Here I am.
Staring out into the distance, trying to understand what the hell just happened that day.
Even if I wanted to know, who would I ask that wouldn't call my thoughts fantasies or delusions again.
Conrad would be a good option.
However...
He was still recovering from what happened to him.
Everytime I go visit him I'm simply watching him sleep.
Its not as though he'd be able to move due to his injuries, but to be sleeping for so long...
When asking the doctors and priests, they said that his condition was externally induced.
That is to say it was a type of magic that's still afflicting him.
Strong magic at that.
The only thing that it could've been, was the dragons from before.
Seeing him lying in that bed, bandaged up and unmoving.
I shake my head of those thoughts and look down at the knights training field.
I watch as one of the knights gets dragged around by the little white dragon before sequentially being tripped.
"Pffheh."
With a small chuckle from the scene, I start thinking about that strange event once more.
Several days ago, after hearing about the dragon they captured, I was curious about it.
A dragon.
A surreal existence that you only see in movies and fairytales.
I knew that they existed in this world, but to think that we had one captured and locked up so close.
I simply had to see it for myself.
Was it going to be one of those dragons you'd expect out of those big movies, or maybe like one of the cute fluffy looking ones you see in those kids shows?
I was sure it would be the big ones like the movies: scales, big fangs, sharp claws; but I secretly hoped it was cute and fluffy looking.
Still, my journey was almost over before it started.
I managed to figure out where they were keeping the dragon by over hearing some knights talk about it.
They're using one of the cages for the larger beasts to hold the dragon.
They're not too far from the stables but are far enough away from the barracks and main manor so as to not cause too much trouble should it get loose.
...right. I doubt if a dragon got loose here, we'd be fine.
If it just flies and breathes its breaths enough this place will be up in flames in a matter of minutes.
Regardless I headed towards the monster stable, thinking I could convince the guards to let me see the dragon for just a few minutes.
Oh how wrong I was.
General Haveron was guarding the door.
The general was an easy going but serious person.
If I asked him to see the dragon, he would either refuse me outright or let me see but report to my father later.
Both options were unfavorable to me.
I didn't really have that great of a plan for getting inside to see the dragon for a couple minutes.
I thought I had to give up before I even got started, until my father decided to show.
When it happened, I hid myself just enough to where he didn't notice me around the corner.
He was dressed up in his usual business attire as he approached the general.
"General." He says moving up to him.
"Duke Rianard." The general replied with a smile.
"I'm surprised to see you stand guard."
"Well, I couldn't stay in bed all day, but I'm not in tip top shape to do any real heavy work." He replies.
Father looked at his arm before patting his shoulder.
"So, what exactly can you tell me about this dragon?" My father asked.
"It's quite the story M'lord." He says opening the door and leading my father inside. "As you're aware, I was off fighting one of the parents, and it was doing quite the number on my troops and I. I only heard the story once I regained consciousness back here..."
The two went past the door and closed it behind them.
With both of them in there, I had no real way of going in without being caught.
It was either turn back now, or risk being caught by my father.
With no guards and really nothing to lose I decided to follow the general and my father.
The way inside was dark.
Even with light peeking through several openings, the stone room had to be lit up along the way.
I slowly made my way down overhearing my father and the general talking from the hall's echo.
"It's very surprising. To say the least." Haveron says " I mean, we have never seen a dragon like this."
"Isn't it just a monster that looks like a dragon?" My father would ask.
"No, It's definitely a dragon. Appraising it shows as much." the general says.
I hurry my steps a bit more to hopefully catch a glimpse of what they were talking about.
I hear their footsteps stop as I reach the corridor where the dragon's cage was.
"White fur?" Father starts up again. "Reports said it was black."
I peak around the corner of the hall to see the two of them standing before the bars of the cage.
"Reports from those who survived said it was white before suddenly turning black." The general replies
"If its body turned black, then perhaps it's a skill related to it." My father placed a hand under his chin staring into the cage.
Both of them seemed distracted by the dragon, but I'm too far away for me to see anything.
I look around to spot some barrels a bit closer to the cage, but still out of their view.
So, if I slowly and carefully try to sneak inside...
"A variant? No wonder its stats are all over...Come out Ernamaria!"
I hear my father's voice boom and quickly hide.
It startled me.
I didn't expect him to catch me so suddenly.
I took a deep breath and walked out from my hiding spot and over to him.
"I thought I said that no one was allowed down here without my permission." He asks.
I stopped in front of him and the general.
"I'm sorry father." I peaked up at them, then shifted my eyes back down. "I was curious about the dragon and I couldn't quite control myself."
I hear my father sigh a familiar disappointed sigh.
"How many years has this been going on?" He asks no, before turning to me. "You're not a child anymore. You need to rein in these defiant habits of yours."
Defiant habits?
Don't act like I'm the only troublemaker in this family.
"If you keep this up you'll end up causing harm to the Von Saurtide name."
Right.
How could I forget?
He didn't care about what happened with his kids or what was wrong with them.
If anything, he cared more about his family name than his family's wellbeing.
Really...
My eyes drift away from him and well to the cage.
There I saw it.
The dragon, but...
It wasn't anything like I expected.
It was small with lustrous white fur with some strands ending suddenly in black streaks. Its small, rounded muzzle and pair of vibrant blue eyes gave it this cute and unimposing look to it.
It stared at me as I stared back at it.
I glanced back to my father who didn't seem pleased I was ignoring him.
Distraction.
I motion my gaze over to the cage, and this shifts both the general and fathers' attention away from me and towards the little dragon.
Sorry, little guy.
But you seem to be a bigger fish than me right now.
It rolled over to all fours and sat itself up while looking at as.
It scratched its ears with its front paw flipping it over much like a cat would.
"How long do you think it was awake?" the general whispered to my father.
"Who knows. It might not have been asleep at all and playing possum." My father whispered back.
Those two were back into their conversation again.
Well, that's fine with me.
Afterall, this was a good chance.
This dragon seemed extremely young and docile.
Perhaps if I can appeal to its better nature, I might be able to get something like dragon tamer or something similar.
I hear a small growl.
The dragon looks on edge now, with its guard up.
Could it sense my dark thoughts?
Must've sensed them, right?
Let's try being friendly.
"Come here little fella.~" I said softly to it, giving a small beckoning motion to it.
It looked at me weary, as if trying to figure out something, before approaching me.
Success.
"That's it. That's it." I say, putting my hand past the bars.
It got close to the bars and sat down in front of my hand.
It didn't get too close with my hand on its side like this.
If I turn it flat, will it be better?
It still looked at my hand confused.
"Come on. I won't hurt you." I tell it softly.
>"I'm not gonna sniff it if that's what you're waiting for."<
I blink, surprised by the sudden child-like voice I heard.
Even more so than that, the fact that it sounded like a beast growling at me, which made sense considering its source.
The little white dragon, now yawning and not even paying attention to me just...
"You...can talk?" I say dumbfounded.
It glanced over at me and then at my hand.
It then huffed before placing its large claw in my palm.
It was big and smooth on its palms.
I was half expecting its claws to be more like a cat or dog given its ears.
No, wait.
How was it able to talk right now?
Even more so, dad and the general didn't even bat an eye.
Can all dragons do this?
This is the first time I've ever seen a beast or monster speak.
Even though I've seen some movies with dragons talking, I never expected one to talk to me.
Also its paw is really soft and smooth.
It's like grabbing hold of a sheep's wool or rubbing smooth velvet between your fingers.
On top of which it feels so warm and comfortable just being in my hand.
>"Okay, enough of that."<
The dragon pulled its claw away from my hand and knocked me out of that trance.
"Oh come on little dragon just a little longer.~" I whine to it.
It didn't listen, returning back to its original spot before lying down.
I clicked my tongue before standing myself back up.
Dad seems to be thinking of something.
"Ernamaria."
I shudder and look towards my father.
"Y-Yes father?" I responded.
"We'll talk about your disobedience later." He looked over at my hand and then me before asking. "Were you satisfied with your visit here?"
I didn't respond to him that time, but if I was being honest I wasn't.
Even meeting that dragon didn't spark anything.
Well, that's not entirely true.
Just watching him outside, I can tell it doesn't speak to anyone else.
So why me?
...
"I have to find out."
...
...
I'm here again.
If dad finds out I'm in a place like this again I'll get in so much trouble.
But I have to find out the reasons for this.
I look down at the white furred creature in front of me.
Its blue eyes looking up at my own as if trying to figure out what I'm doing.
No time like the present.
"Um...Hello again little fella." I say to it.
It looks at me and then the bars.
"Do you still remember me?" I ask. "I'm from several days ago."
It looked at me as if thinking.
Well, what we had when we met couldn't exactly be called a fateful meeting.
I looked down at the covered tray I carried in one hand, and the ring of keys I had in the other hand.
Getting the keys from a guard was easier than I thought.
Perhaps I shouldn't be proud of my pickpocketing.
Oh, how my father will kill me if he ever finds out about this.
I use the key to open up the door to the cell and look at the dragon.
It just stared at me, watching my movements.
"Um...Hello." I say to the dragon.
It just blinked with an ear twitching from the sound.
I take a couple steps in and carefully crouch down, trying to keep my school uniform as clean as possible throughout the process.
The dragon seemed interested in my tray.
"I'm not sure what you'd like to eat." I started "So, I brought some cooked wild boar meat here for you."
It stared at me blankly again as I hear a small growl.
The dragon in question looked away from the tray...
Oh.
I see.
"Sounds like you're hungry enough."
I lifted up the tray letting the cooked beast inside free, along with the amazing aroma it had.
The dragon looked at the roasted pig in front of me and then myself.
This act of weariness again.
It's quite cautious for a 'dangerous beast.'
It slowly stepped forward towards the pig but kept an eye on me.
It gulped looking back at the pig, before opening its mou--geh!
Those fangs of it.
With its mouth closed it looked cute, but with its mouth open it was pretty intimidating.
Well, at least it took a bite.
"So? What do you think? Taste good?"
It's taking several bites now, digging into the large pig and eating without restraint.
Glad it's to your liking.
I watch as it eats the boar and try moving around it.
Looking at it this closely, I can see it's a very different dragon than what I was expecting.
It's cautious of my every move and reacts accordingly.
When I move to its side, it turns so it can watch me.
When I stand up above it, it growls and stops eating.
Whenever I reach out for it, it moves away from my hand, even going as far as to leave the boar.
It's always cautious and always prepared to react.
Hmm...
What am I doing?
I snuck into this cage to try and hear this dragon speak.
What for?
What would I gain from doing so?
It's not like I can just casually get a class from touching it.
Still...why is it that I can hear its voice?
Why does it bother me so much?
Hmm..
Hmmmm...
Hrnnnnngh...
"Gah! Screw it!"
I look over at the dragon before me as it gave me a look as if on edge.
Rude or not I'm going to Appraise it and figure out what the hell is going on.
Appraisal
Male Magma Dragon Wyrmling (Variant)⛓
[Status Restrained]
HP: 21438/21600
MP: 100⛓/1000
SP: 100⛓/1000
ST: 100%
ATK: 124⛓(12400)
DEF: 66⛓(6600)
SPD: 72⛓(7200)
INT: 350
Skill:⛓
「Scratch Lv10」「Slash Lv1」「Tail Sweep Lv6」「Tail Whip Lv3」「Small Bite Lv9」「Killing Bite Lv4」「Sneak Attack Lv1」「Wind Control Lv1」「Wind Magic」「Fire Cowl Lv1」「Dragon Breath Lv 4」「Mana Breath」「Fire Dragon Breath」「Water Dragon Breath」「Wind Dragon Breath」「Earth Dragon Breath」「Fire Resistance Lv10」「Fire Nullification」「Wind Resistance Lv1」「Electricity Resistance Lv2」「Plasma Resistance Lv1」「Fear Resistance Lv2」「Pain Resistance Lv16」「Concentration Lv2」「Perseverance Lv1」「Accelerated Thinking Lv2」「Danger Detection Lv2」「Weak Point Search Lv2」「Dismantling Lv3」「Tracking Lv3」「Stealth Lv1」「Teacher Lv5」「Climbing Lv2」「Dig Lv7」「Dragon Language」「Observation Lv10」「Appraisal Lv1」「Comforting Lv3」「Dragonize Lv1」「Skill Unlock Lv1」「Wind Blessing」「Hidden Lv???」「Fortune Trader」「Hyper Growth」
Wha-!?
I don't even know where to start with this one.
How much its power has been restrained?
The number of skills it has?
The name of skills I've never even heard of?
Let-let's start at the top.
First off this dragon is a Variant species.
Among all living things in this world there are creatures known as 'variants'.
Being such a creature means that it has abilities and powers others of the same species don't have, however this also means that they can have weaknesses often not found in their species.
Looking at this dragon it's safe to assume its species doesn't have fur like this.
Next are its actual stats.
This beast restraint collar is the same type that's used on tamed monsters and even some animals.
Wearing one will restrain its abilities equal to whatever the strength of the collar can handle.
Even so.
A hundredth of its natural power!?
This little dragon is being restrained so much that it can't even use a bit of its power, and yet it's able to tug around the knights day after day?
Is this how dragons normally are, or is this only to this little guy?
That said, he's not as harmless as I first thought.
Even with his powers restrained he still has power above 100.
If the two of us ever fought, I'd be killed without a doubt.
Even the average knight would lose in a one-on-one fight with it.
Which would explain why my sister has been around the training fields more often.
At its current level, she's one of the few people able to instantly subdue him, should he ever go wild.
...come to think of it, my sister mentioned fighting a dragon, but not a something like this.
Does that mean there's a dragon much stronger than this little fella?
The second that thought crossed my mind I shuddered.
It was like a looming dread suddenly made itself known.
Hrnm!
Shake it off Ernamaria.
Next thing to note is...
Geh!
Next thing to note is the glare from that little dragon.
It growled under his breath with fur standing on end.
I messed up.