Path of Dragons

Book 5: Chapter 31: Sticking It Out

“This is a great treasure, my friends,” said Atticus, staring at the Seed of the Whistling Wind with an awestruck expression. “Truly a miraculous reward. Where did you get it?”

Elijah answered, “It was the reward for defeating one of the challenges.”

Briefly, he had considered keeping that information to himself – and clearly, Sadie preferred that route, judging by the look on her face – but he trusted Atticus as much as anyone else in the Trial. So, he’d chosen the path of honesty.

“What’s it do, bro?” asked Dat, standing beside Elijah.

“Twenty-five Dexterity. Permanent. Here,” Atticus continued, holding out a pane of glass. It looked similar to the one used by Mari the Tailor back in Ironshore, but it was framed with elaborately worked silver. Displayed upon it was a notification that looked like it had been ripped from Elijah’s inner eye.

Seed of the Whistling Wind Grade: Complex (high) An alchemical concoction created with a variety of Complex ingredients, then aged in a location teeming with Wind-attuned ethera. When consumed, permanently increases Dexterity attribute by 15-25 points, depending on compatibility of attunement.

“That’s…I don’t know what to say about that,” Elijah stated truthfully. The attribute bonus was both over- and underwhelming. The first, because it was currently an incredible increase that nearly doubled the efficacy of his own buffs like Essence of the Monkey. That was an impressive feat, given that those enhancements had seen quite an increase from his twice-advanced Core cultivation.

However, there was also some disappointment there, and from two sources. For one, an increase of twenty-five points to any attribute was a life-changing boon for the current population of Earth. But would that still be the case in a year? Or ten? At some point, it would become a negligible amount. So, while the permanent increase was impressive, it would soon be no more than a drop in a very large bucket of attributes.

For another, Elijah had hoped for a more exciting effect. Maybe a special ability. Or seeing the name, a unique plant he could cultivate within his grove. So, seeing that it only gave a few attribute points was a bit of a letdown.

It did bring an issue to the forefront, though. When they’d first gotten together, the group had decided to hoard the rewards and split them up once the Trial was finished or they reached the end of what they could conquer. Yet, there were a couple of issues with that plan. Not only had the first challenge opened their eyes to how difficult the Trial would be, which meant that they couldn’t afford to leave any advantage unused, but Elijah and Sadie had already agreed to go their separate ways. So, the previous plan simply wouldn’t work anymore.

After everyone got to see the item’s description, they thanked Atticus and headed out of the premises he’d set up for the various crafters and merchants he’d allied himself with. Already, their efforts had yielded quite a brisk business, but more importantly, they’d established relationships that would hopefully carry them past the Trial and into Earth’s future. They were the best and brightest, after all, and Elijah suspected that if the planet was going to survive, Tradesmen and Merchants would prove to be extremely important.

The rest of Nexus Town was largely unchanged. The market was still there, as was the huge Branch at its center. However, many of the larger and more elaborate buildings had been claimed by various groups who’d come to the Trial together. For their part, Elijah and his companions were happy setting up in one of the buildings on the outskirts of town where they would be left to themselves.

Once there, Elijah took one of the rooms for himself, then made a pallet on the ground. Some of the crafters back in the market had already begun making furniture, but for someone who was accustomed to sleeping on the ground, a pallet was more than enough. Still, he couldn’t help but miss his mossy bed back in the grove.

After he’d set everything up, Elijah headed downstairs to what they’d designated as their kitchen. As they’d passed through the market, Elijah had purchased a few slabs of meat that looked a lot like beef. The seller claimed that it had come from a beast that resembled an ox, so Elijah hoped it would taste similar. Regardless, he quickly sparked a fire in the cooking pit at the center of the room, then got to work preparing the meat as best he could. Fortunately, he had a stash of spices as well as a pan he’d purchased from the Artificer that was supposed to mimic a cooking skill.

He didn’t do anything fancy, though. Just seared steaks, seasoned with salt and pepper. But simple was often better in those situations, so he hoped the results tracked with his expectations.

Once he’d finished, Elijah called, “Dinner is served!”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Everyone had their own plates and utensils, so he slapped the slabs of meat onto their tin plates and told them to dig in. And everyone did. To Elijah’s enormous satisfaction, they all seemed to enjoy the meal quite a bit. Except Sadie, who looked at the meat with undisguised disgust.

Around a mouthful of food, Elijah asked, “So, is it an environmental thing? Or is it just that you don’t like meat? I tried vegetarianism myself a couple of times. You know, before, raising livestock was terrible for the environment. A lot of people don’t realize it, but we actually had to grow more crops to feed the –”

“It’s a combination of things,” Sadie admitted, picking at a plate full of wild greens she’d harvested along the way. Some of them looked a bit dicey to Elijah, but she didn’t seem to fear that any of them were poisonous, so he kept his objections to himself. “But mostly, it’s just habit now. I stopped eating meat when I was a child, so I suppose my tastes changed. I was forced to eat meat after the world transformed, and it was terrible.”

“It was bad meat, bro.”

“No one else got sick, Dat,” she said. “The meat was fine. It was my system that didn’t agree with it.”

“You could probably train yourself to enjoy it if you wanted to,” Elijah offered.

“Who says I want to? I’m perfectly happy with my dietary choices,” she said.

“Fair enough,” Elijah said, cutting another piece of his steak and popping it into his mouth. It was a little tougher than beef, and it had a bit of a tangy aftertaste, but it was still quite good. Not the best he’d ever had, but not the worst, either. In any case, the pan had worked exceedingly well, evidenced by the fact that he could taste the meat at all. Without the proper skill, his meals were often quite bland.

“So,” he continued. “I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room.”

“What is an elephant?” asked Kurik. He’d already finished his first steak, and he’d started in on his second.

“Huge animal native to Earth. But it’s an expression,” Elijah said. “Meant to refer to an issue that nobody can really ignore. In this case, what are we going to do about this group?”

“What do you mean, bro?” asked Dat.

“He means that we decided to go our separate ways,” Sadie answered. Before the other two could respond, she continued, “But in light of recent events, I think it prudent that we reconsider.”

“Recent events?” asked Elijah.

“You may not be the person I thought you were,” she admitted. “That is my fault, and I am sorry. My only excuse is that my ability colors my perception in ways I didn’t expect. It is a fairly new addition, and I am still learning how to mitigate the effects. As I said, you have my apology. I should not have judged you based on a skill I neither understood nor could properly control.”

That was not what Elijah had expected. Indeed, he’d have put money on Sadie being the sort of person who would cling to her original judgement out of pride, regardless of any new evidence she might find. So, clearly, he was just as guilty as she was, at least when it came to making snap judgements concerning someone’s character.

“You want to stick together?” he asked.

“I do. And I think everyone else does as well,” Sadie answered. The other two agreed.

Elijah grinned. “Then I guess that’s what we’ll do.”

Realistically, he’d already had second thoughts about the idea of going it alone. His pride told him that he could accomplish just as much without the others as with them, but he wasn’t so deluded that he completely believed that. If he hadn’t had them during the first challenge, things would have turned out a lot differently. Maybe he would have emerged victorious, but there was just as much of a chance that he’d have been overwhelmed and killed. Or injured so badly that it would have taken weeks to recover.

Besides, he liked the idea having other people around.

Most of the time, at least. And often, the reality of having company fell short of what was in his mind. But as they shared a meal, he decided that his current situation definitely qualified as one of the former.

“So, what are we going to do about the Seed?” he asked. “It would be dumb to just leave it unused. It could help us going forward.”

“I suppose you want it, then?” Sadie asked.

Elijah shrugged. “If nobody else does, sure. But it’s not ideal for me,” he said. That wasn’t necessarily true. Because of the versatility of his class, he used every attribute, and he could only imagine the benefit of having an extra twenty-five points added to his Dexterity attribute. It would be especially helpful for the lamellar ape form, which had a distinct weakness when it came to coordination, but it would be impactful for the others as well.

However, as far as he knew, both Kurik and Dat used Dexterity as their primary attribute and they had multiple skills that depended on it. As such, the Seed would be far more immediately beneficial for them.

Besides, there were eight more rewards out there, and he didn’t want to waste his chance on something that was only marginally beneficial.

“I think it should go to Kurik or Dat,” Elijah said.

Sadie agreed, though the Witch Hunter and trapper insisted that it should go to one of the two most powerful members of the group. Apparently, that was how it was done on other worlds. The strong got stronger, all in the hopes that they would protect everyone else.

In the end, Dat was the one who got the Seed of the Whistling Wind, and though he was happy for the boost, he still grumbled a bit about how things had worked out. When he took the pill, it gave him twenty-six additional Dexterity, which just proved that it was the right choice.

Later, Dat revealed, “I used to dream about this, you know.”

“What?” Elijah asked. The pair were the only members of the group who were still awake. Sadie had retired first, but Kurik hadn’t been far behind. For his part, Elijah couldn’t sleep, and Dat claimed to be a night owl.

“About being magically transported into a game world. I read books about it. It all seemed so cool,” he said. “I didn’t think about the downsides, though. I’ve watched thousands die. Tens of thousands. And I’m here, getting excited about gaining a little extra Dexterity while everyone back in Hong Kong is struggling to survive. I don’t even know what happened to my parents. My little brothers. My aunts and uncles.”

“Where were they when it happened?”

Dat shrugged. “All over,” he answered. “My parents and brothers moved to Seoul when I was young. My uncle lives in New Orleans, and I have a bunch of cousins scattered across Europe.”

“Nobody still in Vietnam?”

“A few. I lived there until I was nine, but after that, we moved a lot. Then, I went to boarding school. You?”

Elijah shook his head. “Grew up in Washington state, then moved to Hawaii for college. Ended up on an island in what used to be the Pacific Northwest when the world changed. It was pretty rough for the first year or so, but I survived. My…my sister didn’t. She was killed. But my sister-in-law and nephew made it.” He ran his fingers through his hair, adding, “My point is that just because you don’t know what happened to them doesn’t mean they’re gone. There are a lot of survivors out there. Plenty of places where people banded together and protected one another.”

Dat nodded, and for a long few moments, neither of them said anything. Finally, Dat said, “I think I’m going to get some sleep. Good night.”

“Night.”

Dat rose, but before he left the room, he said, “Thanks, bro.”