Mage Tank-Chapter 260: DRAGONS!!2

After I asked for Xim’s whereabouts, the middle throne began to shudder. Its ornate surface bulged and morphed to a crystalline substance, the center shaping itself into a humanoid form. Soon, a woman who looked like she was cut from a thirty-foot-high lapis lazuli sat on the throne with her legs crossed, gazing down at us. Behind her was a brilliant halo that made my eyes water to look upon.

Several attendants entered the room carrying satchels and stoneworking tools, but the halo behind the woman’s head shifted in color from blinding white to a pastel cyan. The group quickly turned and retreated back the way they’d come.

Silver twitched a finger, then Xim appeared beside the rest of us. She was on her hands and knees, and it looked like she’d been weeping. I knelt and started to put a hand on her shoulder, but realized what I’d interpreted as a grimace was actually an unrestrained smile.

“You, uh, okay there, Xim?” I asked.

She blinked away the tears and wiped her face, then looked up at me. Her expression was an unfamiliar mix of emotions, but whatever they were, she seemed to appreciate them. Quite a lot.

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I’m good.” She stood, straightening her robes and chainmail. “Really good.”

I followed suit, and Princess Ishi stepped forward once Xim was relatively composed. “Your audience has been granted, and the five Rulers have convened,” she said. Then she turned to the Rulers themselves. “Your Majesties, with your leave, I will introduce the candidates.”

A burst of flame came from the leftmost throne. “We know who they are,” said the living bonfire. He pointed at each of us in turn. “Lord Varrin Ravvenblaq, Inquisitor Nuralie Vyxmeldo’a, Lady Xim Xor’Drel, Lady Etja Nothosis, and Master Esquire Arlo Xor’Drel Esquire, who is also a king, supposedly,” he rattled off. “Very impressive people with a great many very impressive titles.”

The other Rulers turned to look at the crystalline woman in the room’s center, but she may as well have been a statue. Then again, I’d never seen her move, so it was possible that she was. Whatever they expected to get from her, they didn’t.

“Indeed, Your Majesty,” said Ishi. “Together, they are the party known as Fortune’s Folly.” The princess then turned back to us. “To know the names of the Rulers is an honor bestowed in increments to those who prove themselves worthy of the knowledge. Each of you has earned the privilege of knowing each Ruler’s color. This is the highest accolade you could have achieved upon your first appearance before the Rulers, so you should feel proud of your performance during the tests.”

“Call me Hep,” said the flaming man.

Ishi continued without any pause over Hep’s interruption. “From your left is His Scarlet Majesty, who has further granted you the honor of knowing the first syllable of his first name, Hep.” Hep was 100% orange, not scarlet. Maybe an orange-white. I mean, he was literally a fire. Not a red one, though.

Ishi held out a hand to the elephant-sized man with horns and feathers. “His Violet Majesty.” What little skin was exposed between the plumage was purple, so I gave that one a pass.

She gestured at the crystalline woman. “Her Golden Majesty.” The statue was definitely blue, not gold.

Ishi moved to the liquid woman with a grumpy look. “Her Cerulian Majesty.” That one was on point. Maybe the middle one was called Gold so that two of them didn’t have a similarly themed name?

Finally, she gestured to her mother. “Her Silver Majesty.” Ishi’s mom was pale enough to be called silver, I supposed. “Now that all parties have been announced, your petition will be heard.” Ishi took a step back to stand near the foot of her mother’s throne. I stepped up and gave the group another bow.

“Once again, it is an honor to meet with you, Your Majesties,” I said. “Before we address the purpose of our visit, we have brought gifts for each of you. If I may?” I glanced at Ishi, who nodded.

Varrin stepped forward first, and I opened a portal to the armory. Three suits of Zng armor floated out, accompanied by rifles.

“For Hep, a gift of arms and armor from a forgotten civilization,” said the big guy. I was surprised that the normally formal Ravvenblaq was willing to immediately treat His Scarlet Majesty with the informal name he’d given us, but Varrin had undergone the Ruler’s test. He may have known him quite well by now, depending on how things had gone inside.

“Nice,” said Hep. “Most of my Zng collection got ruined in the last apocalypse.”

Varrin stepped back, and Nuralie looked down at her HAZMAT suit and gloves, likely trying to decide whether she should take the time to change. Eventually, she resigned to stay gross for the moment and pulled a glimmering essence from her inventory.

“For Your Violet Majesty, a Pinnacle Soul essence,” Nuralie said. Violet leaned forward and gestured. The essence floated to him and settled in his massive palm.

“Quite useful,” he said. “Hmmm, I can use this to help mature the Ultra Maggot.” He held it up and glanced over at Silver, who gestured noncommittally. I wasn’t sure what that interaction was about, but I also didn’t want to know since it involved something called an Ultra Maggot.

Nuralie nodded. Before Xim could approach, a voice emanated from the crystalline figure, though it never moved. “Knowledge of the Divine is what I seek, and Xim Xor’Drel has given me plenty this day,” said Gold. “Any more, and a debt will accrue. Keep whatever treasures you seek to offer.”

Xim shrugged but did as the statue asked, then Etja floated forward. “Your Cerulean Majesty,” she said with an aerial bow. “I do not wish to be presumptuous, but my guess for what you’d like is mana. So, here’s the most condensed form we have right now. Also, it’s blue!” One of our few sapphire chips appeared and floated to Cerulean.

The Ruler took it lazily from the air and peeked at it with one eye held shut, like a jeweler without a lens. “I do admit, sapphire has a good flavor,” she said before popping it into her mouth. A pulse of mana went through the woman’s body. “It should replace what you took and then some, though converting it will be a pain.” She flicked her hand for us to move on.

“And as for Your Silver Majesty,” I said, “my majordomo has made an unusual suggestion. I hold his advice in high esteem, and so I present the genetic material and processes for breeding several varieties of mana monsters, all of the Abyssal category.”

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Vials of murky liquid appeared, housing a set of biological samples from each creature inside the Pocket Delve. Grotto sent her the relevant information via the System, which he assured me would be a power play that Silver would appreciate.

I was pretty sure he’d not only known that Dragons were real, but that he’d known of the existence of these Dragons in particular. Silver’s surprise over the gift bolstered that theory.

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“A welcome tribute,” said Silver, turning one of the vials over in her hands. “This will help to offset a most tragic loss.” She gave Violet a scathing look, but the feathered Ruler ignored her.

“And finally,” I continued, “golden effigies created by the finest artisans in the Littan Empire.”

I gave a dramatic flourish, and five small chests appeared, opening to reveal the five dragon statues gifted to us by the Littan empress. While I normally hated the idea of regifting, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Each statue was even crafted to reflect one of the five schools of magic, and each Dragon received the one that matched. Even Gold accepted the offering, despite her earlier refusal of whatever it was Xim had planned to give her.

Hep barked a laugh, the flames along his body dancing. “I’ve seen royal treasuries with less wealth than you just handed us.” The chamber around us began to rumble. “I’m glad I decided to come and have a look at you in person.” With another gout, the man of fire disappeared, and the rumbling grew louder.

Violet let out a low chuckle, his tone contesting the tremors. “Always with the theatrics,” he said. Cerulean rolled her watery eyes while Silver and Gold were content to sit and wait.

The Throne upon which Hep had sat was the largest in the room, vastly bigger than made sense for the humanoid flames. It was soon revealed why the throne was so huge when the back of it cracked down the middle to reveal it was an enormous door.

A new heat buffeted the room, and I quickly produced Nuralie’s salve to rub into my hair. I didn’t like too much product in the locks up top, which is why I’d only focused on the beard earlier, but I was willing to bear the weight of a gelled-up look if it meant I could avoid another cue ball situation. Nobody wanted another Clockwork incident.

The door swung open to reveal a wall of bright red scales, glinting in the light like well-polished armor. On the far left was a yellow reptilian eye, the size of a small swimming pool. I had to physically turn my head to see a matching eye on my right. Despite the throne’s size, it was not meant for an entire dragon.

It was only big enough for Hep’s head.

With a quaking thud, the Dragon set his chin on the throne the way a dog might lay its head on a lap. I struggled to take in the scale of what I was seeing. Hep’s skull was as big as Ishi’s entire body had been after her transformation and probably weighed several times more since it was one solid mass. If Hep had similar anatomy to Ishi, but scaled up, then the Scarlet Ruler had to be at least a mile long.

Princess Ishi had been impressive, but this right here… This was a Dragon. I glanced at the other Rulers and reconsidered them in the wake of Hep’s display. Were they all this big?

I suppressed a gulp, and Hep spoke again. Oddly, his voice hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“Okay,” he said. “Enough pomp. Why are you here?”

I contemplated which eye to look into as I addressed the behemoth, settling on the one to my right, since it was closer to the other Rulers. “Our immediate purpose for coming was to introduce ourselves and our mission,” I said. “If our goals align, then we would entreat you for an ongoing diplomatic relationship whereby we share pertinent information concerning our cause.”

“And what cause is that?” asked Hep.

“To oppose the avatars,” I said. I gave the gathering a beat to take that in rather than continue. I didn’t want to risk antagonizing the Rulers if it turned out the Dragons were hostile to that idea.

“You aim high,” said Hep. His tone had the barest hint of wistfulness to it. “And how do you plan to oppose them? I hope you’ve got something better than ‘go ask the Dragons for help.’”

“We recently came into conflict with the avatar Hysteria. As a result of that encounter, Hysteria is dead.” Hep blinked, and Violet leaned forward. “I will admit that the overall project is a work in progress, though. Still, early results show promise.”

“Dead?” said Hep.

“Or, banished to the Divine realm, spiritually dissolved, it’s not quite clear what form an avatar’s ‘death’ takes,” I said. “But they are slain, nonetheless. Gone from the physical plane of existence, never again to meddle in the affairs of mortals.”

“An absurd claim,” said Cerulean, her liquid form flowing from her relaxed pose until she sat straight. She looked even grumpier now. “Prove it.”

“Of course,” I said, then shared the System message we’d received on Hysteria’s demise. Ishi had Delver Levels, and Grotto’s comments had revealed that Silver had System access, but I wasn’t sure about the other Rulers. The Core had advised me against identifying them, and their souls were completely obscured to my passive Soul Sight.

“Hmmm,” Violet thrummed. “Who the fuck are you people?”

“What masters do you serve?” asked Silver.

“It says you ‘contributed,’” said Cerulean. “How?”

They all spoke at once, and a tangible pressure built in the room as their voices clashed. Nuralie went down onto all four, and Etja struggled to keep herself floating. Xim and Varrin looked strained, but were handling it better. My own knees buckled when a wave of heat crushed down on top of it all.

“Quiet,” said Hep. It was a softly spoken command, but all other sounds withdrew to allow the word to dominate.

Cerulean rippled up out of her seat, and a wave of mana dispelled Hep’s heat, though the Mystical Ruler’s presence was even less pleasant. A force invaded my body, trying to tear something vital from deep within me. I glanced at Ishi, seeing that the princess had gone down to a knee, breathing hard with her eyes screwed shut.

“Your empty game grants you no rights,” Cerulean spat at Hep. “Do not speak down to me, whelp.”

Another force rolled across the room, lifting all the rest from my shoulders. The crystalline woman’s halo glowed a brilliant yellow, and a voice sang out from it.

“Forgive our temperaments,” said Gold. The statement wasn’t a request, nor was it spoken toward our party. It was a brief prayer that invoked an even greater presence to look down upon us. It wasn’t hostile, but it was cold and sanctimonious. A status effect accompanied the feeling.

Conciliation

You are invulnerable to damage caused by entities affected by Conciliation or Provocation for one hour. Conciliation will be lost if you attempt to cause harm to another entity affected by Conciliation, or if you attempt to negate the effects of Conciliation. When Conciliation is lost this way, you gain Provocation.

Provocation

You are vulnerable to all damage caused by entities under the effects of Conciliation for one hour.

I stood up and straightened my boa. The pressure created by the Dragons no longer impacted me, but I could still feel them withdraw as the energy of the room reset. My other party members recovered, and I had a psychic check-in to make sure everyone was all right, while trying not to let my discomfort–and irritation–over the display show outwardly. The whole thing had been a bit… childish. Ishi also stood and composed herself, looking as if nothing unusual had happened at all.

The effect of Conciliation was far from a bulletproof guarantee of survival–Invulnerability only protected from damage–but it made things a whole lot easier. Hopefully, none of the Rulers would be willing to risk gaining Provocation, but I was betting Cerulean could wash both the buff and debuff away without trouble. That would be outright hostile to the entire room, though, which seemed like a massive risk for the Ruler to take.

I cleared my throat. “As mentioned, we are Fortune’s Folly,” I said to Violet. “We have many allies, but serve no masters,” I said to Silver. “And we tore a piece of Hysteria’s soul away, then cast it into oblivion,” I said to Cerulean.

I opened my arms to all five of the Rulers. “Any other questions?”