FANNING THE FLAMES // [B-RANK EXAM: Asteris Kaiser]

A challenge had been issued to Asteris.

It was strange. To think a human mage was challenging a mighty dragon, even one of Asteris power. Especially one of Asteris’ power. To most humans, challenging a mythical creature who could easily crush buildings by landing on them was paramount to suicide. Most humans. The issuer of this challenge was nowhere near most humans after all. He was a Dragonslayer, of what Dragon Asteris didn’t know but it was probably the reason why the challenge seemed made with a lot of confidence on the challenger’s part. The Dragonslayer challenging Asteris had declared himself to be strong, and Asteris grew curious to whether he could back up his claims. In addition to that, the pride that they held as a Dragon prevented him from ignoring the challenge of the Dragonslayer from the get go. For a Dragon to back out from a Dragonslayer’s challenge was a sign of weakness and cowardice, and Asteris was neither a weakling or a coward. Resolved to meet the slayer’s challenge head on, they began to take flight towards the village known as Shirotsume.

Or at least he’d have loved to, if he knew where it was in relation to their current residency, a random plain somewhere...

Responding to this challenge was going to be more trouble than it was worth, Asteris could already tell.

A minor detour into the nearest town in order to get some directions and they were on their way to Shirotsume. They didn’t even cause a mass panic due to the fact that Asteris had used his ability to take human shape and gather information. Though they did wonder why their head was pat many times and why they were referred to as ‘so cute’, Asteris wasn’t cute, Asteris majesty and glory incarnate. A bright beacon of power and lore eternal. They may be permitted to pat their head but being called cute was out of the question.

As Asteris continued to journey towards Shirotsume using their own two wings, they could gradually feel the air become colder, thinner, and fresh. This wasn’t surprising, after all, Shirotsume was located on a mountainous region. The sights weren’t terrible and the mountains would provide good defences against attackers. Asteris decided that they would consider a changing their residence to this area after showing the slayer his place. It did look like an ideal home. Perhaps they could even hollow out a cave to sleep in and keep their goods, like a good portion of their race had done sometimes.

The sudden need to veer sharply to the left brought Asteris out of their thinking. The reason for having to veer? Spells and arrows suddenly being fired at him from Shirotsume. “Insulting cur…” A primal snarl escaped their maw as they began to feel anger at being deceived. The challenge had made it sound like that this would be a fight between a Dragon and a Dragonslayer, no other parties would be included. Now it was evident to Asteris that the slayer never had the intention of facing them in a fair fight and instead enlisted the aid of many others. They had to take a sudden dive as an explosion rocked the area near the space they had been occupying just seconds ago.

To face a Dragonslayer was one thing for a dragon, to face the forces of a town was another thing. To face both? It would be a feat of sheer strength or a display of sagely wisdom. Or at least that’s how Asteris saw the situation. A decision was made in the span of a second. Asteris began to fully commit into the dive and started to gain more and more speed as he drew closer to Shirotsume. One of the many things a dragon had in their arsenal was their size, and Asteris made use of that fully.

BOOM!

The ground shook from the force of their landing. It kicked up dust, cratered the area that Asteris was now standing on, and crushed whatever and whoever was unfortunate enough to be in the landing zone. “You dare!” He began, picking up the nearest soldier within claw’s reach and throwing them full force at the nearest gathering of town soldiers. “To challenge me on misleading terms!” Their tail lashed out and struck a nearby structure. The blow had apparently taken out something important as the building collapsed moments after the attack. “To throw these humans at me in an attempt to weaken me?” With those words, Asteris fired off one of their own spells. All this talking, this destruction, was just fuel for his rampage.

Aurageyser Dragon’s Rampage took into full effect the moment that they had used it. Called rightly so for being their go to spell to use whenever angered enough. What was once the bright torchlight of their colorful aura quickly outshone the sun as it blazed into a myriad of lights and colors, rolling off of Asteris’ large scaly mass in waves. A deafening roar shattered the ranks of the town soldiers as they began flee from Asteris, who had begun to wildly swing and bash their surroundings as they trampled their way through Shirotsume. “FACE ME YOU COWARDLY SLAYER!” They roared amidst all the arrows, the blades and the spells being cast at him. “FIGHT ME!” They tore a chunk out of the nearest building and threw it with all their might.

“Look at that, you’re more of a beast than a dra-” The slayer began as they exited from their hiding spot with a cocky smirk and enough confidence that it somehow irked Asteris even more. The dragon moved, not even letting the man finish his taunt and he deftly dodged the claw that was aimed for him. “To the point then.,.” Without another word shared between the two, they threw themselves into the fight.

They traded blows over the course of hours. The slayer kept landing strikes due to the sheer mass that was Asteris and while Asteris didn’t land as many blows, the few that did hurt the slayer enough to put them on equal footing. The soldiers were never given a chance to interfere, as Asteris had made sure to keep an eye out for them, scattering debris at them whenever needed with a swipe of their tail.

“I’m finishing this Aurageyser!” Finally at his limit. The man began to put all of his magical power into his next spell. A dramatic finishing blow to end the battle between them. “Meteor Dragon’s…” He took to the air in a single leap, gaining enough altitude to pass Asteri’s head. “FALL!” Down he fell as a mass of flaming hot rock vaguely in the shape of a dragon’s foot. Asteris met the attack with their own claw. The two forces met and another deafening boom signalled the end of the fight.

Asteris stood, shaking his claw as if they had hit something far too hard. The slayer was nowhere to be seen, :”I’m sure he probably landed somewhere.” He muttered loudly before looking around at the ones who had witnessed the fight. “I hope you’ve all learned a valuable lesson.” They grinned, showing rows of sharp teeth ared against the soldiers. “Dragons...are very temperamental.” Their wings flapped once and they shot up into the sky. Asteris continued to look down and Shirotsume before shaking their head. “I think I’ll look for somewhere else to move too.”

The sound of flapping dragon wings slowly growing weaker was all the residents of the town needed to know that the dragon had finally left.

WC:1266