Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO ON KINDLE SEPT. 2)

The din of conversation did little to soothe Elijah’s ire. Images of razed buildings and dying people filled his mind, and his anger mounted. The only thing keeping him tethered was Sadie’s hand gripping his, but even that was woefully insufficient to smother his rage at not only being disrespected but also used by Isaiah without his knowledge or consent.

So, his explosion was inevitable. All that was needed was a spark. And Nico, ever unlucky, provided that.

“Finally put in your place by someone who isn’t afraid of your dubious reputation,” said the Healer. Elijah looked up to see the smug expression on the man’s face and snapped. Before Nico could go on, Elijah’s hand darted out, closed around the Healer’s throat, and squeezed.

Nico ineffectually clawed at his hand, gasping for air has his eyes bulged.

“No, Elijah!” shouted Sadie, grabbing his arm.

But Elijah didn’t listen. In his state, he couldn’t be bothered with logic or excuses. Besides, after what he’d done in the Primal Realm, Nico deserved it.

Elijah dragged him closer, reveling in the way the man’s throat constricted under his fingers. “Dubious reputation,” he growled. “People are afraid of me for a reason, Nico. You should be too, but you’re too stupid to understand that the only reason you’re still alive is because I respect your sister too much to deprive her of yet another member of her family.”

Then, he tossed Nico to the floor, where the Healer sprawled in all his indignity, gasping for air even as ethera swirled around him. Elijah turned away and, after taking a deep breath, strode in the other direction. At some point, Sadie had released his arm, though he barely noticed it.

He soon found himself at one of the windows, staring out at the city.

Had he truly considered tearing it all down, just because Isaiah had disrespected him? How many people would die if he did that? The city played host to a population in the hundreds of thousands, and even if he didn’t directly kill a single one, razing the city’s infrastructure would result in more deaths than he cared to count. It was unconscionable.

But if Sadie hadn’t been there, he might have done it anyway.

And that scared him because he’d already gone down that road before. Not just in Easton, which was the most apt comparison, but also with the hunters he’d slain not long after leaving Ironshore. Back then, he’d been out of control and listening too closely to his instincts. And because of that, at least a couple of innocent people had died.

It had taken him a while to realize just how wrong he’d been.

Now, he was on the verge of once again taking that path. Certainly, Nico deserved whatever came to him. At best, he was an incompetent coward. At worst, he was a vindictive and malicious little man who’d let Dat die because of jealousy and classism. Elijah could kill people like him a thousand times over and not feel an ounce of guilt.

Rather, his worries centered on the loss of control. On his changing nature.

Was it as simple as power corrupting him? When he was stronger than everyone else, it was so difficult not to impose his will, and by any means necessary. Or was it something else? Not his nature attunement, surely. But dragons weren’t exactly known as the humblest of creatures, were they? He didn’t want to rely on Earth’s mythology to judge very real and complex creatures, but what if there was some truth to those old legends?

Before Elijah could figure it out, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?” came a deep voice. Elijah didn’t need to turn to see that it was Lamar Sims, the defender he’d worked with back in the Trial of Primacy. That felt like a long time ago. So much had changed since then.

Elijah took a deep breath. “I’m fine,” he said. “There’s history there.”

“Figured as much,” Lamar said. “If you want to fight, I’m with you.”

“What?” Elijah asked, turning toward his acquaintance. Or was he a friend, now? It was a difficult distinction to make. Lamar was just as huge as ever, built like the linebacker he’d been before the world had changed.

“If it comes down to a fight, I’m with you. So is Helen,” he said, nodding across the room to the Explorer. She wasn’t as stunning as Sadie, but she’d cleaned up very well. “A couple of my friends are in, too. We saw what happened back there, and there was no reason for this Isaiah guy to blame you. I’ve got a hundred seasoned fighters out in the city.”

“No,” Elijah said with a shake of his head. “It’s fine. Isaiah was just making a point.”

“What kind of a point?”

“That this is his city and he won’t back down from anyone,” Elijah said. “But don’t worry. I’m going to have a little talk with him later. For now, let’s just focus on the party.”

Lamar wasn’t so easily convinced, but after a couple of minutes, he visibly relaxed. And a few more minutes after that, he was laughing like nothing had happened. Elijah could still feel the tension in the air – everyone kept looking at him like he was on the verge of an explosion – but there were no more fights.

There was news of a much happier sort that functioned as a distraction from Elijah’s simmering anger, though.

“You and Helen are getting married?” Elijah asked, more than a little surprised.

“Yeah,” Lamar answered, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s been a long time coming. I probably should have done it sooner, but…you know…things happened. I figured it was time to just get it done.”

“So romantic,” said Helen as she approached. She snaked her arm behind the big man, pulling close. “How could a girl refuse that kind of attitude?”

“You know what I meant,” he groaned, though he smiled when he did so.

After that, they revealed that the wedding would take place in a few months. “We’ll send a message when it’s time,” she said. “I hope you’ll come.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Elijah said.

But before the conversation could go much further, an attendant announced that the time for the auction had arrived. So, Elijah and everyone else in the ballroom soon crossed the facility to a large auditorium that could hold at least a few thousand people. There weren’t quite so many attendees, but still, it looked mostly fully.

For his part, Elijah joined Sadie in a luxury box not dissimilar from what one might find at a sports stadium. It was stocked with alcohol and finger foods, none of which Elijah touched. He just wasn’t in the mood.

Before the auction began, Sadie said, “You didn’t have to hurt him.”

“I know,” Elijah said. “I just –”

“I don’t blame you,” Sadie interrupted. “Just so we’re clear, my problem is that you lost control. I saw your aura when you did it, too. Most of the time, I can block Sense of Sin, but sometimes, it seeps through.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Was it bad?”

“That doesn’t cover it, Elijah. There’s so much darkness in you,” she said, resting her hand on his as she turned to face him. “You can’t let that define you. It’s so easy to focus on all the bad in the world. What I love about you is that you see the good, too. Everyone else huddles in their cities, terrified of what’s out there. But you seek it out. You appreciate it. Don’t lose that just because of a petty idiot like my brother.”

“I thought you’d be angrier with me.”

“I’m not angry, Elijah. Do you think I haven’t wanted to do the same thing to him? I came close a few times.”

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“Because I want to be better than that,” Sadie answered. “I need to be. With the power we have…with the power you have…things can get out of control very quickly. That’s not healthy for us, and it’s definitely not good for ordinary people.”

“Ordinary,” Elijah muttered. “I hate thinking of them in those terms. It wasn’t that long ago that we were all pretty ordinary.” He looked up. “Well, you’ve probably always been special. But me? A few years back, I was making peace with terminal cancer. For the next couple of years, it was all I could do to keep myself fed. And now I have the power to tear down a city if someone pisses me off? I mean, I’m growing scales, Sadie. And not on purpose. It’s not a spell or a transformation.” He raised his hand, letting his vibrant green scales flicker in the light. “I’m only a couple of short steps away from becoming a monster.”

He sighed, hanging his head. “And you know what’s even worse?” he asked. When she didn’t respond, he tapped his head as he went on, “It’s up here. Every single one of my instincts are screaming at me to find Isaiah and rip him to pieces with my bare hands. I could do it, too. This little domain of his wouldn’t save him. The power disparity is too wide. He could have every soldier in this city shoot at me, and all it would do is piss me off.”

That wasn’t necessarily true. There would be a few extra steps in there. He’d felt a rifle strike, so he had a good gauge of what the average soldier could do with those weapons – enough that he knew he would need to use his abilities to survive a volley intact. But he could do it. He had no doubts about that.

As for Isaiah’s domain – it felt less like it was meant for restriction and more like it played into the man’s obsession with keeping an eye on everything. Sure, there were probably some extra features that came with being a City Lord, but Elijah knew that in their new world, personal power trumped things like that.

“I could easily go off the rails, Sadie.”

“You won’t,” she assured him.

“I’ve done it before,” he argued. And he knew he’d do it again. It was only a matter of time before someone crossed his lines.

“It’s different now.”

“How?”

“You have me,” she said. “You have Carmen and Miguel. You have everyone back in Ironshore. You aren’t alone.”

Elijah nodded, though he didn’t respond. Instead, he just looked out from the box and stared at the stage where a woman was approaching the microphone. Finally, he said, “Thank you. For what it’s worth, the same goes for you.”

She gave him a small smile, but before she could say anything, the woman on stage began the auction.

“Good evening,” she said. “My name is Abigail Renoit, and on behalf of Chancellor Isaiah Roberts and all of Seattle, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your attendance and participation in this historic Summit. You represent the best Earth has to offer, and we all need to work together if we want to survive the trials ahead. However, I’ll leave the details for tomorrow. Tonight is meant for fun, relaxation, and personal empowerment through rare items, equipment, and resources. So, without further ado, let us begin.”

“Our first lot is a collection of useful potions created by the famed Alchemist Breeze,” she said. “If you will consult the provided tablets, you will see the included potions, which are intended for body cultivation and healing.”

Elijah picked up the tablet – which looked like a repurposed iPad that ran on ethera – and flicked to the listing. And he was impressed. He’d been around Biggle enough to recognize quality when he saw it, even on a tiny screen. In addition, when an attendant brought out the collection in question, which was contained within a leather case, he could feel the power of the potions inside.

“We will start our bidding at ten silver ethereum,” Renoit said. “Bidding is anonymous and can be accomplished on your tablets.”

Even as she spoke, a large screen flickered to life behind her. It had a small photo of the briefcase, but the vast majority of the space was taken up by the number ten and a smaller representation of a silver coin.

Immediately, it flicked to eleven. Then twelve. Twenty. As it did, the auctioneer kept up, announcing each new bid until it topped out at nineteen gold ethereum. It was no small sum, but Elijah suspected the Alchemist who made the potions was a little disappointed. Earth simply didn’t have the wealth to pay full price for such valuable items.

The next few lots were raw materials, many of which had clearly come from the Trial of Primacy as rewards for conquering the various challenges. Elijah and his team had gotten most of the first clears, but even the subsequent attempts had the potential for decent rewards.

Still, Elijah found himself a little bored by it all. He didn’t really need anything on offer, which meant that he had trouble getting into the excitement. But then they wheeled out an honest-to-god tank, which definitely got his attention.

“This beauty was created by the Engineer Mustafa. Using the M60 Patton as a base, Mr. Mustafa equipped it with what he calls the ethera-radiance engine, which utilizes a combination of solar power and ambient ethera to power the war machine. In addition, it is capable of interfacing with marksman-type class abilities, much like a bow or a power rifle. Perfect for those factions who need a little extra punch in their arsenal. Bidding begins at twenty gold ethera,” she said.

“I want it,” Elijah mumbled, already reaching for his tablet.

“You don’t need tank,” Sadie stated evenly.

“Nobody needs a tank, Sadie. That’s not the point.”

“What would you even use it for?”

“Blowing stuff up?”

“You can already do that.”

“But it’s a tank.”

She sighed. “Do what you want, I guess.”

“But…”

“I’m not stopping you. It’s your money. Waste it if you want.”

Elijah’s shoulders drooped. She wasn’t wrong. He didn’t need a tank. But his fingers still twitched every time the bidding went up. In the end, he refrained from bidding. Not because Sadie had rightly pointed out that he didn’t need it, but rather because he decided his money was better spent elsewhere.

Not that he had much opportunity splurge with the next wave of lots. The first few featured various metals, each of which glowed with dense ethera. Elijah put in a few bids – mostly for Carmen – but they quickly spiraled out of control, outpacing what he was willing to spend. After that came the weapons, many of which originated in Seattle. They seemed to have latched onto the whole technological theme, adapting various firearms for ethereal use.

With Soul of the Wild, Elijah could feel their inner workings, and that was enough to reaffirm that they were basically just wands with pretty casings. Not all that special, but they were still popular enough.

Next came armor, which was a lot more interesting. Despite having just commissioned a new set from Gavina, he’d been hoping to find something better in the auction. And there were plenty of interesting individual pieces on offer. However, none of them seemed quite suited to Elijah.

Carmen’s set came up as well, and it predictably went for almost twice what the tank fetched. And it wasn’t difficult to see why, especially given that Miss Renoit introduced the item as being created by the best Blacksmith in the world. Certainly, it wasn’t on par with a set like Sadie’s but it was still better than anything else in the auction.

Sadie ended up buying a shield and a much smaller sword she intended to use as a sidearm. For his part, Elijah also purchased a hunk of ancient heartwood that he felt would be perfect for Miguel to carve another weapon or piece of armor.

And then, finally, the main event – at least as far as Elijah was concerned – arrived.

“And finally, we have the creation of the most powerful man in the world,” Miss Renoit announced. “Created from items only he could source and using a method that cannot be replicated elsewhere, we have…soap.”

A pregnant silence followed, making Elijah wish he’d come up with a proper name for the stuff. He’d hoped that the system would have taken care of that for him, but when he looked at the listing on his tablet, it was labeled as generic soap.

“This is no ordinary soap, though. It is a treasure on par with some of the most powerful cultivation potions available,” she stated. “Regularly using this soap will not only heal minor wounds and cleanse impurities, but doing so will also incrementally improve body cultivation. According to our Appraisers, such items are highly sought after throughout the multi-verse, and for good reason. Those of you who have begun your body cultivation journey will understand why. No pain. No effort. Simply use the soap and prepare yourself for the next step. Bidding will begin at ten silver ethereum for a box of one hundred bars.”

Bidding went wild.

And it didn’t end for a few minutes, settling in at a little more than thirty gold ethereum for a single box.

“What?” asked Elijah, glancing at Sadie, who was staring at him.

“How many boxes did you bring?”

“Uh…I’m not really sure. I didn’t divide them up like that. I just had a few crates.”

“You can do basic math. How many?”

“Maybe…a couple dozen?”

“I hate you.”

“What? Why?”

“You know why,” she said crossing her arms as the auctioneer went onto the next lot, which was, predictably, more soap. The bidding wasn’t any less furious on this batch, which only made Sadie pout all the more.

“I’m going to be so rich,” Elijah said with a smug smile. “I should get some business cards made. Elijah Hart, Soap Tycoon.”