Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO ON KINDLE SEPT. 2)

The jacket was gold.

Very, very gold.

Elijah sighed, adjusting the lapels. Apparently, Kirlissa just couldn’t help herself, but at least she’d taken his preferred style into account. She had also included dark green embroidery that resembled vines and flowers. When Elijah looked in the mirror, they seemed to writhe.

Fitting.

The rest of the suit followed his normal standards, which meant that it stood somewhere between a modern style and something out of industrialized Britain. Unfortunately, it also included shoes.

They were more comfortable than any other shoes he’d ever worn, but he still regarded them as foot-prisons. If he couldn’t adequately wiggle his toes, he wasn’t happy.

Still, he had to admit that he cut a pretty dashing figure, especially after Kirlissa’s personal stylist had finished with his hair and beard. The serpentor woman resembled a two-legged snake, but she was a wizard with her shears. The result was that Elijah looked better than he ever had.

Still, he felt a bit silly wearing a jacket woven from literal gold thread that somehow felt like silk. But he’d already agreed to wear it, so he pushed that thought out of mind.

Once he was sure that he wouldn’t embarrass himself – or worse, Kirlissa – he turned away from the gilded mirror. The sight of the rooms he’d been given still came as a shock. He’d stayed in some luxurious places before, but they were nothing compared to the suite Kirlissa had granted him. It wasn’t just the décor, which was impressive enough on its own. Rather, the place felt warm, ornate, and calming, all at once.

He sighed.

Despite the obvious luxury, he still preferred his grove. Or even sleeping in the wilderness under the stars, surrounded by chirping insects and curious animals.

For all the majesty of civilization, it was nothing compared to nature.

But at least the suite came with some amenities that nature just couldn’t provide. Like a heated pool that unkinked his muscles, a team of servants that saw to his every need, and even a masseuse that managed to relax him in ways he didn’t even know were possible. That session had left him feeling oddly flexible and centered.

Perhaps he needed to find one of those to hire for the grove as well.

After one last adjustment, Elijah left the room, only to find Mano leaning against the wall just outside the door. His black robes were tightly fitted across his broad chest and trimmed in glimmering gold embroidery. His topknot was freshly oiled and elaborately braided. The halberd, which was made of pitch-black metal, leaned against the wall. The weapon’s only embellishments were two gold tassels, one of which encircled the shaft just below the blade, while the other formed a knot at the butt. Its blade cut through six or seven inches of the wall, and it drifted a little further into the material with every passing moment.

Was it the weight? Or the sharpness? Maybe both.

“Have you been waiting there all this time?” Elijah asked.

“I am your guard,” he answered, pushing himself away from the wall. He snatched his halberd at the same time, and the air rippled with its movement. It possessed an aura suited to a planet. “I take my duty to slaughter your enemies very seriously.”

He gave a bloodthirsty grin that sent a shiver up Elijah’s spine.

That was one thing he’d quickly learned about Mano – the dragon lived for battle in a way that Elijah had never seen. He was totally devoted to it, as much for the act itself as because he seemed to take the very notion of defeat as a personal affront. Elijah had also discovered that Mano had been very critical of his mother’s decision to adopt him. Not as much because he was human as because he wasn’t a dragon.

But Elijah’s performance in the Tournament of the First Fang had gone a long way towards earning Mano’s respect. He’d gone from a human encroaching upon a dragon’s legacy to a dragon in truth. And as such, Mano had decided to take Elijah under his wing.

What that meant was anyone’s guess, but Elijah figured he’d find out sooner rather than later, because Mano was meant to accompany him to She’evoth. Partially as a guard, but mostly because he had a personal mission of his own to accomplish.

Of course, that journey wouldn’t take place for another year, which would coincide with access to the First Fang opening. Only a few dragons would get the chance to cultivate at its base, but from what Elijah knew, it would be a transformative experience.

“I enjoyed your treatment of the mind mage,” Mano stated as they strode down the hall together. His halberd made a subtle whistling sound with every movement. “I cannot abide such creatures. Cowards, all.”

“Mind mages, or mages in general?”

“Yes.”

“Your mother is a mage, of a sort.”

“She left that behind long ago. She may possess the archetype of a Sorcerer, but she is more of an Administrator these days. Perhaps with a bit of the Scholar for flavor,” he explained. “Noble professions. Without them, we could not wage war. Mages can make no such claim to nobility.”

“What about Druids?”

“I have only met one that deserves my respect.”

“Please tell me it’s me.”

“You may be the second,” Mano stated. “You show promise, but only time will tell if you live up to the brutality you showed in the arena.”

That reminded Elijah not to reveal his new spell to his adopted brother. Still, he couldn’t help but grin as he let it flash before his mind’s eye.