After the match ended, Senani made his way to the Arena Master to claim his reward. With the estates of both Maximus and Azriel now in his possession, and a showing of his battle prowess fresh in the minds of the combatants, Senani announced his retirement from gladiatorial combat and began to completely reform Azriel's stable of gladiators into a true academy. Patricia had heard his desires while he and Maximus discussed them before the battle. She utilized assets of the Coven to oversee the transformation to allow Senani more freedom. This would leave only the matter of Azriel to be decided.
Senani did not fault him for forcing him to repay the cost he had incurred to purchase him. Working off the price spent was in his mind a debt that should be repaid, he would do the same in the contracts signed with future gladiators that he purchased. They would be free to choose their opponents and determine their training, yet they would be obligated to repay him the price he paid for their freedom. If they did not desire to fight, there were many other ways to repay him, they could farm, or learn a trade. The possibilities were endless.
This line of thinking directly led to Senani's decision regarding Azriel. Senani debated for a time, and eventually decided to offer him a contract, just as he would the other freed gladiators. Azriel would help to grow the academy and manage the gladiatorial fights. He was after all extremely experienced in this area. In return, Senani would give him 25% of the earnings he made Senani. This would quickly make him a rather wealthy man again. Azriel was extremely content with this arrangement. He had after all feared he would be a slave for the remainder of his days. Instead, he would be employed rather lucratively. This was a fate he could most definitely agree with.
Senani's easiest decisions had now been made. The next lingering task would be to determine where to go next? He needed to slay at least 95 more creatures, but how did one decide which group to kill? He knew nothing of the world. This would need to be discussed with Maximus and Patricia. To that end Senani returned to the tome and explained his situation to Patricia and Maximus. If he were to absorb the life force of 95 more creatures, then he would be able to awaken his true abilities.
Patricia was ecstatic and immediately offered aid. "Senani, there are many ways to achieve your awakening, the fastest would clearly be to slay those living in this city. The lifeforce of thousands would be yours to command. Alternatively, the world is in a truly horrid state. Bandits roam the wildlands and aid the goblins (Goblins are generally ugly, small, and unintelligent creatures. They come in a variety of earthy colors and shapes and are sorely lacking in technology and individual combat prowess. However, they more than make up for that in numbers. A typical goblin hoard could possess thousands.) in raiding the villages and towns of all the other species. Even the dwarves are forced to remain idly in their underground citadels. If I were in your shoes, I would venture to the goblins with your Death Knight.
Be warned though Senani, few welcome Death Knights or any other form of undead in this land.
Undead are not as uncommon as you would think. There are many necromancers in this world, and few of them are willing to aid the living. Most rather seek to kill and consume them. Ever growing their undead armies. Though I suppose that is exactly what you are forced to do as well..."
Senani agreed with Patricia, the goblins would make a fine place to begin harvesting life force. He could grow his relationship with the many factions in Orion, and at the same time complete his awakening with ease. Senani refused to bring along any members of the Coven. With his and Maximus's battle prowess, he felt this would be easy.
With a spring in his step and a song in his heart, Senani and Maximus began heading towards the mountain homes of the goblins. While not the wisest decision, Senani felt it would be by far the quickest.
In the first day, much to Senani's disappointment the roads were relatively peaceful and clear. On the second day however, Senani and Maximus happened upon a caravan that had recently been attacked, though by what they had no way of knowing. Neither of them possessed skills in tracking or hunting. Though such skills were not needed to find the war raging loudly in the distance. Senani decided this would be their chance and he began to charge in the direction of the noise.
He and Maximus quickly travelled the few miles to the battle, and while Senani was a bit winded, he did not expect this to be a problem. He quickly ran up the crest of a hill, and suddenly stopped dumbfounded.
Ahead of him two massive armies clashed again and again. Many dragons in various colors flew in the sky constantly striking each other. He could see white, red, blue, green, black, silver, gold, platinum, and even purple dragons. It was impossible to determine which dragon belonged to which army and the battle lines extended as far as his eyes could see. Senani and Maximus would be no more than a drop in a bucket of water to these two armies.
As Senani came to examine the battlefield more completely, he realized that on one side he could see a vast horde of goblins, worgs (worgs were like wolves though rather larger and with a much more vicious temper and glowing red eyes. In many cases they possessed more intelligence than the goblins they allied with.) trolls (Trolls were extremely large ugly creatures that came in a wide variety of earthy colors. They were massive in size, the smallest on this battlefield stood a whopping 500 cm (16.4 feet) tall), and humans.
On the other side of the battlefield stood orcs, dwarves, humans, and elves (elves were like humans in appearance though slenderer and they possessed sharp pointy ears. Unlike humans they possessed a natural affinity with magic and could live for centuries.) The army on the side of the elves was vastly outnumbered and appeared in a rather desperate situation. The goblin horde moved to encircle and entrap them and looked extremely likely to succeed.
While Senani stood observing the situation, the voice from the tome spoke again with a strong sense of urgency. "Look to the left boy, quickly now. That silver dragon whelp has fallen into the horde of goblins. Its death is inevitable, however if you can make it to it, deliver the killing blow with your sword. I will help you to absorb its life force and create a being of incomparable power. There is no time to falter, move now or it will be too late."
Senani looked in the direction the voice directed and immediately pulled his sword and a dagger from their sheaths and began to charge with Maximus by his side. Soul Shatter cut 10's of goblins with each strike as easily as a knife passing through butter, turning each to dust as the blade contacted their flesh. His killing speed far exceeded that of Senani. Within moments they arrived at the silver dragon welp. Senani lunged and placed his sword directly through the eye of the beast. The dragon and Senani both began to glow with an unnatural purple light.
In the air, a dragon screeched loudly in pain and rage. The death of its child wracked its entire body with a physical and emotional pain. It lashed out against its current foe in unbridled fury. It would stop at nothing until it avenged its child.
Senani was entirely unaware of his impending doom. The glow encompassed him entirely and blinded all present on the battlefield. It was quickly replaced with a bright red glow that exceeded that of the sun. It was so bright that the fighting completely stopped while everyone shielded their eyes. When the glow dissipated, Senani had grown blackened silver scales across the entirety of his body and face appearing like a man shaped serpent. While blackened, the scales also possessed a slightly green hue like the skin that lay beneath them.
The dragon whelp had increased in size and its eyes glowed with an undeniable cold purple power. It screeched out and released a breath of purple flame into the goblins around it. The flame stripped them entirely of their life force and turned them into dust.
"Touch the Draco-Lich and extend power into it. Even grant it my energy. The more lifeforce it absorbs the faster it will grow. This battlefield will become more than just the place of your awakening. This will become the beginning of your legend."
Senani did as the voice directed. He removed his newly blackened sword from the eye socket of the dragon and placed his other hand upon its skull. He could feel all the power the tome had granted him leaving through his fingertips. The skeletal dragon quickly grew from the size of an elephant to the size of a house. This greatly weakened Senani. He now stood in a similar strength to what he had been as a human. Yet he now had a remarkable idea. He ordered Maximus to ride the dragon as it released its vengeance upon the hordes of goblins. Maximus could aid the dragon should any other dragons grow the courage to attack it.
With Maximus securely on the great skeletal dragons' neck, it began to beat its massive skeletal wings and as it ascended into the air, it began to breathe its great swathes of purple fire into the hordes of the goblins. With each pass of the great flames, Senani could feel the power returning to his body, and he could see the dragon slowly growing.
Seeing what had become of its child and understanding that it was aiding against the goblin hordes, the Dragons mother returned to battle the other dragons in the sky. This despicable creature on the ground would still have much to answer for after the battle ended.
Seeing Senani's Allies take to the air, the goblins and their allies nearby charged at him. They hoped that killing him would end the slaughter from the beast in the sky. Senani swung his sword left and right, not bothering to dodge the goblins weaponry. Each enemy his sword touched instantly turned to dust. The few attacks that did land were rendered useless by his new scales. You see his scales possessed an interesting quality. Senani had absorbed the entirety of the dragons' scales, including its Heart Scale. The Heart Scale was the hardest and most important thing to a dragon as it possessed most of its magical abilities. Possessing it, tied Senani to the dragon in a way beyond that of his bond with Maximus. As the dragon grew, the scales would gain the qualities they would have possessed were they on the dragon in life. The dragon was now the size of a full adult dragon. Only the finest of weapons would now pose any form of threat to Senani. Within mere heartbeats he and the great Draco-Lich had slain enough for the awakening to be completed. Yet that was only the beginning.
The Draco-Lich burned swathes of the goblins and their allies. In the face of his unholy flame none could stand. The battlefield was quickly littered with the ash from the fallen goblins and their gear. Nothing on the ground could survive in those flames. With the tide of the battle turning on the ground in the favor of its original allies, the Draco-Lich began to look to the skies. What it saw increased its fury to a whole new level. The severely injured Ancient Red Dragon Infernus had just ripped a large hole into its mother's wing. She fell from the sky like a stone. The Draco-Lich went off like a jet toward Infernus as Infernus flew down to finish off its mother. The Draco-Lich roared in its fury. The unliving sound struck fear into the hearts of all the mortals present. Even the great dragons felt a shudder through their souls as the screech permeated their bodies.
Infernus made it a mere 28 cm (1 foot) from the Draco-Liches mother before it realized what was coming for it. Infernus quickly released a gout of bright red flame to burn the Draco-Lich and its rider into nothingness. To his surprise, the Draco-Lich merely opened its mouth and absorbed the flames that approached it as it arrived ever closer. Seeing this, Infernus felt an intense sense of dread and began to flee for his life.
Once Infernus had moved far enough away from its mother, the Draco-Lich expended a massive gout of purple flame onto Infernus. While this did not impact him nearly as much as it did the goblins, even the great dragon could feel his lifeforce being siphoned away. That would have been bad enough, however the great purple flames blinded him. He was quickly lost in their midst. Yet he did not dare to slow down. For the first time ever, Fear truly began to grip his heart.
By absorbing the life energy of Infernus the Draco-Lich continued to grow in power, though no longer in size. His wings beat ever faster, and he gained on Infernus quickly. Soon he flew directly over the great Infernus.
Maximus did not hesitate and seized this opportunity to dive upon Infernus and swung Soul Splitter with all his might straight into the great beast. The combined power of his swing, his momentum, and his axe caused the blow to bite rather deeply into Infernus's neck. The great dragon screeched out in great pain. Its life force being siphoned all the quicker due to the large new wound and the presence of Soul Shatter inside its body. Maximus removed Soul Shatter and quickly struck at Infernus right wing, cleanly severing it at the joint.
Infernus fell like a boulder straight out of the sky. Maximus quickly severed the other wing and drove Soul Shatter back into the neck of the great beast. The Draco-Lich then landed and made a command even Maximus could not resist.
"I appreciate your aid valiant knight. But I will handle it from here. Climb back upon my back and witness the fate of those that harm my kindred."
The Draco-Lich then spoke to Infernus while Maximus climbed back upon his back. "You nearly killed my mother. For that you will suffer more than you would have ever believed possible." He then reached out a talon and removed Infernus's Heart Scale. Once removed it moved into the center of the Draco-Lich's chest and cemented itself upon him. He then spoke again in a great booming voice that could be heard across the entirety of the battlefield. "I am Argent. Son of Illadri. Those that wish to harm her, and her allies court the same fate as Infernus. Let his screams seek to diminish your murderous intents."
He then let out a massive gout of purple flame onto Infernus slowly absorbing his lifeforce. The screams of the great dragon permeated the souls of all the lands for days as he begged for death.
Once he had spoken, Argent flew directly to his mother. Most of the dragons hastily fled after hearing Infernus's torture, those few that remained were of Illadri's flight. They quickly landed to provide aid for Illadri.
Argent landed next to his mother to ensure she yet lived. Seeing that she was receiving the aid she needed, he quickly returned to flight and proceeded to burn swathes of the fleeing goblin horde and their allies. Soon what remained fled into the trees and the mountains. Seeing this Argent sprayed the trees with his brilliant purple fire. As his fires ravaged the landscape and obliterated every living thing, Argent soon realized there were no more enemies present.
Argent returned to Senani. Senani quickly mounted in front of Maximus and moved toward Illadri and her flight. While they flew the voice again sounded in Senani's mind. "You have profited well from this battlefield. Thousands were absorbed by yourself and your forces. Even an ancient red dragon fell. But it is not over yet. Several dragons fell this day on both sides of the battlefield. They are already slain, so you will not be able to absorb their lifeforce, yet they will still aid you. Argent will claim the Heart Scale of each of the dragons that fell. In doing so, he will greatly increase his powers, and be able to claim the dead dragon's hoard's. Claim the entire corpses of the dragons after he finishes. They possess a vast number of resources that can be used for potions, armor, and weapons. You could even use the bones to craft an enchanted fortress. The sky is the limit."
When they landed, Senani posed that request to Argent. As Argent was a dragon, he wanted to ensure this would not alienate the powerful beasts.
Argent replied, "If any allies of the silver dragons fell, you will need to request their permission to claim the bodies. Due to what we are, they will be hesitant. Yet it is undeniable that we won the battle and saved all present here from a terrible fate. They may well grant your request. As to our enemies, take them. None will dare to oppose it." With that small bit of information passed between them, the trio arrived at the fallen Illadri. She spoke as soon as they landed.
"Argent my son, I do not understand what has happened to you. Yet even I cannot deny that it is truly still your mind that exists in that body. I felt when you died, how is this even possible?"
Senani replied, "My name is Senani. I came with Maximus to kill goblins. When I saw such a magnificent and powerful enemy of the goblins fall in battle, I could not allow his death. I struck the last blow, and thus ended his natural life. In doing so, he was born anew. I am sorry that he no longer resembles that which you remember, but I ask that you gain some form of solace in the fact that his spirit and mind remain. He is still Argent in all the ways that matter."
Illadri began to cry for she knew that her time with Argent in her flight had ended. They would never accept him as he was even if Senani would allow him to leave. He would be feared, mocked, and ridiculed. She then began to regain her composure and shrank down, assuming the form of an elven maiden with bright silver hair. "Argent is my only son. I thank you for saving any portion of him you were able. For that I extend a mother's gratitude. Yet, I am no fool. You do not know us, we do not know you, and Argent will never again be welcomed among our flight. In our flight I am no one. Please heed this mother's request and allow me to join you. I realize it will be years before I can again fly or be of any real use in a battle to anyone. Yet I do possess great knowledge of all the ages since I hatched centuries ago."
"Illadri, you are a silver dragon, and you clearly serve on the side of the "good and holy" species of Orion. Can you truly bring yourself to ally with the undead and their allies?" questioned Maximus.
Illadri considered this simple question long and hard before replying. "I know not how you gained these unholy powers. I do not know if you will be an ally or an enemy of the light in the days to come. But I do know that I and my son would be dead had you not came to our aid. Most if not all the so called good and holy species here would also be dead. All without accomplishing even half what you managed to. In that, I owe you my life, as does nearly every creature present here. I offer to aid you at least until that debt has been repaid. The life of one dragon to save so many seems a rather small price to pay, especially when it will allow me to be closer to my son."
Senani accepted and requested to see the leaders of the dragons present. Soon many ancient beasts of a wide variety of colors approached him. A massive platinum colored dragon moved in front of the others and was the first to speak. "The others here may not remember your powers. But I do. I do not know why you did not slay us all servant of the nameless one. I recall your kin, for I too, serve one of the Ancient Anomalies and I am now truly at a loss for what to do. I should report the reemergence of the nameless one, yet if you had not intervened, Illadri is correct, few would have survived this day. Make your request, we all know you have one. The aid of those that practice the dark arts is never free."
Senani hastily replied, "Fear not Elder, I only request the bodies of the fallen dragons. Argent will add their Heart Scales to that of Infernus. The remainder of the bodies will be used for weapons and armor for my gladiator school. I truly mean none of you any harm."
The great dragon again replied, "I am known as Mirror. I serve Ezyrth, the Eternal Fire. I must inform her that the nameless one has again arisen, yet I do so with a heavy heart. Your actions this day will never be forgotten Senani. While I cannot offer you aid, I will grant your request. You may have the bodies of all the dragons that perished on this battlefield. I would also request that you refrain from speaking to any of the other creatures here. I will inform them of my decision. Many of them serve others among the Ancient Anomalies, though few are as ancient as Ezyrth. Ezyrth will both remember your master and consider what you have done today. They will not."
With that he and the others flew back toward the Dwarves, Humans, and Elves. Senani climbed back on Argent with Illadri and claimed the Heart Scales of all the dragons that perished this day. After adding the 10 Heart Scales to his collection, Argent flew back toward Yebin, home of the Coven and the alter of the nameless one.