The sheer rage forced out a blue flame from Arthur’s throat, burning the head of an adventurer right off. Leaving him a headless corpse, that fell down onto the floor. The next second though a heavy net captured him, two people came up from behind him, holding him down in spite of his kicking and struggling and jerking.
You have slain a level 68 Battle Rogue.
You have gained a significant amount of experience.
Fire Breath has reached level 6.
You have reached level 13 in Crimson Dragon
The adventurers put a collar around his neck that weakened his body, making it feel so much heavier and sluggish. They threw him into a cage, locked it, and put a drape over it. In spite of the rage and fury that he felt, the most he could do was weakly push up against the steel bars.
Outside the adventurers laughed and cheered. It was a happy occasion for them, a big victory. That made the fury within Arthur boil up even more, but he couldn’t do anything. He was left to writhe and boil inside of the cage, to suffer. He tried to scream, but the most that came out were embarrassing squeaks.
After a couple of hours the carriage began to move. Arthur was gnawing on the steel bars trying to break free, but he wasn’t making any progress.
He spent the rest of the day in fury. It was an anger so raw and real and honest that everything else seemed like a lie. It seemed to come from beyond just his body, as if a manifestation of his soul.
The second day, he was filled with grief. It was so overwhelming he had a tough time breathing. He laid down on the cold steel floor, weeping to himself. The grief wouldn’t go away, sticking to him for the rest of the day.
He grew hungry and thirsty but that was nothing compared to the darkness. It removed any distraction from him, forcing him to rewatch the memory of his mother being killed. Each time he saw it the anger sparked, and the grief deepened. He would give anything for this to be over.
On the seventh day, they threw a cooked rabbit into his cage. At first he refused to eat, a protest against his treatment, but the smell kept tempting him and the hunger grew stronger and stronger. He knew he shouldn’t but that seemed to matter less and less, and then he ate it, basically swallowed it whole, and then he felt ashamed of himself for doing so.
On the fourteenth day, he was a wreck. The grief had tortured him out of his will to fight. All he wanted was for this to be over. He thought about suicide but he literally lacked the strength for that.
The sounds around him had changed. Gone were the sounds of the wheels of the carriage travelling over the dirt. There was lots of talk around him, as if he was surrounded by hundreds of people.
When they pulled the drape away from him, he found that he was surrounded by large buildings of stone, and that there was people as far as the eye could see. It was night, and the sky was filled with stars. Beside his cage stood two people, eyeing him and talking about him. One of them Arthur recognized as the man who killed his mother. He burned that face into his mind. There was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to burn it to the ground.
The other man was a short fellow with a tophat and a mean expression. They seemed to be arguing over something, but Arthur didn’t know what. Eventually, they shook hands and the drape was put on and the carriage kept moving.
When they removed the drape the next time, he was in a room filled with shiny objects, swords and shields, armour and crystals. There were even cages with other creatures in them. Arthur spotted a panther, and a large golden snake, and there was even a cage with another person in it.
They fed him well, or at least they tried to. Arthur tried to only eat the bare minimum, but upon his refusal to eat properly, a large man came into the cage and kept kicking him and pointing at the food until Arthur ate. It was good food too, tender meat in tasty spices that smelled divine.
A few days passed like this until one day a woman came in and washed him and oiled up his scales. He was also forced to drink a health potion so that he looked to be at the peak of his frame.
Throughout that same day, the items and creatures within the room were taken out one by one. Things kept moving until he stood alone in the room. He stood there for a couple of minutes before two very formally dressed people came in and rolled his cage towards wherever they had taken everything else.
He found himself on a stage with hundreds of people who were very finely dressed looking at him. He felt awkward standing up there. The people started raising their hands, seemingly at random. The process continued for several minutes until the short man from before shouted something, and he was wheeled off again.
A wizard came into the room and cast a spell on him, making him very sleepy, and then he went unconscious.
When he woke up he was chained up very tightly, and he could barely move any part of his body. Then the most physically painful process of his body began. Each and every one of scales were plucked off. He felt naked and bloody afterwards.
After that, he was put to sleep again, and when he woke up there was a different man in front of him. This time his wings were taken. Then he fell asleep again, and when he woke up there was somebody new in front of him. Like this, his teeth, his ability to breathe fire, his claws, his horns, his tail even, his blood was siphoned.
But the absolutely worst part happened at the end. He woke up, chained (like previously,) except there was ritual circles around him, and a bunch of men in cloaks surrounding him. They began chanting, and the worst pain he had ever experienced in his life filled him to the brim. Something from deep within him was being pulled right out. The world around him seemed to twist and bend, and if he had any food in his stomach it would have exited him.
Your species “Crimson Dragon” has turned into “Red Lizard.”
Level has been set to 1.
The skill fire breath has been lost.
The skill dragonic physique has been lost.
The skill flight has been lost.
He went unconscious.
And then he woke up in a cage, with a man in front of him.
“Hello there little dragon, or lizard now I suppose.”
It was words, that he could understand. That was novel enough to break him out of the protective daze he’d fallen into and listen to this man.
“You speak my language?”
“I am part dragon myself actually, nothing as a noteworthy or pristine as a crimson dragon. My parents were mere grass drakes. Nevertheless, you must be in quite rough shape.”
“...”
“Yeah I suppose that’s pretty evident. Do you know how much I got you for?”
“Got?”
“The price, your value.”
“I don’t know.”
“A couple of copper coins and a beer. I mean it was so cheap that I couldn’t help but take it, even though I was really only buying a lizard. You see everything of value of your has been stripped right off you.”
“So what are you going to take?”
“Looks like somebody catching on. Good job kid. But I am not here to take something from you, rather the intention is moreso to use you. See everybody thinks that you are entirely worthless, but that’s not entirely true.”
“Really?”
“Yes, your body used to host the class, or “species” as monsters call it, of a crimson drake. Do you know what that means? It means it has the capacity to host that class.”
“And?”
“Well, let me put it this way, what do you think would happen if we took a regular lizard and forced the class of a crimson drake into it?”
“You get a drake.”
“Maybe once for every million lizards. What happens to every other lizard is that they pop.”
“Pop?”
“Yes they quite literally explode. Their bodies and spirits and incapable of supporting the class. But you’re different. We already know that you’re capable of supporting a crimson drake class.”
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“So you’re going to give me my class back?”
“No, I’m going to put something better in there. I’m going to put a demon in there.”
“...” Arthur was silent for a couple of minutes before he continued speaking. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Of course kiddo:”
“Well, the truth is that I don’t really care for it all. My will to live has been exhausted.”
“Really?”
“I’d rather just die. I don’t see a point in it all.”
“Is that what your mother would want?”
“No, she’d want for me to be happy but that’s impossible now.”
“Happy? Happy! What do you think she would have done to somebody if they killed you.”
“... She’d burn them down.”
“At the bare minimum. I’m just guessing but I have a feeling that she’d burn down the city they were from as well. Now I’m telling you, that you should do the same for her, and I’m also telling you that I can give you the tools.”
“That’s a good point I guess, but what do you get out of it.”
“If this demon transfusion works, which is a very large if, you’ll be quite a particular creature. You’d be about 10x stronger than an average lizard. Then as you grow, your demon will grow with you. If, and again it is a very large if, you evolve back into a dragon, your demon will have grown with you, and you’ll be 50x stronger than an average dragon, and that creature interests me very much indeed.”
“So this is fun for you?”
“That’s a part of it, but I’m going to put you to work as well. Are you willing to give it a try?”
“Fine.”
***
As Arthur had understood it, the demon transfusion process would be a fairly simple process in theory at least. First they had to summon the demon, and then he had to control it. There were a couple of complications that could arise. His body could pop or most likely wither away as the demon entered. Then, housing the demon could lead to him losing his mind. But, if those two things didn’t happen, he’d be significantly stronger for it.
Vlad, the man who had purchased him and commissioned this whole thing, sat on the ground beside him eating an apple and watching the cultists drawing sigils in the ground.
“Do you know how much trouble I’d be in if people knew that I associated with these nut jobs? I mean don’t get me wrong, they’re not nut jobs because of the demons they believe in, they’re nut jobs because of all of he codes and rules that they hold themselves to and they’re crazy dark lord esque goals they have. This whole thing cost a limb and a half to set up, but let’s hope its worth it.”
Anyhow,” he continued, “you’ll be chained down during the process. You’ll be wrestling for control over your own body. You’ll gain aid from the outside, but you’re more than expected to lose control now and then.
The head cultist waved at vlad.
“Alright kid, get through this, and I’ll personally track down the adventurers who killed your mother and have them slaughtered.”
“No, I want to to be the one that kills them.”
“Then I’ll bring them to you.”
The sigils formed a large red hexagram. Arthur went and stood at the very center of that pentagram, and the cultists began chaining him down. The whole thing disturbed him, he’d started to dislike chains quite a lot. Then the cultists backed away from him and began to chant.
Arthur was expecting something to happen. He grew very tense as the chanting came from all around him. And then everything went white.
He found himself sitting in front of a oval shaped black slime, with horns, red eyes, and a large black grin. “Will you hand your body over to me?”
That question didn’t make any sense. His mind seemed to halt, but a high washed over him, and the growing urge to agree. Just as he was about to do so, the memory that had been plaguing him for nearly three weeks entered his mind, that of his mother being beheaded. The rage made him scream, and removed the false joy that had been granted.
And then a third emotion came into him, from somewhere beyond, one of clarity, a cold icy feeling that seemed to fill his whole body. He could have sworn that he’d heard the words, cast the spell.
“You’re trying to trick me of my body,” Arthur said.
“Duh, I’m a demon.”
“Why don’t you just take over?”
“I’m limited. If I control your body, your mind goes free and can hamper me. If I control your mind, like I am doing right now, I can’t control your body.”
“And how do I know you are telling the truth.”
“I’ve got your best intentions at heart.”
Arthur knew it was a lie.
“Whilst our souls are touching like this, I can’t lie to you,” the demon said. “So we’re negotiating. What do you want?”
“I want revenge for my mother, but I do not want to be fooled. So tell me what the smartest thing I can ask for is.”
The demon guffawed. “You’ve got some head on top of those shoulders. From what I can sense from your soul, your story is intriguing, and I am willing to aid you in achieving your goal, but from time to time I will have things I want to do and you must aid me then.”
“What type of things will you want.”
“I do not know, but I can promise you that they will be for my own sake, nad not for the sake of these nut job cultists.”
“I agree to those terms.”
The world came back to vision. Around him was a bloodbath. Arthur had broken out of the chains and mauled the cultists around him. He was currently in the middle of killing a cultist.
You have bonded with a demon (Astral)
You have gained the perk Demonic.
- Mana and Physical Regeneration increased by 500%
- Strength increased by 100%
- Immunity to mind attacks.
“I thought you said you could not control my body,” Arthur thought, intuitively speaking with the demon inside of him.
“I couldn’t, and neither could you. This is what your instincts did when they were let loose. You are a monster Arthur. You dragons like to forget that.”
“Arthur?” Vlad said, and Arthur looked towards him.
“Yes?” Arthur said, blood dripping from his chin.
“So this was a success?”
“Yes it seems to be the case.”
Vlad began laughing. “I knew you had it in you Arthur. And don’t worry about the cultists, their lives are worth little. Now then, come with me, it is time for me to introduce you to the colosseum.”
***
“So then,” Vlad said. “For your first fight in the colosseum, you can either go against five goblins, three poorly equipped humans, or one spider. I’ve told you them in order of difficulty. If you fight the spider then you will gain more coin, more coin translates to more power quickly.”
“Why are you giving me a choice?”
“I want to keep in touch with my favourite project. Now choose.”
The goblins were weak, but they sounded like a pain in the arse to fight against, full of tricks. The same went for the humans. Also, Arthur reckoned he could take a mere spider.
“I’ll do the spider.”
“I like the spirit. Normally you’d be training something today, but considering the recent events I’ll let you rest.”
There was a mirror in the room, and he noticed that his skin had turned pitch black. It was neat, he supposed. He couldn’t really bring himself to care about anything other than the vengeance.
***
Spider. Spider! Spider was an understatement, the thing was a monster
The thing stood on the other side of the colosseum, with eight red eyes. Each one of its eight limbs looked sharper than a blade, and it stood taller than Arthur. Even as a dragon he would think twice about fighting this thing.
“Fear is for the weak,” the demon, who’s name was a secret. “Rid yourself of it.”
“Do you see it?”
“You house me, and I am a far larger threat.”
The gates in front of him rose, and the fight began. He heard the cheering of the audience. The spider ran towards him, and intuitively, Arthur ran away, running in circles around the colosseum. He was far faster than he thought he would do.
“What are you doing?” The demon said.
“It’s terrifying.”
“You’re terrifying! Turn around and face it.”
“No thank you.”
The large spider kept running towards him and Arthur kept running away. The crowd began to boo. The fight proceeded like this until the horns were blown and the spider went back to its cage. Arthur reckoned the fight was over.
***
Vlad was pissed.
“Losing would have been one thing, but you humiliated me. “ He kicked Arthur in the stomach sending him flying into the wall. “What type of dragon flees. Have you no shame? And you have a demon inside of you. You shouldn’t be fleeing from anything.”
“It was terrifying,” Arthur croaked out.
“You’re terrifying! What do you not understand about that?” Vlad said as he continued pacing around the cell. “You know what, clearly, I am being too easy on you. We are going to move training locales and fighting stages. It seems you are not ready for the colosseum quite yet.”