"I've... finally awakened."
Cassius slowly opened his eyes. Wisps of blue-gray smoke curled from the corners of his mouth. Feeling unprecedented power surging through his body, he could not help but gently stretch his wings.
"Dammit, what time is it anyway?"
The red dragon was uncertain of the current time, for in his dreams he seemed to have lived through hundreds, even thousands of long years, weathered countless brutal battles, and witnessed dragons decline from their golden age to ruin with his own eyes.
Yet the moment he opened his eyes, those memories—so vivid that they felt personally experienced—were veiled behind an enigmatic mist, blurring into haziness.
It even left him feeling somewhat dizzy.
"If decades have passed, that would be terrible."
Cassius looked around. The cavern was flooded with lava, molten rock flowing everywhere, and even his gold coins had melted into liquid streams; there were simply no traces left by which to tell the passage of time.
With a low rumble, he summoned his Cataclysmic Dragon Eye, scrutinizing his present self and surveying the state within his kingdom's domain.
Fortunately, within his vast field of vision, Northwind Keep was thriving, people bustling across its streets and plazas. The kingdom had undergone considerable changes, but clearly not to the extent of several decades or centuries having elapsed. Yet the transformations to his draconic body astonished Cassius even more.
"This is..."
Compared to before his slumber, the red dragon's form had undergone an earth-shattering metamorphosis, feeling somewhat alien even to himself.
His draconic body had ballooned to nearly thirty meters in length—a size achievable only by old or even very old red dragons who had lived through at least five hundred long years. Cassius, on the other hand, had taken only ten.
His scales had deepened to a darker crimson. The glossy sheen had been replaced by a smooth, matte finish, with dark golden striations revealed only at their edges, like gilded armor growing out from within his flesh.
His wings had broadened considerably, the trailing edges of the wing membranes trimmed in the blue-black of metal burning in fire.
His tail had grown thicker and sturdier, its tip crowned with sharp bone spikes resembling a battering ram.
Yet these were merely trivial details.
The changes to the red dragon's head and chest were the most striking and thorough.
His golden pupils had faded; his eyes now resembled spheres of red-hot magma, blazing with fierce radiance.
Upon that monstrous head, in addition to the two swept-back horns, a pair of spiral, fiendish long horns had sprouted at the crown.
At the center of the red dragon's chest, where countless primary blood vessels converged, a crimson crystal condensed from ultra-pure fire elemental energy was deeply embedded in his flesh, its surface rippling like flowing magma. The surrounding scales displayed radial fissures that bled dazzling fiery light.
The energy contained within was so immense and concentrated that it continually heated the surrounding body, causing two rows of vent-like organs to grow along his chest, neck, and tail, steadily venting sulfurous exhaust and shedding excess heat.
If Cassius had still resembled a pure red dragon prior to his slumber, the creature awakening now was an absolute anomaly, having clearly broken free from the bounds of normal chromatic dragons. Were a dragon scholar present, they would surely gasp in wonder at his form.
"This appearance makes me look like a true incarnation of a cataclysm."
Cassius shook his still-unfamiliar body, slowly unfurling his wings. Feeling the surging power rolling like ocean tides within him, anticipation gleamed in his magma-sphere eyes.
"Now let me take a closer look at this power..."
[Through your slumber, you have digested the trace of progenitor dragon bloodline, and your body has evolved.]
[Dragons are mighty magical creatures innately adept in multifaceted supernatural phenomena, and none more so than the favored children of Io. As a scion of the progenitor dragons, you gain supernatural abilities from ancient times.]
[You gain bonus caster levels: 3 → 5.]
[Your racial caster level stacks with your sorcerer caster level. Your current caster level is: 17.]
Spellcasting prowess at this tier could barely touch the ninth layer of the Weave, almost skimming the surface of the Source, while venturing any higher entered forbidden realms.
Cassius profoundly felt this extraordinary elevation.
The 8th-circle spell Spell Wither, which he once had to treat with utter caution, could now be mastered entirely under the influence of this mighty spellcasting capability, commanded as effortlessly as an extension of his own limbs. Ordinary low- to mid-circle spells could no longer pose the slightest threat to him.
"With this degree of spellcasting power, I should be able to walk unimpeded across Anzeta."
Merely by staring at a thick stone pillar in the distance and nudging his will, the center of the pillar instantly melted and bored through, spewing forth flowing liquid magma. It was the most ordinary sorcerer casting imaginable, as effortless as blinking, without even requiring a fleeting thought.
Yet the information on the status panel was not finished; it continued to refresh.
[Due to your progenitor dragon bloodline, you have gained the bonus draconic feat: Primal Breath Weapon.]
Primal Breath Weapon:
Once per day, the dragon harnesses the power within its progenitor bloodline to channel all bodily energy into the dragon crystal, initiating a fission reaction that unleashes an unimaginably vast quantity of power. Following each primal breath, waste byproducts will form in the dragon crystal, potentially causing a degree of irreversible contamination to the body.
Requires 125–375 seconds of charging time. The dragon must not have used a breath weapon within the preceding three hours, and the energy consumed in this attack renders the dragon unable to use this breath again for at least three days.
"What an overwhelming breath."
"Rather than 'Primal Breath,' calling it an 'Atomic Bomb' breath would be far more fitting. It's just that the aftereffects are a bit severe."
Cassius did not rashly test the potentially damaging Primal Breath; instead, he initiated a standard breath weapon.
As he slowly unhinged his jaw, his complex, machinelike body abruptly roared to life. Energy throughout his form was transported via dense primary vessels to the dragon crystal embedded in his chest, converging there as the translucent gem radiated brilliant fiery light.
The two rows of vent organs snapped open simultaneously, trailing dazzling plumes of flame and venting bursts of white smoke.
Ultimately, ultra-dense energy surged into the red dragon's throat, exhaling blistering, incandescent-white flames that liquefied the rock before him in an instant.
Had the red dragon not clamped his jaws shut in time, the flames would have bored through the bedrock and compromised the structural integrity of the entire cavern.
"Tsk, tsk. It almost matches the power of my Maximized Breath prior to my slumber."
"A mere trace of bloodline can achieve such heights... Just what were ancient dragons like back then?" Cassius couldn't help marveling.
He clearly felt that his beating dragon heart was like a searing engine running at full throttle. His vitality was more robust than ever before, separated from mortal beings by orders of magnitude.
Put simply, this red dragon had crossed the threshold that was insurmountably difficult for mortals, his tier of existence reaching what was widely known as the legendary realm.
"The security was handled well enough."
With a light flap of his wings, invisible ripples effortlessly dispelled the dozens of wards and spells arrayed around the cave entrance.
He paced slowly out of the cavern and entered the Iron Dragonwing Palace.
Due to the disaster unwittingly wrought during Cassius's slumber, the place was in utter disarray, strewn everywhere with melted and resolidified steel that possessed a strange sort of chaotic beauty. Yet to the now vastly enlarged red dragon, even this iron palace felt cramped and constricting.
The metal gates had long been destroyed, leaving behind only a jagged, misshapen opening.
Lowering his head, hunching low, and drawing his wings tight, the red dragon barely managed to squeeze through the entryway, stepping out from the once-magnificent main hall.
Cassius shook his body, craned his neck, and reared up on his hind legs, letting loose exhilarated roars. At last, he could fully unfurl those immense wings without being constrained by the limits of space.
He raised his head to gaze up at the clear sky, narrowing his eyes as embers flickered within his magma-sphere pupils.
"It seems I smell... a familiar scent."
***
Character Sheet — End of Volume 2, Chapter 164
Lord of Cinders — Cassius
Name: Cassius Claudew Norixius
Category: Huge Dragon, Lawful Evil
Race: Juvenile Atavistic Red Dragon
AC: 25 (Natural Armor, Gilded Scales)
Base Attributes:
Strength — 33
Dexterity — 12
Constitution — 27
Intelligence — 17
Wisdom — 19
Charisma — 29
Skill Proficiencies: Rule +18, Intimidation +13, Persuasion +12, Athletics +10, Deception +8, Stealth +6, Perception +8, Hunting +4, Arcana +4, Escape +4, Survival +4, Knowledge (Future) +4
Damage Immunities: Fire, Lightning; Cold (Resistance)
Senses: Blindsight 20 ft., Darkvision 80 ft., Passive Perception 19 (27 within Kingdom Domain)
Languages: Common, Draconic, Ancient Giant (Partial)
Abilities: Primal Breath, Kingdom Domain: Severance, Kingdom Domain: Eruption, Body of Storm Echoes, Power of the Everfrost Runes, Maximized Flame Breath, Targeted Flame Breath, Gilded Carapace, Bloodline Boon
Feats and Traits: Primal Breath Weapon, Kingdom Domain, Dragon Spells, Army Breaker, Maximized Breath Weapon, Targeted Breath Weapon, Frost Giant Slayer, Gilded Scales, Combat Caster, Chieftain's Aura, Fugitive, Silver Tongue, Hard Landing
Combat Equipment: Ring of the Storm Lord's Eye, Horn of Everfrost, Amulet of Spell Immunity, Staff of Defense, Necklace of Dimension Door, Pearl of Power, Cloak of Breath Holding, Behir Horn, Ring of Nimble Wizard Movement, Staff of the Scorcher, Amulet of Speak with Dead, Lava Spitter, Ring of Blade Warding, Amulet of Silent Steps...
Equipped Spells:
Charged Release: Storm of Vengeance, Korba's Glacial Cage
1/week: Control Weather, Glacial Cascade
3/day: Greater Cone of Cold, Globe of Invulnerability, Dimension Door, Speak with Dead, Burning Hands, Scorching Ray, Blade Ward, Expeditious Retreat
Class Level: True Dragon Sorcerer 12
Caster Level: 17
Spells:
8th-circle: Spell Wither
7th-circle: Cataclysmic Dragon Eye, Smoldering Haze
6th-circle: Terrifying Vision of Tiamat, Undying Inverted Scale
5th-circle: Dragon's Respite, Grace of the Dragon, Hoard's Pouch, Fiery Dimension Door
4th-circle: Firestride Exhalation, Polymorph, Wall of Fire, All-Seeing Eye, Aerial Maneuver
3rd-circle: Energy Scales, Blink, Protection from Energy, Fireball
2nd-circle: Protective Egg, Enhance Ability, Misty Step, Phantasmal Force, Invisibility
1st-circle: Fog Cloud, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Shield, Thunderwave
Cantrips: Dread Tremor, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, True Strike, Prestidigitation, Message, Witch Bolt
Spell-Like Abilities:
1/day: Suggestion
Challenge Rating: 21 (33,000 XP)
Evaluation: This red dragon is hailed as an incarnation of flame and master of cataclysms, as well as the "Tyrannical Dragon," "Hedonistic Dragon," and "Greedy Dragon" in the mouths of Northlands nobles.
He once unleashed a fiery tornado that swept across the land, obliterating an army tens of thousands strong, and annihilated a frost giant clan that had spanned thousands of years in the blink of an eye. Across the Great Anzetta Waste, his name has become the purest symbol of ruin and might—yet this is far from the end.
Now, having lain dormant in slumber for years, the red dragon known as the "Lord of Cinders" watches his terrifying realm flourish, hailed by his subjects as their "Benevolent Father." None know what startling transformations he has undergone during these years, and none can fathom the horrific power this red dragon will soon unleash.
Chapter 238