[Location: Whispering Woods – Outskirts]
[Time: 12:15 PM]
Trees blurred past us. The wind whipped against my scales.
"Faster! Faster! She's gaining!" Klee shouted, looking behind us while clutching my horns.
I risked a glance back. A figure clad in blue and white was pursuing us with terrifying speed. Jean Gunnhildr. She wasn't running normally; she was using Anemo to boost her steps, gliding over roots and rocks with the grace of a dandelion seed in a hurricane.
"Great Sage! Calculate her speed vs. my current max velocity!"
[Great Sage]
"Dammit! I need more juice!"
I dug my claws into the earth, banking hard around a massive oak tree.
"Hold on tight, Klee!"
I activated [Wind Magic]—not to attack, but to propel myself. I fired a blast of air behind me, acting like a jet thruster. We surged forward, widening the gap.
"Wheeee!" Klee cheered.
But Jean was relentless. I saw her draw her sword.
"Stop right there!" Jean commanded. She swung her blade, sending a precise blade of wind—a Gale Blade—aimed at my legs. She was trying to trip me, not kill me.
[Great Sage]
I couldn't dodge without hurting Klee.
"Fine. We tank it."
I slammed on the brakes, skidding to a halt and whipping my body around. I curled my tail around Klee and braced myself. [Steel Strength] + [Dragon Scales].
CLANG!
The wind blade hit my shoulder. It felt like being hit with a metal bat, but my scales held. Sparks flew, but no blood.
Jean landed gracefully ten meters away, her sword raised. Her blue eyes were sharp, calculating. She looked at me—a black, armored dragon—and then at the child peaking out from behind my wing.
"Klee..." Jean's voice was a mix of relief and anger. "Step away from the monster."
Klee puffed out her cheeks and jumped in front of me, spreading her tiny arms. "No! He's not a monster! He's Raiden! He helped me... uh... clean the lake!"
Jean blinked. "He... helped you?"
I decided it was time to speak up. I stepped forward, gently nudging Klee behind me again with my snout to keep her safe.
"I apologize for the chase, Acting Grand Master," I projected my voice into her mind. It was deep, calm, and polite—the voice of Andrews Ragnvaldr, the noble. "But the child was terrified of solitary confinement. I merely acted on instinct to protect her."
Jean's grip on her sword loosened slightly, her eyes widening in shock. "Telepathy? A dragon that can speak... and knows my title?"
She lowered her stance but didn't sheath her sword. "Who are you? You are not one of the Four Winds."
"My name is Raiden," I replied, sitting down on my haunches to appear less threatening. "I am... new to this world. I reside in Wolvendom under the watch of Boreas. I have no quarrel with Mondstadt."
Jean scrutinized me. She was smart. She was assessing if I was a threat like Ursa the Drake.
"You reside with the Wolf of the North?" Jean asked. "If that is true... then I suppose you aren't an enemy. But Klee—"
SKREEEEEEEEE!
A horrific, piercing scream tore through the sky, drowning out our conversation. The sunlight vanished.
The wind changed instantly. It went from a gentle breeze to a biting, poisonous gale.
I looked up.
High above the canopy, a massive shape blotted out the sun. Six azure wings. A body corrupted by purple spikes.
Stormterror. Dvalin.
He wasn't attacking us; he was flying toward the city, erratic and in pain. But just his presence was leaking corrupted energy.
"Dvalin..." Jean whispered, her face paling.
Suddenly, a chunk of crystallized corruption—a blood clot from the dragon—broke off from Dvalin's body mid-flight. It plummeted straight toward us like a meteor.
"Look out!" Jean surged forward to grab Klee.
But I was closer.
"Oh no you don't!"
I didn't run. I looked at the falling purple crystal. It radiated pure abyssal energy. It was poison to any normal living being.
But I wasn't normal.
[Great Sage]
"Lunch time!"
I leaped into the air, intercepting the falling crystal. I unhinged my jaw and activated [Predator].
CHOMP.
I swallowed the corruption crystal whole before it could hit the ground and explode.
Jean froze mid-step. Klee gasped.
The moment it hit my stomach, agony shot through my veins. It felt like swallowing boiling acid.
"GAAH!" I writhed, crashing to the ground. The purple energy tried to eat me from the inside.
[Great Sage]
<...Success. Gained: [Poison Resistance]. Gained: [Abyss Magic].>
The pain vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by a surge of dark power. I shook my head, exhaling a puff of purple smoke.
I stood up, my eyes glowing a brighter silver.
Jean was staring at me with horror and awe. "You... you just ate the corruption? That energy... it drives dragons mad. It's what poisoned Dvalin!"
"Spicy," I commented dryly to break the tension. "Needs salt."
I turned to Jean. "That dragon... Dvalin. He is in pain. He isn't attacking because he hates you; he's attacking because he's suffering."
Jean looked at the sky where Dvalin had disappeared. Her expression softened, the weight of her position crashing down on her shoulders.
"I know," she whispered. "But I don't know how to save him." She looked back at me. "But you... you devoured the poison without side effects."
She sheathed her sword. The hostility was gone.
"Raiden," Jean said, her voice official now. "I cannot ignore an entity of your power entering my territory. However... you protected Klee, and you just destroyed a hazardous object. Mondstadt owes you a debt."
I grinned—a toothy, draconic grin.
"I don't need a debt, Jean Gunnhildr. But I do need information. And maybe..." I looked at Klee, who was hugging my leg. "A pardon for the little bomber?"
Jean sighed, rubbing her temples. "Fine. No solitary confinement for Klee today. But Raiden... if you can withstand that corruption, we might need your help sooner than you think."
[Great Sage]
This was it. The main plot. And I had just eaten my way into the VIP seat.
"I'll be around," I said, spreading my wings. "Just look for the handsome dragon in Wolvendom."
With that, I crouched. "Come on, Klee. I'll drop you off at the city gates. But no bombs on the way."
"Aww..." Klee pouted, then climbed onto my back. "Okay! Let's go, Raiden-Big-Brother!"
As I took off, gliding low through the trees, I realized two things:
I had just secured an alliance with the Knights of Favonius.
I now had Abyss Magic simmering in my gut, and I was hungry for more.