Capítulo 51: Aftermath
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Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!
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[22 August; 12:03pm - 6km from the mountain pass of Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré]
(Lazo'lath, I'm injured...)
(Yes, Lazo'lath, I'm hurt too! Cursed humans!)
The oldest dragon among the group, an elder winter dragon, quickly considered their options; and decided.
(Withdraw - I'll cover your backs and ensure they understand the consequences of touching our children!)
(Yes!) Azora and Kreagor responded and quickly wheeled away in flight to the Swiss Alps - their base and nest.
Lazo'lath incanted multiple dragon-word defensive spells; enough to intercept the fire-elemental spells launched at their backs by the group of 8 mages desperately holding fort in their spell formations.
The defenders were now down to only 6 mages; two having collapsed, unconscious from the heat and mana overload - drawing and using mana far beyond their limits.
(Still, it is truly commendable for the puny humans to withstand our noble races concerted assault...) Lazo'lath prepared a charged-breath attack and delivered his ultimatum to them; even as they released wave after wave of counter-spells against his barriers.
(11 seconds of barriers left; 9 seconds to charge... Alright) He delivered his message through voice-projection in the human tongue.
"FOOLISH HUMANS!" - His verbal speech was very different from his logical, calm and polite inner thoughts - "HOW DARE YOU INVADE OUR NESTS AND RANSACK IT FOR OUR CHILDREN! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF WARNINGS! WE CARE NOT WHO HAS DONE IT; IF YOU DO NOT RETURN OUR CHILDREN TO US WITHIN 7 DAYS, A FLIGHT OF DRAGONS WILL TORCH EVERY CITY WITHIN 2 DAYS FLIGHT OF OUR MOUNTAINS!"
Then the level 29 dragon fired her breath-attack - Breath of Cold Frost.
* * * * *
[2 minutes later]
It was a good thing that the steam train was long - very, very long - roughly 1.5km long.
Because everything in an 800m radius of the dragon's final breath attack was frozen solid - leaving a quarter of the trains cars frozen solid, and the another quarter chilled enough to instantly kill anyone below level 15.
The mages in the front-most carriage had survived under their last-ditch shield; and were slowly thawing their way out of the dozens of metres of solidified ice.
While the only passengers in the front carriages were Celica, Xera, Tina and Tara; who emerged unscathed and quickly pierced their way out of the frost using a mix of bloody red and royal purple aura that eroded the ice easily.
While Sam had managed to fish out her friend Albert - by smashing open the trains structure and causing the mass of people to pour out like sardines. The train was now fragile; no longer shielded by the network of defensive and hardening runes; easily cracking open as she released a rough punch, then tore open the trains outer layer.
As the group shivered from the unearthly change in temperature at noontime - worsened by the early onset of autumn; they tried their best to rescue whoever they could from the trains wreckage.
While Sam and Albert stared into the horizon; eyes following the trail of the dragons flying east-northeast.
How were they going to get to Turin and onwards to Rome...?
* * * * *
"Let's climb the mountains...?" Sam asked innocently.
She was met with a death stare and a cat-as-a-hat; attached to her by little cat-kitten teeth.
* * * * *
Once the group of 6 mages made it out of their predicament (2 still too weak to help); they quickly took charge of the situation and gathered the remaining people - scant few; with barely 20-25 making it out alive.
The train wreck and dragon attack reaped many a life; leaving the survivors shaken and desperate to return to Lyon; as their destination was not worth losing their lives over. The mages quickly rounded them up and prepared for a Mass Teleport spell; with no time to lose to report the events to the government offices and Duke Lyrewood of Lyon; one of the divine-level powerhouses of Gallia.
All the remnant chose to leave - except for the group of 6 who came out relatively unscathed - Sam and Albert along with the regal little girl with her 3 attendants - high-leveled attendants; as there was not even a bruise or scratch to be seen from the crash. Their mistress however was nursing her right arm; she had used it to brace herself from the brunt of the impact.
"Well; it looks like we share a common cause...?" Albert spoke on behalf of his idiot partner.
The little girl, sulking from her injury and missed meal, replied dismissively; "Yes, yes~. Of course; let's help each other..." She sounded far from enthusiastic about the hassle of the journey over the mountains. Then she cheered up. At least the two would be walking meals...
To cross the snowy mountains meant to venture into the home of swarms of goblins, orcs, trolls, ogres and dragons. Big ones.
Dragons. A level 25 dragon, despite not having a soul-imprint in the commonly known ways, could easily face 4 combatants of an equal level - and still devour one while fleeing with mild injuries. It was believed that their soul-imprint was bestowed by the Golden Five-clawed Dragon God - a transcendent entity of such ineffable might that it had already established it's own universal concept and law for it's descendants to cultivate in - a concept that allowed its descendants to utilise almost every element, concept or law known to humankind.
And now the group of 6, none of them dressed for a cold sojourn over snowy mountains, would have to brave the snow-storms and creatures roaming the sheer cliffs termed as "mountain passes"[1] of the Swiss Alps.
"Let's go!" The (not so) little girl Sam shouted in a rough voice; smiling happily at who-knows-what. She charged forward, causing Albert to frantically chase after her; and Snowie to cling on to her shoulder with her claws.
"Let's gooo~!" The little vampire girl accompanied her to sing in a high-pitched voice; smiling happily at who-knows-what.
Then simultaneously; she and Albert's gazes sharpened, laying their schemes for the path ahead.
* * * * *
The two groups traveled quickly through the cold autumn night.
The quartet of blood-tribe ladies quickly left Sam and Albert behind - Albert, despite having a hardy body, was unable to keep up with the pace they wanted to set.
"Bo-ring~. We'll go on ahead; 'kay? Catch you later~!" Then the quartet dashed off; obviously very high leveled and confident in their powers of stealth and escape.
Partially relieved, Albert let out a breath he had held in for the past hour of travel.
(1 hour and we've only covered 15km... We've barely crossed the foot of the mountains...) Albert silently calculated the distance they needed to cover. He regretted his weak physique that made the covert journey even tougher than it should be.
70km to traverse the mountains and a further 460km on relatively smooth terrain to Turin - at a speed of 30km an hour, that second portion should take merely 2 days to cover. He should still be in time to prepare for the Summit...
The problem was getting across the mountains; of which traversing the core areas would slow them to a crawl as they needed to lay low and seek constant cover from high-leveled threats. If things went well; that should only need a day of travel. That would place him in Turin by the 25th; and
But if things turned sour...
(It's fortunate I had prepared an extra "insurance policy" by training the girl... We should be able to safely dispatch enemies up to level 18; and flee intact from enemies up to level 20...)
Still, he racked his mind for any safer or alternate routes through the mountains. He shook his head - nothing came to mind even from him voluminous readings. They could only hope to strike it lucky and take their chances.
Once more he touched the 3 talismans in his pocket.
(Hopefully I won't have to use these…)
* * * * *
[3 hours later; nearing midnight]
[At the base of the sharp ascent up the mountains - 460km to Turin and 20km of mountainous areas left to cover]
Sam was carrying Albert on her back - piggy-back style in order to cover the distance quicker. Nonetheless, progress was slow as they had to move silently and slowly - they had only covered a further ~50km due to the rocky terrain and scant choices of cover.
(But something's wrong...) Albert was worried. Despite having traversed what should be more than half of the mountainous regions; they were still far from reaching the middle of the mountain-range - he could still see the peak far-off; as if they were still at the foot of the mountains...
(Is this... A folded space...? Made by the Dragon Kings...?) He cursed silently.
*Boom!* *Roar!*
They heard a relatively soft explosion; and tremors in the ground. Visibility was poor; despite it still being autumn; snow had begun to fall as their altitude increased - but they could still see faint purple and red lights glinting roughly 4km away.
"What's that?" Sam asked; but did not turn to face Albert lest she accidentally kiss him since his face was pretty much against the back of her head...
Albert casually answered; "Most likely our friends in trouble."
"Don't! Wait, Sam!" He stopped the brave girl from charging forward to their rescue.
"Remember what we spoke about? That we don't know their intentions; and they don't seem too friendly to us?"
Sam nodded. "But we should help them! And beat up those bad lizards!"
If Albert were not held tight on her back; he would have fallen to his feet upon hearing her call the dragons mere lizards.
"Well, even if we want to help, let's not rush in directly - we need to observe and plan."
"Observe... And... Plan...?"
Sighing, the older man decided not to try explaining - it was an exercise in futility.
(I know I need her help to get into Rome… But…) He sighed; it was frustrating to bear with her; and he did have a short temper…
"Anyway, they should be able to hold their own - from the roar; it should be just one dragon. And it's unlikely for the first dragon they meet on the outskirts to be anything past a normal adult dragon."
Sam was quiet for awhile; then asked. "How strong are dragons…?"
Albert answered emotionlessly; as if reciting a passage from a book. "A normal full grown dragon without any nomological insights is, by virtue of its World-class[2] bloodline, are classified as level 22 elites. Their actual combat strength, however, is enough for them to level skip and take on level 24 opponents..."
"Younger dragons are obviously weaker; though you'll never meet a fledgling weaker than level 15. Similarly, young dragons have the combat strength to level skip and fight opponents at least a level above them." He smirked; seeming nostalgic. "But you'll rarely meet them. Their parents don't let them out in case they get caught and eaten…"
He continued quickly as they slowly approached the scene of the battle. "Above that would be Elder Dragons; their power being anywhere from Legendary to the peak of Mythical strength; then Ancient Dragons – easily matching even weak divine-level elites…"
Sam was pensive; thinking for once.
"Finally above that would be Dragon Kings… The existence of Dragon Kings, as well as other species with powerhouses termed as "Kings" are what prevents humans from settling in many areas such as the middle-east continent which is ruled by the elementals."
"Can I beat one…?"
"An adult dragon…? Mmm… Unlikely…"
"How about them…?" She gestured with her chin at Celica's group.
Albert's expression was serious as he replied. "Their group is strong - very strong."
"Stronger than us...?"
He nodded.
"Much, much stronger."
As stealthily as they could, they approached the area of battle; just over the next crest of the rocky hills.
*
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[1] For the purpose of Urth's geography, I have altered the lay of the land of our globe! The Swiss Alps are now much, much wider and longer - lying across the border between Italy and France; with the mountain range split in two Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré as a mountain pass. The warmer and lower southern mountain range is ruled by green dragons; while the higher peaks in the northern half is ruled by winter dragons.
[2] Concepts such as power levels, ranks and adventurer ranks have been posted! Please see auxiliary chapter: Strength, Ranks & Levels System!
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