This means the black dragon's legendary magic and its underground maze were all completed within a single day. Therefore, it must be extremely familiar with the terrain of Westgate's underground labyrinth and have a sufficient number of loyal and powerful followers within Westgate at its disposal—in other words, this black dragon, whose true form may not be a black dragon, must have been operating within Westgate for quite some time, and its history in Westgate may even be much older than that of the Mask of Night.

　Based on the combined clues, Casalos had essentially pinpointed the black dragon's true identity. It decided to give it a try—the anti-magic barrier isolated all spells, making it uncertain whether its anticipated event would arrive as expected, or whether it could reach the black dragon before its new large-scale spell was completed. If its guess was correct, then, without unintentionally revealing more of its power, it still had a fighting chance against an ancient black dragon that might not actually be a black dragon in melee combat.

　Who told the black dragon to disable its own spellcasting ability by using an anti-magic barrier in order to limit its ability to summon elements?

　It stood up, spread its wings slightly to the sides again, lowered its front half and tail, and stretched its neck forward to press its head close to the ground.

　"Oh, you can't wait to die, you little dragon."

　The black dragon, startled, leaped back two body lengths like a cat, the impact of its massive body crushing a large amount of the plaza's stones. Yet, it still maintained its arrogant tone, shouting, "Young dragons really have no patience!"

　As soon as it landed, it pounced on Casalos at an even faster speed, abruptly transforming from a frightened cat into a hunting lion.

　Casalos's indigo vertical pupils, reflecting the black dragon's pouncing posture, grew even more resolute. It suddenly exerted force with its limbs, leaping diagonally backward with its right front side facing the direction of the black dragon.

　Having just dodged the massive black dragon's attack, Casalos was still in mid-air. He folded his left wing, raised it high, and then suddenly spread it out. He folded his right wing back and then brought together his two longest and sharpest toes, thrusting out like spears. At the same time, his left wing, filled with air, swung down with the force of his ascent, while his slender tail slammed into the ground like a giant whip, abruptly changing the direction of his "jump" and his backward body posture in mid-air.

　With a powerful thrust of its wing toe, the iron dragon pierced the right forearm scapula of the black dragon, which had just landed and was not yet on its feet. In the explosion of the collision and the flash of light, the iron dragon's sharp wing toe shattered the black dragon's dense and thin scales, and tore its forelimb deltoid and winglock mastoid muscles into rags.

　With ample kinetic energy from the dive, Casalos did not allow his wing to collide head-on with the black dragon's hardest and thickest forelimb shoulder joint bone. Instead, he relied on the force of his tail sweeping the ground and used the momentum of his body's rotation to swiftly retract his right wing with a slash, the wing membrane transforming into a blade to expand the wound to the area of ​​his right forearm.

　With its wings fully folded, it rolled over the black dragon, which roared and stood upright, attempting to attack with its uninjured left forelimb. Then, it spread its wings and landed smoothly and lightly on the ground, adjusting its body and staring at the black dragon, which had landed on all fours again, creating two large craters.

　"What makes you think you can win?" it sneered in a low voice.

　94. What are you waiting for?

　"You're not even a dragon, you don't even know how a dragon fights hand-to-hand, so what makes you think you can defeat me in hand-to-hand combat?"

　Casalos, with its limbs and wings slightly bent and its tail held high, was smaller in size but more intimidating and impactful than the black dragon standing upright with its wings outstretched and limbs folded. Its taunts, more so than the wounds inflicted on the black dragon, were like a sharp blade piercing its heart.

　"You possessed this ancient black dragon's body, which was already beginning to rot, using those filthy and ugly spells?"

　From a single lunge, Casalos was certain that the black dragon he was facing was not a real black dragon:

　Leaving aside the fact that the habit of standing upright may vary from dragon to dragon, the "Black Dragon's" two forelimbs are fully extended forward during its pounce, while its long, winding neck is retracted. It uses its forelimbs to strike as its primary weapon, only biting after it has pounced on its target. This is completely inconsistent with the ambush-bite-follow-claw attack pattern and combat habits adapted to the Black Dragon's body structure. When it leaps, its wings merely swing stiffly with its body movement, without using the power of the wind to propel it. In mid-air, its wings are completely folded behind it, failing to use aerodynamics to adjust its posture and trajectory. Upon landing, its wings similarly fail to instinctively use air resistance to stabilize its body. And the tip of the Black Dragon's tail, which has fused into the shape of a sharp scimitar, never shows any intention to attack; it merely passively balances its center of gravity during its movement...

　No matter how you look at it, the "black dragon's" every move doesn't seem like that of a dragon that has lived to an ancient age; instead, it resembles that of a feline predator. Its identity is already obvious: the fickle dragon, Laricera.

　Though named Dragon, she was actually a sphinx-like sorcerer, infamous among dragons centuries ago for inventing a vile spell that allowed her to possess and replace dragons. Logically, she should have been killed hundreds of years ago; now it seems her death was merely a ruse.

Chapter 168

　hit.

　92. I was tricked.

　"Being cheated!"

　Perception is not prediction; it is the comprehensive processing of all detectable information, and its traceability is undeniable.

　Regardless of Casalos's own opinion, its current power is already extremely strong. Its combat experience is unparalleled in all of Faerûn. The elements within its body interact naturally with the inherent magic of everything in Faerûn. The dragon's innate arcane nature allows it to perceive even the slightest changes in the magic network.

　It knew perfectly well that it was targeted by a legendary spell that had been prepared for a long time—this wasn't the first time it had been targeted by a legendary spell. Although the spells in the Dragon Vault dungeon might be different from those in Faerûn, and there might not be any magic nets, the extraordinary aura of the legendary spell was absolutely certain.

　The effect of the spell that locked onto it was unknown, and the caster's purpose was unclear. All it knew was that the spell had been in preparation since it began circling over West Gate, and it had only just managed to lock onto it during its negotiation with the old priest. The surrounding buildings obscured the spell's trajectory, so the caster remained hidden, patiently waiting for the moment when it took off from its stationary position, before its speed increased and its altitude became too high, to deliver the fatal blow.

　"Who is it?"

　Casalos rummaged through its increasingly abstract memories of its past life, but couldn't recall any legendary mages in Westgate. Without a godlike perspective, and lacking any other information to deduce motives and methods, and limited by its shallow understanding of arcane magic, it couldn't find a better countermeasure or solution, and could only remain there, wasting its time.

　Observing the situation calmly and responding to changes with constancy is also an effective way to deal with things.

　It refused to believe that the legendary mage would dare to run directly into the square and unleash that legendary spell on it.

　Since the destruction of Netheril, the newly reborn second-generation Goddess of Magic has forbidden all spells above the ninth level. Legendary spells are considered tenth-level spells, essentially created by exploiting a loophole in the magic network that seals spells above the ninth level, forcibly pieced together using spell "seeds." This is an arcane miracle; anyone who creates their own legendary spell will not only escape the Goddess of Magic's wrath but will also receive her attention and even favor.

　But if it's used recklessly, that's a different story. Especially in the center of a big city like Westgate, to fire directly at the city's buildings in full view of everyone is practically slapping the face of the goddess of magic.

　Since it's secretly targeting Casalos, this spell is most likely not a defensive spell like a barrier, nor is it something that would buff Casalos for free. It's probably an offensive spell. With the destructive power of a legendary offensive spell, it would severely distort the magic network within its area of ​​effect, damaging Casalos and creating a dead magic zone. If the target were in the air, that would be fine; who would care about a dead magic zone above a city? But if it appears in the center of the city, enveloping the temple of the Goddess of Dawn… does she really think the Goddess of Magic is a pushover? The meddlesome chosen ones of the Goddess of Magic, roaming the continent of Faerûn, aren't blind, and the Dawnbringers won't let such a wicked wizard who provokes them get away with it.

　Casalos's deduction proved correct; the spellcaster who had prepared the legendary spell indeed dared not provoke the chosen ones of the goddess of magic. It sat in the plaza like a statue, from morning till afternoon, the magical aura locking onto it remaining completely still. Perhaps due to its elimination of the Faceless Ones who had effectively taken control of Westgate, coupled with the dissemination of leaflets, the residents of Westgate were generally aware of its existence.

　The plaza in front of the Temple of the God of Dawn became the liveliest area in Westgate City today. Those corrupt nobles actually let a giant dragon sit in their city all day without making any move. Only curious commoners came to watch in an endless stream. Among them were many mages who were interested in dragons, as well as priests or paladins of the gods of order or goodness who spontaneously came to maintain order and prevent accidents.

　Only when the sun's brilliance was blocked by Dragon Lake, and the hazy light of Suren shone down, did the crowd, who dared not get too close and could no longer see the dragon, gradually disperse, leaving the square to Casalos, the night, and the legendary spellcaster who was eyeing the dragon with predatory intent.

　"I wanted you to leave without any pain, but you chose a miserable death, you little Iron Dragon."

　Dragon language, filled with the scent of decay and decay, came from the darkness. Then, a huge shadow slowly appeared, and the stench of a swamp that had been buried for hundreds of years spread out, causing Casalos to involuntarily close his nostrils.

　"Black dragon?" it asked tentatively.

　“Heh heh…” The newcomer did not answer, but instead staggered into Casalos’s dark vision. As if corroded by acid, only a few layers of skin covered the skull’s face, with deep and wide nostrils, huge dragon horns that curved forward and were segmented, and a thin and black body, indicating its identity. It was indeed a black dragon.

　An ancient dragon or a black dragon from ancient times, a black dragon with legendary spellcasting level!

　Casalos clicked its iron beak, shook its neck to stand up, raised its tail and wings, and assumed a battle stance, secretly preparing to summon a higher element.

　"No need to rush to your death, little dragon, we have plenty of time." The black dragon suddenly stopped moving forward, turned to the side, and slowly paced around Casalos as the center: "I won't let you successfully summon those abominable elemental creatures."

　A barrier suddenly rose, enveloping the entire plaza. The fluctuations of the magic network were smoothed out, the elemental power subsided, and the dragon's magic power no longer responded to the manipulation of spell-like abilities. The black dragon had already prepared an anti-magic barrier!

　After observing, it abandoned its spellcasting advantage and instead wanted to use its absolute physical advantage as an ancient dragon to completely overwhelm Casaroz in melee combat, just as Casaroz overwhelmed the drow dragon, green dragon, and orange dragon.

　The black dragon was not in a hurry at all, because it was confident of victory.