Chapter 90: Colossia"s Banquet - Last Part
Time flew by while everyone casually chatted with each other. Burapha was telling the story of Sila soloing the Snow Dragon Dorolia. Burapha told it as if he was at the scene. In reality, however, he had listened to this story from Bow, causing the story to become overdramatic. Sila had to intervene many times.
Ginny listened to Sila"s story with awe. She couldn"t imagine that a player who has played the game less than a month could raid a dragon alone.
Once the story of Sila defeating the Snow Dragon came to an end, Ratri urged Ginny to tell the story of Ginny herself. "Hey, hey, what about the story of you defeating Solaria? Can you tell us?"
Ginny didn"t reply. She was deep in her thought.
Lone Wolf, who had stayed silent for a while, spoke instead. "It"s strange."
"What do you mean?" Sila wondered.
"Although I watched Fargo"s match during the quarterfinals, I also watched Miss Ginny"s match in the smaller screen. I don"t think she could win against Solaria. You all have seen Solaria yourselves. You should get the idea."
Once Lone Wolf mentioned it, everyone seemed to be reminded of this fact, especially Sila. At first, Sila thought that Dorolia and Solaria were similar in strength. So, if even he, who was a Knight Rank player, could manage to solo Dorolia, it was entirely possible that Ginny, who was a Marquis Rank player, could solo Solaria too.
However, based on Burapha and Bow"s story, Solaria seemed to be stronger than Doloria by at least two to three times. In that case, how could Ginny who lost to Venom manage to win against Solaria alone?
Burapha tried to come up with an answer, "If she made sufficient preparations, she might be able to win, though."
"This lady couldn"t take on the dragon alone. I can tell whether or not anyone has the ability to fight a dragon," Poluk said, "She isn"t good at dealing with territorial magic. The arena she had her match against Venom in was indeed an unfavorable one, but the same goes when you fight against a dragon."
Ginny spoke up expressionlessly, "You guys are right. This sword was given to me."
Everybody fell in silence. Their gazes shifted onto her.
"I have never told anyone I won against Solaria myself. No one asked either."
Burapha said, "I understand. It"s just that, Solaria Sword is a high-grade item, there shouldn"t be anyone willing to give it to someone else for free…" Burapha took a glance at Sila and corrected his sentence, "I mean, there shouldn"t be someone else who is willing to give it to another player for free."
Sila wondered. "Why? If we don"t plan to use the item ourselves, why does it matter if we give it to the one in need?"
"This kind of mindset can belong only to you, Big Brother Sila. Even if we don"t plan to use it, it doesn"t mean you need to give it away."
Ginny hurriedly argued, "No, you"re wrong. That person said exactly that. I asked him why he gave it to me, and he answered that he already has a favourite sword. He didn"t think it would matter if he gives Solaria Sword to someone else."
"See? I told you," Sila said.
Every player there felt puzzled. Was there someone else who thought like Sila?
"Where did you two meet, though?" Burapha asked.
"Before the previous war event, about five in-game years ago, I had just started playing Monster Soul. Once my friends and I arrived at the Main Continent, we went to the Lanova Volcano to hunt monsters together."
"Oh, that"s a habitat of Solaria," Rattana said.
Dragons are the magic-type monsters that scatter around the world of Monster Soul. Their numbers are few, and only a handful of them have their distinct habitat that is known among players. Solaria is one of them.
"Yes, we just wanted to hunt the Squire Rank Fire Golems and Flame Bulls around there. However, it seemed my friends and I were too absorbed in hunting. That led to us accidentally fulfill the condition of awakening the h.e.l.lfire Dragon."
"Kill 200 Fire Golems and 1,000 Flame Bulls within twelve hours," Noppakorn added.
Ginny nodded. "My friends instantly died from its flames when it appeared. As for me, I was far away from it, but I almost died too."
"What happened next?"
"Then, he came. A man who had long red hair. Based on his looks and equipment, he must be a magic-type fighter. He used a heavy sword as his weapon. Once he arrived, he shouted to the dragon and had a conversation with it, then, the dragon ignored me and fought against him."
"Had a conversation with the dragon?" Ratri was puzzled.
"Yes, but I"m still in shock so I didn"t hear what they were talking about," Ginny added.
Poluk, who had yet to say anything, broke his silence, "That guy, did he fight against it using fire magic?"
"Err… Mister Poluk, who in their right mind would use fire magic against the h.e.l.lfire Dragon?" Burapha argued.
However, Ginny turned her head to Poluk, a surprised expression on her face. "Yes! You"re right! I told my friends but no one believed me."
Poluk nodded. This meant Poluk was sure to know something others didn"t. Everyone, including Ginny, fell into silence and waited for him to speak.
"We and the dragons are mortal enemies. It"s natural that we have their information. The thing that the red kid did is called Dragon Ritual," said Poluk.
Everyone was interested in this information, especially Bluebird, Noppakorn, and Rattana. They were members of an information guild but had never heard about this.
"What is it, sir?" Sila asked.
"I planned to tell you later when the time comes, but I think telling you now is also fine. About this, the dragon race is different than other races which usually obtain three racial skills when players select the race. The dragon race is lofty and holds the rank in high regard. So, their racial skills are unlocked based on the user"s rank. At Squire Rank, Knight Rank, and Lord Rank, players gain the racial skills Dragon Scale, Dragon Ritual, and Dragon Soul, respectively. As for Dragon Heart, only one player can possess it."
"W-What are their abilities, sir?" Noppakorn excitedly asked. This is huge. The secret of the dragon race.
"Dragon Scale is a pa.s.sive skill. This skill allows the dragon who is a magic-type monster to have a defensive ability comparable to a qi-type being. As for Dragon Ritual, it is a skill that comes with a condition. Once you reach Knight Rank, you will have a chance to receive an exclusive quest from a dragon of your choice. The quest completion requirements are different for each individual dragon. Solaria"s quest is to have a one-on-one duel against it using fire magic and win."
"What will happen if the quest is accomplished, sir?" Noppakorn continued asking.
"The dragon-race players who finish the Dragon Ritual will be granted the power of that dragon. Dragon Scale will evolve, gaining the property of the selected dragon. Dragon Ritual will be changed to Dragon Domain. Players who overcome Dragon Ritual will also be able to use various spells exclusive to said dragon. In short, the player will become the dragon itself."
Noppakorn wrote the answer down in his notebook and asked another question "What about the last skill, Dragon Soul?"
"Dragon Soul is unlocked when they reach Lord Rank. Its ability is to condense their magic power to materialize their selected dragon. It"s similar to summoning the dragon. Well, it"s not that the dragon is actually summoned."
"What? Does this mean they can summon a dragon to help them fight? Isn"t that too OP?" Noppakorn halted his writing and exclaimed in surprise.
"That"s why it is unlocked at Lord Rank. It"s not a rank that a player can easily attain," Poluk said.
Noppakorn was glad that he had unexpectedly obtained information regarding the dragon race. For the record, information about the dragon race was mostly a secret. Presently, there were only five players belonging to the dragon race. If these five didn"t talk, the secret of the dragon race would remain a secret.
"Miss Ginny, do you know who that guy is?" Lone Wolf asked.
"I don"t. That person fought against Solaria for an hour and finally defeated it. Then, he walked to me and gave me Solaria Sword. He said that it was his thanks for me waking Solaria up."
"You didn"t ask for his name, Ginny?" Burapha asked.
"I did, but he didn"t answer. He said that his name wasn"t supposed to be revealed yet. He said that he would tell me his name if I were to obtain the sword that fits with it, though."
"That"s the reason you want to get your hand on Dorolia Sword, isn"t it?"
"That"s right. He saved my life, after all, even if it"s just in-game." Ginny"s voice was full of admiration.
Burapha felt awkward. No matter how stupid they were, anyone would notice that Ginny had taken a liking to that man. As a result, what Burapha did by giving Ginny the sword was like supporting his love rival.
"Where will you find him, though, Miss Ginny?" Lone Wolf asked.
It wasn"t a strange question to be asked. Except for his appearance and his weapon, Ginny had no other information regarding this man.
"I don"t know. I was only thinking about how to get Dorolia Sword."
It seemed she was the type of person who focused on one thing at a time. She planned to come up with the solution after getting a hold of the sword.
"It"s not that hard, actually," said Noppakorn.
"How can finding a person who we don"t know the name of not be hard?" Sila asked.
"If we only have Miss Ginny"s information, it would indeed be hard. But with Mister Poluk"s clue, it"s possible."
Bluebird already figured out what Noppakorn was getting at, but it seemed Sila and Ginny still didn"t understand.
"I mean, based off what Mister Poluk said, that guy is definitely one of the players who are part of the dragon race. There are only five dragon-race players in this game."
"Ah, that"s true. I only have to search for these five." Ginny was excited. She felt like she was one step closer to meeting that person. Meanwhile, Burapha didn"t say anything. He just sat there, silently.
"Only four of them, in fact. That person clearly isn"t Montra. As for the remaining four, three of them belong to the Heavenly Dragon Guild while the last one is an individual player. That means, if you start by searching at the Heavenly Dragon Guild, you will surely know he is."
"How?" Sila asked.
"Since three out of four belong to the Heavenly Dragon Guild, the chance that Miss Ginny can find that person in this guild is higher. Even if the red-haired man isn"t one of the three, that means he is the remaining individual player."
Sila finally got it. "Oh, right! You should definitely start searching there then."
Sila thought for a while before continuing, "By the way, Doesn"t the Blue Pigeon Guild already have the information of these people?"
Bluebird replied, "No, we don"t. Except for Montra, these people didn"t make a move during the previous war event. Especially the Two Monarchs, these two haven"t made an appearance in public."
"The Two Monarchs?" Sila wondered.
"It"s about the Heavenly Dragon Guild"s structure. For example, the Royal Armament Guild has One Emperor and Four Guardians. They are Cross, Shueria, Fargo, Francine, and Venom. As for the Heavenly Dragon Guild, it has One Emperor, Two Monarchs and Five Warlords, totaling eight people. This number corresponds with the symbol of their guild which is a white dragon twisting its body to make a shape of the eighth Arabic number," Bluebird said as he a.n.a.lyzed, "Let me guess, based on his ability in Miss Ginny"s story, he must be one of the Two Monarchs."
Lone Wolf and Ratri were stressed. They had known about the existence of the Two Monarchs, but they didn"t imagine that one of them was capable of defeating Solaria alone. This meant Montra"s force was more terrifying than they antic.i.p.ated.
The tense atmosphere filled the room.
"Kyaaaaa!!" The women"s screaming could be heard outside the room, followed by the sound of footsteps.
Everyone in the room stopped talking and eating. The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer. Everybody was tense and readied their weapons. Only Sila, Lone Wolf, Poluk, Sebastian, and Varee didn"t panic. They sat still, silently.
The door of the room was opened. One particular man entered the room and immediately slammed the door shut. He quickly ran to the corner of the room.
Everyone stared at this man with confusion.
There were more footsteps approaching. They stopped in front of the entrance to the room.
The sound of a woman could be heard. "Is he coming this way?"
"No, I think it"s another way. This room is a VIP room, we can"t enter it if we don"t have permission."
"Is that so? Let"s go, then."
The sound of footsteps died down. The man moved away from the corner and released a sigh.
"Ah, that was so close. Being handsome can be troublesome sometimes." The man in white wuxia clothing fanned himself with his foldable fan. His posture was elegant.
"Lomyok? Why are you here?" Sila wondered.