DRAGON DYNAMICS

"This is a shout out to all party members, we have finally reached our destination. After years of hard work and dedication, years of relentless grinding and spending, we have arrived at the lair of the legendary elder dragon, the final boss. Let's make this last battle worth it, put it in the effort and let's slay that dragon!"

Damon's short speech was motivating, perhaps too motivating for a group of college students who played video games to pass time overnight. With a total of twelve party members and with him being the party's leader, Damon and his team tightened their grip on their individual consoles and charged towards the slumbering elder dragon before them. It was larger than any dragon the party has fought before and it looked mich more fiercer, it's dark scales gleaned and the holographic tag that identifies it as the elder dragon hovered about it's head. One of it's toes was equal to the size and length of an human adults arm. It was ernomous and majestic.

"An elder dragon huh?"

A member of the party asked sarcastically.

"This should be easy."

He said proudly as he unsheathed his sword.

Damon on the other hand streched out his hand and a battle axe materialized, he held it with both arms while charging with a battle cry that screamed of desperation. With all his might he raised the axe and dealt his first blow drawing blood from the dragons leg.

The dragon woke up with a start releasing a deafening roar that had seemed to pierce the atmosphere itself, Damon pulled out his axe before giving his party members the command they had all been waiting for.

"Attack. Attack with all you've got!"

Damon's party members let out their battle cry before materializing their weapons and attacking the dark scaled dragon. It was a chaotic scene that gave off the tone of a last battle, afterall this was the teams last battle. They had all just graduated from college and had to look for potential job opportunities to gain their stand in the real world.

Most of them felt the gaming world had no hold over them anymore and wanted to focus on the reality before them.

Damon on the other hand didn't like the idea of leaving the gaming world, it had been a safe haven for him for years and now reality was asking him to ditch it. Most of his high school friends had called him delusional back in the days and he had even gotten bullied countless times for being a game addict, his parents and siblings couldn't be left out as well. They had complained every now and then and it all made him sick to the pit of his stomach.

Damon tightened the grip on his console as his fingers tapped on the control buttons endlessly, he gritted his teeth as he striked the programmed dragon over and over again while letting out a piercing scream that interpreted everything he felt at that moment.

The rest of his party members didn't seem to mind, they all knew that was the last battle they would be fighting together as a team and so they savoured the fun and excitement that came from it.

One of the party members who wielded a bow fired a volley of flaming arrows that failed to pierce the dragons scale which made Damon yell at him. From Damon's point of view he was slacking off because this was his last game, they all had to put in the effort if they wanted to make it worth it.

"Fire attribute attacks have no effect on it, make use of other elemental attribute attacks to take it down."

Damon yelled. The dragon raised it's head and roared before breathing fire from it's mouth. The team did their best to dodge the attack that would have ended them if they had been hit. They attacked with various skills and tactics to bring it down just so that Damon could land the final blow. Damon yelled as he swinged his axe and strikes the dragon on one of it's toes slicing it off from it's foot.

The dragon roared in pain as it flapped it's wing ready to fly. Damon turned to his party members and gave the command.

"We can't let it get in the air, destroy it's wings and we can finally end this."

A round of stone javelins were shot at the dragon creating holes in it's wings and bringing it down with a resounding thud.

The dragon roared obviously pained, it swinged it's tail helplessly trying to swat away Damon and his party but they were determined and wouldn't give up.

Another member dashed towards the dragon and striked it in the chest making it bleed and bathing his character in it's blood. The dragon roared as it swatted the members character away with it's injured foot.

Seeing that the dragon was distracted Damon didn't hesitate as he raised his axe and dealt the final blow with a buffed up attack. The dark scaled elder dragon released it's final roar, it was one that couldn't be forgotten, one that sent chills down the spine of every player present.

Eventually it fell down with a thud and the notification that the players had completed the game popped up instantly. Damon's party members cheered and laughed greeting eachother goodbye before finally logging out, in the end only Damon remained. His head was casted down in regret as a tsunami of endless questions swallowed him, tears stinged the corners of his eyes as he looked at the console he held in his hands.

"Is this truly the last game I'll be playing?"

"Am I truly delusional?"

'Beep' 'Beep' 'Beep'

Damon wiped away his tears with the back of his hand as he went through the various notifications that had just popped up on his screen.

{Dear player, you have completed the final quest.}

{Kindly stay logged in to receive your final reward.}

"Final reward?"

Damon asked himself in a whisper, there hadn't been any information about receiving a final reward, the game was supposed to end and log him out in the process.

{Congratulations, you have received the bloodline of the elder dragon 'Thorne'.}

{Claim it now!}

Damon shrugged, this was the final game he'd play so he might as well get every reward before logging out. He accepted the reward with a click and used it, after this another stream of notifications popped up.

{Dear player you have successfully accepted the bloodline of the elder dragon 'Thorne'.}

{By accepting the ancient bloodline of the elder dragon 'Thorne', you are hereby deemed worthy to take on one final adventure.}

{You have unlocked a hidden quest: Become the greatest dragon there is.}

{Would you like to take on this final adventure?}

{YES/NO}

Damon gulped and his face lit up instantly, there was still more to the game than he had thought. He could still play, one last adventure.

"There is more."

Damon muttered in relief, he could still play and have fun. Without hesitation Damon accepted the quest, there was no need to think about it and there was no doubt that this was the gaming miracle he had been praying for.

{Dear player, we are logging you into your previous battle location.}

{Kindly wait a bit and hold unto your console.}

Damon gripped his console with excitement, no word could explain the feelings he experienced at that moment. One last quest.

At that moment when the notification popped up on the screen Damon felt a sharp strike against his heart. His eyes bulged out and he stayed frozen in place, he couldn't move. It was like his blood was boiling up and he was about to experience human combustion.

Damon's sight failed him as his world was shut down and his head hit the table with a soft thud.

{Dear player, you are successfully logged in as the last dragon of the 'Thorne' bloodline.}

{Complete your final quest to log out completely.}