Chapter 37 - A Dragon’s Request

The shocking news didn’t stop coming to Arthur. First a dragon, then a dragon that was actually Bram’s wife, and now the dragon even knew his class? What the fuck was going on?

"How do you know that?" Arthur asked her. "Bram didn’t know about it."

Myra explained it to him.

"I’m no ordinary dragon, but from another continent. The place where dragons came from."

"You could call me a princess. There, in that continent, that’s where the Soul Artisan is originally from as well. Back when I lived there, I remember a few of them, around 10 at most."

A different continent! Arthur had no idea what she was talking about. This wasn’t shown in the game at all back when he first played it.

Maybe it was an expansion that would come out in the future? Or something that the players had to figure out alone?

Either way, Arthur was sure that Myra didn’t participate in the rebellion. So her plan to fix things didn’t work.

"You said you want to make peace in the Floating Dragon Kingdom," Arthur said. "How are you going to do that? Can you leave this place?"

Myra shook her head.

"I can’t leave. Not because I’m hurt, these wounds can be healed with time, but because I’m locked. A Soul Artisan trapped me in this place."

"A Soul Artisan? Why would they do that?"

Arthur didn’t know who he should trust. Myra, or the Soul Artisan.

She was trapped in the Aldora Kingdom, which was where Arthur found the Soul Artisan class back when he first played the game, so maybe the person who locked her in there was the same one he got the inheritance from.

Myra realized the frustration in Arthur’s voice, so she explained things more properly.

"Don’t get me wrong, the Soul Artisan didn’t do this to harm me, but to protect me. If I were to roam free, the Holy Church would end me."

The Holy Church was basically the strongest organization. It was present in all kingdoms, and although the Holy Church didn’t rule, everyone knew the kings and queens asked for advice from them, and certainly did their bidding as well.

Dragons fled to the Floating Kingdom because of humans. They were hunting them down, so they had to find a safe place, away from the human kingdoms.

"What can I do to help you?" Arthur asked Myra. "Bram is looking for you like crazy, and stopping the rebellion is something I want as well."

"Two things, though I’m not sure you can do them. First of all, to free me from this place, you’ll need a relic that’s held in the Holy Church."

"And to get that relic, I believe you must become a Bishop or higher."

Arthur frowned. That was a really high position. Back in his previous life, players could enter the Holy Church and get special missions from them, rise in the rankings and get some decent rewards.

But only Paladins and Priests could become part of the Holy Church. The other classes couldn’t. Of course, to balance things, each class had a different organization they could work for.

"This relic was crafted by a Soul Artisan. If you want to learn more about your class, its origins, and its powers, then infiltrating the Holy Church is the right move."

That was huge! All classes in the game had trainers, and it wasn’t hard to find information about them in the libraries across the game, so improving wasn’t that hard.

But the Soul Artisan, a special class, didn’t have any of that. Arthur had no idea where to look for information, but now, Myra gave him a direction to follow. That was a game changer.

"Why does the Holy Church know about Soul Artisans?" Arthur asked her.

"The Holy Church came in contact with them when they tried to rule the continent where I come from. And surprisingly enough, they succeeded... That’s why I fled, and the Soul Artisans are almost extinct. But I know for sure some are working for the church. It was either that or dying."

The church was turning out to be even stronger and more mysterious than Arthur thought.

There was lots of information about it shared by the players that were part of the organization, but they didn’t say anything about Soul Artisans or this new continent.

Were they keeping it to themselves, or could only high-ranking members get access to that information?

"So let me see if I got this straight. The Holy Church found your continent, tried to rule over it, succeeded, and with it, dragons were almost extinct, and Soul Artisans as well."

"Some dragons fled to this continent only to get chased down by humans, again. And then they fled again, finally settling on the floating island?"

"Correct."

"And why did you leave the floating island only to get trapped in this place?"

That was the question he didn’t find an answer for, yet.

"The rebellion isn’t something new. They had been building it up for decades. I left the island 60 years ago to find a way to stop it. That’s when I got attacked and locked in this place by the Soul Artisan. He was just trying to protect me."

"He said that the church has a relic capable of freeing me. I’m not sure he was telling me the truth, but this is the only thing I have."

This whole story wasn’t something that happened recently. Arthur was starting to realize that.

Dragons lived much longer than any human, almost forever. Myra had fled the floating island 60 years ago, which was a long time.

But it had been 550 years since she fled her continent when the Holy Church arrived to take over. That was way back. It made sense as to why Arthur wasn’t finding any information about this continent or the Soul Artisans.

"I can give you something special," Myra said. "You must know about the contract power the Soul Artisans have, right?"

Arthur nodded.

"Craft something for me. A small gift. Anything, really. Then, come back here. We can make a contract, and in return for your gift, I can give you a permanent power. A tiny fraction of my bloodline."

"And for granting you this gift, I want you to infiltrate the Holy Church, climb the rankings and get this relic for me. With it, I can escape. Then, the next step would be stopping the rebellion from happening."

Myra already had a plan in her mind. She didn’t think it would ever happen, though. It was just pure luck that a Soul Artisan had found her.

"What if I don’t free you?" Arthur said. "Not because I don’t want to, but because I’m unable to."

"Then, sadly, you’ll die. This contract we’ll be making will have this clause. You must know how valuable a dragon bloodline is, so I can’t give you it without getting what I want in return."

[New Quest]

[Myra, the powerful dragon princess, wants your help to escape from her prison and work together with you to stop the rebellion from ever happening]

[She’s willing to give you her bloodline, in exchange for a contract that has your life as a clause]

[If you don’t complete the contract, your character will be permanently deleted]

[Quest Rewards if you accept the contract are as follows:]

[Royal Dragon Bloodline (Divine Tier), hint about the new continent where you can explore and find skill books for your Soul Artisan Class]

[Rewards if you stop the rebellion from ever happening: chance of becoming the ruler of the Floating Dragon Kingdom]

The rewards were just too good to pass. Arthur would be, for sure, the first player to ever receive such a powerful bloodline.

Not only that, but hints about his class? That was exactly what he wanted.

And if he could rule the dragon kingdom... Considering how the Dragon City became the main hub for players in the future, the amount of cash flowing into his pocket if he was the ruler would be enormous.

However, not succeeding in freeing Myra meant that he would lose his character forever...

The downside was pretty bad. Arthur needed his character. It was the only way for him to get money and save his family. Losing it meant losing the chance of helping them.

"You know this will take a long time, right?" Arthur said. "To become a high-ranking member of the Holy Church."

"No problem," Myra said. "As long as you free me before the rebellion starts, then we’re good. Also, you should speak with my husband when you have the chance and explain it to him. Maybe this can make him delay the rebellion."

"Let me think."

Arthur walked from side to side, pondering what he should do next.

"Won’t the church know about my bloodline? I mean, they hunt dragons."

"Dragons and humans with our bloodline are completely different. You’ll get some impressive rewards, but you are not a dragon, at least not yet."

’Not yet?’ Arthur frowned, but kept the thought to himself.

In the end, like any other player, Arthur just couldn’t resist it. A dragon bloodline was just too cool to pass...

"Fine, I’ll accept your offer. I’ll go craft something and come back here."

Arthur left the ruins, already thinking about his return, when he would get his bloodline...