Build Sequence Is Key

Harsh Truth

"Resilient little guys aren't they." Hezmet said once Jason had come down from the nest.

Smiling, still in the glow of the hatching Jason just nodded his head.

Slowly Hezmet's brow darkened and her lips came down in a frown, "Well boy let's talk."

"Okay, sure!" He acknowledged easily.

"Alright, how are you going to feed them?" She asked sharply.

"Feed them, ... , I guess I don't know?"

"You have some hungry dragons here, do you think that food will just magically appear? Do you have enough milk for them to drink?"

"What?"

"Yes! There is a reason why we only bond a few hatchings each year. A dozen or two at the most! They have to be fed! Food, milk, soul nutrition. Do you even know how to nourish a spirit beast?" She asked critically

"No, I know nothing."

"Well at least you are humble. But you must face the facts. If you hadn't bonded all those eggs they would have died still born in their shells. But now, you have condemned them all to die of starvation and spirit deprivation. How could you do this?"

"But, but, ... , I was just trying to do the right thing?" Jason stammered.

"Oh and you weren't a little greedy thinking of how powerful you would be with hundreds of dragon minions?"

"No, I, I, ..., I just couldn't stand to see them all die!"

"Are you sure? Are you sure you didn't do it because you wanted the power?" She looked at him with so much intensity that he could see the blood vessels in her eyes.

"Alright, fine. I guess somewhere deep inside I wanted the power too! Who wouldn't want that kind of power. Come on!" He pleaded.

Unmoved she shook her head, "Do you know how many years it will take for these dragons to grow up?"

Jason felt the shame growing, "A couple of years at least." He said.

"Ha! A couple thousand more like. And that is for orc bonded dragons and that is the least time needed. Till they are out of the nest and able to fend for themselves."

"5 thousand years?" Jason said monotone.

"No, no, not even close. Ten thousand years till they are full grown and truly ready to protect themselves from all the predators out there. Jason, now let me ask you. How long are you going to be alive?" She out her hands on her hips and starred down in him.

Pondering Jason eventually said, "Eighty years give or take..."

"So what right now you are 16? That leaves you 64 years, if you are healthy and don't do anything life threatening." Hezmet paused, "Which also isn't happening because you are a inter dimensional traveler. Basically you aren't going to do anything but life threatening things until you die. In a couple months from now."

"What?" Jason asked.

"That's right. Statistically speaking you are going to be pitted against the beat the AI has. So basically your chance of survival is pretty low. Then if your beat the story line, then, then you get to have your own kingdom and play against all the other story line winners. And then, yes, you guessed it your life expectancy is going to get even worse."

Jason went on sat on a piece of drift wood by the cold fire pit, "So basically what your saying is that I am better dead than alive to these dragons."

"Hey, you said it, not me. Genius that you are, lucky bastard that you are, they all survived till now. But now what are you going to do? Uhm? Uhm??"

"I don't know, Hezmet. I don't know."

"Then if you die, probably more than half of these babies will die, but the rest will live. That might be the best thing you could do for them." She said brutally.

"But what about all the predators. Didn't you say they have predators?"

"She in this first year, those that survive your death, well most of those will probably die too. Only a few might make it to their 10,000th birthday."

"But won't they do better if I stay alive even for a few weeks?"

"So they can bond with you even more? So that more of them die when you die? Man if you had only taken the hint and just bonded the few you could bond normally before blacking out, then, that is when you staying alive would have worked. With just a dozen babies they would have been that much stronger and when you died they could have had a chance. Now though they are going to get much less per dragon."

"What do you mean, I can find food, find some milk for them. I can find something at least!"

"I am talking about the nourishment of the soul. Their spirits. They need constant and powerful spiritual nourishment. Your soul only has so much to give. Split three hundred ways it will be pour indeed. How are you going to cultivate enough for all these dragons. Especially that one on your shoulder. The runt of the litter, but it looks like it is going to need far more spiritual power then the others."

Jason looked at the little white guy on his left shoulder. He had forgotten about it and it was weakly hanging on for dear life as he became more and more agitated, anxious at his own failures. Taking a deep breath he transferred it to his breast pocket, right over his heart. There it immediately sighed and went to sleep.

"Alright, alright, Hezmet. I understand." As he spoke he felt like he was being elongated, pulled backwards into a hyperdrive. Streaks of light beamed passed and again the pain of it seemed to hit his soul far harder then it hit his body or mind.

When it stopped he felt the void's release. Air rushed passed his ears as if he was being physically thrown around. An impact registered against a hard yet somehow yielding surface, a bulkhead? And then blackness rose up sinking him down into insensate peace. Only one more piece of information reached his ears as he was going under.

"I knew we would have one at least." This was said in a completely monotone bored voice.