Fairy Tail: Sun Eater - Part 2

282. Atlas Flame

The giants look at each other again and want to say something to Ben. But before they can, some giants come out of the village.

"A dragon you ask? Why are you asking that?" asks a giant that looks to be the oldest because of his white hair & beard.

"I am a Dragon Slayer, so I can smell it. But don't misunderstand it, I'm not here to slay the dragon. I just want to meet and ask some questions," says Ben hastily to avoid misunderstanding.

"What Dragon Slayer Magic that you use?" asks the elder giant.

"Sun Dragon Slayer Magic. I am Ben, son of the Sun Dragon Escanor. I swear upon mine and my father's name that I mean no harm. As long as we don't get attacked, I won't attack anyone," says Ben while putting his right hand on his left chest.

"..... Follow me," says the elder giant as he turns around and walks.

Ben & Mira follow him and the other giants except the guards walk behind them. They enter the village and see that everything there is gigantic. Ben & Mira are astonished by the sight of this giant village.

"It is truly a strange coincidence," says the elder giant.

"Pardon?" asks Ben unsurely.

"Our village's name is Sun Village and one of our guests is a Sun Dragon Slayer," says the elder giant.

"Sun Village, huh? Can I ask you a question? I am a Mage that holds a rather high position on this continent, so I have access to a lot of information. But I never read or hear anything about this village. This is a village of giants, so it should be quite famous if people know it. Why is it remain unknown?" asks Ben.

"It's because we purposely hide it. That's why we build this village among these mountains in the middle of a desert. We want to stay neutral among all races so we hide ourselves. There hasn't been any Kingdom that discovered this place, that's why you didn't find anything," says the elder giant.

"But the guards mentioned about a child who left the village before. And it also seems that the child is a human," says Ben.

"We'll talk about that later, we'll arrive soon," says the elder giant.

Ben was too focused and doesn't realize that the dragon's presence is getting closer. They walk through some tall spiky rocks and the heat gets stronger. Bright light can be seen from afar and soon they arrive at their destination.

In front of them is a massive fiery flame that is guarded by some giants. Ben can now feel the Dragon's presence clearly, but there's no dragon figure at all. The source of its presence is the flame in front of him and he knows this feeling very well.

"So it's not a living dragon, it's a dragon's soul," says Ben.

"Correct, as I thought of Lord Escanor's son, you realized it immediately," a voice comes out of the flame as a facial feature appears on the flame.

Mira is surprised but Ben doesn't have much reaction. He has experienced it once with Smog's soul, so this is not too surprising.

"It has been 400 years, son of Escanor," says the flame dragon.

"400 years? What do you mean? I haven't lived for 400 years, you know. Also, I'm sure this is the first time we met," says Ben confusedly.

"It might be the first for you, but not me. It might be confusing for you now, but you'll know the reason in the future. It's better if you don't know much because it will just confuse you," says the flame dragon.

"... Yeah, right. I've never gotten this confused, so let's end it at that. Anyway, let me introduce myself properly even though you seem to have known me. My name is Ben Cooper, son of Sun Dragon Escanor," says Ben.

"And I am his wife, Mirajane Cooper. Nice to meet you, Sir Dragon," says Mira while bowing.

"I am The Fire Dragon, Atlas Flame. The people in this village call me Eternal Flame, the guardian of this village," says Atlas Flame.

"Fire Dragon? So you are the same type of dragon as Igneel," says Ben.

"Yes, I am a close friend of the Fire Dragon King, Igneel. Though I am weaker than him, but even he is still weaker than the Ancient Dragon God Escanor," says Atlas.

Ben hesitates for a bit before asking, "Atlas, can you tell me more about Escanor? To tell you the truth, I don't know much about him. He just picked me and gave me his magic before he entered eternal slumber."

"Yes, of course, little one," says Atlas.

Atlas then starts to tell Ben what he knows about Escanor. He himself doesn't know much about the Sun Dragon Escanor who is considered a legend among Dragons. Escanor isn't someone that Atlas can meet as he wanted, so Atlas can only tell Ben what he knows.

Based on Atlas's story, Escanor was respected by every dragon. He was the strongest dragon even among 5 Ancient Dragon Gods. His strength was even feared by the real Gods and there was even a story about him fighting a god, the truth is still not confirmed though.

"He has the presence of a true King, respected by all races, that is Dragon God Escanor. His steps carry dignity, his words carry the truth, and his anger carries disaster. One shot of his breath could melt a mountain and he has the power to split a continent in half. Those things were being passed down between dragons," says Atlas.

Escanor is one of the few Dragons that remained neutral in every war in the past. He just watched over them and make a move to stop them when things got too far. Sun Dragon Escanor was also known as World's guardian because he prevent it from getting destroyed by its own residents through wars.

He is a peace-loving entity, but it doesn't mean that he is a pushover or meek individual. He is actually a battle-hunger individual that enjoys battles. Though he doesn't like fighting without reason or conquering & controlling anything through his power.

One of his most famous battles was his battle against the Sun Demon, Midas. The story is just the same as what Ben read on Midas's coffin that he found a few years ago. The record on the coffin was even more detailed than Atlas's story.

"Lord Escanor disappeared one day without anyone noticing it. That's why I was very surprised when knowing he took a human child and teach the child his magic in his last days. He was neutral, so it's very surprising to know that he taught you, a human, his magic," says Atlas.

"Is that all you know?" asks Ben.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm sorry if it can't satisfy your curiosity," says Atlas.

"No, it's fine. I'm not hoping much about his legend. But I'm hoping a lot about something else. He has tremendous power so I also have the chance to reach that too. Thanks for the information. This is the most information I've ever heard about him," says Ben.

"You're welcome. Ah, I also have a message for you," says Atlas.

"Message? How could someone leave a message for me to you as if they knew that we'll meet," says Ben suspiciously.

"Well, of course, they knew. It's because the one who gave me the message is you from your future," says Atlas.

Ben now gets more confused rather than suspicious. He can tell that Atlas is not lying but it just doesn't make sense to him. Until AI Chip tells him that it might be possible with the use of Time Magic.

Ben widens his eyes and smiles widely, "Hey, Atlas, that means the past you met the future me, right? So that means I can use Time Magic in the future. I must be skilled enough to have the power to go 400 years to the past."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not you who return to the past, but me who went to the future. It's-," says Atlas before Ben interrupts him.

"Wait! Someone is here, someone with hostility. I can feel their bloodlust," says Ben as he looks back while raising his guard.
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