:There’s an Amber Dragon just over that hill, and I’m trying to collect enough scales for the Amber Heart Shield. What to help me out?:
I would have agreed even if they’d asked me to wade through the deluge swamp to hunt down bog locusts. This actually sounded fun. Plus, after checking my inventory, I realized I could use a few Amber Dragon scales myself, so it would be beneficial for both of us.
The Amber Dragon was exactly whereDualGuardiansaid it would be, just over the hill resting among a grove of pine trees.
At least, I assumed they were pine trees. The textures in the game sometimes made it hard to distinguish one plant from another, but the shape of the trees was particularly triangular, so I assumed they were pines.
The creature was the size of a house and gleamed like golden honey under the light of the setting sun. Smoke rose from its nose as it slept, forming rectangular clouds that drifted off into the air.
Careful not to make any sound and accidentally wake the dragon,DualGuardianand I compared our characters’ stats. The only way to collect scales from an Amber Dragon was to jump on its back and startle it into crashing into the trees,knocking some of its scales loose. Then quickly collecting the scales before they disappeared. My character currently had the higher grip strength, whileDualGuardianhad higher agility, so I was today’s chosen dragon rider.
Not wasting anymore time, I climbed up one of the trees until I was just above the dragon’s back and took a flying leap.
From there, everything descended into chaos.
One of the most notorious aspects ofDragoncorewas that on its initial release the developers had forgotten to include any visual indicators of a dragon’s strength. Really young dragons were obvious because they were smaller, but after a certain level, all dragons looked identical. This meant you could never be sure what you were getting into whenever you engaged one of these creatures.
The developers had tried to patch this mistake later, but fans had insisted that it be left as is. The thrill of never knowing how dangerous your opponent was had become part of the game’s charm.
This particular Amber Dragon was a lot stronger than we expected. Neither of us were rookie players, so we’d arrogantly assumed we could handle it. However, over the course of the next hour, I nearly died twice. I only managed to stay alive thanks to the vast horde of healing potions I happened to be carrying, but my supply was running out andDualGuardianwas starting to run dangerously low on stamina.
Deciding to cut our losses, we took the measly half dozen scales we’d managed to collect and beat a hasty retreat before one of us ended up dead.
Resurrecting a dead character was a real pain.
Once we were safely back over the hill and out of the dragon’s attack zone, we both started laughing. We must have each hit the button for the laugh reaction at the same time, because our characters’ animations were perfectly in sync.
:That could have gone better:I typed in the chat while wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.
DualGuardian’sanimation lagged for a moment before they gave two thumbs up, which must have been a mod that they’d added because it wasn’t part of the character’s original movements.
:Not my worst fuck up:they agreed.:At least we’re alive. Here. Your spoils:
There was a brief flash, and three of the dragon’s scales floated on the ground just in front of me, waiting for me to pick them up.
With a quick jerk, I tapped a button in my keyboard and my character took a step back.
:No. You said you were collecting the scales for the Amber Heart Shield, right? Six should be just enough. If I take this, you won’t have enough:
At first,DualGuardiangave no response except for their character’s constant idle-animation.
:You sure?:they eventually asked.:You’re the one who almost died twice. At least half of this should be yours:
:Take it:I insisted.:You’ll just have to owe me next time:
With another flash, the dragon scales disappeared back intoDualGuardian’sinventory. Their character flipped thier long hair over thier shoulder.
:Aren’t you just keen as ketchup:
Oh no. I knew that movement. It was one of the game’s programmed ‘flirtatious’ actions for its characters. I’d seen it several times right before someone tried to “initiate” something with me.
DualGuardianwas one of my favorite allies in the game. It would suck if I had to start avoiding them because I’d turned them down. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I quickly changed the subject.
:Keen as ketchup? I’ve never heard that expression before:
DualGuardian’scharacter started sharpening their blade, which happened when a player didn’t give their character any directions for a while.
:It was something my Gran used to say. The expression is supposed to be ‘keen as mustard’ but she didn’t like mustard, so she changed it to ketchup. I think ‘keen as ketchup’ sounds better too. More alliterate: