"H-h-h-h-help... H-help!... HELP! Master? Anyone! Please!"
N-no! Please! The beast of the Ichor Eclipse tribe, the first encounter of a true monster, the wolf-like appearance of a creature that spawned from the underworld region. It is born from the lunar eclipse and will remain on the overworld until someone slew it.
As a whelp, this beast has been a nightmare for a while. After a few weeks or so, I finally got it off my head. Now, it's back...
Help... Master... Please... Anyone...
The beast roared and pounced. Defenseless I am as a young dragon. I had no knowledge of magic or had the gut to attack using my claws and teeth. It was too horrid, and I was alone... No... Not alone...
"Don't worry! Your knight and shining armorless friend has come to your aid!!!"
Sylaphie... She's always there, even though my master had to come in and instantly entrapped the creature into a cage. My dryad friend was injured but brought enough time for the actual support to arrive. She was always the odd and brave one, a rascal of the forest and willing to carelessly take all the blames and dangers for me.
A few centuries later, when she became the queen after her mother passed away, she had no time for me, and we went our separate ways. It upset both of us, but to maintain the balance, she had to...
For my duty, I had to be the guardian of Dryalph. Conversely, adventures thought I was hostile and attempted to eliminate me, and she wasn't there to clear the misunderstanding. On the final day of my dragon life, the world hurt me... Not by the sword... By betrayal...
C-can... I... Forgive her?
◇◇◇◇◇
The queen dryad softly stood on the spine of the creature before she darted into the sky and levitated in mid-air. Two large leaves swirled under her turquoise boots, her bracer covering the upper arm; Claps of greeting.
All the wind around her created a barrier for the ceiling. Her ponytail swayed, and the short pants and bandages around her chest weren't affected much. The springtide leaf on her air remained as well.
As soon as her right finger reached to her lips—commencing a whistle to begin the battle—I interrupted by casting a flash orb at the sky near her.
"Everyone! Heads down!" I commanded as the orb shattered.
When everyone looked away from the orb, the bright light exploded, temporarily blinding the dryad queen, Sylaphie, for enough time to convince her. The white radiant enveloped and vanished, and we raised our head to view the forest humanoid, stunned and a little agitated.
"Oyah! That wasn't friendly! You should be in combat with my beasty friend. It's cheating going after me!" She complained, steadily opened her eyes as she saw me having my right hand raised. "It was you, wasn't it? Why are you causing trouble to a queen? I did nothing wrong."
...Yes... Yes, you did... When you released the beast from the underworld, I had fear in my eyes and a glare that blamed you for it. How could you free a monster that almost killed us both? Nonetheless, it could have eaten us when my master wasn't there, you idiot!
"You are a stupid queen!" I insulted her as we had always done before. "Is it necessary to have an ichor beast for your entertainment! You know that creature almost killed you once before! Remember!"
I pointed at the devilish beast who was growling at Kagekome, sniffing the intense shadow and dark scent that he emitted. Whenever my servant strolled around the beast, its eyes glared at him as if it held a grudge against him. The three of us didn't grab its attention a single bit!
The queen seemed to be confused and thought for a moment until... She glared at me and crossed her arms, releasing the same aura capacity as Kagekome, except it's the wind element — she was furious! Ahhh! What did I do!?
Her emerald eyes glowed, her pupil became white, and the crystals on her bracer and boots brightened. The wind became more visible, having the viridescent gleams and glints. She pointed at me using her index fingers from both hands.
I had to think! If I had to be more open and reveal myself... If she can believe it, which is unlikely because of my powers lost... My memories are my only weapon...
"How exactly do you know that scene in my life? Who are you, human!" Her childish tone morphed into a womanly voice, just like her mother.
Gotcha... Since her primary personality is like a child—similar to Zinako—and a tomboy, she liked if we accepted her challenge instead, though if anything goes wrong, she would have no choice but to help.
"Calm down... How about we play your game. The four of us against your ichor beast. If we win, then you will treat us as your guest and we can speak as much as you want. Not only that, I want you to get that beast out of my sight!" I gave her an agitated look. "You can place your bet also."
"Hekeke~. Very interesting of you. I like you and I agree to your deal. Anyways, even if you are or are not important, I'll still have you fight my ichor beast. So, if my beast set you all unconscious, then I get information and kick you out of the forest forever. Deal? Aye yay?"
...That's unfair and unbalanced! How does that equal my winning request!? If we were to lose, we get kicked out of the forest forever? They are way more demanding than having the beast out of my sight and being a simple guest... Oh well, that's the game we play with her.
I showed her a thumbs-up. "Aye yay!—"
"BEGIN!"
She straight away whistled, commencing the battle as soon as I agreed. Everyone had their guards up, preparing to counter against the ichor beast who is currently chasing Kagekome using its teeth and double-layer claws.
Kagekome right away seemed to be in trouble and really lame, running away from the beast who sprinted faster than a human due to its massive size, about three times the height of him.
"You're the coolest distraction, Kage-san!" Zinako cheered as she grabbed the handle of her sword and took the whole weapon out, including the sheath from her waist. "Sabai-chan and I will weaken the creature down until it can't move!"
Hold on... Is she going to fight the beast using the sheath of her sword!? That's not good. I could cast basic radiant element magic, and that's about it. Zinako had a sword she couldn't unsheath, Inukori is a pure supporter, and Kagekome, stop running!!!
I don't believe that they met an ichor beast before. They are demonic underworld creatures born and enter the overworld during a lunar eclipse, becoming impossible to defeat. Even without the eclipse, having one-third of their real abilities potential is dangerous to mess with — all of this knowledge came from experience and books.
Their blood magic-user. Most precisely, ichor blood—infected celestial blood—, primarily used in combat to infect their prey's body. Yellow liquid-like poison and acid, melting the armor and weakening your heart if you're a human. Otherwise, they won't be much of a pain to get rid of.
"Hah! Going to keep chasing forever? I have as much stamina as you do. Except, I can do this!"
Kagekome ran to the edge of the arena and leaped onto its wall before he went into a jump-off and over the creature's head. He concentrated a surge of shadow energy on two palms before landing behind it.
"Let us support him! Zinako, I doubt your sheath will do any damage to the beast and Inukori, if Kagekome gets himself hurt, recover him!"
"Sure thing!" Inukori followed my command.
I observed the beast, noticing that there's no trace of any attention toward Inukori as he ran next to my servant. He took out his blade disk from his back and rushed diagonally from Kagekome, charging his weapon of greenish-blue particles of restoration.
I half-understood why that creature hated the stupid lizard so much. I feel you. I really do — just kidding, an idea occurred, using the knowledge of distraction and sneak attack!
"Zina, if you have any deadly magic spell, combine it with mines and we could at least knock it out."
She looked at me and smiled silently... Is that a yes? "I can use magic, but I rather use my sheath. If you don't believe in the sheath, then you don't believe in me! And for knocking out monsters, that's the main attribute of a metal scabbard. An INSANELY durable blunt weapon, no need for you killing! Hehe!"
"Zinako... Your weapon..." I patted her shoulder alongside an earnest stare. "I may have a speculation that you can not unsheath your blade because you have no motivation to kill. So... I will trust your word and I will provide my sorcery back up!"
Do I have a choice? She could use magic, but instead, she's a warrior who used a sword with the case on. Although that sheath contained an auric barrier around it, scorching hot sensation, perhaps it's enough to weaken the beast.
If everyone else's job, except Inukori, is to exhaust the creature until it sleeps, then I should figure out a way to instantly end its misery... And I can't go near it. It's too scary...
"I've no clue what you hate me so much, but die!"
Kagekome darted in front of my nightmare and placed his palm against its chest, impulsing a tremendous force into its body. He caused the beast to spew yellowish-orange blood from its mouth, which quickly turned into crystals. Even after that attack, the beast regenerated, and its stamina still remained; Dangerous foe, I trembled.
The beast growled, shifting backward a bit and countering by swiping its claw at the formed golden crystal. The crystal shattered, and shards of them scattered in a cone. Inukori quickly evaded it since he was on the side of my servant, though Kagekome got impaled by several small pieces like glass shards.
"Let me remind you all that you're not trying to kill each other! The participants need to be alive, so if they lose, I kicked them out myself, and Aorita needs to be also because she's a good girl!"
Huh? Aorita? She... She gave that beast who's been terrorizing my dream for a whole week after encountering it a name!? It's a giant demon wolf! How in the world does a dryad who is an overworld forest humanoid and mostly on the church side tamed and named a demon from the underworld.
I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say for a few minutes... Not really.
"You are the most insane person just like Zinako!"
My best friend giggled. "Thanks!" ...Welcome...
Continued on, it became a back and forth battle. Kagekome attacked using his melee and shadow technique. Inukori would then heal him, and I stood still and made no progress whatsoever. My mind filled with endless thoughts, and another appeared... Where is Zinako?
Up ahead on the spectator seat above the wall near the gate where the others lured it to, Zinako kneeled and held her weapon with two hands, waiting for an opportunity to attack. She eyed the neck of the beast.
I needed to provide assistance to my teammate other than complaining to the dryad above... If I refuse to go close, I shall attack it using my long-range spell.
No need to worry about being targeted. I closed my eyes and performed a flow of energy from the atmosphere and my soul to the spot in between both of my palms — gather abnormal energy!
"Kage! Be careful!" Inukori shouted as he extensively vaulted backward and away from both him and the enemy. "It's enraged!"
Enraged... The state of immense anger and an uncontrolled mind. Similar to how Kagekome was when we first fought. He came into the kingdom having no control over his vessel and, as a result, lost possession of his dragon body.
"Damn! I w-wonder what that peep squeak is doing in the middle of this battlefield. You're lazy or what!?"
Kagekome complained, having the ichor beast over him. His arms attempted to push back its, or rather, her paws away, the abnormally inhuman power inside him struggled, and it seemed he could not hold any longer like a door trying to contain the danger on the other side.
The giant wolf herself weighed a ton, and her raw strength of its paw increased because the blood flowed violently through her yellow veins on each of her arms. She lowered her head and had her jaw opened, then a wave of ichor liquid coated her teeth and crystalized.
Once the crystal hardened, she chomped down and scattered a ray of shards at Kagekome, flinching him alongside multiple wounds for his limbs — the beast, Aorita, is on another league!
"Strength boost! Restoration!" Inukori spinned his left and right disk toward Kagekome. Each of the disks phased through him and returned back to its user like a boomerang.
The flashing green disk healed Kagekome's minor injuries, and the crystal shards melted. He regained most of his strength and elbowed the beast in the chest before leaping backward to gain distance.
"Again, what is that brat doing?" Kagekome glared at me and noticed that I charged up the compressed sphere. Though the size remained the same and he seemed annoyed by it. "And tell me why all the girls are useless!?"
As he spoke, the beast tried to pounce on him. However, as she leaped into the air, Zinako was above her, holding the sheath with the bottom point down.
"Comsic's Ember!"
When the creature moved upward, Zinako's sheath struck downward, both the wolf's neck and the sheath collided with each other; The result is devastating.
ROARKRR—!!!... Her weapon's power triggered, and a tiny seed of sky sapphire and pink ruby implanted on the fur, which broke into particles around the neck. Immediately, the particle exploded, and the cosmic fire outburst of the head and spine, spreading farther until it reached its whole body.
How is that sheath wield that insane amount of fire magic!?
She roared again as she turned her head and knocked Zinako into the wooden gate. The creature stood on its hind legs, shaking its body to remove the everlasting embers. The fur burnt into ashes, though it started to leak ichor to coat her inflamed body of protection... I did not pity her.
The fear hidden inside me for the demon from the underworld is strong... A part of me told me that it is not the worst thing I feared.
"Paralysis Providence Piercer!"
I quickly opened my eyes and dashed a few meters forward before releasing the ball of abnormal energy into a projectile spell. The beast — I urged myself to kill it...
"This has already been decided! Your charged spell is going to kill her! She hasn't done anything bad in her life, she's my loyal second in com—MAND! YAHH!"
The Queen of Dryad distorted the arena and instantly warped in front of my spear of pure magic. She then ricocheted my projectile into another and the wall using her equipped metal boot.
Then a waterfall of wind blasted at the cosmic flames around the wolf, clearing the pain away and leaving only a thin layer of scorched.
My radiant paralysis spear collided and suddenly, a burst of bright light and sparks filled most of the playground, pushing everyone back. The source of fear deep inside that one spell, if it had hit, everyone would have gotten hurt because of me — stupid dryad! It's your fault!
... Why is she protecting a monster who almost killed her long ago? Nevertheless, myself as well and perhaps almost some other living things if left alone. As a dragon, hate is the one emotion that is strong for the species. Then as an elder dragon, they became wise and calm. However, I am a human who lost my elder trait, and now it's difficult to control my emotion when it spikes.
Gahh!!! No no NO! That's wrong! I'm not hating. I'm just afraid. Too afraid that I panicked and saw her as an immediate threat to my life. I believed it's just self-defense, especially when the trial should be receiving a gift from my childhood friend, and if I couldn't complete it, I would die... Once again...
Terror and memories both had control over me. Still, I disliked the beast and would be cautious around it unless she proved to me that she's a... Grrr... Hmph...
None of this made sense... I returned to a nostalgic forest just to play her game and suffer from trepidation. That... Aorita is... No... Apparently, I was more dangerous than her.
"Tch... A-apologies..." I looked away, ashamed of my mistake. "We won and I did nothing but fear what... Aorita would do. I am still untrusting of her because of my past."
"Ahh, I understand why you were standing still, my useless princess. You were afraid. I did most of the work and what you did is shoot your projectile of death toward us all."
Kagekome had a point. I almost majorly injured them all if the queen, Sylaphie, wasn't there. She watched the whole scene from above and entered into the battle to prevent any more damage to her loyal second in command?
W-why... Why do I feel envious in my blood? It added more betrayal to my already scarred soul. I grasped emptiness and walked toward Kagekome. Currently, I am boiling with frustration, and since I wasn't most of the time in my castle, I could not run into my bedroom and shred my pillow with Toka.
"Sabai-chan?" Zinako ran over to me, unscathed even after she got knocked into the wall... I continued to move toward my shadow servant.
Inukori sheathed his disks in his back and touched his friend's shoulder, leaving both Kagekome and me alone. He then looked at Sylaphie and Aorita, casting a symbolic spell on his right palm.
He went over to Aorita and began the process of recovery for her injury received from Zinako.
"RrrrraAAHH!"
I pivoted my left leg and punched the center of Kagekome's chest with my right fist, venting out all my humanly frustration — very un-princess of me, isn't it? I'm pathetic, a nuisance.
...! When I punched his chest, he didn't budge, only stood still in silence and had his hands in his pocket... Go on! Complain! I refused to accept your silence.
Still... Nothing besides the sound of footsteps behind me... Oww, my hand hurt... Sniff...
"Why are you miserable? I wanted to play the game and now you took the playfulness and tossed it into a graveyard. You are the princess Sabaiya, don't you have dignity as—"
"Shut up. Leave me alone... I am in a lot of mental pain and I want Zinako to accompany me for a while..."
I turned around and ignored Sylaphie while walking around her and to the opened gate where she and the beast entered from. The crumbled twigs and leaves were music to my ears, a bad tune, but it was apparently relaxing.
"W-wait for ME—!" Zinako chased after me since I requested her by using the authority as her best friend or an uncalm princess.
.....
The quietness scanned the area. Kagekome and the Queen of Dryad sighed and glad that I left the room alongside my negative emotion.
"Hekeke~. That temper reminded me of someone. Too bad that person she resembled is long gone. I am the Queen of Dryad, Sylaphie! Since you won, you are welcome as a guess and I shall answer any questions you have. Aye yay?"
"First, don't forget about A-Aorita, she's recovering, but with your dryad magic, she'll have a positive ailment into her system. We can talk later after her treatment."
Inukori summoned a massive magic energy bandage, a soft medicinal cloth of a minty color, each fiber of its material containing a high concentration of his recovery energy, and a vial of herbal gel from under his overcoat.
"Ayayaha, such a silly boy." She chuckled as she levitated over to her pet, who went into a resting state. "She's an ichor beast and nighttime is when she has a regenerative attribute. Just let her rest and she'll recover after less than an hour or so. Leave her for now and join me in my throne room."
Inukori disagreed, shaking his head. "I'm a healisk, so I'll make sure her condition is stable. And if you can, s-orry if it's disrespectful, but I'm c-craving for tea."
Tea... A substance of water and herb to soothe your muscles and relax your mind. For some people, it tastes like the rich water of the sky island. For the dryads, it's their primary type of drink, and there's plenty of herbs where they lived.
It's also common for elves — practically anyone who inhabited any peaceful forest.
"Oh my!!! You're a tea lover too! Then why don't we all drink tea here together. I will bring everything here, so give me a second. Aye yay?"
◇◇◇◇◇
Evergreen peppermint and abundance clouds of lime aroma from the two grayish-green mugs, the smell that bothered the nose of the shadow dragon — the reason why there are two instead of three.
Under the three allies besides the queen dryad's slumbering pet—body wrapped around by Inukori's bandages—, a fuzzy woven picnic blanket of purple and blue matched the color on the brightest spot of the night sky. They all sat under the Visimo and the star atmosphere, and without me around, it was pretty peaceful and less tense.
Although, without me around, Kagekome seemed to be bored of this. Not only did he refuse to drink tea, but he also hated the quietness and everything about the area except for the sky since he enjoyed the night.
He wondered if it was a mistake to not follow me and stubbornly get yelled at, something he wasn't tedious of — what a masochist-ish, just adrift into the sensation that he doesn't belong in this situation.
... He groaned and leaned back, allowing his back head to feel the crumbles of the ground; It sounded like home, a nest for a young dragon.
"So the rumors were t-true! Tea made by dryads is one of the best kinds in the world. This would go really well with a small snack and in the hot spring, an adventurer's treat. Ahh~, and I wished Zinako was here to drink as well."
Sylaphie nodded as she then took a sip from her mug. "Mmm-mmm! Hekeke~, you're so true! And it's too bad Mr.Dragon over here doesn't like them. Well, I guess all dragons generally don't like tea. The last dragon I knew choked when I pretended to give water when it's actually—"
Suddenly, Kagekome stood up and strolled away from the conversation. "You two tedious fools can speak over tea as I try to figure out where the other two went. I'm bored out of my mind, so I'll see you never."
Kagekome is a dragon, and there are a few things a dragon is bored of. For some reason, they don't mind if they're resting or looking out of the cave and being a lazy hunk of scales and bones, but they disliked any topic too slice-of-life.
Then there is also boredom of anything involved in being too kind. They prefer wars and disruption — that is unless you're a radiant dragon like me.
"Awwwah, you no fun." The queen quickly drank all her tea and stood up, pouting. "Do all dragons get so bored that quickly? You are like my old dragon friend!"
"Pfft, do all dryads sit around and talk about tea. And to answer your question, that's pretty much who we pretty much are... Although, what about your old dragon friend? If you talk about that instead, I may be willing to stay and have some—NO tea!"
The mention of the old dragon friend attracted Kagekome's attention. He wanted to know who's that mysterious dragon friend she's talking about, though through my action of her simple game, he could tell who that might be.
He nodded and sat next to the blanket, enjoying the sound of a crunchy environment and the storytelling of a dragon—assumed to me—and the princess of dryad; Currently the queen.
Inukori was interested as well, preparing more tea for himself and the queen. He heated the floating teapot over the neutral orange flame that he cast. In addition, he used a water spell to extract all the vapor in the air into a blob of pure liquid into the teapot — why magic beat technology.
Afterward, just a tea leaf bag from the queen herself into the water and wait. It took around a few minutes for the tea to be ready, and now, Sylaphie's storytime started.
Before she started, there was an arrangement of illuminative fireflies surrounding the room. The dimmed chattering outside the playground from other dryads and a few elves quickly vanished as a created aura blocked the sound.
The clover moon, Visomo, rose upward to cover the real white moon and had stars of a variety of colors along with it. The constellation above resembled a dragon's head, having sharp ferocious eyes to rain calamity down on the world, crystal fangs that brought corruption to the weakened soul, and finally, the scales of the cosmos...
Each shard of the dragon contained a fragment of anger, creating the underworld and their two tribes, the abnormal biomes such as the Sub-Void, Leviathan's Coral, Arch Crystal Abyss, and so on.
Nevertheless, all of that is not the fascinating part. The truth is, the goddess who morphed a lizard into a dragon became one herself as the Crisis.
Every dragon knew the tales when they looked upon the dark sky.
"Hekeke~. So, you're interested in my dragon friend. I don't blame you since you're a dragon as well. I'll tell you mostly everything about her... Before I start, aren't you gonna wait for you friends—"
"No need. You can go on ahead and if they're interested, I'll tell the story themself." Kagekome beckoned her to start without Zinako and me. "And if my princess heard about the story, it would most likely freak her out."
"Wait, that girl is the princess—oops, I was too daydreaming to pay attention. Hah~, I thought she was a moody rascal. Come to think of it, I was notified about her arrival, guess I was too distracted about your dragon soul in my forest."
"...Don't you ever leave the forest? If you're a q-queen, you must know all the important people throughout the region."
Inukori mentioned before pouring more tea into the two mugs.
He's correct, especially for a queen who's been alive for countless human generations, and she doesn't seem busy now, having time for games and conversation. To those two, they expected her to be more lady-like and formal. Instead, it's a childish girl off her duties.
"I don't know everything that's going on around this region. I have my supervisor take care of almost everything for me as I go on to the completely fun part of my job as queen."
"What kind of queen are you!?" Both of them dumbfoundedly shouted.
Her face became flustered. "Ayah! Stop it~! I'm a queen that likes action, not sitting on the throne and saying a bunch yes and no... Anyways, let's start the story."
They both nodded and sat quietly, listening to her memories of the past, the paramount selection of tales that would tell them more about me.
If Kagekome is correct, he would learn more about her master, the princess of Drecoreim's past life. On the other hand, Inukori only listened since it came from a queen — it's not every day you have an extrovert queen.
More specifically, an immortal mythological humanoid who is more worthy than a human monarchy being or bishop; Excel bishops are an exception.
"The dragon goes by the name of Rivunagai, a golden dragon long to become an elder dragon as I am to becoming a queen."
"Rivunagai? I heard that name before." Kagekome raised his hand while he tried to remember where that name came from.
"Maybe it's had something to do with your... A-ancestor or whatever dragon worship. I mean, elder dragon. Aren't they a powerful evolution of normal ones?"
Inukori added, guessing about the history of our species and how they work. And about the elder dragon, they aren't exactly evolved versions.
Kagekome thought for a while and shook his head, disagreeing with his statement. The memory of my dragon name is hidden deep inside the space of his mind. Somehow an interference disturbed his thinking.
"Hekeke~, it must be your imagination, Mr.Dragon. The name Rivunagai is only known to me, her master, and a few other special allies close to my ranks."
"No, you're wrong. I heard it before... Just continue as I think about it."
He disagreed again, his head a bit hurt from all the digging through each memory like trying to find the correct page in a pile of unorganized papers.
What even worse is that the constant inference jumbled his mind — a wind scattering the papers into an endless tornado of lost thoughts.
"When we first met, Rivunagai traveled here with her master, and with my mother's permission, they stayed in Dryalph as their home. And as always, she was fun to tease with, soon later becoming two trouble makers."
"Mmm, no wonder she's annoying... Cause of you." Kagekome muttered, then coughed afterward.
Since Inukori was next to him, he heard and nudged him, giving him a glaring expression to not talk negatively behind her back. Soon after, he smiled at Sylaphie as, for some reason, the area they sat in became chilly.
The ichor beast shivered a little and opened her right eye to observe a little. She then slightly growled and ignored them, returning to sleep.
"We've been through a lot, mostly getting in troubles and dangers. That lasted for a while until her master promised that he would return, but never did. She became a bit depressed and things started to fork apart."
Kagekome questioned her again. "You keep mentioning her master? Who exactly is the master of the golden elder dragon? Seems very powerful to tame her."
"To be exact... The master is technically her father, having taken care of her from birth till several years. And she wasn't an elder dragon then. She became that after many centuries later. And boy, everything went upside down when she became an elder dragon. Mr.Dragon, do you wish to become an elder dragon?"
Do you wish to become one? There's an answer to that question. Every dragon—besides for half-dragon or non-pure ones—dreamed of becoming an elder dragon. It's an improvement to their soul and a miracle accomplishment if successful.
Nonetheless, the chance to receive the achievement is slim, a pebble size diamond in the ten thousand mountains covering this world. The current number of elder dragons, including me, since my soul is still in this world, is only seven out of multiple thousands; Legendary it is.
The requirement is easy to understand but harsh to proceed... You must obtain the approval of the Goddess of Astral and God of Cosmic, or from the Goddess who created the first dragon — she no longer existed.
Once a sign appeared, then collect the soul objects from the four royal blood humanoids. The forest dryad, abyss undyne, sky harpy, and brimstone pseudo. After that, you may perform a ritual taught by only the ancient human.
Sounded easy at first. However, it's impossible to find all the four humanoids without studying ancient history and gaining the humanoids' trust. It would be easier with an ancient human as a guide, though you would the celestial would deny you.
It's exceedingly complicated, and most would give up.
"It's bothersome and besides, I lost my dragon vessel... Why spend all the trouble just to give up mostly and lose all your years of fun. The only thing you get out of being an elder dragon is authority, power, and immortality. For me, all I want is to be less of my father who failed on that path and be more of a person who wants to enjoy life... And he-heh, perhaps..."
A smirk appeared on his face as he then mumbled, thinking of his possibility of the future.
It was a bit concerning for Inukori and Sylaphie. In spite of his arrogance toward being an elder dragon, prioritizing life over accomplishments, they seemed to agree as well. It seemed like not ALL dragons had the mindset to become one.
"That... That is unexpected—BUT I LOVE WHAT YOU SAID! Hekeke! I agree also! I agree! Who wants to do something that isn't fun and too difficult when you just relax and hang out. If Rivunagai was here, she would agree!"
EHHH!?
The room surprisingly shook with her laughter. The aura distorted for a few seconds before it recovered and caused a cluster of fireflies to become fussy.
She instantly stopped as soon as her pet growled. Everyone went silent for a moment until Inukori clapped his hands once and asked.
"Question. How did Rivunagai manage to become an elder dragon?"
"Hekeke~, glad you ask."
Sylaphie had an expression of a mischievous rascal, leaning closer to their face as her eyes glowed to match the brightness of the fireflies. A perplexing mist released from her boots and bracer — a chill when down her guests' spine.
"I lied to her and said that if she becomes an elder dragon, her master will return and ask for a hand in marriage... Haaa! And she fell for it!"
"What!?" The two boys stared at each other and then at her, speechless!
"You have to be a one of a kind queen, you know." Kagekome chuckled before he started to laugh. "Hahaha! But as a dragon, you have good humor. It's just, how much did you make her struggle through it?"
Inukori slowly pulled his head back as he got too close to Sylaphie. He really begged to know how much I suffered to get to become an elder dragon... Too bad, fate had spoiled my whole life as a dragon and a human, the reason why I luckily reincarnated as a princess... I am the golden dragon of luck, after all!
"Sorry to burst your bubbles, lots of bubbles, but since it was my idea and I pretty much forced her, I did most of the work and she had to do is be herself... At the end, I am her knight and she is my wings. We both benefit at the end."
Kagekome exhaled, shaking his head in disbelief, and he stood up, walked backward, and dived into the thickest pile of snapping twigs.
Conversely, Inukori sighed but quickly went silent, looking at Kagekome, who laid in the middle of the queen dryad's playground. The first word he thought of is "dragon" and because of how many times the dryad mentioned him as one.
Yesterday, Kagekome mentioned himself as a dragon, as a sort of title he gave himself. That's what Inukori thought. He believed it was a nickname, yet my servant just shrugged and called himself by the name given from me.
The day when princess Sabaiya—me—became a hybrid against the shadow dragon. No one knew who defeated the dragon and that the princess only stalled the creature.
Kagekome's shadow magic, a human who lost his dragon vessel, and why he seemed to be close to me — a rivalry friendship between us two dragons.
"B-b-by a-any c-chance, K-k-kagekome... Y-your that... S-shadow d-d-dragon that caused h-havoc to Drecoreim? Am I r-r-right?"
The shadow dragon lifted his head and stood up, brushing the leaves from his uniform. He then raised his hands and summoned his shadow flame. An evil grin appeared. The darkness from inside him grew alongside a fearsome snarl.
"Yeah... I am that shadow that entered your kingdom and destroyed the south section..."
Kagekome condensed his flame and shot it at the sky, scattering harmless flames onto everyone and the ground, a sensation of heat but nothing burning.
"AHHHH!—"
WHACK! He fisted the top of his head. "Stupid! If I am that evil, I would have killed everyone by now! And besides. If you're talking about that shadow dragon, that isn't me. It is, but I myself was dormant as my body was controlled."
The purple flames throughout the room instantly vanished. The aura that the fireflies created evaporated, and you heard the song of the two white and black jays circling Visomo, the voice of the moon...
"Yuuuwah." The queen yawned. "It's sleep time already for us dryads. See if you can find the others and I'll have my supervisor send you to the sleeping chambers."
"Alright, Inu. It's up to you and me to get the lost girls to the supervisor."
Inukori gave him the awkward stare before he nodded and groomed the fur of Aorita. He seemed a bit untrusting of Kagekome. But by now, he gave him a chance and stood up with his hands out.
He spoke. "Let's find them."
Then the shadow dragon accepted and embarked on the short journey to find both Zinako and me somewhere in this dryad realm, which is almost impossible since I had already been here before many times. I knew all the secret locations to prevent anyone from finding me. Fufufu~.
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Can someone tell me why there's a GIANT HOLE ON THAT WALL!?
I had brought Zinako to one of my secrets on the upper section of the dryad tree and expected the area to remain the same... No! It seemed like they created a window here instead of a mirror that is a hidden portal to another part of the dryad realm that no one visited.
SO UNFAIR!!!
"Nevermind..." I depressedly sighed. "Well, we should view the night sky so that I can calm down a bit."
Suddenly, Zinako pointed at the dragon constellation at the popular space. "Look! There's a constellation that looks like a dragon, isn't it COOL to look at!"
She opened the transparent window and hopped onto the tree balcony alongside me. She then sat on the edge and swayed her leg forward and back as her hands were on the back of her. A bright smile appeared on her — it makes me a bit happy.
Although the raven on her opened its red eyes, blankly staring at me, and now I felt a bit down by it. He waved at me using his left wings before he went back to sleep... Strange?
I sat next to her and did the same swaying legs, enjoying the lunar winds breezing against them and my hair.
As we both viewed the realm in front of us, the dark sky of the two moon—white and Visomo—, the two jays that circled the viridescent one, and the vast land of trees below this colossal of the royal dryad. The wood we sat on made my palms a bit tingly, and the light of Visomo gave me refreshment of a hundred hours of dreamful sleep.
Oowah! This is why I loved this place, especially when I visited this area without any trouble. Too bad that the past is rough since I had to rest in the outside forest when the day and night got busy for the mythical humanoids.
Next to the dragon constellation on the sky, there's a complete set of stars as well, revealing its fangs and claws, an arrangement of stripes, and a long feline tail. How weird, having two different constellations in one night, usually there's only one visible and many incomplete.
This collection of dazzling dots revealed the history of the tiger. Unfortunately, I'm a dragon and not a tiger, so most ancient knowledge of that is unknown.
"Hehehe! Sabai-chan, you're once a dragon right? Because I have something to say."
She stared at me, moving her leg away from the edge, and sat on her knee.
"Fufu~, of course I am. Zina, what do you want to talk about? As long as it does not involve my nuisance servant or any information that might be counted a treason... Just kidding. Go on ahead, tell." I copied her and sat in the same pose.
"Guess what! My mother's side of the family comes from a heritage of demi-human sabertooth tigers. And if you know a little about the ancient history of tiger and dragon, it's that you and I are destined to be rivals!"
Her eyes sparkled with exhilaration like a child that found something extraordinary and wished she could obtain it. Her eagerness roared without hesitation that flinched me unexpectedly. Roar~!!!
I heard of that before. I may not know much about ancient tigers, yet this history is also a part of the dragon. Just like her sword, a tiger roared with the dragon, both creatures are rivals in all attributes, and they're the true ancestral rivals, unlike radiant and shadow dragons, that's just elemental black white, and black.
However, I believed that we should not be rivals since aren't rivals supposed to be competitors and not best friends? Yes, we are dragons, and she apparently had partial blood of a sabertooth, but we both are mostly in agreement and have each other to smile; Kagekome and I are more of a rivalry relation.
I don't get her... Isn't this out of the ordinary to be asked to be a rival when clearly, she seemed like a kid wanting to try something new for the first time?
"Uhhh, s-sorry? There is a problem about us destined to be rivals. We are best friends and we never argue. I know I am a dragon, even though I lost everything that makes me it, though it is not like there is a point to do so. Why do not we continued—"
"NOM NOM!" She tossed a cracker into her mouth and thought of a better IDEA! Yay? "Why don't we become best friends and rivals, both at the same time!"
Both at the same time? Come to think of it. I still don't get it. We can keep becoming best friends, and as rivals, we need an objective, a goal—something ultimate—in order for us to compete and... Does she know what rival meant?
"Do you know what rival means? It seems like you are still not understanding."
"Yup-yup-yup! Rival means two people... Two people... Two people—ooo... What does rival mean? Is it when two people fight each other?"
KEK!!! WHAAAT!? She required intense library and studies. She needed to read more! You are a goddess in combat and have a very optimistic personality, maybe smart—I don't know—, but her knowledge of vocabulary is below average.
My next mandatory goal is to fill her mind with a DICTIONARY!!!
"That is... Mostly incorrect. Yes, most rivals would fight each other, in games, sports, wars, and so on. But to define it better, is that rivals are two or more people competing against each other for the goal."
Do I have a rival before? The answer is no. Sylaphie, the Queen of Dryad is more like my older sister than a rival. We were the best of friends until she hanged out with me less and betrayed me. We do not compete much and often do things as a duo, completing tasks as humanoid and dragon.
And for Kagekome, we're very close. Too bad there is no goal to compete yet. We just like to bother and yell at each other for entertainment. If I am a dragon instead of an elder, then we might vow to compete with each other to see who becomes an elder dragon first.
And about her claims about us being rivals. I shall deny it and give her a pat on the head so she won't be sad that I rejected her and her curiosity.
"Apologies, but—"
Sniff sniff... She presumed my answers and her emotion quickly commenced before I had the chance to say anything. "S-so we can't become rivals. That's sad~ and I guess that's how it is. Oh well~..."
It seemed like she understood... Even so, I felt a bit guilty, and maybe I should give her false hope. This is a bit awkward because this time, she—
"Even if we aren't destined to become rivals, you're still my best friend and I'M SO HAPPY!!!"
She pounced on me and hugged me tightly. Woah! Calm down there, cat! Fufu~, there's the cheerfulness I've been waiting for after the several seconds of auric negativity; Sanguine Zinako is the best!
Now I felt better, and my hopes had returned, and my fear of the ichor beast vanished. The amount of determination spirit is restored by the silly girl, enough that I am excited to lunge toward Kagekome and argue with him! So lively!
...This became a bit uncomfortable and a touch inappropriate as she was on top of me, having her hands next to my head and her eyes covering most of my vision. All I heard was her cheery laughter, having a slight purr in her tone.
It almost reminded me of my dryad friend, Sylaphie, except Zinako is very eccentric and doesn't think when she does anything other than fighting. She's like a feline—playful and curious—and perhaps would be a better princess than I would be.
But as I remembered, she's a daughter of a high-rank, or was it that excel-rank adventurer? Mmm, I still needed to learn more about my friends. How am I supposed to figure all that out within a few days?
There were footsteps through the hallway on the other side of the wall, the sound of two pairs of feet, most likely two males and that one of them had a distinct walking pattern — that overly tranquil movement of a young man and his habit of having his hands in his empty pockets.
The constant collision of their boots against the wooden ground stopped. I guessed they found us. After all, the dryads removed the secret spot, and I was too lazy to find another. I presumed it was a matter of time when we resumed our short adventure and the trial.
"Uh-uh-uhmm... Y-you t-two." Inukori spoke first, pointing at the two of us on the balcony floor with a bashful expression. "It may be a m-m-misunderstanding, but on our point of view, it looks like you two—"
Kagekome interrupted and wrapped his arm around his neck, which then slouched over his shoulder. "Tsk tsk, it's just a playful girl and the floor mat."
F-F-FLOOR MAT!? And I thought calling me useless wasn't enough, he called me a floor mat! That's like telling me that I am more useless than a mat that people step on. That's the biggest insult! IMPUDENT SERVANT!
I gently moved Zinako aside and got off the floor, rushing up in front of Kagekome's face. The amount of positive energy I had crumbled like crushed snow. He ticked me off! He's so mean! RAHHH!
"Excuse, who are you calling a floor mat, you wingless lizard!?"
"Huh!? And who are you calling a wingless lizard? It was because of you that I don't have my dragon body anymore and because of that, I'm happy your power got taken away. Hehe, you useless princess."
We both snarled and glared, having a secret smile behind our aggressive nature. The way of dragons mostly temper and somewhat have reasoning whenever they're not enraged or uncontrolled.
"S-stop it, you two. Is it necessary to be fighting once you two encounter each other in under a minute? And besides, we should be meeting the supervisor and get ourselves to our prepared bedroom."
...Oh... That supervisor... I just remembered it's that new assistant of hers that does most of her busy work, within the latest century—the one with my death—, he is an intelligent elf hired to take care of contracts and so on. For the past few hundred years, he had no motive for treason, and he isn't too friendly to become suspicious; An elf of weird taste.
He's similar to the butler I have at my castle, but I figured him out with having the right material of distraction or bribe. Literally, just give him new knowledge of the ancient past — he is a truth detector also!
And about the bedroom, we happened to be...
"Oh..." I closed my eyes and sent everyone a twirl alongside a beamed. "If you are looking for the bedroom, it is only a short distance away... That way!"
I pointed in the direction of where they came from. There's a lonely door at the end of the hallway with a fat viridescent lightbulb bug covered with two leaves above it. It erratically flickered as it helped prove to me that I'm correct! YAY!
"Wait, you've been here b-before—OH MY GOD! You know everything and have been here before!!! SO LUCKY! You're like my older sister even though I'm taller than you. Hehehe!"
Zinako lunged toward me into an everlasting hug of friendship.
"Let's go then, lead our way, our wonderful dragon princess." Inukori gladly grinned and took a few steps toward the bedroom door. "W-well, you guys can go ahead. I'll have to go check on someone."
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Ahh~! I missed the bedroom and the nostalgic time when I shrunk myself into a whelp—I was a few centuries years old back then—and caused a mess here with Sylaphie, who was about to be an irresponsible queen back then.
Haha! The ancient magic to turn a giant dragon as tall as half of this tallest tree into a human height creature that roamed throughout the hallways. The only thing I had to avoid is a few royal members from the outside world — I dragon slept away from the realm.
We were all inside the massive bedroom that could fit a total of ten sleeping people. The floor, wall, and ceiling were all wood, and the floor had a green carpet except the edge of the room. The bed itself was like my castle's bed, soft and cozy.
In the center of the long room are the two of us, the two dragons of yin and yang, apparently diving for dinner on the table that we haven't eaten before, and it tasted like heaven! The variety of beyond quality fruits and the exotic dragon fruit that somehow we both ate all of it on the white plate.
It's been way too long since I had eaten any food prepared by dryads, and I lied about never eating them before. It's something that tasted so delicious when you returned to them after a few hundred years. The fruit and vegan meat, which tasted like real meat!
It's unfortunate that all it took for Zinako is one bite from a piece of sushi to fall backward onto the guest bed and instantly fall asleep, snoring...
Fufu~, Zina now looked like her raven, both sleeping comfortably without the care in the world. Though, that bird is a bit eldritch, resting while facing sideways.
The door creaked open, and Inukori nervously strolled into the room, taking multiple glimpses at the bedroom and us at the oval hardwood table. He took another few glances at me especially, and it ended up making me suspicious of him.
I looked at him strangely, plopping a grape into my mouth. "Inukori, why are you standing there? You can come in and have dinner with me and my gluttonous servant."
Kagekome chuckled. "Aren't you the one who's eating a lot? I mean, I don't mind, you are a cutting board." He called me FLAT!
We suddenly noticed someone hiding behind Inukori. I'm not exactly sure who, but I noticed the reddish ears—visible above and behind his shoulder—and wagging vibrant red to orange tail with a white tip.
Inukori stepped aside and revealed a slightly shy and untrusting demi-human who seemed like she wanted to kill Kagekome and at the same time afraid of me. It almost reminded me of that ichor beast because of her appearance.
The wolf demi-human girl stared away from me.
Her strange red wolf ears had a yellow fur alongside some armor in between the ear and the hair. Her tail is fluffy like fire, having a puffy shape to it.
From top to bottom, she wore a sleeveless gray dress and had dark brown armors on her waist and legs. Her right fingers had finger claws, and her hair was the color of inside a juicy blood orange.
She's so familiar. Besides the fact that she's a demi-human, she almost had the same attitude toward Kagekome as that beast, and for me, I got the "You're the monster" fear treatment. So strange...
"Who is she, Inu? Is that your secondary girlfriend." Kagekome sarcastically chuckled as he pointed at the timid and irritated girl.
WOOF!... In response, the girl barked at him and hid behind Inukori, peeking out for his right side.
"Jeez, so aggressive."
Inukori awkwardly laughed. "Ehhaha-ehh, she a strange one alright, though she is the second in command of Sylaphie. Her name is Aorita, she's the humanoid version of the ichor beast we challenged a while ago."
She's WHAT!? W-w-wait? Uhh, you have to be kidding me!? She's that ichor beast but in the demi-human form! No way! So, the Queen of Dryad's second in command is the girl who belonged to the species that almost killed us. How coincidental...
I stood up, walking and slightly growling toward Inukori and the girl, Aorita. "You must be Aorita... Are you?"
She became scared like a lonely puppy, always depending on something to cling to. Her pupils shrank as she shivered, seeing through my soul to my hatred. However, she became a bit calmer when I removed that hate and started to have empathy.
"Sorry..." I put my hands out. "You are not that ichor beast from over ten thousand centuries ago. If you are, just stay away from me."
When Aorita isn't in her beast form, I felt a small reasoning to trust her or at least not get furious and scare her till the end of the earth. Nevertheless, hate isn't a good fit for me. It corrupted my luck and gleaming gold soul if I were to keep being an unreasonable being.
I looked at her, and she did the same... Aorita slowly showed signs of trust toward me and stepped away from Inukori. She looked at my hands then at my kind expression, her tail wagging furiously, and she became fidgety.
Out of the blue! Instead of shaking my hand, she kneeled and licked my hand before rubbing her head against it like a tamed wolf...
So... Sweet~!
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Royal Eruda-Doragon
Volume 1, Chapter 6
Author: Gutyhond Nguyen (Tyhond)
Published: May 4, 2021
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