Path of Dragons

Book 1: Chapter 32: The Cost of Improvement

As Elijah knelt on the beach, he stared at the slain panther. But he didn’t really see it. Instead, all he saw was what he’d just done. Strangely, he didn’t feel the least bit guilty about the people he’d helped kill. They were invaders and defilers, and if he wanted to protect his island and the Grove, killing them was necessary. However, he couldn’t help but keenly feel the loss of the panther who had, on more than one occasion, saved his life.

Was it silly to mourn the loss of a wild animal that, at any point, might have killed him? Maybe. But in those last moments, he had seen the creature’s mind. He’d felt its soul. And in doing so, he’d forged a brief connection. Perhaps he was simply anthropomorphizing an animal, but as he looked at the panther, he felt a kinship that, in the end, had been reciprocated.

Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d leaned on the big cat’s presence. Sure, it wasn’t precisely a companion, but it had been with him since the very beginning. They had protected one another. And now, it was dead.

It took Elijah a long time to get past the poignant stabs of grief racing through his mind, but eventually, he forced himself to stand. As he did so, he felt a bolt of agony carve itself through his torso, and he realized that he’d been ignoring a serious wound in his side. Thankfully, his ill-advised moment of grief had given his Ethera the chance to regenerate, so he was free to use Touch of Nature to heal the injury – at least enough to ensure his survival. He did so, and the wound stopped bleeding. It would take a few more casts to completely heal himself, but he didn’t have the Ethera to power such an effort.

Clutching his staff, he turned his attention to the three bodies. They had all been mauled beyond recognition, so Elijah didn’t see much point in truly examining them. However, he wasn’t above looting their corpses. For months, he’d been making do with homemade tools, so he was more than willing to plunder whatever valuables they had on them.

Of course, making that decision and actually following through with it were two very different things. While he might’ve been fine with killing the intruders, the process of rifling through the pockets of a bunch of corpses was a grim one, and by the time he’d finished, he’d emptied the contents of his stomach more than once. But the rewards, he thought, were worth that discomfort.

Glancing at the panther’s corpse, he amended that thought. He’d have given everything if the panther could have survived just a little longer.

But that wasn’t how things had turned out.

Not before whatever had transformed the world, and certainly not after. If he could soldier on through the deaths of his parents, he’d get through the loss of the panther.

To distract himself, he took stock of his looted treasures, which consisted of a couple of leather pouches, the dwarf’s axe, two high-quality steel daggers, and the warrior’s shield. None of the goblin healer’s possessions had survived the panther’s mauling intact, though Elijah took the time to remove his robes. He did the same with the other two invaders’ clothing, which gave him plenty of material.

It was all too small to fit him, so he had no idea what he intended to do with it, but surviving in the wilderness was about resourcefulness. And he wasn’t going to turn down a ready source of good cloth. The same could be said for the rest of their attire, and he picked up a couple of leather belts as well.

In the end, it was a treasure trove, but one that had cost far more than it was worth.

Sighing, Elijah set about the task of getting rid of the bodies. The panther, he took the time to bury, marking the grave with a small cairn made from the large rocks he found on the beach. It took a while, considering he had no tools, but he managed it all the same. Once he was finished, he just stared at the grave with a forlorn sense of sadness that he wasn’t sure he’d get over anytime soon.

Disposing of the invaders’ corpses was much easier, and after he’d toted the small corpses to what he’d begun to call Crab Beach, he simply threw them to the opportunistic scavengers. From experience, he knew the huge crabs would eat their way through the bodies in a matter of hours.

It was not a respectful end, but then again, Elijah didn’t much respect them. Part of that was because of what he’d seen across the strait; the settlement had continued to grow, and the coalition of goblins, dwarves, and gnomes had likewise continued to despoil their environment. However, if he was honest with himself, most of Elijah’s ire came from the fact that they had killed the panther.

Did it matter that the cat had probably attacked them first? No. Not really. After all, he’d coexisted with the panther for months, and it had never tried to kill him. Following from that was the perception that there must’ve been a reason for the battle that had ensued.

Whatever the case, the damage was done, and he needed to adjust accordingly. So, he spent the next hour searching for the means by which they’d reached his island. And soon enough, he found a small rowboat, which he pulled onto shore and stashed near the tree line where it wouldn’t wash away with the tide.

After that, he returned to the Grove, where he settled down to go over the battle’s other gains.

Congratulations! You have reached level nine, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?

That notification was quickly followed by another:

Congratulations! You have reached level ten, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?

And unexpectedly, a third:

Congratulations! Upon reaching level ten, you are eligible to choose a class. Keep in mind that this decision will define your future. Choose wisely.

Then, there was a final notification:

Error. You may not gain accumulate kill energy until you have chosen a class. Please choose a class to progress further.

“Godammit!” he growled, slapping his hand against the mossy turf around the Ancestral Tree. How much kill energy had he lost? Now, more than ever, he needed to progress quickly and efficiently, and through no fault of his own, he’d wasted at least a level or two worth of energy.

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Elijah’s frustration finally spilled over, and he let out a wordless scream of pure anger. After spending months fighting tooth and nail just to survive the winter, he’d lost his protector. More than that, he’d set himself firmly at odds with the only people around. He was fine with that choice, but it was just one more issue to add to all the pressure on his shoulders. How was he supposed to survive if he didn’t know any of the rules?

But it really wouldn’t have mattered, would it? Even if he’d known that reaching level ten would require him to choose a class, he couldn’t have changed anything. Still, it was frustrating, knowing what could have been. Then again, the kill energy he could’ve earned from the day’s actions certainly wouldn’t have let him catch up to the people on the ladder.

Those weren’t his enemies, though. Aside from a salve for his competitive spirit, catching up to the people on the ladder wouldn’t really affect him. But the trio he’d helped kill – they were a different story. Not only had they been well organized, but at an individual level, they’d all outpaced him in terms of power. He had no notion of what levels they were, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were well beyond him.

So, he needed to get stronger, and fast. The first step on that journey was to choose a class. So, he moved on to the next notification:

Please choose a class from the listed options. Be aware that you may delay this choice until better options are available. However, you will not progress until you have chosen.

If his need to progress wasn’t so urgent, Elijah might have taken the System up on that opportunity. The idea of getting better choices was certainly attractive enough to delay his own development. However, the looming threat of the settlement across the strait made it an impossibility. Further restricting his choices was the reality that, without the panther, his island had just gotten a lot more dangerous. After all, he’d seen the evidence of the cat’s efforts every time he’d stumbled across one of the Voxx bodies. Now, without the panther patrolling the island, the responsibility for keeping it clear of the detestable creatures was left to him.

So, Elijah moved on to his choices, the first of which both excited and terrified him.

Class: Animist The animist is a shapeshifter who can take on the characteristics of various beasts. Required Archetype: Druid Required Achievements: Create a bond with a guardian beast. First Ability: Shape of the Predator Attribute Allocation: Balanced Compatibility: 99%

Elijah had been using magic since the very first day he’d arrived on the island. He’d healed himself from injury countless times. He had also cured himself of cancer. So, he thought he was used to the idea of magic being real. But upon reading a notification that told him that, if he chose that class, he could transform into an animal, he was taken aback. As such, it took him a few moments before he could look at the notification objectively.

The first thing he noticed was that his compatibility with the class was incredibly high. How the System came up with that number, he had no idea, but a similar notification had given him his druid archetype. And that had worked out well. So, he had to believe that the System knew what it was doing.

Other than that, it didn’t really give him much in the way of information. Without a description, the name of the first ability, Shape of the Predator, didn’t really tell him much about what he could expect from the class. However, he did note that the attribute allocation was supposed to be balanced, whatever that meant.

He re-read the description a few more times before moving on to the next class’s notification:

Class: Fury The fury is a spellcaster who harnesses the power of nature for offensive effect. Required Archetype: Druid Required Achievements: Kill ten (10) creatures of a higher level with offensive spells. First Ability: Cyclone Attribute Allocation: Ethera, Regeneration Compatibility: 88%

The description for the fury was a little more informative than the one for the animist, and Elijah took it to mean that the class would give him more spells like Storm’s Fury. The attribute allocation seemed to support that notion.

Certainly, the idea of being a nature wizard had a certain appeal. However, his recent fight against the trio of invaders gave him some insight into what that might mean for his future. Seeing the panther rip through the healer so easily had certainly left a mark on his mind. If he chose to become a Fury, would that happen to him? The goblin healer had been very effective, so long as he’d had someone to protect him, but the moment he hadn’t, the panther had ripped him apart without issue.

And Elijah didn’t have some shield-bearing warrior to protect him. He was all alone, which meant that choosing the path of a dedicated spellcaster seemed like it might be the wrong way to go.

But then again, he kept going back to the listed ability, Cyclone. He’d seen the aftermath of plenty of tornados. What if that spell would let him summon something like that? The settlement across the strait would be gone in an instant.

Shaking his head, Elijah moved on to the final choice:

Class: Nurturer The nurturer is a spellcaster who harnesses the power of renewal to promote growth and healing. Required Archetype: Druid Required Achievements: Completely heal a higher level entity from near death. First Ability: Flower of Regrowth Attribute Allocation: Ethera, Regeneration Compatibility: 72%

The moment Elijah read the name of the class, he knew what was in store, and the description did nothing to change his mind. It was a healer, not unlike the one he’d just watched die. Perhaps there was more to it than that – in fact, he was certain that would be the case – but it was similar enough that he didn’t have to think about it too much before he rejected the class.

If he wasn’t stuck on a deserted island with dangers all around him, Elijah would have probably picked the Nurturer as his class. The idea of healing people was a rewarding one. And given that he’d gained levels by healing the panther, it was a solid way to progress as well. However, it came with the significant downside of being extremely vulnerable.

Elijah couldn’t afford that, so he immediately struck the third option from his list of choices.

“Who am I kidding?” he muttered to himself. He’d made his choice the moment he’d read the description of the Animist. It wasn’t because he relished the idea of turning into an animal. That was interesting and all, but the real reason he picked animist was because he’d seen the power the panther could bring to bear. On top of that, the attribute allocation was balanced, suggesting that it would be a “jack of all trades” sort of situation.

Which was exactly what he needed, considering that he was all alone and had no one to depend on but himself.

So, without further deliberation, he chose his class.

You have chosen to become an Animist (Druid archetype).

A few more notifications popped up, but Elijah ignored them. Instead, he just stared at the one confirming his class, hoping all the while that he’d made the right choice. Because if he hadn’t, his chances of survival were slim.

“Alright,” he said to himself, clapping his hands together in anticipation. “Let’s see what these new spells are.”

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