It's been a few days since I saw the Land Ravager, Azi Dahaka, at least I think it's been a few days. Keeping track of the days at this point is a little annoying and a lot of work... well not really, I just don't want to do it. But over the course of these few days, I've learned a few things from the System.
I had a feeling when I saw Azi Dahaka and heard about the two different Dragons, but the Celestial Dragons all seem to have the basic body plan of European Dragons, a large central body with four legs. Spirit Dragons, on the other hand, all follow the body plan of Eastern Dragons, the slimmer serpentine body that may or may not have small legs. And the Celestial Dragons, unlike the Spirit Dragons, are far from extinction. On the contrary, they are rather numerous and diverse. Apparently, there is a humanoid race called Dragonoids that is descendant from both Spirit and Celestial Dragons, not that I've ever seen one though, that's just what the System was saying.
But more importantly, I think I can rule out Azi Dahaka as the cause of the Spirit Dragon's extinction. With its size, it certainly fits the criteria for being able to walk on the abyssal and hadal floor, but Azi Dahaka lacks the toxic properties that I saw from the remains of the Spirit Dragons. Moreover, I think I can safely say that the footprints wouldn't match to Azi Dahaka or whatever it's previous evolutions were as it is and most likely always has been a Celestial Dragon, while the footprints I found clearly resemble that of a sauropod.
I believe I can also rule out the other active Herald, Cipactli the Primordial Jaw. Based on the title it has and the scraps of information I got out of the old rabbit, it is most likely a crocodilian. Those guys are pretty flat and do need to breathe air every so often. As there were practically no large gaps in the consistency of the footprints I am pretty certain that it wasn't Cipactli that killed off the Spirit Dragons.
This leaves only one left, the Herald that's known as the Bane of Man. But I don't know anything about it other than it was probably a type of sauropod or something similar and that it is probably a toxic creature, assuming my hypothesis is correct. I wonder if this will work?
System, I have an answer for what the cause of the Spirit Dragons extinction was. Is the monster that is trying to evolve into the 'Bane of Man' an acceptable answer?
"This answer may be accepted. Are you certain of your choice? The wrong answer will result in failure of the quest and permanently lock you out of certain evolution choices."
I hesitate to confirm as I'm not 100% certain but I'm pretty sure I'm right regardless. With a little deliberation, I confirm my answer.
"Processing, please wait... processing complete. Your answer is correct. The cause of the Spirit Dragons extinction was due to the monster that is currently undergoing the evolution process to evolve into the Herald known as The Bane of Man, Catoblepas. System Quest, Legacy of the Dragons, is now 50% complete. Show the world that the Spirit Dragons have returned and have all intelligent life recognise that the Spirit Dragons are not extinct. As an additional reward, you have been granted a degree of information regarding Catoblepas, the cause of the Spirit Dragons extinction."
"The Bane of Man, Catoblepas, is a gigantic monster that dwarfs most other beings in existence in pure size. It has the body of a sauropod but the face of bull and boar. It has the large tusks of a boar and the large horns adorn its head. The body of Catoblepas constantly releases poisonous substances into the air, its body also excretes toxic substances causing all that it touches to decay and melt. It is capable of breathing in various gases that would otherwise be fatal to other beings and does not need oxygen to survive."
This is probably some mutation that the monster had before undergoing its evolution process which would explain how it could fight in the hadal zone. Wait! Currently undergoing the evolution process! Doesn't this mean that another Herald could pop out at any moment!
"Target, Catoblepas evolution, only started the process several months ago and will not be complete for 29 years."
Oh, that's nice... wow that's a long time. I was a little worried I was going to have a Herald chasing me for being the last Spirit Dragon. It had to have chosen the Spirit Dragons for a reason right? I know I would choose a species to kill off based on grudges anyways. But damn, thirty years to evolve into a Herald, a lot can change in that time. Since I don't have to worry about being chased by an oversized dino, I should focus on the next part of my System Quest.
So I say but from the way it was said, it seems like I have to make some sort of lasting impression on humans and other sentient life like the Dragonoids. This also implies I have to leave people alive when I meet them... something about that bothers me. If I come across a large group but only leave one person alive, is that enough to tell the tale of their survival or should I keep more alive to spread the story faster?
I can deal with it when the time comes, for now, I should look for something to kill. The fast I level up the better. As far as I'm concerned, I only have twenty-nine years before I have an overgrown dinosaur chasing me down.
Within a few hours of randomly swimming around, I finally find something that could be worth a damn, most importantly its busy doing something else. A massive squid... octopus? A massive cephalopod. Using Analysis calls it a Kraken. If there is anything that a Kraken is known for its not that one movie line, but attacking ships that traverse the ocean. And of course the thing it is currently busy doing is attacking a ship, what a surprise. But this could work in my favour, in more than one way. Let's boogie.