Ivory Online - The Dragon Knight: A LitRPG saga

by Daniel Annan

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  You have gained a skill level!

  Examine has reached level 2

  You may now see the target’s disposition towards you.

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  Interesting. I hadn’t even started the RPG section and I’d already gained a level? Vena’s gifts were really coming in handy in terms of boosting my progress. Nevertheless, the time to dole out the necessary points would come soon. For now, I had one more thing to do before setting out to explore the RPG section of this version of Ivory Online.

  I halted my party when we reached our destination, my altar. Mira looked between me, the altar and Clarent, understanding my intention but not the result I seemed to be expecting. Clarent just looked at it with his head cocked to one side, as if he could see something about it that no one else could.

  “Clarent, I would like you to make your formal oath as a hero with this altar,” I said with a smile. “Mira, if you would?”

  My advisor still watched me uncomprehendingly, but moved to fulfill my orders. For that matter the Dragon Knight displayed none of his roguish nature and obeyed my request, placing his hand on the altar.

  “I, Clarent, hereby pledge to uphold the honor of my liege lord, Jax and his heirs, for as long as he will have me as Hero of his state. I pledge to do his will, to live by his will and to honor his will until I can no longer do so in good faith,” He intoned reverently.

  I nodded to bunny ears and she picked it up. “Your pledge has hereby been witnessed.” In less than a second, my test bore its results and God they were excellent.

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  RTS Alert!

  You have recruited your first hero! Due to his pledge being made on your Altar he also gains the ability boosts of the Altar of Beginnings! Honor your Hero!

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  RPG Alert!

  You have recruited and bound your hero to your Town’s Altar! Your hero shall respawn here upon his death. Thanks to you, he has been granted immortality!

  Note: Reception toward immortality may vary. Some may appreciate it, some may not. Be careful who you give it to!

  Note: Dismiss Clarent to retract his immortality at any time!

  Note: Clarent may now accompany you on your explorations as a companion!

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  Damn, so he got immortality. That was definitely useful. There was nothing more painful in Ivory Online than having your hero captured and banished. At least, My Dragon Knight was here to stay unless I wanted him gone. What really tickled my balls was that I could take him along the RPG sections as a companion! Imagine how we could power level together! Him at level one is about as powerful as I was as a level 50 mage in my old Ivory Online account. It was the next prompt that shook me to my core however. The voice of a male choir singing powerful tones washed over me.

  HA-HA-HAA-I-YAH!

  You have recruited and bound your hero to your altar! Thanks to your seamless ability, the barrier between the two of you has dissolved, allowing you to share certain traits!

  Clarent gains:

  Blessing of Vena

  Burst

  All your combat skills and perks

  The ability to summon his soul familiar

  You gain:

  100% resistance to fire and poison

  10% boost in natural armor from scales

  Ability to speak Dragon tongue

  Fire breath level 1

  Increased aptitude with fire magic

  Relationship with all reptiles and mythical beasts moved up one level

  Dragon Knight class unlocked

  I never could’ve expected it to be this powerful. I had a suspicion that we might share certain traits, but maybe only one or two, not so many. Even though quantity wise, I gained a lot of good traits, Clarent got the better end of the deal quality wise. It seemed he himself realized that, as his jaws dropped when he read his prompts.

  “What is it Master, what is going on? What is it? Tell me, tell me???” My familiar rattled off without taking a breath, hopping on my palm excitedly.

  “I agree, my Lord. I shall also like to know what it is that you hoped to achieve by doing this,” inquired Mira with a slight tilt to her lips. Could she be... frowning? Impossible.

  Before I could reply them however, The Dragon Knight fell to his knees, bowing before me. The scene shocked everyone into silence. The brash Dragonkin had been cordial with me so far, but to see him bow when I’d seen his true nature was unsettling to say the least. His next words enlightened us as to why such a proud and powerful man would humble himself so.

  “My Lord Jax, I thank you for this power you have given me. Not just the power of immortality, but the power to summon my soul familiar. I will add this to my pledge. Should you even dismiss me from your service, I swear to protect you and everything you hold dear with all my life until the very Breath of Fire leaves my chest. This I so swear.”

  Before I could reply, a new prompt pops up.

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  Your relationship with Clarent has moved from Loyal to Unshakeable.

  An Unshakeable ally will never let you down and regardless of your intentions, will carry out every single one of your wishes, even if it does not align with their beliefs.

  “The veil of death itself cannot make us part ways.”

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  Note!

  Every Dragonkin dreams of the day he will gain the power to summon his soul familiar. It takes hours of work and a long journey, but once united, they can now become whole.

  By giving Clarent the power to summon his at an early stage has set his soul firmly on your path. You have fulfilled his Deepest Wish!

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  Ah, I totally forgot about the relationship system with NPCs. So by giving Clarent the power to summon his soul familiar, I fulfilled his deepest wish. And it seemed that wish was tied to his race, the Dragonkin. Still there was one more thing I had to do.

  “Rise, My Dragon Knight. From this day forth, I swear you into my eternal service, so that together we may achieve what one of us could not.”

  The Dragonkin climbed to his feet and gave me a solemn bow before smirking easily. I smiled back, liking how the guy could remove the tension in any situation by just being himself.

  “So, what now?” He asked, eyeing the Altar appreciatively. I guessed his ultimate pledge meant he saw me more as a blood brother than a boss. That was fine with me, calling me ‘Lord’ only sounded nice when it came from Mira.

  “Now, my friend, we explore the world around us,” I replied with a wild grin.

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  Well done! You have completed the RTS tutorial part 1!

  +500 to all resources

  Second building queue (permanent)

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  Would you like to begin the RPG tutorial?

  Y/N

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  I selected yes while rubbing my hands eagerly. It was time to get to the part we’d all been waiting for – carving a name for myself as an adventurer. But before that, I had to do something I’d held off on so far because it felt inappropriate. I tickled my pint-sized familiar and asked her the most prudent question I could.

  “What shall I name you, little one?”

  She shifted to a sitting position and stared deep into my eyes, as if something meaningful existed there that only she could see. After a short spell, she just smiled and rised, beaming at me like I’d told her we were going to Disneyland.

  “Whatever you give me will be enough master. Please give me a name! Please! Please! Pleeeassseee!!” she implored, now jumping from foot to foot.

  I laughed and considered it. A name for her huh? In the original IO – Ivory Online – I named my pixie familiar something random and used the settings to hide
it, since I didn’t find it as endearing then. But looking at this one here and now, so lifelike and so real, I wanted to do this properly. It hadn’t even been a few hours and already I felt so deeply attached to her. If I was going to give her a name, it must be cute, mysterious yet weirdly ominous when spoken out loud. With that in mind, my decision was easy enough.

  “Fei. I name you Fei.”

  Cute thanks to its short lettering and high pitched pronunciation, mysterious because none in this world can speak Japanese and weirdly ominous because of its uniqueness in this world. The perfect name for her. She seemed to think so too.

  “Fei… Fei!! My name is Fei! Call me Fei again Master!” She demanded happily.

  “Fei, my adorable familiar,” I obliged with an indulgent smile. I couldn’t help it, she just had a way of melting me into whatever she wanted. I was but clay in her tiny hands at this point.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Mira roll her eyes dramatically and Clarent visibly stifle a snicker. Ignoring them, I focused solely on my soul familiar.

  “Ooohh!! It sounds so nice when you say it, Master!” She exclaimed with proverbial sparkles in her eyes. “I like it! Thank you very much!”

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  Your relationship with Fei has increased from Adoration to Love!

  As this relationship increase concerns your soul familiar, no extra bonuses are granted minus a warm feeling in your belly.

  “Only a true narcissist charms the other half of his soul so that he loves himself totally. Scum.”

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  If I get my hands on Vena…

  Fei left my palm and flew up into the air, tiny glitter dust following her as she flew around in a jubilation loop. I watched her for a little while, pleased at her joy. Bringing my mind back to more relevant matters, I turned to the Dragon Knight and my Advisor, preparing to test out my latest idea.

  “Mira, as my advisor, what are your powers?”

  She scratched her ear softly before replying. “Whatever powers you give me. For now, I can only advise you, but I can handle almost any aspect of the city’s management if you grant me the requisite permission,” she finished while staring me right in the eye.

  If anything, I’d say this was her greatest display of interest so far. She actually wanted to play a more active role in management from the way her stare practically implored me. Some experts may say she was rather daring me not to give her the power, but I was no expert. Besides, it was always better to see things in a more positive light.

  “Great. Then whenever I’m out of the city, I grant you full rights and access to our fledgling town, to act as you were me without being me. Though occasionally, I may leave specific commands on how to handle things.”

  When I finished my declaration, a pop-up appeared to confirm my statement.

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  RTS Alert!

  You are granting your advisor, Usagi Mira, full powers to act in your stead during your absence. Are you sure about this?

  Y/N

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  I selected yes and noticed a small curl in Mira’s lip that vanished almost as quickly as it came. Talk about power hungry. I knew I had nothing to fear, since she was sworn into my service, but as much as I loved exploring, I also loved building. It was what drew me to IO in the first place. Giving her the power to manage the town in my absence was convenient because at an early stage, almost no time would be wasted between waiting on resources and growth if there was a constant hand at the helm, especially if I was away gaining levels. It would also mean that in the occasion my town came under attack, she could mount a response until I could return.

  But still. It was almost like Mira was my… wife… and I told her she could dip into the joint account to refurbish the house as she wished. She definitely has that vibe right now.

  “I shall endeavor to carry out your will, My Lord,” She stated while bowing slightly. I swear I saw her smirk again. Was this really a good idea?

  “Hey Jax, let’s get a move on. I’m itching to go kill things already!” Clarent complained loudly.

  “Sure, sure, we’re going. Look after everything for me Mira. Please focus on troop training for now.”

  I nodded to my assistant and waved to my Companion as we headed out of the city, to go exploring… finally.

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  When we reached the gates, I noticed one distinct difference about the town. There were guards patrolling the streets sporadically. A few of them greeted me with “Good day, My Lord” and Clarent with “Honor to you, Hero”. While it was nice to be respected like this, it was strange to see them patrolling the town instead of holing up in the barracks. I mean, in IO troops never milled about unless it was time to deploy or defend. I guessed this was supposed to reflect a more realistic approach?

  Nevertheless, I was surprised there was no prompt as my party exited the gates. Standing outside my town made me feel something… something unique and indescribable. The closest thing that I’d felt before was… anticipation. The sudden rush of excitement to discover and conquer all I could see and touch, to gain unlimited power and renown, to bring prosperity and to initiate growth.

  “So, where to? We have the plains in front of us, the forest beside us and the sea to our back. But uh, I don’t really fancy a swim. My parent dragon wasn’t an Aqua Dragon.” Clarent asked while idly scanning the landscape. While I was curious to investigate the plains and see the route to the nearest settlement away from our own, it was obvious that a level 5 forest may offer enough experience for Clarent and I to gain a few levels.

  “The forest. Let’s see what we can get there,” I replied him. He nodded and we started casually walking towards our destination. I used this time to talk to my familiar.

  “Fei, what abilities do you have?”

  “Uhm… I can screech and provide certain boosts I think. You can find out more by checking my status page,” Fei responded sleepily.

  Name: Fei

  Race: Pixie (Universal)

  Level: 1

  Exp: 0, 200 to next level

  Alignment: Good level 5

  HP: Invulnerable MP: 100 SP: 100

  Disposition: Love

  Abilities:

  Mana replenish level 1

  Health replenish level 1

  Screech level 1

  Teleport level 1

  Mental connection level 1

  Description:

  As a Fae being, Pixies are naturally aligned with good. Their glitter dust can boost the mood and abilities of those with a good alignment and harm those with an evil alignment. At birth, each Pixie is deemed universal until they choose an element to bind with for eternity.

  “Hm, could you explain your teleport ability, Fei?”

  “Uhm, I think I can teleport me and someone else to any place we’ve been to that is nice to us,” She explained. Fei hovered around my face, spraying tiny golden flaked particles, which I assumed was Glitterdust. While it would normally be annoying, it was mildly pleasing when it connected with my skin. I had a sinking feeling that for someone with a good alignment of level five like Fei herself, Glitterdust would be the equivalent of a narcotic.

  “Fei, could you sit on my head while we travel? It might be more comfortable for you like that,” I suggested. Besides, her buzzing about was making me dizzy. She complied and landed on top of my head, pushing aside my hair to make space for herself. It was a bit ticklish, but soon she settled down and I heard a contented sigh.

  “It’s nice here Master. Your hair is soft and it smells nice! I think I’ll live here for the rest of my life!” she exclaimed happily, yawning a little as she snuggled in.

  I laughed and decided to let my familiar relax in her new crib. Instead, I highlighted the abilities in her page and pulled up explanations for each of them.

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  Mana Replenish level 1

  Transfers 20 mana to bonded soul

  Cooldown: 10 min
utes

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  Health Replenish level 1

  Transfers 20 health to bonded soul

  Cooldown: 10 minutes

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  Screech level 1

  Emits a sonic wave that stuns enemies

  Cost: 20 mana

  Cooldown: 1 minute

  Range: 30 feet

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  Teleport level 1

  Teleports user and one ally to a friendly location

  Cost: 50 mana

  Cooldown: 1 day

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  Mental connection level 1

  Allows the user and the bonded soul to communicate telepathically across certain distances. Also affects the amount of shared knowledge and intelligence between the two.

  Cooldown: passive

  Range: 200 feet

  IQ share: 25%

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  Hmm. It seemed Fei could heal and supply me with mana, which would be useful in crutch situations where I desperately needed them but couldn’t use magic or did not have a potion. Her screech attack would be very useful in stunning groups of enemies for one-shots. The perfect early level grind skill. As for the teleport skill, I could definitely see it coming in handy when I needed to get back to town in a pinch. It would make things so much easier in the case of an attack. Her mental ability was interesting though, as I had noticed that when she was particularly close to me – like right now – there was faint tingle in my mind. Like a soft note echoing throughout my skull calmly, but loud enough for you to know it existed. I focused my mind on listening to that resonance when a miracle happened.

  Mmmmn? Master, is that you?

  The mental voice of my familiar sounded the same as her real voice, high pitched, cute and musical. But hearing it in my mind had a strangely warm effect on me.

  Yes, my dear. Were you about to sleep?

  Yes, Master. I’m quite tired. Can I please sleep on top of your head?

  Of course my dear, feel free.

  I closed contact with my fatigued familiar and focused on the length of distance remaining for Clarent and I to travel before reaching the forest. In such a short time, we had crossed over 7 miles from what I could tell. I know this was meant to reflect the spatial distortion system from IO, but having both time and space warped like this was getting to my head. Since we were almost at our location, I decided to quickly check the final two character pages that I needed to.