Last Minute Preparations

Thanks to my little half-time show wardrobe malfunction, a healthy dose of awkward interaction followed as I got dressed in my spare clothing. After Rionriv's beratement and accusations of perversion, mixed with Aesandoral's bashful glances and flushed cheeks, with a sprinkling of Sharzin's giggles and typical quiet observation of everyone else's actions, it was finally time to begin looting the third level. Agreeing to work in pairs, we carefully split up and began our sweeps.

Sharzin and I had agreed to take the haunted half of the facility in the event we came across any more ghosts or ghoulies. This decision also came at my recommendation, since I had a better idea of what other buried ancient arcanotech might have been useful. Talir’sahn had been ages ahead of the neighbouring nations before its destruction, as the girls discovered by the magical computing system and security cameras that now observed every level of the facility. To them, a piece of ancient technology may look like a hunk of useless junk, but to me, I knew its secrets.

I had yet to tell them about what I had seen in those moments before combat, as that was more of a supper conversation. So until then, I stuffed my bottomless bag with relics and riches, including numerous high-quality weapons, crates of untouched potions and even more money.

It had come to the final room of mine and Sharzin's zone, and as I reached my hand into an empty drawer, I felt something that wasn't supposed to be there. Gripping firmly around the fifth purse so full of golden coins that they spilled from the top, I gently shook my head and chuckled.

"Damn, dude," I mumbled to myself, reaching back in for the fallen riches. "I think I may have seriously underestimated just how much we would yield from this adventure. Even without selling the found loot, we already cleared the two thousand gold a piece promise I had made."

“Iz," Sharzin announced as she popped up from her pile of rubble with a flat slab of metal and crystal about the size of a book. "Another scry-thingy.”

“Sweet, thanks,” I replied, taking it into my hands and inspecting it. "That makes what? Three?"

"Four."

"All these scrypads and not a single charger. Jeeze, that's bad luck."

The scrypad was a device similar to the World Eighty-Two item of a comparable name. And though magical and containing more features, it functioned much the same. The object was first conceived in the Age of Mortals before the Great Cataclysm destroyed Westerriton. The people of Talir’sahn, aiming to surpass their ancient predecessors, recreated their arcanotech using the fragmented remains of those original devices found buried in the sands surrounding the city's remnant.

With a scrypad and proper knowledge of how to utilize the magical software, it was possible to control various arcane machines worldwide that had been left dormant for thousands of years. And once the remnant at the heart of the desert crater was broken into and powered back up by Shatter, the arcano tablet could be used to gain access to the intranexilore: a repository of all mortal knowledge.

Clicking the small multifaceted gemstone fixed into the bottom of the tablet, nothing happened. As with all the previous scrypads, no magical energy remained in the power source and without a proper charger to restore its arcane battery, it was nothing more than an interesting artifact. 

“Another bust.” I groaned, tossing the fourth scrypad into the bag. “They just don’t make arcane crystals like they used to.”

Now, I of course knew that aside from the chronolocked portion of Talir’sahn and the Remnant of Westerriton, there was only one remaining universal charger in this world. I even knew where it was at that very moment. The downside was that it accompanied the one person in Moal’aw with a functional scrypad. And its current owner? Lemon Poppy Seed, the edgy faerie of the heroic triop.

Maybe if I stole it for an evening while she slept—

“Well, that’s everything,” Sharzin spoke up, interrupting my lore-compromising plan. "You good on your end?"

Jumping up to the half-broken table nearest her, she sat and wiped at her brow. Sharzin then turned her head towards me, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her eying my body. A small smirk crossed her lips as she released a soft giggle, her pale cheeks flushing with a rosy colour. Quickly, she looked away, trying to keep the moment a secret, even though it was already too late.

"Hey!" I snapped, pulling my face out from my corner of rubble and trash.

“Sorry.” The rogue replied with a glance my way. "It's just weird seeing you not standing...erect."

“Could we not! Please,” I whined, having been doing my best to forget about what had happened. “It was—no, it wasn’t anything. Let’s just chalk it up to a collective hallucination from the succubus’ natural pheromones.”

“Those weren’t the only moans.”

“Sharzin!”

With a kick of her feet, she leapt from the table and landed on the ground before wandering towards the door. Looking back at me, she nodded towards the hall and smirked.

"I'm going to head back to the control room." She announced to me as I watched a devious smile cross her lips. "You coming? Again?"

"Sharzin! You little shit disturber."

"Aww, am I torturing you?" Sharzin continued with her evil smile, placing her fingers against her temples like tiny horns. "Don't get too turned on."

Finishing up my search, I stuffed the last coin into my bag and huffed before following after the rogue. Unfortunately, even though I asked, she wouldn't let up with the playful jabs all the way back to the command center. And while I didn't hate it, it did slowly wear me down emotionally. So much so that as we arrived back at our camp and moved through the door, I was even more excited to see Aesandoral and Rionriv resting in the center of the room where they had begun to make the campfire.

“Hey, how’d it go?” I asked, finally having the opportunity to direct my attention towards someone other than the tiny teasing terror.

“Good,” Rionriv answered, looking me up and down. “Surprised you still have your pants on.”

Uuuuuggggghhhh! I groaned internally, rubbing a hand against my face. Why, God?! Or, I guess I should be saying Gods now, like a good cleric. Why Gods?!

“Ri!” Aesandoral scolded in a hushed tone, trying to hide her blushing face. "Don't tease him."

“Well, monsters shouldn’t get him so flustered.” She nodded towards my crotch. "Honestly, who falls for that?"

“Hey, don’t shame me!”

“I don’t think it's possible. You’re shameless.” She smirked at her own comment.

“Could we just drop it, please?” I asked, trying to change the subject of the current conversation. "Let's get camp fully set up and supper going. Then there's something I want to chat about."

"Oh Gods," Sharzin gasped, looking to Rionriv and then back to me. "Did you contract a devilish disease from fooling around with the succubus? Iz—"

"Iz, we're here for you." Rionriv joined in. "Taboo perversions or not—"

"No! Gah! You two are insufferable!"

Slowly but surely, I navigated the triop away from a monster-girl intervention discussion towards a talk that was actually needed. This was, of course, after more obligatory teasing and preparation of our beddings for the night. As Sharzin prepared the food for us, Rionriv and I sorted through the newest influx of loot. Placing everything out before the magical fire, we examined the newest additions to our stockpile as food was distributed to each of us.

And that was when I decided to deliver the news.

"So, before the boss battle, I—"

"Had a hankering for a devilish desire?" Sharzin cut in.

"No, stop. Enough, real talk now," I cut her off. "I saw something in the cycling facility feed. It showed the sand docks and the creature that scared away the chimera."

With this revelation, the group's light mood quickly shifted as everyone became quiet. I watched as they lowered their food, their faces becoming rigid as they locked eyes with mine. My heart began to beat faster, anxiety settling in my chest in response to their undivided attention.

"And?" Rionriv asked. "What was it, Iz?"

"Th-the creature at the end of the dungeon," I stammered before swallowing the knot in my throat and continuing. "Is a young dragon—a-a young obsidian black dragon."

The triop gasped as Aesandoral and Sharzin turned their stares to Rionriv, who, in turn, looked to me.

"Y-you're sure?" She spoke softly, her trembling voice betraying the strong expression she wore. "Y-you're absolutely positive that's what you saw?"

I held my breath as I stared at Rionriv. No matter how strong she appeared to be, it wasn't hard to see the fear growing behind her eyes. After all, this wasn't campus. There was no scholastic parachute to catch her or the rest of her triop if they went down. And this wasn't a student LARPer, this was real life. This was a dragon.

"Yes," I eventually replied. "At the bottom of this dungeon is a dragon."

Shifting my glance over to Aesandoral, I stared at her bloody, burnt face as she stared down at her wolves. Moose and Ruckus, sensing her unease, had rested their heads in her lap where they stared up at her with wanting eyes. She softly rubbed at their heads as the look of uncertainty washed over her face.

Beside her, Sharzin pulled the cloak tight around her shoulders. Burrowed deep into the obscuring fabric, her playful, teasing nature had disappeared, replaced by the reserved mentality she normally presented. All I could see poking from her disguise was her diamond gaze and the thin strip of alabaster skin as it stared down at the meal in her hands.

"You can say no," I reminded Rionriv, pulling everyone's attention to me. "We've cleared the dungeon. We've slain the chimera. We've got plenty of artifacts to prove it. By Al'magi's standards, we've completed the task at hand. Slaying a dragon was never—"

"I know," She responded sharply. "I know that! But we—we're so close. Close to the end...to clearing this entire dungeon."

"It would mean nothing if we die in the process and can't share the information we've learned. Think about your triop—"

"I am always thinking about them!" Rionriv screamed in reply, her ferocity coming to the surface as she shot me a terrified glare. "I-I'm always thinking about them. And their safety. And their needs. That's why—"

The sorceress choked on her words. Clenching her fists in her lap, she exhaled a frustrated breath as tears began to splash against her blouse.

"W-which is why..." She continued softly. "W-why, I think we should cut our losses and—"

"Ri," Aesandoral spoke up. "Before you say anything else. I think, as a triop, we should all have equal say in this decision."

I looked over at the elf's determined face as she stared down her sister. Aesandoral's gaze shifted between Sharzin and me, flashing me a soft smile, before looking back to her sister.

"I know Ishara permitted you to decide, but we've all shed blood, sweat, and tears in this dungeon. As a group, we should have equal say in how we end this quest."

"Well, I say we leave," Sharzin spoke from beneath the safety of her cloak, drawing everyone's attention. "There's no way we can take on a dragon. Young or not. We're only Second Years and, at the very most, were a well-trained 'E' rank or potentially 'D' Rank group. Dragons are at least a 'C' Rank kill quest."

Aesandoral reached over, touching Sharzin's shoulder before gently gripping it. This drew the rogue's gaze as the two locked eyes and weakly smiled at each other.

"Thank you, Sharzin," She replied kindly. "Thank you for your opinion. That makes one for flight. I, on the other hand, think that we've got this and should fight. We were nervous about the chimera before we killed it with ease. Then there was the bandit leader we had no hope of defeating, but we won there as well. And then the frangulnoas, an entire cavern of them, and the boss duo at the same time. I think if we plan before we take on the dragon, we'd have a real good chance of winning."

The moment came when Aesandoral looked at me. My heart began to race as the thought crossed my mind of what I wanted to do. There was no doubt that I was terrified to fight a dragon. It had not been on the menu for this dungeon dive, and I personally would prefer to keep my new life. But, I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit that the prospect was tempting. To be a dragonslayer at sixteen was more impressive than anything Tahvin had done with his life. 

Then again, this was not my decision to make. So, seeing her eyes lock with mine, I immediately held up my hands before gently pointing in Rionriv's direction. 

"Hey, whoa," I spoke quickly. "I-I'm good either way. This is your school project, and you're currently at one-and-one. I think the final vote should go to your de facto leader."

Rionriv looked to me, her watery eyes glittering in the light of the magical flame as a soft smile crossed her lips. Even without words, I could see the appreciative look in her expression. Taking a deep breath, she directed her gaze to her triop with a nod.

"We're going to fight the dragon," The sorceress said confidently. "And we're going to win."

And with that statement, the topic was settled. Spending the rest of our evening around the campfire, we began reevaluating our strategy for the upcoming dragon battle. This involved reworking the original plan, fairly distributing the spoils of the most recent looting excursions, and taking stock of our healing potions.

We continued to enjoy Talir’sahn Fried Lizard as we worked, occasionally throwing bits of meat to the pets we had acquired. Over the discussion, it was agreed that the animals would not join the upcoming fight. Since they weren’t trained for the level of combat we were expecting, it would have been irresponsible to risk their lives unnecessarily. And, personally, I feared that they would only distract us from the threat at hand.

The plan was relatively simple. Leaving the pets in the command center, we would take the supplies elevator down to the subterranean sand docks. From there, Sharzin and I would sneak along the cavern walls to a nearby crevice to provide us cover behind a handful of fallen boulders. Meanwhile, Aesandoral would take her time setting up in a flanking position on the opposite side of the docks, keeping herself hidden until I engaged with the dragon.

I explained to them that the young dragon, which was not nearly as tough as its older forms, would likely keep itself submerged in the sand, only raising its head to use its acid spray as its primary method of attack. Since I wasn’t particularly fond of rolling around in acid for fun, Rionriv would cast her elemental protection magic on me to guarantee I could tank the damage without turning into a puddle of sizzling goo.

Then, after I lured it in by walking on the sand, we would ambush the dragon. Our archers would fill it full of arrows, and I’d give it a few good, well-placed smacks with my staff. Once it was nearing its limit and began to flee, Rionriv would cut off the exit and deliver the final blow with her supercharged lightning.

“Which should be even more potent with this.” She remarked, sloshing around a looted potion that she insisted would increase the effectiveness of her electrical output.

“Right,” I replied, hoisting my potion into the air and looking to Sharzin. “And ours will help as well.”

We had also adjusted the original plan to take advantage of a few old potions we had looted to give us a bit of a boon. Sharzin, in the moments before combat was initiated, would drink a potion of precision, which we all assumed would give her the best chances to strike the dragon’s vital weak spots. I, on the other hand, would consume a potion of greater strength to give my punches more power behind them.

“I wish that my potion were cool like both of yours.” Aesandoral pouted.

“You can snipe at super long ranges. I think your elixir of clarity will do you well. Plus, with your already enhanced vision, you’ll be our eyes and ears at detecting the shifting sand through the fog.”

“I guess.”

Glancing over everyone, I gave my nod of approval. It was a perfect plan, and when all went well, we’d be able to enjoy the young dragons' horde.

That was, if everything went well…