dmims Page 56
Page 56
Dealing with them is no easy task, and Casalos might need to wait for a special opportunity. Until then, it would be a good idea to use his true identity to cultivate goodwill with the Harpists' Alliance—dealing with these "land gods" definitely requires maintaining peak performance at all times, as switching to any other form would limit the exertion of power, so he can only use his true form.
This would also draw out the Tiamat followers who still covet the Aetherian race, and incidentally, reveal the whereabouts of the well-hidden Aetherian survivors.
The experience of battling the Chaos Hound Kozif in the Dragon's Treasury was the premise that gave it the courage to do this.
Thanks to the great Wheel of Eternity, Casalozs's power has received an unexpected and fundamental boost!
75. Little girl
"Teacher, are you going back now?"
Seeing Casalos get up, Isis, who was kneeling on the other side of the balcony, put down her book and tilted her head to ask.
Over the years, the once innocent, fair-haired, dark-skinned girl has blossomed into a graceful and mature woman. Her life in the snow-capped mountains provided her with ample nutrition and long-term, systematic training, resulting in a voluptuous yet agile figure. Her curves are as striking as the mountains themselves, while her slender proportions are perfectly proportioned. A healthy body fat percentage ensures a graceful, rounded silhouette, and coupled with the long, slender legs characteristic of the Churt people, she would undoubtedly be a stunningly beautiful and irresistible woman.
In fact, Isis has become the image ambassador for the Port of Dessela, and frequently attends important public events at the port.
This little girl has a real talent for performing, and after some consideration, Casalos decided to let her pursue an idol career. With the help of Kenneth's bards' club and the increasingly widespread use of the artifact photo replay screen, Isis gained a group of enthusiastic fans on the continent of Faerûn.
Meanwhile, the otherworldly "strange costumes" originating from Dragon Territory have spread across the continent of Faerûn along with Isis's image, and have now become the core source of income for the otherworldly dragon merchant's shop—making money. This is the purpose behind Casalos's sudden idea to create an idol.
At this moment, Isis was wearing a sheer blouse that barely covered her southern hemisphere, low-rise denim shorts with the buttons undone and the zipper undone, and long, rhinestone-studded fishnet stockings that contrasted sharply with her dark skin. She wore crystal-studded strappy heels. Lacking any matching undergarments, the smudged colors and her groin area were exposed, and coupled with the gold and gemstone jewelry that Dragon so vulgarly favored, she looked exactly like a dark-skinned slut from some hentai anime.
In Casalos's previous life, this attire would likely have gotten him invited for tea, but on the continent of Faerûn, it was merely considered slightly overly enthusiastic. The traditional clothing of the elves, whose footprints crisscross Faerûn, was in no way inferior, and in fact, far more extravagant. The drow and the barbarians, who often wore only animal skins around their waists, were even more outrageous. And speaking of distant places, in the various regions of the Churt Peninsula, due to the humid and hot climate, it was quite common to see inhabitants barely clothed.
The people of Faerûn are very accepting of this kind of clothing. In fact, according to Casaloz's observations, the clothing style of the people of the Tindor Plains has basically been completely based on Isis as the trendsetter. As for other parts of Faerûn, this kind of clothing is currently only popular in cities with the Goron Treasure House and the surrounding areas. In addition, this simple attire is very popular among adventurers wandering around Faerûn.
Incidentally, after witnessing the advertising effect of Isis, Kenneth the Bronze Dragon, who possesses a talent for publicity, keenly perceived the enormous potential of "idols" in manipulating public opinion and is researching how to create an idol-training model within the Bards' Guild. Casalos is very supportive of this, providing a wealth of scattered guidance and, as a Bard, acting as a gossip dragon, connecting them with the Keeper of Secrets, Tona, to unite them in a large-scale operation in Waterdeep—public opinion control is essential, and such a good money-making method can only truly be effective after being industrialized and scaled up.
Dragon's Curiosities Shop only has a few locations in a limited number of cities, targeting the high-end market. Isis's advertising efforts can barely generate any revenue. Casalos himself doesn't have much time or inclination to do these things. Since someone (the dragon) is willing to volunteer, he'll just let them handle it, take a stake, and wait to reap the rewards.
Kenneth wasn't the only one who saw the potential of the Isis idol model.
Chapter 154
Kingdoms like Komir, Zambia, and Jondas, thriving in commerce; the Amn Empire, specializing in overseas continental colonization and trade; and the Zantalin Society, always meddling in everything—all have made contact with Isis in different ways. Of course, under the loyal protection of the level 18 Dragonvein Warlock, those who didn't intend to make normal contact only ended up as fertilizer.
Other forces that have taken an interest in Isis are not so easy to deal with. Priests of the goddess of wealth, Woking, and the goddess of joy, Lilar, have already built temples in Desera Port, which they previously looked down upon, and have sent exemplary priests of bishop rank to oversee them. They are even willing to comply with the law of Desera Port to levy taxes on the temples, a concession that clearly indicates they have received some divine revelation.
“Yes, it’s time to get rid of those bald dwarves.” Casalos stretched out his neck and tail, extended his claws forward, pulled his legs back, spread his wings, and yawned, answering casually.
After several years of observation and personal instruction, it had placed great trust in Isis, and there was no need to hide this small matter from her.
"Can I come with you?" The young girl stood up from her seat, tilted her head back, put her hands behind her back, and stared expectantly into Casalos's eyes. "Maybe I can be of some help?"
"No, you're still too weak."
The sassy, fair-haired woman with dark skin curled her lip, lowered her head, and kicked the table angrily: "By your standards, I'm already an adult, but I've never been outside of Dragon Territory. Adventurers in Faerûn at my age..."
"Isn't Dragon Territory big enough for you to play with? Gravesend City is full of grey dwarves and their slaves. I'm going there to fight, which is dangerous and boring. Why do you insist on coming with me?"
"You went to Sword Bay without me!"
Casaloz's tin-covered face immediately fell: "I'm driving a big truck to Sword Bay, what kind of nonsense is it for you, a little kid, to come along!"
Of course, it couldn't say that aloud. It could only shake its head and promise, "You're almost at the Exemplar level. I promise you, once you successfully cast your first sixth-circle spell, I'll have Svent accompany you on a journey. Until then, you should stay here and study."
Having said that, Casalos flapped his wings and soared into the sky, boarded the ship, activated teleportation to the desolate coast to pick up the two colorful dragons, and then returned to the Darklands Rift in one smooth motion, giving the little girl no chance to continue her coquettish behavior—after tasting the forbidden fruit in human form, Casalos had lost some of the composure expected of a dragon of his age, and he was genuinely worried that if the little girl continued like this, he might impulsively take advantage of her. It was best to avoid seeing her for the time being!
He ordered the Dragon Command army to quickly assemble and form ranks in front of the collapsed passage. Casalos hovered about ten meters above the ground in front of the ranks, his indigo eyes fixed on the pile of stones blocking the passage.
Now, from here, you can already hear the clanging and clattering of the grey dwarves digging in the city of Gravesend across the way.
The barrier that sealed the rift valley was only a few dozen meters thick.
76. Long time no see, W.E.B. Du Bois
"Whips, shackles, and the pickaxes in your hands!"
Dubois Gravesander, with his slicked-back bald head, stood atop a chariot being pulled by gnome slaves, raising his warhammer in both hands and shouting slogans at the slaves who were digging frantically ahead and the slave owners who were supervising their work.
"We are about to break through the last obstacle blocking our progress." Its tone shifted, from stern and solemn to soaring and surging, as if encouraging the slaves: "We will become the second City of Blades, the last obstacle to reaping endless wealth!"
"Beyond these rocks, there is a dragon, a young fire dragon!"
Its breath allows us to smelt the finest steel in the furnace, enabling us to forge weapons and armor of the highest quality.
If we can seize it, bring it back to our city, and make it our hearth, then we, Gravesend, can become the second Blade City of the Underdark!
Imagine that then, the snake-men's slippery scales will no longer be able to withstand our sharp blades, and their inferior poisonous spears will no longer be able to pierce our armor. Those drow who only know how to scheme and plot, yet are as thin as sticks, will also come to buy our weapons.
What an enormous fortune that would be!
I guarantee that by then, each of you will have an inexhaustible supply of steel, which will be exchanged for an endless supply of slaves, so that you can devote yourselves wholeheartedly to your craft and create one better work after another.
Each of you can build a museum to display your own works, showcasing your great skills to the master craftsman Durag, and gain the qualification to enter His divine kingdom...
"As long as you're with me, we can catch that baby dragon!"
The sound of the whips striking the slaves' bodies grew stronger, and the eyes of the gray dwarf slave owners were filled with a faint purple hue, a greedy, bloodthirsty, and evil light.
This was not Du Bois's first speech.
In recent years, a mysterious force has appeared around the city of Gravesend, relentlessly harassing and attacking the city's various mining sites. This has greatly exacerbated the already precarious situation in Gravesend, which is at a disadvantage in its conflict with the Serpent Empire.
These guys, who seem to appear out of nowhere, always manage to find gaps in the defenses of the mines in Gravesend, then launch a surprise attack with lightning speed, grabbing the freshly mined minerals and slaves and running away, leaving the Gravesend patrols with no chance to catch them.
The only saving grace was that these attackers never damaged the mining facilities, nor did they commit much murder. When the mines were attacked, the guards stationed there were mostly rendered incapacitated or unconscious rather than killed, allowing Gravesend City to barely maintain its existence. It was barely, however; the attackers' persistent pursuit of slaves from the mines kept Gravesend City's workforce constantly drained. Adding to this, the earthquake a few years ago blocked a stable source of slaves for the Grey Dwarves, and the Serpent Empire maintained constant pressure, leaving Gravesend City's slave resources somewhat insufficient.
Left with no other choice, Dubois enacted new laws. These laws also enslaved the Grey Dwarf Guards who had twice fallen, on the grounds of dereliction of duty, in order to barely ensure the production of Gravesend.
But the city's grey dwarves only have a small total population, and the raiders' abduction of slaves is getting worse and worse. Anyone with eyes can see that if this continues, the city will eventually become a city full of slaves.
The grey dwarves are indeed part of the order, but they are evil before that order.
No one willingly becomes someone else's slave, and no one wants to see a city with only one slave owner.
In order to stabilize Gravesend, Dubois had to try something new and never before attempted.
By giving speeches and painting a rosy picture of the future for the Grey Dwarves, keeping them hopeful for the future, this is a very effective method. In one speech after another, the subtle power of the mind has planted a deep seed of suggestion in the souls of these Grey Dwarves, making them gradually forget the danger of facing a real dragon, leaving only their desire for the illusory future created by Du Bois.
This speech, delivered at the excavation site, was merely another round of "maintaining" the suggestions already deeply ingrained in the hearts of the grey dwarves. However, compared to before, Du Bois was genuinely excited and thrilled this time.
The excavator told it that the tunnel could be dug in a week at most!
The future of Gravesend City already shines with the fiery light of the Sacred Forge of Durrag, just like the stones blocking the passage...
Wait, a blazing, furnace-like light is emanating from the rocks blocking the passage?!
Dubois rubbed his large, bell-like eyes with his thick fingers, wondering if he was hallucinating.
Unfortunately, it wasn't an illusion. In the short time it rubbed its eyes, the stone wall blocking the passage had already melted from a fiery red-hot color.
Chapter 155
The molten lava flowed down onto the slaves digging below, setting them ablaze and turning them into human torches, screaming in agony as they ran away.
The gray dwarf slave owners, wielding whips, sensed the danger first. They roared and unleashed spells or used whatever tools were at hand to salvage their property. The dug tunnels began to tremble uncontrollably, as if a volcano was about to erupt.
The grey dwarf slave owners failed to save many slaves, and the molten stone walls poured down like waves, engulfing them along with the wailing unfortunate souls.
With a rumbling roar, the molten section of the stone wall exploded, and a flame, even hotter than the core of the Gravesend Central Furnace, slowly emerged. The flame's transparent inner flame remained condensed, its surface wrapped in distinct, incandescent lines that outlined a slightly flattened, shovel-like, nascent dragon head. Arcs of electricity leaped within the outer flame, extending along its thick neck into the stone wall, continuing to expand the molten area, its shark-fin-like scales gleaming brightly.
Fire dragon? Electric dragon? Fire elemental elder?
The transparent inner flame dragon claw, also shaped by the blazing white central flame, melted an extra small hole protruding from the stone wall, followed by the dragon's thick drive and the wing roots that were completely drawn back.
The dragon's head rose, its roar echoing, and the terrifying waves it created swept the logistics guards stationed behind the excavation area, as well as the other gray dwarves who were taking turns resting, into an abyss of fear, causing them to fall to the ground, unable to get up again.
The roar jolted Dubois awake. He quickly cast several buffs on himself, grabbed his hammer, and turned to dash into the darkness, stepping on the lava.
"Huh? Weren't you just spouting nonsense about coming to arrest me and make me your stove? Why did you run away as soon as you saw the person in charge?"
Casalos habitually snapped its beak, making no sound in its elemental state, only scattering a few blazing white sparks that burned a few small pits into the flowing lava.
77. New Force
"Hey, where are you going? Eat my~ old~ sizzle... sizzle!" The rumbling, exploding air currents converged into a strange dragon language, but halfway through the shout, it completely transformed into a loud bang as thick arcs of electricity pierced through the air.
Casalos's body, which had just been forged in flames, instantly transformed into a pattern of hundreds of blue and white arcs of electricity, emerging from the molten stone wall and leaving a trail of dazzling shadows. It easily caught up with Dubois, who was fully charged with acceleration.
As the grey dwarf watched in terror, a dragon claw formed from lightning shot forward, as if grabbing a chick. Before any contact even occurred, tiny arcs of electricity leaping from the dragon claw shattered the invisible shield created by mental power, leaving charred black spots on its greyish skin.
Dubois dared not linger to retaliate. He screamed as he triggered some new manifestation spell, and his entire body vanished in a daze, reappearing a dozen meters to the right front of Casalos, escaping the dragon's claws.
Casalos snapped its upper and lower beaks together, sparking several new arcs of electricity. Its high-speed body defied the laws of inertia, making a sharp turn and easily catching up with the gray dwarf city lord once again.
The elemental form is an unexpected boost Casalos gained during this trial.
A qualitative leap in power!
After his unfortunate departure from the world of El, Casalos, as planned, invested his dungeon loot into the final level of Elemental Mastery, thereby fully developing the potential of the Dragon Elemental subspecies and gaining a large amount of status immunity.
Next, it naturally wanted to see what enhancement branches the crystals dropped by the Chaos Hound boss could add to the Primal Power talent tree. Although the Chaos Hound was just an avatar, its strength far surpassed that of Hellfire, so its drops were naturally quite good. It generously provided Casalos with 8 crystals, enough to further enhance its Dissociation ability... The growth that the Dragon Vault could offer it was basically reduced to these two forms, and there was nothing else to see.
However, just as it was about to inject the crystal into the dissociation branch for enhancement, Artanis stopped it in time.
"You've already come into contact with the first artifact that embodies the laws of the El world, right?"
The archbishop, whose power was equivalent to that of a powerful god in Faerûn, said: "The North Wind Crown symbolizes the wind and snow of the world of El. Don't you feel that its power is very similar to a kind of primordial power in your world... Yes, the elements. Elements constitute the basic rules within the celestial world of the realm, and just now, you have unearthed the elemental essence within your own body. Why not continue to consider other possibilities?"
Casalos had to admit that there was a reason why the builders of the Dragon Vault "hired" NPCs to be stationed inside the vault in various ways.
The Talent Tree is not a standard path for enhancing users within the Dragon Vault; it's merely a visual, interactive interface that Casalos created using his own understanding and familiar methods, leveraging the Vault's intelligent automated functions. Because the information provided by the Vault itself is highly abstract, Casalos's Talent Tree system naturally contains various errors and omissions.
In fact, this talent tree has been constantly evolving as Casalos's understanding changes, gradually approaching the essence of dragon power. For example, the now-basic classes like the Carved Skin Dragon, Elemental Master, and Bloodscale Berserker undoubtedly correspond to the three fundamental structural elements of a dragon: the bound skin, the elements that constitute its magical attributes, and the flesh and bones that support its body. The opposing Primal Power and Divine Gifted classes are clearly higher developments built upon these foundations.
However, the structure of the talent tree is essentially a manifestation of the Dragon Vault's current understanding of Casalos. Compared to the original loose and independent pages, it is merely closer to the truth, not the truth itself.
"Only by standing tall can you see far."
The NPCs within the Dragon Vault, whether dragon gods or archbishops, possess power at a higher level than Casalos. Their perceptions, understanding, and knowledge are naturally far superior to Casalos's. Even a casual act of guidance from them can be incredibly beneficial to Casalos.
Artanis pointed out a clear path for Casalos: Could it be that an Elemental Master who has fully unleashed the potential of an Elemental Subspecies can only grant a dragon a little bit of elemental characteristics? The Frostbite, representing the wind and snow of the world of Aiur, can transform Casalos into "wind" or "snow." Could elemental power, which is also one of the fundamental laws of the world, also allow a dragon that has gained elemental characteristics to completely change its physical form?
When Casalos realized this, a new path appeared in the talent tree. This path extended from the top of the Elemental Master talent tree, from the Elemental Trait node, shifted off the plane formed by the three basic talents, pointed in the direction of the primordial power, and gave rise to two branches.
One of its branches is "elementalization".
As its name suggests, after activating its elemental transformation with the input of six crystals, Casalos gained the ability to transform itself into a quasi-elemental creature composed entirely of elements. Originally a fire-type subspecies of true dragon, its elemental form is fire; and the energy it coordinates and substitutes through its elemental master abilities is lightning, thus allowing it to transform into a pure lightning elemental form—fire and lightning elements are not simply fire or electricity in a material sense, but rather fundamental components of the vast magic of the realm. Compared to the near-law-level physical transformation of the "Northern Wind Crown," its enhancement of Casalos's power is naturally not as significant. However, for Casalos, whose true form is merely a young dragon, this is undoubtedly a qualitative leap.
In the past, with Casalos's flying ability, he would never have been able to catch up with Dubois, a super-psychic with a combined level of 18, in this narrow underground tunnel dug by the gray dwarves. Breaking through the tens of meters thick granite would not have been an easy task either.
But now... transforming into fire element and drilling into the stone wall, merely...
Chapter 156
It took more than a tenth of the dragon's magic power and less than half an hour to melt and penetrate this thick barrier.
Then it transformed into an exceptionally light and almost unaffected by air resistance lightning element, and with a burst of speed, it caught up with Dubois, who was running away. Even though the gray dwarf city lord used some kind of manifest magic to relocate, he could not escape its pursuit after its nimble turn.
The only regret is that the magic consumption of the lightning elemental form, obtained through energy coordination and replacement, is much higher than that of the fire elemental form. The limited dragon magic pool of the Casaloz young dragon is not enough to support it in maintaining this highly mobile and fast form for a long time.
With another claw thrust out, the gray dwarf city lord, having exhausted all his tricks, had no more options.
78. Unexpected News
If Dubois Gravesander were a psionicist who had advanced to a transcendentalist, Casalos, who didn't have many effective means against troublesome psionic spells, might have found it somewhat daunting. Unfortunately, its class levels were distributed as Level 4 Warrior, Level 8 Mind Warrior, and Level 6 Transcendentalist, making it powerful in direct combat, but against an enemy like Casalos that completely overwhelmed it, it had few viable escape methods.
Just as the dragon's claws were about to touch the gray dwarf city lord's armor, Casaloz began to withdraw from its lightning elemental form, starting with its claws. The sharp nails on the dragon's claws, formed from blue-white lightning, first revealed a dark, cold metallic hue, followed by the toes and paws, and then the forearms covered in thick scales... As the materialization progressed, the scattered arcs of electricity that had been leaping outside the main body gradually contracted into its body, the radiant light gradually faded, and the passage returned to its proper dimness, leaving only the dark red spots of lava in the distance behind.
In just a few seconds of pursuit, Casalos and the Grey Dwarf Lord covered a distance of over a thousand meters. The athletic ability of a level 18 Super Mind Bender is terrifying!
Even after exiting its lightning elemental form in time, the gray dwarf city lord, still paralyzed by the powerful electric current from the dragon's claws, was rendered unable to move. A foul-smelling mixture of solid and liquid dripped from the gaps in its armor. Casalos cursed as it landed on the ground, wrapping its tail around the dwarf's neck and dragging it behind it. It then partially transformed its forepaws into fire elemental form, purifying any filth that might have adhered to them.
"Electricity is useful for catching people, but the side effect of incontinence is just too disgusting."
Casalos made a self-deprecating remark, and then heard the sounds of weapons clashing and magic booming coming from the red lava patch.
It seems the vanguard of the Dragonlord army has already entered the tunnels dug by the grey dwarves through the molten passage it opened, engaging the surviving grey dwarf slave owners. A few grey dwarves, terrified by Casaloz, couldn't withstand the vanguard's initial charge, and the battle was over in an instant. As the molten passage cools, the Dragonlord army can then march towards Gravesend. Gravesend's strongest warriors have already been captured by Casaloz, and the outcome of the battle is essentially decided. The remaining tasks of siege, conquest, and post-war arrangements no longer require its direct attention.
Without any inspiring battle mobilization or interfering with the battle leadership and command, Casalos handed the incapacitated Dubois over to the chosen war commander, Hardy Wezf, a half-dragon kobold with the rank of Level 1 Warrior, Level 12 Dragon Vein Warlock, and Level 5 Dragon Lord, and then returned to the Stone Pillar District on his own.
Dragon Lord is an advanced class derived from the influence of dragon magic on the dragon race. Unlike other advanced classes that focus on improving individual strength, Dragon Lords are generals who command an army or war leaders who influence a battle. They are the masters of battlefield conflict, learning the tactics and abilities of dragons and emulating their philosophy, using fear and intimidation to demoralize their enemies while encouraging their followers to sacrifice themselves.
Entrusting the war entirely to Hardy aligns with Casaloz's long-held philosophy of leaving professional matters to professionals. It only needs to decide whether to wage war, when to wage war, where to wage war, and what objectives to achieve—in other words, the Iron Dragon's philosophy allows Casaloz to relinquish the power it holds tightly in its claws. Colored dragons will never enjoy the benefits of delegating, while stubborn metal dragons, absolutely convinced of their own principles… they would likely spend decades persuading their servants to heed advice unsuitable for the battlefield, provided they have servants and are willing to wage war.
In most cases, the metal dragons of Faerûn do not possess these two conditions. Even the bronze dragons, who have a fanatical love for war, are merely playing their own game of justice by hiding their true dragon identities and participating in wars that they did not initiate.
The disappearance of any advanced class from Dragon Origin in Faerûn is a historical inevitability stemming from the very nature of dragons.
Shaking his head to clear his mind of the distracting thoughts, Casalos visited the increasingly haggard drow dragon in its cage, once again soothing the increasingly fragile heart of the future intelligence chief of the dragon realm with gold coins that no dragon could refuse. Afterwards, Casalos went to the Mind Lab, toying with the skull of the increasingly irritable green dragon lich Lylothar, exchanging half-hearted, meaningless chatter with it, before finally calming himself down and preparing to officially step onto the Sword Coast stage in his true form.