Depthless Hunger

Chapter 144: The Last Dragon in the Desert

Kai and Graetri fought a proxy battle over the desert for over a month. They never once exchanged blows, for all that they threatened from time to time. Instead they fought over merchants, soldiers, and above all the investigation of dragons.

When the first golden dragon had been spotted, Kai had been relieved that it wasn't all a false errand after all. After so long, he was beginning to wonder. From a distance Kai had only seen it arcing overhead, a golden serpent larger than any monster he'd ever seen except the behemoth. It had been strangely beautiful, even before considering its golden scales, and he'd been glad to see it even if he couldn't take advantage.

An eagle-eyed merchant and his crystallier had been the fastest, flying out over the desert to intercept. According to the rumors in camp, their results had been poor: one soldier became Dragontouched and some of the others said they felt blessed. The crystallier had received nothing and she'd tried to attack the dragon, which promptly flew away. They'd been driven out of the camp by all the other hopefuls the next day.

Training, working, and fighting had finally accomplished what all the Krysali exercises couldn't: Kai had gained a Physique level. He wished that he'd been able to do it sooner, but then again he'd always known the E rank would be more difficult and his Physique was already on par with many of the strongest fighters in Krysal.

Alternatively, he might have been pushed over the edge by the poison attempts. More than a few people had tried to target him because the Crystallier Cooperative got in their way exploiting the others, and their attempts took the form of poison after he trounced the first. He'd been getting better at detecting poison by taste alone, but none of them had done anything. No poisons in Krysal seemed dangerous enough to get through his monstrous abilities except whatever poison Omilaena used.

He'd killed plenty of monsters during his work, but only one had been strong enough to form an essence in his soul. A monster they called a Pitbeast lived beneath the sand and let people fall into a sandy pit before eating them alive. It had taken several victims before Kai managed to kill it, though its surprisingly vicious attacks had actually drawn real blood.

That incident had made him realize that all his work wasn't in vain, or just a mark on a ledger. More people than he had expected, from civilians to soldiers, had come to offer something for his injuries as thanks for his help. They probably all thought he was trying to be stoic when in fact he needed to hide the fact that Aquagorgon's Health was regenerating the wounds faster than a human could.

His greatest frustration was that he hadn't been able to merge his monstrous abilities effectively. It wasn't solely that his attempts didn't feel right, he thought he was running up against some sort of barrier. More than anything it reminded him of when he had been hitting the 99 Power limit to his soul.

It had taken a special pill to break that barrier, and he doubted there were any equivalent pills for monsters.

There hadn't been any dragons seen for a week and people were beginning to trickle away as the realities of the search set in. When Kai received his next pay, he tried to tell himself that the money alone was worth it. He had a total of 74,000 Eagles now, which put him within a stone's throw of his goal. It was no draconic blessing, but it was a more practical step toward his goal than betting everything on fate. Many of the crystalliers he'd met had burned significant parts of their fortunes on the futile chase.

Then, just as many were beginning to pull away for good, a dragon descended on the dunes.

After so long in the desert Kai had learned how to estimate sizes despite the endless dunes, and this one was big. Probably the biggest dragon they'd seen during the entire hunt, even larger than some of the wild stories he thought had been invented. Even hidden by rolling dunes he could still see the wings glittering like golden sails.

This time there was no one else in the way, and no one else was prepared. An opportunity had finally fallen into his lap. Kai dropped the wagon he had been carrying and launched himself into the desert.

"Not so fast!"

As soon as Kai heard the shout, qi bolts began bombarding the sands around him. He ran faster instead of trying to dodge, then managed to shoot a glance over his shoulder. As expected, Graetri was flying after him atop one of the smaller crystals, releasing attack after attack.

After getting in each other's way so many times over the past month, the fight was overdue. Since the qi was still shooting after him, and the bolts were getting more accurate, Kai decided that this was the time. On the next dune he kicked off the sand, leaping into the air.

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Graetri grinned and prepared to unleash an attack... Kai's claw was faster.

The Tyrant's Claw cut through the next qi bolts and sliced the crystal into four pieces. Graetri managed to dodge, since he was deceptively agile for his size, but that left him without a vessel. They both dropped to the sands, Graetri slamming into the slope and Kai managing to skate down the side of the dune to keep running after the dragon.

He could still see the dragon's wings ahead. Closer, but not so far. Behind him there were a couple of other crystal ships, but they weren't moving as fast as he could run. That meant he should get there first, so long as-

Someone tackled him from behind and Kai hit the sand. He could feel Graetri on his back, pummeling at his neck and head. Kai had to draw deep on Direboar's Strength to buck him off, but the other man didn't fall far. They both scrambled to their feet, ready to fight.

Given the second to think, Kai realized that this conflict was pointless. The past golden dragons hadn't flown away after blessing one person and in fact fighting might potentially spook it. But he couldn't just say that now, not from a position of weakness.

The dragon was more important than any rivalry. Kai realized that he needed to end this quick.

Graetri's crystal necklaces began to glow and he launched a larger qi technique. Kai snapped his teeth and swallowed the attack whole before it could get moving. Then, while his opponent was still stunned, he swung a Tyrant's Claw overhead, directly at his opponent's side.

And stopped inches from his skin.

"There's no reason for us to fight," Kai said evenly. "We've outpaced everyone else anyway. Why not just let both of us try for a blessing?"

"You'll just chase the dragon off." Graetri was eyeing him suspiciously, but he wasn't generating any more qi techniques.

"You can go first, if you insist. Are you really willing to gamble what might be our last chance on a stupid fight?"

After a long stare, Graetri finally stood down. He then took off over the sands as if he intended to run there first. Kai could have outrun him but he decided to stay a step behind, both to prove his good intentions and to avoid further attacks from behind. Graetri's men were still following after too slowly to catch up, so it might come down to the two of them.

They slowed when they reached the top of a dune and saw the dragon sitting below. Its body was curled up but its wings spread wide, glowing as if they were absorbing something from the land. Kai was tempted to investigate in detail, and he was especially curious what his spiritual sight would tell him about the dragon's soul, but he didn't want to risk making it leave. There was no sense taking chances, even if other seekers claimed that the dragons were generally calm and never aggressive.

When they started edging their way down the side of the dune, the dragon opened one burning golden eye to watch them. Graetri scowled at Kai suspiciously, so he rolled his eyes and made an elaborate bow to gesture the other man forward.

"Oh great dragon, please grant me your blessing!" Graetri moved forward, raising his hands over his head as if praising the beast. It watched him without showing any sign of caring.

Kai stood back and held his breath. All the information he'd been given, both from Orillia and other seekers, suggested that the dragons didn't understand their language and didn't want praise. Whatever their blessings were, they were something the dragons did naturally, possibly in response to the smell or spirit of the person approaching them. Or it might truly be pure luck, as some claimed.

The dragon lifted its neck slowly, stretching somewhat like a cat. It moved closer to Graetri without any real haste, bumped a carriage-sized head against his chest, and then sniffed him.

Golden flame glowed within the beast's mouth, and for a moment Kai thought that a dragon was going to attack for the first time, but then power began to suffuse Graetri.

He laughed and stared down at himself as a golden glow merged with his soul. Everyone else had said the dragons had mysterious powers, but seeing up close Kai could identify it: this was chakra. It was wilder and more fiery than what he'd seen when he fought Anaelina, but he recognized the power. Did that mean the dragons were from Rosemount? The revelation only made Kai more eager to see what he could gain, because he hoped to balance mana, qi, and chakra eventually.

"Dragontouched?" Graetri stared down at his hands in satisfaction. "But I can't access... come on, dragon, won't you grant me the breath?"

It let out a slow breath and lowered its head as if no longer interested.

"Fine then... get out of here, you!"

In a display of pure insanity, Graetri powered up his crystal necklaces and launched a technique into the dragon's side. The qi splashed off its scales and the dragon growled. But instead of moving angrily, it only pushed its head forward, thumping Graetri on the chest and knocking him further away.

Kai grabbed the man's shoulder and tossed him further back. "You absolute bastard. What do you have to gain by trying to stop me?"

"A gain for opponents is a loss for you." Graetri shrugged off his hand and smirked. "Lord Suortril is going to ask me to fight you eventually, I'm sure of it. But go on, even if you get a dragon ability I'll still crush you."

As much as Kai wanted to hit him for the betrayal, that wouldn't be any smarter than it had been before. He glared at the other man and then smoothed his expression before he began walking toward the dragon.

It opened its eyes again, watching him. Once more Kai felt a flicker of anxiety, especially since he still didn't know just how powerful the dragon was, but he restrained himself. Perhaps it was the fighting, but the beast appeared a bit antsier, rising and twisting its neck as he got close.

The enormous head shifted closer, the dragon sniffed him... and it let out a roar.

Before Kai could react, the vast wings flapped and chakra surged. The dragon pushed itself into the air, faster than such an enormous creature should have been able to move, and in an instant it was flapping overhead. Kai found himself staring up into eyes that burned golden white, for a moment transfixed.

Then the dragon opened its jaws and the flames poured out.