Dragons had few natural enemies if any. Usually, giants, parasites, or other gargantuan monsters. But they were the perfect combination of a strong body, intelligence, and magical ability. And flight. Dragons a week old could fly, their anti-aerodynamic bodies lifted by magic and powerful wing muscles. If I had to guess, it was fifty-fifty. My dragon summons had trouble flying in the low magic zone of the Scavenger Gnos hotown but they did fly, however clumsily.
Powerful n could kill dragons but that was always a risky proposition. No matter how many levels they had, the dragons had just as many. Equipnt could bridge the gap but nothing but their pride stopped dragons from using items as well. Most of the ti they didn't care, just like . The difference in performance fighting naked or decked in the best-enchanted gear I could make was not negligible, instead just unnecessary.
Deep below Raswaria, I recreated the huge workshop I had underneath Windere or in Sky Island. Or "The Goddess's Throne" as the clergy now called the floating island that broadcast the Senate sessions to the public. But today I wouldn't craft anything. Today I wanted to do an experint.
I stood there as Raina, to Mona's delight. The experint was simple. I had Madge and Mona spar with a summoned blue dragon.
Clad in a replica of the armor from that Playstation ga about Valkyries, they rushed to strike the dragon. Wary, the blue dragon hovered and tossed his body to the left, putting distance between itself and Mona as he focused on Madge. Its tail lashed to the side and stretched as it relaxed its muscles, sweeping to slam at her side.
Madge's floating shield moved to intercept the tail as it anchored itself in space and raised a barrier at the sa ti. A gong-like sound rang as the tail connected to the barrier, breaking it but losing enough montum it could not move the shield. Madge used that opportunity to slash at the tail, cutting deep into the flesh but not reaching the bone underneath. The dragon roared in pain.
"{Zealot Charge}!" Mona aligned herself with the wailing dragon and pumled it with her oversized club like a caveman as she closed the distance almost instantly. Then the club ignored physics and ca down, again and again, delivering three devastating blows to the sa spot on the dragon's front paw shoulder in rapid succession. She chanted a short prayer, "Stalwart Matriarch, grant the power to slay those who threaten your flock, {Holy Wrath}!"
Recovering from the pain, the dragon shifted its weight to the rear legs and brought his left front paw to swipe at Mona as golden light enveloped her. Her own pair of floating shields took the burden of the blow as she focused on channeling her spell. A giant cat's paw made of golden light appeared over the dragon and swiped at its wings, drawing large gashes over the mbrane.
The dragon grabbed one of Mona's floating shields and lashed out with its head as if the long neck was a whip. Mona was controlling the paw and she didn't move fast enough to avoid a bite on her thigh. The dragon's teeth skid over her armored silk skirt, breaking the maille links woven around the silk as the fangs cut her flesh underneath. The damaged skirt did its job and prevented the dragon from latching onto her leg. The claw slashed once more on the sa wing, causing it to go numb as the [Holy Thaumaturge] skidded away from the hungry monster.
I facepald. Yes, Mona was the one with the spellcasting Class. My biggest mistake in this life, to grant them the Classes that were the best fit with one another.
As Mona put so distance between her and the dragon, the shield in the dragon's paw vanished and reappeared next to her.
anwhile, Madge was trying to sever the dragon's tail and dodge its whipping attacks at the sa ti. Her distraction was part of the reason Mona could still walk. She saw her sister limping and shouted, "{Intervene!}" as she moved fast as a blur to interpose herself between Mona and the dragon's front body. As she passed the limping girl, she said, "heal yourself!"
The Adamantite plates latched to their armor granted them great magic resistance as the tal absorbed incoming spells. But that also worked on helpful magic. Madge would need to touch Mona's exposed skin to cast a healing spell on her.
The dragon tucked its tail behind its body as it recovered the use of his front right paw. The greatclub's Adamantite spikes left small holes in its scales from which dark red blood oozed. As woman and dragon entertained each other with a brief staredown contest, Mona healed her leg.
"Mona, back row now. Switch to your staff. Support ," Madge ordered.
That distraction allowed the dragon to align the girls with its muzzle. Blue dragons had one particularity about their breath weapons. They needed no charge ti. It just opened its mouth as it used natural innate sorcery to cast a spell that created a positive charge behind Mona. Then the arc was ford and lightning cracked between the fangs and the charge a split-second after it opened its maw.
Their floating shields moved to interpose, redirecting the lightning between them. So arcs still jumped from the shields to their armor, crackling around them. Adamantite absorbed so of the magic but the lightning was real electricity. Fortunately, they were protected because their armor acted as a Faraday cage and they were Fire Resistant enough to consider a bath in boiling water tepid. It still hurt like a bitch and locked their muscles. Their interfaces now should display a Paralysis icon.
The dragon sustained the electrical bolt for about four seconds, then ran out of charge. With the girls fighting the Paralysis debuff, the dragon had free reign to kill them. That's when I intervened and ended the training session. Upon a ntal command, the summoned dragon vanished.
"That's enough," I said as I healed them from afar. I had a Perk that allowed to cast healing spells at a distance as if I was touching them so I could bypass the Adamantite plates.
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"You died, the dragon bit your heads off while you were paralyzed." I said as I debriefed them. "But congratulations, you brought it to thirty percent of his HP pool. Now, what could you improve?"
"We should've stayed together," Madge said.
"And watch out for the lightning breath," Mona added.
"The dragon has only one mind. When you split, it had to divide its focus. And a blue dragon's lightning breath can only be dodged if you have extrely honed magical senses, ridiculously fast reaction speed, or {Prescience}. Nothing you could do would've saved you from that attack. Except..."
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Mona sighed. "I should've cast a Resist Lightning or Resist Paralysis spell on us before we engaged the dragon. But you never told us what the dragon could spit from that stupid mouth!"
"And should I have warned you beforehand? What if you et an unknown dragon in the wild. Paralysis is a very common debuff. It pays to precast the resistance spells. In fact, you should make a list of buffs you can cast, and try to keep them active all the ti."
"We'll run out of MP," Mona pointed out.
"Why does that matter? You are always rushing ahead to bash things with that oversized cudgel."
She blew a raspberry. "It's not like I have the power of a thousand mages combined as you do!"
It was as if I was the one struck by lightning. An idea ca to my mind, one I should've had years ago. "Mona, I love you!"
She giggled, "I love you too, sister, but what's the occasion?"
"I had an idea. Co, let's talk to Rhiannon, then we are off to the capital."
I explained to Rhiannon how I would stay at the capital for a few months to raise awareness and train so knights to fight against dragons. That was the cover-up for my plan, anyway. With the Queen's blessing, I took the girls with to the capital.
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My idea was simple. I was the Crown Prince of the Empire. The second most important person in the whole nation. My influence should be enormous yet I was using it only to convince the fiefs around Seyham to join my faction or suffer the consequences when we invade them next season.
That should change. I was going to use my influence to my maximum benefit now. I would demand every able magician to attend a grand ritual. With tens of thousands of mages in the audience, I would perform and harvest their MP and SP regeneration for myself through {Roar of the Crowd} and break a few curses, make a few artifacts. No matter how long it would take. Any mage who refused to participate would be censured.
I could even make a lottery. Give each mage a ticket and then draw prizes among them. An enchanted staff of "unsurmountable power" should draw so high-level spellcasters to my cause without much grumbling. My MP recovery pills would be very popular too.
I used the official channels to send my summons. Every spellcaster with at least forty in Mind in their best Path for the Attribute or with MP regeneration Perks must attend or they would be censured by the Crown Prince. I also sent ssengers to every mage guild or college summoning them. Along with the invitations the description of a few items.
First, the one everyone attending would receive.
[Bracelet of Focus]
Price: 178 - 30 Gold Coins.
Materials: Gold, Silver, Diamond, Ruby, Faceted Core Slivers
This item has 85% lower Resonance.This item shuts down in case of Resonance conflict.Up to 2 identical bracelets can be worn, one on each wrist. The effects stack. 5 Mind 5 Magic 10 base MPA special mysterious random boon to a random Attribute worth 5 Points.Unless the wearer attends Prince Percival's attunent sessions for 30 days, this item becos inert and loses all enchantnts.
A magic bracelet created by the best Enchanter in the whole Empire. A symbol of the Crown Prince's favor.
That should entice every mage to co and win one of these. With Haru's crafting Perks, I started to make these identical bracelets by the hundreds. As I crafted more of them, the quality and speed improved and I had to focus on keeping them relatively the sa.
The idea was that I would spend the ten hours between days when everyone was sleeping making bracelets, then make a raffle with those that I'd finished and hand them over to the winners. The mages who won one of the bracelets on day 1 would stay until day 30 and then leave. These would show off their new trinkets and probably attract more mages. Or maybe even co back for a second one.
That would guarantee I would have mages attending the day-long sessions for months.
During our preparation, so letters questioning my intentions arrived from several noble Houses. They worried that I would slaughter the mages wholesale, drain their blood or even turn them into undead. The latter was because the story of how I defeated my brothers with summoned vampires got out. Needless to say, Percival's reputation of being an immoral and wicked Prince was at an all-ti high. I answered the letters stating that the [Emperor] approved my project and mages didn't grow on trees. Killing that many mages would be not only impractical but also suicidal, even for a level 100 warrior like .
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We borrowed the colosseum for that. Borrowed might be a gentle way to say I took it over and nobody could say a word about it. Even if they didn't care about being the Crown Prince, the "level 100" badge on my Status was enough to make them bend the right way.
Madge, Mona, and I took the suites at the colosseum, one that esteed guests usually used when gas took several days to finish.
On the dawn of the first day, a line of mages of all sorts ford before sunlight hit the ground. At each entrance, I had one sample bracelet held in a cage of Force magic that blocked any attempt to touch or stow the artifact in a storage item or Perk. Maybe so crafty thief would try and take one, and I would have an adventure tracking them down to get the bracelet back and probably eting a skilled roguish lady who wore only a square foot of clothing to cover her entire body.
The wonders of a male brain. Yeah, gotcha! She was a diminutive fairy, a square foot of cloth was more than enough for a long gown.
The mages each received an enchanted numbered tab that split in two. The largest rectangular part remained with the mage, the small square piece that broke off was put in an enchanted box that would spew one random piece each ti it was activated. The colosseum grandstands and bleachers filled with mages. I could already feel their overflowing MP siphoning to through the Wellspring. With that and Roar of the Crowd, I would double-dip in their resource regeneration and probably advance greatly in this curse-breaking business.
I didn't wait for the bleachers to fill entirely. I could sense more spellcasters arriving outside the entrances. Flanked by each of my trusty lady companions, I entered the arena.
"My fellow mages! Thank you for answering my summons. I am about to complete a great work of magic, and I need your help. I dabble in the bardic arts, and while we gather the required energy, I'll entertain you with so music. I only ask you to refrain from using your MP pool. Keep it filled, and stay alert. Otherwise, enjoy. We will have short breaks for food and stretch one's legs every two hours. Look forward to the pastries!"
So I conjured musical instrunts and started my performance. The amount of MP and to a lesser degree SP funneled to was ridiculous. I should've done this centuries ago. Maybe with the elves of Fulgen. I kept an eye on {Erode Curse} and I could see the percentile moving every second.
During the breaks, I drew the square pieces and awarded a few bracelets. Of course, the draw was rigged and most of the artifacts in the first day went to select mages connected to esteed noble houses. They would need to sit the whole thirty days or they would end with a boring piece of mundane jewelry.
With thousands of mages collaborating, it happened twenty-three days later. That's what it took to finally break and reverse the curse I'd been working on since Haru's ti.
> You inverted the curse, Major Magic Deficiency (ultra-rare).
> You earned the Perk, Magic Potency (ultra-rare): You gain 1 extra point of Magic at level zero and at every 4 levels.
Twenty-six points of Magic was nothing to scoff at. But the biggest benefit was the release of my Attribute cap. I found myself stupefied as I looked at my Status.
Level 100
Strength*: 170 97 (267) / 188 - Dexterity*: 180 128 (308) / 188 - Endurance*: 170 115 (285) / 188
Mind*: 170 96 (266) / 188 - Willpower*: 188 116 (304) - Charisma*: 188 105 (293)
Magic*: 188 123 (311) / 940 - Faith*: 119 12 (131) / 940
Ego*: 188 108 (296) - Luck*: 148 120 (268) / 188 - Soul*: 149 120 (269) / 188
HP 834.414.132 (12.104.831 HP/s)
Energy 954.910.700 (1.727.524 E/min)
I decided to break {Random Speciation} next. Not only it was the easiest one at (rare) only, but I was eager to see what would co from inverting that curse.
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