Dragon-Slaying Battle!

Origin Internet Cafe, evening.

The atmosphere in the cafe had reached a fever pitch. To test the results of their special training over the past two days, Lu Yuan had specifically opened a multiplayer quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for Huo Yuhao and the others.

Dungeon: Western Watchtower.

Quest: Dragon Rising.

Objective: Kill the first story dragon—Mirmulnir.

"Ready?" Bei Bei's voice rang out over team chat. He held a steel longsword enchanted with lightning damage and stood atop the watchtower ruins in light armor.

"Any time!" Xu Sanshi controlled a fully armed heavy-armored warrior. Shield in his left hand and axe in his right, he stood at the very front of the team like an iron tower.

"Hmph, this great mage's fireballs are already hungry for battle!" Wang Dong stood on high ground in the rear, flames burning in both hands.

"I'm good too!" Xiao Xiao was a petite Nord wielding a two-handed warhammer, responsible for filling in on the front lines.

As for Huo Yuhao... no one knew where he was. He had long since entered stealth mode and vanished among the surrounding piles of rubble.

"It's here!"

A deafening roar came from the sky.

A massive shadow blotted out the setting sun. A dragon covered in earthy yellow scales swooped down from the clouds, carrying gale-force winds and blazing flames with it.

Mirmulnir—the first dragon every Dragonborn encountered, and a newbie's nightmare.

"Get in position! Spread out!" Bei Bei roared.

"ROAR—!!" The dragon opened its jaws and spewed a scorching cone of dragon breath toward the most densely packed part of the group.

"Xu Sanshi! Hold it off!"

"Leave it to me!" Xu Sanshi roared. Instead of dodging, he charged straight in front of the dragon breath.

[Shield Block]!

[Talent: Elemental Protection]!

Boom! Flames swallowed Xu Sanshi, but when they dispersed, the shield-bearing figure was still standing firm.

"Hehe, now that's defense! It was a little hot, but it didn't break through!" Xu Sanshi proudly rapped his shield.

Just as the dragon prepared to unleash a second breath—

"Take this—Destruction Barrage!" Wang Dong seized the chance while its aggro was locked on Xu Sanshi. Two explosive fireballs slammed into the dragon's head like a rapid-fire barrage.

Dual-Hand Impact!

Bang! Bang! The tremendous force knocked the dragon's head aside, forcibly cutting off the dragon breath it had been preparing.

"Good chance! Xiao Xiao, smash it!"

"Haah!" Xiao Xiao swung her two-handed warhammer, which was larger than she was, and delivered a crushing blow to the dragon's left leg.

Crack! Though she had no Soul Power, the hammer struck the dragon scales solidly, producing massive yellow damage numbers.

The dragon roared in pain and furiously tried to beat its wings and take flight. If it got airborne, this team of melee fighters and short-ranged mages would be forced into a passive position.

"Trying to run?" A calm voice rang out from the shadows.

An inconspicuous iron arrow sliced through the air and precisely pierced the joint of the dragon's right wing. It was the weakest point of a dragon's flight muscles, and the only fatal weak point Huo Yuhao had found through Mental Detection.

[Stealth Critical Hit! Part Break!]

"Awoo—!!" The dragon had barely risen three meters off the ground when searing pain shot through its right wing. It instantly lost its balance, and its massive body crashed heavily back to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"It can't fly! Focus fire!" A sharp glint flashed through Bei Bei's eyes. With lightning crackling around his enchanted sword, he was the first to charge forward. "For Shrek!"

What followed was an utterly merciless beatdown. Xu Sanshi repeatedly smashed the dragon's head with his shield to stun it, Xiao Xiao crazily hammered at its legs to drain its stamina, Wang Dong kept firing from afar like a machine gun, and Huo Yuhao continuously loosed arrows from the shadows to interrupt its movements.

There were no flashy Soul Skill effects in this battle—only sparks from steel striking dragon scales, the thunderous booms of magical explosions, and the dull thuds of every strike landing solidly on flesh.

Yet that raw, visceral feeling of fists meeting flesh and blades drawing blood sent everyone's adrenaline soaring to its peak!

"Final blow!" Seeing that the dragon had only a sliver of health left, Wang Dong pressed her hands together and condensed all her remaining mana into one final super fireball.

BOOM!!!

Flames shot into the sky. Mirmulnir let out an unwilling wail before its enormous body crashed to the ground, the rising dust burying half the watchtower.

[Dragon slain.]

"We won?!"

"We... slayed a dragon?!"

Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao jumped up excitedly after taking off their helmets. Even Bei Bei, who had always been calm and steady, had a hand trembling slightly as he gripped the mouse.

That was a dragon! Even if it was one in a game, the sense of accomplishment from defeating an seemingly unbeatable enemy through teamwork was enough to make their scalps tingle!

Just as everyone was about to celebrate, the image on the screen changed.

The dead dragon's body began to burn, transforming into streams of golden fire. A vast, ancient, sacred energy poured out from the corpse, seeming as though it would rush through the screen and into reality.

[Dragon soul absorbed.]

Bzzz—! In reality, the lights in the internet cafe seemed to dim for an instant.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xu Sanshi... everyone who had taken part in the dragon-slaying battle suddenly shuddered.

They felt a warm current appear in their minds out of nowhere. It was not Soul Power, but a kind of... spiritual sublimation, as though a clear spring had been poured into their once-cloudy seas of consciousness.

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes became even clearer, and the range of his Mental Detection expanded by ten meters in that instant! Wang Dong felt that her affinity with the light element had increased! Xu Sanshi felt his spiritual will become as solid as a rock!

"This is..." Bei Bei stared at his hands in shock. "My spiritual power... broke through its bottleneck?"

"This isn't just a game reward," Lu Yuan explained blandly from behind the counter. "In The Elder Scrolls, killing a dragon lets you absorb its soul. At Origin Internet Cafe, that dragon soul is converted into pure spiritual nourishment and fed back to your real bodies."

"In other words... the more dragons you kill, the stronger your spiritual power will become."

At those words, everyone's eyes turned green. The once-terrifying dragons now looked like walking super tonics in their eyes!

"Quick! Open another round!"

"I'm killing ten!"

"Let me get the last hit this time!"

In a private room on the second floor, Di Tian had been standing by the railing, silently watching everything below. At that moment, he slowly withdrew his gaze.

His eyes were complicated. There was human greed in them, a desire for power, but more than anything... there was unexpected approval.

"Though their fighting methods are crude, and their coordination is as scattered as loose sand." Di Tian gently swirled the cola in his hand.

"Still... they felt no fear in the face of a superior dragon's might, and they knew how to seek out weaknesses even in desperate situations. Most importantly... they respect power, but they do not submit to it."

Di Tian recalled the legends of the Dragon God era—the Dragon Guards who had followed the Dragon God into battle across the heavens, matching gods with mortal bodies.

"These human brats..." A faint smile curled at the corner of Di Tian's lips.

"They're still weak now, but perhaps... they really do have some of a Dragon Guard's potential."

"Scarlet King." Di Tian suddenly spoke.

Scarlet King immediately crawled out from beneath the table. "Woof? Boss, what is it?"

"Go. Open a multiplayer room for me as well." Di Tian drained his cola in one gulp, battle intent blazing in his golden vertical pupils.

"I'll teach these brats... what true dragon slaying really is!"