Saintess Summons Skeletons

“Anything, you say? I admire your enthusiasm but you shouldn't say such things. But no matter, here are my conditions. First of all, on your next encounter with the verbose lord, ask them about the location of the fissure. They will know what you mean, just say that I’m the one asking. I want to know where it is. Good so far?”

“I can try, if he gives me enough time to ask. But I cannot guarantee Orator will give an answer.”

“It goes without saying.” Erredis approved, smirking. “That alone will pay for most of it. But that is not all; my second condition is that if you ever reach level 499, you must come to me first. Again, I will not explain the context, you can only trust me and promise me this.”

“Is that supposed to be detrimental to me in some way?”

“Not really. But you are giving up your freedom of choice in that one matter. That being said, I am only asking for a promise, not a binding quest or contract, so you can use your better judgment.”

So you’re saying that if I’m no longer happy with it then, I can just renege on my promise and betray you? But even if I wanted to, I don't know if anyone would ever have the guts to betray you. She was so straightforward until now so why the sudden riddles?

Sofia thought about it during a long silence, she liked to fulfill her promises when she could afford to, so she would rather not make one she wouldn't want to follow through with. She had a feeling that it probably had something to do with the level 500 trial, but since Erredis wasn’t going to explain, all Sofia had to go on was her evaluation of the old Dragon’s personality.

“I promise. If and when I reach level 499, I will come to you first, whatever that means, if you have fulfilled your part of the exchange. But only if we have not had a severe falling-out.”

“That’s an interesting backdoor to give yourself even when you know that there isn’t any kind of magic binding this. I’m glad you accepted, then, don’t forget to come tell me when you learn about the fissure. I’ll be making the piece of armor you want myself, that will take a few months, so we’ll focus on that later… Hmm actually let me bring you some samples, I’ll let you choose.”

Erredis stood up, giving a sign to Sofia that she should wait there, but she had to ask, “Samples?”

“Just you wait here, kid, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Erredis strolled out of the room. Sofia could follow her movements dispersing the ambient mana for a while, her mana senses had greatly improved with the addition of Sun’s essences to [Quintessential], and she could feel its lightest movements at quite a distance. But Erredis eventually walked out of her perception range.

A few minutes later, the appearance of an alarming mass of mana alerted Sofia from the opposite direction. What in the world? Did someone else enter the castle? With how slowly the mana moved, it was probably still Erredis, but why would she leave toward one side and come from the other?

Just in case, Sofia sent Pareth out, and through his vision, she could confirm that the being approaching was indeed Erredis. She was carrying a few huge scales which looked like oversized shields.

This much mana is from just a few scales?!

Erredis walked into the room, unceremoniously dropping the invaluable and humongous Dragon scales in front of Sofia.

“There you go, pick one. The performance of the final product will depend on your choice.”

First of all. I need to rethink my image of Dragons if those are normal-sized scales. Because forget an armor, you could probably make an entire set of heavy armor with two of these. Or like, a single one for Alith. Also, how the hell do I choose?

Sofia stood up because she couldn’t even see Erredis anymore, hidden behind the scales.

“How should I pick?”

“Just ask your scribe, take your time,” Erredis answered nonchalantly as she sat down and picked up her book.

Right. Five scales… “Is the smaller black scale one of yours?”

“Yes, I didn’t think I still had any, but there it is, it was lost in a corner of the pile. That’s one of my baby scales, kind of like how you humans lose your teeth. They're not nearly as good as adult ones, but I thought I might as well give you the choice.”

Baby scale… It’s still larger than my mythril shield. I’ve never used that now that I think about it. Not many opportunities in Sun’s temple. Let’s see what we have here!

Sofia started by [Identifying] the largest scale of the bunch, a dark green one with many ridges.

[Scale of Dorogma] : A remnant of the ten-winged terror of the sky, Dragon-Lord Dorogma.

Level: 500. Grade: Draconic.

That’s it? Oh, right, this is a magical item so I’m gonna have to pay for the advanced analysis. How much?

[Scale of Dorogma] : Advanced analysis = 22222 Mana.

That’s it? Uh, I feel like I’m repeating myself… That’s less than the scepter was to analyze. Weird, but sure.

[Scale of Dorogma] : A relic of the ten-winged terror of the sky, Dragon-Lord Dorogma.

The remnants of Dorogma’s authority sleep within the scale, possibly granting items created with it a bonus of movement and casting speed.

Angel’s bolt resistance grade : B

Level: 500. Grade: Draconic.

Angel’s bolt resistance grade?! You spoil me, Mr Scribe, thanks a ton. B grade resistance… I assume it’s like the blessing and gachapon box grades where the closer to A the better the value, except for S being better.

Let’s see how the others compare. Next is the smooth white one.

[Scale of Enomen] : A relic of Enomen the holy Dragon. The remnants of her authority sleep within, possibly granting items created with it the ability to purify curses, afflictions, poison and rot.

Angel’s bolt resistance grade : A

Level: 500. Grade: Draconic.

Purify rot, uh?

I don’t think I would ever take this effect over the previous one, but the durability is better, and it is the main thing I’m looking for. Then the red scale with spikes.

[Scale of a Dragon] : A relic of a Dragon whose name has been lost to time. Weak remnants of its authority sleep within, possibly granting items created with it an unknown effect.

Angel’s bolt resistance grade : S

Level: 450. Grade: Draconic.

The level is lower but the resistance is better. Unknown effect though. Could be anything.

Sofia asked, from behind the scales which were all propped up against the table, “Were these four adult scales all from Dragons you killed?”

Erredis looked up from her book. “All? No, the red one I picked up from the green one’s possessions. Don’t ask me who it’s from because I have no clue.”

So you did kill the other three. Not my business… But that might be a clue as to why you’re an outcast.

Also, if there are scales remaining, does that mean she killed them without using the rot?

Somehow that’s much scarier.

In an effort to avoid getting sidetracked too much, and because she was impatient to depart and follow Saria’s traces, Sofia made a conscious effort to focus her thoughts on the matter at hand.

Fourth is the shiny and wavy dark blue scale.

[Scale of Thrayk] : A relic of Thrayk, hermit of the Depths. The remnants of his authority sleep within, making it nigh-impossible to enchant in any way.

Angel’s bolt resistance grade : SS+

Level: 500. Grade: Draconic.

Not SS but SS plus. That’s a thing? Is there an SSS and an SSS+ grade too? Wasn’t Alith’s blessing SSS actually? I guess it must really be a thing. Also I’m noticing now, but do all Dragons have a title? Holy Dragon, Terror of the sky, Hermit of the Depths, Outcast…

Outcast isn’t really on the same level...

Speaking of which.

The last, tinier scale, was Erredis’ ‘baby scale’. It was black like the depths of the void, smooth and aerodynamic, with a lustrous and glossy shine like varnished wood.

[Immature Scale of Erredis] : A scale of Erredis, guardian of the moon. Slivers of her authority remain within, possibly granting items created with it the ability to decay mana constructs.

Angel’s bolt resistance grade : A-

Level: 400. Grade: Draconic.

Decay mana constructs… So a way to apply the rot to things like shield arrays, possibly? That’s really worth considering. And I guess there are minuses too. Makes sense if there are pluses. But really how big is the difference between say a B+ and an A- then? Might as well just use a numbered scale at this point.

“Tough choice. It’s going to be hard to decide if I want to go purely by durability or if I should value the side benefits a lot. Can you tell me how strong the effects are likely to be?”

“Depends on your luck, but it’s always only going to be an added bonus, no matter which one you pick… Though casting speed is always good.”

It is but it’s also the worst resistance grade…