Trope World - Volume 1 Chapter 21 A Lesson

A large hog standing on two hooves fell from the gate and landed in front of me. “You’re a coward face me Zog the Vast in a one on one duel. If you win you may have my sows, if I win your companions must leave us be.” This guy was at the 9th level of qi condensation. His aura was powerful, but his BP topped at 85,000. Even the axe in his hand only increased his BP to 91,000.

My hands moved in a blur. “Accepted,” I pulled the spirit bow back and fired an arrow. Zog the vast had only a second to react before an arrow lodged itself in his eye. I placed my bow back as the large hog fell over. Squeals could be heard up above as a group of sows decorated in finery screamed in dismay.

“I never thought I would see lipstick on a pig taken literally. To top it off they dressed themselves in silks and jewelry fit for a princess.” I said.

“Help us please. Get me down from here. It hurts. Please kill me.” The voices of the impaled farmhands were loud and clear. Their bodies were shriveled up on the poles leaving them with the appearance of skeletons. Even a centaur made his way on to ten poles. The held his withered body aloft. This was the pig’s symbol of supremacy over their masters. Most of the bodies here were of slaves. More than a few were human slaves.

The gate doors opened and three minotaurs armed to the teeth in red steel plate armor and carrying war hammers stepped forward. They were all the foundation level. Their BP was 30million apiece but closer to 45million with the war hammers.

Their wills collided with mine and I knew the difference between my condensation level and their foundation level. I trembled my cultivation base was on the verge of collapsing. The puddle of qi began to shake and separate evaporating into gas. I coughed covering my mouth staining my hands red with my own blood.

As my spirit senses were thrown back. I looked at my adversaries in more detail. The one in the middle was a cow while the other two were bulls. All three looked powerful. My cultivation base was on the verge of collapsing and I didn’t think I could beat them with gamer power alone.

A large hand grasped my shoulder and Lazarus stepped up. Unlike the bovines before him. Lazarus was in the Palace building stage. The three were shocked by his presence and fell to their knees mooing to their better.

“Come friends abandon this fool plan by the pigs and join me. You are more than strong enough to become free members of the sect.” Lazarus said cheerfully. The three nodded to each other then kowtowed to Lazarus.

“There are other minotaurs held within the farmhouse please save them.” They chanted unison. I spat a final glob of blood and glared at them before letting out a sigh. My anger focused instead on the giant hog just a few hundred meters away. With the pressure abated my qi quickly condensed back into liquid and splashed back together. Power once more came to my call.

I called upon the dragon that rested within me. Instead of coming to my aide it lazily remained in my qi pool. It sent fire to me and through my pathways but refused to emerge. It was rebelling against me. “Traitors get the knife too.” I told the beast. It grumbled and refused to emerge from my mana pool.

From the moment it hatched my mana pool had been its refuge. It lived within my mana pool in comfort without fear of ever running out of energy. That changed in an instant. I cut the flow of mana to the dragon. The dragon attempted to reach for my mana but couldn’t absorb it. The dragon was a spirit beast of qi not mana. It trembled and roared within my mana pool before flying towards the mana within. It roared triumphantly when it managed to gain some then shrieked in pain. Mana that wasn’t given was toxic.

The dragon shrieked at me and screamed. I paid it no mind and moved on. “Melchior try not to kill the hogs. We need them alive just remove them from the fighting.” I nodded and drew my bow and started shooting the axe wielding hogs in the knees. Some fell off the wall just as Lazarus and Hertha flew sky ward before shooting into the farmhouse proper. I looked back at the dragon. He had begun to shrivel up. Before he had been large majestic. A true monster of fire and ash. Now he was little more than a wyrmling huddling against himself trying to keep his fire alive. Perhaps, the next one would obey me.

The dragon chick cried out for help as his flame began to go out. I looked at the tiny dragon whose own ash was about to put out his flame. My heart broke. The ashes swept over the flame snuffing it out and the dragon let out a final morn filled cry.

“No!” I shouted. I was too late to an incoming axe and it cut through my collar bone cutting down to my left lung. Pain filled me as well as anguish. I saw a tiny spark among the ashes and quickly blew upon it with a trickle of mana. The spark flashed orange, but no flame appeared. Another axe slammed into my back paralyzing me as my health continued to drop. My health was cut in two but none of that mattered. “What have I done?” The pigs looked at me in confusion before they ripped their axes out of me. Blood shot out of my body hiding my rapidly healing flesh.

“If a mere chunk of mass was enough to create existence. Then I can surely revive a dragon with its spark.” I poured my love, hate, and every emotion I had left. This dragon had been like my child and I had cast it out on the street to starve to death. Worse, I had poisoned its food when it was weak. If I had just kept my mana away from it, the dragon would still have some life left. I pushed down on the speck of flame compressing the heat and pouring mana into it at a constant rate. This time, I would be the furnace. The spark continued to dim, and a tear rolled down my eye as an axe came down between my eyes splitting my head in two. The pig ripped the axe out as my brains and blood flowed out before the last of my HP healed my skull and flesh. The pigs raced away from me back in the gate to fight an impossible battle against Lazarus and Hertha.

“Please, work I should have beaten you. I should have dominated you. I should have done any number of things, but I shouldn’t have killed you so cruelly. Come back little dragon.” As I squeezed the fading spark smaller and smaller it suddenly flashed. Something changed. It had given to me some of its fading essence.

I remembered being nothing more than a flame crafted from spirit energy and then something made me more. Powerful pressures beat down on me and then came awareness. Someone fought and poured their hopes into me and I gained a sense of awareness. This strange creature fed me weird mana in a leaking box. I had only just eaten my eggshell when he placed me in a place filled with endless energy. I had been blessed by a god. I’d come to realize that inside of the strange creature I would never starve. I’d begun to lend him my power in exchange for more food. He was sometimes demanding but always traded me more food. Then came the great burning. He sent my power out and in return I spread far and wide. I devoured countless creatures and became something more than a mere fire dragon. I became a dragon of fire and ash. An obstacle stood in the way of my home. So, I reduced it to ash. For a time, my home was pleased, and my home continued to get larger. My home demanded I leave it and fight once more. I told him no. I would do what I wanted. It told me he would make me if I didn’t obey. I refused. Then the food vanished, and I realized for the first time how privileged I was. My home had never allowed me to feel hunger. I began to fade away and I screamed for my creator to save me. He was my home, he gave me food, and he had never done this before. I didn’t understand and I couldn’t leave my energy was already depleted too much to emerge. The ash that was my physical body began to choke my own flame. It become a cancerous curse. I leapt after the precious food that was just in sight and managed to snatch ahold of some. When I tried to feed it to my flame, I faded and lost more of my flame to the roiling ash until only a spark remained. My creator’s eyes were upon me and I refused to beg. My pride wouldn’t allow it. I was a dragon not a slave. My creator watched in sadness as the last of my flame flickered and died. He screamed in sorrow as my existence faded. I was nothing more than a fading spark. He took hold of me and tried to feed me the mana that poisoned me. Even if I were to die. I refused. I wouldn’t be tricked again. “Please, work I should have beaten you. I should have dominated you. I should have done any number of things, but I shouldn’t have killed you so cruelly. Come back little dragon.” I thought it over as I faded more. My thoughts slowed. Maybe one more time.

“You must come back to me.” The spark so small it could barely be called heat erupted. Mana cascaded into it as it consumed as much mana as it could. Wings burst open made of ash and smoke. The dragon roared with happiness and pride. It consumed over 100,000MP in an instant as it doubled in size and flew up out of my body.

Everything that happened between the axe to the head and the pigs walking away took only an instant. The dragon roared and unleashed a terrifying beam of flame. It looked more like a laser than fire breath. I stood up and the ashes from the pigs flew up into the dragon making its form more solid. I understood then that the dragon needed ashes to form a foundation for its flame to reach greater heights. It was a cultivator that had more than enough of my mana to fuel its fire.

I placed a hand on its head and rubbed it. The dragon purred and my hand remained unburned. I wiped away the brain matter and blood from my forehead. That had been a good hit but nothing that could do me any permanent damage. I looked over to the dragon. It was a Dao turned spirit beast. We were closer now than ever before. I hadn’t understood that unleashing it was a costly venture. Not just for me but the dragon as well. Until it completed its foundation of ash, it shouldn’t ever leave my body.

“I’m sorry my friend. I didn’t understand you and my pride nearly killed you.” The dragon continued to purr as I rubbed his scales of ash. They were soft and weak. If I rubbed too hard it could hurt him. He was frailer than I imagined. “Go back and rest in your home it will always be your home.”

I’ll find a way to make it up to him. Maybe we’ll f.u.c.k a dragoness together or something. Just that flash of understanding made me realize what the third form of wyrmling cultivation will entail. Though that wouldn’t be for some time. It would take a while to collect enough ash to reach lv1000 and even more to reach 10,000. 100,000 would take much longer.

Suddenly a roaring sound called out through the battle. A massive red headed boar man with a giant war hammer smacked Hertha out of the farmhouse and into the wall. Even Lazarus was having trouble. I charged forward bow in hand unsure of what to do.