A black dragon slumbered in the center of yet another marble chamber. It was lying in a room with a layout almost exactly matching the room I started in, with twelve pillars standing at chest height in a circle around it. Except on the pillars, there weren't random pieces of junk, there were shimmering weapons and items, expensive and powerful armor, and a pile of gold on one of them. I analyzed the pillars, and they were almost the same as the previous ones, except four items could be taken instead of two. . And once four were taken, the dragon would awaken. We couldn’t just leave though, the door had some kind of lock on it. I analyzed that, and not only did my level in analyzing increase, but I learned that the Dragon was the only one that could grant us exit. I analyzed the dragon, and the information entered my mind

[Sardon, Ancient Necromantic Dragon (lv. 750)

HP: 8,500/8,500

Description: An villainous figure from the dragon age. He has great pride, and will not personally challenge an opponent unless he believes the fight is fair.

Weaknesses: Insufficient Analysis Level

Resistances: Insufficient Analysis level

AI Rank: S]

My eyes widened as I processed the sheer power this creature held.

“This guy is level seven hundred fifty,” I notified my squad, “But he shouldn’t personally fight us”

“It wish you were more certain about that,” Alixandra whined

“Also, we can take the items, but once we take four, he wakes up. And he has the key to get out of here.”

“Okay, everyone pick one item each for now,” Axel commanded, “Then we can figure out the next step,” Everyone was speaking in hushed tones, as though we might accidentally awaken the dragon

Suddenly another notification overtook my vision:

[Special ability of ‘Lbrex Spectacles’ activated:

The Target: Sardon, Ancient Necromantic Dragon (lv. 750), attempted to deceive you into thinking he was unconscious. The target is in fact awake and observing your party closely.]

I froze, feeling a chill run down my spine. I opened the party chat and started typing, careful not to let on that I had gleaned this knowledge.

[Archangels_Advance: “Don’t say anything to indicate that you know this out loud: The dragon is not asleep and is watching us.”]

I looked over the party, and they gave slight nods towards me, acknowledging the message. I started analysing the items and figuring out what I wanted. Axel quickly snatched a Blunderbuss with a small pile of ammunition next to it, Alixandra grabbed a golden skill scroll and practically drooled on it. Cassidy picked up a dagger sheathed in darkness, and I picked out my very own treasure smiling widely as I looked it over

[Wraith’s Boots: These boots are on part of a set of three, passed down from one of the greatest tailors of all time. Legends say she fought a wraith lord in single combat, but unable to defeat the ethereal creature, she instead used an enchanted thread to bind it’s soul to the mortal plane. The parts of the wraith’s soul are fastened to these boots, a cloak, and a pair of gloves. Uniting all three would grant the wearer immense power. When equipped: +30 agility, -50 Alignment, -300 reputation with Holy factions, -50 reputation with positively aligned factions.

Abilities:

Wraith’s Grace: The wearer’s footfalls make no noise and leave no tracks behind. Wearer’s agility is increased by 50%

Shadow Dance: The wearer may walk on air for a short time. The time in the air increases the darker your environment is.

Requirements: Level 25

Quality: Legendary

Durability: 500/500

Creator: Sara Vestior

Date of Creation: N/A]

This was quite easy to acquire, as were the claws, but I felt that the cloak would be a greater challenge. Now that everyone had picked up an item from its suspended state above the pedestals, the dragon stirred. His eyes shot open, he rose to his feet and dramatically unfurled his wings.

The party instinctively backed away from the threat, Cassidy almost bumping into a pedestal in her haste.

“So you are done with your pillaging,” Sardon the dragon’s voice was deep and had the rough texture of scales. “You have all made noble choices. Now you will be tested.”

Sardon’s tail swept back and forth hypnotically, and skeleton warriors rose from the ground around them.

“Everyone get over here!” Axel shouted to us. He didn’t need to tell us, we were already grouping together. Four skeleton warriors face us once more, this time level five each. The dragon simply watched us with a steady gaze. Axel began loading his blunderbuss, Alixandra began charging her skill. I readied my staff and prepared to take on the onslaught. As the skeletons approached us, Axel fired his new weapon. A blast like a cannon sounded from his weapon, and pieces of metal slammed into bone, crushing and cracking the resistance as they flew. The damage was significant, but it didn’t bring any of them down yet. A skeleton lunged toward Alixandra, and a shimmering disk opened in front of her. The skeleton disappeared, and a clatter of bones alerted me to another disk appearing and spitting the skeleton out onto another one, mid lunge. I jumped into the fray myself, swinging the end of my staff like an awkward baseball bat. I could get a bit of damage here and there, but I spent most of my time dodging, and subsequently losing stamina faster than I would have liked. My dodge skill did level up at some point there though. As I parried the blows of a skeleton’s sword and tried to find an opening to counterattack, I heard the stout bang of Axel’s revolver. He shot two more times.

“One down!” He called. I struck a skeleton in the leg and it crumpled to one knee. It feebly attempted to block, but I brought the end of my staff down onto the skull, driving it into where the brain would have been. I flew through my settings as I realized my utter stupidity. I had seven entire stat points to use, and here I was not even utilizing them. I put three points into agility, two into perception, and one into Wisdom and Intelligence each. I knew that balancing was probably a good idea, but right now I felt that these stats would help me most. I emerged from my settings page a few seconds later, and saw the piles of bones where four skeletons used to be.

“You fought honorably,” The dragon rumbled, something reminiscent of a scaly grin on his serpentine face. “But that was only a test. Time for the real boss.” Sardon’s furious red eyes glowed, bathing the chamber in a red blanket of evil energy. A rotating magic circle of intricate black symbols and inscriptions manifested on the floor in between the pillars, wide enough for the dragon to stand on. As the ritual circle appeared to suck the light out of the surroundings, rough black armor began flying into shape from pieces of shadow, forming the shape of a gigantic human. The armor floated in mid-air, and a dark flame in the shape of a human visibly flickered through the slits in between the dark plates. My legs buckled, and I fought the urge to fall to my knees.

[Status Effect: Fear II (X)]

The ghostly armor creaked towards our party.