Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-192

[David Armand Perspective] [Elemental Knight of Fire Perspective] [Quest for the Great Dragonoid Sage] [2/2]

When we had a good rest in the Soothing Hills, I decided to more our caravan towards the East, were the Fiery Volcano Area is. Blaire's village was once there, she has told me that there are hundreds of small "biomes" and intricate caves through the underground filled with monsters related to fire and lava.

As we slowly approached our destination, some of my subordinates with the Spy, Thief, and Information Gatherer Classes have come back from Athetosea, although others have not… I fear that they were killed by the Slime Monster's Master.

They brought information about the current state of things… All of it… It is incredibly bizarre… The people seem to be "normal" but those demi-humans, the same ones that killed so many are walking around the town as if they owned the place.

To make things worse all the people are being openly serviceable to their enemies, with bright and gentle smiles… Some of my subordinates told me that they were surely brainwashed.

But to brainwash over one thousand people in a few days… and without anyone escaping either aside from us… Just what is this?

What kind of being has such incredible capabilities…? It is beyond all my comprehension… The only Demi-Humans I've met that are proficient in mind control are Gazers and Mindflayers, but their species are very weak and frail and cannot mind-control more than one person at once.

To think that I am dealing with a being way beyond my understanding threw a shiver down my spine. If I can't understand what I am going to fight in the future, how will I win? If in the end I get brainwashed, all the effort I put into everything will be gone…

I need to prepare myself even more… I must find help, mages, or wizard that can negate brainwash or mind control or at least an artifact that could give us some kind of resistance or immunity…

Even more, if this monster is even stronger than that Rainbow Slime, strong enough to completely make it submit to him and serve him as a pet, then its power must be on a completely new level… Something that can conquer the world.

I need to get stronger and awaken my Epic... If I become a Hero… And possibly Blaire as well, maybe… but it's too unrealistic… I would need to gather people at my side as well. Other with my similar strength…

For now, I must get stronger while searching for places for my family to be safe… I need to prioritize my own growth first… However, if I end up needing the help of others, I don't want to be a burden that made them get killed…

So many thoughts, so many things to consider… Everything is too complicated, this monster is too strong, and it's even harder to find a way to defeat it with conventional means… I cannot just rush at him and try to kill it; I will just die…

"Sigh…"

Blaire was at my side as she looked at me with a saddened expression.

"Master David?"

"Blaire… I… Its nothing…"

"Master David… Are you worried? I-I know what you're thinking…"

"Y-You know?"

"I do… It's all in your face, Master… I know that you think that even after gathering the strength of the Sage, you won't be able to have enough power to defeat the Master behind all of that… However, the journey may not end in just that…"

"Blaire…"

"I know that you have amazing potential, Master David! You just need to awaken it! To become a strong hero! We need to… push ourselves… and gather even more strength… I know that it will hard and arduous… But the only thing left is to keep walking forward… Not today, not tomorrow, maybe not even in a month, a year, two years, ten years… But someday… I know that you will be able to accomplish it"

"Blaire… Your confidence in me is really making me just more nervous... But at the same time, it also brings me energy… You are right, I just need to keep walking forward… Step by step, I can do this"

Blaire raised her big scaled arms as she gave me a happy smile.

"That's the spirit, Master David!"

"Thanks, Blaire"

After our conversation, my father and mother also gathered around me as they gave me inspirational words. My sisters as well, they are all very talented women now… They have studied various subjects and are genius scholars in various arts. I know that I can trust them.

As the days went by, I trained with Blaire and my subordinates. We slew any monster that came our way as we went through various villages and stayed some days in each one. We completed the various quest and gathered money and resources.

Most of the monsters in the route weren't much of a big deal, although we came across a big Orc Nest that was infecting a village and taking the women, their cave was deep and intricate and the Orc Emperor was a powerful shaman.

After defeating him, we were treated as heroes in the village. They didn't have much money so hiring Adventurers or Mercenaries was almost impossible. The women were saved and most of their memories erased by Blaire using her Holy Flame Magic.

I gained plenty of levels and more of my skills were unlocked, however, I was still far too weak, leveling would only get me as far as I could, I also needed to train my abilities and class, evolve them and keep advancing. But for that, I need stronger monsters that net a higher experience.

And that's why, in the dungeon, it will be where I will be able to temper my strength the most… Thankfully the armor that my [Epic] gifted me can self-repair itself, my sword as well. As long as they aren't completely destroyed, they will slowly repair themselves into its best conditions.

Athetosea has been completely dominated by monsters, after my trip, I need to alert other Kingdoms and Empires… And possibly gather allies from them… In the way, I can also grab more strength through different dungeons.

Thinking too much about the future won't lead me anywhere, I need to concentrate on the present… I need to concentrate on my current goal, conquering the Fiery Lava Dungeon and finding the Great Dragonoid Sage, if I manage to get his help and be trained by him… I could finally surpass this bottleneck in my strength growth and surpass my limits, possibly awakening to Hero…

After many days, we finally reached the destined place. The Fiery Volcano Area, a place filled with a rough environment, flaming trees, and lava rivers. There are several volcanos everywhere, and strong monsters that have the attributes of Fire and Lava roam the place. I decided to leave my family in the latest Village, which was named Flame Rose Village. After knowing of our victory over the Orc infestation, they let my family stay in a house with a discounted fee. I left various of my most trustworthy subordinates protecting them.

Using Blaire as our guide, we crossed the dangerous place as we went through different routes and roads. We came across different monsters in our way, most of them were Fire and Lava related.

The quantity of beast in this place was overwhelming, as we never had much time to rest. There were mostly reptilian and scaled monsters. The strongest ones being Lesser Wyverns, Wild Dragonoids, Grand Salamanders, and Lesser Dragons.

Lesser Wyverns and Dragons are weaker versions than the original monsters, lacking advanced intelligence and being mostly wild and savage beasts. Wild Dragonoids are humanoid dragon people that were born without intelligence and grew wild like monsters, although their intelligence is small, they are still capable of doing various types of tactics and ambushes.

This is how we ended up ambushed by a group of around fifty Wild Dragonoids on our way towards the dungeon. They seemed hungry and looked at us with the intent of devouring us.

I saw this as the first trial for my first journey, I armed myself with bravery and fought against the voracious Dragonoids. The battle was incredibly hard as the Dragonoids had amazing magic capabilities and could use healing spells as well. Their skin was as hard as a rock and some of them could fly and attack at a safe distance.

Suddenly, when we managed to kill around half of the Dragonoid group, a strong and muscular Dragonoid showed up, jumping towards us like a blazing meteor. Its body was towering and massive. It had over five meters of size, similar to the Rainbow Slime Monster of my nightmares. Its body was incredibly muscular and sturdy like a rock, its claws were devastating and it could spit a strong fire breath.

Because I killed the most of his kin, he rushed towards me with anger, it used its massive hands to crush the rocky floor as I evaded his slow attacks with my [Fire Step] Skill. However, the monster managed to hit me once with a strong punch, that took me from the right side, throwing me several meters away.

Blaire managed to heal me from a distance with a white flame as the wounds quickly regenerated as if nothing. Although I could use my skill [Fiery Heart Embrace] to obtain strength from my allies, I neglected this ability as I wanted to fight with my own strength if possible.

I pushed my limits as I rushed towards the Dragonoid Emperor with my strongest Arts, releasing countless slashes of flames that transformed into giant Phoenix's, grabbing the monster while detonating. However, its defenses were overwhelming and it managed to survive each attack as if nothing. I then comprehended that it was natural as the monster lived in a Volcano area, and had a natural resistance or immunity to my element attacks.

I then decided to use my flame to enhance the sharpness of my sword and the strength of my body. Rushing against the savage beast with a new speed, evading his attacks, I enhanced my blade even more without canalizing Fire Magic on it, being pure non-elemental magic.

It threw hundreds of punches at me while spitting its powerful blazing breath, I evaded as much as I could but I always managed to get attacked somehow, to the point that my body could barely stand. Each time, Blaire healed me as she cheered for me, my subordinates didn't help me as I wanted to fight the monster alone and improve my fighting style without relying on my Fire Magic.

After several hours, the beast and I were exhausted, the Dragonoid Emperor entire body was bleeding intensively, even if I was fine, my body couldn't help but ache after being broken and healed back so many times.

Seeing as the Dragonoid Emperor had its guard lowered, I pushed my body even further and jumped over its neck, enhancing my bloody blade with my magic once again, I began to stab the beast endlessly as it yelled in agony.

"Grrrrrrraaaaaaahh!!!"

"I-If I can't even pass this trial…! A-All I have done so far… will be for nothing…!"

The Dragonoid Emperor punched my head, shoulders, and ribs countlessly however I firmly locked my legs on its neck as I kept stabbing its spine.

"GROOOOOOOOHHHH!!!"

SLASH!

In the last stab, the beast's entire head rolled through the ground, as its neck splattered an endless river of scarlet blood all over my body. I was suddenly bathed in the blood of a Dragonoid Emperor as I fell unconscious… And suddenly, in my last drop of consciousness, I saw a strange system notification.

Ding!

[David Armand] completed a [Trial Scenario]!]

[David Armand] received the Item [Fiery Lava Dungeon Map] x1

[David Armand] received the Item(s) [Dragonoid Emperor Adamantine Scales] x50

[David Armand] received the Title [Dragonoid Slayer]

[David Armand] learned the Skill [Dragonoid Emperor Lineage]

"Li…neage…?"