Rowan held back people eager to rush in and fight the new opponent. He drowned out all their voices, focusing solely on Lucian.

  “Everyone, just stay ready!” Rowan shouted.

  The Dragonwarden made of dragonblood alighted on the ground, then raised its head toward Lucian. It drew the axes at its waist, then exploded forth with such tremendous speed that Rowan feared Lucian might simply be caught in the wave and overwhelmed right along with the rest of them. Lucian held firm, despite the fact all could see his body trembling.

  Rowan thought himself perceptive, but even he could barely discern what happened next.

  The Dragonwarden construct swung, and as it did, its axe came alive with lightning. It swiped it down toward Lucian, yet somehow, he dodged it so precisely the axeblade grazed his fingers. The lightning seemed liable to tear him apart, yet he threw out a Lightningcaller and it absorbed the arcs each and all. Then, the Dragonwarden raised its other axe, and it menaced with ice. Lucian immediately charged inward as it swung downward. The axeblade overreached, slamming past Lucian and hitting the ground.

  A wave of ice seized the arena the moment the axe struck the ground… yet Lucian jumped. It was timed perfectly—he jumped before the ice could seize him, then slammed into the construct’s leg right after it had frozen the ground beneath it. Without traction on ice, the Dragonwarden’s leg gave. Rowan barely saw the glint of a dagger before Lucian stabbed it hard into the armor’s joint.

  Then… the Dragonwarden swung its leg to dislodge Lucian. It wasn’t a kick so much as a very forceful dislodging. Lucian skidded across the ice toward them until the ice ended, then rolled ungracefully before collapsing at Rowan’s feet.

  Lucian coughed for a few moments, then managed, “Weakened him for you.” He rose to his feet with his nose still broken. His voice was nasally, and he cradled it uneasily. “Need to kill him fast, though. Can’t do that again.”

  That was the Soothsayer’s Blessing, Rowan realized. Even knowing what it was, Rowan was rattled by that performance. That thing might’ve killed all of them without that. He studied Lucian briefly. And this guy was really considering retiring?

  “Charge!” Rowan shouted. “Hit him with everything you’ve got!”

  ***

  Lucian rose to his feet as they all charged the Dragonwarden construct. He didn’t heal—not yet. He watched them fight, his head spinning. He spotted his Voodoo Dagger and eagerly moved to it, crouching down and retrieving it.

  Voodoo Dagger, my beloved… not even Formless Essence can imitate you… you’re perfect… Lucian thought, putting it away in his satchel. He looked up at the fight.

  Looking upon the Student Ambassadors as they fought against the weakened construct, he was reminded of the fight against the bandit chief they had encountered in the confluence. One overwhelmingly powerful foe against many lesser ones. The resemblance, though… it was superficial. Why? Because they’d all grown tremendously, just as their teamwork had. The melee fighters, the ranged fighters, the spellcasters… they all worked in perfect tandem.

  Debuffs are broken, Lucian reflected.

  Ordinarily, he’d never be able to put such potent debuffs on an opponent. Their resistances were too high. Their resistances were so high precisely to avoid incidents like this. The Dragonwarden Construct lashed out with strikes imbued with one of the eight elements, switching between the eight as easily as Aurelia switches her story.

  Lucian frowned as Aurelia popped into his head. He imbued his Inquisitor’s Spetum with a holy spell, then started running. He converted some of his Formless Essence into internal energy. He didn’t heal his wounds at all for one reason. He weaved past his allies, feeling the flow of the battle. He waited for an opportunity, then darted in with a spell called Wind Burst. He landed right before the Dragonwarden Construct, and used the same skill he’d once used on Denzel—Defiant Stand. The skill dealt more damage the lower health one had.

  His spetum and then his spell both rocked into the construct, sending it reeling backward. Rowan bashed it with his shield and then slammed his sword upon its shoulder hard enough to make it fall to one knee. Miriam shocked it with lightning, and then Carolina hit it a spear of ice that pinned its leg. Vlad darted in from behind and stabbed a knife into its neck, only for Arslan to slam his spear right into its eyes. Olivia darted in with her rapier and pierced its wrist as it tried to retaliate.

  Denzel kicked the back of its knee to cast it to its knees fully, then cleaved his sword as hard as he could into its neck. Maximilian jumped in from above and slammed his hammer down upon its head hard enough Lucian felt the ground quake. It finally tried to swing its other axe, but Ruth sniped its weapon out of its hand. Isran took the weapon in hand and cleaved it in the armpit, following it with a graceful stab from his sword. Then, clearly synchronized, spellfire from all the casters rained down upon the Dragonwarden.

  Lucian prepared another spell, and all braced to continue the attack… but the construct began to dissolve into blood, spreading across the arena ground. He was so tense it took him a few moments to realize they’d won. Lucian might have collapsed to the ground if it wasn’t so filthy all below. He looked up at the dragons.

  What’s next? Coming down personally? Lucian thought, looking at them a bit hatefully for that unfair test.

  The dragons looked between each other. When they prepared a spell, Lucian didn’t know what to think. When they completed their spell and the blood—including that soaking all of them—began to shift and glow, Lucian felt relief. A voice echoed in his ears.

  Our blood has been mixed in the crucible of the battlefield. Yours… and ours. And so, they shall be one.

  The blood riddling the arena started to flow toward them as if they were holes in the floor. The blood covered all of them, each of them, until Lucian could see only black. It didn’t feel quite as utterly disgusting as it sounded. In fact, it felt… warm. The warmth of passion, of protection.

  Then, Lucian and all the rest felt the dragonblood seep into their very soul.

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  Lucian looked down at his hands. He pulled back the Votive Gloves, where he saw his veins throbbing before the power roaming through them quieted. Champion of the Dragon: what was it? Lucian recalled the prompt from War of Four.

  You’ve become a Champion of the Dragons.

  Dragons now view you as their ally, and can communicate with you.

  Drakes, and other such lesser draconic creatures, will walk in fear of you.

  You’ve learned all draconic spells and skills.

  You’ve gained the ability to set your draconic aspect daily.

  The reward for becoming a champion was definitely lesser than just slaying the dragons outright. That said, it didn’t mean it was a bad reward by any means. The name of the game in just about any RPG was stacking modifiers. The Draconic Aspect was yet another modifier to stack to push them to the next level. There were eight aspects to choose from, changeable once per day. Each of them provided stat bonuses and debuffs according to their element, alongside other formidable buffs that could change the way someone used the draconic spells and skills.

  The skills and spells, meanwhile, were okay. The skills were absolutely excellent, and couldn’t be learned any other way. They were most of the reason Lucian came here. The spells, though… they had very high MAG requirements, and they weren’t necessarily gamebreakers. The player could also learn them from other sources. Although… maybe their efficacy could change if Lucian used them with Formless Essence’s ability to change the elements.

  You’ve done very well. We apologize for putting you through such a difficult test, the white dragon said. Its voice reverberated in Lucian’s head alongside everyone else’s. We simply thought, with so many of you…

  I don’t apologize, the black dragon countered. It’s led to a very satisfying result.

  “Is everyone else hearing that?” Rowan asked, looking back.

  Everyone confirmed.

  For the sake of brevity, I’ll explain what’s happened before these fools spend centuries here, the red dragon said. You are now our champions, just like the Dragonwarden. That means we can finally become more than merely eight. For you, it means that you are our allies, and can thus use a portion of power. If we die, you die as well. That’s all. Goodbye.

  After that, the red one flew away immediately. Everyone watched uneasily as he soared overhead.

  I’m sorry about him. He’s nice once you get to know him. I have to go. I told him I’d leave right away, the blue dragon said, then followed after him.

  Everyone watched them go. They looked between each other uneasily.

  “Do you feel that… power, within?” Denzel asked.

  Everyone was focused on the inward changes, it seemed. Lucian could feel it, too—not quite a blessing, but similar. Perhaps this, too, could be utilized by his Formless Essence. It felt like the options of his new power were endless.

  I’m sure that explanation was insufficient for you, the brown dragon said. If you’d like, I could tell more.

  Lucian had specifically warned Rowan against saying yes. He looked to him now, shaking his head urgently.

  “I would,” Rowan said, like the good earnest boy that he was.

  No… Lucian wanted to fall over. We’ll be here all day…

  Very well. First, we have to start over ninety-thousand years ago…

  Lucian suffered through the winding dialog of the earth dragon. He was like a damn video essayist. It was an interesting subject matter, but he dragged it out so long it was unbearable. Lucian could sum it up pretty simply. Dragons were divine beasts—not like the monastics, but more like angels. Well, they had quite a few commonalities with the monastics, he supposed, in that they were quite simple, na?ve, trusting. They were simple in the way a child was simple.

  Dragons were the kid that pulls on the cat’s tail because they don’t know yet that hurts the cat. They understood once told firmly, though. They’d spent their whole life in this cave with the Dragonwarden, and were quite unaware that their power was beyond the norm.

  Most of their history was lost to them. The bottom line of what they knew was this: at one time, the Heavens had interfered with this reality as actively as the Hells had. Divine beasts and angels had been a great balancing force. Somehow, someway, the heavens were sealed off from the mortal world. Dragons eventually became the last bastion of divine creatures. Their numbers were limited based on the number of champions that they had. That’s probably why the red one hurried off… though Lucian didn’t want to think about that.

  Why are the Heavens sealed? Lucian wondered.

  A lot of people had theories both in-game and out, but he thought each of those he heard were big leaps of logic. Lucian himself had no clue. He lounged in the back, healing up his wounds and generally taking the time to mentally refresh. He half-listened to what the brown dragon said, just as everyone else half-listened while they explored their new powers. His head perked up when he heard some words.

  Did you have any further questions?

  “I do. For… for the black dragon,” Lucian said, not wanting to listen to the rambling tones of the earth dragon. “How was this underground area made? I mean, it doesn’t match up with reality. We’re looking at the sky, but we walked what must have been a mile underground to reach this place.”

  A wily old fox helped the Dragonwarden, the black dragon answered. Gave up his eye to build this place.

  Wily old fox? Lucian’s head spun. They couldn’t possibly be talking about the True Divine Beast, could they?

  “Dragonwarden,” Lucian shouted, and the figure turned his head. “Did he have long, silky white hair, thin limbs, could transform?” He knew that was describing the majority of the people in the monastery, but it was also how the True Divine Beast looked.

  The Dragonwarden nodded. Rowan looked at him questioningly.

  “Think it might’ve been the True Divine Beast,” Lucian said, explaining himself before questions were asked.

  Lucian crossed his arms. The other eye of the True Divine Beast… was this place some kind of distortion in time, then? He was pleased that he’d managed to acquire information that he’d never been able to get in the game, but it didn’t really tell him anything beyond that. They couldn’t ask the Dragonwarden any questions. The dragons could speak to their protector in his mind, but the favor couldn’t be returned.

  Everyone on the forums for this game agreed on one thing. There was an unsolved mystery in this place. Lucian had another piece of the puzzle, but it was still too few to make out the bigger picture.

  There was more to this place, but now that Lucian had learned the draconic skills, he had what he needed. It was time to leave, hopefully.

  “I have one more question,” Rowan said, and Lucian sighed.