Path of Dragons 14 - Chapter 10 - Understanding

Elijah stood in the forest surrounding Ironshore, hesitating for a moment before fully committing to the path he’d chosen.  It would have been so easy to simply turn away, to head back to the island and continue to relax.  Most people would have done just that, and they would have been grateful for the lack of conflict.

But Elijah wasn’t built that way.

Not only did he feel the weight of necessity bearing down on him, but the pressure of idle days had continued to build over the past couple of weeks.  And it was suffocating.  After spending years – no, decades – in nearly constant motion, the idea of simply doing nothing was too much for him to bear.

Still, he hesitated.

There was a reason no one had attacked Olaf Bruener and his warband.  Politics stayed everyone’s hands.  After all, he was not just a two-bit warlord.  He was the leader of a powerful faction.  While justified, going after him would tax anyone’s resources.  And that wasn’t even considering the fact that he had allies.  Other like-minded people who would doubtless step in to assist in any war.

It wasn’t so different from how the world treated dictators in the old world.  There were plenty of leaders out there who were guilty of blatant violations of human rights.  Plenty who’d slaughtered their own people and committed so many atrocities that even the history books lost count.  And yet, they were allowed to remain in power because of politics and the threat of total war.

In the end, Elijah didn’t care about any of that, though. 

He was a dragon, and dragons knew only one response to a challenge.  If someone wronged him or threatened his people, he would counter with overwhelming force.  He’d done it before, and he intended to do it again. 

His fear of idleness was only a small part of that choice.

That moment of hesitation lasted for less than a minute before he initiated the transformation into the Shape of the World Serpent.  After his time in the void, the form was just as comfortable as any other, and he soon found himself slithering into the sky.  Once he’d oriented himself in the proper direction, he used Dimensional Leap.

Slipping back into the void felt like putting on an old, well-worn pair of boots, and he barely noticed the omnidirectional pressure that came with it.  It only lasted a few seconds, but when he popped back into Earth’s atmosphere, he found himself sailing over a familiar swamp.

Part of him considered landing and visiting Konstantino and the children.  As far as Elijah knew, they still lived there.  But then he remembered how much time had passed.  For all he knew, the Alchemist and his wife were already dead from old age.  After all, neither had been young when the world had changed.  And as powerful as cultivation and leveling could be when it came to a person’s longevity, it couldn’t reverse the effects of age.  Not after they’d already set in. 

Elijah chose not to find out for certain, even convincing himself that he was avoiding them in order to focus on his chosen mission.

It was a lie.

But it was just plausible enough that he let himself believe it.

Although, that moment of hesitation did remind him that he had a couple of things he needed to take care of before he fought any more battles.  Well, one thing, but with two parts.  And that would lead to something else that he’d avoided since returning home. 

Marshalling his willpower, Elijah landed just on the other side of the swamp.  The region was still damp and bog-ridden, but there was still plenty of dry land.  Upon touching down, he shifted back into his human form and strode toward a porous, black boulder.  Once there, he turned his attention to a notification that had been begging for his attention ever since he’d fully reconnected with the system.

Congratulations!  You have conquered the Labyrinth of Dead Gods.  Grade: A

Claim your reward?

[Yes] or [No]

Elijah had looked upon that notification on multiple occasions, but he’d yet to accept the reward.  Partially, because he’d been trying to relax and reconnect with friends and family.  But mostly?  Because it would necessitate a visit to Argos to have Atticus identify the product of that notification.

The transformation he’d seen in Ironshore and his grove were overwhelming enough.  Everyone had changed.  People had passed away.  It was easy to think of those people as mere acquaintances, but discovering that Mari, the Tailor, Sue Anne, the Cook, and Colt had all died was a difficult blow to handle.

To a degree, their deaths just highlighted something he’d yet to internalize.  He lived on an entirely different time scale than most people.  In the three decades he’d been in the void, Elijah had changed, and enough that he felt like an entirely different person.  But he hadn’t really aged.

Meanwhile, people on Earth had moved on with their lives.  And their deaths.  It was bad enough seeing that his nephew was married Hope and had become a father, but adding deaths to the mix just reminded Elijah that every step he took forward would serve to separate him from normal people.

He was a demi-god, and he felt the existential weight of all that designation entailed. 

But he wasn’t alone.  Not really.  He had friends and family who’d taken those same steps.  They wouldn’t live as long as him – because of his body cultivation – but their lives would be measured in centuries. 

That would have to be enough.

Still, his shifting perspective made Earth’s transformation seem all the more jarring.  And he knew that visiting Argos would worsen that feeling.  So, he’d avoided it.  But continuing to do so would be counterproductive to his current mission, so he decided to bite the proverbial bullet and do what needed to be done.

He accepted his rewards.

Reward for conquering the Labyrinth of Dead Gods:

Armor of the Wild Revenant

As Elijah read that notification, a golden chest manifested before him.  The edges were trimmed in blue that extended across its surface in the form of runes.  They were complex enough that, despite Elijah’s decades-long experience with glyphs and symbols of power, he had no chance of understanding them.

But he did know enough to recognize the power of what he didn’t understand.  After spending so much time growing runes, it was easy to consider himself an expert.  The symbols on that chest showed him just how far he was from claiming that title.  Mastery would be the work of millennia.  Eras.  Epochs.  Whatever designation came after that. 

Elijah had barely scratched the surface of what was possible.

He opened the chest to reveal a white garment.  When he unfurled it, he saw a few important details.  The first was that, though it was made mostly of cloth, it featured stretches of white leather that felt simultaneously pliable and incredibly durable.  It only took a second for Elijah to recognize those pieces as armor plating that would protect his most viable parts.

Second, it was obviously meant for his torso, and unless Elijah was missing something, it would be quite a snug fit. 

And finally, it was covered with vine-like runes that reminded him of Treebie’s roots.  There were differences, of course.  Treebie’s growth was planned, but there was still a wild aspect about it.  The armor’s green runes were far more intentional and much more precise. 

Clearly, they were the work of a master Tradesman.

Elijah set it aside.  He could feel that it was a powerful piece, but he’d long ago vowed to never equip a piece of equipment without having it identified first.  After all, he still remembered the False Dragon Fang Carmen had crafted for Roman.  It had come with a nasty curse that sent the already-unstable man careening over a cliff of insanity. 

Elijah would not make such a mistake.

Instead, after he inspected the armor piece, he sent it into his Arcane Loop and focused on the second chest, which came with another notification:

Reward for conquering the Labyrinth of Dead Gods:

Chausses of the Wild Revenant

Even as the other chest appeared – this one silver, with gold trim – the first dissipated into motes of ethera.  Elijah opened the second chest to reveal a pair of white pants.  They were clearly meant to match the rest of the Wild Revenant set, because they were covered in the same green runes that Elijah belatedly realized followed the same rough pattern as his scales.

It did prompt the question of whether or not he finally had the entire set, though. 

Maybe Atticus could provide that answer. 

So, after sending the pants to his Arcane Loop, Elijah shifted back into the Shape of the World Serpent and headed toward Argos.  The area was familiar to him, so once he’d established a few landmarks, his journey was fairly quick.

However, he did pass near more than a few adventurers that panicked at his appearance.  Thankfully, they knew better than to attack.  Elijah would just continue on his way, but if they tried their luck against a truly powerful beast, they’d be devoured. 

In the end, it took less than an hour for Elijah to catch sight of Argos.  When he did, he landed and shifted into the Shape of the Scourge and adopted Guise of the Stalker.  All but invisible, he sprinted across the hills surrounding the city until he came within a couple of miles. 

Only then did he return to his human form so he could approach Argos without inciting panic.

Could he have entered the city undetected?  Almost certainly.  But he saw no reason to do so.

Even from a distance, Elijah could tell that the city had changed.  He’d expected as much, but the degree to which it had transformed was frustrating to behold.  Enormous skyscrapers of worked stone jutted into the sky, creating an impressive skyline that would have put most modern cities to shame.

Ringing it was a wall that clearly traced its inspiration back to the Middle East.  The structure itself was solid enough, but it was dotted by a continuous line of pointed arches, the interior of which were characterized by intricately woven and geometric carvings that Elijah recognized as girih. 

Despite Argos being a Greek city, the middle eastern flair fit.

And the stone buildings beyond were beautiful, in their own way.  Elijah could admit that much.  However, what he found frustrating about the skyline was the fact that he barely recognized the city for which he’d come to care so much.  He’d always felt a connection to Argos that exceeded even the one he felt with Ironshore.  The only place he’d ever felt more at home was his grove.

And now, it wasn’t even recognizable.

A wide road stretched toward one of the city’s four main gates.  From what he knew, that road wound its way all the way through the mountains and to Ironshore.  As such, it was a major thoroughfare for trade, as evidenced by the line of wagons and trucks extending from the gate. 

There were lone travelers there as well.  Everyone waited patiently.  As Elijah approached, he saw a line of stalls manned by enterprising vendors who took advantage of the long wait, catering to the needs of the impatient travelers.  Mostly, with food.  But there were other goods on offer as well.

Elijah couldn’t help but smile at that.

Argos had always been a merchant city, and that attitude clearly persisted.  It gave him hope that, even if things changed, some things never would.

He suspected that, had he wanted to, he could have skipped to the head of the line.  But he chose to enter the city like everyone else.  Maybe he just wanted to pretend he was normal – at least for a little while longer.  Or perhaps it was a delaying tactic.  Either way, it took almost two hours before Elijah’s turn to enter the city arrived.

The gate was manned by dozens of men and women clad in beige uniforms.  They all carried weapons, though the shape of their armaments tended to vary.  Every single one of them had a pistol – likely from Seattle – at their hips, but the other arms varied. The guards carried swords, spears, daggers, or even shields, their choices likely dependent on their classes.

The whole set-up reminded Elijah of customs checkpoints, with individual travelers directed toward a series of well-marked lines.  Meanwhile, the trucks and wagons – or handcarts, in some cases – went to the other side of the enormous gate.  It was at least fifty yards wide, big enough to make Elijah wonder how they managed to seal it. 

Magic, he supposed.

In any case, it eventually came his turn, as evidenced by the bored-seeming guard shouting, “Next!”

When Elijah stepped forward, she greeted him with an uninterested and unfocused gaze.  Then, something flashed in her eyes.  Elijah suspected she’d used some sort of identification ability, because her jaw dropped a second later.

She sputtered something unintelligible.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t hear that.”

“Uh…are you visiting Argos on business or pleasure?  Sir.”

“Bit of both,” he answered.  “I’m here to see a friend, but I’m hoping he can help me out with some business, too.”

“Y-your friend’s name?” she asked, holding a tablet.  Clearly, it was a rote question asked of any entrant. 

“Atticus Ariti.”

“Oh.  Uh…okay.  I’ll just…yeah,” she said.  Then, she glanced away.  “I think I need to get my supervisor.  Sir.  Um…please wait here.”

“I’ve got nothing but time,” Elijah said.