radicalducati Page 30
Page 30
The protective spell has a limited duration, so it's impossible for the dragon's subjects to follow Casalozs's example and travel through the lava streams to other places. They can only help Casalozs manage the few temporary nests he has carved out in the lava rivers over the past few years.
Or, like we are now, we can take supplies, go fully armed, head to the lava falls, and set up a defensive fortress there!
The age of the Casalozian hatchling is no secret. The hatchling stage, from hatching to long slumber, is a fixed 5 years. It has been in the Rift for nearly 5 years, so everyone knows that it is about to enter a long slumber in order to transition into the young dragon stage.
Unlike short slumbers, long slumbers are not easily awakened; this is the period when dragons are most vulnerable. Every dragon, before entering a long slumber, finds a sufficiently secluded place, digs a labyrinth of death, sets up numerous magical traps, and hides within, hoping to safely pass through the slumber. Even so, far too many dragons are still hunted down by their enemies during their slumber and killed without dignity.
In general, Atheros doesn't need to worry about this issue. Even if they reach the appropriate age and leave their families, they are still under the protection of the clan and the ancient overlords of the tribe. Moreover, the family doesn't really drive the dragons out. Dragon parents, brothers, sisters and other dragons are still very welcome to stay at their home for a nap.
But Casalos is all alone now.
Unfortunately, it has quite a few enemies.
Leaving aside those outside the Rift, even within the Rift itself, there are still the Koto fishmen hiding at the bottom of the lake, and the Charson family's Drow Dragons, who are constantly being threatened. In addition, there are those evil-spirited individuals among the people, who are equally not people Casalos can trust.
Casalos usually maintains a formidable fighting strength that's easily visible, so none of these guys dare to cause trouble. But once they know Casalos has entered a deep slumber, would they really let such a golden opportunity slip by?
There's nowhere for this sealed rift to hide, and who knows if these creatures will be able to cross the lava river to find it. Therefore, the safety of the lone dragon Casaloz during its slumber rests entirely in the hands of the loyal dogs of the Kalik tribe.
Fortunately, there were the kobolds, the kobolds who could always be trusted by the dragon, and they were able to shoulder this heavy responsibility.
Svent is merely a guard stationed at the Lava Channel, tasked with protecting the semi-open entrance to the Lava Falls. Meanwhile, Eisen, who is most closely connected to Casalos, will lead two Eye Disciples, four kobold dragon vein assassins, and fifteen goblin warriors who have become dragon servants, to guard the temporary lair Casalos has chosen to slumber in.
Production in the entire Dragon Territory has now essentially ceased, and all citizens have been assigned to guard and combat posts, monitoring each other while also keeping an eye on any slight movement within the Rift. The original four Dragon Vein Sorcerer Elders have even personally taken to the field, flapping their newly grown dragon wings to surround the Drow Dragon belonging to the Charleson family, keeping a close watch on it.
Unfortunately, this Drow Dragon is not easy to deal with. Even though it can't defeat any of the Dragon Vein Elders in direct combat, its innate affinity with the Shadow Dimension and the assassin power it supposedly successfully advanced to a few years ago give it a high chance of successfully avoiding the Dragon Vein Elders.
Casalos had other preparations—if Eisen noticed that the Zorlong was trying to enter the lava flow, she would detonate explosives buried in a specific location, blasting the entire lava flow apart. But that was ultimately just a last resort, and she could only hope that the guy wouldn't lose his mind.
With everything prepared, Casalos, carrying the iron ore and other nutrients needed for his trans-age slumber, dragged his personal guards hiding in the ceramic pod, and went against the current to randomly select a temporary nest that had been prepared in recent years. Not only did he want to trigger the spell scroll, but he also swallowed the ore and closed his outer eyelids.
It knew that during this long slumber, the Dragon Treasury would also be undergoing a major update.
80. Future Trends and Changes
With his eyes closed, Casalos's consciousness entered the Dragon Treasury.
This intergenerational slumber was deliberately delayed until the flames had fully charged the Dragon Treasury.
According to its own understanding of the intergenerational dormancy, during this stage, the dragon's body undergoes the same changes as an insect that has undergone complete metamorphosis and spins a cocoon: apart from the scaled dragon skin, the bones supporting the body, and the central nervous system, all the organs and tissues in the dragon's body dissolve into a pluripotent cell cluster during the intergenerational dormancy, exposing totipotent stem cell tissues like the adult disc, in order to undergo a complete redevelopment.
Therefore, dragons are unable to stop sleeping during long periods, and are also extremely vulnerable. This is why dragons must ingest sufficient essential nutrients before entering a long period of slumber.
This is Long Shenghua's own way, an elevation of the essence of life.
Casalos didn't want to enter the Dragon's Treasury halfway through its slumber and encounter any accidents, nor did it want to waste the hatchling's last chance to enter the Dragon's Treasury—the Dragon's Treasury's version updates are most likely linked to its age. If it enters a long slumber before its energy is fully replenished, it will most likely enter the updated Dragon's Treasury just as its redevelopment is about to end and it is about to awaken from its slumber.
If it waits until the energy is fully charged, it will enter the unupdated Dragon Treasury before it begins to regenerate from its initial dormancy.
Five years have passed, and it has gone through 22 trials. It has seen almost all the dragon gods in the Dragon Treasury, waded through all the rooms, unlocked enough in-game effects in the hidden achievement system, and has a thorough understanding of the current dungeon mechanics. It has also developed several build paths suitable for different situations.
Even with the worst luck now, you can still survive the second boss before collapsing. But what the updated dungeon will be like is anyone's guess, and it won't be able to guarantee its own benefits in the new dungeon.
In short, this is its last guaranteed drop during its fledgling stage.
Another important possible reason is that, based on the experiences of dragons that are different from ordinary dragons, if they can receive some external enhancement during their intergenerational dormancy, their dormant development will very likely experience extraordinary improvement.
Before entering a new development phase, a boost through in-game purchases might yield unexpected benefits.
The main hall of the Dragon's Treasury is no longer the simple hill it once was. Casalos has transformed it into a supervolcanic crater. The hills inside the crater, formed by volcanic ash, are covered with lush ferns. Lava flows and bare iron ore everywhere create a unique landscape painting that suits the iron dragon's aesthetic. Surrounding the center is an open palace with a stepped layout and no roof. Although everything is fake, the dragon looks comfortable, and that's all that matters.
Casalos habitually opened his attribute panel to check his recent status. Looking at his level, Casalos spread his wings with satisfaction.
The dragon with the level 12 maxed-out Leathercarver, level 1 Elemental Master, and level 1 Mage class level has pushed its Challenge Rating to 19, almost the pinnacle below Legendary. But as I said before, Challenge Rating doesn't represent actual strength; it's a value with very little reference value. Pushing it up has no meaning other than satisfying the dragon's arrogance.
Casalos has killed more than one or two legendary bosses in the game, but those were due to the high in-game enhancements and the damage was entirely from the true damage of the Blazing Flame. If it were to encounter a legendary boss in real life... no, not even a legendary boss, as long as it is a single class that has exceeded level 17, it would run away as fast as it could.
However, looking at the entire continent of Faerûn, there may be quite a few professionals with a comprehensive level of over 17, but most of them have reached this point through part-time jobs or advanced professions. Those who can truly excel in a single profession are extremely rare.
Chapter 74
Level 17 spellcasters can basically cast ninth-level spells, monks have immortality, barbarians no longer get tired during berserk mode, and warriors have become top-tier warriors thanks to a massive number of feats. So what can a humanoid class that raises its overall level to 17 through part-time jobs do...?
Of course, when Casalos is ready to leave the Underdark, the enemies it will face will not be these humanoid races. It has no interest in getting involved in the squabbles between the various races of Faerûn. To put it bluntly, the power struggles between the humanoid races of Faerûn are nothing more than a game of house among the gods. Only a fool would get involved before the Year of Turmoil, a turning point in the laws of the gods—yes, Casalos's birth into Faerûn was not very fortunate. From God's perspective, it is still the era before the Year of Turmoil, where the gods arbitrarily and capriciously interfere in mortal affairs. This is actually normal; it has become an iron dragon, so its timeline cannot be too far into the future.
In the following years, not to mention the Atheros, if it weren't for the Nine-Headed Dragon God Eo leaving a contingency plan that completely wiped out Faerûn, the metal dragons and chromatic dragons would have been almost wiped out.
In other words, many more cataclysmic events await, ready to ravage the land of Faerûn. Casalos will personally witness these events. For now, it doesn't aspire to be a hero of this chaotic era; its primary focus is finding the survivors of the Athenawrath, exacting revenge on the Chromatic Dragons, and finding a way to survive the calamities. This will keep it busy for a long time. As for racial rivalries and battles for supremacy, survival is the ultimate concern—let whoever wants to deal with them can have them.
Casalos's class level grants it exceptional survivability, but the enhancement of its Primal Power: Blazing Flame is the foundation of its ability to thrive in battle. Its Blazing Flame has now reached level 3, infusing its three innate weapons—its breath weapon, teeth, and wings—and further enhancing its subsequent branches.
It's not that they don't want to incorporate Blazing Flame into every innate weapon, it's just that the cost of upgrading it increases exponentially. Level 2 requires 4 amethyst crystals, and level 3 requires 8. Continuing further isn't about being unable to afford it, but rather that later branches offer better value. At Blazing Flame level 2, a Blazing Flame enhancement called "Absorption" is unlocked. Its effect is that when a target dies while Blazing Flame is present, the absorbed energy is returned to the Primal Power Seed to enhance the overall effect of the Primal Power. Kills within a match are calculated separately for each match.
To date, Casalos has not been able to verify the actual effects of Blazing Flame in reality, and therefore cannot experience the scaling potential of this global enhancement in real-world scenarios. However, in the training dungeon, if it uses Breath Bite and Wing Strike to clear mobs as much as possible, the additional boost to the entire Primal Power talent tree can reach around 50% by the time it reaches the second boss room, which is simply godlike.
Its few instances of successfully defeating the third boss were all achieved by absorbing over 100% of the overall growth from favorable situations.
81. The Young Dragon's Final Trials
At Blazing Flame Level 3, this branch unlocks two new enhancements.
One effect is diffusion. When the duration of the Blazing Flame ends, if sufficient dissipation energy is not generated to produce the final burst damage, the Blazing Flame will explode into (2 x diffusion level) secondary Blazing Flames that spread to nearby targets, with the original target also counted as a unit. Secondary Blazing Flames can trigger the drain effect. All effects of secondary Blazing Flames are significantly reduced.
The actual effect of this enhancement is still debatable and requires further testing. However, in ordinary rooms with a high density of "monsters" in the game, it is a powerful skill for quickly stacking absorption layers. Casalos, who relies on the Dragon's Treasury to grow rapidly, can have its explosion count increased to 4 by investing the maximum points currently available. Each secondary effect is 1/5 of the Blazing Flame.
Another enhancement branch is called Fusion. Its effect is that if the target is invaded by the flame again before the flame duration has ended, the two flames will merge into a new flame. The duration is the full duration of the new flame plus one-third of the duration of the old flame, and a secondary flame will immediately spread. The secondary flame does not participate in any form of fusion.
This enhancement changes the original refresh effect of repeatedly releasing Blazing Flames into extending the duration of Blazing Flames. When Casalos finds an opportunity to continuously spew Blazing Flames, it can extend the duration of Blazing Flames on the BOSS to tens of seconds at once, greatly increasing the coverage of Blazing Flames.
With Blazing Flame currently dealing 3% of the target's health as true damage every 12 seconds when it has 0 stacks of absorption, and a 4.2% kill threshold, it can reliably kill a monster with no healing abilities in just 6 and a half minutes, making it a true boss killer.
The only downside is that there are very few bosses in the training dungeons that don't have healing abilities. Therefore, Casalos had to turn his attention to the Severe Wounds Enhancement, which requires level 4 Blazing Flame to unlock.
Upgrading to level 4 Blazing Flame requires 16 amethysts, and level 1 Severe Wounds requires 10. Casalos currently has 9 amethysts, so there's still a long way to go.
Regardless, Blazing Flame is powerful, especially compared to the bosses in the game who are basically weak monsters with high health, high defense, and high attack compared to Casaroz. This is also the reason why Casaroz switched back to the Leather Dragon after reaching Elemental Master level 1, and leveled it up to the maximum level 12.
The level 12 Carved Skin Dragon grants Casaloz a large inherent base attack and saving throw bonus, an additional 12 points of spell resistance, a natural armor bonus of 6, and two additional feats: Suppress Weakness and Overcome Weakness, completely eliminating the vulnerability to cold damage inherent in the Iron Dragon fire subspecies.
It also gained immunity to poison and additional energy. Since its vulnerability to cold had been overcome through an extra feat chain, Casalos didn't waste the extra energy immunity on ice-type attacks. Instead, it prioritized immunity to strong acids, which have a disgusting corrosive effect on Iron Dragon armor, and secondly, immunity to sound waves—a type of vibrational energy damage. Meanwhile, its unique energy resistance ability grants it an additional 20 resistance to cold damage and 10 resistance to all other energy types.
In addition, Casaroz has activated damage reduction through the Endurance perk, which, combined with the damage reduction enhancement and damage reduction advancement effects from the Carved Skin Dragon, grants him 7 points of damage reduction. Only legendary or chaotic weapons can ignore this damage reduction.
High magic and energy resistance, naturally thick armor that even an old red dragon would be humbled by, and supernatural advanced damage reduction. Now, even if Casalos were to lie on the ground and let that drow dragon from the Charson family beat him up, it wouldn't be able to harm Casalos in the slightest... well, except when he's in a deep, age-defying slumber.
Other traits of the Carved Skin Dragon include the ability to remain calm and undisturbed against spells and effects from the Enchanting School, the supernatural self-healing effect of the Primal Chaos, and the spell-like ability of the Death Ward.
In short, it's incredibly tanky now, immune to fire, poison, acid, and shock energy, has passive health regeneration and self-healing, and has invested heavily in flight feats. As a mage, its spellbook also includes a constant buff to flight, Swiftwing, making it incredibly fast, along with true damage and execute. To its enemies, it's truly a monster in every sense of the word.
From the perspective of the outside world, only by living can there be a future; from the perspective of the experience within the situation, only by living can one contribute.
If it weren't for the impending transition to a new life, it would have been almost unable to suppress the urge to stop the Charleson kid and give him a good beating.
Let's wait until it finishes its slumber and becomes a baby dragon before making a decision.
Casalos closed the attribute panel and started the training dungeon. Looking at the most common dungeon-type map, it felt no emotion. After more than twenty training sessions, it already understood that the scenario in the second one, which allowed it to fully utilize its flight ability, was a rare and precious opportunity, and it would no longer be emotionally affected by it—as long as it wasn't an underwater map that would suffocate it in the room if the time dragged on a little longer.
That was a hundred times worse than being swindled out of all my silver coins by Astilabo: it didn't even have four rooms.
Chapter 75
He was dragged to his death by a group of incredibly fast fish-men who were blowing bubbles and shouting as they swam around aimlessly in the sea.
That seems to be a hidden achievement. After that experience, the room completion reward had an additional refresh option, giving it more opportunities.
The first room in the training dungeon is a guaranteed bonus room. You casually burn a group of lizards from who-knows-where to ashes, touch the icons representing equipment, look at the two purple options among the four choices, and select the necklace that adds a storm to your breath. Only then does this training officially begin.
The sixth room was a rare puzzle room. Solving a Sudoku puzzle and picking up a rare dragon armor set indicated that the trial was going to be very lucky. The first shopkeeper was the kind lady Tamara, the guardian of the dragon's nest and protector of the chicks and eggs.
This was the third time Casaloz had seen Lady Tarama as the shopkeeper—it seemed that only female dragon gods were allowed to run the Dragon Treasury's shop, so calling her the shopkeeper didn't seem wrong—of course, Casaloz only dared to think this title in his heart, and would never dare to call her that to her face. If he did, a benevolent dragon god like Lady Tarama might just laugh it off, but any other dragon god would probably lose 500 reputation points immediately.
Lady Tarama showed an unusual compassion for the young dragons, not only offering discounts but also displaying only the finest items. Casalos had always had a good haul whenever he encountered Tarama, and this time was no exception; the shop even had the second piece of the dragon armor set from the puzzle room.
82. Good luck!
The Dragon Armor Set is a set of magic armor. Each piece enhances all spells and spell-like abilities cast by a dragon, and also provides magic penetration. The two-piece set bonus directly increases a dragon's arcane casting level by 2.
From an outsider's perspective, given Casalos's current level 1 mage class and the limited number of spell-like abilities he possesses, there isn't much of a practical improvement.
However, within the game, Casalos can quickly level up a mage and gain a massive amount of spell-like abilities. The dragon's inherent arcane casting level will also increase with a fixed growth, making the set effect undoubtedly excellent. Having two pieces of the set before the first boss basically establishes the build direction for this match: ensuring survivability while maximizing casting level, stacking metamagic feats for spell damage and mana regeneration, and "cooldown reduction"—a true turret.
It has been used in at least two pure spellcasting builds, and using the Leather Dragon's body as a spellcasting turret is undoubtedly very efficient and "satisfying." With a few high-level AOE spells, it can clear most rooms almost instantly. The only drawback is that it's difficult for spellcasting builds to stack high levels of Blazing Infusion, making it somewhat hesitant against bosses with high spell resistance and multiple immunities... But this isn't a huge problem. After the Arcane Casting level reaches 20 in-game, rooms will drop Transmission Seeds. As long as you get a couple of good seeds, you can create legendary spells and easily defeat the boss before the monster stats get out of control.
With this stroke of luck and Lady Talama's favor, Casalos felt he could try to use his spell to kill the fourth boss, who was like a wall of sighs, in this trial—he always felt that there was something wrong with the numerical settings of the creator of the Dragon Vault.
In all those trials, the third boss Casalos encountered was a legendary-level monster. With in-game growth and the effects of the Blazing Flame, he had a high probability of defeating it, provided his luck wasn't too bad. But the fourth boss's leap to godlike power was absurd. At least until now, Casalos hadn't seen any hope of defeating the fourth boss.
It had reluctantly asked Tarama about this issue, but the Merciful Lady's answer left it speechless. She said, "From the Vault Builder's perspective, there's no difference in strength between the first and fourth bosses. The fact that you didn't encounter a godlike being in the first room is already a result of its efforts to differentiate between ants and levels. Ultimately, you're just a fledgling dragon and too weak right now. Everything will be alright once you grow stronger."
Even godlike powers are but ants; what can Casalos say? Ultimately, it's its fault for being too weak...
Casaloz maintained above-average luck throughout the subsequent trials. The first and second bosses were quite ordinary, and he passed them smoothly without any surprises. It's worth mentioning that he encountered the very rare "Legacy" room in the three rooms before the second boss.
Of all the experiences it has gone through, this is only the second time it has encountered an inheritance house. As the name suggests, an inheritance house is a place to acquire "inheritance".
Casaroz, both apprehensive and excited, entered the Legacy Room. Inside, there weren't hordes of monsters, just a dilapidated old room containing the corpse of an iron dragon—the very same iron dragon Casaroz that had failed in a trial. Whether it was the Vault maker's twisted sense of humor or a desire for convenience, Casaroz's deaths during the trials were increasingly gruesome, making it a form of psychological torture to plunder its own corpse—the so-called legacy being three random rewards of epic quality or higher obtained from that trial, corresponding to the corpse's remains. Equipment, class attributes, feats, and more were all possible. The Legacy Room was a rare and unpredictable encounter, a chance to take flight from a single room.
Casalos's body in the heritage room was killed by a statue of a silver dragon. The dragon created a storm that rendered Casalos unable to fly, then strolled over on the clouds and chopped him into pieces with its tail axe.
At this moment, Casalos saw that he had already reached a gigantic size, with his spine, ribs, tenderloin, forelimbs, and wings all disassembled and neatly arranged on the stone platform, just like pork waiting to be sold on a market chopping board.
"Thank you so much, you're absolutely..."
No matter how much it complained, it still obediently climbed into the chunk of flesh, inheriting its legacy through touch. It was an advanced class of Dwarven Defender, possessing a sturdy dragon armor chest shield and a Mind Barrier spell ability, equivalent to an eighth-level psionic defense spell.
Its good fortune didn't end there. In the seventh room after defeating the second boss, a shadowy dragon emerged, merging into the shadows to approach Casaroz, who was clearing monsters. It stole two pieces of equipment, half the gold, and all the silver coins, and tried to run away. However, a flash of light revealed it, and Casaroz unleashed a burst of furious magic combined with a dragon's breath, killing the thief. Not only did Casaroz retrieve its own items, but it also gained an extra 100 gold, 500 silver coins, and an epic piece of equipment.
This Shadow Dragon frequently appears in the game, engaging in all sorts of shady activities. If it weren't for the Flame Radar, Casalos would have suffered heavy losses if it encountered it.
Fortunately, Shadow Dragon's direct combat ability is very weak. Once discovered, it's basically a death sentence, and it can even give you a lot of gold and silver coins in return. The only downside is that the equipment it drops is not good. It's definitely a transport captain.
The third boss was a Balrog with some kind of class template. The well-developed Casalos killed it without much pressure and smoothly continued to the fourth boss, which was like a wall of sighs. Then he encountered an "interview" room that was almost as rare as the legacy room.
"Interview" is Casalos's own term. This room is actually an independent trial presided over by the Dragon God. By gaining the Dragon God's approval and paying 1000 silver coins, one can become one of his chosen ones and receive the blessing of the Dragon God's divine power.
Last time Casalos encountered the World Slayer, the Flame Dragon God Galix, the same Flame Lord who led the Faerûn dragons to victory in the Year of Dawn, driving the giants and their gods to retreat to the north of the continent.
Standing in the interview room this time was a gigantic creature with lightning flashing from its eyes, its entire body enveloped in leaping arcs of electricity, shimmering and exploding.
Chapter 76
The Perfect Iron Dragon. The divine emblem of the black disc on the white concentric circles proclaims its identity: Zoquion, the Supreme One, the most powerful of Io's great children, the true ancestor and protector of all dragon-like creatures.
83. The Blessing of the Most High
“I’ve been waiting for you here for a long time, child.”
The voice of the Supreme Being, like thunder resounding in the soul, filled the dragon with power and confidence. It was the embodiment of the true dragon's nature, the manifestation of the abundant pride and power possessed by all dragons. Its appearance in the Dragon Treasury did not surprise Casalos, but it said it had been waiting for Casalos there for a long time…
“I know about the fate of the Iron Dragon Clan of Ferenia, and I know your questions. First of all, I must remind you that the members of the Color Dragon Clan are also dragons, and are also my children. The war between you has seriously violated my principles.”
Yes, the Great Dragon's gaze is fixed on all dragons, not just any single race. It can manifest as any kind of dragon, and its appearance as an iron dragon at this moment is only because Casalos is an iron dragon.
"Just like 20,000 years ago, I will not intervene in your war. This is not only my duty to maintain the dragon race as a species, but also a sign of respect for the masters of this world."
Zoquian seemed to be able to read everything in Casalos's mind. Before Casalos could express any thoughts, it continued, "You should know that the Forgotten Realms - Toril - Kingdom Sky are just one corner of the endless multiverse."
For certain reasons, it is special to many beings you call divine power. But to us, the celestial realm is merely one insignificant among the myriad worlds we observe.
We have no interest in the rules set by the supreme god AO, and when entering the kingdom of heaven in the form of 'divine power', we should show Him sufficient respect.
The dragon population of Faerûn is but a tiny fraction compared to the entire realm of the heavens, and even more so compared to the true dragon races of the entire multiverse. You yourselves chose war, and you must bear the consequences.
Actually, you did very well for a period of time, but you didn't make a firm decision and didn't truly eliminate future troubles, which is why you are suffering the disasters you are experiencing now and those that are coming in the future.
You know what I'm talking about.
Yes, Casaloz knew what the High One was talking about. The "you" it spoke of did not refer to the Athenadragons or the Iron Dragons; it was telling the common history of all the dragons of Faerûn: a history that began with the contemplation of the necessity of the Dragon Gods and ultimately ended because of them, a history belonging to the dragon civilization.
"The reason I pay attention to you is very simple: you are a dragon who is willing to make the whole race better by increasing your own strength and status, aren't you? That is what I expect and encourage."
Yes, I've seen your hard work, and what you've given is enough to earn my favor.
For an ordinary dragon, what could be more worthy of pride than gaining the favor of the Supreme Being?
Casalos opened its mouth as if to say something, but it didn't seem particularly excited.
Unfortunately, you won't gain anything from this.
In the past, you would have already accepted my blessing and become my chosen one, thus taking my place on the journey across Faerûn. But now... you know what is about to happen in the future, and you have guessed the fate of us 'Dragon Gods' in the Transcendent Heaven.
You guessed right, the Divine AO will soon find a reason to change the current divine power rules of the Kingdom of Heaven.