The Dragon Born

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. At least, that is what this game's legend said. Is it really still a game? Countless people have died and not come back. Rumor is they simply found a way to log out or maybe since they died in-game in order for this to happen, they have moved on in the real world. I don't want to believe it, but I am not going to take the chance. I stuck to leveling up my forging and scribe skills instead of my actual level for the two years that I have been playing. My combat level is 25. But my two still levels are at what the previous max was which was 125. I heard that if I max them out again I would be able to make raid drops. Imagine how much money I could get from the higher-level players.

I am actually pretty well off in terms of money. I have my own shop set up in a mid-level city that happens to be this world's capital, so even high-level players come here for quests. My living quarters are based in the back of my shop. That is how most players that have been here have been.

Many combat players formed guilds and have homes in the guild hall. I just could never be tied down to a group like that.

I open up my status menu and look at my profile. "I still can't believe that I am here in Dragon's Quest. It has been a wild four months."

Status: Healthy

Name: Eleanor

Race: High Elf

Level:25

Class: Dual Class- Bard/Sorcerer

More info…

It is always amazing to see that I was given the ability to dual-class. It is the award they give you for maxing out two skills at the old max level. I am proud of the accomplishment. I imagine that the max level to achieve this has gone up with the new update.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

I look up from my status menu and open one up for my guest.

Status: Not in Party

Name: ???

Race: ???

Level: 32

Class: ???

Send Friend Request?

…

That is weird, my detection level is relatively high. I don't know why I can't read this person's data, especially since they are at such a low level.

"Hello? Is there anyone in that head of yours? I am here to make a purchase and heard that you were the person to come to."

I look at their face and they have long red hair with eyes that look as green as the grass after it just rained.

"How may I be of assistance?"

"I was given a curse from a boss that lowered my level down from 84 to more than half that. I barely escaped with my life. Luckily I had my teleportation crystal on hand. However, my guild leader told me that if I couldn't get my level back up then I can't be in it." They send me a party request. "I need you to be able to see my stats in order to figure out what I need. It will only show you my status condition though. I like to keep everything about me hidden."

They seem suspicious although I accept their request.

Status: Low health, Poisoned, Curse of Life

"Curse of life?" I hand them an antidote for the poison and a potion for their health.

"I don't see it as a Curse but it essentially makes me immortal. I die and I come back. Although, it does take me weeks to recover from death. Both to respond and to heal internal damages. Does it say anything about a curse for my level drop? Or any reason for it at all?"

I shake my head and their face drops as they hold the potion in their hand.

"Right, I was afraid of that." He drinks the potion and antidote and sets the bottles down. "Do you happen to have any high-end items for people around the range of level 30-50? I have low-end boss loot but I have to be at least level 55 for it."

"I have a lot. It all depends on your class."

"I'm a paladin with…" They trail off at the end and mumble the rest.

I decide to let it be. "Well, I have a bunch of armor and swords that would be fitting for your level and class."

"Do you have any broad swords that can be enhanced and embedded with magic?"

"Well I can do that for you but it won't be very good since my combat level or enchanting level isn't too high." I lie, I am actually close to maxing it out.

They stare off to the side slightly and see them reading my status screen. "Your level is high enough for what I need done."

They hand me a slip of paper and reads, blessing of fire ice and transformation. "I can do this. What is your price range?"

"How is 5000 gold?"

"6000."

They look shocked. "5500. No more."

A smile runs across my face. "Of course. Will do." The work that I was going to do was worth well less than 5000 but I couldn't strike up the opportunity to get more out of them. I take my lute out of my inventory and transform it into a staff to begin the enchanting. Once finished with all of their stuff a message pops up. Cleric added to Class. Congrats, you can now tri-class. Congrats you are player number 1 able to do so.

"Shit. I'm still in party with them, which means they saw that too." I bring their gear up and place it in front, on the table. "Feel free to check it all out."

"Do you want to try out that new class? I know where there are some low-level creatures." They place the gold on the table that they owe me and put their items in their inventory.

I haven’t actually done combat for quite some time and definitely not since before I was brought into the game. “I don’t know. I don’t even know your name and you keep your class hidden from me. And aren’t we both mostly just support classes?”

They look at me confused. “Are you telling me that you didn’t start out as a sorcerer? You’re a high elf with a huge mana stat. Are you telling me that you didn’t take advantage of that when starting the game?”

I shrug. “As a High Elf I am also able to cast multiple support spells too but that doesn’t mean that I like combat. Most of my levels come from me going out with others to go resource scouting. Since I maxed out the Scribe ability I got Sorcerer. Doesn’t mean that I use the class. Although, Cleric will be a big help when it comes to assisting with gathering resources.”

“Do you think of anything other than your shop?”

“Of course I do! I think about what I am going to eat next! This world’s food is just amazing.”

I see them physically roll their eyes. “Why don’t I help you get stronger? It will help you do something else with your life.”

B I still don't know their name. But you know traveling for a little bit doesn't sound like a bad idea. "Tell me your name first."

He takes off his hat that I thought was permanently stuck to his head. He has small black horns on his head that slightly curve at the top. "I am Ruth, race is that of the devils. They were known to be a hardy race which I thought was perfect for the class that I chose."

***

Maybe he isn't that bad and I might feel a little bad for ripping him off on the sale that I made him. At the same time, I feel like it was his fault for being as gullible as he was. I have the songs of defense and attack up as we scout through the forest outside of the valley city. Ruth has made sure that all the monsters stay aggroed onto him as I cast some mediocre fire spells to assist while using my new healing class to help. Since at my level as a high elf I can cast three spells at once I can only have two songs going at once while also going on the offense. The number of spells that I can cast at once can go up to five but I need to be level 100 for that. Most players can only cast up to two so it is an advantage my race has. The only downfall is that I currently can't cast the song of continual healing.

"Eleanor, are you getting tired yet, or can you keep going? We are almost at a point where an area boss will spawn. We can sit for a few to recoup mana if need be. Your hp looks a little low too."

I glance at my stats.

Status: Fatigued, Low Health, Low MP

He saw that and wanted to know if I wanted to keep going. I sit down and activate the song of continual healing. I want to keep the attack and defense up in case we get attacked and Ruth's stats look alright to me. I open up a high-end elixir that I crafted and chug it down to restore most of my mana to speed up on the fatigued status condition. "Ruth." I take another out of my inventory and toss it to him. I look at his status and watch the Critically Low MP condition disappear. I open up the subcategory of my status and watch my health move up to 100 slowly.

"You know that if you cut the buffs off your mana won't drain and your fatigue status will go away faster. I can just drink some potion buffs so don't worry about me. Do you have a potion for your health?” I watch him go through his inventory. “Here, this for energy. It won’t give you much but it will be something.” He tosses me a sandwich. I examine it through the menu.

Sandwich with tomato and lettuce: +50 energy, could use something else but unsure what…

Great, I’m going to be eating something that tastes like cardboard and this will fill me up for my next meal. If the system would let me, I would always be eating the food prepared by NPCs they know the cooking system better than most players. I swallow down the food and try not to retch. I quickly take a thermos of water that I carry around out of my inventory and chug it down.

“Like you can make food that tastes any better.”

“Shut up. At least I know how to cook without the menu.”

“Why aren’t you putting the enhancements back up ma’am? Don’t you see something approaching us on the minimap?”

I open it up and see a grey dot moving in our direction. Out of caution, I put up the song of defense. I hear a bush rustle and I turn my lute into its staff form. A child with horns, dragon wings, and a tail comes out from there. I turn the song off.

“You idiot! Don’t put our defense back down. That thing is a dragon. It could kill us and wipe out our entire town.”

“That? That right there is a child. I doubt that they will do anything to us.”

The child takes a step closer to us with hesitation as Ruth puts himself into a battle stance and lounges at the child. I cast the song of weakness on the party and use my staff to put up a barrier in front of the child. Normally you can’t block something like that fully but the song that I cast should be enough. My shield cracks but stays. The kid freezes and I take Ruth out of my party. I quickly use all my stat buffs in my inventory and cast a fireball and watch him disappear. I open up the menu on the kid

Status: Critically Low HP

Name: Apal

Race: Dragon Born

Level: 10

Class: ???

NPC… Can’t send request

I look at the kid after reading his info. He is in tattered clothes and he is holding a stick that he probably thought could keep him safe. Dragon Borns are known to be feared by the other races and have god-like abilities since they are well dragons. I take a low level potion out of my inventory and slowly approach this kid with it out.

“********. *******.”

I have no idea what he said, but I make a gesture for him to take the potion. “It’s okay I won’t hurt you.”

“***?” He tilts his head at me. However, he walks up and tugs on my robe trying to pull me off somewhere.

Apal wants to go with you. Accept the NPC?

Yes?

No?

I select the yes option as he keeps on walking. I look at the party information and see that there is another member in it. Their name seems to be Dracul. I wonder who they are to Apal. Once we arrive I see a man that looks a lot like Apal. I open up the status menu instantly.

Status: Critically Low HP Bleeding

Name: Dracul

Race: Dragon Born

Level: 100

Class: Dual Class - Archer/Mage

NPC… Can’t send request

NPCs normally can’t get that high let alone Duel Class unless they are of some importance. If he was with his kid then who would have attacked him like this.

I cast a purification spell over him to stop the bleeding condition on him. Then I cast the song of great continual healing which is a spell that I just got for leveling up. I watch the health bar move up at a snail's pace but Apal seems to be fully healed.

Dracul looks at me and asks me to come over. I cautiously approach him. He gently touches my head and a light shines down. “Can you understand me, High Elf?” I nod quietly. “Tell me what is your name?”

“Eleanore, although you can always call me Ella for short.” I give him a smile as I continue to watch the crawling health bar.

“It seems like you have saved me. I will forever be in your debt. Tell me, what can I do for you?”

It all of a sudden hit me. The realization that Ruth will come back for me and it won’t be too friendly. I made him resurrect by burning him alive. He was able to level up quickly so he probably will have his guild come after me too. Will he really do anything? “Be my guardian, my protector, keep me safe from others that want to hurt me.” I fucked that up, didn’t I? I hope that it will be okay to ask this much.

He sits up and brings me close to him. “Is that all? You realize what that means right?”

I look around quickly and shake my head.

“I’ll only be able to do it if you can agree to one condition.”