Jeremy opened the chest containing the Dragon Queen's treasure.
The chest was empty.
There were five pictures carved into the bottom of the chest: the first, a green slit eye; the second, the skin or hide of what looked like a lizard; the third, a heart—an actual heart, not the Valentine symbol, and the fourth, a skeleton of a lizard-like creature. These four pictures encircled the picture of a flame.
A white ball-of-light appeared in the treasure chest.
Without warning, the ball of light rose into the air and flew into Jeremy. He cried out in agony as the ball of light burned and altered his insides, changing him in ways he couldn't understand. He passed out.
When he awoke, it was a long time before he could do more than lie there and focus on his breathing, each breath a fiery torture.
Then the change ended, and his body slowly relaxed.
He felt different.
What had happened? He stood up. The pain from his burns was noticeably less. He hurt a lot, but felt like he might survive.
“You did it,” Banxi said, appearing in front of him. “You survived the bridge, avoided the fire dragon, and got the Dragon Queen's treasure. More impressively, you did it alone.”
“Squeak!” Squeak disagreed.
“Almost alone.”
“What is this treasure? And what did it do to me?” Jeremy asked.
Boggan appeared next to Banxi. “Over a thousand years ago, there was an ancient dragon known as Shardra, the Dragon Queen. The Dragon Queen nurtured a 100-year-old egg. Adult dragons of any age can reproduce, but the older the dragon, the stronger their offspring, and this particular egg would have hatched into a powerful dragon prince.
When the Dragon Queen was away, an enemy dragon came to destroy her offspring. Five adventurers were nearby, seeking her counsel. When they saw what the enemy dragon was doing, they fought bravely to save the Dragon Queen's egg.
The adventurers fought the enemy dragon and lost. They gave their lives to protect her offspring, and failed. When the Dragon Queen returned, she saw what had happened.
While deeply grieved at the loss of her son, she was touched that the five adventurers, who, while owing her nothing, had given their lives for her and her offspring. Although her son was dead, she recovered the essence of her son's eyes, skin, bones, and most importantly, his heart. This essence would kill any adult trying to merge with it, but not a child. So the Dragon Queen placed this essence in a small chest and gave it to The Children's Dungeon with instructions to find an adventurer worthy to receive it.”
There was a long, silent pause as both dungeon beings looked at Jeremy. “I don't think anyone would question your worthiness, Jeremy. You possess the Dragon Queen's treasure.”
“So what does having this gift mean?” Jeremy asked.
“That should be obvious,” Banxi answered. “You have the eyes, skin, bones, and heart of a dragon. At first, these will do little. The armor and weapons you passed up for this treasure would have been far more useful in the short term. But you have almost infinite long-term growth potential. You will experience slow improvement over years, decades, centuries, and millennia. Ancient dragons are some of the strongest beings in the universe, but they're also thousands of years old.”
“Am I going to live thousands of years?” Jeremy asked, disbelieving and unsure what to think.
“In the extremely unlikely event you're not killed doing something foolish, yes.”
“Wow.”
“Do not think this treasure makes you invincible. I assure you it does not.”
“So that was why you were trying to get me to leave the dungeon? And those medallions were the same reason, just part of the test?” Jeremy asked. “And was that why you wouldn't pay me anything for my spear? You knew I might use it to cross the gaps?”
“Perhaps. The armor I offered you was part of the test as well. But I also didn't want you to die.”
Boggan spoke again. “Few have obtained this treasure, and of those who did, none survived the next three floors to leave the dungeon. Since you refused the dungeon's help, the dungeon won't be assisting you in the future, but you can still run down the red path, sneak past mean kids and monsters, and leave the dungeon.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Sounds like I'm still weak,” Jeremy said. “My mana levels are much higher now. Is that from the dragon's essence?”
“It is,” Boggan said. “A dragon heart produces a lot of good things, including multiple types of mana, which will, over time, raise all of your Attributes, even if you do nothing. Note. When I say over time, I mean years, decades, and centuries. Try not to die in the meantime.”
Boggan vanished, leaving Jeremy with Banxi.
Jeremy sighed. “I'm not turning into a dragon, am I? Not sure scales would be a good look for me.”
“In a hundred years, perhaps,” Banxi said. “You will keep your physical appearance for now. By the time your body changes form, you should be able to decide for yourself what you wish to look like.”
“I don't suppose you have a mirror?” Jeremy asked.
“One low-quality handheld mirror for one dungeon coin.” The mirror appeared in Banxi's hand.
Jeremy took the mirror and looked into it. He saw his scarred, pitted skin and normal human eyes, relieved to see he was still human.
Then he saw more. He saw deeper into his reflection and got a quick glimpse of... his true self, the part of him he couldn't face.
He clenched his eyes shut and shuddered. Feeling around for his bag of holding, he put the mirror away.
“A dragon's eyes see through illusions and into the truth of all things,” Banxi said, understanding. “Not all gifts are pleasant ones.” With that, he too vanished.
Jeremy put his head in his hands.
When he calmed down, he pulled up his stat sheet.
Name: Jeremy Wilkins
Race: Other
Sex: Boy
Age: 13
Character Class: Child-Rogue
Level: 28
Health: 18
Mana: 183 (Phoenix Heart)(Dragon Heart)
Attributes:
Strength: 14
Endurance: 10
Vitality: 12 (+1 rat pendant)
Dexterity: 32
Agility: 33
Perception: 39
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 7 (+1 ring of wisdom)
Will Power: 22
Charisma: 4 (+1 clown nose)
Extra point:
Active Skills:
Identify: 8 (Eyes of a Dragon)
Sneak: 8 (+2 magic shoes)(+1 camouflage ring)
Detect Danger: 1
Charmed Object Activation: 3
Lightning Attack: 4
Swarm Master:
Passive Skills:
Enhanced Physical: 4
Poison Immunity: 2
Trauma Immunity: 5
Bite Resistance: 6 (Skin of a Dragon)
Physical Shock Resistance: 1
Parasite Resistance: 10
Curse Resistance: 4
Mental Resistance: 7 (Iron Sight) (Eyes of a Dragon)
Water Breathing: 2
Insect Pacifier: 1
Elemental Resistance: 6
Skills:
Acting: 4
COMBAT WAY
Way of the Sand Monarch: (Novice)
Discipline:
Crafting: (Novice)
Spells:
Light Spell
Fire Ball (High-level)
Summon Familiar
Divine Rage
Dungeon Account:
38,873.24dc
11 Dungeon Stars
Titles:
Slayer of Kritchek the Mighty Rat King!
Big Slayer!
Slayer of the Mighty Uinguit!
Slayer of the Swarm Queen.
Slayer of Azzekis, the Sand Monarch.
Friend of the Community!
Marks:
Bank-robber!
Politician Hater!
Gifts and Blessings:
Blessing of the Spider Queen.
The god Arkys blesses your quest for vengeance.
Blessing of the Mighty Uinguit.
Blessing of the Swarm Queen.
Gift of the Pissernak.
Merged with the greater parasite, Nashul.
Essence of a Dragon: The Skin, Eyes, Bones, and Heart of a dragon.
His mana levels had more than quadrupled, his electric attack had evolved into lightning, and his crude fireball had become a high-level fireball. He could sense the surrounding mana in ways he hadn't before obtaining this treasure. Even more impressive, all the maxes on his passive skills had vanished.
And he had the heart of a dragon. He could feel his dragon heart's slow, steady beat next to his phoenix heart and his original, all sharing space in his chest. How truly awesome was that?
Something else happened. He hadn't seen Flint since he'd received the treasure. “Where are you, Flint?”
“I'm still here, Jeremy.” He heard Flint's voice.
“So why can't I see you?”
“Because I'm concealing my body from your view. I'm afraid your dragon eyes might discover something about me that would damage our relationship.”
“Uh, Flint,” Jeremy said. “I don't like you now. What could I possibly learn about you that would make our relationship worse?”
“That would be telling. In the meantime, it's best that you not see me.”
“I don't see you with my eyes. Not sure what difference this makes,” he struggled to locate Flint's soul bond. He found it... almost. The tip of his mind approached what Flint wanted hidden, then, nothing...
“I will conceal my image from your mind. I believe this is best for both of our sakes. Anyway, your physical eyes haven't changed; it's the essence of the dragon eyes that sees the truth.”
“I'm trying to think of what you wouldn't want me to see.”
Silence.
“You have tentacles, don't you? Your true form is some weird, tentacled soul parasite?”
“I assure you, Jeremy, I do not have tentacles.”
“So let me see you, then.”
Silence.
Jeremy sighed. “Have it your way, Flint.”
More silence.
“You know, I've spent so much time searching for the Dragon Queen's treasure, it seems strange to have it. If I live for a thousand years, I'll be strong. But that's not good enough. I need to be strong by the time I leave this dungeon.”
“I had a feeling you'd say that,” Flint responded with a sigh.
“Any idea what's on the fifth floor?”
Flint chuckled. “All I know is the fifth floor is a lot more dangerous than the fourth.”
“Figures,” Jeremy said. “Let's prepare.”
