Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)

“There’s more?” Elijah asked as Sara dragged him from the Aerie and back into the street.

“I told you I wanted you to meet my friends,” she answered. “They’re probably already waiting for us.”

One of the things he’d noticed was that the system of bridges was almost uniformly free of vehicles. Sure, there were plenty of flying apparatuses – like the cloud relics – in use, but no one bothered with anything ground-bound.

It made sense. Just about everyone had access to some degree of enhancement, be it through sheer attributes or the quality of their cultivation. When Elijah asked about the children who’d not yet awakened an archetype, Sara gave a predictable answer.

“Dragons hatch down below,” she said, gesturing toward the jungle far below. “We don’t get here until we’re pretty close to ascension.”

“So, when I met you, you were…”

“A baby,” she answered. “Well, not exactly. But close enough. I still didn’t see Ashakar for like ten years after that. By then, I was on the verge of ascension.”

“Sounds lonely,” Elijah remarked.

She shrugged. “Dragons are solitary creatures. It’s not until we rise to full sapience that we develop the need to socialize,” Sara explained as they followed the flow of traffic. “I don’t really remember that much of those days. Just flashes of feeling. A few highlights, like meeting you. But none of it is crystal clear.”

“What about drakes and serpentors?”

Drakes were sometimes referred to as half-dragons, and Sara went on to explain that the label was both appropriate and unfitting. Genetically speaking, they were no different from a dragon because they came from the same eggs. The only difference was that drakes never developed an elder core.

“That’s why they’re all so scaley,” she pointed out. “Dragons have some control over their shape. Drakes don’t.”

“And serpentors?”

“Mostly other races found within the Empire of Scale. Like how your world has elves and dwarves. There’s probably some common ancestor, but it’s so far back that they’re different species altogether,” she explained. “And there are naturalized citizens. Those are all serpentors, too.”

“And people like me?”

“You’re a dragon.”

“Yeah. But I wasn’t born one.”

“Doesn’t matter. You have a dragon core, so you’re a dragon. Simple as that.”

Elijah didn’t believe that for a second. If there was one thing he’d confirmed since coming to the Empire of Scale, it was that dragons were people. Maybe they had different customs. They had power, too. But at the end of the day, they were just people.

And people liked to divide themselves into in-groups and out-groups.

Perhaps they were rare, but it didn’t take a genius to predict that there were some “pure-blood” dragons who might take issue with people like him. He just hadn’t met any yet.

Hopefully, he was wrong, and dragons were more evolved than humanity. But he wasn’t going to hold his breath.

In any case, he and Sara wove their way among the other citizens of the Empire of Scale, then took a lift down a few levels. Even devoting an entire cluster of leaves to the task, Elijah knew that he would be entirely incapable of finding his way back. If it came down to it, he fully intended to just leap over the edge and fly away.

Clearly, not everyone had that option.

Gradually, they crossed the city, and Elijah saw more than a few interesting sights along the way. The most intriguing was an open-air market tucked away beneath a lattice of bridges. Sara explained that it was called the Night Market, and that it was mostly home to charlatans and seedy Merchants trying to get over on people who didn’t know better. However, she did allow that there were some diamonds to be found amongst the rough.

“Finding them is the real trick,” she said as they passed through. On one side, an elven serpentor attempted to sell a tapestry to a young drake. On the other, a scaled woman modeled low-grade jewelry. And those were just the tip of the iceberg. Elijah saw vendors hawking all sorts of wares, ranging from wriggling tentacle beasts that were supposed to be some kind of delicacy to colorful fabrics. Elijah saw weapons and armor, clothes and furniture.

It all put him in mind of a magical flea market.

He loved it.

And he vowed to come back when he had time to truly peruse the wares on offer. After all, for someone like him, even low-grade equipment could make all the difference in the world. Maybe he could buy some rings or an upgrade for his Snake Totem.

But Sara wouldn’t allow him to linger, so he would need to do his shopping on some other day.

They also passed by an outdoor amphitheater where a trio of musicians played hauntingly discordant music. When Elijah asked about it, Sara went on to gush about their style.

“They’re not my favorites, but I’ve got some crystals I’ll lend you. They’ll change your life,” she said self-seriously. In that moment, Elijah was reminded of Alyssa and her teenage dedication to music. It brought yet another smile to his face.

Finally, they reached their destination, called The Beautiful Claw that Strikes at Night. Or something like that. Elijah resolved to simply refer to it as the Claw.

What’s more, he recognized the venue the second he stepped inside. The characteristics were all different. Instead of thumping music, there was the upbeat sound of strings and woodwinds. And some sort of reverberating tone that Elijah couldn’t identify. But when he saw dancing people, many of whom were inebriated, he knew that he’d entered a club.

Before he could really wrap his head around the similarities, Sara let out a squeal and raced forward. She wove through the crowd, throwing her hands up as she made for a booth near one of the walls. It played host to four other people. Two human-looking dragons, a hulking man that looked like he’d taken at least a little inspiration from a giant, and a much smaller figure that looked like a scaled gnome.

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Sara threw her arms around one of the human-shaped dragons.

Sighing, Elijah followed, picking his way through the crowd of dancers at a much more sedate pace. He reached Sara and her friends a few moments later.

After Sara practically pushed him into the circular booth, she slid in beside him. A gesture, and the sound of the music dimmed.

“Everybody, this is my brother Elijah. He’s from a whole different planet called Dirt. And he conquered a bunch of Primal Realms by himself. And he spent like thirty years in the abyss!” she eagerly explained. “Don’t let his pajamas fool you, either. He’s awesome.”

Elijah did not miss the fact that most of that was directed at a single figure. Nor could he ignore Sara’s brow waggle. The head nod wasn’t subtle, either.

“Hey,” he sighed. “Sara’s...she’s making it seem like a bigger deal than it is. And these are not pajamas.”

“Elijah. This is Kaela. Cute, huh?” Sara said, nudging him with her elbow. “She’s a demi-god too, and she’s competing in the tournament, just like you.”

“We all are,” rumbled the big guy. If he was shorter than seven feet tall, Elijah would have been incredibly surprised. He was also built like a walking slab of muscle, with brown-black scales encircling his arms, going past his shoulders, and coming to points just below his eyes. He introduced himself as Alrhok ak Unar.

“And that’s Kaelari es Ignara. My sister,” he said, gesturing to the woman Sara was clearly trying to set him up with.

“My friends call me Kaela,” she said. What few scales she showed were pearlescent red, and she displayed features similar to what Elijah usually associated with elves. However, there was a softness to them that set her apart. Kind of like that half-elf Adjudicator, though with a much more feminine cast.

Her hair was stark white streaked with red.

What’s more, she shimmered with power, like an explosion waiting to happen.

Elijah’s attraction to her was immediate, but not wholly because of her appearance. Not that she wasn’t gorgeous. She was, and in a way that he’d rarely experienced. By Earth standards, she was a generational beauty. The sort that could start wars. Like Helen of Troy made real.

But it was her power that Elijah found most intriguing. It came at him like a volcanic explosion, buffeting him with boiling wind and pelting him with magmatic attraction.

It took his breath away.

Back on Earth, there were plenty of fairy tales about love at first sight, and for the most part, Elijah had always dismissed them as fanciful delusions. Attraction was easy to confuse with love, after all. Infatuation, even more so. But in that moment, in that bare instant when he truly let himself look at Kaelari, Elijah could believe in fairy tales.

It passed quickly, replaced by his feelings twisting themselves into nervous knots while his throat went dry.

“Yes!” Sara hissed, too low for anyone but Elijah to hear.

The other two people introduced themselves, but their introductions went by before Elijah had recovered from the sight of Kaelari.

“So, you’re all competing in the tournament?” Elijah asked, trying his best to play it cool. The last thing he wanted was to be seen fawning over a woman he’d just met. This wasn’t like the tour he’d taken just before leaving Earth. She wasn’t just some random, one-night stand waiting to happen.

He wanted more.

But he didn’t want her to know that. Not yet. Not until she gave him some sign that she wanted something similar. And besides, it wasn’t as if he had time for romance. With his training schedule, he rarely got a night off. The tournament was on the horizon as well, and Elijah suspected that his free time would soon grow even scarcer.

“Me and Kaelari are,” said Alrhok. “Piki and Morin are too young. Like Sara.”

Piki turned out to be the scaled gnome who was no bigger than a toddler. Meanwhile, Morin was the other humanoid. A slender, androgynous figure who looked even more elven than Kaelari.

“Oh. Sorry to hear that,” Elijah acknowledged.

“Even if we’d reached demi-god, we would have had no chance of victory,” said Morin in a deep voice that marked him as a male. Probably. Elijah still wasn’t entirely certain, given the androgyny on display. “Most of the others are mid-tier. Some have even reached the peak and are working toward bolstering their Legacy before evolving.”

“We’re just shoring up cultivation while we finish at the Academy. But winning the Fang would definitely count as a significant Feat of Strength,” added Piki. “Too bad we can’t participate.”

“I see,” Elijah said. Then, he turned his attention to Kaelari. Their eyes locked for a brief second, and something seemed to pass between them. For Elijah, it felt like his world stood still. “What about you?”

“What?” she asked.

“Are you trying to bolster your Legacy?”

She shook her head, then pushed a lock of white hair behind her ear. “No. I needn’t worry about that for years yet,” she answered, her voice soft but enthralling.

“And you?” rumbled Alrhok.

Elijah shrugged. “I’m just playing things by ear. Kirlissa asked me to participate, so that’s what I’m doing. In retrospect, I’m not even sure what the rewards are. I think I zoned out when that was explained to me.”

“Prosperity herself requested your participation?” gasped Piki.

“Of course she did,” Sara answered for him. “He’s her favorite.”

“I thought you were,” Morin posited.

“Nope!” Sara excitedly replied. “Not for a long time. I told you how Elijah saved me from the clutches of a dragon-killing cult, right?”

“Multiple times,” groaned Alrhok.

“Anyway, there I was. Not even sapient yet. On the verge, though!” she went on. “And boom! Trapped by a bunch of jerks who specialize in that kind of thing. They were going to chop me up and eat me!”

“I think they were just going to use you like a natural treasure,” Elijah interjected.

“Even worse!” she crowed. “But just before they completed their terrible ritual, Elijah shows up!” she went on, slamming her fist against the table, rattling the glasses containing everyone’s drinks. “Bam! Slash! Bite! He took them down like it was nothing. And he was still a mortal, too!

“He even changed one of his spells to get me out of there before the head bad guy showed up!”

“As a mortal? Is that possible?”

“Nah. Can’t be,” Alrhok replied to Morin’s objection.

“Show them the scars!”

“I don’t have them anymore.”

“Sure you do,” Sara insisted, grabbing the neck of his shirt and ripping it apart. With feigned innocence, she said, “Oops. Do you see his scars, Kaelari? Just between those two bulging muscles.”

Elijah looked down at his bare torso.

“Um…”

Elijah never thought he’d see a dragon blush, but there it was.

“Those little hairline cracks?” asked Alrhok, completely unaware of what was happening. He peered close. “I can barely see them.”

“That’s because he has a silver-tier body,” Sara said, recovering from her “mistake” that left his chest bare. “He has tier five in every aspect of cultivation. Except core, but that’s only because there was nowhere strong enough on his home planet. Or in the abyss. Where he was stranded for thirty years, fighting corrupted monsters and evil tyrants.”

She waggled her eyebrows again.

“Pretty impressive, right?” Sara asked, her question obviously directed at Kaelari. “And anyway, that’s how he became a dragon. Mother was so impressed by his heroics that she just had to bring him into the family.”

“Wow.”

“What were you doing on his planet in the first place?”

“Mother thought I needed to see some new things before I reached full sapience.”

“And how did you let yourself get caught?” came Alrhok’s next question.

“Not important!”

“Seems important.”

“Definitely not. What’s important, Alrhok ak Unar, is that Elijah is an awesome hero, and I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him,” she said, her voice turning icy as she fixed the huge dragon-man with a withering glare. “Right?”

“Uh…”

“Don’t you think it’s impressive, Kaelari?” Sara asked, turning her attention back to the woman in question. Her tone had instantly shifted back to normal. “Maybe you and Elijah can talk about it. In private. Maybe over lunch? At a romantic waterfall in the –”

“Sara.”

She turned innocent eyes on Elijah. “What?”

“Can I talk to you?”

“Sure.”

After that, Elijah dragged Sara away and into a quieter corner. “What the hell was that all about?” he demanded.

“Just hyping you up!” she exclaimed with a grin. She punched him the arm. “You’re awesome. Kaela is awesome. You would be great together! It makes so much sense.”

Elijah sighed. “Can you tone it down?”

“Sure, sure. Less heroic deeds and more tales of your bedroom prowess.”

“No.”

“Uh…I could tell her about the size of your tree.”

“What?”

“You know. The one in the abyss.”

Elijah took a deep breath. “How about we just have normal conversations? Can we do that?”

“But that won’t get her to like you,” she insisted. “She needs to know all the cool things you’ve done.”

“Just let me worry about my own love life.”

“Oh, so you do like her?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to!” she said, following it up with a little dance. “I am the matchmaker!”

Elijah just sighed. “Please just try to be normal.”

“No guarantees,” she replied, obviously drunk on the power of her matchmaking abilities. “C’mon. Let’s seal this deal!”