Path of Dragons Book 6: Chapter 46: Purpose

As Sadie saw Elijah standing there, wearing an innocent expression on his face, she just shook her head. Even after he’d explained his theory of how the challenges work, the notion that he’d stepped into the ocean and, after less than a day, erged having defeated one of the Trial’s challenges, marked him as an absolute monster. And he’d done it alone, proving that he was a true anomaly.

Most classes in their new world were focused on filling a very specific role. Even her Crusader class was geared toward defending others while taking damage exceptionally well. She wasn’t the quintessential tank that Lamar claid to be – the man seed absolutely indestructible – but she had a few other tricks up her sleeve that allowed her to assist in a variety of roles. She could heal a little. She had a buff she could give to her companions. And she had abilities like Sense of Sin and Confession that were purely non-combat in nature.

Even so, if she’d tried to conquer one of the challenges on her own – even one that had already been defeated and was thus less dangerous – she would have died. Or if not that, then it would have taken her ages to defeat. The sa was true of Dat, whose power was most comparable to Elijah’s.

Or one facet of the Druid’s skillset, at least. But while they could both move around undetected, Dat couldn’t heal. And he certainly couldn’t survive the sorts of things she’d seen Elijah endure. Were there other people out there like Elijah, who were capable of doing everything alone?

Maybe.

The demon seed like one. Sadie could grudgingly accept that the man was powerful, and the presence of his demonic minions – which he saw as mostly disposable – ant that he didn’t have to put himself in the line of fire. As despicable as he was, that made him uniquely suited to going alone. Which was probably for the best, because she couldn’t imagine anyone enduring his loathso presence.

Then there was Oscar, the Pack Leader. Unlike the grotesque demon, he seed to care deeply about his dogs. They were like a family, and as such, he wouldn’t throw them to the proverbial wolves. Still, the fact that he’d spent much of the ti since Earth had been touched by the World Tree at the very top of the power rankings said volus about his capabilities.

Perhaps there were a few other anomalies who could survive – and thrive – alone, but Sadie didn’t think any of them could compare to soone like Elijah.

“What?” he asked, running his hand through his still-wet hair. “Is there sothing in my hair? It got kind of bloody down there, so…I an, if I’m honest, I usually don’t have to worry about that kind of thing. Most of the ti, I end up having my hair singed off. Or dissolved, I guess. Did I tell you about that ti I was digested by a whale monster? Yeah – I went for the full Jonah experience, minus the God stuff, I guess. I never thought to pray while I was in there, but –”

“You’ve told that story a million tis, bro,” Dat said, cutting Elijah’s babbling short.

“Oh. I guess I need new stories,” he said, obviously a little disappointed. “But we’ve been together for a few months now, and that’s a lot of nights around the campfire. Plus, you’ve all been there for my latest adventures.”

“Is that what you call getting ripped in half?” Ron asked.

Elijah winced. “Misadventures, then?” he suggested.

“To put it mildly,” Ron agreed.

anwhile, Lamar and his team just stared silently at the exchange, and Sadie knew precisely what was going through their minds. She hadn’t developed the ability to read thoughts, but she expected that everyone who t Elijah felt sothing similar. The man was infuriatingly flippant about the most serious of topics, and he seed to regard his own death-defying stunts with sothing akin to amusent.

Maybe it was a coping chanism.

But even so, the newcors had been struck dumb by his deanor.

“What’d ya get?” asked Kurik, who’d been engaged with building his traps since they’d stopped outside of the Niflara challenge. Sadie respected his work ethic, even if she found his deanor a little off-putting. He wasn’t particularly rude, but he definitely hadn’t made any overtures of friendship – not with her at least. And Sadie didn’t know how to bridge that gap, which she attributed to their different cultures. “Please tell you found so power crystals. My supplies’re runnin’ low.”

“No such luck, bud. But I did get this,” Elijah said, reaching into that grotesque-looking satchel he always wore. It looked like soone had skinned Frankenstein’s monster, then turned the resultant grey leather – which had been crudely stitched together – into the world’s most macabre purse. He pulled a blue gem out and tossed it to the dwarf. “Not sure what it does, but if it helps your traps, you can have it.”

Kurik caught it, but before he could inspect it, Dat said, “Let see, bro.”

A second later, what Sadie suspected was the reward for defeating the challenge was flying through the air. Dat caught it deftly, then used Hex of Scrying. He cocked his head to the side as he listened to the voices that ca with the skill, then said, “It’s called A Drop of the Ocean. Not much use for any of us, but the ghosts tell it could be used to make a water-breathing treasure like that ring of Elijah’s.”

“A bit late for that, ain’t it? He already beat it.”

“I think –”

“Wait. I have an idea,” Elijah said. “So, the Nexus Town is what? About a thousand miles that way, right?”

“Uh, roughly, yeah,” said Helen, who was the Explorer who’d latched onto Lamar’s group. Her class was so sort of hybrid that afforded her a few combat abilities, but she still maintained the advantages of her archetype. One of those was an impeccable sense of direction. Another, which was the reason Lamar and the others had managed to find their way through the challenge at all, was geared toward sensing what she called points of interest. Those abilities, along with the one that let her party survive underwater, made Explorers and their variants a highly sought-after archetype. It didn’t matter that they weren’t really capable of filling the other group roles. They didn’t need to defend, heal, or do damage if they could help the party avoid unwanted dangers while pointing them toward important areas.

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“So, what if I go back to the city real quick?” he asked. “I take any of the other stuff we’ve picked up along the way, and I’ll see if Atticus can’t hook us up with a crafter who can make these water-breathing rings? I can farm those little gems pretty quickly, and if we all have rings like mine, we won’t have to worry about running into this problem again. Plus, we can use this challenge to push our levels a little. There are thousands of those alaken down there, and all together, they represent a lot of experience.”

“We have been looking for a place to farm, bro.”

“That’s my point exactly,” Elijah said, grinning as he pointed at Dat. “It might take a couple of days to set it all up, but we can devote a week or two to this, and I think we’ll all gain a level or three.”

Sadie asked what she thought was the obvious question. “What are we supposed to be doing while you’re flying back and forth and killing rmaids?”

“rpeople, bro.”

“Not important, Dat.”

“I just call them alaken. It’s more accurate, and if you saw them, you probably wouldn’t call them r-anything. More like eels with arms and carrying fancy pitchforks.”

“Tridents, bro.”

“Again, not important, Dat,” Sadie persisted. Then, she looked at Elijah. “So? My armor has been completely repaired, and I don’t feel like wasting more ti just sitting around. I can’t afford to be lazy.”

“That’s the last word I’d use to describe you,” Elijah said. “But I’m not talking about a few days. I’m talking a day. Maybe two at most. I can slip in there and kill the appropriate targets without issue. Honestly, I think the going back and forth to town will take the longest, even if I use Lightning Rush. Which has a cooldown and only covers about seventy miles.”

Sadie didn’t know the full breadth of Elijah’s new ability, but from what she’d discovered, it seed wholly unfair. Rather than feeling envious, though, it made her look forward to her own spell evolutions even more. If she could upgrade Consecrated Shield, for instance, she could better protect her allies.

“In the anti,” Elijah continued. “There’s a horde of wraiths about ten miles from here. I sensed them on the way in. You could set up a defensive position and grind a little until I have enough rings for everyone. Then, we go down to the City of Toh and get so levels.”

“Can I say sothing?” asked Lamar, who’d remained silent the entire ti.

“You don’t need to raise your hand, bro.”

“Right,” the forr linebacker said. He shrugged his massive shoulders, continuing, “You people are crazy. You know that, right?”

“What?” asked Elijah, again with that innocent look on his face.

“We’ve done a few of these challenges,” he said. “None were first clears like this one, but it’s safe to say that we know a thing or two about how dangerous they are, even after monsters like you all sweep through.”

“And?” asked Elijah.

“They’re not to be taken lightly,” Lamar said. “We’ve co close to dying a hundred tis since this Trial started. Most of those ca in those challenges. I had an aviak almost rip in two –”

“Been there. Don’t recomnd it.”

“Not the ti, Elijah,” Sadie said with a shake of her head.

Dat added, “Read the room, bro.”

“Ain’t no room. We’re outside.”

“It’s an expression, Kurik,” Ron provided.

“Guys…”

They all looked at Sadie. “Let him finish.”

“Oh. Right. Proceed,” Elijah said, gesturing for Lamar to do just that.

“My point is that you’re talking about going in there and grinding? Do you know how insane that sounds?” the big man asked. “I’m no stranger to hard work. Or danger. I’ve risked my life hundreds of tis since all of this started. But I just don’t…I can’t imagine going back in there and…”

He sighed, looking down at the fire they’d built. “I’m beginning to think that I’m not built for this,” he admitted.

“You’re built like a brick house, bro.”

Sadie said, “Not what he’s talking about, Dat.”

“I know,” he said. Then, he looked at Lamar and went on, “You’ve got the tools. You’re strong. Seems like you have a good class, right? But nobody is ‘built for this’. You have to change your mindset. You need to inoculate yourself to danger. My uncle was a Gurkha. He –”

“You’re Vietnase. Aren’t Gurkha’s Indian?”

“Uncle by marriage. Do you want to let finish?” asked Dat. “And they’re Nepalese.”

Elijah held up his hands, saying, “Sorry.”

“Right. Anyway, Gurkhas are famous for their bravery and battle prowess, but my uncle said they aren’t just born that way. They’re trained. They’re forced to endure far more than they should be able to handle. Then, they’re put into terrible situations, over and over again until it becos routine,” Dat explained. “I think about him a lot, about so of his stories. That’s the mindset we all have to adopt. It’s the only way any of us are going to survive. We can’t run from danger anymore. We can’t fear death. We can’t walk around expecting to live a life of safety, because I don’t think that exists anymore. And it won’t return for a long, long ti. So, the way I look at it is that I’m fighting for the future. Every ti I risk my life, I’m doing so because that contribution might bring safety back a little bit quicker. So, you say you aren’t built for this, right? Well, I say you are. You have the physical abilities. A good class. People to support you. The rest of it is up to you, bro. You have to turn yourself into the sort of person who can do what needs to be done.”

It was one of the longest statents Sadie had ever heard from her friend, and probably the most earnest. Many tis, it was easy to see him as an unserious person. His deanor supported that. But beneath that exterior was a thoughtful, fiercely loyal, and, above all, good man who truly wanted to do what was best for everyone. Seeing the insightful side of him – as rare as it was – usually left Sadie in awe of just how much lurked beneath his affable surface identity.

More importantly, Dat’s speech seed to affect Lamar as well as the rest of his group. Even the one-ard Derrick adopted an expression of resolve.

“I guess that’s what we’ll have to do, then,” Lamar said after a few monts of silence. It was a simple statent, but one carrying a mountain’s worth of aning.

“I just want to say that this is a nice mont,” Elijah said, reaching out to grip the forr football player’s massive shoulder. “Humanity coming together.”

“What am I? Crushed rocks over here?” asked Kurik.

“And dwarfanity. Is that a word?” Elijah asked.

“No.”

“Is there a better –”

“Just stop,” the dwarf said. “And for what it’s worth, I agree with him. This is a good opportunity to grind.”

“What about what I said, bro?” asked Dat, switching back to his normal deanor.

“That was good too. A bit obvious to anybody with half a brain, but I guess it needed to be said.”

In the end, everyone agreed that Elijah’s plan was probably the best course of action. So, after resting for a few minutes and taking a shower, he transford into that great, dragon-like beast and took to the skies. For their part, Lamar and the rest of his group decided to stick around long enough to recover, then head toward their next target – the challenge of Ignis. Even as Lamar gave voice to that plan, Sadie hoped that it turned out better than her own experience within that volcano.

But after everything she had endured since the World Tree had touched Earth, she agreed with Dat. Anything that didn’t kill or permanently maim her would only make her stronger, both in mind and body. With that in mind, she turned her attention to the horde of wraiths Elijah had ntioned.