Paragon of Weaponmasters [Stubbed Book 1] - 59 - Family

“Before you go, Paragon.” The Black Blade stops me. “There’s something in the old loft for you.”

“Can you show me to it?” I ask.

He points at the tallest tower in the citadel.

“Top.” he adds.

I nod, resigned, and ride my chariot through the open courtyard. Climbing the tower takes a while, but I arrive in the loft before long. It’s just as decrepit looking at the rest of the citadel, with the addition of loose feathers. There’s an open balcony and cages, the size of them makes me wonder what sort of birds they kept here.

In a nest, a huge, black egg sits surrounded by smoldering coals. At first, I think the coals are keeping the egg warm, but it’s the other way around. It’s radiating heat, making my squint as I grow closer, as if I’ve opened an oven. I doubt BB was talking about anything else up here, so I gingerly touch the egg with my gauntletted hand and add it to my inventory.

[Black Dragon Egg] added to inventory.

This must be Nesi’s. Well, Nesi and mine, I suppose. Time works strangely in this game, but if I’m being honest, I don’t know the turnaround for dragons. Maybe they lay eggs seconds after impregnation.

I impregnated a dragon.

Having a nineteenth child isn’t as big of a deal to me as the fact that it’s going to be a dragon. The beastwomen I understand, they were at least vaguely humanoid. Nesi could disguise herself as such, but in truth, she and I are not remotely genetically compatible.

The residual warmth in my palm tells me otherwise.

With that taken care of, I open my map and try to plot a course to Cumbergoin. I’m definitely not walking there when I could Yeet instead. I wind my arm back, and launch Thozur as hard as I can. I’m not as strong as I used to be, but I’ve still got some armor providing a boost. I Exchange, Summon, then throw again. Repeating this process less than a dozen times, my master plan comes to a violent end as a rotund metal man hovers in the air, blocking my path.

I try to stop or go around, but I just don’t have the time. Slamming into his iron stomach at full speed hurts, and I’m not looking forward to my crash landing on the ground below. Just before I land, a portal opens, dropping me into the void perpendicular to the ground, making me tumble.

“I must say I’m disappointed, Luke.” Panopticon, the mortal shell of the Monitor, tells me.

“Life’s full of disappointment.” I drop a dad-fact on it.

“I never anticipated my greatest success would fly the nest. First you get a lobotomy, then you cut the feed? You’ve hurt my feelings.” Its fat metal lips form a frown.

“If you’re looking for sympathy you’re not going to find any.” I respond.

“After all we’ve been through.” it chuckles, shaking its head.

“What do you want? What are you getting from this?” I ask.

It taps a finger on its chin, making a ringing sound.

“Well, now I can’t make you forget. So I don’t think I’ll be telling you.” it smiles wickedly.

“Forget? Have you been making me forget things?” I question, suddenly nervous.

“Now what would be the point of telling you, Luke?” it shakes its head. “Silly-billy.”

“You’re exhausting.” I tell it.

“Oh, aren't I just the worst?” Panopticon grinds two fingers into its inner cheeks. “Anyhow, have fun fighting the dragons. I used to be really proud of this expansion, but I’ve gotten bored of watching it play out the same way over and over. You’ll fix that for me, won’t you?”

Before I can answer, the floor drops out from under me, and I’m above the clouds. Unsure of exactly where, I have to let myself fall for a few moments so I can get my bearings. Eventually I break through the clouds, now cold and wet, I can see I'm pretty much exactly where I was before Panopicon orc-napped me, just a lot higher.

I send Thozur to Cumbergoine, they fall like a comet in the direction of the city. Knowing I’ll just pop onto the street where Thozur ends up takes a lot of the fear of falling out of me. It’s not so bad when you’re not moments from death.

Now.

I exchange, and land lightly on an empty street. We must exchange velocity, but hell if I know anything for certain. I look around for the dragon, or a sand storm, and find nothing. Walking the street doesn’t give me any leads either. The city is deserted, both by being devoid of people and filled with sand.

Summoning Thozur to my hand, I round a corner to find a group of sand drakes investigating a shed. They notice me first, and shoot beams of concentrated sand my way. I manage to dodge out of the way, but just barely. My weapons seek out the lizards and pulled them out of my sight. Returning around the corner, the coast is clear, and I’m free to conduct my own investigation.

The shed is locked tight, not just physically, but magically as well. I place my palm against a rune circle, it flares at my touch. The doors swing inward, showing me what they had been looking for - an escape tunnel. I follow the steep dirt down into the earth, and hear the entrance shut behind me.

My orc eyes have superior night vision, so I can see in black-and-white down here, even with no illumination. There’s a clear path forward, every other way seems to branch from it. I follow it down, down, down, far under the surface. Eventually I start to hear voices in the distance, then arrive at the evacuation point for the entire city. Thousands of elves, beastpeople, and a few other species mill about in an incomprehensibly large space.

The cacophony slowly dies down, and the ocean of faces all turn to me. They erupt into cheers, like I’m some kid of returning hero.

“The hero has returned!” a lion-man roars loud enough to be heard over the applause.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Right.

They split, allowing a group to move through unimpeded. My children, led by Talindra, find their way to the front. She runs into my arms, and I embrace her. I didn’t fear for her safety until this moment, and I have to fight back tears. I haven't seen her in hours, and the last time I did, there was a dragon gunning for her.

“I missed you.” I tell her.

“I’ve missed you as well.” She smiles, her night-sky skin lights up.

Her expression shifts, and she looks over my shoulder. I spin, summoning Thozur to my hand, but find the path empty behind me.

“Earl… is there someone new with you?” she asks.

I have to think about it before realizing what she means. I pull Silverlight and the egg from my inventory, she reaches towards the sword.

“Filvendor?” she whispers to it.

Is that you, my love?

“It is, Fil.” she starts to tear up, they look like drops of mercury falling down her cheeks.

“You know them?” I ask the obvious.

“Yes. You’ve brought Farhana’s father back to us.” she says, giving me a grateful look before turning to find her firstborn. The elf, carrying her half-tiger cub, covers her mouth and the blade makes contact with her mind.

I’m swept up in a maelstrom of emotions. That’s her ex, and that makes me jealous, even if that’s totally illogical. Her first love presumably dying and ending up as a lost soul makes me sad. Most of all, though, I’m furious. I connect the dots, the quest meant for me to use him for the forge-masters.

It was laid out for me to unknowingly subject Talindra’s lost love to torture. Surly, that would have come back in some way to haunt me. The Monitor is playing chess and I’m playing fucking hoop-and-stick. It was sheer dumb luck that it didn’t turn out exactly the way it wanted.

I school my expression as Talindra turns back to me. She holds the blade out with both hands for me to take.

“Thank you for the opportunity to see him again, Earl.” She smiles.

“You don’t want to keep him?” I ask, wishing I phrased it better.

“My Fil was always a free spirit. Even in this form, he’s not meant to be cooped up.” she puts on a brave face.

“Okay.” I say, taking him back.

Thank you, Earl.

No problem.

Talindra clears her throat, not to get me attention, but to keep tears at bay.

“The primordial dragon of sand, Greolzrintar, has claimed our city as its territory. He left behind his brood to maintain control, we need to return to the surface and reclaim our home.” she informs me.

“Right.” I spot my four children I left with her. “Ready to roll?”

They all nod in the affirmative. Before they can join me, sound like the galloping of a thousand horses echoes around us. From each tunnel out of the room, sand dragons emerge, turning their breath on nearby citizens. The one just behind me lies empty, providing a single escape for an entire city's population.

“Get them out of here, Farhana.” Talindra tells her daughter, pointing up the tunnel.

I send my weapons in four different directions to deal with as many dragons as they can, resorting to fisticuffs as I sprint to the next closest tunnel. My more than a dozen children join the fight, protecting and healing citizens, or tearing drakes limb from limb.

Thunder God does not require a weapon, so I pummel drakes with electrified fists. Stray sand blasts, claws, tails whips, and bites catch me, but I’m still tough as nails with my armor. Any damage I take is almost immediately alleviated by Reluvethel anyways.

A sudden howl of pain distracts me, though one of our own is not in distress. It appears my bear son, Darthoridan, is putting his new prosthetics to good use. Good for us, at least. The drake with its wings torn off would disagree.

Talindra uses her barriers to funnel the survivors up the escape tunnel, both guiding and protecting simultaneously. There’s still a great deal of people to evacuate even as the fight dies down. Drake corpses pile high, and thankfully, they did not manage to take many of us with them.

You have reached level 71!

Will increased by 256%!

“Let’s get to the surface and make sure it’s clear!” I shout, expecting my children to follow. We arrive up above, expecting resistance, and finding none. The enemy forces sent everything they had into the depths. “Why are they even attacking, anyways?”

“Mother has a theory.” Halanaestra speaks up first. “The power vacuum left by the king and honorlord being deposed simultaneously seemed like an opportunity to the primordial dragons. Each major city has some under attack, according to the scouts.”

“Shit. Do we know if Earlgor and his bride are okay?” I ask.

“Earlgor is on the front lines fighting back the threat to Masstaoir. The Queen is with him, but she’s focussed on protecting their child. We have not been able to get into contact with the Kingdom of Man.” she responds.

“Child?” I question.

“Yes, it may have been a side effect of the sand primordial’s assault, but when you watched the ‘cutscene’ as you called it, the world jumped forward in time.” Halanaestra explains.

A time skip between expansions seems likely. It would be harder to tell anyone had aged, surrounded by elves.

“So we’re going to Masstaoir next, right?” Oorrcca asks.

“Of course. The other cities will have to hold their own.” I sigh. Being ‘the hero’ is a lot of pressure.

Your [Black Dragon Egg] is hatching!

Oh?

Oh, shit! I left the egg down in the tunnels!

“The egg!” I shout, turning on my heel and hauling ass back down. Guilt rips at me, how could I be so irresponsible?

I manage not to trip and make it just before the first piece of shell pops off the top. A roaring flame-orange eye blinks open on a black-scaled face. We make contact, then they shatter the rest of the egg around them. A plump little dragon whelp sits in a spreading pool, looking to all the world as a purebred offspring of its mother, if it wasn’t for tusks jutting from the lower lip. That’s a half-oc, half-dragon.

They fall forward, catching themself on stubby legs, and crawl over to me. The little wings stuck to their back won’t be granting flight anytime soon. I bend over to pick them up, and they bite down on my hand. Hard. it takes every point of will I have not to shake them off.

“Please let go” I ask through gritted teeth.

“Hungy.” they say without using their mouth.

“Okay, we’ll find you some food. My hand isn’t food.” I say.

They release me and drop to the floor.

“You didn’t come with a name, right?” I ask, knowing how stupid it sounds.

The whelp without a nameplate just stares up at me, occasionally glazing down at my delicious hand.

“Aww, it’s so cute!” Oorrcca says when the group finally catches up.

“Another one of yours?” Naexi asks, arms crossed.

I nod.

“What’s his name?” Halanaestra questions.

“How do you know they’re a he?” I answer with a question.

“The scale pattern.” she points. I don’t see what she means, but I trust her.

“He doesn’t have one yet. Do you know any good ones for a dragon? It feels wrong to name him Bob or something.” I don’t take my eye off of him, and keep my hand very far from his mouth.

She hums.

“Zezzess.” she finally says.

“Really?” That’s an odd sounding name to me.

“It means ‘of two worlds’ in draconic.” she explains.

“Ah.” I nod. “Then Zezzess it is.”

And just like that, the name pops into existence over his head.

Zezzess. Level 71

“Hungry.” Zezzess says again.

“Now I don’t feel special anymore.” Reluvethel, who previously held the title of ‘only reptile son’, sighs.