Draimon: Fracture: Erasend- Book 1: Deascension

Chapter 6: Crash Course

When I awakened in the field of green vine ground surrounded by trees, Baragon was lying in front of me with his eyes closed, "how did you sleep?" he asked, opening his eyes.

"Well," I replied, "I feel better now," I said during a big stretch.

"That is good," Baragon said, raising his lumbering (I'm sorry) body on his massive arms, "now, are you ready to begin your training."

"Yes," I said as I raised my body upright.

"Excellent," Baragon replied, "we will need to train hard if you want to kill an Empowered."

"What is an Empowered?" I asked.

"They far stronger than regulars, and before the battle begins, one fights a Lord, and that decides which side goes first depending on the victor."

"How can I destroy it if it has fought the strongest of us? I asked.

"Do not fear, for you still have a chance," he said, "even as you are now, you are many times stronger than your mother at your age. I could sense from its signature that it was from a time when the Lords were weaker."

"Does that not make it stronger?" I asked.

"No," he replied, "they stay at the same power level from the moment they appear. Now there are some advanced techniques that I want to show you."

"Show me," I responded with intrigue.

"just the answer I was looking for," said Baragon in a cheerful manner. First, I will show you charged attacks. The move where we send elemental energy to one of our limbs, it will then become far stronger and faster. However, it does require you to spend some elemental energy as you will release it when the attack connects, so the more energy you use, the stronger the move will be but at the cost of using more life-force." I was sitting and paying close attention; I may have know the information, but I did not want to interrupt Baragon.

"Now, allow me to show you a demonstration." Baragon said as he raised a large bark spike from the ground, "since I am a Berserker, my species have strong charged attacks as we mainly fight up close; here I will show you a non-charged punch."

I watched as he raised his mighty arm, thick with muscle and covered in bark plates, a harsh contrast to his little legs that were only good for providing support for his massive hulking mass of a body. "Be sure to move your body with the attack for more power," he said; then, with great force, I saw him sway his body and then drop his fist upon the bark. I could feel the impact even though I was a reasonable distance away from the attack. The dust cleared, and I saw that he had only broken off a small piece from the top. Either the bark was really tough, or he wasn't giving it his all; I went with the former from what I knew of him.

"And here is one with elemental energy," as Baragon raised his mighty fist high. I could see that spiralling around it was a brown glow, and he slammed it down upon the bark with so much force it made his first blow look like he was barely even trying. The strike sent shards of broken bark and powerful gusts of air to emanate from the area. So much so that I instinctively used my wings as a make-shift shield to protect my body. When I lowered them, I saw what little remained of the construct, which was nothing more than a pile of bark shards scatter around the area. Baragon looked very, and I mean very thrilled and pleased with his work, with a big smile on his face like a new-born hatchling. He shuffled towards me, saying, "By Eldragoon, I will never get over just how good that feels."

"So different species are better at doing different things?" I asked.

"Indeed," Baragon said, "as she said your species, the Primordagons are considered the strongest as you are the children of the first-born, and when the other species evolved from your kind, your species stayed the same. So you are the oldest and therefore are considered to be the strongest. If you do not mind, I will state some of the reasons why." As he cleared his throat, " you can fly for a start," picking up one of my feet with his, the arms more than enough to support his frame. Baragon continued, "your kind have strong melee attacks have strong mancing, you have a powerful tail. You also have one of the strongest breath weapons," he finished as he put down my foot, satisfied with his analysis of my body.

"So my species are like a jack of all trades and master of all of them," I said, thinking I understood his explanation, him swaying his head down in response.

"Though it is true your species has mobility both on land and in the air, a younger Wyvern or Drake will outfly or outrun and outmanoeuvre you in most cases, due to that being what their bodies are made for," he said. "With you being quadrupedal, you may have more mobility, but a bipedal Dragon will almost always have the advantage in close combat." Upon hearing his words, I slowly realised that my species was not the strongest, he continued. "Your biggest weakness, though, is having a weak defence, whereas I do."

"I see that now," I said, then looking up at him, "what are your weaknesses then?" I asked, him nodding in response.

"What I told you is my strength. But it is also my weakness. For us to deal any real damage, we need to get close, our armour may help us sustain damage, but it also slows us down. This is how we are; there is no such thing as a perfect Dragon with exceptional power, speed and defence," he said.

"So my species have power and speed, whereas yours has power and defence."

"Hey now," he said, raising his arms high before swiftly putting them down, "do not disregard the mobility these can bring. I just can not fly. Though there is another weakness, we all share even if you are defence focused."

"That as we grow with age and power, so do our bodies."

"And what does size bring?" He asked, tilting his head but keeping his eyes on me.

"The bigger we get, the more surface area we have," what my core came to start a small fire of fear within, but I willed the words out. "The more surface area we have, the easier we are to hit," Baragon smiled at the answer.

"A terrible price, but a perfect answer." He said, "yes, even with the Primordials and all the power they have, you do not even have to try to hit them. You just need to make sure you are facing them, your attack will not deal too much damage, due to how elemental resists elemental, but you can still hit them. I heard that it is the opposite for physical attacks," he finished.

"Physical?" I asked, "what is that."

"Another type of body I heard about, anyway, of course, you can shrink your body mass, but that will strain both your body and core due to the compounded energy having nowhere to go; it will make you stronger because of that."

"Can I try charged attacks now?" I asked.

"Why yes, I do believe that I have rambled on for far too long, but that knowledge is important. You will not believe how many first generations think they are above the other two, even though the First-born, the Primordials and Ominomgon and Eldragoon are above them. Why those two can be considered..." He paused for a moment, "in fact, no I am, with Ominomgon able to shift into any species and even combine their limbs. He also houses the souls of past Dragonlords within his body can allow them to live again through himself.

"As for Eldragoon," he continued, "she has control over all the elements, though both do not seek to harm others, and none have seen either fight. We just know what they do through talking to Ominomgon, now you may try," as he raised another bark construct from the ground that just reached my eye level. "Now, you know how when you use vine magic, you send elemental energy into the ground," I nodded in response.

"I want you to raise your front leg, focus on sending your elemental energy to your claws and keeping it there."

"Right," I said, raising the limb, sending my energy flowing through it; I wanted to use a fair amount for a big attack. I felt my leg and my claw course with power, which I let rest for a couple of seconds before clawing the bark, putting all my strength into the strike and leaning my body at the same time as well. Just like Baragon. I felt my claws move right through the bark, causing it to fall into pieces onto the ground.

"Wow, Drydra," said Baragon stepping back in amazement, "that was an incredible first try; you should be pleased with yourself."

"Now, what was the other thing you wanted to show me?"

"You might have already found this out, but you can fire different types of breath attacks."

"Yes, I remember I shot a laser right down that Scyclaw's body, and then when I fought that Elemontol, I, I." All of a sudden, my voice became weak and stuttery, and I said, "I never want to use that breath attack again."

"You do not have to use it; there are so many different types of shots you can use instead," he said. "Now my species do not use breath attacks often, but through the centuries I heard of many, these being laser shot, split shot, shot shot, spread shot there are also others such as stick, flare, snipe, rapid, explode and many, many more."

"I can use all of those attacks with my mouth?" I asked.

"Well, some do require more practice than others, but I think I have a good one for you to try out first, split shot." I heard some faint voice off in the distance but could not make it out, so I decided to continue listening to Baragon speak. "I do not use many breath attacks; they are more suited to energy-based elements, though I do know how to perform them. Somehow."

"Right," I said, with a quick nod.

"Now stretch out the sides of your mouth and try placing solar energy into each of those sides, then fire and two arching beams should come out." Following his instructions, I widened my mouth and sent solar energy to each cheek; here it goes, I thought to myself.

I ejected the energy causing two beams to soar from my mouth, where they then arched and collided, creating a small explosion.

"Excellent job Drydra," I heard him say with pride, "now if you..." I listened to the faint voice grow louder until I saw a Dragon soaring towards us. It had the standard neck and tail but with two wings and legs. It had a body coated in thorns with a giant one on its head and tail.

"Baragon," it cried out and then hovered above the two of us.

"Yes, Thorn-wing, what is it?"

"A large population has disappeared," Thorn-wing said, turning around and with a slight hint of fear in his voice said. "We know it is neither one of us nor an Elemontol; we sensed a different kind of energy signature. None." A face of worry washed over Baragon; I had never seen him like this.

"You do not believe that it is one of them," he said, losing his strong voice.

"O Baragon, I know it is one of them, come now we have spoken long enough, take the little hatchling we really do need all the help we can get now come on," he said as he soared away.

"Baragon, what is going on?" I asked.

"Come, Drydra, we can finish your training later, but now we need to go." So I took to the skies, Baragon charged after Thorn-wing, and I followed, not knowing what I was facing; I felt scared, but more than my first battle. I had a right to if Baragon was.

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Livigon followed Drabalash deep into a forest of thick dark brown trees, their tops unsightable, away from the ears of Dragons, "is this really necessary? He asked.

"I assure you it is; he does not want anyone listening," she said as they entered a hollowed titan tree with the entrance sealed by bark Dragons.

"I will not ask again, who is he?" Livigon asked as he looked at the bark wall behind them; he looked around the inside of the giant tree lit by

solar flowers and saw others around him. "What is going on?" he asked, backing up as they stared at him; all of a sudden, his core felt strange and purple energy formed before his eyes. "What is this!" He roared as the light formed into a maw of shining purple energy; the light flooded the hollow and killing the yellow. It had a long jaw with wispy horns covering its scalp and one straight where its mouth ended. Another feature unlike any were the thin, long whiskers their rounded cylinders angeled forwards.

"Do not be afraid," only its lips moving, "this is just a precaution."

"Why do I only hear you in my core? What magic is this?" He snarled as he knelt down with the sensation.

"I will not answer your questions at this time," the ethereal voice said again.

"I am the truest here; you will answer my questions!" He roared.

"Cease and listen to me," the voice boomed, "you want to end this stagnant war and change the world, do you not?" Livigon calmed and fanned his wings, "complete this task, show I can trust you, and I shall tell you anything that you wish to know."

"What will you have me do?" He asked.

"I have lost an essential instrument for my plan," the voice said.

"Can you at least tell me what it is?" Livigon asked.

"Of course," it said, with him surprised the voice would answer, "it is only right you know the danger. If you are not willing, I will wipe your memory of this encounter."

"What danger?" He asked.

"Do you know of the Core-torn or the Devourers?" The voice asked.

"No," he answered, "my mother failed to mention them in our lore talk."

"They are Monsters suited for killing us, and like us, there are higher ones, that is the one that escaped. To prevent further casualties, I teleported it here, where it has remained dormant. Until now."

"So, what do you want me to do?" Livigon asked, his voice strong.

"Fight alongside those of your kingdom and destroy it," Livigon was taken back by the answer.

"But do you not need it?" He asked, the voice answering.

"Do not worry about that, now go and fight with the others. Keep your distance and do not take your eyes off it," as the tree opened with the Dragons inside leaving, with himself following once he was sure the voice had nothing left to say.