NOVEL NEXT Chapter 98: Dragon Parts
STATUS
NAME: RAYDEN GRIM
TIER: 7
LEVEL: 90
90 OUT OF 135 LEVELS REACHED FOR TIER 7
My new Skills still hadn't presented themselves since Codex and I were Tiering me up the quick, not-recommended way. I blinked past the pounding in my head and took some deep breaths to steady my nerves.
"Are you done?" I asked Dex. "You cycled through all the essence in my Soul and leveled me up as much as you could?"
"Yes, Rayden. However, I recommend that we not do that again. At least not for another three days, at least. This facility is protecting you with its healing properties from Lord Solomon. Still, I do not think your core can handle another level up today. Its barriers are thin and threatening to shred into pieces."
I swallowed. That didn't sound good.
"Fine," I said. "Thank you."
"There is no need to thank me, Rayden. I exist only to serve my master, Lord Solomon, who you are destined to become."
I guessed Codex still hadn't taken the hint–what with having changed my stat screens to refer to me by my given name instead of my arbitrary number–that I would never be Lord Solomon. Even if I somehow succeeded in becoming a god someday, I would still remain my own person with my own goals and my own way of handling godhood.
I took just a moment to allow my body to stop swaying from yet another fast level-up session, hurriedly checked that Eira was still okay where I'd left her in the bag, and then walked back to where Cinthara still angrily slashed through dragon skin and organs.
As I walked, I filled my Soul again with more essence, frustrated that so many streams still danced around the cave.
And that's when I had another idea.
If I can direct essence into my equipment during a battle, surely I can still do that when not in a fight. If my guess is correct, the essence will remain unused as long as I don't direct the streams to enhance my armor and weapon. Then, I should be able to draw the essence back out and into my Soul for later cultivation.
The logic made so much sense that I didn't feel any need to ask Codex to verify whether or not my hunch was correct. If I was wrong, no harm done. If I was right, storing essence in my equipment for later use could be a helpful tool from here on out.
I sat next to Cinthara on the cold floor, simultaneously drawing as many of the twisting streams into my armor and spear.
Cinthara's violet eyes flicked up to mine as I settled in next to her, procuring my new knife from my bag and starting to help her peel away thick muscle and search for valuable parts from the dead dragon. Her eyes glowed, and her cheeks were pink from both exertion and frustration.
"What took you so long, idiot?" she snapped.
"It took me a minute to find where I hid my bag." Lies were spilling out of my mouth way too easily these days.
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We carved through the dragon together for about 60 seconds before Cinthara said, "This isn't getting us anywhere. There has to be something else worthwhile here. That voice said there was a 'first reward.' Maybe that first reward is the spoils from this dragon–it was big and strong, so I'm sure we'll be able to cultivate very well after a kill like this. And if we ever find its core, that's probably worth a lot. But 'first reward' implies there might be a second, maybe even a third."
"First, we need to at least find the dragon's core," I said.
Cinthara muttered something under her breath but continued to work.
"Dex," I called to my AI companion, "where is this dragon's core, and how do we get to it? What about her heart?"
"You are close to the core. It is found deep in her abdomen, almost touching her spine. To reach her heart, you'll have to harvest approximately two and a half inches above the vulnerable part of her abdomen. However, the heart is not as deep as the core."
Sighing, I continued to dig into the dragon. This job was definitely not for squeamish people. I'll leave it at that. Soon, I fit my entire body into the wide cavity Cinthara and I had made. I'd definitely need one of those magical showers they had at the academy after this.
"This is disgusting!"
I could barely hear Cinthara's displeased voice as I wedged myself forward and further into the dragon's belly. The smell was rancid, like rusting metal combined with old vomit.
And then I saw it.
The core glowed brightly, hurting my eyes if I looked at it too long. The sphere was bigger than my head. I could see every individual essence stream swirling within the glassy core, and there were a lot–500 streams? 1,000?
Grunting, I cut around the core with my knife, making sure my gauntlets remained secure on my hands so as not to drain the core by touching it with my bare skin. Once it was free, pulling the core out was an entirely new challenge.
"Need help?"
I couldn't even respond to Cinthara as I wiggled out with a massive, heavy ball wrapped in my arms. She came to my assistance anyway. I felt her small hands wrap around my waist, and she yanked on me until I slid entirely out of the cavity with ease.
"Found it," I breathed through the dragon blood on my face, nodding at the core I held tightly to my chest.
Cinthara whistled. "That's gonna get us a lot of credits."
I grinned. She was right. This dragon core had to be worth at least three times more than a landwalker core. But how were we going to sell it? How would two scout supports who only just now got accepted into Elite Group #1 (which was a secret to most) explain the head-sized core to a merchant?
"I know someone who will buy it from me, no questions asked," Cinthara said as if reading my mind.
She pulled on the string that tied her large sack closed, opening it wide enough to fit the core, then outstretched her arms toward me. I hesitated.
"Can I trust you to split the pay 50/50?"
Cinthara rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't I? I need you for other caverns. Betraying you would not serve me well."
She had a point there.
"Fine. I will open up the other caverns for you as long as we keep all earnings at a 50/50 split."
"Deal," she said with a nod.
I allowed Cinthara to tuck away the bloody core into her supplies bag. She knew the city better than I did. I didn't have much hope of finding someone to buy a mysterious, extremely expensive item from me without asking any unwanted questions. I had no choice but to trust her. She had just helped me kill a dragon, and she hadn't tried to kill me… yet. Maybe our rivalry really had been short-lived. I could only hope.
Getting the heart was messier and worse in every way. Both Cinthara's and my arms burned from so much knife carving, but once we obtained the dark purple heart that was twice as big as the dragon core, we were able to take a breath. Cinthara wrapped a large cloth she'd had tucked away in her bag around the heart before safely stowing the fleshy muscle with the core.
Cinthara and I rose to our feet, both not smelling the best and stained red in most places. The blood felt sticky, and just having it stuck to me in less-than-ideal places made me want to wretch.
"Clone Number 52," Lord Solomon's voice bellowed again.
Cinthara paced back and forth, craning her neck up to the ceiling. "Who is that?"
"It is now time for your second and final reward," the disembodied voice finished.
The scraping of stone against stone brought our attention straight ahead of us. The tall walls at the end of the cave gave way like two stone doors. The creaked open slowly, but the bitter cold that had been trapped behind the walls escaped quickly and stung the skin on my face. Once the doors opened all the way, I could see only darkness ahead.
"That's more like it!" Cinthara exclaimed. She shouldered her sack, and with her chin thrust high into the air, she marched through the new opening.
Of course, I followed her.