"That's it, we’re done. Melinda's father will get the prize before us," Ariana said. “How did they figure out it’s there?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Peter said. “We’re left with only one choice: we contribute to the fight, hoping to clear the quest regardless."
"We have to bring Jack,” Naomi said. “He's almost at rank four now. It will be suspicious if we don't bring him."
"So Jack is a must," Ariana said. "With Marius, we’re six. We need four more."
"Someone from Earth-Two who could pass for guards or students, other than Floor Two Pete and Jack," Regina said.
"I'll ask my double if he has some friends," Peter said.
"What about the teachers? Sports is Body seven," Naomi said.
"The teachers will get in our way," Peter objected. "And Melinda said to choose students and guards."
"You sort it out; I'm on guard duty for the day," Marius said, rising.
"I'll go speak with Floor Two me," Peter said, kissing Regina on the cheek.
“Take care,” she replied with a peck on his lips.
There was no need to sneak or waste time now. Warping twice to get to the same spot he always used, Peter peaked over the dune.
What the heck?
Aside from the bartender and Peter, there was a third person there, one he knew well: Redroar. He approached, waving his arm and clearing his voice to make himself notice. Startling the barbarian was not the best idea.
'Howdy," Redroar said, raising a mug of beer.
"What are you doing here?"
She avoided his eyes. "I'm here for a gig. Need some money,"
"Really? What have you done with all that loot?"
"We bought a large mansion with a pool and put the rest into a college fund… You have no idea how much a good education costs nowadays."
"If you need work, we're going into the fog tonight,” Peter said. “We're not going to fight," he rushed to add because she was grimacing. "We'll be paid just to process the carcass of a beast for a high-level cultivator. You know how lazy they are."
"Very well. What hour do you start?"
"I hired her to hunt down a group of bandits who robbed one of our storages," Peter from Two interjected.
"I can do them tomorrow," Redroar waved her hand. "Questing with Peter pays well."
The doppelganger scratched his cheek. “True… Do you need me as well?”
"Sorry, but It would be impossible to explain our resemblance. As for her… dunno, I’ll bribe our head of security to say he hired a local as a temp or something…”
"I'll show you something,” Peter’s double said, taking out the injector gun, inserting a shot, and using it on himself. In less than a minute, the doppelganger changed into a bald man, looking forty. “A disguise skill, made into a separate injection. It would work over a class shot, but given separately, it should work on her too.”
"It'll do," Peter nodded. "Is your Jack available?”
“Should be.”
“Great. I need only one more person."
"Don't look at me," the bartender raised his hands. “Old Jimmy is done with adventuring. One day, I’ll tell you about my life as a—"
"Be at the camp before the sun sets. See ya later," Peter said and jumped away. All the chat had taken a couple of minutes, so he regrouped with the others. "I had a stroke of luck; Redroar, Peter Two, and Jack Two will join.”
“Peter, Peter, Peter…” Ariana sighed like every time he was about to launch into a scolding rant.
Before she could engage, Peter blurted in one breath: “They have a way to disguise themselves. There’s only the matter of filling the last spot. That’s a tough one.”
“What about Kostel?” Naomi asked. “He still has a System, even if he doesn’t know.”
“Melinda hinted she doesn’t want him in the group. Li would probably kill him… And we’re not murderers, to put someone in danger only to have our ways with a certain sexy teacher, right, Ariana?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Ariana protested, shaking her hands in negation. “I didn’t say anything.”
“There was a brief moment of evil in your eyes. I know you well enough… Oh, I have an idea. Wait here!”
This time, Peter Warped only for a small distance, then ran on foot because the destination was nearby: the Dayak camp. The guards saw him well before he reached the enclosure and shouted something. The chief was already at the gate when Peter arrived.
"What are you doing here?" the older man said abruptly, frowning at the younger man.
"A rank ten cultivator will take us to hunt a dragon. He’ll do all the fighting; we’re the packers. There's a spot on the team. Are you in?" Peter said with the same bluntness.
"A dragon? Wait... That must be the final quest. Have you cleared all three previous stages?”
"Yes. You?"
"Only the first two. A town based on the Mu continent, then a missionary encampment, but we got stuck at the school."
"Yeah... school was hard..."
"You don’t need to tell me," the chief groaned. "Tests of advanced math… We ate a teacher thinking it would trigger an exploit, but it didn't."
So, the challenges were different for each group…
“It was a construct; we don’t eat real people anymore,” a guard rushed to say.
"So, you in?" Peter asked.
"Take my granddaughter," the chief pointed to a kid following the conversation from twenty feet away. "If there's any reward worth the effort, a young'un should have it."
“Is she able to fight?” Peter asked. The girl looked around fourteen or a bit older, but asking for her age would have been impolite.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“She’s a good tracker and could spot hidden treasures or traps a mile away. We wouldn’t have cleared Mu without her.”
"We start after sunset," Peter said curtly.
"Duh! The fog doesn't activate before that," the girl said in a slightly snarly tone.
"Come to our camp before that," Peter said.
The group gathered outside as the sun shone its last rays of the day. Peter struggled to keep his cool, holding his right wrist with his left hand because he would have facepalmed every few seconds without it. Redroar and the doppelgangers looked the same: three bald, middle-aged men, their expressions bland and dull. It was almost worse than if they had kept their normal appearance.
Then, Grandmaster Li zapped himself down near them.
"The team is to enter this circle," the Cultivator said, making a sign in the air. A sparkling shiny line appeared on the grass, fifteen feet in diameter. A brief light blinded them, and then they reappeared on a mountain in the depths of the fog.
The surroundings were eerie yet beautiful. For a mile around, there was no fog; the sky was clear, and the three moons shone almost as strong as daylight. The mountain and plains were covered in a maple forest, donning vivid fall colors. In a valley bellow was a cavern, a hundred-foot-high hole in the stone, the darkness hiding what was inside.
"Wait here. It won't be long," Grandmaster Li said, disappearing to reappear in front of the cave. He tried to enter it, but a forcefield blocked his way. Stepping through the light, a dwarf appeared from the cave, a medieval one-handed knight sword in hand.
“Are you here to confront Fafnir the Dragon, stranger?” the dwarf asked.
“I am. Move out of my way,” Li bellowed.
This cutscene is unskippable.
“Everyone sees this?” Peter asked, and the rest nodded.
“I’m Regin, and this is the sword Balmung,” the dwarf continued. “I have stolen it from the dragon horde, but my strength is too weak to confront the invulnerable beast. Will you be the hero to carry it in my stead?”
The party can accept or reject using the enchanted sword Balmung during the fight.
“Take the sword!” Peter yelled. “It’s the only thing that can kill the dragon.”
“Shut up, moron, you don’t tell a rank ten Cultivator what to do!” Jack hissed.
The party has agreed to use the enchanted sword, Balmung, in their fight.
The blade disappeared from the dwarf’s hands, reappearing in a sheath tied to Li’s belt. Then, both the dwarf and the force field vanished.
“Don’t interfere anymore, student,” Li proclaimed, shooting lightning bolts inside the cave. A tremendous roar replied, making the mountain shake.
The wyrm walked out, endless. It was over three hundred feet long and thirty wide. Ignoring the bolts, it tried to snap its jaws around the cultivator. Li zapped up in the air, continuing his bombardment. The dragon took flight as easily, albeit it had no wings.
The two engaged in battle, throwing fire and electricity at each other, moving so fast only a giant swirl could be seen. Five minutes passed, then ten.
"It takes too long," Alchemy whispered. She was worried; that much was clear.
Grandmaster Li reappeared next to them, riding the lightning as usual. Blood was pouring out of his eyes, ears, and nostrils.
"It's nothing!" he screamed at Melinda, who was opening her mouth, about to scream in panic. "Qi-potion. Now."
With trembling hands, she offered him a bottle. Drinking it in one gulp, the man vanished. The fight in the sky renewed with more intensity, thunders and plumes of smoke and fire chasing each other. It went on for another five minutes. The wait was both terrifying and boring.
"I need to help," Alchemy yelped and took off, flying toward the battle.
"We have to help Melinda," Ariana pleaded.
“I know, but they’re too far,” Peter complained. He could have Warped up and shot at the dragon, but that meant revealing his skills to the cultivators.
"Let’s loot the cave while they fight," Marius suggested.
"We have to help Melinda!” Ariana hissed.
“She’s right. We have to engage somehow to clear the quest, remember?” Naomi said.
"I’ll try to heal them," Regina said, pulling out two blank straw dolls and putting on one a black tuff of spider hair and on the other a white whig. The Dayak girl joined her, whispering something over the dolls.
Luckily, in the next two minutes, the battle approached at about three hundred feet. Marius and the three bald men produced ranged weapons and started to take potshots at the dragon, who ignored them. Peter could not tell who was who but could guess the one using a crossbow was Redroar.
Ariana and Naomi were throwing qi-bolts also without any visible effect. It was time to lend his help. Peter had his three javelins on his back. He picked one and threw it at the dragon, adding Kinetic Impulse and Guidance. It hit the center mass of the beast but bounced away.
Meanwhile, Jack had unpacked a sniper gun, which he had brought in a case, and a tripod. "And that’s how you do it," he gloated after his shot hit one of the dragon’s eyes, destroying it.
"Good shot, Jack," Regina said, to Peter's annoyance.
“Biathlon champion, eh eh eh,” the boy continued bragging.
The dragon roared, visibly displeased, and turned his head toward the group.
“Let’s scram,” Ariana blurted. The beast had opened its jaws, and a white ball of fire formed within.
“Use the sword! Use the sword!” Peter yelled as loud as he could, preparing to Warp himself and everybody away, never mind revealing his powers.
Profiting from the dragon’s distraction, Grandmaster Li zapped himself forward and swung the sword, adding an electric arc, beheading the wyrm in one clean swipe. Suddenly, there were no more roars or thunders, only a deafening silence. The dragon’s parts crashed onto the plain seconds later, making the mountain tremble. All around them, the maple trees shook, their leaves falling in a gracious dance before covering the ground in a blanket of auburn and gold.
Fafnir the Dragon has been slain. You have gained a level, was the message Peter received.
Then Li arrived. His white hair was half burned and half covered in soot, and the sword in his hand was corroded, melting. "Who insisted on using the sword?" the Cultivator bellowed, throwing the destroyed weapon away.
"This humble Wild Mage did, Grandmaster," Peter bowed.
"How did you know nothing but that blade could kill it?"
"This place is similar to a human legend, Grandmaster," Peter said, keeping his back bent and his eyes on the ground.
"You were right. I will award you ten ounces of gold," the Grandmaster said. “The same to the boy who took the shot, distracting the monster.”
Meanwhile, Melinda had landed behind her father. She was mostly untouched but looked very tired. "Who healed us from such a great distance?" she asked.
Regina and the Dayak girl took a step forward.
Melinda nodded. "Good job. I'll gift you both a golden qi-advancement pill when we return. The rest will receive double the standard pay, five ounces of gold."
One of the triplets growled. It was Redroar, for sure, and Peter elbowed her. "We're most grateful for your generosity, Grandmaster," he said.
With a hand gesture, Li made another light circle appear, and then they were on the plains near the dragon's body. Blood sipped out like a stream from its neck, gathering in a pool, following an indentation in the ground. The maple leaves were starting to grow in a deep rug, their feet making rustling sounds as the group approached the carcass. On the way, Peter collected his spear from the ground.
The Cultivator flew into the cave and reappeared seconds later. "There’s no hoard in there... no artifact, nothing… How can this be?" he frowned.
"Grandmaster!" Peter raised his hand, speaking slowly. "The stories say that if one bathes naked in the dragon's blood, their skin will become impenetrable to any attack. Maybe that’s the reward."
"You're killing me!" a bald man whispered. "Why tell him, idiot?"
This one must be my double.
"Melinda, you bathe," Li gestured.
The young woman hesitated, looking around. Her thoughts were obvious: Undressing with so many people was awkward.
"Turn around until I say else. Whoever looks at my daughter's beauty will be slain!" Li roared.
“Shoot,” Marius grumbled.
A minute later, Melinda shouted: "Father, I can't approach it. It's burning."
"Too much qi… Your chance will come another time. I'll do it."
There were faint noises, clothes being put back on, Melinda, then Li undressing. They waited and waited some more.
“You can turn,” Grandmaster Li ordered. His combat robes—the cultivator equivalent of light armor—were still torn, but the man's skin and hair were fully healed and beaming, a show of perfection. The blood pool was nowhere to be seen.
"I feel an artifact," Li said, floating to the dragon's head. A ring as wide as a car wheel was fixed in a nostril. The Cultivator touched it, and it diminished in size when the Cultivator touched it and went on his index.
Grandmaster Li has claimed the prizes Invulnerability (subject to conditions) and Overlord’s Ring: the One Ring to Rule all the Floors (subject to conditions). This item enhances the wearer’s strength twelvefold.
“What the heck are floors?” Jack asked in a low voice.
“A metaphor for ranks,” Melinda rushed to say. Evidently, the cultivators weren’t keen to reveal the Tower.
"Good job, Wild Magic user. Another two gold ounces are granted to you,” Li beamed, fidgeting his fingers to look at the ring. Creasing his nose, he tried to fix it better, then moved it on another finger, but it was too loose and slipped away every time. Extracting a golden chain from an invisible inventory, he put the ring on it and pulled it over his neck. “Stay here and search for the core. If there is more loot from the carcass, use this storage," he threw a bag on the ground. "Message Melinda when you’re done." Saying that, he disappeared, taking Melinda with him.
"I should have taken the bounties," the bald man that was Redroar complained. "This is peanuts."
"Powers bring responsibility. We work for the greater good," Jack said.
"Indeed," one of the disguised sneered. "Now Grandmaster Li is immune to damage. How lucky we are to have contributed to his greatness."
You think so, Nancy Drew?