Part-time Boss
Chapter 76 - 76 76 The Land of Dragon Delight and the Mysterious Voice

76: Chapter 76: The Land of Dragon Delight and the Mysterious Voice 76: Chapter 76: The Land of Dragon Delight and the Mysterious Voice This is a portal!

Mo Fei thought to himself as he stepped in.

Past the mirror, his vision suddenly brightened.

The originally dim lava cave instantly transformed into the summit of a huge mountain peak, with the temperature switching from the scorching depths of the cave to the extreme cold of the snowy mountain peak.

Hao Miao Ru Yan wasn’t wrong, the temperature here must be at least forty or fifty degrees below.

Even with the Highlander bloodline, Mo Fei could still feel the bone-chilling cold.

Thankfully, he had already changed into the Northwind Knight’s armor.

If he had been in his bare-armed outfit, he would probably have started losing health by now.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and a storm swirled around; being so close to it now, he could clearly hear the sharp howling within the storm, the flashes of lightning, and the distinct sounds of thunder that were heart-shaking.

Standing there, he deeply felt the immense power of nature and his own bloodline of the Storm God grew restive within him.

He calmed himself as much as possible, carefully observing his surroundings.

The spot he was on was a protruding platform below the mountain peak, with a dragon-shaped stone sculpture behind him and a stone mirror on one side – it seemed the device was bidirectional.

Mo Fei picked up the small statue, and the images in the mirror immediately vanished.

He followed the stone steps upward, winding around the top of the peak.

As he came around the bend of the ridge, a horrifying sight greeted him – a gigantic dragon wing drooping over the edge of the peak, blocking his path ahead.

Mo Fei went around it, looking up at the dragon carcass lying on the mountain – a Red Dragon with a wingspan of over thirty meters, a standard adult mammoth dragon that had evidently died many years ago.

Its body was slightly weathered but preserved quite intact due to the frigid climate and snowy cover at the peak.

Mo Fei didn’t know what this signaled.

He continued upward, quickly coming upon a second dragon carcass, then a third, a fourth…

There were at least a dozen mammoth dragon skeletons scattered among the rocks at the top of Sky Piercing Peak, representing various types of the Dragon Race.

When he climbed to the mountain’s summit, he witnessed an even more astonishing sight: an enormous dragon carcass with a wingspan surpassing one hundred and thirty meters, impaled by blade-like rocky spires and hanging beside the main peak’s similarly sized side peak.

The dragon’s wings drooped from the peak in an indescribable pose of agony.

Due to the distance, he couldn’t discern the dragon’s color, but with such a massive size, it had to be at least an Ancient Dragon, if not a Primordial Dragon.

What had killed such a powerful creature, and why did it lay here?

He forced his eyes away from the dragon carcass as he reached the end of the steps.

As he ascended the final stone step, Mo Fei found himself at the very top of Sky Piercing Peak, on a flat stone platform not far from the mountain harboring the immense dragon carcass.

At the center of the platform was a round stone table with a unique design, covered with inscriptions in Ancient Dragon Language that were too profound for Mo Fei to decipher, giving the table an added sense of sanctity, as if it were an altar.

Next to the table lay another dragon carcass, buried under thick snow, its body coiling around the table, nearly connecting head to tail, protective of the altar-like table.

He slowly approached the table, excited and awed by the ancient and mysterious scene before him.

The moment he stepped onto the platform, a system notification rang in his ears.

[System notification: You have successfully reached the site of Dragon Delight.

You have completed the first step of the plot quest “Return of the Dragon God.” You have gained 500 Plot Points, and your rank has been raised to Bronze Tier, Rank 2.]

He was successful…

Mo Fei wasn’t overly excited or happy; he could sense that his exploration of the quest was just beginning.

As Mo Fei drew closer, he realized that what seemed to be a dragon carcass wasn’t actually one after all; the entire dragon was made of stone, and, together with its ceremonial posture, it looked more like a decorative sculpture.

But who knows, perhaps it was an Ancient Dragon?

After all, Ancient Dragons are made of stone, aren’t they?

He gave it a forceful kick; no health bar appeared, okay, indeed it was a sculpture.

Mo Fei checked the map; the place was named – Dragon Delight Ritual Hall.

Could it be the dining hall of the Dragon Race?

But why would eating be such a brutal affair?

Could it be a fight over food?

And with such a small table, how could so many dragons fit?

As Mo Fei speculated wildly –

A mysterious voice, “Hehehe, at last…

after waiting for hundreds of years, a new visitor has arrived here.

Tell me, mortal, have you come for the power of the dragons?”

The voice seemed to arrive on the wind, like someone whispering nearby.

Mo Fei wasn’t very anxious; typically, such a situation wouldn’t lead to a boss battle and was more likely to be linking quest dialogue, and these cryptic characters usually turn out to be significant NPCs that assigned quests, often with substantial backstories.

“Who’s talking?” he shouted, trying to feign a tense and excited expression; indeed, this wasn’t hard – even knowing the game’s patterns by heart, the immersive atmosphere still made his voice quiver involuntarily.

A mysterious voice, “I am an ancient spirit lingering here, a Guardian bound by the vows of Ancient Dragons, a guide on the path of Dragon Delight, a loyal servant of the Dragon God Yammahamut –”

A ghost, huh?

Too bad he didn’t have the skill to detect Undead.

A mysterious voice: “Mortal, you have yet to answer my question, have you come for the power of the dragons?”

“I have come for the ‘Power of the Ancient Dragon,'” said Mo Fei, emphasizing each word.

The power of the Ancient Dragon and that of the mighty dragon may seem to differ by a single word, but Mo Fei felt certain that they were not one and the same.

The mysterious voice chuckled, “I see, then enact Dragon Delight, and devour the power of the mighty dragon to make it your own.”

[System notification: You have triggered the plot quest “The Path of Dragon Delight,” which is the second step in ‘The Return of the Dragon God quest line.’]

Hmm?

The triggered quest dialogue still mentions the power of the mighty dragon.

Could it be that there is no difference between the power of the mighty dragon and that of the Ancient Dragon?

Just a typographical error?

He opened the quest list to check the quest description.

[The Path of Dragon Delight (Plot Quest)

Quest Objective: Perform Dragon Delight, embark on the path to pursue the power of the mighty dragon, and acquire the power of the mighty dragon.

Quest Reward: 1,000 Plot Points, unlock a free BOSS template, and initiate the next chain quest.]

Warning: Completing a plot quest may have a profound impact on the world view of the game and may grant powerful abilities.

However, such quests carry certain risks.

Please mentally prepare yourself when undertaking these tasks.]

Mo Fei breathed a sigh of relief.

He had spoken of the power of the Ancient Dragon, but the quest he received was still about obtaining the power of the mighty dragon.

It seemed to be just an error in the description after all.

However, the warning that followed made him somewhat cautious.

He had noticed a special warning appended to the description when he had taken on the first link in the quest chain.

It mentioned the possibility of encountering danger.

At first, he hadn’t paid much attention, but after giving it some thought, he sensed something was off.

World of Sky was a game, and in games, doing quests always involves potential danger.

To exaggerate a bit, even stepping out to use the restroom might trigger a few random battles.

So the notion of danger obviously didn’t warrant a special mention, so why did the quest make such a statement?

‘This type of quest carries certain risks’—what exactly does that mean?

If it were someone else, they might not think too much about it, but after what had happened with Morphis, Mo Fei couldn’t help but speculate.

Could it be that this danger would manifest in reality?

But he didn’t know exactly how it would manifest.

The mysterious voice asked, “Are you afraid, oh seeker of the mighty dragon’s power?”

Aidan (Northwind Knight): “I saw Flol down there, he was once human too, right?

Just like me, he came here in pursuit of the mighty dragon’s power, but ended up turning into a monster.

Did he also obtain the power of the mighty dragon here?

But he doesn’t look like a dragon at all.

That kind of monster is not the result I want to achieve?”

The mysterious voice responded, “Flol was a weakling, and weaklings cannot wield the power of the mighty dragon.

Acquiring any power involves risks and comes at a price.

Dragons are dangerous and beautiful creatures.

Is it not worth it for you to face such risks to gain the power of the dragon?”

“Can you be more specific about the risks?”

Without a clear outline of advantages and disadvantages, how could he make a decision?

The mysterious voice explained, “After performing the Dragon Delight ceremony, you will absorb a Dragon Soul and obtain a fraction of a dragon’s power.

As you continue to accumulate this power, you too will eventually transform into a dragon.

However, controlling the power of a dragon requires a strong mind.

The immense power is not something the weak can command.

Those who cannot control this power, those who cannot cope with their own transformation, will lose themselves in fear.

They will lose their reason in anger, becoming mindless beasts, monsters that only remember to kill and feed.

Those who successfully wield the mighty dragon’s power can become true dragons.

But beware, physical transformation may also change the soul’s thoughts.

Becoming accustomed to the power of the dragon, they may forget their human identity or choose not to remember it because what is there to miss about that insignificant form, that fragile shell, those feeble limbs?

Only the truly strong can disregard the physical size and strength, see through the essence of power, neither human nor dragon, yet both human and dragon, stepping onto the true path to the pinnacle of power…”

Now Mo Fei finally understood.

There were three outcomes to the Dragon Delight ceremony.

The first outcome was failure, becoming a mindless monster just like Flol.

The transformation to a dragon was incomplete, resulting in something like the so-called Magma Earth Dragon, which could neither fly nor had intelligence, knowing only how to kill.

The hero template would be directly converted into a BOSS template – a rather lousy kind of BOSS at that.

The second outcome was success, transforming into a mighty dragon, gaining its power, succumbing to its allure but losing the ability to revert to human form.

Presumably, the hero template would be directly converted into a BOSS template, but being of the Dragon Race, so it wouldn’t be too bad.

The third outcome was a great success, becoming a mighty dragon while retaining the ability to revert to human form at will.

This was presumably the best result, meaning that the player would have the power of a hero and also an additional BOSS form to switch into whenever desired.

This was somewhat similar to dragons taking human form, the difference being that for a dragon it’s simple, given their immense strength and humanity’s weakness.

But for humans to transform into mighty dragons, that was not so easy.