The next day was a rinse and repeat. Everyone woke up, checked their gear, and ate their delicious dire wolf jerky. Scott even took a little time to look at his daily dose of the system:

  **

  

  

  Once they were all set to continue, they packed everything up and unbarred the door to look for any more Ice Giants

  The crew stayed together this time, searching the whole castle, only to find one Ice Giant

  "Hello, big fella," Scott said to the beaten, cut, and chained Ice Giant

  "Heh... Heh... hello," the giant said with labored breath. "Who... who goes there?"

  "Wow, you speak English!" Scott exclaimed. "I am Scott, and this is my crew behind me. Why are you down here, away from the other Ice Giants

  "I am Bo... Bonarv, and th... they put me here because I... I... I am different than they are," Bonarv

  "Can I call you BobIce Giant

  "Yes, I... I was human once and have b-b-been enslaved by th-th-these monsters," BonarvBob

  "Okay, Bob, you must have a stutter. May I ask where you are from?" Scott continued.

  "Two Rivers," Bob

  "Give me a moment to talk it over with my crew, and I'll get back with you in a moment." All of them walked out of the chamber and down the hall to talk about what to do with Bob

  "I say we kill him," Anthony said immediately.

  "Now wait a minute, let's talk this over. Killing is an option, or what if we free him? I'm sure he could be an ally," Osia said, trying to be the voice of reason.

  "I agree with Osia. We should heal him up and free him," Scott added.

  "I also have to agree to free him," George stated.

  "The idea of having an Ice Giant

  "Kill him," Rick said curtly.

  "Well, that's two to kill and three to save. What do you say, David? Kill him off or free him?" Scott asked.

  "I think we should ask him more questions and make sure he is who he says he is. If he was not once human, then we kill him," David added.

  "Fair enough. I guess we will question him, and then we'll come back to the vote," Scott said.

  All of them walked back in, and David stepped forward this time. "What's your favorite sport, Bob?"

  "I... I... I hate sp-sp-sports, but i-if I... I... I had to choose one, i-it would b-b-be golf," Bob said.

  "Okay, maybe he dies," David said, a hint of skepticism in his voice.

  "Uh, what type of golf?" Scott asked, trying to clarify.

  "D-d-disc Golf," Bob replied.

  David walked forward and quietly asked, "What's your favorite disc?"

  "B-b-buzz," Bob answered.

  Finally, David laid his hands on him, healed him up, and declared, "He's a keeper. Let's free him."

  All of them worked on breaking the chains and released him from his prison. Some time later, they all sat and talked with Bob

  They all agreed to head there next to check it out, after they had fed Bob

  They all went to the treasure room, even BobIce Drake's

  "What happened to all the loot?" Scott asked, looking around the largely empty space.

  "Oh yeah, I completely forgot that we had quite a bit of the loot in our bags. Some magic gear, the rest is gold coins and some mundane gear," Osia said, pulling out a few pieces of gear to show some of it.

  "Look at you, learning the difference in magical gear," Scott teased, copying one of her slight, cocky grins.

  "Hey, I may be older than you, but I'm still quick at learning," Osia replied, feigning indignation.

  "Also quick with her tongue," Rick muttered under his breath, earning a quick glance from Osia.

  "Oh, so you're finally talking more," Osia retorted, arms crossed. "Seems like you've sworn off words since the last time we talked. Ever since we entered this tutorial, you've been quiet. Would you like to talk about it or shut your mouth?"

  Rick just walked away with his head held low, not saying another word.

  "That's what I thought," Osia added.

  "Oh', the Witch got your tongue?" Thomas asked, chuckling.

  The rest of them laughed and moved on to find this said doorway. All of them looked through the room but couldn't find anything until Bob

  "I wonder if this was what the drake was actually protecting more than the treasure and gold?" Scott asked.

  "That would make sense," David said. "Them covering everything in treasure to hide the least noticeable thing in the room."

  "Yep, all eyes on the prize, or treasure, and not the old hatch," Thomas added.

  Reaching down, Scott grabbed the ring to the hatch and gave it a good yank. The hatch came loose, tossing debris into the air with a cloud of dust. As soon as the dust cloud settled, they could see a vibrant white light shining on what looked like cavern walls and an old wooden ladder leading down into the cavern.

  "Okay, so who's first?" Thomas asked.

  "I'll do it!" Scott replied, his hand up like one of the teacher's pets trying to get extra brownie points.

  "Are you sure, man? You're usually the non-cautious one, running into things without thought," David said, a hint of concern in his voice.

  "I'm sure," Scott replied, "I also have a new skill I'd like to try."

  Stepping forward, Osia held out her hand and gave him an earring made of bone that attaches to the back of your ear. "Try this out. Right now, I only have two made, but I'm working on more," she explained.

  "Thank you, but how does it work?" Scott asked.

  "You simply have to speak and add mana to your words, and it will go through like a microphone, which also works as a speaker," Osia explained.

  "Sounds simple enough," Scott replied.

  Thomas and David nodded, and Scott took off in flight, soaring down into the cave, careful not to touch anything, hoping to avoid setting off any traps. As he floated down the tunnel, he saw a bright light in the distance. The tunnel, small at first, opened up to a cliff that overlooked a massive cavern, in the middle of which stood a towering 12-story pyramid. This pyramid reminded him of an Aztec-style pyramid, but covered in ice instead of vines. At the top, he saw a vibrant white portal. As he looked through it, he noticed a pristine white winter wonderland.

  That's when it got interesting. Scott was flying slowly down to the portal until he noticed something move right behind it. A large white beast shifted and walked around the backside, revealing a huge White Dragon

  Scott began flying back where he came from as fast as he could. Being a new flier, he flew awkwardly through the air like a drunk Peter PanI probably should have practiced a little before I attempted this recon mission by myself, he thought. He added more mana to go faster, and he could hear the dragon's wings getting closer. That's when he got a gut feeling to drop fast. He dropped like a meteor, plummeting downward rapidly, and watched the underbelly of the dragon fly over him.

  "Hey guys, we have an Ice Dragon

  Nothing came through on the other end, so Scott kept flying around, dodging the dragon around the pyramid.

  He pulled out both of his swords and set one on fire. "Well, here goes nothing," he said, then spun around and went head-on with the dragon. As soon as he got close, he phased through its claw and flew up above its head, nearly missing the dragon's jaws. He could see the dragon's mouth full of large, sharp teeth reaching out towards his leg, snapping like a snapping turtle. "Thank God that he missed because that would have been devastating."

  Scott went for one of the wings, slashing and putting a good gash into the right wing, creating a big enough hole to force the dragon to crash-land into the wall and fall to a lower platform, shaking the whole cavern. As soon as the dragon got back up, it shook its head to get its bearings. Then, Scott watched the wing heal at a fairly fast pace, blood and skin weaving to repair the damage he had just dealt. The dragon spun around and jumped up towards him once more, its wing now fully healed.

  "Round two, fight!" Scott said out loud.

  The dragon stopped in mid-air, flapping its wings in place, and spoke. "Usually, the food doesn't talk in such a manner."

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Oh, really? What do they usually say?" Scott asked, surprised.

  "Ahhhhhhhhhh or arhhhhhhh and the usual ehhhhhh, yeah, quite original, I know," the White Dragon

  "Very interesting. Now, do you talk to many people, or do you usually just chase them down and eat them?" Scott continued, trying to gauge the creature's intelligence and intent.

  "Normally I rush in and freeze them or just bite them until the guts spurt out. Though there was this one guy named Jon who was a quite cheeky fellow and I let him live. Do you know Jon?" the dragon asked, tilting its massive head.

  "Matter of fact, I do know a few Jon's," Scott continued, playing along. "Porter Jon, the great Elton John, Immona Jon as well, and can't forget John Doe. Do any of those Jon's ring a bell?"

  "Hmm, can't say that they do, but tell me more about these Jon's," the White Dragon

  "So Porter and Immona Jon were siblings that always had something wrong. Elton John had this hit song named 'Rocket Man' along with many others, and the last one, John Doe, you knew him but didn't know him, so he was kind of a dead weight," Scott explained to the dragon, who was now listening intently to every word. Scott finally got a chance to scan him and catch his level.

  [Dragon Lord (Level ??)]

  Scott thought.

  They continued talking for a while, and the dragon believed everything Scott said. Well, it wasn't a lie, per se, but the dragon showed interest, so Scott kept going until his crew finally showed up, weapons drawn, their faces priceless—shocked would be the best description, with their mouths wide open.

  "Friends of yours?" the White DragonAmarwrath

  "Hey guys, meet AmarwrathAmarwrathIce GiantIce Giant

  "H... h... hi," Bob stammered, waving awkwardly down at them.

  "Scott here was telling me all about the Jon’s he knew," Amarwrath

  Osia began laughing hysterically. "That's too good."

  Tilting his head to the side, Amarwrath

  "By the way, how did you manage to heal so fast?" Scott asked, shifting the subject. "I mean, your wing was gashed, and it healed so marvelously fast; it took merely thirty seconds. What's your secret?"

  "Oh, when you get to my age, you learn a few tricks along the way. But if you must know, I don't usually give out my secrets to people I just met—besides Jon, he is awesome. But I like you, Scott, and I am willing to tell you my little secret. The trick is meditating and blood weavingAmarwrath

  "Blood weaving

  "Well, for a thousand years, I've been in this wretched land. These Ice GiantsAmarwrath

  A new notification arrived in their system messages just then.

  

  **You have found the mystery of what lies hidden on top of Drake Mountain. Your options are that if you so choose, kill the dragons and be rid of the dragon race forever or find the last remaining dragons and reunite them back to their former glory.**

  

  Scott thought, resolute.

  

  **Objective: Find the remaining dragons and reunite them to their former glory.**

  Scott looked at his crew before finally laying his eyes on Amarwrath

  "Splendid, I knew there was something I liked about you. What conditions are you referring to?" asked Amarwrath

  "We simply make a pact and create a counsel amongst the remaining dragons. If we can be equals in a counsel amongst the dragons, to ensure both of our freedoms and safety, that if anyone shall kill you or the rest of the counsel, they shall be held at the highest punishment. Do you, AmarwrathIce Dragon

  "If we are to do this, then there must be a ceremony, or a connection of sorts, and us dragons are not to be below you as vermin, but as equals amongst each other. I accept the offer, but I have to warn you that you will have to sway the others, both humans and dragons alike, to pursue this Counsel," Amarwrath

  "Then it's settled," Scott continued, a determined glint in his own eyes. "We shall set off and free the remainder of the dragons and convince the rest to our agreement."

  "To help you with this quest, I would like to bind myself to you, showing that we are in agreement, and it shall help you on your way. The ceremony I have spoken of is this binding where I burn my hand into your body, making the bond. Will you accept this bond, Scott?" Amarwrath

  Scott nodded, and Amarwrath

  "Yes," Scott said as he transformed into his human shape and took off his chest armor, something he hadn't done for a while. Amarwrath

  "This is going to hurt. Brace yourself, young one," AmarwrathAmarwrath's

  At first, the pain was manageable, at least for a little while, until the mana kept flowing. Scott thought it wouldn't take as long as it had, and so far, he guessed it had only been about five minutes. Closing his eyes against the agony, he decided to meditate to get the pain off his mind. His chest began to burn and freeze all over, forming ice crystals on the surface of his skin. Not only that, but he could also feel Amarwrath's

  Something else happened in the process, something hard to explain. It was like their spirits were fighting each other, or at least he was fighting off Amarwrath's

  "You have to let me in for this to work!" Amarwrath

  "I don't know how to do that!" Scott yelled back. Up to that point, he couldn't stop his body from fighting, let alone his spirit. “ he asked himself. “ he thought. “I Scott Armidais Wheaton will allow the dragon named AmarwrathAmarwrath'sAmarwrath

  "What happened to Amarwrath

  "I don't know," Scott said in a surprised tone, looking down at the burn mark on his chest.

  Amarwrath's

  "Uhhh, I think he's in my head," Scott replied, looking bewildered at his crew.

  , to hopefully free me of your body," Amarwrath

  Scott thought to Amarwrath

  Amarwrath

  Scott asked.

  Amarwrath

  Scott said to Amarwrath

  Amarwrath

  " Scott said, shrugging mentally to Amarwrath

  Scott explained everything to the crew, giving as much detail as he could about the binding, Amarwrath'sice and brimstone

  Scott checked the system while walking through the castle:

  **

  

  

  David ended up finding a war roommural

  , I have a question for you if you're still there," Scott said, reaching out mentally.

  Amarwrath

  Scott asked, justifying his earlier bluntness.

  Amarwrath

  Scott inquired.

  . She was the creator of this land that we call Thalnethzryn. She used her massive amount of innate mana to create this land. No one knows why she was created, or let alone where she was from. We call her mother. See, the original ten dragons that were left, including myself, are the sons and daughters of . She created us using her magic and taught us how to hunt and to use our mana for good. There was ten of us in total, Asawrath, my twin sister, Thalur the red, Vryxia the toxic, Voltarius the Gold, Terraighor the Brown, Nyxrah the Shade, Vortideal the Blue, Verdanth the Emerald, and Noxaroth the void. Once we were of age, Mother told us to create our own children using our own innate mana. The problem was, we didn't have the ability to do so; the more and more we tried, nothing would work. So we went through a metamorphosis and learned that with our new parts, we could create more of our kind by mating. Each dragon that was created from there on had a portion of the mana that we have and could not produce the amount of mana that we naturally can," Amarwrath

  Scott interrupted, cutting to the chase.

  Amarwrath

  Scott said, intrigued by the mention of another dragon.

  Amarwrath

  After explaining everything to the crew once again, they simply wrote down what each of the mural's symbols looked like and went to rest for the night.