The Dragon of Calamity, Boromir
Differently from what many thought, Boromir wasn't an agent of chaos and destruction, rather, he was the main agent of order and balance. His main purpose was to keep the innate balance in the word, not taking sides during a fight and making sure that all were equal.
The cognomen "Dragon of Calamity" came from people's misconception due to Boromir's rather extreme methods.
Whenever a war that threatened balance emerged, Boromir would swiftly eradicate both parties, destroying everything from land to buildings; this way, the treatment would be fair since nothing would be left behind.
What many didn't know was that Boromir's breath possessed a higher density of mana than that of any other dragon. Thanks to this fact, whenever he burned down a certain area of land, the ground would become soaked in mana, increasing the earth's healing speed and allowing it to recuperate in less than a few decades.
Boromir also differentiate himself from other dragons in which he didn't hoard treasures. In truth he was chosen as the guardian due to his unique living code, "What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours".
This golden rule was what made him the perfect candidate to become the guardian of balance, and made it much easier to reason with him than other members of the draconic species.
"WAIT!!!" I shouted with all my strength, in hopes of making him listen.
Thankfully, it worked. The glowing veins around Boromir's body started to dim and the swift current of wind that was starting to form instantly disappeared like it never existed in the first place.
"What do you want, Thief?"
It was a loud and clear voice; each word seeping with anger. But they hadn't been spoken, or else Mack would have been blown away from the first word.
They were conveyed telepathically, a very unique type of magic known only by a select group.
"I am not a thief. In truth, I came here by accident!"
The dragon snarled, snapping his jaws right in front of the boy in a threatening way.
"Lies! Why else would you have come here if not to steal my scale?! Tell me who gave you the location of my lair, and I promise you a quick death!"
The veins started to glow again, and the heat inside the room started to increase.
"No, I didn't come to steal your scale! I ended up here by accident! I am an adventurer and I came here to complete my journey!"
Mack stood up when he sensed the rise in temperature and started to frenetically explain why he was there.
"Then why did you run away like you had been caught red-handed?!"
Mack was inwardly stupefied. Indeed, he had been caught red-handed, but for a different motive! Was this really the great and powerful dragon that was feared and revered by many?
Deciding to not test his luck the boy mustered all his strength and courage before answering.
"Lord Boromir, if you were a rat that had entered inside a lion's den by accident and said lion were to notice, wouldn't your first instinct be to run away?"
The dragon closed his eyes for a brief moment before re-opening them, the fire in them now gone and replaced by a type of clarity.
"What you said…is true. Perhaps I should have not let my anger take the best out of me, and instead tried something different."
Mack inwardly heaved a sigh of relief, the crisis had passed, but he was still in danger. Shaking his head he addressed the dragon, "you are not at fault, your lordship. If it were me I believe I would have done the same, having something that belongs to you so close but at the same time so far from your reach. It would be understandable that you were angry."
Taking the scale in his hands, Mack presented the rough material to him, "I believe this is yours".
The dragon was surprised, but soon narrowed his eyes and asked with a distasteful tone, "What do you want?"
Mack smiled bitterly. Of course he would think that way, after experiencing human's greed first hand, it was clear that the dragon would be wary of any gesture of kindness by the part of a human.
"I believe you misunderstood me. I do not want anything from you, your lordship."
Before the dragon could retort, he proceeded with a verse, "'What is mine is mine and what is your is yours'. I am not like others that take what doesn't belong to me; I only take what does not have an owner. This scale, I have no right to keep it since it belongs to you."
Boromir showed a complicated look in his face, a hint of incredulity in his eyes, but accepted the scale. Lifting his left arm, a small gap in the sea of scales was visible.
The gap allowed Mack to get a glimpse of what laid under the imposing armor, and what he saw shocked him. Pristine white skin like jade, a view many would have killed to see, if the owner of said skin were to be a woman and not a giant lizard that could kill them with a flick of their finger.
Boromir positioned the scale right above the gap, a soft orange glow enveloped the piece and very soon disappeared, revealing the complete black surface made of indestructible scales.
Following the return of the scale, a series of messages appeared in front of Mack.
Ding!
< Your Relationship with "Calamity Dragon, Boromir" has increased by 500! >
< Your Relationship with "Calamity Dragon, Boromir" has increased from Unfriendly to Neutral! >
< You are the first Player to meet with a Natural Calamity! >
< World Reputation increased by 100! >
Those messages were music to Mack's ears. Not only did his reputation increase, but even his relationship with Boromir had increased from Unfriendly to Neutral!
One had to keep in mind that depending on the level of the relationship between a Player and a NPC one could receive Quests, tips, information and, in some cases, even incur a favor with the NPC. Even if he couldn't complete his quest right away, he had received a huge amount of gains.
The only thing that was preoccupying Mack was that Boromir wasn't supposed to wake up until the end stages of the game.
According to the Lore, by that time, the two most prominent countries of Archeon would start a war that would wipe out huge stretches of land, generating an imbalance in the World Order and thus awakening the dragon. But, since the developers had made it so that a Level 80 Player could find this place, even if by accident, then there most probably were some sort of countermeasures.
Unfortunately, he didn't know what those countermeasures were, they weren't part of the data downloaded into his brain, and even if he knew, he wasn't sure if they would ever activate.
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Meanwhile, the white bearded man was watching everything from the crystal ball in his table, a solemn look in his face.
While he looked calm in the outside, the same could not be said of the inside. Rage, despair, hopelessness and many other related emotions were popping up inside of him, merging in a whirlwind of dark thoughts.
Having a Player find "Boromir's Lair" and wake up the dragon was already expected, in truth, many developers were betting that such a circumstance was going to happen.
All their calls and predictions had in mind the fact that most Players would be Level 80 or above, and had, indeed, created countermeasures to hold the dragon in check while the Player population leveled up.
The problem was that no Player had achieved Level 80!
It was by a fluke that a Level 0 Player found that place, and an even hard to believe stroke of luck that he not only calmed the dragon, but also increased their Relationship level!
With such a scenario, most of the countermeasures, which couldn't even be started now, were turned into useless missions.
The old man gripped his beard and started to stroke it slowly, but he couldn't hide the anger behind every move.
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After inspecting the scale to check if there was nothing wrong with the melding, Boromir moved his head back to look at Mack. Although his standing had changed to Neutral, this didn't mean his suspicions of the boy had completely vanished.
"Tell me, Human, how did you know those words? As far as my knowledge goes, no one was supposed to know about them."
Mack didn't seem worried, and answered with a calm tone, "I have read about you, your lordship; that was how I came upon these words. There are many records of the old era in which you, alongside with your ways, are described."
The dragon closed his eyes in thought and asked another question.
"How long has it been since I went into slumber?"
"It has been over a thousand years since your last sighting, your lordship. Also, the divine sprouts have just recently arrived."