Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ahh~…finally, it was his break day, kim rok soo decides to try and read a book that was recommended to him, it was called “The birth of a hero” or just tboah.After buying like.. 5 volumes of the book, he started ‘record’ and started reading it.

….

While reading the book, he thought that this book was what a normal adventure book, it was about a young Korean teenager named ‘Choi han’ who got suddenly got brought to another world, got trapped in a forest called ‘the forest of darkness’ and had a bad time there and then found hope at harris village.Said village got destroyed and he decided his goal to beat the people who destroyed the village, and found some companions.

Even though the story was kinda generic, he still respected choi han since even after going through hardships, he still continued and went to be the mc unlike him, who after going through hardship, just decided to quit and never wanted to be a protagonist ever again…but enough about him, he still needed to read the story.

After reading all 5 volumes, he started to become drowsy, maybe it was…a recoil from using record..?. Either way he just fell asleep without being able to think much about it.

….

“-e got a good one!”

“-ow, right?, apparently his father isn’t even looking for him!”

“-t was a steal!”

‘What the?, why are people talking?, why does it sound so foreign?, yet, why can i understand it?’

“Hey!, shouldn’t the kid be awake by now?”

“Hmm.. maybe the potion worked super well..?,i mean didnt the info about this kid said that he has a weak body?

‘Ah, they think i’m still asleep, good. But they said ‘kid’?,and info about me having a weak body?’, it does not sound like him at all, so what he’d have to guess is that he’s somehow in a child body.

‘Hmm, do people who have gone through situations like these become more calm?’

“Hey!, stop talking!, we should just focus on the goods, don’t let it have a single scratch!”

“Yes, sir!”

…

He flinched when a bucket of water was thrown on him,

“Oh wow, looks like the brat knows how to act. But sorry kid, it won’t work that well here”

Kim rok soo just glared at the person who just threw water at a child, the person just looked a bit stunned after seeing that glare,

“Hey, didn’t the info say that the henituse kid was timid?”

‘Henituse..? Henituse…Henituse?!’ If Kim rok soo wasn’t that surprised that he was being kidnapped in a child’s body, he would be now, henituse was the last name of the minor villain in the novel he just read. Wait!, he also had some other step siblings too!. Yet he think he might actually be the minor villain ; cale henituse!. It was described that cale henituse had red blood hair that was quite memorable, and when he opened his eyes he saw stands red hair from his head!.

‘WHAT IS WITH MY LUCK, DAMN IT!’

“Hmm i think he changed when his mother died actually, it was said that he didn’t cry.”

“Ahh, so this ungrateful brat is cold hearted too?.. well he might actually get what he deserves then.”

‘…’

‘Well i now know what didn’t change from my past life too i guess. But i don’t think i remember this happening in the novel, yet the novel also didn’t say anything about any of the henituse’s family member’s backstory’, he doesn’t recall that there had been anything about cale henituse’s past too.

“We need to bring him to young master venion( i think they called him young master?), he will get what he deserves for being so cold hearted and ungrateful”

‘Wait… wasn’t venion the name of the person who tortured the young black dragon??, oh no’

“Yes, sir!”

Well he just got transported here, and it already looks like his future is going to be hell.

Chapter Text

He was eventually led to a room a couple of minutes later. The sound of a whip and chains were ringing across the hallways. And what seems to be the sound of an annoying spoiled child rang out.

“This isn’t fun anymore! Use the rest of the tools and give me more reactions! Or else you’re FIRED.”

The person who was leading him eventually shoved him into the room hence making him fall down on the floor. Right in front of him however was the ‘annoying spoiled child’ called Venion Stan.

“Young master, we got another person for you!”

“Hmm?. Oh my! Look at his bright red hair! It so beautiful, i wonder if his blood would look better!.”

Ok, nope rok soo already decided to smack venion in the back later. It was not even 1 minute into him meeting venion and he already weirded him out.

“Yes, i must say you did a great job finding a new toy for me, i shall give you a raise later”

“Yes!, thank you young master!”

“But who is this again?”

“Ah!, he’s the first born son of the henituse family, cale henituse!”

‘Well i guess that cleared my suspicion, i really am cale henituse’

“Oh?, and are you not afraid that count deruth would search for him?”

“No young master!, in these past few days since we ..er… got the kid, the count hasn’t looked for him”

“Oh my! Well looks like the poor oldest son of the count’s family was abandoned! Good job, i’ll make sure to put a good word for you with my father.”

“Thank you young master!, you’re the most generous person in the world!”

“Hmm, yes i know that, now throw my new toy with my pet”

“Yes!”

And with that, cale was thrown into the prison with…

‘THE DRAGON????’

‘WHAT IS THE DRAGON DOING HERE???, WASN’T IT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE WHEN CALE HENITUSE TURNED 14???’

While looking at the dragon bewilderedly, the young black dragon just glared at cale.

‘Yep… what a vicious gaze.’

Looking back at his hands, he still saw that it looked like a child’s hands, and when he stood up, he was not tall, so… does this mean the story’s events happened much quicker???

Looking back at the dragon, Cale decided to have some small interaction with it. Maybe the dragon will spare him later on?

So Cale waved his small hand at the dragon as a formal sign to show that he’s just a weakling.

With cale greeting the dragon, the dragon just glared cale even harder as a greeting. Feeling a bit… intimidated by the glare, Cale quickly shut whatever plan he had that involved interacting with the dragon.

He needs to sort his mind, looks like he can still access records because parts of the book ‘tboah’ that he recorded and other memories he recorded was still here. So does that mean ‘instant’ is also useable… not like he’s going to use it! He’s still in a child’s body.

And it looks like he’ll need to keep an ear out for news or gossip on if there would be a day where venion would leave for maybe enough time for him and the black dragon to escape.

He didn’t want venion to get notified him and the black dragon escaping so they would need to escape when the guards aren’t conscious or in their right mind.

With the plan in mind, cale decided to rest, hes not stupid, he can guess that he would also be tortured with the black dragon, so he needed to preserve as much energy as he can later.

….

What he thinks as the next day arrive, he was woken up by someone yelling,

“Oi!, brat!, it’s time for you to wake up!.”

And with that he woke up, and the person took him somewhere… disgusting.

“This is the bathroom, go do your business and don’t even think ‘bout escaping”

And with that he was left in the ‘bathroom’ which was more like a place filled with buckets that was so disgusting he didn’t want to see what was inside those buckets. But, he did his business and decided to follow the person’s advice and not think about escaping thanks to him already having a plan.

“Well ain’t you smart, you did no funny business right?”

Cale just nodded, he didn’t want to spend any of his precious energy on talking with this person. And he walked back to the ‘prison’ again. The black dragon was still there too, and glaring.

Anyways, after what he thought might be 2-3 hours later that bastard venion shows up, and if his day wasn’t ruined that much when he saw the bathroom, it was now.

Seeing venion as a young kid and still have the same personality he has as a adult was very… relieving, at least he didn’t need to feel guilty about smacking a child on the back now, since the child was never innocent to begin with.

He now got the schedule on the torture, the young black dragon would get tortured in the morning(breakfast) and he would get torture at night( dinner ), seeing the torture the black dragon went through, he thought it was quite amazing that the dragon lasted 4 years of torture before going berserk. After the torture was done, venion left with a smile on his face, and left the black dragon. Said dragon was currently being forced to drink something that looks like a low grade healing potion as the dragon’s wounds did not completely heal.

‘Bastards’ was the only thing cale could think of whike watching this. After the dragon was done being forced to drink the healing potion, they also gave them food, what looks like half moldy bread for him, and a pice of raw meat for the dragon. He didn’t really feel that hungry after what he saw, so he decided to give the dragon some food. After all, food is a great way to gain a person’s trust, and right now, he needed the dragon to not kill him later when he decided to escape with the dragon.

He slowly walked up to the dragon, the dragon looked like it was already in a defensive position, as if ready to brace on whatever attacks cale would do to it. Cale then just placed the pice of bread near the dragon and hurriedly went back to his corner.

———-

His action confused the dragon greatly, he thought humans we’re bad, and he despised them, but after seeing this human get dragged into the prison with him, it was quite confusing, maybe this human was here to keep track on him?. Yet why was this human so small?. Although the human was small, he decided to be wary of him, since all humans were bad. So when he glared at the human, he thought that the human would be mad but the human just let him be.

And then, the other bad human came to wake up the weak small human by raising their voice and make it louder. And then the weak small human saw him being attempted to be ‘tamed’(not that he ever will, he will never surrender to humans! Dragons are the most majestic creature!) and then they brought the food, after he saw the human walking up to him, he knew it!, every humans were the same!. They just want to hurt you! The small young dragon closed his eyes and waited for the impact, but then the human just gave up its food, and went back to where he was before!

This action greatly confused the majestic small dragon, why would the small weak human give its food up to him?, so, he decided to observe the human for a while!. He can see and judge whether this human was the same as other humans or not!.

(Cale felt goosebumps as if someone was talking about him)

And after that, the dragon ate the piece of (moldy?) bread warily, at least it’s gaze that looked like it wanted to kill cale lessened.

‘Food truly is a great way to get the trust of somebody’

And with that cale decided to sleep for the meantime while waiting for night time.

….

At what he supposed was currently night time, he got thrown on the floor, with what he supposed the objective to wake him up

“Hmm.. since its a new toy, don’t break it that much, we want to preserve it for as long as we can!”

With how cheerfully that devil child(venion) said that, you wouldn’t think that he was talking about a person that was about to be tortured for entertainment.

And with that venion’s servant went to fetch a whip that didn’t look as bad as the dragon’s but it still looked like it hurt

‘Even in this world i’m supposed to be subjugated to torture too’

And just that the sound of the whip echoed the room,
The first sound of the whip hitting skin, the second, and then a scream followed the third sound of a whip hitting skin.

“Wow!, the screams of my new toy are amazing!, i couldn’t even get that sound coming from my pet over there!, hey!, continue the whip!”

And more sound of a whip hitting the skin and more screams of pain echoed, and more sounds of joy following every single scream.

….

After what seemed to be hours of torture, venion finally finished his meal and left, cale was also given one of the low quality potions that was given to the dragon, as he expected, the potion did not close up all the wounds completely, he supposes this was done intentionally to make the person be in more pain when the wounds opened again.

After that, he was definitely tired, and they were given another meal again, he got another piece of (moldy?) bread and the dragon got raw meat. Yet this time, the dragon seemed to be sending him looks, he didn’t really pay attention to it that much, maybe it wanted his bread?, he didn’t really feel like eating that much, so he split the bread into half and gave one half the the dragon, he didn’t know why but the dragon looked at the bread oddly, maybe it was because the dragon didn’t really like it?

Cale just ate his pice of bread quietly and went to sleep, he didn’t really want to be conscious when his whole body still hurt, yet it was also a challenge to get his mind to sleep. After he finally managed to sleep, the dragon placed its attention back on the small weak human. The dragon has came to a conclusion that this small weak human was good, and not not the same as the other bad humans, he decided that he needed to protect the human too since the human gave him his food, the dragon came to a conclusion that when he escapes he needs to take the human with him too!, since the human is also in the same position as him because of the bad humans!.

….

The next morning went by as usual, but this time cale decided to keep his food since he realized he probably didn’t eat that much yesterday, and that was probably why he didn’t have that much energy. The torture went by the same as yesterday, the did try some new torture on him too that was hurt quite a lot and was very unpleasant. He then gave his share to the dragon and this time, he got news from hearing the guards talking about some banquet about the 3rd prince and that every single noble needed to attend, since venion stan was the son of a noble, he obviously needed to go to, but the problem is that he doesn’t know when the banquet starts, looks like he needs too keep an eye(technically ear) out tomorrow.

…

After a couple of days, he learned that the banquet will be held on next month, looks like he needs to hold on a bit longer, except for that piece of info, his day has been the same as the other days, so when his torture time came, he thought it would be either they wanted to whip him or maybe cut him again or something else that he cant remember, but..

“Hmm.. people have two eyes right?”

“Yes young master?”

“Im asking you if people have two eyes, are you deaf?”

“Forgive this servant’s incompetence!, yes people have two eyes”

Cale already feels like he knows whats going to happen, and he doesn’t like it.

“Well~ people can live with only one eye right?”

“Yes?”

“Well how about today, you try doing something to my toy’s eye after the normal session?, it’s more preferable that you try it with his right!~”

No no no no no, his right eye is his dominant eye, if his right eye is gone, he wouldn’t be able to achieve his slacker life dream, his ‘record’s’ strength would also probably decrease, he cant let this happen.

“Y..y..yes! Young master, i.. i will do as you say!”

And with that the torture session began, cale didn’t have much time to think about how to get out of the eye situation since his mind is only focused on the pain so far, ‘curse this child’s body!, its still not that used to pain!, it cant ignore the pain!’. Because of the pain and the fact that this body can’t ignore the pain as good as his old body, his mind keeps getting cut of because of the pain.

“Okay!, that enough!~, lets move on to the eye shall we?”

With that sentence alone, the dragon was already trying to fight the chains, the dragon got chained yesterday because it bit of the torturer’s hand when venion wanted his servant to do a torture experiment on cale. But cale cant focus on the dragon since his body is in so much pain, all that he could process was venion’s sentence.

When the servant tried to get close to cale with a dagger, and tried to get near his eye, cale decided to bite his finger and that worked out quite well, except for the fact that the servant got mad and started running towards him after falling on the ground in shock, cale could not run since he does not have any stamina left in his body so when the servant grabbed him, and raised the dagger he got from the floor, and when the dagger got close to his right eye, cale unconsciously swayed his head to the right, and hid left eye got stabbed.

“AGHHHHH, FUCK!”

That was the scream he could let out after getting stabbed in his left eye. The servant looked stunned then quickly looked toward venion.

“Hmm, the scream it let out was satisfying, so i’ll let it pass even if it was the left eye you stabbed, but that language was foul! Say… why don’t you cut his tounge?”

Both the servant and Cale were shocked when they heard that. No no no! Cale needed his voice. He can’t let it go! No! He can’t let them.

“Bahahaha! Just kidding! Your reactions are like deers caught in headlights. Why don’t you cut his throat a bit hm? Just a little lesson for using foul language! But after this don’t use the healing potion on him. Let it be permanent!”

The servant slowly nodded and slowly got close to Cale. Cale not being one to back down without a fight went into a defensive position. He can’t afford to lose his voice.

The servant lunged at him and Cale did his best to break free with whatever power he had left in him. However a person who just got stabbed in the eye probably doesn’t have a lot of power left in them. So he eventually got tackled down on to the floor. He could feel ever bit of the knife going to his throat and cutting it hence drawing blood. He was screaming, flailing, and crying. And with each passing second his voice became hoarse and his consciousness started to black out.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

And the servant just nodded quickly, not wanting venion to get mad, then another person ran inside to quickly bandaged his wounds, the bandages barely helped him numb the pain in his left eye and they just gave him bandage and told him to wrap it him self. The pain was quite unbearable and he still kept making the sound of what seems to be groaning and tried to catch his breath to think straight, eventually he calmed down a bit but his left eye and throat was still in so much pain. Luckily, it was not the right eye that got stabbed so the ‘record’ was still working yet a bit blurry since his left eye… just got stabbed.

He started trying to recall the time of the apocalypse, he needed to remember the time when grandma kim bandaged the other people when the uses of her skill reached its limit for the day, even if that memory wasn’t recorded, kim rok soo was still someone who had a good memory even without the ‘record’, he eventually remembered how grandma kim bandaged the people who injured their eyes, he tried to do the same with the bandages they left him, it was quite… lacking compared to grandma kim’s since he rarely bandaged himself before, yet it was still approvable.

After bandaging his eye and throat, he noticed that there was no one who delivered their meals, he also noticed the dragon staring at him, he felt like the dragon was worried for him, but the novel explained that dragons are arrogant creatures and he immediately dispelled the possibility of the dragon being worried for him.

He just decided to sleep since venion said that he probably would be out of use for a couple of days, meaning he probably wont be tortured for the next couple of days.

Chapter Text

Cale woke up in the night(at least he thinks) due to the sound of chain rattling. He saw the young black dragon struggling with the chains and it seems like it wants to go to… cale?

Wait a minute. The black dragon, noticing that cale had woke up and saw it struggling, immediately stopped in it’s tracks.

The two of them just made eye contact. Until..

“Uhh.. do you need help?” Cale broke the silence. He honestly did not know why the black dragon seems like it wants to go to him. But as long as its not to kill him, he wont mind.

The dragon just silently nodded its head. And with that cale went to go to the dragon, it seems like his wounds didn’t heal that well, every step he took stung. He finally reached the black dragon and took a dagger he took in secret from the last accident and tried to cut through the chains… well it of course didn’t work, all he could do was just fix the chain so the dragon could access more to the room while still being chained.

“Sorry, this is the best i could do” the dragon just nodded and looked at him.

“…”

This is getting quite awkward..

“did you need anything else?”

With that question, the dragon just nodded its head and patted its paws on to the floor next to it, it seems like the dragon wants cale to… sit next to it?,

‘I mean, as long as it doesn’t want to kill me, sure i guess..?’

With that cale just obliged and sat next to it. The dragon just decided to lean closer and use cale as a pillow. The dragon didn’t really know why it did this, but after what happened, it just felt like it needed to comfort(in it’s own way) the small weak human so it doesn’t get sad. Cale, not understanding this attempt of comfort is greatly confused.

The most logical solution in this situation?

Yup, its to pat the dragon’s head. And thats how he ended up in this position, the black dragon sleeping on him like he’s a pillow, while he’s patting the dragon’s head while carefully avoiding the injuries. Cale didn’t know why but he felt a bit of comfort coming from this gesture.

‘Huh, must be my imagination’(cale strikes again by thinking gestures that attempt to give comfort as an imagination)

And cale slowly started to fall asleep in that position.

Morning starts and cale is once again woken up by the same person as other days, except, why does the person look scared?, maybe it’s his imagination again, maybe the imagination has been starting because of the torture?.

(Cale did not see the young dragon glaring at the person)

And the day went by as usual, and his guess was actually kinda wrong, they still did the torture but not as extreme as before. But..

“Hmmm, i heard that the banquet for the 3rd prince is coming, and i also have to attend”

“Yes, young master?”

“Do you know what that means?”

“I do not young master, young master is the most knowledgeable person and this humble servant is not up to level with the young master”

“Hmm~ yes you aren’t up to level with me, I suppose i could tell you so your feeble brain could understand “

“I thank you for your generosity, young master”

“Yes, yes. That means i would be gone in the next 2 weeks, and i would have to leave my toy and pet unattended for a week, so i would like to prolong the session starting tomorrow, prepare every single tools you have so you can entertain me. Understand?”

“Yes, young master!”

Well that piece of information was kinda useful, at least he now knows he needs to endure for 2 more weeks, but prolonging the sessions? Cale doesn’t really want to know what venion is going to want the torturer to do for the next 2 weeks to them.

….

The day arrives, the day where the session prolongs, and also the day where they only need to endure for 2 more weeks, the dragon also looks like it also remembers what venion said. After the day where cale’s left eye was injured, and the day where the black dragon asked for that weird request, the black dragon seems to grow kinda attached to him, it sometimes would go to cale and just wait for him to give it pats and just sleep on him. Also, cale’s left eye after the accident stopped working and he couldn’t see through the eye, he needs to wear the bandage over his left eye now to cover the scar.

The morning torture session started, cale had counted how long it lasted, it lasted about 5 hours and 32 minutes which was a long time compared to the usual which is around 2 hours and 10 minutes. The torture session for the black dragon was even more vicious this time, they tried out more extreme torture than usual, such as, trying to test out electrical shock, using a whip with the top part covered with fire and more. The black dragon made more groans of pain than what he usually made too.

Of course, while the torture was happening, cale was thinking about ways to make venion pay(every single solution wasn’t satisfactory enough for him). Once the torture session finished, they gave the dragon the low quality healing potion and their food again.

Cale gave all of hist bread to the black dragon, and patted its head(he learned that the dragon likes its head to be patted), it looks like it helped the dragon go to sleep.

Time for dinner began and it was cales turn, at the start of the torture, venion wanted the normal, which cale had gotten accustomed to. And then,

“Mm.. this is getting boring”

“What should i do now, young master?”

“Hmm, try the same thing we did with the dragon in the morning!, go get the fire whip!”

“Y-young master.. forgive this lowly servant, but won’t he die if i do that?”

“Then just don’t do it on the vital spots, give him 2 of the potions after then.”

“Yes, young master”

Hearing this conversation, the was only one thing going on through cale’s mind.

‘Is it universal to want to torture me??, i just got my left eye stabbed’

It really did seem like the universe was out to get him for… whatever sin he committed. But this is serious, the whip would hurt more this time. But the dragon is currently still asleep so at least it wont be able to see this.

When he saw the fire whip(? I don’t know what to call it except for ‘fire whip’), he felt like the world started to get slower. But alas, the time for the time for the torture session doesn’t wait for anybody, and cale was dragged (again)

‘Can’t i sue them for child abuse at this point?, although I’m in a child’s body, i’m mentally 36, but they don’t know that’

Knowing that he’s probably thinking of these random thoughts might be to have something to distract him from the torture, he started thinking about Korea.

The servant looked at him weirdly, the weird child that had his left eye bandaged looked… serious?, the child had a very stoic expression that greatly creeped the servant.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh!, nothing young master!, for give this servant for its incompetence!.”

And the servant carefully walked towards the… creepy kid, he then swung the fire whip. After a couple of swings, the most he could get out of the kid were a couple of flinches, and a couple of groans.

“Scream damn it!” The servant whispered to cale, he(servant) was very desperate, if he could not satisfy venion, he would be punished. But cale did not budge so..

“Hey!, are you even doing it properly?, it’s not screaming!. Here let me do it you imbecile!”

“Y..y..yes, young master!. Forgive me!-“

“Yes, yes, don’t spew out the same words, its making me tired”

“…”

As venion grabbed the whip. Cale’s imagination also ran out. And he started noticing the burns on his body, so he hissed at the pain.

“Oh~, looks like my toy is afraid of me?”

Hearing what venion said just made him want to kill him, Cale does not care if he’s still a child, he would kill him even for free. He, of course did not say what he thought out loud and just glared at venion.

“Uh!, you dare glare at me!”(the glare was effective in making venion angry)

‘Huh, maybe i should glare at venion from now on, it does seem to make him angry a lot.

“How dare you!” And with that last sentence, venion swung the whip without any care for which place it could hit(he forgot he said that it shouldn’t hit the vital parts). And cale let out a scream for every hit venion gave, it also did not help that venion hit some places for example, near his heart, near his jaw, near hid kidney, and other vital spots.

“AHHHHH”

“AHHHH”

At this point this new body would be no different from his old body( just with a damaged left eye), his old body was covered in scars from the apocalypse, and this new body will be covered in scars from torture.

With every hit, came out a child’s scream, and there was times when the whip hit very hard near a vital spot, which made an even more terrifying scream.

“AGHHHHHH”

“Hmph, this will teach you to obey!”

And the last hit was a very hard hit at the back, and venion just left. Looks like venion didn’t really like what cale did today so he gave him only one low-quality healing potion instead of two. Unfortunately where they put the potion was in-font of cale, and he could not reach it with his hands.

‘Curse this short body!, is the universe really out to make me suffer??’

Every move he made was painful, he really didn’t know if the accident(left eye injury) was more painful than this one, when the accident happened, his left eye was where most of the pain were. But right now, everything hurts, his legs hurts, his arms, his back, every where hurts.

The healing potion did nothing, and he was left in pain the whole night.

‘Might as well go to sleep, the dragon is also already sleep so he doesn’t need to go it anymore.’

….

After being sure that the human was asleep, the young black dragon opened its eyes. The dragon saw the human laying on the ground presumably sleeping. It slowly walked towards the small weak human and decided to sleep next to the human.

The dragon, although did not see what happened, he could still hear, (dragons are majestic creatures and have great hearing!) so the dragon could guess on what the human had to go through from the noise they made.(dragons are also quite intelligent).

Seeing that the human was still bleeding a bit from the not completely healed wounds, the dragon has decided that it will protect the small weak human and not let it get hurt ever again!.

With the goal in mind, the dragon slowly went to sleep.

And the days began to pass by. There wasn’t really any change to their schedule or anything extraordinary that happened for the last 1 week, sometimes if cale did not give a satisfactory show, venion would take over and give no mercy. So these 1 week cale would say his acting in making terrifying screams increased( although it was already good to begin with). His acting in being scared also got fortified, and he could say that it would take a genius in acting to know that if he’s faking being scared or not.

And one day before that devil child(venion) leaves arrives. In all honesty cale can not wait to give venion payback. At night time, venion was supposed to depart, so his torture session would be cut of by a bit.

When venion was about to depart, cale was given some bandages since what his body looked like scared the other people, and this place would be more guarded today, so they didn’t want anyone else to get scared.

At night time, as cale expected, they all started drinking as if their lives depended on it. And they got drunk pretty quick. Cale decided to make a ruckus so,

“Hey, sir!”

“What?”

“You are quite pathetic no?, you have to act like someone so lowly in front of a kid(venion), and you’re an adult no?

Yes, thats right cale decided to rile this guard in specific, according to what cale saw, this guard had the most power between all of the other guards guarding the cell, and his personality is what he needed.

“YOU!, HOW DARE YOU!”

“Sir.. theres no nee-“

“NO!, this kid decided to make a grave mistake, and rile me up. You should all leave, i don’t want you all to see what i’ll do to this kid”

“Ye-yes, sir!”

“Man, i feel bad for that kid”(whisper)

“I mean, its that kid’s fault for riling him up. Lets just not get too close, i don’t think that dude would spare that kid”(whisper)

Although they were whispering, the’ve underestimated cale’s hearing abilities, cale had to keep and ear out for every single whisper even when he was in pain. Though it was quite good that they underestimated him, as they just let the info out of their mouths and thought he wouldn’t be able to hear.

“Now, kid, lets teach you about consequences.”

Just as cale planned, this one is a bit sloppy, and didn’t lock the door, although cale might be weak, he still had a trump card up his sleeve,

“C’’mere you-“

“Now”

“Huh-“

And then black dragon attacked him from behind, it was great that the dragon looked as dark as the night!, it blended in with the shadow and attacked from behind.

Cale remembered that in the novel, it was said that, that bastard(venion) implemented a safety measure, where if the torturer received a higher attack than an average person’s strength. So he needed to talk with the dragon about the plan, and get it to not bite the torturer that hard

“AH-“

Cale swiftly covered the person’s mouth with a part of his shirt that he ripped. Now he needed a way to make the guy unconscious, luckily for him, he still remembered when lee soo hyuk made someone unconscious by hitting some key points of the body. And he repeated it.

The guy went unconscious, and cale went out side of the jail, careful for any traps, he was followed by the black dragon. Cale tried to find anything that could cut through the thing on the dragon’s neck.

‘Hmm, this thing could work’

He grabbed some thing that looked like a pair of scissors just thicker and stronger, he also grabbed some healing potions, and coins( he basically looted every single coins or shiny things he found). He started feeling the walls since he knew that venion has a secret escape route incase of an intruder that even the torturers don’t know of.

“Hey, can you destroy this wall, but only use enough strength to only destroy the wall” listen, cale did not want this whole place to be destroyed yet, it would be too suspicious.

“My name is not ‘hey’”

And with that sentence, he just destroyed the wall(he’s grateful that the dragon did not destroy the whole place yet). Cale grabbed the torch nearby and held the dragon in his arms(he did not know why but the dragon wanted him to hold him(the dragon)), and started walking through the tunnel.

He certainly did not feel that comfortable carrying a dragon was still kinda wounded and was careful of the half-opened wounds(he still felt some blood on his clothes). After getting out of the tunnel and that hellish place, he put down the dragon. The dragon’s rebellious gaze was gone and was replaced with admiration while looking at the night sky.

“Stop staring at me”

He told the dragon that was staring at him. He personally liked the dragon, because it’s different from him who gave up when he was being abused by his uncle.

“Hey”

He walked closed to the dragon and held the dragon’s neck. The dragon closed it’s eyes as if bracing for an impact. The dragon knows all well that the small weak human probably won’t hurt him, but it was still a self defense mechanism that he probably wont forget.

Cale eventually managed to cut the mana restricting chain, and felt an electrical shock from the chain and into his hands

‘Ahh. Shit, that hurts, i should’ve gotten the electricity resistant gloves.’

“What are you looking at?” Cale then grabbed the actual high-quality healing potion he looted from the hellish place. He then started to speak,

“Do you know how hard it was to find this?”

The dragon just stared at the small weak human that he could easily kill, the dragon started to remember when he was just born, a lot of people said things that were almost the same as what the weak human said.

However,

“Since I spent so much money on you, you better heal properly, you stupid fool.”

The dragon did not feel any pain.

Cale poured about half of the potion onto the dragon’s back, and poured the rest into its mouth. Thankfully, the dragon did not resist, and swallowed it down.

After a few minutes, Cale could only think that it really was a dragon. The mana, which was the equivalent to the dragon’s heart and the source of all of its power, started to move in its body.

All of the injuries on the dragon’s body instantly disappeared, and a blue aura that seemed to be the dragon’s mana surrounded its body like the wind.

This change that occurred in an instant made Cale think about just how scary and powerful of an existence dragons really were in this world.

“Hey.”

The dragon should have no reason to get injured anymore. The smart dragon seemed to understand what had happened to its body, as its eyes came completely back to life.

Cale took a step toward the dragon. The baby dragon curled up while continuing to observe Cale. Cale ignored the dragon and asked.

“What do you want to do now?”

Cale started to smile while looking at the dragon that remaining silent.

“I know you can speak the human language. You are a dragon. The smartest and strongest existence in the world.”

Cale asked once more.

“What did you want to do once you got free?”

“…I.”

The dragon started to speak. The dragon really did know how to speak the human language. It was much smarter than humans. There was no way it did not learn the human language( and it looked like it should be maybe 2-3 years old right now).

“I”

The dragon started to feel the strength in his heart and his body, he could easily kill the small weak human right now. But the weak human didn’t do any harm to him and even helped him escape, he had gained the strength he had waited for so long to obtain.

That was why the dragon said what he the thing he said thought to him self for the last 2 years. However, this was the first time he said it out loud.

“I will live.”

He will live, no matter what it took.

“I will go away.”

He was going to go away from here.

He revealed his inner thoughts.

“I will not be tamed.”

“Yes. You are right.”

Cale was saying the dragon was right.

“You are a dragon. A DRAGON. You have the right to live freely-“

“I will also protect you!, small weak human!”

What.

Here is a picture of this fanfic cale!

Chapter Text

Well, this must be a phase right?, right???. The black dragon will probably soon leave him, right???, cale hopes that if theres a god, please don’t let this inconvenience his slacker life in any way. I mean it probably wont, right???( ahh, cale and his delusions).

“Okay..”

“Good!. Now!, weak human, what’s your name?”

On this question cale(kim rok soo?) actually considered it(kinda), he eventually chose to keep the name ‘cale henituse’ instead of kim rok soo the name would be too foreign and probably attract more attention.

“Cale Henituse, what about yours?”

“.., this.. this mighty dragon doesn’t have one yet!, so it will give you the honor to name it!”

“…”

Okay, he doesn’t know why, but his slacker life seems like it’s getting further away from him, must be his imagination?(it wasn’t)

“Sure.. ill try to come up with a suitable name..”

“Yes!, you better pick a great name, as great and mighty as me!”

Cale and the young dragon chatted for a while and cale eventually learned that it was currently 2 years old. After what seemed to be a couple of hours traversing through some forest? They got to, cale’s stomach grumbled.

‘Huh, must be because I gave my food to the dragon.’

“!, small weak human! Wait here!, i’ll go catch you some food!”

“Wait-“

And the black dragon was already gone. Welp, nothing he can do about it he guesses. After what might be like 30 minutes?, the dragon came back with a…

‘HOLY SHIT, IS THAT A FUCKING BEAR??’

Yes, thats right. The black dragon came with a fucking bear, a whole bear and carried it with its magic like it was nothing,

‘Dragons truly are vicious..’

“Here weak human!”

“…”

“Do you want me to cook it?..” (cale)

“Huh?”

And cale had to explain what cooking meant to the dragon, the dragon eventually caught on that humans could not eat raw meat and might get sick. And what the dragon thought about this?…

“Wow!, you really are a small and veryyyyyyyyyyy weak human!”

Yes, that was it’s first response after cale explained about cooking and about humans eating raw meat. It seems like that just made the dragon to fortify its decision on protecting the small and even weaker human than he imagined!.(cale doesn’t know what he would do if he heard this, should he be happy he’s getting a dragon’s protection, or sad since he feels like this would get in the way of his slacker life?).

“But how would you cook this?”

“We need to make a fire first”

After the dragon heard the reply, the dragon made the fire with his magic(mana?, i don’t really remember).

“Wow”

“Hmph!, that’s right! I am a mighty dragon!, this is nothing to me!”

‘Wow dragons truly are mighty’

“Now! Small weak human, show me how do you cook!”

…

Although Kim rok soo(cale) might not be as great as a cook, he still learned to do the basics and might be able to be called a good(mediocre) chef, so with the… bear… the dragon caught him, he was able to make something… at least edible.

He gave maybe 2/3rd of the meat to the dragon and the rest to him. And… his cooking was.. actually good(very surprising for him), although it might not be that great, it was still good(and at least edible).

“Wow!, weak human, you cook good food”

He’s gotta admit, being praised by a dragon was a bit nice(keyword: a bit, since he still has 0 self-worth). But, the dragon probably said that because it was probably it’s first time eating cooked food.(whenever raon eats beacrox’s food he always compares it to cale’s, of course beacrox always wins, but raon kept saying that cale’s food was only a bitttttt worse(raon was biased) than beacrox’s)

After they finished eating, they went back to walking, and chatted for a while, the dragon asked a lot of things a normal dragon would ask, like,

“Small weak Human, where are we going?”

“Small weak human, why do the plants look like this?”

“Small weak human, what are the names of these things?”

And quite a lot more, if cale’s being honest, he would say that this was getting kind of repetitive, but he still answered all of the questions since the dragon would probably just leave him if he satisfied it’s curiosity… right?, it was said that dragon’s also seek knowledge about what they know, right?(cale didn’t really read that in the novel, since the novel didn’t really get into information about dragons a lot, and it was just his plea).

They did this process for a week(maybe?) and, by some miracle, they exited the forest( he thinks that the forest might be the forest of darkness, since the monsters looked weird.., and there were goblins too) and they saw a city. From what he saw, the city had a lot of rocks stacked on top of each other, so this place must me puzzle city!. Looks like he hit the jackpot, he remembered that Taylor Stan started to find out about powers to heal his leg, but he found nothing. He then found a book that had clues from a book in a book store, ‘restoration’ and ‘rock tower’ after analyzing the book, he immediately knew where to find the ancient power. Unfortunately, the ancient power could not heal any scars or injuries the user got before they had the power, if he remembered, the ancient power was called vitality of the heart. Obviously, even though he’s a bad person(cale with his delusions again), he wont take away a person’s last resort like that, so he’ll help Taylor Stan fix his legs in another way.

“Hey, can you change my hair color and my eye color?”

“My name is not hey!, and yes, im great and mighty, this is nothing for me!”

After the dragon played with the color of his hair for a bit, it decided to give cale brown hair and brown eyes.

“Now, can you teleport us into that city?”

“Of course!. I’m great and mighty!”

And just like that, they were in the city, of course dragons are smart so, the dragon knew to teleport them into an alley, so they wont just pop out of thin air and get the people around suspicious, that’d be too troublesome.

After they got out of the alley(with cale telling the black dragon to go invisible), cale started searching for an inn. After walking around for 10 minutes, he found an inn that looked suitable. He supposed that he looked kinda scary and that’s why the people around him were sending him looks(no, the people were just concerned on why a child that was wrapped around in bandages was walking around without any adult supervision). When he entered the inn, the person who he supposed was the owner looked at him weirdly?.

“Excuse me?, can i get one room for the next 1 week?, I promise i’ll pay” ah yes, the best way to get a discount ; act pitiful. So, he said that with the most timid and pitiful voice he could do. And….

It of course worked, just with enough acting, you can get yourself a room for 1 week with just 1 silver coin. If you’re wondering how the conversation went?,

“Kid, do you know where your parents are?”

“My… my parents died in an accident, and i need a place to stay, it’s just one week though!, I promise i’ll pay you back!”

“… hey kid? How ‘bout this?, you can take a room for 1 week by paying 1 silver coin, and i pay me the rest by staying healthy?”

“Wow!.. really?”

“Yeah kid, here’s the key, if you need any help, go talk to me”

“Thank you so much miss!”

“You’re welcome sweetheart”

…

And that’s how he scammed the person he supposed was the owner.

“Small weak Human, why did you talk in that type of voice while talking to the lady from before?”

“It was so i could get a discount”

“But why did you sound like you were lying?”

“Because i was”

“Isn’t lying bad?”

“Sometimes, sometimes its also needed”

And the dragon just nodded it’s head as if it understood. Cale then decided to take a shower, since at the hellish place, the bathroom….. wasn’t too sanitary(cale just gets goosebumps by how disgusting it was), and the forest’s rivers or any body of water just looked unclean. (Some of the water looked black…)

While he was undressing, he found a weird mark on his arm, like it was stamped?, maybe it would come of once he took a bath?.

After taking a bath, he was feeling refreshed, but he still hadn’t forgotten about that… mark?, when he checked, the mark was still there, so it confused him greatly. Maybe it was just a weird mark? And it did nothing?.(it does do nothing, but it proves something, that’s what i’ll tell you).

After finishing, he started to find a way to get his mind off of the mark, and what better way to do that than counting money?. So he took out the coins and jewelry(he didn’t know why they kept jewelry over there) he stole from the hellish place, and started counting its value. The black dragon saw him counting and was quite curious,

“Small weak human!, what are you doing?”

“Im counting the money i looted from that bastard venion”

“Looted?”

“Looted is kinda like collecting money”

“Why do you like money?”

“I like shiny stuff i guess.. and money can get you a lot of things”

“Hmm so the weak small human likes money and shiny stuff..” the black dragon mumbled to himself that part and cale wasn’t really paying attention that much since he was counting his money, so he didn’t hear it.

“What kind of stuff can you but with this ‘money’?”

“You can but quite a lot, food, blankets, a home, and other necessities, you can also buy entertainment.”

“Wow!, i also want money!”

“Mn, yes, money is quite good to want”

And with that, they talked about other random things, cale also learned that the black dragon is currently 2 years old. On night time, cale decided to take the vitality of the heart and also go with the dragon.

So they waited until night time…

Night time began,

Cale and the black dragon was standing in front of a cave just off of the mountain path. The cave entrance was covered with vines, such that it would be difficult to find unless you were looking carefully.

The entrance to the cave was pretty small, but luckily he was in a child’s body, so he could fit in pretty easily(i’d like to say that he’s too small for a child his age too). But even if he was small, his clothes might need to get dirty too. He was quite lucky he bought some clothes before hand(he got a discount on that too)

“Sigh.”

Cale let out a long sigh before crawling into the cave.The ground by the cave entrance now had the traces of Cale crawling in.

A moment later, there was a small reptile footprint on the same spot.

Cale could see the cave becoming wider after crawling in for about five minutes.

‘Taylor must have been really desperate. He crawled all the way in here, even with his disabled lower body.’

Since you had to stack the rock tower with your own strength, the eldest son Taylor had to personally come here. What took Cale five minutes to do probably took Taylor much, much longer.

Cale stood back up once it was wide enough and started to walk farther in. The farther he went in, the clearer the noise in his ear became.

Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish. Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish.

It was the sound of the wind. The sound that appeared when the winds were hitting each other became louder as he walked farther into the cave. Finally, Cale located some cloth and a pillar that was probably a hut a long time ago.

After taking a single look at it, Cale continued to walk farther inside.

Swiiiiiiiiiiiish.

The sound of the wind became even stronger. Boom. Boom. He could even hear the wind crashing into the cave walls like a giant fist. Cale started to walk even faster.

‘The wind. I wonder if it will sound like this when I get the, ‘Sound of the Wind,’ ancient power later.’

The recovery, then the shield or quick feet, that was cale’s plan on action.Cale finally had to stop walking after thinking about which next ancient power he would be trying to get.

It wasn’t that he stopped walking, it was that he was forced to stop walking.

“Wow.”

This was even worse than Cale had expected.

A large underground area had appeared in front of Cale. At the same time, a vicious wind tornado filled his gaze.

Boom, boom!

The rocks on the cave walls were slowly crumbling because of the tornado. There were quite a bit of rocks on the ground that let Cale know that this area was consistently getting larger.

Cale looked back and forth between the underground area and the path that he traveled to get here. He felt like he would be pushed back by the wind if he went inside. Well, not just pushed back, but smashed against the wall, which would probably seriously injure him.

That was how strong the wind was.

“Mm.”

Of course, the center of that tornado will be calm, as it is the eye of the storm.

‘I guess it would have been impossible for Taylor without Cage’s help.’

He now understood why the novel said the two of them had struggled for a whole week. However, Cale started to smile. It was now going to be a battle against time.

Cale stepped into the underground area, into the vicious tornado, without any hesitation. Cale’s red hair started to flutter along with his clothes.

At the same time…

Multiple white shields surrounded him, it was quite useful to have a mighty dragon on your side.

According to the novel, the cave’s wind had a cycle of 3 hours of strong wind and 3 hours of weak wind. This was the moment that the wind started to get weaker. Of course, it would still become stronger the closer he got to the center.

Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish.

“Quite scary.”

The wind was still pretty strong to be called the, ‘weak phase.’ The novel mentioned that the 150 year old man walked through this strong wind to get to the rock tower.
Cale turned his gaze back to the center of the cave. The large underground area. In the middle of the tornado was a half-stacked rock tower. It looked like there were no winds over there. Next to the half-stacked rock tower were numerous other rocks.

‘I need to stack all of those rocks up.’

The issue was getting to the tower. Stacking the rocks would not be a problem.

Cale looked over the shield and the wings surrounding him, before taking a step forward.

Tang. Tang. The rough wind clashed the white shield.

He continued to smile as he got closer and closer to his destination,The novel had said that you would hear a voice once you got close to the center. It was supposed to be the voice of an old man.

Cale was waiting for that voice. The tornado was supposed to get stronger once the voice started to appear.

I regret it.

He could hear the voice. But it was a bit odd.

Ahem, I regret it.

It was a sad old man.

“Tsk tsk.”

Cale clicked his tongue.Why did Taylor think the old man’s voice was sincere? Cale could not understand Taylor’s train of thought.

I pretty much betrayed my comrades! I was a terrible person! Ahem, I stayed alive on my own and got old. How shameful am I?!

Cale could only hear the old man’s voice every so often as he was having difficulty stepping forward one step at a time.

I was always hoping for everyone to come back to life. However, my wish was something that could not be achieved. I could only lament and cry! That was why I could not finish my rock tower.

“How annoying.”

Cale found the old man’s lamenting voice to be annoying. Screw sincere, it was like he wanted to die. It was the style that Cale hated. Epicureans were so much better.
Cale centered his body after being slightly pushed back, and put some strength into his legs. He could hear the voice once again after taking another

This restoration strength is useless. It is only capable of protecting myself. It is not helpful in any other way. I am a trash!

Cale ignored the cries of the old man that rang through his mind. The power to protect himself was most important to Cale. Who cares if it made him trash. None of it mattered as long as he could live.

Just five more steps. The center of the tornado was right in front of him.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The sound of the wind that was clashing became stronger. It was as if a human was punching the shield.

‘It might break.’

Cale thought that the wind might now be strong enough for the shield to break. It should be doing more damage than just pushing him back now. The moment Cale thought that the wind might cut him, he realized something else as well.

I did not die even when the wind cut me like a sharp blade.

It was the fact that the owners of these ancient powers were all extremely chatty.

Cale immediately asked the dragon to make it act as an actual shield and decrease the size of the shield but also make it stronger.

The shield was now smaller, but in return, it was much stronger. It was able to push back an even stronger force of wind.

Cale reached out toward the transparent shield and clenched the transparent handle on the inside of the shield as he continued to move forward.

One step.

Restoration is a cursed power.

Two steps.

My heart was always beating. But I could not move on.

Three steps.

It was because I was afraid of death.

Four steps.

I was afraid of pain because I had always been injured, and I was even more afraid of death, the end of that pain.

And finally.

Cale took the final fifth step.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

The inside of the windless area sounded like it was raining all around Cale. The eye of the storm. The winds were swarming the area outside this calm center. He could hear the old man’s voice along with the sound of the wind.

I chose to throw everything else away so that I could continue to live.

That was the last thing the old man said.

“Tsk.”

‘Who cares about anything else? Living comes first.’
This old man had a lot of useless things to say.

The shield disappeared, so it means thee dragon also has deemed it safe,He headed toward the half completed rock tower and crouched down in front of it.

It was a normal rock tower that you could find at the top of a mountain.

However, all of these rocks were black. Just like the man-eating tree should look like, these rocks that have existed since ancient times were different from normal rocks. Just like the wind surrounding this area.

“Whatever.”

Cale, who had been thinking about making it aesthetically pleasing, changed his mind. That would be too annoying. He took out a pair of gloves the he bought not long ago from his pocket and put them on before picking the rocks up to stack the rest of the rock tower.

Clack. Clack. Clack. The rock tower was being built up, one rock at a time.

It did not take that long. Even Taylor had completed this part pretty easily. However, Cage, who had not come into the central area and had instead waited outside the eye of the storm, suffered quite a bit. This central area, like with all ancient powers, was somewhere that a person could only enter on their own.

“It’s easy.”

Cale picked up the last black rock and gently put it on top of the rock tower. It was at that moment.

Flash!

The black rocks slowly turned white. At the same time, Cale got up and looked around.

The wind was slowly dying down.

“…Huh?”

Cale ignored the confused voice of the dragon and waited until all of the wind died down. He then crossed his arms and listened to the old man’s voice. He had no choice.

I tried to fight with them. However, I did not know that I was so weak against pain. They were not people who served the lord. I only realized that after we all went our separate ways and I ended up alone.

The words of the old man caught Cale’s attention. He didn’t know why but what the old man said sounded quite important, so he used ‘record’ on it.

After what was a couple of minutes, he had a bad feeling that he had learned something he shouldn’t have learned about.

He had an odd feeling that the things he just heard were things that he should not tell anybody else about in his entire life.

Cale started to frown even more as the old man continued to speak. That voice was something only Cale could hear, thus making the dragon hesitate while looking at the silently standing Cale.

I piled the rocks. I piled them up hoping that I could turn back time, hoping that I could be happy. But then I destroyed it.

I hated my selfish self for thinking about my own happiness after betraying my comrades and running away.

“Sigh.”

Cale let out a long sigh. This old man really was frustrating. Cale started to speak in frustration.

“It is human nature to be selfish.”

The old man’s voice disappeared for a moment.

‘Is it over?’

Cale started to smile thinking that the old man was finally getting to the end. However, the sobbing voice continued once more.

Ahem. My older sister said the same thing. She was a really wonderful older sister. She was more reliable than anybody else. Ah, my older sister. Sob!

…The old man was crying.

“I’m going to go crazy.”

Tap Tap. Tap. Cale was impatiently tapping the ground with his foot. Cale did not want to keep standing here like this. After crying for a while, the old man showed his thanks.

You, the kid that has gone through hardship(he didn’t know why the old man described him as that(it was quite noticeable through his appearance)). That rude personality of yours makes me think of my older brother. I am very envious of how rude you are.

And, finally, the old man said the final words that Cale had been waiting for. These were the same final words the old man had said to Taylor.

Break it. Then you will, ‘overcome,’ your limits.

Cale started to smile and instantly kicked the rock tower without any hesitation.

Tang. Crumble. Boom!

The white rocks flew away to hit the ground and the wall. The dragon that had been watching Cale flinched and stared at Cale as if he was crazy. However, the following scene made the dragon gasp.

“Wow.”

The broken rock tower.

A white light floated up from underneath the rock tower.

Ooooooooong.

The gentle vibration that pulsated throughout the cave could be felt under Cale’s feet. At that moment, the light rushed toward Cale.

Cale reached his hand out to grab the light. The moment he grabbed it, the light shot toward Cale’s heart like an arrow. The light arrow pierced through Cale’s heart before flashing and disappearing.

“Huuuuu.”

Cale let out a deep breath. He then lowered his head to look under his shirt. The fancy shield tattoo that was over his heart had disappeared and had been replaced by a red heart.

“Small weird(weird?? Thought cale) weak human!, what was that?”

“That was a power that would keep me healthy”

“Wow!, then that power is very useful for someone as weak as you!”

“Yes”(he’s already gotten used to how the dragon talked at this point)

….

After that, he could hear the old man’s voice inside his head greeting him, when he first heard it he honestly thought he was going insane(he thought the voice was kinda annoying). He and the black dragon decided to go back to the inn and sleep. He already explained what a bed was to the young dragon, and the young dragon looked quite fascinated about it, it looked even more… happy? When he said that there were other beds that were more higher in quality and more comfortable.

And that was how their day ended

Chapter Text

Hi hi hi!, this is HWHESHANE/Su_n0(just call me this, it’s easier) today isn’t really an update(sorry) i will promise that there will be an update tomorrow!

Anyways, i’m here to ask you for your opinion,

who should i make cale meet first?, eruhaben(goldie gramps) or alberu(probably the first person cale scamm- i mean the cookie crown prince).

The voting will end around tomorrow (when I upload the next chapter)

And give me recommendations on what i should put in the next chapter!

Have a good day!

Chapter Text

Honestly, cale didn’t know why he didn’t think to get any healing potions before they bought the inn, or even after they bought the inn, he must’ve gotten carried away while thinking about the ‘vitality of the heart’, and he immediately got karma for it. How? He’s currently awake in the night, mind you, it’s almost morning. WITH JUST 2 HOURS OF SLEEP. Why? It’s because he doesn’t really have anything to distract him from the pain, and him currently moving around kinda agitates his wounds(even though he’s currently bandaged).

He doesn’t know why but the black dragon must’ve felt his agitation and just awoke. Him and the black dragon just stared at each other for a while and then the black dragon…. Just suddenly got closer and was hugging him??

‘Weren’t dragons supposed to be arrogant?, why is it currently hugging me??’

Despite all his thoughts, he just stayed still and didn’t really want to wake up the dragon. He eventually forgot about the pain and started to fall asleep.

(IM SO SORRY, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO MAKE WHOLESOME MOMENTS)

…

It was morning time, and after he woke up, he got ready and this time, didn’t forget to but the healing potions. The only highest grades he was able to get were medium, but at least it still healed him. He of course, didn’t forget to give some to the dragon, even though the dragon may look like it was fine, he didn’t know if it still had any other injuries that weren’t able to heal, or internal injuries. He didn’t want a vengeful dragon coming after him(that’s what he told himself, WE ALL KNOW ITS NOT TRUE). The dragon just looked at him weirdly(I WONDER WHY) and then drank it after he told the dragon that he had already drank his bit.

‘Did the novel say that dragon’s were weird??’maybe they just left that part out???(the author is quite flabbergasted on cale’s(kim rok soo’s) mindset). Mmm, maybe?, he guesses that if dragons were quite important to the plot in the later volumes, they must’ve said that dragons were quite strange, right?(maybe???).

He decided to also buy the map of the western continent, he should get the ‘indestructible shield’ next if he wanted to be more protected when the dragon leaves(if cale could see the future, he would faint rn).

So the next place he would need to go… is the henituse territory. In all honesty, cale really doesn’t want to go, since he heard something when venion stan’s people were kidnapping(?) him, they said something along the lines of:

“-ow, right?, apparently his father isn’t even looking for him!”

Apparently, someone’s father wasn’t looking for their child who was kidnapped, and he’s pretty sure they were referring to cale henituse’s father: Deruth henituse. He didn’t really know why cale’s father isn’t searching for cale. If he remembered, it said that in the novel, Count Deruth loved his son and that he was just rich. No other qualities except for those things.

Though, he can’t really be that surprised since somethings are already going very different from the novel. The dragon was already with venion when cale is (he thinks he’s currently 8-9 years old) still quite young, and the dragon is already 2 years old.

Maybe this was all a misunderstanding, although cale doubts that, that is the answer, cale stil needed the ‘indestructible shield’ anyways so he probably wouldn’t be able to avoid going there, he’ll probably just need a disguise when he goes there. He will also need to loot some people to get some more money, so, why not try smacking venion in the back by getting all of the dirty information about him?.

He was already looking forward to what he was going to do, since he might payback someone’s kindness by only 1.5x, he pays back revenge by 10 or even 100 fold, and he was not planning on letting venion go that easily.

…

On the next day, by some miracle, it turns out the dragon memorized the coordinates of the mountain where they were tortured in, but when cale asked the question…. The answer was so vicious, he was reminded again that dragons were truly vicious. The conversation went on like this:

“Hey, do you know what the coordinates to the mountain you were in?”

“Yes, of course!, i am a great and mighty dragon, and i shall not let that venion stan get off the hook that easily!, i will destroy the mountain with my own paws!. What do you even want from it, do you want to destroy it too small weak human?”

“…” he doesn’t even know why the dragon just immediately thought that he also wanted to destroy that mountain(he does, but he’s too lazy), that would be too vicious for him, and he wants to life a slacker life dream, not blow stuff up or even destroy mountains(… the author does not want to spoil).

“No, i just want information to smack that venion bastard on the back”

“Smack him on the back?”

“Yes, it’s kinda like getting revenge”

“Then i wanna join too, small weak human!, this great and mighty being shall help you smack that bastard venion on the back!”

“…” maybe he isn’t a great influence on kids… he already managed to get one to swear in probably less or in just 1 month. This proves his point on why the dragon should just go away from him.

“Yeah.. sure…”

And after that, he was explaining on what they will need to do to smack venion on the back. Knowing venion’s personality from the novel and personal experience, cale knows that venion would still be far from the mountain, he must be freaking out by now, and implement more safety measures and more security in that place, but he would also be quite arrogant and there has to be some important documents over there, after all, even when reading and even now, he still feels like venion acts like a standard minor villain in the story, it also means his plans would also be lacking and he would make mistakes or miscalculations, and also overestimate some stuff.

And that means cale got quite lucky that venion probably overestimated his security and leave important stuff there too. They’ve decided to implement this plan later at night. The dragon would have the security and every safety measurements be disabled(he doesn’t know how, but apparently the dragon knows how to do that, dragons truly are scary). And he would collect the loot and important documents. The dragon would also be able to loo-i mean collect some stuff that catches its attention.

…

The night began, and the plan has started. Cale already made the clothes that poorly imitated the enemies organization’s clothing.(he just found a black hood, black mask, just everything black, and asked the owner lady if she can sew him some stars on it with his best pitiful voice).

The dragon already started it’s job even more energetically than usual, maybe it was because he said after this, he would give the dragon a name(he understood why the dragon would want a name, but he didn’t understand when the dragon seemed happy when he emphasized that he was going to name it… although it gave a ticklish feeling to cale’s heart, he just ignored it as his imagination). He didn’t really want to pay attention all that much and sneakily made his way around the place, using his knowledge of the novel, he started going to the key rooms first. He was quite lucky his small body(his body looks too small to be an 8 year old) was quite light(malnourishment) hence allowing him to move even more quieter. He eventually found some documents and quickly used ‘record’ on it.

After recording every documents he could find in every single key room, he started to find some coins. Looks like the black dragon found a lot of coins first. Cale probably didn’t notice, but his face brightened up when he saw the coins, so the dragon decided to share, ‘Just this once!’ With him. Needless to say, cale was greatly surprised and quite delighted.(the black dragon decided that it would share some of its coins to the human from time-to-time from now on). And cale also looted everything he could find from this place.

After they gathered what they wanted, the went outside and did what the dragon always wanted to the past 2 years he was tortured in there. The dragon started being surrounded by its own mana and it all gathered into a single big ball of mana, the ball of mana got launched into the area of the mountain, the mountain crumbled like it was nothing, and probably killed every single person in the mountain. Luckily they picked the right time, so there was no people passing by and they’re probably safe.

Once the big ball of mana was shot, the black dragon just fell down. It looks like it used too much mana on the big ball of mana to destroy the mountain. Looks like the name would have to wait a little longer. Wait a minute…

How is he now, supposed to get back to puzzle city????

“Sigh” looks like he’s going to have to rent an inn for here too…(he prepares his acting to get a discount)

…

He manages to get the inn on a discount(of course) and decides to retire for the night. He’s already done a lot of things today, and now, the last thing to do is sleep.

….

Once he woke up, he was met why dark blue shinning orbs that looked like the night sky, it was ofcourse, the dragon.

The dragon looked towards him with a weird expression(what is with these people and that weird expression? Thought cale).

“Small weak human.”

“What?”

“I was just wondering..”

The Black Dragon seemed to have a lot on his mind. No, he seemed very suspicious as he blankly looked Cale up and down.

“…Is the name you are thinking of a random word?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

The Black Dragon seemed very concerned.

“I feel like you will pick something like Black or Dragon.”

“Ah, your name?”

The Black Dragon was talking about his name. Cale made a very serious expression at the 2-year old’s very concerned question.

“…Is a name like that not very good?”

Cale’s expression was very serious. The Black Dragon had not seen Cale look so serious for a while now. The Black Dragon’s eyes started to shake as he urgently responded.

“Not at all! I am fine with anything! It is fine as long as you give me a name, small weak human! Do not worry!”

His wings were fluttering rapidly, and his tail was shaking as he strongly appealed to Cale. Cale’s expression instantly turned normal like he was never serious at all.

“Then i’m glad, Raon.”

Silence suddenly filled the area.

“…Small weak human, what did you just say?”

Cale had actually thought a lot about the Black Dragon’s name, contrary to the Black Dragon’s expectation. A name was a special thing given to someone. For Kim Rok Soo who had to live on his own, the only thing that was given to him by his parents was his name.

“Your first name is Raon.”

Raon. It meant joyful in pure Korean.

“And your last name is Miru.”

Miru. Pure Korean for Dragon.

Joyful Dragon. It was a funny name, but Cale had come up with it with full sincerity.

A calm voice reached the Black Dragon’s ears. However, The Black Dragon had never seen such an expression on Cale’s face before. A calm smile was on Cale’s face right now.

“I came up with this name in the hopes that you will be happy and live a joyful life.”

“…What does it mean?”

The Black Dragon asked Cale for the meaning of the name. Cale pointed to the Black Dragon with his index finger.

“You.”

Raon and Miru. Neither of these words existed in this world. There was only one thing these two words stood for in this world.

It is you. They are words just for you and only you.”

“…Only me?”

“Yes.”

Cale started to smile as he patted the Dragon’s head.

“Since you are a great and mighty dragon.”

“…Only me ……”

The Black Dragon mumbled to himself for a while before patting away Cale’s hand from his head and stretched out his wings. His wings were fluttering rapidly as he snorted.

“I guess it is useful. I will do you a special service and use this name.”

“Sure, Raon.”

The Dragon started to scrunch his nose. The corners of his lips were twitching as he flew up into the air.

“I am the great and mighty Raon Miru.”

“Yes, Raon.”

“Right. I am Raon.”

The Black Dragon had received a first name and a last name after two years of life. He now had something other than his body that belonged to just him. The Dragon raised his head.

He could remember the darkness of the night sky that was different from the darkness inside the cave. It was a night like this when he and the small weak human escaped from the cave. The Black Dragon, Raon, would never forget that moment. He also felt like he would never forget this moment either.

Cale raised his head like the Black Dragon. The night sky was the same no matter where he went. He could hear Raon’s voice as he blankly continued to stare through the window.

“Thank you, Cale.”

“…What?”

Cale looked toward Raon with surprise. However, The Black Dragon was already back to normal.

“Human, how is it that you cannot understand the first time?”

“Why don’t you say it once more?”

Cale started to smile as he tried to pat Raon’s head. Raon head Butted the palm and strongly objected.

“No. I really, truly, absolutely will not! Weak human, go to sleep again!, you didn’t sleep that much last night”

However, contrary to his actions, Raon’s wings were fluttering and his tail was wagging. Cale just silently laughed at this action, but still followed what Raon told him, he does still feel a bit tired, and in a few more days, he’s going to have to go to the henituse territory.

A couple of days have passed and it was time to go to the henituse territory, so before they went to go, cale asked the owner for the coordinates, luckily she knew it, and they said their farewells.

Once they’ve teleported into an alley, cale asked raon to change his hair color and eye color again. And this time, raon decided to give cale a matching palette as his, so cale now has black hair and dark blue eye, which were… too…unique. But he couldn’t say no because of the look raon was giving him(the last few days, raon learned that cale could hardly refuse his request if he did this face).

Cale already knew about the information on how to get the ‘indestructible shield’, it’s apparently a man-eating tree and you just needs to feed it until it becomes full. So cale’s first destination would obviously be the bakery.

When cale came in the bakery, there was obviously due to his appearance(he couldn’t care less and was used to this). He just went to the owner and put on his most cheerful acting skill,

“Hi miss!, can i have some bread?”acting as a cheerful kid wasn’t really that hard.

“Oh my!, well of course sweetheart, this is a bakery after all, what would you like?”(target of being scammed selected).

“Hmm can get all of the bread?”

“Of cour-. What?”

“Can i get all of the bread?, i have the money” cale then put down a golden coin(1 golden coin is equivalent to 100.000 gallons).

“I-i- sweetheart, do you know how much money this is?”

“?, is it too little?” Cale obviously knew how much this was and the most logical thing for the owner to do is…

“No! No!, of course not, this is in fact way too much for just all of the bread in here. I’ll try to find some change, please wait for a moment”(the entire bread in here costs 30.000 gallon, i don’t know if that’s true, but let’s just roll with it.)

The woman came back with a pouch that he was sure was filled with money.

“Sorry sweetheart, but this is all of the change i got. How about you come here for the next few days to get the change?”

“Hmm, can i just get some more bread for the next 3 days(he would get more if it was not enough)?”

“Oh?, sure, how much bread do you want?”

“Can i get maybe a big bag of bread in each day?, my friend really like eating bread!”

“Oh, well of course sweetheart, such a kind kid to give this to your friend(well technically the ‘friend’ he was talking about was a tree nicknamed ‘the man eating tree), iill pack one big bag of bread each day for you!”

“Thank you so much miss!”

And with that cale left with 2 bags of bread(he told the owner he would take bag of bread first since it was too hard to carry, and then take the other one later in the day). And then the Raon appeared again.

“Small weak human, why did you ask if the gold coin was too much?, don’t you know about that?”

“That was because I don’t want her getting too suspicious of me buying bread every single day, and so that i don’t have to waste energy buying more bread”

“I see…”

And with that, cale dragged the big bag of bread(technically Raon helped with his magic) to the slums, and his destination was at the top of the hill.

But, before he could get to the hill, he was stopped by two kids,

You can’t approach that t-tree!”

Cale ignored that warning. He heard another worried voice as well.

“You can’t go there! It’s a man-eating tree!”

A man-eating tree. Anyone who hung themselves on this tree became mummies overnight. Furthermore, any blood that lands on this tree instantly disappeared.

Finally, there was only dirt around this tree. Grass, and even weeds, were nowhere to be found.

This was the tree that Cale was looking for.

A long time ago, during ancient times, there was a person who loved food so much that his gluttony in the place of worship got him kicked out. That person ended up starving to death.

This tree is said to have grown on top of his body, and that person’s grudge and strength were both in this tree. The Indestructible Shield that Cale was looking for was here.

How primitive, mysterious and strange was this! The majority of the ancient powers were mysterious like this.
Cale took a bread out of the bag and carefully observed a hole that was the size of an adult’s head. He needed to first send away the owner of that voice before starting his work. However, before Cale could even say anything, the voice was even louder this time as they could no longer see Cale from outside the fence because he crouched down. The voice was shaking quite a bit.

“You’re going to die! Don’t do it!”

Cale pressed his temples with his fingers.

“Sigh.”

The number of people following him decreased the closer he got to the man-eating tree at the top of the hill, however, the owner of that voice continued to follow him.

‘There are always nosy punks no matter where you go.’

Cale frowned as he turned his head around. When he did, he noticed a girl who seemed to be around 8 years old, holding her younger brother’s hand while looking at him. Her eyes were full of concern.

Seeing that Cale was frowning and staring at her, the young girl stumbled on her words and started to mumble.

“It’s a man-eating tree. You’re going to d, die.”

“I won’t die.”

Cale took two breads out of the bag and threw it toward the little girl. It didn’t matter if it rolled on the ground because they were all individually wrapped.

“Take that and get lost.”

The young boy instantly grabbed the bread, but the young girl was still hesitating. In the end, cale had to reassure them to no end since in this time, cale still wasn’t trash, so he cant use his identity.

Her younger brother just looked toward Cale before picking up the other bread for his sister and started to tug on her arm.

“Noona.”

“Uh huh.”

The young girl looked back and forth at the tree and Cale even as she was being pulled.

“You can’t die.”

Cale clicked his tongue at the young girl who continued to say that, before making sure nobody else was around as he sat down underneath the tree. Nobody would be able to see what he was doing unless they came right up to the fence.

“Let’s get started.”

He started by taking a loaf of bread out of the bag and putting it into that hole. His hand soon disappeared into the darkness underneath the tree, and Cale could feel a cold sensation as the bread in his hand disappeared.

He felt like his whole hand might be sucked in, and quickly took it out.

The darkness in the hole underneath the tree was still the same.

“If you die with a grudge, you have to resolve that grudge.”

This man-eating tree wasn’t actually a man-eating tree. It was a tree that would eat anything. It was the side effect of the power that was left behind by the person who starved to death. But for such a thing to be related to an ancient strength…it was comical, but made it seem more realistic.

‘I remember it said I need to feed it until the darkness disappears.’

The darkness in the hole underneath the tree was not the result of shade. It was darkness formed by the grudge.
This could not be done with other people. One person had to continue to provide a large amount of food until the darkness disappeared. Once the darkness finally disappears, the light that was hiding underneath would appear.

Once he eats that light, the, ‘Indestructible Shield,’ will become Cale’s.

“Eat all you want.”

Cale put the opening of the bag into the hole and emptied all of the bread into it. In a normal situation, that small hole should have become filled with bread, however, only the darkness continued to remain once Cale removed the bag.

‘Looks like i need about 6 more bags, 5 if i count the one i already got.’

Rumble-

An odd cry seemed to resonate from the tree. It seemed to be saying that it was hungry and asking for more food. Cale felt like the darkness might suddenly reach out and grab him.

“…It is a bit scary.”

Cale quickly got up. He felt like he should not be here for a long time.

“Just what can a stupid grudge do?”

Gluttony was a scary thing.

“I’ll come back in a while.”

Cale said goodbye to the rumbling tree as if it was a person and exited the fenced area. Cale noticed the siblings eating the bread as soon as he entered the slums.

For someone who was claiming that he should not go there because it was a man-eating tree, they seemed to be enjoying the breads. They must be liking the flavor, because both of them seemed very happy.

“My my.”

Cale snorted at the siblings before ignoring their gazes. However, their gazes were not on him, but on the bag that was filled with bread earlier but was now empty.

They were probably curious.

But what could they do? They couldn’t do anything.

These children were probably too scared to even go near the man-eating tree. However, it is always good to be on the safe side. It would be bad if they went up to the tree and put their head into the hole and got eaten.

[The children of the slums have no fear. It was because they treasured a single grain of rice more than a blade coming their way. Death is always around them, so they do not fear death. They fear being hungry more than death.]

It was something that was written in [The Birth of a Hero].

That was why Cale decided to speak to the pair of siblings.
“If you want to eat bread again later, don’t say a thing.”

The two siblings did not say anything. They were immediately following Cale’s order. The young girl, who seemed hesitant earlier, put her hand on her brother’s mouth and pretended to not see Cale. Cale smiled and thought that she was pretty smart, as he quickly left the slums.

The people in the slums who knew Cale had gone to the top of the hill were looking at him wondering what crazy thing he was doing now, but Cale liked that kind of gaze.
The people outside the slums looked at Cale weirdly as well, but Cale didn’t care about these gazes.

And with that, he grabbed the second bag and repeated the process(i’m just too lazy). He still gave the kid more bread tho, he’s not that bad of a person(you aren’t A BAD PERSONNNNN).

He didn’t really want rumors to spread about…. A crazy kid who buys bread… so he’ll actually be productive this once and cook food for the tree(he learned that actual meals or some food other than bread relives the grudge of the tree by a lot compared to the bread, how? Raon pestered him into giving the tree food that he cooked. He still gave some to the siblings too).

Now that he thinks about it, isn’t cale the first born son of the henituse family?, now that he thinks about it(he already noticed sometime ago but he was still focused on the ‘man eating tree’ to think about it), he only heard the villagers speaking about the new wife and new son of the henituse family: violan and basen. But he didn’t really hear much about cale, it’s usually,

“Hey, do you remember the first son of the henituse family?”

“Yeah, i think his name was… cale(it was very disrespectful by only saying his first name, and cale believes that the real cale henituse has never met this person)

“Yeah!, do you know what happened to him?”

“No??, why would i care?, i was just a friend of Jour, and apparently, that kid didn’t cry at her funeral. It would’ve been better if he died instead(rude).”

“I’ve never seen him ever since the funeral.”

“I don’t care”

Or

“Do you remember cale henituse?”

“The henituse had a child name cale?”

….

Honestly, these people were fucked up. He didn’t really want to know what happened in cale’s childhood, but he guesses that he now knows why he became trash(he doesn’t believe cale actually became trash tho, there was too much evidence that contradicted it) in the future.

Cale just now wishes that he was sleeping and slacking, so he rented another inn.

….

In the shadow, a figure of an old man shows up. Looks like his young master wasn’t here either, though, he saw a weird bandaged kid that bought a ton of bread from a bakery. That was none of his business though, his only goal is to find the puppy young master. But if that kid does anything more suspicious, he’s going to have to look into him.

….

Cale doesn’t know why but he suddenly felt goosebumps, must be nothing.

….

Cale held a bag that was twice the size of yesterday’s bag(he doesn’t know why the lady gave him this big of a bag) as he headed back up to the top of the slums. The two siblings were there to greet him once again.

The children kept their mouth shut as they looked toward Cale. Cale smiled as he took out two small bags and pushed them toward the children.

“Take it.”

The young girl slowly approached him. Cale frowned as he watched the girl with coarse grey hair approach him. She had a hand on her side as she limped over to him.

“Hey.”

Cale pushed the two bags toward the young boy.

“You come here and take it.”

The young boy quickly rushed over and snatched the bags before quickly running back. Compared to Cale’s bright red hair, the boy had coarse dark red hair that shook as he ran.

Cale then turned around and headed toward the man-eating tree.

“Wow.”

“It’s not bread. It’s meat and cake.”(he gave them food he got when he bought some food for raon and saved some for them)

He could hear the siblings talking about the food, but he did not care. He continued to walk toward the man-eating tree’s territory.

Oooooooooooooong-

“…It’s a bit scary.”

The black tree without any leaves seemed to be moving its branches to welcome Cale. This eerie feeling made Cale nervous, but he still poured the contents of the bag into the hole underneath the tree.

The bread quickly disappeared.

It was at that moment.

“…More, give me more.”

‘…It’s driving me crazy.’

The response he read about in the novel showed up. It was the voice of a weak girl. Yes, the person who starved to death was a priestess who served a god. However, unlike the present day priestesses of the temples or churches, the ancient priestesses were shamans. The majority of the ancient shamans could be considered people who had superpowers or natural forces under their command.

Cale quickly grabbed the bag and started to move.

‘Half.’

He came here with the intention of taking care of half of the gluttony of the tree today. He went back down the hill to get more of the food he cooked from yesterday. He could see the two siblings looking at him with cake on their lips.

“Tsk.”

Cale frowned and clicked his tongue as he walked past the two siblings.

(No one said a thing when he also gave some food he cooked from the bag)

He went back towards the glutinous tree(he calls it that now) and feed more. It looks like he miscalculated a bit and the tree looks like it’s grudge need only 2 more bag of bread and then it’s relived(more than half).

‘Huh, looks like these do relive more grudge than bread. But at least i don’t need to cook anymore, it looks like it would be filled with 2 more bags of bread

If there was any leftovers, he would just keep it as emergency food. He bought raon a dimensional space bag and raon already figured out how it worked, he can just keep the bread in store in rain’s dimensional space(it apparently preserves food and doesn’t make it go bad)

And with that, he just left the slums.

….

The third day went the same, but this time, raon decided to tag along, and he gave the siblings healing potions instead of food.

“This, this isn’t bread. Isn’t bread.”

“And?”

Seeing the young girl who was mumbling, ‘isn’t bread,’ over and over as she held the medicinal herbs in her hand, Cale just snorted as he headed back to the man-eating tree. However, the young boy got in his way.

“You cannot die.”

It was the young boy saying he cannot die now. Cale did not even frown as he just walked past the young boy.
Cale, no, Kim Rok Soo.

He was an orphan and didn’t have anything to his name. That was why there were a lot of people who showed the poor Kim Rok Soo a lot of sympathy.

‘Is there a reason to show sympathy for the needy?’

That was something he heard all the time when he was younger.

‘Young beggar.’

‘Poor orphan.’

‘You don’t need a reason to show sympathy.’

There was a time he just took that at face value, but he started to understand the real meaning of it as he got older.

There wasn’t a logical reason for the things your heart draws you to do. You didn’t need a reason.

“So annoying.”

Cale hated to see young children being hurt. However, he didn’t have any thoughts about nursing the young girl nor thoughts of consoling her. He frowned toward the young girl who was limping toward him and the young boy next to her as he answered them.

“I won’t die.”

The siblings finally stopped following him once he said that. Cale was unhappy at the thought that he did something he hated the most. He hated people who got involved in other people’s business without being asked, but he had done just that by giving the young girll

‘Small weak human!, you did the right thing, but we should help them more!’ Raon talked to cale telepathically, apparently Raon learned it when he was bored.

“…” cale doesn’t really know how to respond since he can’t telepathically talk to the dragon so he just ignored Raon.

Oooooooooooong.

-More, give me more.

“Yes. Eat it all.”

And that was how his third day of feeding the tree went.

…

On the fourth day, he saw the siblings waiting for him.

‘Do these kids not have a home?’

Cale had come much earlier than usual. However, the siblings were curled up together and waiting for him, as if they had been waiting at the top of the hill all night. The younger brother seemed to be leaning into his older sister’s embrace.

The siblings were quietly looking up at Cale. Their hair and clothes seemed damp, probably because they stayed here through the foggy morning.

Of course, Cale pretended not to notice.

“Here, take it.”

The young boy took both of their shares from Cale. Cale waited until the boy picked it up before turning around and heading for the man-eating tree.

‘I’m glad it is foggy.’

The fog made it difficult to see. Since this hill was the highest point in Western City, other than the Count’s estate, the fog was even thicker up here. Nobody else would be able to see what Cale is doing, or more importantly, what Cale receives from the tree.

More, give me more. Please.

Cale poured a bag of bread into the hole while listening to the eerie voice of the grudge-filled soul as usual. The darkness inside the hole was slowly turning from grey to white. Cale started to smile, thinking that all his efforts were not for naught. It was at that moment.

More, more, more!

‘What?’

Cale flinched and stepped backwards at the voice that now turned into a shriek.

‘The novel didn’t mention something like this.’

More, more! I will give you a present if you bring me more. A present.

Present. That word made Cale’s eyes start to sparkle. Although he didn’t expect the soul to go crazy like this, the end was near.

“Just wait.” It looks like the last bag wasn’t enough, but he always prepares, it looks like he has to grab the other bag he prepared just in case

The black branch started to sway, as if nodding at him. It felt like a scene out of a horror movie. Cale shivered as he started to move back through the fog. It was the middle of the morning now, but the sun was not out, and the fog continued to get thicker.

It looked like it would start to rain soon.

The siblings must have gone somewhere, as he did not see them, but Cale just thought they went to dodge the rain and put the bag in front of the man-eating tree.

‘This should be the last bunch.’

The light inside the hole was now as white as the fog surrounding Cale.

‘It should become transparent after I put this bag in.’

Cale was full of anticipation as he poured the last bag into the tree.

And finally.

Ooooooooooong-

A rumbling that was worlds different than the past rumblings poured out from the tree toward Cale. This rumbling, that was only aimed at Cale, did not catch his attention because of the hole that was starting to turn transparent. It should be dark inside the hole because of the shadow of the tree, but such a realistic situation did not occur.

That was the Ancient Power.

The moment Cale saw the Ancient Power, he could hear the voice that had been asking him for more food until now.

It was so, so good!

That voice was … obnoxious.

That soft texture of bread! I especially liked the bags of other different food that you brought me! I guess even food develops as time goes by. There was no such thing as bread or even these types of food back in my days! The wheat itself must grow on a really fertile land and the meat must’ve been very good quality! Yes, not all wheat is the same –

…The voice was evaluating the taste of the bread.

A storm caused by the voice started to rush toward Cale.
‘This wasn’t in the novel!’

The spirit that was tied down to the earth because of its grudge was resolving that grudge by evaluating the taste of the bread. Cale started to frown further. He was only thinking about the Ancient Power in ‘The Birth of a Hero.’ This Indestructible Shield was the only Ancient Power that was written about in the novel but never claimed by anyone.

‘No wonder nobody ended up taking control of it. But then why would the author mention something that could be useful but was never actually taken by anybody?’
That was the thought in Cale’s head, however, the obnoxious voice continued to chatter away, making him unable to focus.

… That’s why I am so full! It was delicious!

Chatter chatter. It felt like the grudge was from not being able to speak instead of not being able to eat.

After hearing the spirit chat on and on for a couple of minutes, evaluating all of the different types of breads that Cale had brought and the other foods that cale cooked, Cale nodded his head and tried to cut the voice off.

Things like this were not available in ancient times. The people of the Forest of Darkness claimed to be servants of a god yet only gave me tasteless things.

However, Cale decided to wait a little longer after hearing the spirit mention the ancient times.

I was, naturally, banished from that place. They said I was a glutton. A glutton my ass. Of course, I left with my friends. We were planning on putting the world back on the right track.

For someone like him who needed Ancient Powers, it was important to listen to stories about the ancient times. However, the story soon ended, and the spirit went back to talking about food and other useless things. Cale quickly cut it off.

I don’t think I could give up this taste even if I got fat. It’s so unfair that I had to eat dirt and ended up dying!

“Yes, it was an amazing and professional evaluation. You’re a bit lou-“

The spirit cut Cale off.

You understand my evaluation. You are a really good kid! No wonder you have the power of one of my friends! Thanks!

…Cale couldn’t tell whether he could really communicate with the spirit or not, but the power of one of the ‘indestructible shield’s’ friends caught his attention, maybe it was the old man(‘vitality of the heart’)

Cale really could not figure out the situation at hand. At least the voice stopped after telling him thanks. Called looked toward the tree in front of him.

“How interesting.”

The man-eating tree, the originally black man-eating tree, was starting to turn white and he felt a surge in his heart, he guesses that must be the ‘vitality of the heart’. It then started to slowly grow some green leaves. The scene looked even more mystical because he was surrounded by fog right now.

Ooooooooong-

The noise held some heaviness compared to before. Cale kneeled on one side and sat down underneath the trunk of the tree. A bright white light was pouring out from the hole.

Cale put his hand into the light. He then closed his eyes.

‘This must be hit.’

A warm and strong power that wrapped around his hand. He started to smile before hearing the voice one more time. It was a pure and warm voice.

It will protect you.

Shiiiiiine.

For a very short moment, a bright light wrapped around Cale. The light was silver in color, and the light started to become absorbed by his body. The absorbed light all gathered at Cale’s heart. He felt like the shield somehow increased its strength. He thinks it’s because of the ‘vitality of the heart’

“Huuuuuuuh.”

Cale let out a long sigh as he opened his eyes. It did not hurt. It was warm, and the pure power was making him feel happy.

Cale quickly lifted up the shirt that he was wearing.

‘I did it.’

There was a small silver shield inscribed over his heart. It was different from a tattoo. Such a beautiful and fancy shield left its mark over Cale’s heart.

The shield will prioritize its owner’s safety above anything else. The location of that promise was at the heart. This shield will be with Cale until his heart stops beating.

“How nice.”

Cale could feel the strength wrapping around his heart. It was not causing any issues. In fact, it felt like the shield had surrounded his heart, and was doing its best to protect him.

Ancient Powers like this left their unique mark when they are activated.

Cale quickly used the method that was written in the novel to trigger the Ancient Power.

Paaaaaat.

The ‘Indestructible Shield’ appeared in front of Cale’s eyes.

It was a silver shield that was just large enough to cover Cale’s upper body. There were two silver wings on both sides of the shield, which allowed the shield to move within a certain radius from Cale. The size of the shield was also controllable.

Cale started to control the size of this shield that already felt like it was a part of his body. This immediate familiarity was one of the special traits of Ancient Powers. That was why heroes used it, even if it was just as a support.

Cale started to smile.

‘A maximum of five times.’

Cale was thinking in terms of Choi Han, the strongest person around him right now. The shield should be able to block five of Choi Han’s attacks.

‘The strength of this shield is stronger than I expected. Why would the heroes not use it all the time?’

The Indestructible Shield, unlike its name, actually is capable of breaking. However, it does not disappear upon breaking. If the shield receives an attack stronger than its abilities, it will store as much of its strength as possible to protect the owner’s heart before it breaks. After a while, the shield will recover its strength and can be used again. The strength of the shield comes from the owner’s heart.

The beating heart. That heart becomes the strength of the shield. The heart strengthens the shield while the shield protects the heart. So, what would happen if the heart gets stronger?

‘It will get even stronger.’

There were many ways to strengthen Ancient Powers. Cale will be strengthening this shield on the way to the capital.

Once that happens, he should be able to make a shield that can last 5, no, at least 10 minutes when someone of Choi Han’s caliber tries to kill him with all of their strength.

Ancient Powers, as seen with this man-eating tree, are difficult to earn unless you, ‘coincidentally run into them.’

The person who knows the most about these ‘coincidences’ in the first five volumes is probably Cale Henituse, well, the current Cale Henituse.

Cale started to smile. He reached out and touched the shield. It felt nice. However, there was one thing he didn’t like about it.

“…It seems too divine.”

‘Small weak human!, this shield looks so holy!, it’s so beautiful!!’

Even raon thinks it looks holy… just in a good way tho but he doesn’t since, at full strength, it looked like a Holy Shield that the Knights of God carry with their swords in myths.

Of course, the former owner of this shield was a priestess who was tired of the term god, and the current owner, Cale, just didn’t like gods.

‘It’s not like there will be many reasons for me to use this.’

He was planning on leaving the fighting to everyone else. The future terror attack at the capital. He may have to use it if something dangerous happens there. But he will make sure it is small and faint so that other people will not notice it.

Cale returned the shield to his heart and patted the now white tree as he started to walk away. The misty rain inside the fog started to wet Cale’s shoulders.

Cale liked the fog, but did not like rain. He started to walk faster towards the inn.

It was at that moment.

Meeoooooow.

Meow.

Cale suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck. He could see two pairs of round, golden eyes. Cale started to frown.

There were two kittens who looked extremely pitiful and drenched in the rain. They continued to meow as they approached Cale. They then started to rub their cheeks on Cale’s legs.

“Sigh.”

Cale let out a sigh and started to walk towards the inn. The two little kittens followed behind them. The tiny things somehow managed to keep up with Cale, even with their short legs.

He eventually made it to the inn and grabbed the two kittens, which shocked them both. He then went inside his room.

Cale put them down on the floor and started talk.

“What are you two pairs of siblings doing?”

The two kittens flinched and started to shake. Their golden eyes opened widely as they looked toward Cale.

He then lowered his head and caressed the two kittens.

He had wondered about it for the last few days, but how could he not know by now?

The silver kitten had a faint smell of the medicinal herbs he had given to the girl. When he picked the two kittens up earlier, he could also smell the food that he had given them this morning as well.

That made Cale certain. The events of the last few days were finally resolved in Cale’s head.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

The two kitten’s golden eyes continued to shake. Cale looked at the siblings he had been feeding the last few days and started to smile.

…

Tap. Tap. Even at the rough patting, the baby kittens could only stiffly stare at Cale. While cale was just sorting his thoughts out.

The silver kitten should be the older sister with grey hair and the younger brother must be the red kitten.’

Cale had a bright smile on his face. He looked toward the kittens and started to speak.

“You two are part of the Cat Tribe, aren’t you?”

The two kittens nodded their heads without making eye contact with Cale.

“Are you planning on following me?”

There were no responses to this question.

Instead, the red kitten slowly walked over and rubbed its cheek on Cale’s leg, while the silver kitten approached Cale soon after and started to tap Cale’s foot with her front paw.

Cale already had a plan for these two siblings. He nodded his head and made up his mind about the kittens.

“Then make yourselves useful.”

The kittens immediately responded.

Meeeow.

Meow!

“Answer in human language.”

The pupils of the silver kitten, the older sister named On, started to sparkle as she spoke.

“I want to eat meat. I’m still hungry.”

The red kitten, the younger brother Hong, tapped Cale’s leg as he added on.

“I want to eat cake.”

Cale responded to both of them.

“I will give you a lot of meat and cake, so you know what to do, right?”

“Be useful!”

“Be useful!”

The kittens immediately replied, and that was how the two siblings, who were kicked out of the Fog Cat Tribe, became a part of the “small weak human’s team!”(according to raon)

Here is a little drawing i made of cale and his family

Chapter Text

Now that he has more mouths to feed, Cale decides to buy some more emergency food for the four of them. Meanwhile the kids were playing.

He also decided to get some healing potions for the two cats(like a great sibling(their relationship will be sibling lika) he is. Not that he’ll ever realize). If they’re going to be useful in his journey, might as well take care of them for now(keep telling yourself that).

After he got back home(not without a bit of scamming), he heard the children discussing some things…

“Ok! My name is Raon and i am a mighty dragon!. I am currently 2 years old!”

“Wow! So does that make you my dosaeng?, my name is Hong and this is my sister, On!. I am 6 years old and my sister is 8!.”

“I guess it means I’m getting another dosaeng, and Raon is getting a hyung and a noona”

“Speaking of ages… what’s the age of the weird human?”(Hong)

“Hmmm.. i actually don’t know! Let’s just ask him”(Raon)

And that’s how he’s in this position, 3 children trying to ask about his age. He thinks he should be about 8 years old. Since he asked around and they said that it’s currently the 29th day of the 3rd month in the 771st year of the felix calendar (I don’t know when Baseb arrived, but for the sake of this fic, just pretend he just arrived). So if he’s doing the maths correctly he should be 8 or 9 right now. He knows cale got beaten up when he was 18, but he doesn’t know when is his birthday so he’ll just think it’s his, so November 8th.

That’s how he answered that question.

“Im 8 right now”(cale)

“Wow! Noona and you have the same age!”

“Small weak human! When is your birthday?”

“Mine is when summer just arrived on the eastern continent. So i think mine is on the early sixth month”

“Mine is apparently when summer finished! So mine is on the early ninth month!-nya!”

“Ah.. my birthday is on the 8th of the 11th month”

“So.. noona is older that you?”(hong)

“I guess?”

“Does this mean weak small human isn’t the oldest?”

“Does this mean i have another dosaeng?”

“…”(cale)

“Do whatever you want i guess…?”

“Wow! Noona, i got a hyung!”

“Yes, yes. Speaking of which, what’s the name of our new family member?” On asked like the most rational member of them.

“I know! The weak small human once said that his name was ‘Cale Henituse’!”

“Wow! Hyung has a pretty name!”

“I agree”

(I don’t know how to write fluff. Sorry😅)

…

After that… they decided to continue to explore. While looking at the map, cale wondered which ancient power he should get should he try to get the ‘sound of the wind’ or the ‘fire of destruction’?

He did say that he was going to get the ‘sound of the wind’ before… but, wouldn’t it also be good if he had the the powerful fire? He also gained quite a lot of gold coins from…. Looting people(listen, they were bad guys so it’s acceptable). It really is a hard choice.

Nope just kidding, he’s going for the ‘sound of the wind’. Might as well? It much more nearer than the ‘fire of destruction’. Might as well also take the cats. This might give them some experience on the outside world.

“Okay, our next destination is a place that’s near an ocean.”

“Okay-nya!”(Hong has gotten much more comfortable with cale)

“Okay”

“Weak human, are we going to see the fish you talked about?”

“Woww! We’re also going to eat fish?”

“Sure.. let’s do that when we’re near that place”

“Let’s go-nya!”

“Wait, we still need the coordinates, wait right here while i ask the person below”

“Ok-nya!”(i don’t know where to place the ‘nya’s)

“Okay”(On)

“Okay, small weak human!”

….

After asking, turns out the person doesn’t know, which is reasonable. Though it wasn’t all that fruitless, another person who heard their conversation knew the coordinates of a place that was near there. Turns out the universe isn’t out to get him that much.

Now that he’s back at the comfort of his own room, he told the dragon the coordinates near the place. He already had the plan of asking the dragon to make them fly for the rest of their journey to the ocean after that, since he doesn’t really want to walk, his dream is to be a slacker thank you very much. And the dragon doesn’t seem to get tired if he does magic spells like those for a long amount of time. Now how did the conversation went?

“I found the coordinates near that place”

“Yay!”

“Wait, ‘near’? So does it mean we’re going to have to walk for the rest of the way?” On had no problems with walking of course. If she and her brother managed to run away from their tribe, then this should be no problem. But, what she was concerned for is the fact that her new dosaeng seems to be quite lazy.

“No, Raon can use his magic to make us fly for the rest of the way”

“No!, I wanna also walk!”

Well this was not the reaction cale was expecting.

“But, we might arr-“

“It’s more fun walking weak human! Don’t worry, if it’s too much for you we can take breaks on the way!” Raon has already seen that the weak human rarely does any exercise so he thought that the weak human was so weak, the slightest bit of exercise would probably make him tired.

No, this was definitely not going the way he thought. He was trying to get the dragon to change his mind, but another cat suddenly showed up to defend his dosaeng.

“Cale-nya! My dosaeng is right, we should just walk. We can just take breaks if you’re tired.” Hong, also seeing the laziness of his hyung name ‘cale’ had come to the same conclusion as his dosaeng.

Cale doesn’t know what to do at this point. Although he still really doesn’t like the sound of him having to walk for the rest of the way. He also didn’t want the children to have tantrums(he has seen kids throwing tantrums at Korea and never wants to experience it). So he just decided to relent at their request

“Hah.. sure. I guess”

“Yay!”

“Thank you!”

“…”(On doesn’t know what to say. Should she say that this was a action of guilt tripping people to get what they want?)

And after that whole ordeal, the children decided to ask some questions.

“Cale-nya(Hong calls cale ‘cale’ since On said that Cale wasn’t very comfortable with people calling him hyung or dosaeng. She said she saw his face change a bit when he heard that. Does he already have a hyung?), why do you cover your eye?”

And with that question, On just imagines herself face palming her face. She forgot to tell her younger brother nit to mind Cale covering his eye since it might be a bad topic to discuss about. She was just to focused on the fact that Cale’s face changes whenever they call him ‘hyung’ or ‘dosaeng’.

Raon just stiffens at that question

“…” luckily Cale looks unfazed. He really doesn’t mind a child to be so curious about him covering his eye. Children are meant to be curious so he doesn’t really mind.

“I just got attacked by some bad guy and they managed to hurt my eye a bit” Cale didn’t really want to ruin a child’s innocence by talking about the whole torture thing, so that’s the best he could come up with. Which was technically not a lie.

“Who was the guy that hurt you-nya!. I’ll make him pay!”(cale was wondering who taught the red cat on how to say something like that)

“I agree with my brother, who hurt you? We’ll definitely make him pay if you want to” On was now also agreeing with her brother. She doesn’t like any family member of hers getting hurt, and Cale is now her dosaeng.

“Don’t worry! We already got revenge!” Raon decides to answer since he thinks that the human probably doesn’t like this subject.

What Raon said is true, since Raon did destroy the place with some of Venion’s people in it, some might have died and that means the person who hurt his human also probably died.

They decided to move to another topic after that, and into more light hearted ones.

After satisfying their curiosity, they decided to play a game. Raon already had some ideas from the human. He had, some time ago asked the human what type if games could they play. And the human had said a game called ‘hide and seek’.

“We should play ‘hide and seek’!”

“What’s hide and seek-nya?”

“I think i understand the game based on its name”

“It’s a game where a person has to find the other players that are hiding after counting for a certain amount of time! For the hiders to win, they have to hide until the time limit is over. While for the seekers, they have to find all of the hiders before the time limit, at least that’s what the human told me”

“The game sounds fun-nya! We should also invite cale-nya”

“That sounds like a good idea”

….

“Pleaseeeeeee”

“No”

“Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” Hong tried to give one of his best kitten(??) eyes to Cale. Unfortunately he didn’t budge.

“No. Don’t try that tactic on me”

“But human, it would be better if you join us”

“Im sorry Raon, but im not really in the mood”

Hong and Raon start to look at On for help. On just sighed and whispered something into Cale’s ear.

“Hahh.. fine but only for 1 hour”

They don’t know what type of magic On did but they were just happy that their human would play with them.

“Yayyy!!”

That was how Cale got in this position, losing every single round of hide and seek, and the children kinda unconsciously calling him bad.

“Hmm…. Human, you should maybe just sit through this game actually! You keep losing”

“I agree with my dosaeng, you kept on losing every single round”

“…” On probably realized that they were probably unintentionally calling him bad at the game and was just holding her laughter.

At least some thing good came out of it? He got to get out of the game and started to slack.

….

After 3 days, they finally finished packing the stuff they’ll need for this journey.

Cale packed the necessities, such as:
-water
-emergency food
-food for the journey
-a map
-a change of clothes
-healing potions(in case anyone gets hurt)
-bandages(this is for him. In case any of his bandages become soggy/damaged. He also packed skme extra jusy in case the children get hurt)
-a light
-money(of course)
-tent
-magic bags

What Hong packed:
-sweets
-water
-anything that looked fun to play with in the inn
-food(Cale and On told him he couldn’t live with just eating sweets)

On:
-water
-food
-blanket
-lamp
-bandages(she saw Cale needing to change bandages once in a while and wanted to bring some extra just in case it ran out. Especially with the amount he uses)

Raon:
-apple pies
-cooking tools and pots(Cale asked Raon to pit this in his dimensional space bag)
-money(Cale asked him to carry quite a lot(‘quite a lot was an understatement) just in case of an emergency)

And now that they were prepared, they decided to start the journey.

….

The teleportation fucked up.

Yes, it fucked up.

Now they’re stranded in a forest.

…

“….”

“.. i’m not mighty and powerful….” Meanwhile, Raon was having an inner turmoil because they teleported him to the wrong place.

“It’s okay-nya!. We can still teleport to that place!.”

“Yeah, it’s okay”

“Yes, i agree with Hong and On, it’s not your fault. We can just teleport back… another time”

“Really?… human.. what do you mean by ‘another time’?”

“Yeah-nya! Shouldn’t we get out of here now? There’s fish waiting for us at the ocean!”

“I have to do… some business around here anyways, so you didn’t really teleport us to the wrong place. So good job”

“Really? I did a good job? I mean! Of course i did a good job! I am the great and mighty Raon miru after all!” Despite saying that it was a normal response, the dragon’s wings were flapping quite quick.(perhaps it was because that it was happy?)

Anyways, Raon did really do a good job. He doesn’t know how but Raon somehow teleported them near the ancient power ‘fire of destruction’.

He could see the mountains that looked like fingers. This mountain was called the ‘ten finger mountain’. This meant that the third and eighth peaks were the tallest. These two peaks were so tall that the peak was covered by the clouds and snow did not melt until the middle of summer. Within the ten peaks was an elf village, not that he’ll be encountering any elves(totally).

He asked Raon to get him to fly up to the third mountain. Because as he said, the third and eighth peaks were the tallest. These two peaks were so tall that the peak was covered by the clouds and snow did not melt until the middle of summer.

‘But that peak is melting.’

The ancient power was the, ‘Fire of Destruction.’

Other people would not know about it yet. This ancient power would melt about half of this third peak if the time is when cale is 18.

“Human! It is hot! What is this?”

“Aigoo.”

Cale groaned as he reached the top.

“Isn’t this lava? I read about it in a book! It is hotter than a lot of stuff in the world! It is an interesting power!”

Lava appeared in front of Cale and Raon. It was not huge, but still a decently large lava pit. Of course, this peak was not a volcano. However, this lava was melting the mountain. They could feel intense heat radiating from the fire.

But Cale was feeling less of it thanks to the ‘Vitality of the Heart’. He looked at the center of the lava pit.

“Ha!”

He couldn’t believe it. A golden pig sculpture was spinning in circles in the middle of the lava pit.

“Raon.”

Cale called out to Raon, who was staring at the interesting sight in front of him. Raon could see Cale holding his magic bag open in front of him.

“What is it, human?”

“Hand over the money.”

Raon blinked a few times before putting the silver coins in Cale’s bag.

Cale slowly started to smile. It had been a while since he did something this refreshing without harming anyone.

Showing off your wealth was best for stress relief.

“Ha, hahaha!”

Cale started to laugh out loud.

“…Human, why are you laughing?”

Raon moved backward. It was not because Cale was laughing. It was odd to see Cale laughing like this, but it was nice to see. However, what Cale started to do was odd.

Clang, clang.

Cale grasped a fistful of silver coins and threw it into the lava.

“Human! Do you know how many chicken skewers! How much candy?! Human, why are you doing this?! Tell me if you have any issues with me! Human!”

“Hahahaha!”

Cale was not listening to Raon. At that moment, something weird started to happen.

Ooooooooong.

They could hear a noise as the silver coins did not melt and started to rise up from the lava to create a path.

The former owner of this ancient power was a greedy and wealthy warrior.

This last ancient power required money to get.

It really felt nice to spend money like it was water.

“Hahahaha!”

Cale laughed out loud like a hero as he continued to throw silver coins in front of him and into the lava. A silver path made of money was slowly starting to form.

-I didn’t expect for someone like you to appear!

Cale could hear the voice of the owner of the, ‘Fire of Destruction.’ The voice sounded like it was looking at a crazy person.

Claaaaaaang-

The silver coins continued to fly like snow.

‘Ah, this is bliss.’

It was even better since it was someone else’s money.(it was the money from the people in Venion’s documents/venion’s people)

He would never get a chance like this again.

“Yes, let’s throw it all!”

Silver coins continued to fly as Cale grabbed handfuls and threw them toward the golden pig sculpture.

“T, this can’t be! I don’t know how to feel! I shouldn’t feel this way! But this is so refreshing to watch!”

The 2-year-old Raon fell into a state of chaos. Cale didn’t care as he watched the silver coins float up to create a path for him.

The, ‘Fire of Destruction,’ really couldn’t be called lava or fire. It was more of a, ‘liquid flame,’ since the fire was in a liquid-like state.

< The, ‘Fire of Destruction,’ that appeared on the third peak of the Ten Finger Mountains did not go out until it destroyed the entire peak. Nobody could do anything about it until an Elf that had a Fire Elemental earned the ancient power. >

People did not earn this power the proper way in the novel. However, Cale knew the proper way to earn the power after reading about it in the novel.

< However, people did not think about throwing money into the lava. This flowing fire could not burn money. >

Why, you ask?

-I haven’t felt this feeling in a long time! Ah, the smell of money!

It was because the owner of the ancient power was crazy about money.

-Keep on throwing the money! I haven’t seen anybody other than my crazy friend waste silver coins like this!

-Muhahahaha!

“Hahaha!”

Both Cale and the owner of the ancient power were laughing. Silver coins continued to fly into the lava as they laughed. Raon took his piggy bank(Cale sayrted giving them money/allowance after he started to get a lot of money) out of his alternate dimension and held it close. He looked back and forth between Cale and his piggy bank with a serious expression.

“What are you looking at?”

Cale looked odd as he suddenly stopped laughing and stoically stood there. A path of silver coins was shining on top of the boiling lava. That silver light meshed well with the red-haired Cale.

“Weak human.”

“What?”

“Let me know if you don’t have enough! I am willing to give you my piggy bank!”

Cale snorted. Cale would never steal money from children. He didn’t enjoy snot-filled money.

-Money! Let me smell more of the scent of money!

Furthermore, he had two hundred thousand of these silver coins, courtesy of all of the people he looted.

“Here.”

Cale looked like a very benevolent person right now.

< Most importantly, that Elf was not able to take control of the full, ‘Fire of Destruction,’ and considered it to be a useless power. However, the Elf would have regretted it later if he knew that he would have been able to get closer and closer to the full power of the, ‘Fire of Destruction,’ if he was willing to spend a lot of money. >

The warrior who was the former owner of the, ‘Fire of Destruction,’ was said to be very greedy for money. He didn’t want power or fame, living in poverty during his childhood made him want money above all else.

-I wanted to be able to throw money away like trash like this too! But those damn bastards stole it all! My money, as well as my friends’ money! Those sons of bitches! You cruel bastards that treated us like slaves!

The golden pig started to swear profusely. Cale did not pay any attention to it as he started to walk toward the golden pig.

“Haa, so annoying.”

Cale was now taking out entire bags of money and just pouring it in front of him as he walked.

-Y, you wonderful human being!( the crown prince suddenly sneezed when he was practicing in his secret place. Why does it feel like he will have a massive headache in the future?)

The voice of the former owner was shaking.

Ooooooong- ooooooooong-

Cale started to smile. The golden pig sculpture was shining even brighter now.

Siiiiiizle-

A red vapor started to rise from the lava. Raon flew up higher in order to avoid the vapor. It was vapor that had fire inside of it.

Paaaaat.

The ‘Indestructible Shield’ and its wings covered Cale’s body.

‘This is no better than manual labor.’

Cale was getting tired of this repetitive procedure. Even throwing money around got boring after a while.
Cale clicked his tongue and started to pour the money even faster. He was able to soon arrive in front of the golden pig sculpture in the middle of the lava pit, as the pit was not very wide.

“Mm.”

The voice started to speak again once Cale was in front of the sculpture.

-I approve of you! You have the right attitude to gain this power! If it is you, if it is someone like you who is willing to throw money away like this, you will be able to overcome every obstacle in your way!

The owner of the ancient power had approved of him and was telling Cale to grab the pig sculpture. However, the owner of the ancient power could only speak in disbelief after seeing Cale’s next actions.

-Hmm?

Claaaaaang. Claaaaaang.

Cale took out even more silver coins.

“So many.”

He was still far away from using all two hundred thousand silver coins.

-M, my goodness! I’ve never seen such a crazy person before! You must be an angel!

The owner of the ancient power could not hide his admiration. The pig sculpture started to vibrate even stronger the more the owner shouted with joy.

Ooooooooong.

The entire peak started to shake.

Siiiiiiizle. Siiiiiiiiiizle.

More of the red vapor started to rise into the air and headed toward the pig sculpture. Cale did not care about any of this, as he continued to pour out all two hundred thousand silver coins with indifference.

-……

The owner of the ancient power was now at a loss for words.

Cale straightened his back after finally pouring out all of the silver coins. He was sweating.

“This is hard work.”

Cale looked toward the shining pig sculpture as he said that. The red vapors were surrounding the golden pig sculpture.

-I approve of you. I debated it for a while, since I felt my friend’s power on you.

Friend’s power? Was he friends with the thief that was the owner of the ‘indestructible shield’ or ‘vitality of the heart’?

Cale felt like he learned something useless again. He then started to frown at the owner’s next words.

-There really are no normal people who own ancient powers. Here you go! Take it! It is the power to destroy everything! Of course, the money is mine.

“Oh.”

The ancient power started to float toward Cale. The golden pig sculpture that was surrounded by red vapor was now in front of Cale’s nose.

‘He’s cheaper than I expected.’

He didn’t know that this would happen with only 2 billion gallons. Cale slowly reached his hand out toward the golden pig sculpture. He would have powers for defending, regenerating, and attacking once he got this power.

At that moment, the owner started to speak again.

-It’s interesting that you are in the land of boulders but do not have the corresponding ancient power.

‘Boulder?’

Cale flinched.

-To be honest with you, money isn’t the only thing that I couldn't destroy. There is a boulder that I could not destroy as well. I will share this information with you since you helped me resolve my resentment.

It was a hint about another ancient power.

‘…But I don’t need it.’

Cale was fine with what he had already. There were probably no other human beings who had so many ancient powers.

-The king of rocks, the Giant Cobblestone that is known as the, ‘Super Rock,’ is in the land of boulders.

Cale’s expression did not seem to be good as he heard about the land of boulders, the Roan Kingdom.

Why did it have to be a Giant Cobblestone? Cale had a bad feeling about this. Cale did not respond to the ancient power who did not say anything else, and just touched the golden pig sculpture.

Siiizzle.

Cale’s hand touched the vapor, but he did not get hurt.

Ooooooooo-

The tips of his fingers touched the pig sculpture. A mix of gold and red light rushed toward Cale.

-Use it to melt anything in your way. You will survive through the pain.

The voice of the ancient power’s owner slowly disappeared. Cale lifted up his shirt to see that there was now a rose gold thunderbolt on the silver shield on his chest.

Cale was relieved.

‘It’s not a pig.’

The pig sculpture earlier was cute, but he didn’t want such a tattoo. Cale reached his hand out.

“Ooh!”

Raon was amazed at what was happening.

Siiiiiiizle-

A loud sizzle noise appeared as the silver coins disappeared into silver vapor.

At the same time, the red lava sizzled and formed into an orb in front of Cale’s hand. Cale clenched his hand into a fist, as if he was trying to grab the orb.

Paaat.

The lava orb disappeared with a quiet noise. Only a wide pit was left on top of the third peak.

“Human, is that power from earlier yours now?”

“I guess so?”

“You are as strong as a third of my pinky toe now! You are now a very extremely tiny amount stronger.”

Cale smiled after receiving Raon’s approval. A cool breeze swept past him. Now that the heat from the lava was gone, the top of this peak was returning to being cold.

At that moment, Raon approached him with his piggy bank still in his paws.

“Small weak human! I meant to tell you this sooner, but i saw a person near here!”

‘What?’

“He is coming very fast! He’s already close to the peak! I am hiding!”

Cale wished Raon would tell him things like this faster. Raon was staying quiet in order to not interrupt Cale while he was getting an ancient power, but this was more important to Cale.

He had a bad feeling about this.

It always happened like this, curse his luck!.

Rustle

Cale could hear the sound of someone approaching.

“Haaaaaaa.”

He couldn’t help but sigh as he slowly turned around. Cale was standing in the middle of the pit as he looked up at the individual that arrived.

“I remember there was-!”

The visitor looked around in shock. He had seen lava here a few days ago. This extra issue was annoying while they were dealing with a major headache, but he had seen some hope within that power.

The man who was looking around made eye contact with Cale. Cale’s red hair made it seem like the lava had disappeared and turned into a person.

“…Y, you are-.”

The visitor, Pendrick the Healer, had never seen this red-haired kid before.

Pendrick stopped talking after seeing the indifference in the kid’s face. In contrast, the man who was standing tall in the middle of the pit started to speak.

It was a cold voice.

“Who are you? Do you know me?”

Cale was feigning ignorance more than ever.

But there was another individual responding to Cale other than Pendrick.

Human, I know who he is! Do you want to know? I pretty sure he’s an elf! I know everything because I am a great and mighty Dragon!

‘No, I already know who he is.’

Cale started to frown after his mind became rowdy with Raon’s unnecessary explanation.

‘And why is he like that?’

Cale was anxious about Pendrick’s reaction. Pendrick slightly lifted the hood of his robe. Although his ears were still covered, Cale could see the Z shaped scar around Pendrick’s eyes.

“Uhh… we haven’t met before but, my names Pendrick.”

This was true. Cale had flinched after seeing the scar by Pendrick’s eyes.

“I see.”

However, Cale feigned ignorance until the end. He also made his responses as short as possible. He had learned from his experiences.

‘Cannot say too much.’

He kept ending up being dragged into messes the more he talked to someone. Cale turned away from Pendrick and started to walk in the opposite direction. He was heading toward the top of the pit.

Crumble. Crumble.

The black rocks broke as he stepped on them. Cale’s red hair fluttered in the wind.

‘He’ll stop thinking about me now.’

Of course, Cale was wrong.

“Kid, did you earn an ancient power?”

Cale did not stop walking, even after Pendrick started to speak.

“Yes.”

He gave a short answer.

Pendrick flinched at the cold and indifferent voice. He looked at the back of the kid who was walking away.

Why would Pendrick have come here even though the village was in trouble? It was because of the scary feeling he got from the lava.

Pendrick was aware of his status as an Elf who could not handle an Elemental.

The only things that he had going for him were his healing and fighting abilities.

For someone like him, that scary lava was a tempting power. He wanted the power to help his village. He thought that the fire might be able to burn that thing that was a poison to the Elves.

However, ancient powers were things that required a lot of luck to acquire. They were said to have predestined owners.

“Excuse me!”

Pendrick started to run toward Cale.

Cale flinched at the sound of someone running toward him.

‘Why is he following me?’

Cale started to walk faster. However, he still responded to Pendrick.

“What is it?”

“Could you please lend me the strength of your ancient power?”

Cale thought that he shouldn't have responded.

Cale started to frown. How could someone suddenly launch a hook like this? Cale wanted to sigh, but just turned around with the frown still on his face.

“Mm!”

He then flinched.

An Elf was standing behind him. Pendrick had lowered his hood to reveal his Elf ears.

The novel had mentioned that the Whales were so beautiful they could put the Elves to shame. However, as one of the main character’s party members, Pendrick had a different kind of beauty compared to other Elves.
He was someone who lived in despair as an Elf who could not handle an Elemental. However, he still had a purpose as a healer. Although his face was pale, Cale could not deny that Pendrick was handsome.

Is that Elf sick? He seems very pale.

Although Pendrick looked pale, he was not sick. But he sure was handsome. Cale continued to stare at the Elf, Pendrick. This made Pendrick start to think.

‘This kid really isn’t an average person.’

Cale did not even flinch after seeing an Elf. Although Cale was not speaking, Cale’s gaze seemed to be telling him to hurry up and explain.

Since he had brought it up, he needed to explain the details.

“I am an Elf and I live in the Elf Village.”

Cale held back a sigh. He turned his gaze away and looked far away as Pendrick started to explain. He felt like his luck was really bad. It was always a mess whenever he left his bed.

At that moment, something Pendrick said caught Cale’s attention.

“An organization has invaded our village in an attempt to steal the branch of the World Tree.”

“What? Wouldn’t the Elf Village be destroyed if you lose the branch?”

Cale was so shocked that he accidentally blurted that out loud.

The World Tree was an existence of legends. Most fantasy worlds were said to be supported by a World Tree. However, the World Tree wasn’t really that grand of an existence.

However, it existed in a special location and helped the creatures of nature live peacefully. As for the Elves, they used a branch of the World Tree with permission in order to build their villages.

It was a village made with the help of the trees and nature. The Elves lived in that village, and the World Tree’s branch used illusion magic to let the Elves live without danger.

The Elf Village would disappear if the World Tree’s branch disappeared.

“Yes, it will be destroyed.”

Pendrick hid his shock as he calmly answered. He then started to observe Cale more thoroughly.

There was a reason this kid did not become shocked after seeing that he was an Elf.

‘He knows a lot about Elves.’

Unlike most people who had fantasies and curiosities about Elves, this man in front of him had some knowledge regarding Elves and Elementals.

“That is why the Elves and Elementals are currently fighting against that organization.”

Cale maintained his expression as he asked about, ‘that organization.’

“Who is that organization?”

“We are not sure. However, they are wearing clothes that have a red star and five white stars. We could not determine the identity of the organization, even after conducting an investigation.” Pendrick was not sure why he was explaining it to a kid. Although he felt bad for dragging a kid into this, he still needed the kids ancient power’s help.

‘Crazy bastards.’

Cale could not tell why that organization was doing these things.

They really are terrible people! Those baddies must be punished! They want to destroy the Elves homes?! I will destroy the world if our future house is destroyed!

Cale ignored Raon and asked what he wanted to ask.

“So why do you need my ancient power?”

He wanted to know what his power had to do with their battle.

Pendrick asked a question instead of answering Cale’s question.

“Do you know what is the most poisonous substance toward Elves?”

Cale knew the answer. As much as he didn’t want to, he definitely knew the answer. Cale let out a sigh.
The Elves and Dark Elves did not have a good relationship with each other because of dead mana.

“I do not know if this power of fire will be able to burn dead mana.”

Dead mana was like poison to the Elves.

That was why from his point of view, if the village was being attacked, some elves would probably go and investigate but also leave their elementals at the village. Elementals were not affected by dead mana, so they were currently the ones protecting the Elf Village.
Pendrick’s gaze became even more pensive. This was someone who really knew a lot about Elves. It was difficult to find such a person. But he felt quite iffy when the person was a kid.

“I still want to test it out. Please help us. They are spraying water infused with dead mana, and even the Elementals could not take care of it.”

“And why should I help you?”

Pendrick was suddenly at a loss of words.

Human, you should definitely help them!-

“That, we will reward you for your assistance.”

Pendrick stumbled as he answered. Cale just asked right back.

“Reward?”

Pendrick flinched after seeing that Cale was interested. What should they give to a human? The Elf Village was poor in human standards. It did not have money, treasures, or jewels. All they had was wood.

“Yes, that, you see, for your reward-.”

“No need.”

“Excuse me?”

“There’s no way Elves living in nature have money or jewels to give.”

Of course, Pendrick the Healer and the Elementals could still give him a reward.

However, Cale did not say that part. Why?

‘Elves like humans who are not materialistic.’

Elves were a race that liked being minimalists.

Cale had already made up his mind, especially since Raon was strongly encouraging him from a while ago.

-Human, I want to punch that magic spearman in the face!

Since the strongest in their party was saying that, what could Cale do about it? Furthermore, Pendrick had lived until now because Cale had twisted the story. He didn’t want him to die here. There was also something that Cale needed to verify.

“I will help you.”

“Really?”

Pendrick could see the kid starting to smile for the first time.

“It is not like I can just ignore someone in trouble.”
It was an indifferent tone, but Pendrick started to feel thankful.

He knew that the kid in front of him had no reason to help him at all, in fact, children should only be playing instead of this. That was why he was having such a strong reaction to the man’s willingness to help. Pendrick opened his mouth to speak. However, the man started to speak before he could say anything.

“Plus, i think i know the organization, and what it’s going to do”

“Huh?”

“I heard that they will try to cause a bombing incident in the future at the Roan kingdom’s capital”

Of course what he said will happen in the future like 10 years later(or much more earlier considering these stuff that happened in the novel that is supposed to happen in a couple of years). But this still counts.

“How terrible!”

They were trying to kill hundreds of innocent people!Pendrick was angry.

He then remembered that there was a child in front of him. This child does seem suspiciously intelligent. The child knew about elves, elementals, and even what the organization is planning to do. So Pendrick couldn’t help but ask,

“Excuse me, if you don’t mind me asking, how do you know about these stuff?”

Ah. He finally decided to ask that question. Cale honestly thought he would do that since earlier but it seems like he has a soft spot for kids.

“Let’s just say i have good information network” Cale smiled sweetly

Now, Pendrick was definitely confused. Why would a child need an information network?

While Pendrick was currently questioning about this kid, Cale had another voice inside his head talking to him.

Human, why are you smiling like when you are talking about money? Are you trying to scam someone?

Cale could hear Raon’s voice, but he ignored it as he asked Pendrick.

“Tell me the location of your village. I will grab my group and head over right away.”

Pendrick bowed his head.

“Thank you very much… uhmm..”

“Cale Henituse”

“Ah! Thank you very much, Cale Henituse”

He could see Cale Henituse, the person he felt was very cold at first, gently smiling like his thank you was enough compensation for helping the Elf Village.

Of course, Cale was smiling because he was thinking about how to take as much as he could from the Elves.

Chapter Text

Before he wanted to go to the elf village, he told Pendrick that he had some companions that would also probably like to come. Pendrick was a bit apprehensive about another person knowing the location of the elf village but finally relented(Pendrick has a soft spot for kids (like a certain ancient dragon, but we’ll meet him later). So Cale used his best puppy eyes). He told Pendrick to meet here again tomorrow.

When he told On and Hong about it, Hong was quite excited about meeting elves, while, On the most responsible of the group, asked if the elves would be a threat to them.

“Are we really sure about this-nya? What if they tricked us?”

“Don’t worry noona! This mighty Raon Miru will protect you all!”

Cale, of course already had a backup plan.

The book said that elves basically worshipped dragons like gods, and luckily, Cale just so happens to have one. Although he would only show Raon for emergencies, if he did show Raon to the elves, they would go absolutely manic.

They would probably worship Raon as a new god, and if Raon told them to destroy a forest, they would probably do so without much questions. Just thinking about it makes Cale shiver.

Ok- back on to the discussion.

On doesn’t look like she believes Raon all that much. So cale(being the good sibling he is) assured On that he had a backup plan if things go south.(On wasn’t that convinced but she let it go)

While the children were playing, Cale was bored so he decided to read some books. Since his hobby(besides slacking) from his past life was to read, he got pretty into it quite quickly.

He read all types of books, fantasy, history, scientific. But what he’s aiming for is probably some knowledge about the mark on his shoulder. It looks very weird, and he doesn’t remember the novel saying anything about Cale henituse having a mark except for the scar he got from Choi Han.

Unfortunately, his luck is shitty or the universe just hates him, so he never found out anything about the mark. He plans to ask somebody about the mark later.

Hmm.. speaking of which, he has a bad feeling about tomorrow. He can’t exactly pinpoint what’s causing it. The only thing he’s going to do tomorrow is just beat up some people from the organization. They couldn’t have possibly sent out people that is stronger than a dragon… right?

….

And that’s how he got here, he’s currently at the potion shop. He didn’t really want to go alone so he also brought Raon with him. While they were buying potions, Raon suddenly called out for him.

‘Human!’

“What?”

‘I feel another presence that’s kinda like the elf guy from this morning but different!’

“How different?”

‘It’s kinda the same but mixed with… death?’

“What?”

According to his knowledge, he only knows 2 type of elves. The first is, elves like pendrick except they can hear elementals. And dark elves, they feed off of dead mana, dead mana is from the dead. They are normally found near graves if he remembered.

If Raon sensed someone that’s like an elf but mixed with death… oh fuck no.

Cale bolt straight out of the door after he bought the potions. Which left everyone in the store shocked.

Of the people there, there was a woman wearing a hood. She had light skin and had a necklace. The woman wondered why the child ran off so suddenly. She then felt her elemental say that there was a lot of mana coming from the child! What could the child be?

…

‘Thank god i made it out of there’(cale)

‘Human, why did you leave so abruptly?’

“So my sanity is saved”

‘??’

Cale’s reply just made the young dragon even more confused.

‘You’re a weird human’

With that comment, Cale just ignored Raon. Cale looked at all of the potions he got. 7 mediums and 5 low. They didn’t really sell high quality so he opted for just this. This was actually a good amount of potions considering he had more potions at the inn(he got paranoid and packed a lot)

Now that his bad feeling got a bit lessened(he doesn’t like the fact that it’s still there), he can go back to the inn and relax.

….

‘Nevermind’

The children were already asking him to play with them. Cale doesn’t even know how he goy into this predicament anyways. He’s currently torn between two options, one. He play with them since he does feel bad that he’s going to overwork them tomorrow and they’re still children, let children be children. Or two, not play with them. He currently only wants to slack right now.

He eventually chose the former and played with them. I mean they’re still children, they obviously would want to play.

…

He regrets choosing to play.

YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT THEY WANTED TO PLAY??

YOU WANNA KNOW??

It was a trivia game.

Ok, hear him out.

In this trivia, the question are only about viciousness. For example, Hong made a question. YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT IT WAS ABOUT?

“My question is… what plant is the most toxic and could kill humans within a second-nya!”

On just face palmed while Cale was just dumbfounded by the question. THAT WASN’T EVEN THE ONLY VICIOUS QUESTION. You wanna know what Raon asked?

“What is the best torture method to do to Venion?-“

Wait a minute that one was a valid one- ok heres a real example

“What do we do if the human gets hurt?”

That doesn’t sound like a harmless question right? THE CHOICES FUCKING HORRIFYING

“A. Burn the whole world! B. Kill everyone! C. Kill everyone and then burn the whole world. D. Kill their fami- wait no! They’re family did nothing wrong. Ok! Or D. Torture them until they wish to die!”

DO YOU THINK THAT THATS A NORMAL THING TO COME OUT FROM A 2 YEAR OLDS MOUTH???

Cale regrets his entire decision rigt now.

…

Tomorrow finally arrives and Cale went back to the same spot(with the help of Raon of course) he met Pendrick but this time with On and Hong.

When Pendrick saw them, he became confused.

“Your companions are the two cats?”

“Yes”

“And why are you wearing that?”

Cale was currently wearing the outfit of the organization that was described in the novel. A black outfit with 5 white stars and a single red star.

Pendrick just eyed him weirdly. Cale wonders why. He knows that his sewing skills weren’t top notch but he still worked hard on sewing this(try sewing with these TINY hands! Get a feel of the pain. He would be too lazy to reach for the thread but he couldn’t reach the damn table!)

(A/n: I actually don’t know how to sew so i just put something random)

“Hmm.. i guess that would be reasonable since you still are a child after all”

What

There seems to be some misunderstanding.

Does Pendrick think that he’s bringing cats and likes to play dress up just because he’s an innocent child? Should he tell him that they’re actually from the cat tribe and these uniforms are actually going to cause chaos to the organization? Nahh

Meanwhile Pendrick, he was thinking that a child should be like this. They should just play around with companions, like cats or dogs, and also like to play around. Even though this kid knows a lot, he’s still a child after all. This fact just honestly makes him feel worse for asking help from a child to help protect their village.

Cale, not knowing what’s going on inside Pendrick’s head, just innocently asked where the village was.

“Excuse me, sir Pendrick. But where is the village?”

“Ah! I’m so sorry, here, hold my hand, ill lead you.

Pendrick held out his hand towards Cale. Cake was quite anxious since he just bandaged his arms(including hands)this morning and didn’t really wanted to be asked, but he is an extremely good actor. So Cale took Pendrick’s hand.

Pendrick felt extremely... uncomfortable with the child’s hand. Why was it bandaged? Did the child hurt himself? As a doctor, he was obviously worried about this, might as well get to know the person who’s going to help you he guesses.

“Uhmm.. kid, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened for your hand to be bandaged like this?”

The bandage was wrapped like it was holding some secrets that the child does not want to be shown.

“Oh, that, I accidentally tripped and fell this morning while getting ready, I didn’t really have much time so I hurriedly bandaged it, i think i wrapped it a bit too tight, but ill fix it later.. haha”

After the explanation, the child just let out an awkward laugh like telling the story embarrassed him. Turns out Pendrick was worried for nothing. But there was something about the child’s story that made Pendrick feel a bit ….uncertain? It was the fact that the human child had to bandage his hand by himself without any help, where were the child’s parents? He let curiosity get the better of him an asked.

“Hey kid… if you don’t mind me asking.. where is your parents?”

Well that wasn’t a question Cale was hoping for. Might as well tell the elf the same story he told the others.

“Uh… my mom and dad passed away after a sudden accident, i’m exploring the world looking for a job”

Well if Pendrick didn’t feel bad before, he certainly did now. He just made the child remember about apart of the past which the child probably doesn’t want to remember.

Cale hates the way Pendrick looks at him. He doesn’t want pity. Although what he said was half true, he doesn’t like other pitying him.

The rest of the way was just silence. Raon didn’t try to talk, the cats too, Cale wonders why though.

After what he felt like maybe minutes, hours? They finally arrived with Pendrick’s gasp.

“The… the village!”

Cale shared his sentiments while looking at the entrance to the village.

“It… looks like a mess”

There were Elementals that materialized into physical bodies, as well as some Elves who were fighting against the secret organization.

“Let’s go.”

Pendrick nodded his head to the strange kid(he doesn’t know why but he feels like he can trust this kid he just met. Maybe it’s the adrenaline?). He quickly rushed toward the boundary of the village.

Baaaang!

Ugh!

Screeeeech-

It was a mess with the screams of humans, animals, Elves, and Elementals. The strong individuals within the Elf Village suddenly stopped moving. All of their gazes headed toward the seventh peak.

They could see some silhouettes heading toward them quickly from the seventh peak.

“M, more enemies?!”

“N-no! I think i see a kid there with someone else!”

“How shameless! Are they kidnapping kids now?”

“Ugh! Focus on the task! Protect the village!”

“Hey! Ain’t that Pendrick?”

“Wait, Pendrick was the one with the kid? Did we call one of our kind shameless?”

“I said focus on your task! You all wont be worrying about that if we all die and the village is no more!”

“Hey! Looks the child’s wearing the enemy’s uniform!”

“Did Pendrick get caught by the child? Did the child kidnap him instead?”

“Should we send some elementals his way?”

“I remember that he can’t communicate with them dumbass”

When Pendrick reached the elves(that we’re currently discussing about the child even tho they’re still fighting), he decided to explain to them who the child was.

“Guys! Guys! I found someone who can help us!”

“Are you going insane Pendrick? That’s a child, we respect you as one of if not the best healers here, but i don’t think that child can do anything”

“No! No! Believe me, I might have found a powerful power at the third peak, but the child took(cale feels a bit offended, took is such a strong word) it before i could get it, but the kid said that he’ll lend me the powers help!”

“Are you.. sure?”

“Yeah! You even lead him here! You lead a human here to the elf village while there’s enemies attacking us!”

“I-“

“Hi, if im nit being rude, but my name is Cale Henituse and as sir Pendrick said, i want to help the elf village”

“Tch! What can a human like you do? You’re a puny one at that! Just let us grown adults do this and scurry your way out of here! Over here is dangerous”

“If i manage to defeat the enemies, can i ask for a favor then?”

“Wah! How arrogant, humans truly are arrogant! Fine, you’ve dug your grave then”

Pendrick was seriously feeling like bringing the (weird)kid was a mistake. He’s trying to rile up one of the elder elf! This is seriously not good. He’s also starting to get hit by the current situation. Why did he ask a child to help him?! The child could get hurt or even killed by the enemies!

“Hey. Henituse kid? I think you should actually just le-“

“No. It’s okay, i wont get hurt. You asked me to help right, and i agreed, so it’s better for me to keep my end of the deal.”

Why was he so confident in saying all of this? It was because he has a dragon of course. One of the most powerful existence in the whole world. Speaking of the dragon, Raon is currently talking inside his head.

‘Wow! Human, you looked so cool while saying that!.’

Raon then flew near Pendrick and started saying something.

That’s right! My human always keeps promises and is the best!’

Cale just wanted to sigh at that. The cats were also giving him sparkling looks(well Hong is, and On is just giving him a look of approval, ‘yes, that’s my dosaeng over here. Although i might not call him that yet, he’s still apart of family’).

Pendrick was still quite unsure. He doesn’t know why but after what the child said he felt like he couldn’t count on him(which made him feel even more worse).

“Don’t let him! Theres a magic spearman here! Letting that kid help us would basically mean suicide for him!”

“It’s okay, I’m sure I’ll be able to help you.”

Cale doesn’t know why the village is being attacked this early but might as well help them, he’s also obviously going to ask for compensation(he’s going to basically ask for their entire savings even though they’re not materialistic).

“Sure, sure and humans are the best race their is. Kid, just listen to the adults”

Cale honestly is losing his patience right now and just wants to relax.

“Ok. Then as i said, i’ll make a bet with you. If i live, i will get a favor from the elves”

“And if you don’t …?”

“You dumbass! That means he dies!”(elf)

“Oh.”

“You sure ‘bout this kid? You probably won’t come out unscathed after this”

“Of course, i trust my heart after all”

What cale said, he meant it literally. He already had the ‘Indestructible shield’ and ‘vitality of the heart’. The shield would protect him from the dangers and the vitality would heal him from the injuries or wounds.

Cale then asked the cats to wear the uniform HE STITCHED and everyone looked at him like he was insane.

“Uhmm.. kid, i know that fights can make people lose their rationality, but are you sure you still want to do this?” Pendrick tired convincing him once again.

“Ah, i forgot to tell you but they’re cats from the cat tribe. The red one is Hong, and the silver one On.”

“…”

“?”

Looks like they might be a bit surprised(A BIT MY ASS), it was quite reasonable.

“On, can you spread your fog everywhere? And Hong, can you mix your poison in the fog?”

The best thing having On and Hong is that their abilities synchronize well with each other. If used correctly, it can create a powerful ability. He has been gathering a lot of poisonous stuff for Hong and has been watching On practice her fog a few days after they met(he knew Hong could strengthen his poison by eating poison because Hong told him).

“Okay-nya!”

“Sure-nya”

Looks like they have gotten more comfortable with him since they now use ‘nya’ on almost every single sentence they say when, when they first met, the wouldn’t really talk all that much(well On. Hong is a talkative a PURRR-son. Yes i made that).

And with that, poisonous fog(red fog) started to spread around the village, carefully dodging the elves and just aiming for the enemies.

“W-what’s happening!”

“This fog!- ugh!”

And there goes one enemy.

In all of the confusion, some of the enemies accidentally attacked each other.

Bangggg!

Oongggg

“Ow! Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

“I can’t see with all of this fog! Damnit!”

“Focus on the task boss sent us?”

‘!’

Are they perhaps going to accidentally spill more info about their leader?

But before that person got to spill any more information, a something just suddenly decapitate their neck

“Fools! If you say anymore about the boss, it’s going to be like giving free info to the enemies! Clear your mind and focus on the task!”

Looks like that’s the magic spearman the elf warned(?) him about. Cale could hear Raon affirming his thoughts.

‘That human feels strong! They’re also using a spear! Is this the magic spearman the elf talked about?’

“Seems so” cale just whispered back to Raon as a response.

“Just who are you?”

The magic spearman could see a small person(BAHAHAHAH HE DOESN’T KNOW CALE IS A CHILD YET) behind the red fog. That person looked liked they were wearing their uniform!

Cale responded to the magic spearman’s question.

“The secret organization.”

“What a bunch of lunatics.”

They could feel the magic spearman’s true feelings. He looked angry and annoyed. Cale started to smirk. That smirk made every elf there flich.

‘Did we choose the right person to help us? Why does it feel like we’re going to get scammed?’(elves)

‘So why do you do these bad things to harm other people?’

“Hey kid, who are they?”

“Who are they?”

There were two people who seemed to be working with the magic spearman. There was a boy who seemed to be about 12 years old, as well as a middle-aged man.

Neither of them are as strong as the magic spearman. However, the young boy is special.

Their handy detector, Raon, explained to Cale. Furthermore, Pendrick had already described these two to Cale.

‘The young boy is a tamer. Based on the language he uses, it seems that he just looks like a young boy. He made the animals that seemed to have lost their will to spread the dead mana against the Elves. The middle-aged swordsman protects the tamer.’

They could also see hundreds of soldiers from the secret organization(some of almost half of the soldiers git knocked out from the poisonous fog). On this side, the Elves had at max two hundred adult Elves. Even with the help of the Elementals, it was no wonder that the Elves were struggling, especially since the secret organization was using dead mana.

“Hyung(he doesn’t know if the person orchestrating this was just small or an actual child. But he just assumed they were small), who are you and why are you pretending to be us?”

Cale made eye contact with the tamer boy who was talking to him through the fog.

Tamers were said to have special abilities. They could become friends with living animals or monsters and fight together with them, or they could take away the animals will and make them like a zombie.

An animal or monster that has their will taken away can never return to normal. Even if they are released from the taming, they will go berserk until they die.

Grrrrrrrr.

Cale could see animals with bottles of dead mana in their mouths around the young boy. There seemed to be at least two or three hundred animals. The animals seemed to have been poisoned by dead mana as their entire bodies were filled with black veins.

‘The wolves living in the valley all lost their will once the young boy’s eyes turned white. Our biggest issue is the tamer boy directing the animals to release the dead mana.’

‘Each time he does that, he makes his subordinates temporarily retreat so that they are not affected by the dead mana, and the Elves can only avoid the animals with the dead mana and retreat as well. Since they control the timing of that, we are unable to launch a proper attack.’

And there were two strong individuals protecting the young boy. It was at that moment.

Boom!

One of the animals suddenly blew up. The wolf that blew up because it could not handle the dead mana slowly disappeared without a trace as black smoke started to rise from its corpse.

Of all the animals out there, the animals that the tamer boy had picked were all wolves, foxes, or similar animals.
The young boy’s eyes suddenly turned wide.

“Huh? Wait a minute! Those silhouettes look like cats! They must be from the cat tribe if they’re able to do this! One fog and one poison. Wow! I want to make them mine!”

On’s anger was very visible, she bared her teeth and claws to the tamer while Hong was in shock and was also bearing teeth and claws towards the tamer.

‘What vicious kids, though i must agree on their reaction’

Cale then noticed that the magic spearman and the middle-aged man was currently talking to each other.

A childish yet cold voice interrupted the middle-aged man and the magic spearman who were looking at each other.

“You bastards sure have a lot to say.”

The two men turned toward the source of the voice. Cale lightly laughed and gave the order to the owner of the childish yet cold voice who was looking at him.

“You can fight. Just be careful and don’t get caught”

On just nodded her head and Hong looked like he also wanted to follow her. Of course, they could do whatever they wanted. Why was he letting them go and fight these people who were probably stronger than them?

You see, the cat tribe specializes in stealth. Even if the enemy might be stronger than you, if you have enough stealth to hide from them as long as you wanted, then you could probably smack them on the back easier. As long as you have enough stealth, you have a chance on defeating the enemy. Cat tribes also go fore the weakest of the bunch too. Why was he so sure about the capability of the cats? It was because they also didn’t just slack. These so called ‘games’ also worked as a source of teaching for them.

They would try to hide from a dragon, who had great sense of the surroundings, and if they kept on doing that, then their stealth would also increase.

With his confirmation, the two immediately went inside the fog. Almost immediately, they heard screams from the enemy.

“Ugh! Damn-“

Banggg!

“What the!”

“Its cats!”

“Aaaaaaahh! My arm!”

One of the secret organization’s soldiers had lost their left arm. They clenched onto their shoulder as they started to scream. However, they could not see the person that had cut the arm off. A moment later, Cale could hear a voice behind him.

“Kid, you should close your eyes. It is a cruel sight to look at. Are you feeling okay?”

One of the elves tried to ask him.

Unfortunately, Cale could not hear the elf since he was currently trying to from a plan with the limited info he had.

He eventually came out with a bit of a risky plan. He looked past the secret organization to the boundary of the Elf Village. A small defensive wall could be seen.
Cale could also see Pendrick and the Elves looking at them with blank expression. Cale gave the order while looking at the Elves.

“We will first get to the boundary.”

Cale’s body shot forward with the help of Raon.

“Our first priority is to block him!”

The magic spearman shouted. The hundreds of soldiers and animals all charged toward Cale and some of them tried to find On and Hong. Cale looked toward them and started to smile.

The magic spearman flinched as they made eye contact.

Cale then started to speak to the magic spearman.

“You think this fog is just for show?”

The fog surrounding Cale’s body quickly started to spread. On and Hong had gotten much stronger than before.

Meeeeeow.

Meow.

The chilling meowing of the kittens echoed in the valley. The red fog quickly turned even more red as Cale charged into the approaching enemies. However, Cale was not afraid at all.

The enemies in the front started to grab their necks.

“Uggggh!”

“Aaaaaaah!”

Since it was difficult to use deadly poison against a large number of enemies however, it was possible to paralyze them. And since Hong used even more poison, the people who were affected by the poison was immediately fell down and probably shouldn’t be able to more for 9 hours. The ones who were somehow catching up to Cale through the paralysis was eventually killed by Raon.

‘Small weak human, do not push yourself too hard as you run.’

“I know.”

“Can you create a whirlwind in my hand and control it as my hand moves and please ask On and Hong to wear this black paint on them? It might be late but i’m sure not a single living soul except for us and the elves know what On and Hong look like. And also tell the elves…..(you’ll have the answer later. For now this is a secret~)

A whirlwind started to form in Cale’s hand.

“Tell On to remove the fog”

The fog disappeared.

“Now, tell Hong to Add poison to the whirlwind.”

The whirlwind turned red. A kitten who was dyed black jumped off a tree and landed on Cale’s shoulder. It was Hong.

Cale shot up two poisonous whirlwinds into the sky as he continued to charge forward with the help of Raon.

the animals that had lost their wills still flinched at the overwhelming feeling of a dragon. Animals are more sensitive to other animals. And their instincts made them feel fear as it was the power of a dragon even if it was a newborn.

Raon after staying quiet for a long time decided to ask Cale something.

‘Human… can we heal them?’

“In that state, probably not.”

‘They can’t return to normal?’

“No.”

‘…alright.. this mighty being understands’

The way to save those animals was to quickly kill them and remove the tamer’s control. If they just got rid of the tamer’s influence, they would continue to go berserk while suffering from the dead mana. Cale peeked at where he thinks Raon is and tries to comfort him for a bit. It seems like it was at least a bit effective. He could then hear the magic spearman shouting from a distance.

“Where are these bastards always popping out from?!”

The magic spearman clenched his teeth and started to shout. On was currently assassinating the people she deems she could kill. Even if she was still young, she of course learned assassination skills because most people from the cat tribes eventually grow to be an assassin, so they were of course taught at a young age. On and Hong were no different.

“Shut the hell up! I heard what you said about my family.”

Clang!

Some elves decided to aid On in killing some of the organizations men. Some also helped in blocking the magic spearman’s spear. The magic spearman started to cast a spell with his other hand.

“Fireball!”

Bang!

“Shit! This is why I didn’t want to come here!”

Some elementals have already started to protect the elves, and some came out with a couple of injuries but was then brought to the other healer elves to be healed.

However, some of the elves who blocked the spearman’s attacks goal was not the magic spearman.

They were was aiming for the person the magic spearman was protecting.

The magic spearman urgently shouted.

“Shit! Ahjussi! Protect Ballad!”

The elves were already aiming the tamer or ‘Ballad’ with their weapons and elementals. However, there was no one to block Lock. The middle-aged swordsman was currently in a fierce battle.

“Damn it, where did these bastards come from?!”

“Oh, looks like you still have energy to flap your mouth. Shall we raise it up a level?”

More elves continued to attack the swordsman. The swordsman’s body started to become covered in injuries. However, the elves didn’t look as great as well, the injured was also taken to the healers, but the look in their eyes showed that they won’t be giving up any time soon.

“Wow!”

However, the tamer was still laughing without worry.

The elves’s weapons instantly arrived in front of the tamer.

“Time to show you all my power!”

The young boy’s eyes instantly turned white. However, there was someone covering his eyes the moment it turned white.

‘The wolves on our side all lost their will once the young boy’s eyes turned white.’

Pendrick had explained it in detail for them.

Meeeeeeow.

Another kitten that was dyed black appeared. The kitten who was covering her usual silver color instantly landed around the tamer and covered the tamer’s eyes with her fog.

“Huh? What is this?!”

The tamer became anxious.

Cale’s first goal was to prevent any more animals from becoming tamed.

The closest elf’s dagger was headed toward the tamer’s eyes that were covered by the fog.

Clang!

However, there was a small dagger that stopped Lock’s claws. Suddenly, a mummy-like assassin wearing white appeared from the shadow of the grass. The dagger in the assassin’s hand turned in an odd direction and aimed for the back of Lock’s hand.

“I guess I need to cut your fingers off.”

The moment the assassin said that, he could see that the elf was smiling.

Pendrick had said the following to Cale.

‘It looks like there are two people protecting the tamer.’

However, right before Pendrick had climbed to the top of the mountain, Raon had told Cale that the magic spearman had just arrived.

In that case, who were the two that Pendrick had seen?

“Number 1! Dodge!”

A voice called out to the assassin. At the same time, the man named Number 1 twisted his body to the side after hearing a different, cold voice.

“You are going to cut off whose what?”

It was the second most skilled swordsman elf in the village. His sword cut through the assassin’s side.

“Ugh!”

However, the assassin covered the tamer boy’s neck with his arm and retreated to the back. The elf’s dagger claw only managed to scratch the boy’s palm.

“Ow! Number 1, I’m hurt! I’m going to kill that elf!”

The boy started to cry through the fog.

“Tsk.”

The elf clicked his tongue and carried On in his arms as he rushed toward the boundary of the Elf Village without looking back.

The tamer started to shout.

“Kill those mutts!”

And tamer’s voice echoed in the valley as the animals’ eyes turned red.

Meanwhile, Cale had arrived at the wall in a straight line like he was running a 100m race

“Pendrick, good to see you.”

Pendrick nodded his head with a blank expression.

“Yes, yes sir.”

Cale looked past Pendrick to see a brand new face.

“Ah, this is the guardian knight, Jeet”

“Ah. Yes. Nice to meet you…”

Jeet could not believe what he was seeing. Adult Elves were strong because they could handle Elementals. However, but they were losing because of the dead mana. But when this kid showed up with his cats from the cat tribe, they somehow gained a bigger chance of winning against the enemies.

Jeet looked towards Cale Henituse(Pendrick told him his name), the kid leading these experts, and barely managed to speak.

“Yes sir, it’s nice to meet you too”

Jeet asked his Elemental as soon as he saw Cale.
‘Is he a Dragon?’

‘No, he’s a human. However, the power of nature is strong in this one.’

He a dragon. However, he thinks this child might have one guarding him. He heard a little childish voice that was certain not from this kid tell them about his(Cale)’s plans. Pendrick also mentioned that this human had agreed to help them without asking for any compensation.

Even though Elves did not like humans, they liked lifeforms that were pure and had a sense of responsibility.

Cale could see an old Elf with white hair and beard walking toward them. It was the Elf Chief. However, unfortunately, he did not have time to greet him.

“Uhm… Kid, everyone has arrived.”

Cale saw that everyone had arrived and walked toward the front of the wall. Cale was walking confidently like he owned the place.

He could see animals rushing toward him underneath.

“Kill them! No matter what, make sure to kill them first! How dare they do that to my precious baby skin!”

The tamer really was not a child. The old man’s voice made Cale turn around.

The three hundred animals with bottles of dead mana rushed toward him like they had gone crazy. The Elves and the materialized Elementals all flinched. This was much worse than the attacks until now.

“…kid, is this okay?”

Pendrick turned pale as he looked toward the liquid dead mana falling between the animals. The ground turned black as soon as the liquid landed on it.

Pendrick could hear Cale’s voice at that moment.

“I did this on purpose.”

Pendrick flinched and turned his head.

“Excuse me?”

Cale looked peaceful as he stood on the wall with the Elf Village behind him. He looked like he was the chief of the village. Cale stared at the fact that only the animals were attacking and started to speak.

“He’s still cool-headed.”

The Tamer had veins popping out of his forehead but did not make the soldiers become poisoned by the dead mana. The soldiers of the secret organization were all stationed behind the animals. And behind them, at the way back, was the tamer and the trio of protectors.

Pendrick noticed this as well and his eyes turned cloudy as he started to frown.

“Are you trying to get rid of the animals and the dead mana first?”

The battle would be in their favor if Cale used that lava-like fire to burn the animals and the dead mana in the bottles around their necks.

Rationality was telling Pendrick that this was the correct decision. The Guardian Knight and the other Elves all kept their mouths shut as they looked toward Cale. This was the reason they had asked for Cale’s assistance.
Although they had lived with these animals in harmony, they had no choice. It was better to release them from this pain as quickly as possible.

“No?”

They could hear Cale’s calm voice. Cale wanted to know the strength of the ‘Fire of Destruction’ before using it in his own territory. He was curious to know about the strength of the true ‘Fire of Destruction’ and not the useless one the Elf had gained in the novel.

That was why he was going to go all out just once.
Cale smiled at the Elves and responded.

“I plan to attack them.”

Cale stretched his arm out.

Boom. Boom.

His heart was beating as a rose gold light appeared on his palm.

-are you really going to use me right now?

‘What the- wasn’t that the ‘fire of destruction’s voice?’

The magic spearman flinched and started to shout. He suddenly had an ominous feeling.

“Everybody attack! Ahjussi, Number 1, the two of you attack too!”

“You want us to go through the dead mana?”

The magic spearman started to frown at the middle-aged man’s question. He then coldly gave an order.

“It’s an order.”

The middle-aged man, the assassin, and the hesitating soldiers all bit down on their lips and started to charge toward Cale after hearing the magic spearman’s order.

“Yes, kill them! Scratch up all of those bastards’ faces!”

The tamer was shouting. It was at that moment.

Rumble-

The Elves looked up at the sky. Raon, who was in the sky, started to speak to Cale.

‘Human! What is this? Is it okay for me to stay here?’

It was at that moment.

Wow……

Raon was amazed.

“Shit! Blin-.”

At the same time, the magic spearman started to scream, but his shout was drowned out.

Boooom!

A red thunderbolt struck down from the sky. Everybody could see nothing but red for a moment. It was also so loud that their ears were ringing.

Once that thunderbolt disappeared, they could all hear something.

Cale hunched over and started to cough.

“Cough!”

Blood was coming out of Cale’s mouth. It felt like his entire intestines were exploding and being crushed. He absolutely hated pain! He could already feel a lot of blood coming out of his nose and mouth withing that amount of time(30 seconds)

‘Shit! They never said there was a recoil!’

‘The Birth of a Hero’ did not say that there was a recoil to this power. Cale then remembered what the owner of the ancient power had said.

-If it is you, if it is someone like you who can throw all this money away, you’ll be able to overcome anything!

-Use it to melt anything in your way. You will survive through the pain.

‘Damn it. Why couldn’t he say it’ll hurt?’

Cale had not paid much attention to what the owner of the ancient power had said. But this was definitely a lot more than just hurt! It felt like his brain and heart was exploding while his intestines were churning.

He couldn’t even hear clearly due to the ringing in his ears and the pain he’s experiencing.

Cale tried covered his mouth with one hand.

Drip. Drip. Blood continued to drip down.

‘Human!-‘
Cale could hear Raon’s voice in his head but he couldn’t hear it completely. His mind only registered Raon saying his name.

He was in pain.

No scratch that, he was in so much fucking pain.

He had never felt this much pain ever since he came over to this world.

“Ugh.”

The black blood continued to drip down through his fingers and onto the castle wall. He could not stand up straight, as he continued to spit out blood. If he was in Korea, he could probably donate the amount of blood he’s coughing up to probably 3 people who are in need of a lot of blood(just if the blood was safe to transfer).

“Cough.”

“K… kid!!”

A hand quickly grabbed onto the hunched over Cale. It was an elf. The elf subconsciously tried to stand Cale up after seeing Cale look like he was about to fall off the wall. However, there was someone preventing him from doing so.

“Stop.”

“…What is it?”

The elf and Pendrick made eye contact. Pendrick continued to speak with a cold yet worried expression on his face. However, the corners of his lips were pale.

“What will you do if the blood goes down the wrong pipe?”

The elf let go of Cale. At that moment, the elf could see a bloody hand grabbing his arm. It was Cale.

Cale looked toward the elf and Pendrick with a pained expression.

“H, hurry ugh!- up and- ugh.”

‘Human!’

“S-so much blood…”(On whispered. Luckily, no one heard it since they were all too shocked)

“Is Cale-nya going to be alright?”Hong whispered to On

Blood continued to fill his mouth, preventing him from speaking properly.

After a couple of moments,

‘Why is the blood not stopping?’

He was in so much pain after the fire thunderbolt had landed. However, he was no longer in pain after about a minute, as the Vitality of the Heart started to heal him.
However, there were still two problems. First, he still continued to cough up blood, and second…

‘So hungry.’

He was hungry and felt like he had used up all of the energy in his body. He felt like he had been starving for a few days. It was similar to the pain that Kim Rok Soo had felt prior to getting used to not having food for long periods of time.

“You!, th- *cough!* guar…dian knight! … hurry and go!”

“What are you saying, kid?!, We need to take care of your first!”

‘Go bring me some bread. I’m so hungry.’

That was what Cale was trying to say, but Pendrick’s vicious gaze made him say something else.

“G.. go take care of *cough!* the tamer. Hurry up.”

‘H..human! Don’t over exert yourself!’

“Meoww…”

“…”

At that moment, while Cale was trying his best not to choke on his own blood while forming sentences, Cale heard someone screaming.

“Aaaaaaah! My, my skin!”

It was an old man’s voice. He was certain that it was the tamer. However, Cale could not see what was going on, as he was hunched over and coughing up blood.

But he could still hear the screams, as well as the scent of burnt flesh.

However, the elves could see what was going on.

The location that the red light had struck was burnt black with a large fire continuing to roar. He could not see any lifeforms above the fire.

The range of the thunderbolt was very wide. The secret organization members who were in the rear were all gone without a trace.

“My, my baby soft skin! Ahhhh!”

Pendrick’s and Jeet’s gaze turned cold. The tamer and magic spearman must have succeeded in using blink, as they appeared from outside of the thunderbolt’s range.

But they seemed to still have been affected by it, as the magic spearman’s brown hair was all burnt and his spear was gone. He also seemed to have gotten burnt on his right hand.

“Kill, kill them all! It hurts, it fucking hurts!”

However, the magic spearman was not as hurt as the tamer. The blink must have gone wrong, as the tamer had a deep injury in his arm and his face was burnt. Pendrick remembered what he asked Cale yesterday.

He remembered asking this literal child, who should just be playing around, to help defend for the elf village. A village the kid probably doesn’t know much of even with his network. Yet the fact that the kid still chose to help stings Pendricks heart right now.

‘It was an amazing power’. That was the only thing the guardian knight, Jeet could think when he saw it and what it did to the place arround them. Even he could not create such damage with a single blow. That was why Jeet understood why the Elves were standing there with a blank expression.

“What are… ugh…you doing? Hurry up and *cough* go tell the *cough!* guardian knight.”

Pendrick turned his gaze after feeling a tug at his arm after a few moments of getting closer the the what he thought was a dying child. He could see that child’s gaze was still calm, even though he could not stop coughing up blood. His eyes seemed rational.

He was telling Pendrick to go tell Jeet to go while coughing up blood.

“Hurry up and go. Are you going to let the animals continue to suffer like this?”

Cale was clenching onto Pendrick’s arm with what seemed to be a lot of strength based on the veins on the back of his hand, but there was no power in the grasp. That made Pedndrick’s expression become even stiffer.

Who cares if the power is strong when it causes this much pain? Pendrick absolutely regrets asking the kid to help them. If he didn’t help them, then he wouldn’t have had to use this cursed power, and if he didn’t use the power, he wouldn’t had become hurt.

However, Pendrick also understood Cale’s feelings. At that moment, Pendrick heard Cale’s voice again.

“Only you can do it.”

Cale was directing that sentence to the guardian knight, Jeet.

Jeet really was the only one who could do it.

Cale thought about making Raon do it secretly,but Raon was a bit odd right now. On and Hong too.

“Meowwwwwww”

“Meowww”

Raon’s voice was consistently echoing in Cale’s mind.

‘T, this! B, blood!’

‘What is he trying to say?’

Raon could not speak properly, instead, he just continued to say that over and over. At that moment, Cale heard Jeet’s voice.

“I will come back soon.”

Jeet did not wait for Cale’s response before disappearing.

“Aaaah!”

“Ugh!”

Cale soon heard a lot more screams. It was most likely the othe elves’s and Jeet’s work.

Cale wiped off the blood in his hands and put some strength into his legs. He then quickly gave an order to a random elf.

“You, *cough* the dead mana.”

“…Yes…”

The elf quickly asked their elementals for help and some of the other elves also helped with their elementals. Cale didn’t know why but his instincts were telling him to collect it. And his instincts were the only reason he survived.

‘Im going need to ask for compensation after this’

Cale hated working for free.

Cale put in a lot of effort in turning his head. He was so hungry that even doing this was difficult right now. He could see the other elves that were staring blankly at him and the kittens.

“Go.”

Although it would be normal for them to flinch after hearing Cale’s indifferent voice, the elves immediately jumped off the wall and started to run behind Jeet. On and Hong, who were still in shock, headed toward Cale after seeing the other elves move.

Meeeeeeow.

Meeow.

They tried to rub their bodies on Cale’s legs. However, Cale avoided them. He didn’t want the black dye to come off their bodies. Cale tapped them with his now clean hand to urge them on. On and Hong meowed a few more times before revealing their fangs and following behind the elves.

Cale watched them leave before he slowly raised himself up. He could finally see the bottom of the wall.

‘Hmm?’

Cale flinched, and his sight became blurry for a moment. Cale could not put any strength in his body. He did not even have the power to stop himself from falling backward.

“Kid!”

Shit!”

Pendrick and another healer elf reached their arms out to catch him. However, Cale did not fall, even though they did not manage to reach him.

‘No! Human! You cannot fall down!’

Cale could feel a head supporting his back. It was the Black Dragon, Raon.

He could feel Raon’s round head on his back as his back started to get wet. Raon seemed to be crying.
Cale started to frown.

‘This is bad.’

The Dragon had descended. Cale looked toward the Elves behind Pendrick. They were all still blankly staring below the wall. However, two Elves, and the Chief, who had come much closer, slowly turned toward Cale.

At the same time, the Elementals next to the two Elves, a half-transparent Blue Elemental and a White Elemental, both started to shake in fear.

“Cale-nim, are you okay?”

Pendrick’s hand was covered in a white light. It was his healing power. Pendrick’s hand immediately headed for Cale’s back, but it ran into something invisible.

“What the?”

Pendrick mumbled in shock.

‘Just a Dragon’s body.’

Cale started to speak to Pendrick in order to divert his attention. Cale was not bleeding as much as before, but there was still a large amount of blood was still seeping out of the corner of his mouth.

“Once we get rid of the tamer, I think it will be better for the Elves to take care of the animals. They have lived with all of you for a long time.”

Pendrick stopped moving. He looked toward Cale and was at a loss for words after seeing Cale’s calm demeanor. He finally understood why Cale had not used that red thunderbolt, the power that he needed to sacrifice his own strength to cast, on the animals.

He was feeling sorry for the animals.

He had proceeded with this difficult and painful method so that the Elves, who had been living in harmony with the animals for a long time, could peacefully say goodbye to them.

Cale ignored Pendrick’s gaze and started to think about how he had to do all this even though he was starving.

“You crazy bastards!
The chief of the village shouted and commanded the others who still have energy to ask their elementals for help. Cale, who quickly turned around, could see a white bandage in front of him.

It was the assassin, Number 1.

He seemed to have run forward without looking back while the red thunderbolt struck down. He was so stealthy that he managed to get by On and Hong without getting noticed.

Cale made eye contact with the eyes visible underneath the bandage. At that moment, he heard an angry voice in his head. The voice sounded like it had been crying.

‘I’m going to kill him.’

With that, the white bandage flew backward. Cale blankly stared at the individual that got thrown back without even touching him.

The elves did not even need to loft a finger. Raon had used his strength. The white bandage that was floating in the air tried to move in fear, but he could not do anything.

“W, what is this? You’re a mage?”

Cale thought about his answer, but did not say it out loud.

‘No, a Dragon.’

A vicious voice continued to speak in his head.

‘I will never forgive any of them’.

Cale wondered who the, ‘them,’ Raon was talking about was.

‘Human, I will not appear, just like you asked. However, in return, do not look. It will be difficult for a weakling like you to watch’.

Cale happily did as Raon asked.

Cale closed his eyes.

Just… uhmmm.. he planned to say something beforw he closed his eyes, but apparently tiredness took him soo.. he thinks he looks like he just passed out from the amount of blood he coughed up. Which is reasonable, but why does it feel like he’s going to cause a misunderstanding? Maybe it’s his imagination?

Anyways, he didn’t have any strength to even keep his eyes open anymore. Cale felt the round reptile head and paws supporting his body as he fell asleep.

“Aaaaaaaaaahh!”

How vicious indeed.

But why does he feel like he’s about to get a headache once he wakes up?

Chapter Text

“A great and mighty being’s protection……!”

Cale lost consciousness completely after hearing this new voice. He felt like his body was slowly being laid down as he prayed.

He prayed that he could have at least one slice of bread when he woke up.

However

- he..woke..!

-*sob*…-lly!

When Cale woke up, he was laying in an extremely beautiful, almost to the point of overwhelming, flower garden. There was even a weird leaf crown on his head.

(Spoiler: It was a crown made from the World Tree’s leaves.)

Cale was definitely not nervous at what might be going on(he was).

Cale felt like he was coming out of a swamp as he came back to his senses. He tried to recall what had happened.

‘I fainted.’

He had no strength left and fainted. Cale realized that it was time for him to open his eyes. It was because he could hear a voice in his head.

‘3, 2, 1. Half, half of half … human, I will count back down from 100. Wake up before I reach 0, or I will destroy this continent. 100, 99, 98……’(Raon)

Cale heard Raon’s voice and immediately opened his eyes. He was shocked at what he saw.

‘A flower garden?’

There were flower petals floating in the air. Raon’s voice could be heard by his ear.

‘N-, ninety-five!’

The voice that was as quiet as a whisper seemed to be shocked.

Cale lowered his head. The voice had come from on top of his stomach. He raised his hand to feel something invisible on his stomach. It was Raon.

‘Has he been here the whole time?’

Cale got scared thinking about how this Black Dragon would have been reciting his countdown the entire time. Cale felt the naturally cold reptilian skin as he patted Raon’s back. Other people would think that he was patting thin air.

He then turned his gaze.

‘Mm. Looks like i over worked them too much. I should give them a reward then. What do children like?’

What he saw was two cats huddled together next to him sleeping. They must’ve been tired after what just happened.

Cale blankly stared until he turned his gaze after hearing Raon’s voice.

‘Human! Why did you faint for six days?! I can make hundreds of thunderbolts like that! Do not do that ever again! Weaklings should live like weaklings!’

‘6 days? I fainted for 6 days? Me?’

“Meeeeeeeow!”

Cale could see On, Hong, who just woke up starting to come to him. Cale started to frown as soon as he saw them.

‘Why are they still in a mess?’

Raon had said that it had been six days. On and Hong currently still have black dye on their bodies and there was even some blood on On. He then looked down at himself and was relieved.

Although he was wearing the black outfit as well, there was no blood or dirt on him.

‘I cleaned you up with my magic! I am a clean dragon!’

Raon really was the best. However, he did not get up, as it was annoying to even get up.

“Finally, finally! You finally woke up.”

The elf who was tasked with guarding where the sleeping child resides heard the commotion in the room, and spoke on behalf of everyone. His voice was a mix of relief and admiration.

For the past six days, the two cats and the magnificent mighty(the author has shortened the amount of the amount of compliments they gave Raon) being, stayed by his side without leaving.

The Elves had told them that this was a safe location and to trust them, however, neither the two cats nor Raon could trust them easily. After all, all of them had grown up with some sort of trust issue.

The elf then saw the child’s gaze. Cale’s gaze seemed to be asking where they were located. That was correct. Cale definitely had that on his mind as he looked at the elf.

‘Why am I here looking like this?’

The elf started to speak in order to answer Cale’s question.

“This is the place with the strongest amount of life force and natural power. So this is the best place for recovery.”

Cale quickly understood that this was the Elf Village’s flower garden that was described in the novel. The branch of the World Tree was nearby this flower garden.

Cale moved his still weak hand to touch his head.

He was curious about what was on his head. It seemed to be a crown made of the World Tree’s leaves. Cale started to smile once he felt the leaves on his head.

‘They’re giving me the best possible treatment.’

The Elves had provided a human a crown made of the World Tree’s leaves and placed them at the location closest to the branch of the World Tree. This was beyond the treatment they would give him for helping them.

There was only one answer.

Cale remembered the shocked voice he heard right before he fainted.

‘A great and mighty being’s protection……!’

The Chief of the Elf Village seemed to have realized the existence of a Dragon. The problem was whether it was just her that knew of Raon or if everyone else knew as well.

Cale then asked the elf to leave to talk to his companions(read: family), and the elf did so.

Now, in the room is just him, On, Hong, and the invisible Raon. Cale turned his gaze to On(the most sensible of the four), and pointed to his stomach, where the invisible Raon was at. On started avoiding Cale’s gaze

Cale started to frown. On started to touch the flowers in the garden as she quickly said in a quiet voice so that nobody else could hear(they couldn’t afford an elf hearing their discussion. And everyone of them has trust issues)

“Nobody has seen our dosaeng, but the Chief and the Guardian Knight know about that existence being nearby.”

Cale asked On with his gaze.

‘Just the two of them?’

On, who peeked over at Cale, this time more confident, answered.

“The others probably suspect it.”

Cale could hear Raon mumbling in his head.

’I, I never showed myself! I kept my promise! I quietly stayed next to you, human! I even ignored the Chief when she tried to talk to me!’

It had been 6 days. He had been out for too long. He had no idea what they may have done while he was out. He looked past On to see Hong who was trying to scavenge the bag in search of food to probably eat(no, Hong was searching food to give to Cale)

After a while, Pendrick came in the room to check on Cale’s health after being notified that the child woke up.

“Excuse me. Cale, do you have the strength to speak?”

The group(specifically On, Hong, and the still invisible Raon)who was minding their business, looked towards Cale after hearing the question. He had fainted after coughing up blood. They knew that Cale was a good person who really liked to help others, but they also knew, after the time they had spent with Cale, that he did not enjoy moving around and getting hurt.

That Cale had used so much strength that he fainted. They were all so shocked that their minds went blank. They focused on Cale’s lips, that were slowly starting to open.

It was his usual indifferent voice that sounded very cold.

“Nobody got hurt gravely?”

Pendrick slowly started to smile sadly. On and Hong meowed as they started to rub their faces on Cale’s body. All of the black dye on their bodies seemed like it would end up on Cale’s outfit.

“Its ok, kid. All the other people who got hurt was immediately treated. You do not need to worry”

‘Worry?’

Cale answered with shock.

“It’s only natural.”

With Pendrick’s healing abilities, he’s sure that the injured would be easily treated. And with the strength of the guardian knight and Raon, who helped, the enemy stood no chance.

“But kid, I’d advise you to never use that power ever again”

Pendrick started speaking on his health. Pendrick was one of the supporters on getting the human to rest here too. Since, he was the one responsible on injuring him, since he was the one who asked the child to use the power. And…. It also might be because he thinks that a mighty powerful being like the golden dragon could be protecting this child!. Yet.. there was also another possibility…

“Why?”

Although Cale didn’t really want to use that power ever again, he did want to know what toll it had on his body for him to be knocked out for 6 days, since he has the ‘vitality of the heart’.

“Well, after you used the power, you bled out a lot pf blood which could’ve made you need blood donation. Not to mention, the blood you spew out was a darkish color which is not normal. That could mean that your body still has not adapted to the power. Though… even when you coughed out ridiculous amount of blood.. I couldn’t see anything that could make you spit out that amount of blood. No damaged organs, no broken bones, and i don’t think i saw any nerve damage. Are you…. Perhaps a mighty being?”
(For that part.. I don’t really know how Pendrick could search Cale’s condition yet I don’t really want him to know the extent of Cale’s… past injuries. So just pretend he used magic to see his inner organs and stuff)

“…”

Is Pendrick perhaps thinking he’s a dragon? What the fuck?

“Im sorry sir Pendrick, but i am not a dragon”

’yeah! That’s right, this small weak human couldn’t be a dragon. I am the dragon! The mighty Raon Miru!’

“Meowwwww”
“Meowww”

Looks like the cats are snickering at this predicament(and Cale’s dumbfounded face).

“Ah! Sorry, my mistake”

After Pendrcik realized that Cale was NOT a dragon(dw you’re not the only one who thought that), the room became more awkward after that.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

’… human why are we staying quiet? Are we having a contest on who can be the most quietest?’

“*sighhh*, what was the outcome of the battle after i fainted?”

Everybody turned away so as to not make eye contact with Cale(they don’t know why they dodged to make eye contact with him tho)

“All of the enemies retreated after the battle three days ago. Number 1, the assassin, is dead, while the magic spearman will not be able to move his lower body in the future. As for the tamer…”

Pendrick could see Cale’s palm in front of his face. Pendrick stopped talking at this gesture that was telling him to stop talking and looked toward Cale. Cale’s face seemed healthy, but tired.

“I’m hungry.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Meat.”

“Huh?”

He was looking for meat in the Elf Village, which only had vegetables. He had hoped for a piece of bread before he fainted, but now, he felt like he needed some meat. His strength had recovered, but the starving feeling had not disappeared.

Cale confidently responded back to the confused Pendrick. His voice was cracking after not being used for a few days.

“Tell them to bring out some meat.”

Pendrick stood up at that moment.

“I-i’ll go bring some meat for you!”

Pendrick almost forgot! Of course! When someone wakes up from a coma, they need to eat a proper meal!. Pendrick also can’t disappoint the child unless he wanted to make the human who has a great being’s protection mad!(he thinks Cale is being protected by Raon after that whole fiasco about thinking Cale was a dragon)

‘As expected of the elf’

As On and Hong said, the the elves - minus the chief and guardian knight elf who knows - probably suspects Raon protecting him. So that means they would have to treat him politely since he’s with a dragon(and the fact that elves worship dragons like gods was left unsaid in his mind but was still there)

Plop.

The crown of leaves fell onto his thighs. The crown that was made of the World Tree’s leaves was now green, just like normal leaves. If there was a color to describe the color of an aurora, this would be it.

Cale felt iffy while thinking about how he had been laying here while wearing this fancy and holy-looking crown of leaves for the past three days. That was why he picked the crown up with only two fingers as he looked toward the entrance of the flower garden.

Originally, nobody had been there. However, a group of people arrived right as Pendrick left.

Cale looked toward them and started to speak.

“I wish to lay down on a bed.”

The Elf in front of the group was the Elf Chief Canaria, who was a recurring character in the novel alongside another elf. Her white hair was combed up tidily and a smile was on her wrinkly old face as she bowed.

“I will provide a house fitting for our esteemed guest who has received the protection of a great and mighty being.”

It was an extremely respectful demeanor.

On and Hong had seen this for the past six days, but they still felt a bit overwhelmed by this extremely respectful demeanor. Although they had helped the Elves, this level of respect seemed to be beyond what they deserved. They subconsciously started to frown as he looked toward Cale.

They(and the invisible Raon)knew that Cale did not like this kind of demeanor, even when they’re playing ‘drama’(drama is a game that the kids created to get their other sibling to join them. The game is about creating drama. The players will get certain roles randomly and have to be able to create drama with the roles). However, they could only keep his mouth shut at Cale’s corresponding actions.

“Sure.”

He was twirling the crown in his hand as he casually answered like it was natural.

“Lead the way.”

People might even think that Cale was a Drago- oh wait some of them do and one just asked openly.

Cale didn’t care about this as he accepted the situation as is. However, he felt a bit awkward after seeing the house.

“Here it is.”

It was a house made by carving a hole in the largest tree in the Elf Village. The house inside of the large tree was magical.

Cale looked toward Chief Canaria.

“It is my house.”

The Chief had given him her house. This was the best house in the entire village.

Cale flinched for a moment before confidently starting to speak.

“May I go in?”

There was no reason to reject such a good house.
Cale, who sat down on a soft couch made of leaves, heard the rest of the story about what had happened in the last six days while he ate bread. Cale picked up the glass of fruit juice that Pendrick(Pendrick came after he saw the room Cale was in gone and searched for him to find out he was with the chief) placed near him while he observed Choi Han, Canaria, Jeet, and Pendrick who were all sitting in front of him.

“The tamer lost his eyes and fainted before teleporting away with the magic spearman.”

Cale had repeated the results of the battle.

“The magic spearman lost his spear and injured his legs, so it is expected that he will not be able to use his lower body in the future. Only the two of them managed to run away, while the middle-aged swordsman and a few of the organization’s members are imprisoned. As for the rest-.”

They were dead. The animals were dead as well.

Cale made eye contact with Chief Canaria. She had a wise gaze that only someone who had lived for many years could have. He then started to speak again.

“Then we can leave now.”

With everything settled, they did not need to be here any longer.

Pendrick flinched and started to speak.

“We need to reward-.”

Cale’s group had gone above and beyond what the Elves had originally expected. However, Pendrick could see Cale raise his hand to stop him.

“No need. The Elves will have enough issues restoring the village and the boundaries, so how could I ask for anything? I am happy enough that none of my group got hurt.”

Pendrick’s pupils started to shake. He had felt it last time as well, but how could there be such a good person? No less, its also a child! How could a child be so selfless? (Author :”…. He is going to rob many people in the future… just watch”)

At that moment, Pendrick could hear the Chief starting to speak.

“I can see why you have a Dragon’s protection.”

Pendrick flinched. As he had expected, the great and mighty being was a Dragon. The Chief and Guardian Knight had not said a single thing to the suspecting Elves.

Everything seemed to make sense after hearing what the Chief just said.

That overwhelming natural power that destroyed the enemies belonged to a Dragon. Although gods existed, Elves believed that Dragons were gods that lived in the world with them. Cale was a person protected by a being that was a god of all living creatures.

“I’m sure that there is a reason Dragon-nim is roaming by your side without revealing themselves.”

Chief Canaria was observing Cale.

The Dragon was hiding his identity, but had revealed his powers. Someone like her, who had lived for a long time, naturally understood the Dragon’s intent.

‘He doesn’t want us to worship him. However, he probably wants us to treat his person like we would treat him.’

She had been iffy at first when Pendrick had said that a human was coming to help them. However, if it was someone who had the love and protection of a Dragon, especially a person like Cale, who had protected the Elves and the World Tree to the point that he coughed up blood…

‘We can do that.’

She slowly started to speak.

“As someone who has Dragon-nim’s protection, I believe you have the qualifications to hear everything.”

‘Qualifications?’

Cale started to frown. He had a bad feeling about this. All he wanted to do was take as much as he could from the Elf Village before he left.

Cale urgently started to speak.

“Hold-.”

“They seem to be looking for the World Tree.”

He had heard something useless before he could even shout, ‘Hold on.’ Cale’s pupils started to shake. An odd smile was on Chief Canaria’s face as she noticed Cale’s reaction.

“The location of the World Tree is not known. There are almost no humans who know about it.”

However, Cale did know the location.

The World Tree was in the last of the 5 Forbidden Regions, the Valley of Despair.

Only a few Elves knew about this location.

“…It is not a place people need to know about.”

Cale pretended like he didn’t know the location. He also did not want to find out through the Elf Chief. However, the Chief must have misunderstood, as she started to smile.

“You are right. However, greedy humans always want to know the location. Like that organization this time. However, there are bound to be the opposite kind of people as well.”

She felt like this benevolent child who was willing to sacrifice himself without desiring any profits in return should know everything. Though he still might be a child, he will certainly have a great and honorable future. Furthermore, he had a Dragon next to him.

The fact that a Dragon, a race known for their selfishness, was willing to use their power for someone else meant that this human was the first of his kind. He would be a hero who would be talked about for ages. There was a reason that the human heroes in the ancient legends always had a guardian Dragon with them. Sadly, humans had forgotten about these ancient legends.

Dragons tended to only help out talented humans with strong wills.

‘Although this time, it seems like the Dragon has picked a weakling. But he is someone who has had many fortuitous encounters in order to gain multiple ancient powers. There will be no one as lucky as him in the future.’

The Chief quickly got to the point.

“That is why we plan on sending Pendrick to Sir Gold Dragon-nim to handle the situation. The defense around the World Tree is currently controlled with his magic.”

Cale flinched.

‘What did she just say?’

Gold Dragon?

Raon showed a similar response. This was different than with the Dark Elf mayor. Chief Canaria seemed to know the location of another Dragon.

‘…I want to feign ignorance.’

Naturally, Cale did not want to know the location of the other Dragon, especially since it was related to the World Tree. Of course, nothing big would happen if the World Tree was to disappear from the Western Continent.

’Human! I am curious!

However, Raon was curious.

Ask her! I am curious about the Dragon!

Why did this Dragon show such curiosity for another Dragon? Their race was known for only liking themselves.

Cale hesitated for a long time before finally asking.

“Where will Pendrick be going?”

He did not directly ask the location of the Dragon’s Lair. Cale was hoping that the Chief would avoid answering the question by saying that it was none of his business. However, the Chief immediately answered.

“He is in the Whipper Kingdom.”

‘Well that isn’t all too bad?’

Cale doesn’t think he has any business with whipper kingdom and he doesn’t think he has offended anyone over there to be going after his life… right? Though, he does have some plans for the whipper kingdom in the future..

’ human! Human! We should go meet the dragon! Lets go! Go ! Go!’

Raon was excited.

‘What did I get myself into?’

That was the only thought on Cale’s mind.

Dragon.

It was another Dragon aside from Raon.

Cale did not want to meet another Dragon.

In most fantasy novels, old Dragons were characters that served as helpers who would give the MC the key for a critical point in the novel. However, the Dragons in, ‘The Birth of a Hero,’ were all just egotistical and arrogant beings.

‘Didn’t the novel say that all of the Dragons here were very selfish?’

Raon was an exception. Cale started to frown as he started to worry.

’I know there are no Dragons as great and mighty as I am in this world, but I am curious! Everybody has other members of their race, except me.’

Raon saying, ‘except me,’ made Cale flinch.

’Well, you are one of a kind as well. There is nobody else as weak as you. That is okay. I will be with you!’

Haaaaah.

A deep sigh came out of Cale’s mouth. He brushed his face with his hands as he continued to think.

‘Why did things end up like this?’

He had done things according to the plan, so why did all these other things keep getting in his way? Was it because he had both a Dragon and the two(one of the most OP) cats with him? At least he doesn’t have the MC but he has a plan for him too.

Raon’s worried voice went off in Cale’s head.

Human, are you sick again?

Haaa.

Cale covered his face with both hands as he asked the Elf Chief.

“Can you tell us the location?”

’Oh yeah!’

Chief Canaria started to smile at Cale’s question. She seemed like a fan who was about to watch her two favorite celebrities meet each other.

Cale started to feel iffy after lowering his hand to see the smile on Canaria’s face.

“Does the Dragon have a good personality?”

“I do not dare to speak on the personalities of such revered beings. They are all great and mighty beings.”

Cale shouldn’t have asked such a question to Dragon worshippers.

“Is it an adult Dragon?”

“He is an Ancient Dragon-nim. He is also a sociable Dragon.”

’An old Dragon!’

Raon added on after hearing Canaria say that the Dragon was an Ancient Dragon. On the other hand, Cale’s expression did not seem to be too good.

‘A sociable Dragon is still a selfish Dragon.’

But Cale was still a bit relieved. Chief Canaria’s words meant that the Gold Dragon would at least show some curiosity toward Raon.

’I will prove the greatness of I, Raon Miru!’

Cale held back a sigh after hearing Raon’s response.

Would a goofy Dragon like Raon manage to survive in front of an Ancient Dragon? He was actually a bit worried.

However, that worry quickly disappeared.

It was because of what Chief Canaria said next.

“However, I am worried because, as an Ancient Dragon, the Dragon-nim is struggling with his health. I hope that seeing another Dragon-nim will make him happy and help him recover some strength.”

Thankfully, that Dragon was weak.

This lessened Cale’s worries, because he felt like they would be able to run away, even if Raon ended up in a fight with this Gold Dragon.

‘We can run if all else fails.’

Raon should be able to teleport them out of there if things get too risky. Cale is also starting to the dabte on making a group that the ancient dragon can look down on- wait no! That’s the protagonist’s job!. However, Canaria started to smile and speak again.

“I believe it would be a beautiful sight when the two Dragon-nims meet.”

‘Beautiful?’

Cale was worried that blood would be shed. However, an even greater concern arose. The Guardian Knight motioned to the Chief with his eyes.

Canaria’s expression stiffened a bit after seeing his gaze. She then turned to make eye contact with Cale.

“Young master-nim, is it possible.”

Canaria said a collection of words that made Cale have a bad feeling. Cale picked up another piece of bread and started to eat again.

“Could you meet with the swordsman?, though it’s is quite alright if you dont. You’re a child after all.”

‘You damn Elves.’

Cale took another bite of the bread and swallowed the things he wanted to say to the Elves as well.

These Elves didn’t give him anything but continued to ask him for stuff. Even if Cale kept saying he didn’t need anything, isn’t it only proper to bring something over when asking for something?

‘They were like this in the novel too. This Chief put Choi Han to work quite a bit.’

Cale thought that the Chief was a like a raccoon. She didn’t give any rewards while saying that materialistic greed was bad, but still asked for a lot of help.

Naturally, Cale had no plan on being swindled by Canaria.

Cale looked toward Canaria with an indifferent expression.

“Why do I need to meet him?”

Canaria cautiously started to speak after seeing Cale’s indifferent expression and hearing his cold voice. She had never been this cautious around a human before, let alone a child. However, he was someone who was protected by a Dragon. That great and mighty Dragon was probably nearby watching them right now.

“The swordsman would not say anything, no matter how much we interrogate him. You mentioned that you do not know their identity. But, we believe that you could get some information out of him. Though, don’t be scared to decline.”

Canaria could see Cale chewing on the bread while he observed her. This child who was eating the bread gracefully finished the piece of bread before starting to smile.

It was similar to her own smile.

“I will help you only up to this request, since it is for everyone’s benefit.”

Canaria’s expression became odd. However, Cale did not show any reactions to her expression, instead, he looked toward the others as he continued to speak.

“Pendrick, don’t you agree? We need to help each other out so everyone can live well. As long as it is within our abilities.”

“You are right, Cale-nim”(IDK WHAT TO MAKE PENDRICK CALL HIM. I CANT MAKE HIM CALL HIM ‘kid’ EVERY TIME)

“Yes. Helping each other without any materialistic gain in mind is indeed very cool. You agree with us too, right, Guardian Knight-nim?”

The Guardian Knight flinched at Cale’s sudden question before fixing his posture and responding.

“Ahem, yes indeed. I’ve never met a child-nim, ahem, another human, who knows the value of such deeds. You definitely deserve the protection of a Dragon-nim.”

“Indeed. Like you mentioned, Guardian Knight-nim, such deeds can only be repaid with action.”

Contrary to Cale’s gentle demeanor, his word choice was very specific. However, his gentle smile made the two Elves only hear what they thought to be the words of a benevolent person. Pendrick loudly responded back.

“You are right! The heart cannot be filled with materialistic things!”

Pendrick was showing the type of reaction Cale wanted.

‘Good, good. So next time, you will all need to give it your all to help me out.’

Instead of sharing his inner thoughts, Cale looked toward the Chief and put on a smile that seemed even more benevolent than the Chief’s smile.

There was nothing in the Elf Village to take other than their manual labor. Putting the Elves to work also meant that he would be getting the Elementals to work as well. Shouldn’t he put them to use since he helped them out? Furthermore, that means he could use the elves for is own gains when he wants to build a cozy house for his slacker life!.

’Human, why are you smiling like you smile when you’re about to scam people or talking about money? Did the elves do something bad?’

Instead of responding to Raon’s words, Cale stood up from his seat.

“Let us go right away.”

Cale and the Chief made eye contact.

Cale then also whispered something to Raon, and then started talking to the chief

“Shouldn’t we do our best to help as quickly as possible if there is a need?”

The Chief’s expression turned odd again. It was as if this human in front of her was pressuring her to do as he said. She could also feel the source of the pressure as well.

‘This certainly must be from the mighty being!’

She could certainly feel that this was not a power of nature and was sure that it was from the mighty dragon. Though, the little human also added in the pressure due to his expression.

‘His speech is eloquent as well.’

Canaria got up as Cale had done. She could see curiosity in the eyes of Pendrick and the Guardian Knight as they looked at Cale. The other Elves would probably have similar expressions on their faces.

This was an interesting human. She wondered what he was trying to do by getting the Elves’ curiosities. She was curious as well, but she could not continue to stay by Cale’s side.

“Unfortunately, I need to return to the restoration site, so Pendrick will guide you there.”

“I see.”

Cale made eye contact with Pendrick.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes sir.”

Pendrick took the lead and opened the door. Cale, as well as the rest of the group, started to move. However, Cale soon stopped walking.

“Ah.”

“What is it, young master-nim?”

Cale rummaged through his magic bag as he responded.

“Everybody, masks on.”

The mask that Cale had taken off to eat had returned. The cats let out a collective sigh before taking out their masks as well. Cale gave them a few commands once everybody had their masks on.

Pendrick blankly watched before flinching at what Cale was telling the group to do, but soon started to walk at Cale’s urging.

“We can go.”

“Yes, yes sir.”

Cale followed Pendrick to the back of the Chief’s residence. They were heading in the opposite direction of the flower garden from earlier. A large boulder soon appeared, and Cale’s expression turned odd after entering the underground room underneath the boulder.

This location had never been described in the novel.
Cale had thought that the Elves had done some simple interrogations after imprisoning the swordsman from the secret organization.

‘This is not what I had expected.’

The underground room in front of Cale was dyed with blood. It seemed more proper to call this an underground prison.

Cale did not know that the Elves would torture the swordsman. Cale reaffirmed his belief that stereotypes were useless before he pointed with his chin as he looked at Pendrick.

“How can we chat when he is like that?”

“That…”

Pendrick was at a loss for words as he started to smile awkwardly. The Elves guarding the underground prison smiled awkwardly as well.

Cale could see that the middle-aged swordsman was almost unrecognizable as he sat there with his legs twisted and his body covered in blood.

‘Pendrick told me that the guardian knight, Jeet paralyzed him.’

Cale peeked toward the Elf with the torturing tools and mumbled as he crouched down.

“Elves and humans, they’re all the same.”

Pendrick flinched at Cale’s words. The words from this person who had no greed and simply moved to save everyone felt cold and sharp.

“Pendrick, can you send the other Elves out? You can stay. I want to chat in peace.”

“Yes its alright if you do- huh?. Are you going to be alright?”

Pendrick who thought that this young child would probably back out due to the gory scene. It was reasonable since fear is a trait that everyone has and children’s emotions are usually stronger that adults. Pendrick was already feeling guilty when the child had to see this scene and he was definitely feeling more iffy on the fact that he should allow this child to be with a life threatening person even if he was with some peop-wait! Of course. The child has the protection of a mighty being. How could he forget that. Maybe that’s why the child was so calm even though he would be alone with the swordsman.

Pendrick then motioned the guards to take their leave which they looked quite reluctant.

He had been with the tamer and the magic spearman. This swordsman had seemed pretty talented for his age.

“Do you know his name?”

“Yes, but he has only said a few things…l

Pendrick mumbled as he answered. Cale found it odd that a healer like Pendrick could calmly stand in this prison as he turned his gaze back to the middle-aged swordsman.

It was at that moment.

“Kehehehe.”

The swordsman suddenly started to laugh. It was a fairly creepy laughter. However, Cale looked toward him and spoke with indifference.

“I’m glad that you are not pretending to be asleep you disgusting scum”

The elf who was in charge of the torture chimed in.

“His name is Balbud.”

Balbud, the middle-aged swordsman, instantly stopped laughing.

Cale turned towards the elf and flinched. The elf had discarded the bloody gloves. He then misunderstood Cale’s shocked expression and explained himself.

(Author : Cale was remembering some stuff that happened what happened after a couple days when he first ended up in the novel)

“That was what the magic spearman called him during the battle. He seems to have been responsible for protecting the tamer. However, based on how similar his name is to the tamer’s name, he just seems like a dispensable tool.”

“Kehehe, he!”

The swordsman started to laugh as soon as Beacrox finished speaking. However, he still did not say anything. Cale’s voice reached the swordsman, Balbud, who was looking down at the ground.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

However, Balbud started to speak, contrary to Cale’s expectations.

“Just…”

Balbud slowly raised his head. He didn’t care about the Elves. However, he was curious about these people. They still had those masks and annoying fake uniforms on, as if they were making fun of him.

“Just who the hell are you? Who dares to go against us?! Is this mockery?! Why the fuck are you a child! This has to be some sorcery!”

Balbud started to grind his teeth.

He had never seen such experts before. That was why it felt so unfair. He wanted to know who they were before he died. He also needed to know on why the hell dooes it feel like this fucking puny ass child looms like the one commanding them. He doesn’t believe it! He couldn’t have been out smarted by a child!

However, Balbud could see Cale smiling behind the mask.

“Blue wolf tribe”

The swordsman’s eyes widened. They were going to capture them, they are the perfect seeds!. How the fuck did this guy know?. Meanwhile, Cale was still not that sure about his speculations but considering that the blue wolf tribe is powerful, then the people who killed them must’ve been powerful but they also needed a strong backing, which is the organization.

Considering the shocked expression on the swordsman’s face, Cale definitely hit a bulls eye.

“H-how do you know we were gonn!-“

Oh. Shit! He accidentally said information!. On the other siee, Cale is pleased. Now, he knows that its not long before the blue wolf tribe gets massacred. It means, if he tells the protagonist about this, it could also mean that the protagonist would finish this story faster.

“Molan family”

How did Cale know that? Even if it looked like he had been slacking before he got to the ‘ten finger mountain’, he had been reading history books about the kingdom and other stuff so he wouldn’t fall behind academically. If he needs to scam people, then he would need to know his stuff too. He then came across the fall of the Molan family. It wasn’t said about the people who caused the fall of the family but he was sure the secret organization is more involved with a lot of stuff thats happening. He also knows that there are definitely survivors which is Ron Molan, and Beacrox Molan.(he knows from the novel)

Cale made eye contact with Balbud, who had seemed anxious ever since he brought up the blue wold tribe. Was the wolf tribe really important to kill?

Balbud started to frown. He had no idea who this person was nor how he knew about them planning on sacrificing the blue wolf tribe(Cale thought that they would kill them not sacrifice) nor how he knew that they were the cause of the Molan family’s fall. He doesn’t know how much this child knows.

He lightly bit down on his lips as his eyes became cloudy and he started to smile.

“Hehe, you think I would tell you anything?”

Balbud moved his tongue to find a bitter taste deep in his mouth. His heart would stop moving the moment he burst this capsule. Balbud started to laugh while thinking about how he would kill himself without revealing anything.

He provoked Cale with his fiery gaze as he tried to bite down on the small capsule in his mouth.

“I will never tell you, ugh!”

The middle-aged swordsman Balbud suddenly grunted. He could see the eyes behind the mask turning into crescents.

“You’re looking down on me too much if you think that such a method would work.”

“Meeeeow.”

The red kitten removed his stealth and slowly appeared in front of everyone.

On and Hong were, naturally, with Cale. Balbud, who couldn’t look down because of the elf was holding his head up, could not see the fog surrounding his legs.

They were using a paralyzing poison.

“Ugh, cough!”

Balbud’s body was shaking as a white glove went into his mouth and pulled out the small capsule.

’That is a magic device! I will analyze it!’

Cale turned his gaze back toward Balbud after seeing the elf cleaning his white glove he recently put on and putting the small capsule away. He smiled while looking at Balbud, who was slowly losing consciousness from the paralyzing poison.

“You can’t expect me to fall for such a common pattern.”

Cale had read many novels about how the MC could not gain any information from the enemies they captured because the enemy would use poison or a hidden device to kill themselves. As he was not the MC of a story, Cale did not want to suffer such a disappointing loss of information.

He got up after seeing that Balbud finally lost his consciousness and gently started to speak to Pendrick, who was looking at him.

“All lives are precious. Isn’t it great we saved him before he died?”

Pendrick suddenly forgot what he was going to say.

Cale walked toward Pendrick, who was standing there without being able to say anything.

“Did you decide what you will do with Balbud?”

“That…”

“Difficult to decide?”

Pendrick nodded his head.

The Elven philosophy dictated that they should execute Balbud and the rest of the prisoners. However, it would be disappointing to execute them right away without gathering any information from them beforehand.

“I would like to make a suggestion.”

“A suggestion?”

Cale started to smile toward Pendrick, who was confused but also had some expectations toward what Cale was going to say(though he does kinda feel scared of the child now). Since this little child knew about ‘blue wolf tribe’ and ‘Molan family’ which the elves didn’t know, so what else could the child know about the secret organization?.

‘There are no other races like the Elves that are so thorough with getting revenge.’

The Elves considered them to be an elegant race that was better than other races. That was the reason they were not materialistic. They believed that living in nature without materialistic greed made them better than other races, like the humans. Maybe that was why, but the Elves were thorough with making sure to get revenge on any enemies that choose to provoke them. In this aspect, the Elves probably resembled Dragons more than the Dark Elves. After all, the Dragons were an even more arrogant race than the Elves.

Cale turned his gaze toward Balbud. The elf torturer was thoroughly tightening the chains on his arms and legs.

“What about passing Balbud off to someone else?”

Pendrick’s expression became odd. This did not seem to be the result he had wanted.

“Do you mean pass him off to you, young master-nim?”

The Elves knew they had already asked a lot of but they were hoping Cale could step in. Although Pendrick still feels iffy about all of this. Now looking at the child, Cale seems more mature than normal children he sees. The child reminds him of an adult than a normal child. But they still need help from him.

The Elf Village currently did not have enough Elementals to even restore the valley. Furthermore, they needed to be prepared in case the organization came back to attack again. Although they were lacking manpower, they also wanted to get their revenge.

Pendrick thought that this child might have connections with someone or people with that manpower. Maybe the child has a lot of connections? But how could the child get the connections? Pendrick still remembers the child telling his past with a stoic face. Yet that stoic face seems to change a bit when talking about his past(Cale is very throughout with his acting.

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

However, a completely unexpected answer came out of Cale’s mouth. If he was not going to take Balbud, who would?(Pendrick didn’t acknowledge it, but he felt some sort of relief when Cale said no.)

The confusion was clearly visible on Pendrick’s face.

“I want you to first discuss my suggestion with the Chief-nim. I will give you the details if you all decide to go along with my suggestion.”

“…Will it be with a trustworthy person?”

Pendrick could see Cale nod his head without any hesitation.

“Yes, it is a trustworthy person.”

It was because Cale still needed to attain his slacker life. And to get that, he needs the war to end quickly. Although there might be some places the war won’t effect, it would be much more better if this useless war was stopped as soon as possible. Although he hates snooping his nose in other people’s business, he still doesn’t like the idea of people dying in this war. Listen, although he may be a villain, he’s not as bad as the secret organization. Now back on track, Cale already has a person in mind for this task

“So, think about it and give me an answer by this evening. I will be leaving tomorrow because there are things I still need to do.”

Pendrick observed Cale’s back as Cale started to walk away after patting him on the shoulder.

‘If it is someone such a righteous person can trust, wouldn’t it be okay?’

He could not be certain about it, but Pendrick felt like he could trust Cale because Cale had stepped up once again for a situation where he had nothing to gain.

“So, will you do it?” Cale asked in a questioning voice, yet the tone of the question left no room for Pendrick to decline(its not like he ever thought about declining.)

“I will discuss it with the Chief as quickly as possible.”

That was exactly what Cale wanted.

Cale started to walk. He now has to think about his future plans. To be more specific, he needed a plan to gain contact with the person he planned on leaving Balbud with. It was of course, the Crown Prince, Alberu Crossman, Well maybe. Cale didn’t really get the information on when Alberu Crossman obtained the title of ‘Crown Prince’ since it was never mentioned in the novel. But, to him, although he doesn’t really like the crown prince’s personality, he can definitely understand his mindset and thinks he’s the most suited to be the crown prince.

Cale, who returned to the Chief’s house, immediately ordered Raon to check the surroundings.

There were no bugs nor recording magic in the house, probably because they knew that Cale was with a Dragon.

Cale walked into the guestroom that the Chief had created for him and had his group guard the door.

“Raon.”

After that call, Raon appeared beside the short(I’m sorry i just wanted to point out that cale is really short) child. His big round blue eyes stared to Cale with a hint of curiosity yet also a bit of excitement.

Raon really liked traveling and doing what Cale has tasked him to. So far it was a very fun and exiting experience(minus them thinking Cale would die) for the young dragon!. And he really liked the elves here. They were a bit crazy(yes! He now knows the word ‘crazy’! He’s been reading these books called ‘dictionary’ and they’re very fun). But, he liked the fact that they always looked up to dragons as they should!. He really liked the praises they gave when they talked about dragons!(there was also some talk about something called ‘world tree’. Huh, he doesn’t remember it in his book called ‘dictionary’! He’s very smart so he knows he’s not wrong. He took that as a challenge and will find every info about this so called ‘world tree’!), though he did get kinda worried when they started talking about dragons with crazy eyes.

Cale’s voice quickly cut through Raon’s thoughts.

“Raon, do you know where On and Hong is?”

“Of course! I know where my Hyung and Noona is! They didn’t want to join us to the basement so some elves escorted them here!. And i can sense that they’re at the bedroom”

“Ok, you can go and play with them. I’ll be here if you need anything”

“?. Aren’t you going to come with me to go to hyung and noona?”

“I… need to sort out some business first”

“Ok, i see! This very smart and mighty dragon will grant you your request!”

And with that, Raon left.

Now all alone, Cale started to speak to himself, seemingly looking crazy.

“Hah… I’m going nuts, who are you and why are you in my head?”

A couple of seconds after Cale gained consciousness, he heard a voice. He presumed it wasn’t an enemy tho by the tone of the voice when it realized he had woken up. He has suspicions but didn’t really want them to be true.

- wait, he can hear us?

- oh sh*t! He can!

- so that’s why i felt weird…

- that*sob* means he didn’t properly absorb us!*sob*

Ok. Never mind, his theory was correct. These voices are the voices of the Ancient power he collected. What the fuck. Also what was that thing about absorb?

“Yes, hello. I can hear you. Can you tell me-“

- hey! He can actually hear us!

- let’s eat again… i want more food after not eating for 6 days…

-*sob* i think that’s also good*sob* for your health!

Ok. Never mind. He can’t get anywhere with these people. He also recognized all of the voices. The crying one was the voice of the vitality of the heart’, the voice of the girl was the ‘indestructible shield’, and the one that sound obnoxious was the ‘fire of destruction’. Great. He now has voices inside his head. But now thinking on what the priest said, he doesn’t really feel hungry. Maybe he’ll eat later.

“Ok, so i’m not going to call you by your ancient power names, so can you give me your nicknames so it would be easier for me?” Cale requested genuinely. He really didn’t want to keep calling them by their actual names. Its not like it’s because he’ll for get his name, no no no. He’s some one who Can’t forget . He just thinks its a waste of energy if he does call them by their ancient power names.

- oh, yeah… my friends call me.. glutton, not like i can refute that tho.

‘Yeah that’s definitely a suitable name for her’

- and they call me cheapskate!

‘I don’t really know this ancient power’s personality but i think I’m starting to get a clue by the name.’

-*sob* c..crybaby..

‘Of course. That’s the most fitting name for him.’

“Ok then. Im Cale Henituse.”

Cale also introduced him self. Then went about his day(+some voices in his head, and his new found sib- companions).

…

“D-do you really have a mighty b-being’s protection?”

‘How did it get to this..?’

Somehow, Raon was revealed(how? He didn’t know).

The half-transparent Elementals were causing a ruckus while flying around in front of Cale’s eyes.

Cale looked toward the one who said that question.
There were many Elves behind that Elf with the same expression that was full of anticipation.

‘What a pain.’

Cale could feel a headache brewing.

It was rare for an Elf to approach a human first. They didn’t really have any reason to do so.

However, the Elves of the Ten Finger Mountain Village had found a reason to do so, and were very persistent as they approached the human in front of them.

That human, as expected, was Cale.

“Is it difficult to answer?”

Cale avoided eye contact with the Elf in front of the group. Why did the two Elves in the front have to be a grandma and a child? Cale looked toward Chief Canaria.

‘I thought I made it clear that I wanted to leave quietly.’

Canaria gently smiled toward Cale. Cale found that smile to be annoying, however, this was not her fault.

“I’m sorry young master-nim. I only told my family.”

Cale turned his gaze toward the source of the apology. Pendrick looked very apologetic. He was the reason that their departure time and location was revealed. However, you could not blame him for telling his family about his departure.

‘Well, in that case.’

Cale thought that he had at least avoided the worst possible situation with Raon showing up and being revered. That was why he decided to use this to his advantage. Wouldn’t it be easier to get the Elves to do his bidding if he left with a good impression?

“No, that is not something to be sorry about.”

A benevolent smile was on Cale’s face. That smile allowed Pendrick to let out a sigh of relief. However, Cale’s group slowly started to avoid looking at Cale.
Cale made eye contact with the young Elf who was holding his grandma’s hand.

“No, it is not difficult to answer.”

He seemed very gentle toward the child(the picture of the Cale answering gently towards the child felt so wholesome. Cale also had a unique beauty and charisma that would make you easily like him.)Cale thought about the child’s question from before.

‘D, do you really have a Dragon-nim’s protection?’

He could see that the Elves and Elementals all wanted an answer. Some of the Elves were looking right at him, while others were off in the distance secretly peeping. Of course, the Elementals were glowing and mumbling something, but Cale could not hear them.

However, their voices were heard by the Elves.

‘This human is protected by a strong aura!’

‘It must be a Dragon-nim’s aura. I’ve never felt a Dragon-nim’s aura before! I will remember this forever!’

‘My goodness! A human that has so many natural auras on him! Fire, wood, two of these are in different shapes on him! I also have a feeling that he’s going to get more!’

‘Well if it’s your intuition then it must be true! He also has an extra natural power! Regeneration i think?’

The Elementals were currently shouting chaotically.

‘I’ve never seen such a human before. He’s not an Elementalist or an Elf.’

‘I can see why Dragon-nim would like him! He must be a human that is loved by ancient powers, no, by nature!’

‘What an interesting human.’

The Elves turned even more pensive after hearing the Elementals’ words. This was the same for Chief Canaria and the Guardian Knight as well. Only Pendrick did not know about it, as he could not hear the Elementals.
Cale, who was in the same boat as Pendrick, did not know about the Elementals going crazy as he started to speak.

“The Dragon protects the weak me.”

“Ah.”

Gasps could be heard throughout the crowd.
At that moment, Raon, who was invisible and stuck on Cale’s back, as usual, started to speak into Cale’s mind.

’I’m glad you know, weak human.’

Cale just ignored Raon’s comment and started to smile while looking at the Elf child. However, that smile soon started to flinch at the child’s response.

“Wow! I’m so jealous! You’re the best! You’re so cool!”

The child’s triple combo of praise landed on Cale before the child continued to speak.

“I wanted to go meet you when you were in the World Tree’s Garden, that flower garden! However, the people guarding there were so strict and so vi- i mean so righteous! Us elves are very righteous and would never leave someone who help us without any protection whike they heal!”

The child peeked toward the rest of the group as he said that. He then hid behind his grandma, like he was scared. An Elf was scared of a human.

‘Just what the hell did they do to protect me for those six days?’

Cale had a feeling that it wasn’t him that avoided the Elves, but the Elves that avoided him because of what the elves who were tasked on guarding him doing.(On and Hong also contributed. The guardian knight, Jeet also helped. Pendrick too)

They just gathered here today to say goodbye to Pendrick.

Cale received a few more questions after answering the child’s question. The majority of them came from other children.

“What is Dragon-nim like?”

Raon’s front paw continued to tap on Cale’s back.
Cale answered with a gentle smile.

’I am great and mighty.’

“He is great and mighty.”

Cale answered as Raon instructed him to do. Since things ended up like this, wouldn’t it be great to be known as the lucky human who received the protection of a great and mighty Dragon?

He felt like he could see the Elves’ interest level going up, like he was playing a game.

“Wow! Is he handsome?”

Raon naturally gave him the answer again.

’Handsome and beautiful.’

“He is handsome and beautiful.”

“Wow!”

The children’s admiration, as well as the adults’ nods of approval, continued. Cale wanted to shake his head.

They would all fall back and cheer endlessly if a real Dragon appeared in front of them.

“Dragon-nim must be very strong!”

’There is nothing in the world as strong as my body.’

“Of course. He is very strong.”

Cale answered like a ventriloquist’s doll. Raon’s voice started to get louder in his head.

’I really am the great and mighty Raon Miru! I am also one year older now!’

Cale was getting a headache from all the noise around him. He still managed to motion to two elves that was near, and both of them stepped forward with each other in order to create a path for Cale.

Cale followed the two of them to the entrance of the Elf Village. An old Elf who was with the children that followed Cale to the entrance slowly started to speak.

“Would it be possible to meet Dragon-nim?”

’I can show up right now!’

Cale had no plans of letting the Elves meet with a Dragon. He was planning on using that card in the future when it would be to his benefit. As for now, it was best to leave his identity as the human who was the closest to a Dragon.

Cale stopped walking and opened up his arms.

The Elves who were following Cale, as well as the ones peeking from a distance, all listened to Cale’s voice.

“Can’t you feel the great and mighty aura of Dragon-nim around us? I believe that all of you Elf-nims, the ones who are said to be the closest to nature, would be able to feel this great and mighty aura.”

Naturally, the older Elves and the Elementals could feel the aura around Cale. It was as if a Dragon was casually roaming around Cale. However, they thought that there was no way a Dragon would follow a human around. Unless it was crazy, a Dragon would never do that, especially while keeping itself invisible. They believed that they were sensing the Dragon’s aura that was protecting the human in front of them.

Cale observed the Elves nodding their heads and continued to speak.

“I will speak with the Dragon-nim and see if I can create an opportunity for you to speak with Dragon-nim in the future.”

The Elves jerked their heads up only to see a gloomy expression on Cale’s face.

“However, right now, as you all probably know, the village is in a difficult place and many scary things are happening around the continent. I need to quickly leave to deal with some of those things.”

Some of the Elves nodded their heads.

These were the ones who were watching Cale from afar.
The Elf village was a mess. They barely managed to fend off the invaders who were aiming for the branch of the World Tree. They did not like the attitudes of the other Elves who were praising a human during such a time. It wasn’t like Dragon-nim was here. Of course, it was fine to accept and respect a person who has received the protection of a Dragon, but they did not like such a happy atmosphere in a time of trouble.

While they had such thoughts on their minds, Cale’s words reached their ears. They could clearly tell that the human in front of them was the one who had saved them from despair.

Cale still kept this gloomy atmosphere about him. They could feel a sense of responsibility on Cale’s shoulders. It was solidified even further by Cale’s next words.

“I have a lot to do. These were the tasks that were assigned to me.”

The adult Elves’ expressions stiffened at those words.
They felt like they knew what Cale was trying to do, even without him telling them.

Just like when he had saved their village, he probably had similar things to do. He was probably going to sacrifice himself again without seeking any material gain.

Cale observed the calmer crowd that was focused on him and started to think.

‘I definitely have a lot of things to do.’

He needed to maybe trick the Alberu Crossman. He also needs to meet with a lot of people for his plan to work. Of course, he didn’t know what the order of things would be, but he needed to do everything in the near future.

“It was nice meeting with all of you, the friends of nature, however, I believe it is time for me to leave.”

The children who still had a lot of questions seemed disappointed, but the adults consoled them and created a path for Cale.

Cale looked back at his group that had stopped to wait for him. The Elf healer, Pendrick, seemed to be full of admiration.

However, the kittens were doing their best to hold themselves back from shaking their heads, while the two elves he asked to help him were nodding their heads as if they agreed with Cale.

’Human, this is why I cannot leave you alone! You uselessly weak but very useful human!’

It was now normal for Cale to ignore Raon’s nonsense. He was right about to start walking again, but soon stopped.

‘Hmm?’

The half-transparent Elementals that had been chaotically flying around lined up to create a path for him. They looked like lamps lighting up a path. They said something while standing in line, however, Cale had no way of understanding. He just walked down the path in order to leave the village.

‘He’s a decent person. It’s just disappointing that he is not an Elementalist. I want to introduce him to my friend.’

‘He reminds me of the ancient heroes my mother told me about. They were said to be similar.’

‘I really think he is a good person. I couldn’t tell for sure earlier, but he seems very pure.’

‘This child has great potential. I hope that he does not go down the wrong path.’

Although Cale would have scoffed if he heard what the Elementals were saying, none of the Elves were scoffing at their comments. Only Chief Canaria greeted Cale at the entrance with an odd expression on her face.

“Chief-nim, I will be on my way now.”

Canaria asked a question instead of saying goodbye.

“Cale-nim, your family is in the Northeast?”

“…Yes?”

She could read the wariness in Cale’s eyes. Canaria started to smile, as this Cale was much easier to deal with than the valiant Cale from earlier.

Little did she know, Cale was only defensive over the fact that she knew where the Henituse territory was. Did she do a background check in him? Had the original Cale Henituse done anything trashy at this age? If he did then it would be quite troublesome for Cale to make a good image about him in front of the elves.

“Cale-nim or should i say young master Cale?, I believe that you know that you currently do not possess the power of earth, wind, and water. Unfortunately, we can only give you a clue about the earth ancient power. The Roan Kingdom is the Kingdom of Boulders, and this is where the power of the earth is at its strongest. Boulders are the strongest form of earth.”

Cale did not hide his thoughts as he made eye contact with Canaria.

‘And?’

Cale did not have any plan of gaining any more ancient powers. He already knows the location of the wind and water ancient power, but he does not feel like getting the earth power is needed as long as he doesn’t know the exact location(he’s to lazy to figure it out. Tho he knows he could solve it easily). But he had an ominous feeling that doing something like that would lead to a difficult future.

Canaria, who noticed Cale’s expression stiffening up, carefully handed the book that was in her arms to Cale. Cale did not take it, and instead just looked at her with confusion. She started to explain what the book was about.

“This is a book that discusses an ancient legend related to the earth. It is very old. We cannot decipher its meaning at all, however, I feel that you may need this in the future.”

Cale looked at the book that Canaria was pushing toward him.

‘An Ancient legend?’

That made him want to not take the book. He didn’t need it.

However, her continued words made Cale’s eyes open wide.

“It is quite a funny legend. A hero with a strong destructive power supposedly was extremely greedy for money. Once that hero died, the hero in this legend is said to have found the wealth of his friend and kept it safe.”

- wow, super rock is like the mother of the group. Even after we died.

The glutton commented

Canaria snorted.

“Would a hero be greedy for money? Especially a hero who supposedly saved the world from freezing and did not seek any power, influence, or fame? How could someone like that be greedy for money? Isn’t it unbelievable?”

She looked at Cale for validation. Cale also snorted and nodded his head.

“Of course. How could a hero be like that? Furthermore, many ancient legends are a mix of lies and the truth.”

- hey! Not like you’re any better. Ahh~ i remember that day when an angel arrived and gave me plenty of money!

Cheapskate tried to defend him self. But was retaliated by glutton

- yeah, and that ‘angel’ could have used that money to buy food. Not on useless people like you.

- hah?!

- *sobs* please just stop!

As usual, Cale ignored the ancient powers and continued to listen to the chief, Canaria.

“That is often the case. Anyways, this book is about the legend of the other hero, who was both the greedy hero’s friend and enemy. This hero seems to be the one who used the power of earth.”

Canaria looked toward Cale, who seemed to have a lot on his mind. Cale slowly reached his hand out and Canaria put the book in his hand.

“To be honest with you, I do not think you will find the ancient power described in this book. However, since we do not need this book, I thought it would be great if it could even help you a little bit, since you helped save our village.”

“It is not a precious book?”

“To be honest with you, no.”

Canaria thought it might make Cale feel bad, but decided to tell the truth.

“We have a warehouse where the Elves gather things they don’t need. I remembered that this book was in that warehouse and brought it over.”

However, she still thought that this book would not be of much help to Cale. That was because she had gone to the location described in the book, but did not find anything.

‘But since he is lucky.’

You needed a lot of luck to find ancient powers, to the point that it was said that the heavens determined the owner of each ancient power. However, this human in front of her had enough luck to gather three ancient powers. That was why she brought this book over.
Cale had an awkward expression on his face as he took the book.

“Mm, I will take it for now, since you say that the Elf village does not need it. It is difficult to say no to such generosity. However, ancient powers are not something you can just gain because you want to.”

“Of course. You need the mandate of heaven to get it. But it is still an unbelievable and funny legend, so at least give it a read.”

“Thank you. I will.”

Cale slowly put the book away and shook hands with Canaria.

“Let us meet again if it is the will of the heavens, Chief-nim.”

“I hope we can meet together with Dragon-nim next time.”

’Chief! I am right here!’

Cale ignored Raon’s shout and said goodbye to Canaria. He touched the book in his pocket and started to think.

‘There is a reason the Fire of Destruction appeared near this Elf Village.’

He thought that the ‘Fire of Destruction’ or cheapskate appeared nearby because this book was in the village. Although it might have been a coincidence, he thought that there might be something there.

He recalled what the Chief had said.

‘Would a hero be greedy for money? Especially a hero who supposedly saved the world from freezing and did not seek any power, influence, nor fame? How could someone like that be greedy for money? Isn’t it unbelievable?’

Of course, it made sense. Why would it not make sense?
Cale had made it rain money for that hero not too long ago.

Cale was almost certain that the greedy hero in this book was the owner of the, ‘Fire of Destruction.’ He also had a feeling that the hero’s frenemy was the, ‘Super Rock.’
Although boulders were just a sub-property of earth, it was still a part of the earth.

‘So, the owner of the Super Rock took the Fire of Destruction’s owner’s money?’

Cale’s heart was beating, not because of the ancient power, but because of the money.

It didn’t matter whether he earned the ancient power or not, but couldn’t he just take the money?

As if glutton had a sixth sense, he commented nervously

- hey… guys… i think Cale’s up to no good.

- i think he looks kinda saintly right now!( cheapskate obviously retorted)

- *sobs* i-i think you need to get your eyes checked.. cheapskate..

Cale held back a smirk and said his final goodbye.

“Goodbye now.”

“Have a safe trip.”

Cale walked into the half-transparent hut that was the entrance to the illusion magic hiding the Elf village. The rest of the group followed behind him.

Cale had finally left the Elf village for the first time in a few days. He then stopped walking right outside of the boundary.

“Haaaa.”

What he saw was the aftermath of the battle field. God he’s going to go crazy with these people.

….

After going to the whipper kingdom with Pendrick to get some plants for medicine, and after what he deemed far enough, Cale had decided to call out for Raon.

“Raon”

“*gasp*”

After the call, Pendrick immediately gasped putting 2 and 2 together. He quickly deduced that this was the dragon’s name. What a mighty name for a mighty being.

’what is it, human?’

“Can you teleport us to the golden dragon’s place?”

’of course i can. I am a mighty being after all!’

After teleporting, the were at a place where it seemed to snow heavily even while it being summer.

Cale clutched at his collar. It was chilly here, even though it was summer time. No, as the snow underneath his shoes demonstrated, this place was cold.

Cale asked Pendrick who was in front of him.

“Pendrick, haven’t you been here before, many times?”

“Yes Cale-nim. I have been here many times to receive the honor of being able to meet with the great dragon-nim.

Cough.

Cale coughed and sniffled. His nose was runny. Pendrick then quickly looked and fussed over him, then handed him a handkerchief and Cale covered his nose with it.

‘This really is the place’

Cale did not expect it to be here.

Cale thought about the necklace that he was planning on getting. It was the ‘Absorbing Necklace,’ the necklace that allowed you to store a power of any affinity inside.
He had planned to send a mercenary to Mount Yellia in order to find this necklace.

Cale stood on the snowy peak and looked down.

Mount Yellia was known as one of the most dangerous mountains in the entire continent.

‘Who knew that a Dragon’s lair would be here?’

The Gold Dragon lived at the spot Lock had taken the necklace.

“Pendrick, what do we have to do now?”

They were at the peak, but did not see the lair. Pendrick spoke with a face that seemed like he was both extremely excited but also extremely weak and could fall over at any moment.

“We just need to wait.”

“…How long?”

“Until Dragon-nim wants to see us.”

“…What?”

‘We’re just going to wait in this freezing snow?’

Cale looked around to see everyone bundled up in fur. On and Hong was looking toward Pendrick with a vicious gaze. On’s gaze seemed to be asking how there could be such a dumb answer. On did not seem to like the cold.
At that moment, Pendrick cautiously asked Cale.

“But young master-nim, when will I be able to meet Dragon Raon-nim? I-i! I mean face-to-face of course!. But only if the mighty dragon Raon-nim wants to

Cale started to smile.

’Elf, I am right behind you. But why did this not-so-great Dragon not come to greet us?’

Raon’s vicious voice echoed in Cale’s mind.

Cale wanted to repeat Raon’s words to Pendrick, word by word.

“Pendrick.”

“Yes?”

“Behind you- huh?!”

But at that moment, the mountain started to shake.
Ooooooong.

’Good, of course he should come to greet us. The great and mighty Raon Miru is here!’

Cale could hear Raon’s triumphant voice as he urgently reached out and grabbed(more like clung bc of his short height) pendrick’s leg

Boooooooom-

The snow at the peak shot up into the air. No, to be accurate, the tip of the peak shot up.

“Huh?”

“Aah!”

Everybody barely managed to find their balance while looking at the center of the peak. Cale was doing the same thing.

“Oh! We can finally meet Dragon-nim!”

Pendrick clasped his hands together and went wild. He really seemed like one of those devoted believers. Cale quickly stood behind Penerick and motioned for On and Hong to stand behind him.

It’ll be bad if the Dragon releases a breath attack.’

The Gold Dragon could launch a breath attack because it was an adult Dragon.

Cale felt a bit relieved(not that he’ll admit it) after On and Hong went behind him.

Booooooooom!

The peak that shot up suddenly stopped in the air to reveal a large cave. Cale observed that every other direction other than where they were had avalanches going down the mountain.

It was at that moment.

“Huh?”

It had stopped snowing.

The snow that had covered the entire mountain peak suddenly stopped falling from the sky.

‘Was it the Dragon that was making it snow?’

‘How could there be such a munchkin? Could Raon do this too?’

Cale wondered whether he had underestimated Raon’s usefulness until now.

But he could not think about it any longer, as he heard someone walking toward them.

Click. Click.

Cale’s group was holding their breath as the footsteps got closer.

Click. Click.

The rhythmic footsteps were coming from the cave. Cale could see what looked like a doll walking out of the cave.

And finally, the individual walked out of the darkness and into the light.

It was an Elf with beautiful blonde hair. This Elf was so beautiful that even the Whales looked ugly in comparison(Cale has already imagined what the whales would look like due to the description of the novel. But he was still sure that this dragon’s beauty could easily make a whale look like a goblin)

Cale could see the Elf starting to smile.

“Ohhhhhhhh-.”

Plop. Pendrick kneeled down.

That gave Cale the confirmation he needed.

This was the Gold Dragon.

(Cale already feels his child heart going to explode from anxiety)

Chapter Text

This was the Gold Dragon.

This was a member of the crazy Dragon race.

It was at that moment.

’Me first!’

As Cale flinched at Raon’s sudden shout…

“Gasp!”

Pendrick gasped in surprise.

A small black blob rushed past him. Pendrick looked flabbergasted as he shouted toward the black blob.

“B, Black Dragon-nim!”

Of course, the black blob was Raon.

Cale sighed and watched Raon flying toward the blonde Elf without giving Cale any time to stop him. The small Black Dragon instantly arrived in front of the blonde Elf.

“Hoooo.”

The blonde Elf let out a gasp of surprise and looked at Raon with an odd expression.

Raon opened his wings out wide in front of the Gold Dragon who looked like an Elf and confidently started to speak.

“Nice to meet you!”

Raon seemed to be excited.

The blonde Elf’s expression became even stranger. However, Raon did not stop.

“I am the great and mighty Raon Miru! Who are you?”

Raon’s round eyes seemed to be full of anticipation as he watched the blonde Elf. The blonde Elf finally started to speak after a moment of silence.

“What the hell. Are you really a Dragon? There’s a Dragon that would say, ‘nice to meet you,’ to another Dragon?”

The Gold Dragon seemed to be asking how there could be such an odd existence.

Cale had expected this.

This was a real Dragon, the race that was said to be selfish and egotistical.

There was no way that such selfish beings would happily greet each other.

It was more likely that they would get into a fight with each other while saying that they were the best.

With that thought in mind, Cale hid behind Pendrick as best as he can. Theres no way the dragon would hurt Pendrick that much right? He was told that Pendrick has been visiting the dragon since a long time ago. The dragon must feel some pity if he tries to attack right?.

However, contrary to Cale’s nervousness, Raon was calm.

“I am indeed a Dragon!”

The blonde Elf’s expression became even weirder after hearing Raon’s response. To say that another Dragon was not a Dragon was pretty much asking for a fight, but this young Dragon responded back in a cheery manner.

“…Yes, you are a Dragon.”

A weak response came out of the blonde Dragon’s mouth. Raon nodded his head.

“Yes. And you are a Dragon as well. That is why, nice to meet you! Don’t you even know how to greet people?”

“…You’re asking me if I know how to greet people?”

Dragons did not greet each other. They might make snarky comments at each other when they met, however, greeting each other? This blonde Elf felt weak after experiencing something like this for the first time in his long life.

Raon extended his front paw to the beautiful blonde Elf. The Elf started to speak after seeing Raon’s paw.

“Are you asking to shake my hand?”

“Yeah!”

“Wow. I’ve never experienced something like this in my almost thousand years of life.”

Wow. Unbelievable. What the hell.

The Gold Dragon continued to sigh as he looked at Raon’s paw with an iffy expression on his face. After staring at it for a few seconds, the Gold Dragon asked with a serious expression without shaking Raon’s paw.

“Hey… is your IQ really low?”

Raon’s flapping wings suddenly stopped.

Poke. Poke!

“Hey! I might be 2 years old, but i am still the great and mighty Raon Miru! I-“

At that continuous sentence that would probably take a long time for this weird dragon, Eruhaben retracted his attention to something he saw move behind Pendrick’s back earlier. He couldn’t pay attention to it due to this weird dragon talking.

Now that he’s taking a closer look…. Is that a small child?? Hah… he’s already told Pendrick that he doesn’t want all these so called ‘gifts’. Looking at the child, it seems like he’s cold and shivering. How did pendrick even convince a human child to come here.

Eruhaben then decided to use some of his magic to do thermal magic. It was just a bit of mana compared to what he could do. Now was the moment he decided to ask Pendrick about this child.

“Pendrick”

“Wha- yes, Eruhaben-nim?”

“Did you bring another sacrifice?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

What.

‘SACRIFICE??? WHAT DOES THE DRAGON MEAN BY SACRIFICE???’

While Cale’s inner turmoil was happening, his face still remained stoic although with a slight stiffening, which naturally did not go unnoticed by the dragon.

“Pendrick, i told you to st-“

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SACRIFICE? YOU CANT EAT MY HUMAN, GOLDIE!”

“Meowwwww!”

“..”

“…”

“Goldie..?”

‘So i did hear correctly, Raon called him goldie’

“You can’t stare at our weak human like that! You know how much of a coward he is? You also can’t eat him!”

Raon then continued to speak inside Cale’s mind

’Goldie over there stared at you, and said something about you being sacrifice, so I debated fighting him, but he seems like a decent guy since he used thermal magic on you.

‘Huh, no wonder i felt warm. Turns out it was that dragon. Maybe he has a soft spot for children?’

The Gold Dragon, who did not hear any of this, looked toward Raon with complete disbelief.

“He is indeed weak, but more importantly, did you just say, ‘our,’ about a human? Are you really an idiot?”

Cale could see Raon’s wings stop once more. Raon then looked back toward the Gold Dragon. The Gold Dragon had called Raon stupid twice already.

‘Will they start to fight?’

Cale felt cold, even with the thermal magic surrounding him.

At that moment, Raon started his rebuttal.

“I do not have a low IQ, I just have high sociability. I’m not like you, you socially awkward Golden Dragon who doesn’t even know how to shake hands.”

‘Golden Dragon? I guess he is a gold colored Dragon.’

Cale knew that Raon wasn’t the type to lose an argument without even trying.

Cale felt an odd sense of pride. There was a benefit to raising Raon into a strong little boy. (Well there probably was a deeper connection due to them being.. tortured together but let’s not remember that.)

Cale could hear Pendrick’s voice while he was thinking about that.

“My goodness, two Dragon-nims chatting peacefully without getting into a fight! This is the type of thing I should be recording. I never expected for such luck to fall upon me. I’ve always thought of myself as a cursed Elf because I could not see Elementals. I can’t believe I get to witness two Dragon-nims, the stars of the natural world……”

The Elf healer, Pendrick, kneeled down and clasped his hands. Cale watched the Elf kneeling on the white snow and mumbling to himself as he came to a conclusion.

‘This one isn’t normal either.’

All of the lifeforms around him had something odd about them(On smacked Cale on his foot due to having a feeling that Cale was thinking something dumb). Cale thought that this was a really difficult environment for a normal person like himself to survive.

Cale slowly moved a step away from Pendrick.

Thanks to that, he could once again see the Gold Dragon, who was still in the blonde Elf form, who had been covered by Raon. The Dragon seemed to be full of disbelief. Raon confidently shouted while looking at the Dragon’s look of disbelief.

“Did my greatness shock you, Golden Dragon?!”

The blonde Elf let out a sigh-like laugh before nodding his head with a relaxed expression.

“Yes, I was very shocked because of y, cough!”

‘…What the?’

Cale became nervous.

The blonde Elf suddenly covered his mouth and started to cough. Fluids started to spill out from between his fingers.

Raon’s shocked voice quickly shot out.

“W, what is wrong?! Golden Dragon, blood! Don’t cough up blood!”

A Dragon was coughing up blood.

Drip, drip.

The drops of blood that traveled through the blonde Elf’s hand and fell down started to dye the white snow red.

Cale became anxious while looking at the red blood.

‘It doesn’t look that serious, but it might get even more serious if it’s left alone’

“Cough, ugh, cough!”

The blonde Elf hunched forward because of how much he was coughing. Raon flew over and supported the Elf up as he continued to cough up blood.

“Ha, haha.”

“Golden Dragon, do not laugh!”

The blonde Elf started to laugh while looking at Raon. The Gold Dragon continued to speak, even as he was coughing.

“A Dragon worrying about another Dragon. Cough.”

“Stop talking! Goldie!”

The blonde Elf’s golden pupils lit up for a moment. That golden light caught Cale’s attention, even though he was a bit of a distance away. At that moment, Pendrick started to run toward the Gold Dragon.

“Eruhaben-nim!”

At the same time, the Gold Dragon named Eruhaben, officially introduced himself.

“Little kid, my name is not Goldie. It is Eruhaben.”

“Is that so? Nice to meet you. But I am not a little kid.”

Raon, who was saying that he was not a little kid in a grumbling voice, continued to support Eruhaben up.

Eruhaben watched Raon with an odd expression in his eyes.

Watching the two of them like this, Cale felt like the two Dragons would not end up fighting. That was why he picked up On and Hong.

“Let’s go.”

“Meowww”

“Nya~”

Of course, Cale still had Pendrick stand in front of him as they walked.

Cale stopped in front of the cave that shot up to the top of Mount Yellia. The cave was pretty wide, with a staircase heading down at the end.

“Eruhaben-nim, are you okay?”

Pendrick was using healing on the Gold Dragon Eruhaben as he supported him back up. Eruhaben nodded his head and took a handkerchief out of his spatial dimension in order to wipe the blood off of his mouth.

“Yes, my coughing seems to have stopped. Pendrick, I haven’t seen you since you were little.”

“Yes sir, it is an honor to meet you again.”

Cale thought that Eruhaben was quite warm in the way he treated Pendrick. That warmth surprised Cale, making him quietly observe the Gold Dragon and the Elf.

At that moment, Eruhaben’s gaze turned over to Cale’s little group.

On, and Hong. Eruhaben’s gaze swept through all of them before landing back on Cale and not moving away.

‘What now?’

Cale got anxious because he could not figure out why the Gold Dragon had stopped his gaze on him. He really did not do anything this time.

It was at that moment.

“Stop looking at him!”

Raon quickly flew over and stood in front of Cale to block his view.

“I already told you our weak human is a coward! You cannot stare at him with such an intense gaze!”

‘…I may be a coward but not such a coward that I would faint because he looks at me…’

Cale wanted to stand up for himself but ended up not doing so, as he didn’t really have a desire to look at Eruhaben anyway.

That was why he could only hear what Eruhaben was saying, without being able to see his expression.

“…He is a coward?”

Eruhaben sounded intrigued.

“How interesting.”

Cale started to feel a sense of uncertainty. What was funny? Couldn’t Eruhaben share that information with all of them?

The room stayed silent after that sentence.

“…”

“…”

An odd sense of nervousness filled the air.

However, it soon disappeared.

The blonde Elf, Eruhaben, stood up straight as he started to speak.

“Follow me.”

Eruhaben started to walk into his lair as he said one more thing.

“This is all part of fate I suppose.”

Cale was invited into Eruhaben, the Gold Dragon’s lair. He put the interested Raon and the excited Pendrick front of him as they stepped into the lair.

“They are aiming for the World Tree?”

“Yes. At least thats what we thinks. Based on their strength and number of people, they may have the support of a kingdom or an organization with a similar level.”

Eruhaben and Pendrick were having a serious conversation in what seemed to be decorated like an office.

However, Cale could not hear their conversation.

They were currently all sitting around a large oval table, with the Gold Dragon sitting on a chair that was one level higher.

But Cale did not care about that either. Something else was catching his attention.

‘They did say he was a Gold Dragon.’

Cale looked down at the table and the chair that he was sitting on. The chair was completely made of gold except for the cushion, and the table seemed to be made with gold and shiny jewels.

There was even a fancy chandelier hanging on the ceiling. Which was also pointed out by Raon.

’Human! Look up. Theres a shiny chandelier hanging up. Do you think we can ask goldie for it?’

‘Yeah no… let’s not ask about that’

He had expected just a cave as the lair was inside a cave, but he was wrong.

‘This Dragon must be rich.’

Cale’s expression turned odd. At that moment, Eruhaben’s voice reached Cale’s ear.

“You don’t know the real nutjob that runs the secret organization?”

‘Wow, nutjob?’

The Dragon’s choice of words was amazing. It was fitting for a Dragon.

Cale could see Pendrick seriously nodding his head.

“Unfortunately, we do not.”

Tap. Tap.

Eruhaben tapped on the table with his finger.

“…Odd.”

Eruhaben’s questioning tone made Cale subconsciously look toward him. The Gold Dragon explained what was weighing down on his mind.

“There is no way that such an organization hasn’t been around for a long time. If they managed to get this amount of power and forces in a short amount of time, and also do this much damage, they would have had to prepare for tens of years. Something feels fishy.”

“Eruhaben-nim, could you please share what you are thinking?”

Eruhaben crossed his arms and started to answer to Pendrick's request.

“I don’t know the situation in the continent because I have not left my lair for about a hundred years, but it is impossible for an organization that is only made up of humans to create such ruckus in the elf village and to the Molan family.”

“Then you think there are non-humans?”

Pendrick cautiously asked, but Eruhaben did not answer. He just rubbed his chin with his hand like he was deep in thought.

Pendrick recalled everything that had occurred until now.

They were cruel beings that had thrown the world into chaos. There was a race he thought of as he thought about the chaos of the world.

“Eruhaben-nim, then, maybe, is it the demonic race?”

‘Demonic race?’

On, Hong, and Raon’s expression turned into shock. It was the typical reaction to hearing those words. They all looked toward Cale with shock in their eyes.

Then they all relaxed.

Cale was looking at Pendrick with an expression that seemed to be asking what this nonsense was. Choi Han, who relaxed after seeing Cale’s reaction, noticed that Eruhaben was looking at Pendrick with a similar expression.

“…Pendrick, you’ve always had a vivid imagination.”

“Then it is not?”

“Of course not. If the Demonic race starts to move, the gods give us a revelation.”

‘Revelation?’ Cale thought, he didn’t really want to know this information. He already had enough on his plate and he feels like he’s burying his slacker life with this type of information(little did he know, his slacker life was already dead when he saved the dragon)

“Then?”

Eruhaben answered back with indifference.

“As you all already suspected, they either built up the organization with a kingdom at the center, or unknown forces of nature are working with them. It could even be both.”

Hmm. Eruhaben casually added on with an expression that was full of confusion.

“How interesting.” Eruhaben said.

From the information from Pendrick, he knew the details of what the child has done(and too much details of the weird small dragon). Apparently, the child had helped the elf village with his two cats, who were supposedly from the cat tribe. The child also happened to know some stuff of what the organization did. Interesting indeed.

And Cale just happened to make eye contact with Eruhaben at that moment.

‘Why is he saying how interesting while looking at me?’

Cale suppressed his discomfort and quickly moved his hand. He could hear Raon’s voice.

“It feels nice, human!”

Cale was caressing Raon’s round head. Raon was laying down on a comfortable couch next to Cale. Raon, On, and Hong were all laying around this extremely luxurious looking couch.

‘This should prevent him from making me do anything, right?’

He continued to pet Raon’s head, hoping that Eruhaben would remember that Raon was by his side.

He had no choice but to do so.

Most novels have Dragons making the humans who found their lair do their bidding, saying something like,

‘go find out their identity.’

Cale continued to pet Raon’s head, as he wanted to avoid such a situation. At that moment, Raon’s voice filled Cale’s mind.

’Human, will my future villa be like this too?’

Crap.’

A new type of danger had surfaced.

A young Dragon had seen a real Dragon’s lair. Cale looked down at Raon. Raon must have seen something in Cale’s eyes, as he sighed before fluttering his wings.

’It’s okay, human. Do not worry about the money. I will earn the money to build it. You just wait.’

Cale wanted to laugh.

Where would a little kid who earned 10 silver coins as allowance go to earn that much money? Cale ignored the part where Raon said that he would earn the money himself. Plus, that was not the problem right now. Cale, who peeked back over at Eruhaben, flinched. Eruhaben was still staring at him.

‘Is he really going to make me do it?’

Cale watched Eruhaben slowly start to speak with anxiety.

Eruhaben finally started to speak.

“Well, it's not my problem.”

‘Hmm?’

“I’m getting very weak in my old age. It’s annoying to step in. Not my business whether they argue, fight, or kill each other.”

‘Oh. I like this Dragon.’

Cale had a better impression of Eruhaben for the first time. Maybe it was because he was an ancient Dragon, but his personality was not bad.

Eruhaben looked toward Pendrick and continued to speak.

“But it looks like we will need to strengthen the magic shield around the World Tree.”

“Yes, Dragon-nim.”

I will also make a magic device to install in your Elf Village, so take it with you.”

“Thank you very much, Eruhaben-nim.”

Pendrick thanked Eruhaben with awe on his face, while Eruhaben received the thanks like it was natural before turning his gaze away.

Yes, he was looking back at Cale once again.

‘Why does he keep staring at me?’

Now both Raon and Cale were curious.

“Eruhaben, I already told you our weak human is also a coward!”

“Little kid, you should call me Eruhaben-nim. I’ve lived hundreds of years longer than you.”

Raon started to frown after being called a little kid again. Cale started to worry, as the way Raon was looking at Eruhaben looked like he was about to do something bad.
However, he didn’t need to worry about that anymore after hearing Eruhaben’s next words.

“What an odd human. No, should I say amazing?”

‘I’m odd? No, amazing?’

Cale looked toward Eruhaben with confusion. The Gold Dragon continued to speak.

“How are you still alive after having obtained so many ancient powers?”

‘…Hmm?’

“Most people would blow up and die.”

‘…What?’

“WHAT?”

“Nya!!”

“Meowww!”

<….>

“Father, are you sure that ‘he’ would be here?”

“We still don’t know, but apparently, there has been signs of something happening over here.”

“Do we really need to search for ‘him’ though?”

“… Beacrox, let’s just try. If we don’t find him in 2 days, then we should stop”

“Yes, father”

Beacrox really doesn’t like wasting his time searching for some kid he doesn’t even care about. But his father kept insisting. So there they are. They’re at the ten finger mountain.

Although he feels a little bit of pity, since the count apparently got remarried to another person just a bit after the late countess died, and only about 8 days after the young master disappeared.

He doesn’t really feel anything about the young master except for a little bit of pity. He’s heard some rumors. The young master is apparently quite.. expressive, and isn’t really the brightest but loves his mother quite dearly. Since the late countess has now died, they say that his personality has changed.

But rumors are useless.

“*sigh*”

“Did you find something?”

“Yes, i found some traces on the ground being stepped on. It looks quite faint. Maybe 1 week or more?”

“We should try to continue that way then”

“Yes, father”

Chapter Text

Hi everyone!.

I hope you’re reading this chapter so you know what’s going to happen to this fic in the future. And no, i am not going to be dropping this fic, it will just be on hiatus for a long time until i get better, or not. Hahaa…

The reason that my fic will be on hiatus, is because of my health problems that i will not be discussing too much about. All you need to know, is that i had to go to the hospital due to my health problems.

I also have some personal family problems that i will not be discussing too much about. All that is need to be known is that these problems will further pause the continuation of this fic.

I hope you all understand.

Thank you for reading.

Chapter Text

Why the fuck is there a horse.

————
(Context)

“Human!!!! You can’t die!!”

“Yeah-nya!”

“Yeah!”

“I’m not dying” Cale tries to console them.

“Sorry to break it to you, but you’re dying” Eruhaben buds in.

“…”

Everyone is just staring at Eruhaben ridiculously(well, it’s only Cale).

And Pendrick is just there.

“But don’t worry, since i have taken an interest to you, i’ll help you out a bit” Eruhaben consoles.

‘What is this sort of game sense deja vu i’m feeling? It feels like one of those game quest’

“Since you have more than 1 ancient power, and you’re still alive thus far, that must mean you have a restoration power, correct?”

“Yes..?”

“Why did you reply so hes- never mind. So, that means the power is the only thing keeping your plate balanced, so, to stop you from exploding, you must find the other ancient power elements that you don’t have.” Eruhaben explains.

‘Yeah…*sob* it’s just as the ancient dragon said!*sobs* i’m always working overtime *SOBS*’

‘It’s okay crybaby, let’s go eat something. I’m hungry’

‘We just need to find the thief, crazy kid, and super rock now!’

‘*sob* you’re only brawn no brains *sob*, we don’t even know where super rock, thief, or even crazy kid is!*SOBS*’

‘Well excuse me! At least i’m not an old man who just SOBS all day!’

‘I’m hungry…’

Cale has learned something new. Everyone talking inside his head are problematic. Be it dragons, or even the ancient powers! Everyone is problematic!!!

He’s already having a headache hearing them talk.

“Goldie gramps! Where are the ancient powers!”

“Why am i ‘Goldie gramps’? And I don’t know where the ancient powers are. I will just help in escorting you and getting you to the place if you ever know where it is.” Eruhaben explains.

“Wait… is me not exploding only temporarily?” Cale finally decides to ask the question gnawing in his mind.

“Yep, i think you have only around 5-7 more days left”

‘The golden dragon is right!*SOBS* i can only stop you from exploding for 6 more days*sobs* sorry…’

‘Yah! No need to get so upset crybaby! We’ll surely get the group back, and more money!’

‘I feel like i’m being ignored..’

Ignoring them, looks like he doesn’t have as much like as he would like to get the other ancient power… and, he doesn’t know where the earth ancient power is. The book only told him about the wood, restoration, wind, fire, and water. There was nothing about earth if he’s thinking about it.

“Hey goldie gramps!”

“Hah.. i already told you, my name is Eruhaben, not ‘goldie gramps’”

“Okay, goldie gramps!”

“Hahh…. What is it?”

“Let me and my family stay here for a while!”

“And why should i?” Eruhaben fights back

Raon looks like he’s stumped at that question.

Cale honestly finds his face kinda funny.

“We-well! Because! The mighty Raon Miru said so!”

“Raon Miru..? What a weird name to give yourself”

“Well! That’s because the small and weak human picked out that name for me! And it’s rude calling people’s names weird!”

“Wow. What the fuck. Never in my life have i ever seen a dragon let a human, let alone a child to name them. What the fuck”

Yep.

That was definitely the reaction he thought the ancient(NORMAL) dragon would display(he wouldn’t that Eruhaben is normal for long tho).

Okay.

“Ah yes, Eruhaben-nim. I have brought something for you!” The quiet Pendrick finally decided to speak.

“What is it Pendrick? Is it the thing i asked you to bring?” Eruhaben inquires.

“Ah yes, that too and…”

While handing the herb that Eruhaben requested, Pendrick continued to speak and took something out of his bag.

….

It was a fucking horse.

‘Wow! I’ve never seen that before in the time that i was alive and when i was dead’

‘I don’t think this is the time for lore right now’

‘Noona, did you just break the 4th wall?’

‘Did you just stop sobbing?’

‘Wait, cheapskate, did you just say ‘and when i was dead’? Were you still able to move around when you were dead and in that piggy bank?’

‘How did you know i was in a piggy bank?!’

Ignoring them, HOW THE FUCK DID PENDRICK FIT A FUCKING HORSE IN A BAG?!!

“Hah… pendrick, i told you to stop bringing these…‘sacrifices’…”

Ohh so that was what he meant by him being a sacrifice… Wait! That’s out of the point, how the fuck did he fit that in a bag??

“Uncle Pendrick, how did you fit that inside of the bag??” Even Raon was confused.

“Ah! My devotion is just that strong that it defies the laws of physics!” Pendrick confidently declares.

“Don’t ask about that kid, i’ve asked that before and left the same reaction as yours right now” Eruhaben advises literally everyone in the room.

Even the cats were speechless.

Cale just doesn’t know what to do at this point.

He’s also too speechless to talk.

‘Hey, i think that elf dude broke the kid’

‘You mean, ‘kids’. I think he traumatized every single children in the room.’

‘*sob* i think ‘traumatized’ is too much of a harsh word *sobs*’

‘Hey, i saw that this ancient golden dragon has a lot of gold, do ya think he’ll mind if we take a few?’

‘If he’s lived for at least a thousand years, then he must make good food right?’

‘*sob*… stop planning on stealing and using the poor ancient dragon*sobs* he’s still a dragon..’

‘You mean, ‘rich’ ancient dragon right?’

‘… i’ll fight you*sob*’

‘Come at me, old man!’

‘I want popcorn…’

Chapter Text

“…”

“…”

Sooo…. After that whole ordeal, the golden dragon, Eruhaben(although Raon insists on calling him ‘goldie gramps’) wanted to talk to him personally.

So that’s how he’s in this position. Just staring awkwardly towards the dragon. Just waiting for him to say something.

Eventually, the ancient dragon spoke up.

“…since i already know that you’re not a normal kid, you probably know the dire of this situation for you, correct?”

“Yes, of course”

“If you do, then why are you sitting here so relaxed. This must mean you know where some of the power are. Or you’re suicidal.”

“Its the former.”

“I see. What a weird child”

‘Excuse me???’

Did the dragon just call him weird for not being suicidal???

“Wha-“

“You do know that ancient powers are considered rare and there are probably only roughly 100 people recorded in history having an ancient power.”

It didn’t feel like a question it was just a statement.

“Yes…?”

“Why are you so hes- never mind. And do you know if theres anyone recorded in history having more than 1 ancient power?”

“No…?”

“And why do you think that is the case?”

“…”

The answer was really quite obvious. It means they’ve died. All of the people who got 2 ancient powers died before they were even given a chance to be recorded in history. Their body -according to the ancient dragon- would explode. The only reason his body hasn’t exploded is because of crybaby. They all probably never got a restoration power hence they all died after they finished the trial.

So…

“… they’ve all died”

“Correct. They all died before they were even given a chance to be recorded. They all exploded. Now that this piece of information is known, do you understand the severity of your situation?”

He doesn’t know why but he’s suddenly feeling some pressure coming out from the dragon. The feeling of dominance that made his words feel like they hold a certain amount of pressure than anything he’s ever heard since he got here.

Is this the taste of dragon fear? Probably. If it is, this is probably not even 1% of its power.

“Yes. Even though it may not look like it, I completely understand the severity of this situation.”

“….”

The dragon continued to look at him as if searching for any lies.

“Hah… kids these days. Okay, i understand”

As soon as he said that, the pressure he was feeling disappeared like it was never there to begin with.

“… do you need my help?”

It sounded quite small but Cale definitely heard it.

Was the dragon really offering help to him?

Wow, being a child really does have it’s perks.

“Actually, do you mind helping me find the earth ancient power? Theres not much to do. I already have the key to finding the location of the power but I don’t have time to look through it since i need to gather the other powers. So, could you help me with this?”

Cale took out the book that was given to him from the chief of the elf village.

He asked for a simple request: Analysis.

Although this task would be honestly quite easy. It’s just… well… the dragon offered, right? Sooooo… less work for him! Yahoo! (Author : Cale, you still just asked for a fricking dragon for help, THIS DRAGON IS ALSO AN ANCIENT DRAGON)

The golden dragon, Eruhaben stared at the book for a moment before taking it.

“I see that you’re adventures from the elf village have not gone to waste”

“How did you know this was from the elf village??”

“I’ve… seen this book before….” (Author : please read the end notes for the story, i promise you its funny)

“????”

“But forget that, this mighty being shall accept to your request.”

“Yes… i am forever indebted towards you, Eruhaben-nim”

“….”

“…”

“Don’t ever say that again. It sounds weird coming from you.”

“…”

‘What’

‘Okay, since I’ve already gained the information i need, you should probably rest now or do something else, just don’t bother me”( dw people, he’s in the stundere phase right now)

“Okay”

….

“Human! Did goldie gramps say anything bad towards you!”

“No-“

“We’ll kill him-nya!”

“Wha-“

“Pfft- they think that Eruhaben-nim did something bad towards you because Pendrick has been saying some weird stuff-nya”

Cale looked towards Ohn.

“Ohn, can you remind me how old you are’l

It was a stupid question since he remembers everything.

“I’m 9 years old right now. If you forgot then you sure are one doesaeng-nya!”( I don’t know if i used this sentence correctly so please correct me if it isn’t)

“Then did you follow Raon and Hong’s antics?”

“Of course not, they still need someone to act as a responsible sibling. If i had joined their antics, we would’ve probably be deemed as crazy by the dragon-nim-nya!”

He doesn’t like this…she feels… to mature.. too close like… nevermind if its talk about that, it’s no use talking about it.

“… hah… how about we go play the tag game that we played at the inn?”

“Really? I thought you said you didn’t want to play it anymore-nya.”

“Well… i do now. So let’s go call Raon and Hong to.. play tag”

“Okay!”

With a smile on her face, she enthusiastically followed her dear dosaeng. Her little cute dosaeng. She can see right through his plans, who knew her dosaeng was this kind.

<….>

“Father, we should just stop. There’s no use in searching for him. It’s already been about 5 months.”

“I know. Let’s just give it one more month then we’ll quit”

“The count won’t be funding anymore of these expeditions on finding him”

“We don’t need the count’s funding. We have already done this before in the past without his help and we’ll do it again.”

“…”

“Let’s go. Our next stop will be… to the capital”

<…>

“… father.. i think you should leave your work for a moment”

“… Basen, please let this time slide, i’ve… still got some paperwork to finish. Maybe we could go out next time?”

“…okay..”

…

Once the boy, Basen left the room the man who was sitting on his desk stood up. He went towards a portrait of a woman with red hair and stood in front of it.

“Jour… i know it’s been 1 year since you’ve gone away… but i miss you. How do i deal with this Jour.. i cant do this by myself without your support… i know i have Violan now to support me but… i just can’t.”

“It’s been 5 months since he disappeared. I know you’re probably mad at me for not searching for him, but… he’s what killed you! He took you away from me! He.. he’s found an end that’s befitting for him and has probably already met you”

“How lucky… i’m.. horribly envious of him. Please… Jour… what do i do..? I know that Ron and his son are still searching for him but i hope they don’t find him. I feel like whenever i see him, i remember you and i remember what he did. I know i’m a coward but i’ll still hold on to that belief. Maybe if that child died… we would both get a happy ending…”

Suddenly, there was a voice coming from outside of the door.

“Deruth!”

The man, Deruth immediately began to go back to his seat and act as normal as possible.

“Yes honey? You can come in”

Chapter Text

"..."

Speechless is the only thing he can describe himself as right now.

Seriously.

What the hell is he seeing right now?

Why the fuck is there missing posters of him across here???

The area near the Henituse territory now has missing posters of him all over.

The last time he was here, he heard all kind of rumors about Cale Henituse(him currently) and the Henituse family. What happened to cause such a drastic change?

Though, at least this means there's still people who care for the original Cale Henituse. He doesn't know what happened to the original soul of Cale Henituse so he can't really convey his message to him but he hopes he's happy where ever he is right now since there are still some people who care for him enough to set up this much missing posters. But who knows, the original Cale might be in his body right now like those isekai novels.

"sigh..."

Well, it's no use thinking about it now. He's now Cale Henituse and not Kim Rok Soo. There's no use in thinking about it if it's just going to cause trouble for him.

"..."

He looked around the whole area with two kittens in his hands(and an invisible dragon). He just came to the Henituse territory to search for more libraries on something.

He still remembers the mark he had when he first got to this body(he still doesn't know what it is), but a new mark is starting to appear little by little each day becoming more visible.

He doesn't like these 'marks' as they just give him a headache. He tried showing Eruhaben the marks he had but apparently the ancient dragon didn't know what it was. He said that it was a mark made after he limited his connections with the outside world so he would do some research. He truly has a soft spot for kids huh?

"nya!"

Hong suddently meowed at him and that's when he realized that he was almost going to past the library.

"thanks, Hong" Cale thanked him.

"nya~" Hong, in turn, meowed in approval.

The moment he walked in, everyone immediately laid their eyes on to him. The eyes felt like they were pricking his skin. Uncomfortable but he's used to it. Due to his past life and the amount of stares he got while walking here. He doesn't really blame them all that much. He probably looks weird.

His whole figure is being clothed by black clothing and he's covering his face with the hood of the hoodie he packed before. Not to mention his bandaged eye. The only thing keeping him from getting more stares is his changed hair color which was currently black(Raon wanted his hair to be the same color as him). He doesn't want to show his hair that would get him recognized.

'Is this how celebrities feel? '

He found a book that he was looking for but the fucking book shelve was to tall.

"..."

He'd rather not embarrass himself over here while trying to and fail to grab that book. Listen, he's still self-conscious about his height.

So, like any normal person would, he asked the nearest person to help him. The person appeared to be a woman and also wearing a hood to hide her appearance. So he'll just apologize in advance right now.

" Excuse me, miss? Could you help me grab that book over there?" Cale, putting his 'nice kid' face on questioned the woman.

Now that her face was looking towards him, he could see her face. seeing her face, she looked like to be mid twenties or early thirties.

" Ah? Su-"

Something must've caught her eye as her eyes turned wide as if discovering something shocking.

"..."

'Human! She reeks of uhhh....'

What is it Raon??? Is she dangerous? Wait! No! Don't tell him about anything! He doesn't want to get involved in anything! After this he's going straight after the 'The Sound of the Wind'.

'Oh yeah! Dead mana! She reeks of dead mana! But like kinda different too?
Like it's also ... mixed in with nature, but not dead stuff. Like... a forest or a calm breeze?'

"..."

Non-human, reeks of dead mana so she probably uses it, yet is also like nature?

The only thing he can think of from the novel that fits the description is.....

The Dark Elves!

So... the woman in front of him... is...

A Dark Elf!!

Chapter Text

In the heat of the moment, it was just him and the cloaked woman staring at each other. The cloaked woman after a couple of seconds started to dart her eyes, scanning around the room searching for something. Her eyes then finally came to a stop just a bit away from Raon is.

After remembering he had legs, Cale immediately darted, looking for the nearest exit.

“W-wait-!”, the woman shouted, but not wanting to waste anymore time, Cale ran even faster than he was towards the exit.

‘What are we doing human, why are we running? who is that woman? Is she dangerous? Are all humans who smell like dark mana and nature dangerous? Should i kill her?’, the young Raon continued to bombard him with questions but all of them just got ignored- except for that last one- by Cale.

‘Nope, not dealing with this’, Cale absolutely did not want to be involved with anyone else, especially dark elves. Just for a specific reasons. It’s because they’re a type of elf!

He’s not a type to discriminate, but he’s experienced elves first hand and he doesn’t want to experience them again.

Just thinking about it sends down a shiver against his spine.

‘Huh, human did you just shiver? Hmph! You really are a weak little human!’

Hearing Raon shit talk about him really didn’t make it any better.

He then then decided to hide behind a corner of a building to catch his breath for a moment.

“Haah…-“ just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he then realized something.

.
.
.

He forgot On and Hong at the library.

“Raon.”

‘Yea, human?’

“When we ran, was On and Hong still at the library?”

‘…’

“Raon.”

‘On it.’

The decision was quickly made and Raon changed Cale’s appearance, Cale’s hair was quickly turned to white in a blink of an eye and his eye color was morphed into a shade of blue.

As if feeling it was enough, Cale ran back towards the library as fast as he could with a young invisible dragon following behind.

‘Wow, little human! You’re running faster than before when you were running from the nature smelling dead mana woman! See, you care for us!’

“…”

Raon was indeed not wrong, Cale was using his absolute stamina to quickly run towards the library again to find On and Hong. He’s not sure either why he’s doing this, On and Hong were simply just kids he met along the way, but perhaps he’s grown too attached to them, or he just doesn’t want them to end like he was before.

‘…’

“…”

After what Raon said, the whole run to the library was quiet. Not a single conversation was made by the little dragon and Cale wasn’t saying anything either.

.

.

.

After a few minutes, they finally made it back to the library. Standing in front of the door again was despairing to Cale. Because not only could he possibly meet that cloaked woman again, the was also a possibility that On and Hong might not be there.

He entered the library that was signaled with the ringing of a bell, and quickly made to the place where he was before. Luckily, the woman was no longer there, but On and Hong weren’t there either.

He checked around the library for a while, but he then heard a commotion outside.

“Mom!… wa… them… cats!..-“

As soon as he heard the word “cats”, Cale quickly tuned out everything and ran straight to where the sound came from.

When he reached the outside of the library, the commotion in front of him seemed big, as large crowds were gathered around a 3 people, a kid with a person that was seemingly his mom, and another.. person..

Wait a minute…

That person is the dark elf!

And On and Hong were with her!

“… Raon..”, Cale whispered as quietly as he could.

‘Yeah, human?’

“Can you go a little further from here, but not to far in case something happens so you can teleport us? That woman seems to be able to sense you if we get to close”

‘Okay! Make sure to bring Oh-Unnie and Hong-Hyung(i forgot how Raon addressed them) back!’

After discussing a bit with Raon, he no longer heard the young black dragon anymore.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Cale quickly walked towards the commotion.

“Mommy! Tell her to give me those cats!”, a young kid wailed to his mom.

“Sweetie, those cats aren’t yours, they just accidentally bumped into you…”, the mom soothed her kid.

“I don’t care, tell that dark woman to give me it back right now!”, the kid retorted back towards his mom.

“Little kid, you have to right to call me that disrespectful name”, feeling like it was enough, the woman defended herself.

“You’re dark, so i’ll call you dark! Now hand over those cat! Or i’m going to call my daddy!”, the kid, not wanting to back down immediately threatened.

“Please, miss, could you please just give those cats to my son… i’ll pay you..”, the woman tried to bargain but was met with nothing of what she hoped for.

On and Hong, look quite scared in the heat of the moment, they were hiding behind the cloaked woman as if she were their only pillar of support.

Darting their eyes around the crowd, they eventually saw someone that looked familiar, the person was struggling but managing to get through the crowd.

As soon as they say the face of the person, both of them immediately ran towards that person sending a moment of shock towards everyone watching, including the people that were being the source of the commotion.

The charged to that person with full speed, after all, that person was their family, no matter how he looked, even if he changed his hair, voice, eyes, they’d still be able to recognize him, after all, he is their dear younger and older brother.

Cale, of course, not thinking that they would charge so suddenly like that stopped in his tracks, looking like a deer in headlights. But they both didn’t care, they immediately jumped to him, and out of force of habit, he caught them, just like what they knew he would.

Though, he did stumble a bit when he caught them, and they were heck of a lot sure they were going to tease him for it, after all, what type of siblings wont do that? But for now, they’re just happy that they can see him again…

“Nya!”

“Meow…”

Their sounds followed was followed by pairs of eyes looking straight at them. Cale, however was already used to pairs of eyes staring at him, whether in this life or as Kim Rok Soo, so he didn’t care.

What he noticed though, was the small flash of recognition from the dark elf woman. Which was certainly not good.

‘I accidentally leave two cats in a library and now i’m in this mess, i wonder if it’s my bad luck or is God just striking me for whatever sins i’ve done at this point’, Cale silently ranted in the back of his mind.

However, he had a more important thing to do than muse his own terrible bad luck, which is to defuse this whole mess.

“Ah.. Bob… Quinn.. i found you!”, pulling up his best acting skills, he quickly put up a front.

However, both cats, seemingly not linking the new names he got them kicked him in disapproval.

Ow.. their kick was even packed with that much force yet still stung a bit..

‘Hey! I’m trying to get you out of this predicament over here, work with me wont you?’, as if trying to telepathically communicate with the two cats like a crazy person, On and Hong seemed to actually understand and reluctantly went on with it by acting as well.

“Meow..!”

“Nya..”

“Hic.. i’m so glad i found you.. hic.. i thought i lost you!”

Wow, what an amazing performance, really, give them an oscar or something.

“Wha.. hey! Give me my cats back!”, the kid, as if stuck out of the shock immediately yelled.

“Huh.. b..but.. these are my cats.. they were given.. hic.. to me.. hic before my parents passed away..”, unfortunately for the kid, Cale’s acting skills were top notch, and he’s not giving something that’s his away to some rando, nu uh, not in a million years.

Mumurs immediately spread around the crowd, but the kid didn’t seemed to care, i mean, why would he care, i bet he doesn’t even know what 1 + 1 is at his age, and he’s trying to pick a fight with Cale.

The mother of the kid, seemingly not want to escalate the situation any further, tried to console her kid once more,

“Honey, we should really get going, if you really want a cat so bad, we can get you ones that are the exact same later on you birthday..”

“No! I want them right now! If it were really that dumb kid’s then why were the cats with this old woman!”, you could basically smell the tantrums at this point, and some people not wanting to see that type of scene went back to their homes or whatever they were doing before.

(‘Huh, for a kid that looks pretty dumb, I’m surprised he could conjure up such a retort.’ Cale backhandedly thought)

“I wanted to explain that these cats were not mine to give, but you kept cutting and insulting me.”, the woman coldly said.

The dark elf woman then turned her back to the mother and child and began walking towards Cale. He started to crouch to reach Cale’s level and started to seemingly console him.

But… in actuality…

“Why did you have that dragon.” She coldly whispered towards him. On and Hon immediately hearing that raised their guard up against her.

“Tell me now or i’ll have no other choice”, her words were oh so against her action. She was currently patting his head while seemingly trying to console him, yet she was whispering such scary words.

“Hey! Don’t back away! I’ll call my daddy on you just so you know!”, as the child was being taken away by his mother, the child left a threat, but honestly, Cale couldn’t care less. What was he going to do? Tell Deruth Henituse that his kid that he still hasn’t found was causing trouble??

‘Actually, i’d like to see that kid try. I already know that Deruth probably hates Cale Henituse. But, i can’t be too sure of that, as it wasn’t stated in the book if Cale was actually still a trash in this age or not.’ As Cale was absentmindedly thinking, he was snapped back to reality by the dark elf woman once again.

“Don’t think that just because you’re a kid, i’ll let you go off easily, why did you have a dragon and why is it no longer here with you.”

Seeing as no one is no longer here, Cale put a stop towards his acting and replied coldly.

“First, get your hands off of me.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

No one said anything after that, not Cale, not On, not Hong nor even the dark elf.

‘SHIT WHY DID I SAY THAT?? WHY DID I SOUND SO COLD?? IM SO DOOMED. IS RAON HERE?? I NEED HELP. IM GOING TO DIEE’

Turns out the coldness of his voice was just due to his nervousness. And because of that, he might just die today.

After a flash of something came across the woman’s face, she eventually did stop touching Cale’s head and stood up. Her hands started going to her side and seemingly was trying to reach something.

Eventually, she unsheathed a sword and aimed it to the side of Cale’s neck.

On and Hong immediately started hissing and was freely showing their hostility towards the woman but dared not to act recklessly as it would cause Cale’s death.

At this point, they knew Raon would have surely saved them by now, but Raon wasn’t. They’re sure Raon wouldn’t just abandon them like this, right..? But.. Raon.. is still a dragon..

“You’re.. not an ordinary human huh.. not even afraid while having a sword being aimed towards your neck…Perhaps you’ve felt dangers before plenty of time while brainwashing a dragon.” The dark elf said coldly.

“…”

‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN IM NOT SCARED RIGHT NOW?? IM SHAKING?? AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN I BRAINWASHED A DRAGON??’

Cale was in fact, nothing like what the dark elf said, he was completely frightened right now, and he most definitely did not brainwash a dragon.

“Now answer my question, child. Where.is.the.dragon.”

Chapter Text

The air tensed with hostility and a clear threat hanging.

On and Hong are fiercely glaring and hissing at the woman while still hoping for Raon to come or Cale to think of a plan.

1 minute goes by… then 2..

Eventually getting tired of the silence, the woman speaks up,

“I shall show no lenience even if you are a child. Now tell me, where is the dragon and state your identity”

With the way she was speaking, it reminded Cale of a knight or some sort. Huh, maybe she is one. But, the Raon kingdom probably wouldn’t accept a dark elf knight. Not with it being known as the land of the Sun God.

Perhaps a past knight from a different place? Maybe the dark elves also have a place to reside like the other elves do. But, it must’ve been some secluded one to avoid the king’s eyes.

Theres very few that he can think of, but… he remembers hearing of ‘The land of death’. A place for refugees for Dubori territory escapees. Not to mention of the occurrences of things that have been leading to deaths over there which can be a source of dead mana. What an indeed great territory to get away from the king’s eyes while still gaining power.

However, how do they even live? Apparently everyone who has gone there never came back, always presumed dead. Theres absolutely nothing that could be seen as an actual building over there, so, where exactly do they live?

His thoughts were short lived by the woman speaking.

“Playing the silent treatment is no use, child. State your name and identity now.”

“… Cale, age 8 years old.”

The woman seemed shocked by something, but she eventually masked it.

“I see… now tell me, where is the dragon?”

“I’m afraid i don’t know anything of a dragon, they’re just mythical creatures, no?”

“Silence! I shall hear no blasphemy from you! Now tell me truthfully, where is the dragon you hid!”

In all honesty, Raon should’ve probably come out by now. After all, whenever things escalated this far, Raon would usually already teleport them by now or used some sort of mind erasing spell he learned from Eruhaben. But he wasn’t here.

On and Hong became more anxious as time passed by. Was Raon safe or not? Did something happen to Raon?

“… why don’t we go somewhere else to discuss this?” Cale eventually said breaking the silence.

A moment of hesitation passed by the woman’s face, but she eventually caved in and sheathed her blade once more and wore her cloak.

“This will not be forgotten, and you will not be able to pull tricks against me.”, she threatened.

Cale being Cale just ignored her completely. Meanwhile, On and Hong were on edge the entire time.

The went back to the book store and eventually sat down at a secluded table.

“You’re not a normal child. You exude intelligence as of an adult. What are you.”

The woman immediately began firing her questions, but these didn’t seem like questions.. more like a command to answer..

“Me? I.. just simply have one goal,” Cale replied sweet kingly.

“… and what is it…,” the hesitance of the woman was apparent. She became on guard as she gripped her sheathed sword bellow the table.

“I simply.. ‘want to live peacefully ’,” as if a sign had been triggered, a sudden rush of mana began to fill the air.

“Wha..what is this?! The p…power..! THIS-!,” unfortunately, before she could finish, the child and the two cats disappeared into thin air. With the last scene she saw being the child smiling wickedly and cunningly at her.

———-

Cale slowly opened his eyes after feeling the rush of mana gone.

When he opened his eyes, he was met with an all so familiar exterior of a cave. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang across.

“Hmm, you went to a library to gain knowledge, however you ended up having a sword against your neck, you really are an unlucky child,” the voice of the golden dragon rang across the cave while his footsteps were heard as clear as day.

“Human, human! I did what you told me to! I waited and teleported to Goldy gramps to get help!” The excited younger dragon followed behind the golden one.

“Dosaeng!” The two cats called out, clearly relieved that their younger sibling was safe and sound.

“Hyung, unnie!” The dragon called back.

They immediately threw themselves to one another and began to celebrate cheerfully in their own way.

“How interesting, no dragons would even get themselves near other creatures,” the golden dragon exclaimed exhaustedly, yet he still seemed to be amused by all of this.

And then, his attention was back onto Cale,

“How clever of you to think of such a plan, i never knew a measly 6 year old kid could do that.”

“Thanks.. i guess… but i’m not 6?”

“Oh, perhaps you’re 7?”

“I’m 8…”

“….”

It seems Eruhaben is quite shock at the turn of events and the newly acquired information. However, not letting his ego being scratched, he immediately defended himself.

“Ah, yes, i knew that. I was just testing to see if you still knew your age. After all, i am the great and mighty oldest dragon there is.”

“.. yeah.. sure…”

———-

“Ugh damn it,” the cloaked woman cursed under her breath. Why did she have such unlucky luck today??

Apparently she couldn’t find the book her nephew wanted and now she met a super intelligent kid that presumably brains washed a seemingly young dragon.

Honestly, the kid feels similar to the Venion Stan kid her nephew has been ranting about. However, that kid looked nothing like Venion stan, the kid was also 8 years old, however, that could have been a lie as he looked only 6-7 years old.

But.. Cale.. that name feels like it rings a bell… Cale.. Cale…

Wait a minute.. Cale Henituse..?!

No.. Cale Henituse has red fiery hair like Jour! As if just on time, a missing picture of Cale appeared.

The woman began to immediately inspect every single aspect on Cale Henituse on the missing picture. She compared every single aspect with the boy she encountered.

“Hah… just my luck. I gotta tell him this.”

………

“Hmn? Cale Henituse? With a dragon?” A golden haired boy inquired.

“Indeed, i saw him at the library i usually visit. My elemental felt an aura that was like of a dragon. He.. he might’ve brain washed that poor dragon.”

The face of the boy immediately twitched in displeasure.

“Well, that makes things easier and complicated, can you help me track him, aunt Tasha?”

“Of course, Alberu.”

…

Chapter Text

Hii everyone!! This is the author heree.

As you all can tell by the VERY sad and gloomy tittle, you can probably already have a depiction on what’s going to happen.

*drum roll..*

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Yep, i’m leaving Ao3.

Sorry for disappointing you all through this journey, and if you were hoping i would just take a long break or something.

But no. After some heavy thinking, i’ve decided on leaving Ao3.

I know this fic has many problems as you all have told me, such as the fic not making sense, for example the addition of characters that were not even introduced or added into the team yet. Theres also my nonsensical plots(hahaha, i do have to apologize for this one tho, i just wrote what ever was on my mind).

Lately i’ve gotten tired on having to write and brain sack my brain to make more chapters. Not to mention life ain’t all that nice to me either- seriously, kudos to Ao3 writers bro, ya’ll got spirit- since ever since i got off of my long(unannounced) hiatus some time ago, my life has been going downhill again, call it the Ao3 writer’s curse acting up again hahahaha.

Anyways, life just hasn’t been good. Stress is pilling up on me, like SO MUCH. I’ve been trying to juggle being the perfect student and all of my other responsibilities right now. I know this is a cowardly excuse, but i’m scared. I’m heavily scared on what if i just suddenly fail and on what if i can’t reach the top anymore. And i’m also scared for the outcome of my fic, and what would happen.

Honestly, all of your support, comments, and Kudos have been my motivation to keep writing despite everything. But now, i don’t know if i’m able to handle everything now. Hahaha, life is kinda just punching me right now like Cale, guess i can kinda be called an irl Cale. But in all seriousness, i don’t think i can handle keeping my life together at this point. I would absolutely love to continue this fic as its probably one of the ones i put the most effort to, but, i’m scared if i keep writing this, you all will be disappointed by the outcome. The last time i wrote this before my break, there was many errors like the parts where you all saw characters not even mentioned to be in the group suddenly be in the group.

And i don’t want to give you all some underbaked fic again, i don’t want to disappoint you all. Hence, i don’t think it would be good for me to continue writing this. You all can probably continue it for yourself and imagine the outcome you all want.

I’ve also started to lose interest in Tcf(maybe i’ll gain interest again as soon as i read book 2), suddenly, other fandom seems to be more enjoyable. Tcf just now suddenly feels so.. incomparable.

Of course, Tcf will always have a special place in my heart, Cale’s schemes, Alberu’s headaches, the pure insanity of the villains, and also the fun memories i spent reading the entire novel.

However, i’ve gotten no motivation and no interest anymore. OF COURSE I STILL LOVE TCF, ILL FIGHT THIS CLIFF UNTIL I DIE, but it no longer feels the same.

I’ve got an attention span of a goldfish, and i myself am surprised i still update this fic from time to time.

Anyways, i’m making this longer than it has to be with all my yapping and stuff. The point is, i’ve decided to leave Ao3 for good(you all can debate if it’s for good or not).

And since i’m leaving, might as well spoil how i was going to write this story(AKA just the main parts)

(Also Tisha immediately thought Raon was being brainwashed because dragons are mighty and selfish creatures. Their individualistic nature being one of the things to note. So why would a young dragon be following someone and not their own nature? Perhaps has it been groomed since it was in the egg to always follow their master?) <— this was the concept i had for why Tisha thought Raon was brainwashed, it’s kinda like Eruhaben

- i planned to have to oh so serious show down of Raon and Cale’s injuries and scars to Eruhaben and or anyone that was in their group at that point. Why? Just cause. And then they tell back story stuff, and Cale finally shows the mark he has on his body that he has no clue on what it means!

Luckly, Eruhaben and the other group members knew and it turns out was a slavery sign(props to a person suggesting this to me), soo turns out Cale was kidnapped and sold as a slave in which the one and only Venion Stan bought him, cause why not?

- the main part(AKA the commander era), this was where Choi Han would’ve already joined so as Ron, Beacrox, and most others. The one who would play as commander would be Choi Han, however, Cale would be the one to pull the strings and give orders. You can just think of Choi Han as a proxy in which nobody knows he’s a proxy(except for a few). This would be because no nobles or anyone would’ve agreed on Cale (a literal child) be a commander, no matter how big their achievements were.

- White Radish gets to do all his plans early, yet also get them backfired early. Though… one of his plans from the og novel actually worked, you all can guess which one. One hint i’m giving you is : Henituse.

- OH YEAH, BEFORE I FORGET, about the Henituses! ( i don’t actually have beef with Deruth so please don’t come at me), when Deruth actually heard news about his son, he had mixed feelings. It had already been a year or so since they’ve seen each other. His son probably would’ve long gone forgotten about him and he can just choose to live a life where he never had a son name “Cale Henituse” and just forget about the pain of his first wife. Basen’s character is a bit cold now, the only one being able to soothe it is his mother and younger sister, as he rarely sees his step father due to all of the work and Deruth locking himself in his room.

But, all Basen wondered was what would Deruth’s love feel like? Did perhaps the first son already get it so he had the scraps? Was he that unloveable unlike Cale Henituse and Lily? Basen knew that he was just overthinking, he’s the heir after all for now if Cale Henituse wasn’t found…. But.. if Cale Henituse was found.. then will he be just a nobody? Will all the attention go to Cale and Lily leaving him being the glass child?

And of course, Basen, without any actual role model to look forward to like in the og, just turned to a paranoid and insecure person. However, he eventually managed to embrace his family, and Cale.

Lily was just a little girl(not the song Lily istg), she was naive and really liked the sword. But she never felt like she got a lot of love. Sure, she got gifts from father and mother, but who she really wanted to bond with was with her brother! Her biggest role model! But.. he seems to be more busy nowadays studying to become the ‘perfect heir’….

She wished she had another brother to play with… everyone here calls her weird. She can feel their gazes every time she swings her sword. She remembers there was another person before they came in. Cale Henituse. Cale Henituse was supposed to be her step brother, but he’s gone. She hopes they can find him sooner so she can play with him!

Over all, Lily was the very first person in the Henituse to accept Cale.

Violan is a woman who was raised poised. Even though being just a baron, she would exude an elegant air. However, seeing her husband so worried and in pain also left her pained. She never knew how to feel about Cale Henituse. She felt pity for the poor boy, yet she hoped he would come back sooner. Perhaps when Deruth’s wounds would have finally been healed.

Anyways, that’s it ^^. I hope you all liked it. I’ll probably delete this account in a week, so if any of you have questions, feel free to ask! I’ll try to answer it as best as i can!

Chapter Text

HELLOOOOOO,

Yo yo yo wsp gng. I’m the author’s friend checking in to tell you that they’re deleting this fic.

Jk

Uhhh

Still me!

Ik i said in 1 week i’ll delete my acc and all of my works! Butt.. well, here i am, writing another update to all of you all.

But first of all, i would like to sincerely apologize to all of you for baiting(??? Is that what you call it??) you all in the last chapter(aka the one where i said i was deleting my acc). But today, i have very exciting depending if you really liked this fic or not.

I hereby declare i am transferring ownership of my acc to one of my dear friends!!!

Don’t worry, she’s already consented with all of this. I’ll still be helping her manage, but all in all, the whole thing from now until whenever she wants, she’ll be the one to continue it.

As you all know from last chapter, writing this fic and all of my others has taken a mental toll on me, and i’ve just finished my semesters today. I’m unsure whether or not i’ll be able to handle the pressure… soooo… i’ve decided to seek closure to one of my closest friend. She was really helpful in getting my mind straight and even offered to help in writing the fic for me(transferring ownership of my acc so others can still read this fic).

WHICH IS SO DARN NICE OF HER BRO. I WANNA CRY MYSELF A RIVER. And if i do say, she’s a much better writer than me.

This update is to just inform all of you all that :
1. This fic is no longer getting discontinued
2. There will be a new owner, hence probably new writing styles and new lore
3. I will just be the one giving suggestions and probably be the beta reader, every credit goes to my dear friend!!!
4. Out of all of my other fics, probably only this one will be the only one to be continued, as my friend is more interested in this one.

I think that’s most on what i needed to update on. And there will be other fics that she’ll write. Probably around tcf or probably forsaken because she’s VERY fixated on that right now(she keeps telling me about an Elliot???).

I think that’s all? So from today onwards, the chapters will be written by her!(istg SHE’S SUCH A NERD, SHE SAID SHE ANALYZED MY WRITING STYLES???).

Sooo everybodyyy welcomeee Yulli!!!

Chapter Text

After a couple of days working non stop, Cale finally managed to get ALL of the ancient powers he needed to not explode. Of course, courtesy with the help of Eruhaben who quote on quote “ I cannot let you go by yourself as i have taken duties as the young dragon’s mentor”. Cale really believes he’s struck gold with the ancient dragon.

For now, he’s just leisurely laying on the bed - that Eruhaben had conjured up for him - while waiting for Raon, Hong and Ohn to be finished with their lesson. Apparently since the golden dragon found potential in On and Hong, he decided to also teach them along side Raon.

Cale of course was also given that choice. However, he didn’t accept it as his goal was merely to sleep, rest, and become a slacker! Not some Over powered child.

He sighed in delight as he sunk deeper into the cloud like bed. Seriously, where did Eruhaben get these beds? They’re way more comfortable than anything he’s laid on! Even in both of his lives, but that didn’t really set the bar all that high since in his first life there was an apocalypse, and in his second life he wasn’t welcomed all that warmly.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, Cale’s eyelids started getting droopy. Well.. he has worked his ass off since these past couple of days, a nap wont hurt right?

He closed his eyes for a moment and it already felt like heaven. He can already feel the sleep hugging him tight and he wasn’t about to fight it. His body was already fatigued not adding the fact that this was also a child’s body.

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And then…

*WHAM*

SUDDENLY THE DOOR BURST OPEN AND CALE WOKE UP.

WAS IT AN INTRUDER? DID AN INTRUDER SOMEHOW COME IN?? WAS IT THE DARK ELF LADY?? OH GOD WHAT DID HE DO TO DESERVE THISSS??? PLEASE, IF ANYONE’S UP THERE HELP, HE DOESNT WANNA DIEEE.

He looked up to the door, praying to whatever God there is to save him from whatever fate that is about to happen to him.

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Oh.

It’s just Eruhaben.

“Uhh… hello mister Eruhaben..???”

“You. Come with me now.”

Eruhaben whether he knew or not was instinctively letting out dragon fear. And Cale, not wanting to die nor even hearing any room for back talk just immediately followed Eruhaben.

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Eruhaben was hurriedly walking - some could say running - and Cale quickly following behind him with none of the others in sight. No Raon, no Hong, no Ohn, no nothing. Now that was one of the reasons on why Cale was basically shaking in his boots right now if he even had boots.

Eventually the reached towards a room with a seemingly barrier spell. Eruhaben seemingly not wanting to deal with this bullshit punch the barrier hence shattering in millions of pieces right in front if Cale. And now, this is where Cale knew he fucked up.

What should he do at this point?? Call for Raon and get him to teleport him, Hong and Ohn out of here?? Ask Eruhaben what’s happening?? Accept his eventual death??

He was basically spacing out while his body was subconsciously following Eruhaben to God knows where.

And when Eruhaben stopped he stopped as well. He looked up to see what room Eruhaben had brought him to.

The room was extravagant like any other rooms there were in Eruhaben’s home. Filled with gold and luxury. However, this room proved to be particularly different from the rest. Tons of test tubes, magic books, and basically a library filled this place. And right in the center lay Raon, Hong, and Ohn. They were all curled up together with Hong and Ohn seemingly trying to protect the youngest.

Cale had no idea on what to say towards the spectacle he was seeing. It was until Eruhaben spoke up.

“You. Cale. What happened to that dragon”

‘That dragon’ Eruhaben was referring to was clearly Raon.

“Me and him were practicing spells and i saw some wounds that don’t come naturally. Dragons are meant to have wounds. They are a symbol for all of the battles. However, these wounds on that dragon resemble nothing like it. So pray tell me, what.happened.to.that.dragon.”

The dragon fear was so intense Cale didn’t even realize he was shaking before Eruhaben eventually noticed and calmed down a bit.

Cale obviously having survival instincts already knew what he was going to do. He was of course going to tell the truth. The whole backstory. However, he wanted to make one thing clear

“‘That dragon’ has a name. And it’s Raon.”

He can’t let anyone strip anyone else’s name away from them. It’s like stripping away a bird of it’s wings, the ability to feel freedom. And that name was specifically chosen for Raon so he can have freedom.

After getting his first point across and being glared by Eruhaben’s sharp eye, he started explaining everything.

“Raon from when he was an egg until just recently was always tortured by a noble. His life was harsh. Everyday, every single day and night, he had to suffer just for entertainment. Everyday, the noble who tortured him just ate and ate while watching the so called ‘entertainment’ be shown for him. Multiple items were used in the torture, knifes, whips, anything really was used. They thought ‘as long as it doesn’t kill the dragon, it’s all right’. When the noble became bored, it decided the ‘entertainment’ on it’s own. Offering gruesome suggestions towards the tortured just to get that feeling of satisfaction. However, the noble did not account for one thing. And that thing was dragons are exceptionally smart. Raon managed to escape and bring justice to those who hurt him. Except for that noble. However we are planning that soon.”

With every word Cale uttered, the more scary and enraged Eruhaben’s face became. And it seems like it wasn’t only Eruhaben listening in, but also Hong and Ohn as they started to block Raon’s ears. However Raon didn’t budge. Didn’t show a single reaction.

It’s not because he was stricken with fear with just the mention of his backstory. He’ll admit, he’s still scared of everyone and even that Venion. However, the weak small human told him that it was alright. He didn’t need to worry anymore nor suppress his emotions as they were surely going to ‘smack that bastard on the back’ later. And from what Raon knows, the human never breaks his promise.

Eruhaben, after not talking for a while finally spoke up.

“And how did you, a human, know about this?”

Cale not really wanting to let others know about his past easily lied.

“I was just one of the unfortunate to be casted into the noble’s servants. I usually go down to where Raon was from time to time to serve that noble-“

Just as Cale was about to continue, he was suddenly stopped by a loud voice that quickly turned everyone’s attention.

“Lies! Small weak human why are you lying! You were also there with me when we were in that cell!”

Raon eventually spoke up with no hesitation. If the others get to know about his past from the human, then it’s only right they also get to know the human’s past! Even if their past weren’t good, nothing good will come out of lying about this topic.

Eruhaben as if putting two and two together quickly looked back towards Cale. His face immediately showing a look of shock. Eruhaben’s eyes scanned Cale from head to toe as if searching for any other secrets hidden. He then asked a question which almost seemed like a confirmation towards his own question.

“You… is that why you have these bandages and scars..? You went through the same as that dragon..?”

Ignoring the background sound of Raon yelling at Eruhaben that his name was not ‘that dragon’ but instead ‘Raon’, Cale looked away from Eruhaben, as if ashamed for his secret to be spilled out.

“…….”

Cale quickly whispered something under his breath and his breathing started to get raggedy. He quickly excused himself and immediately went to who knows where. All he knew while running was that he didn’t want to face them right now.

Call it childish, but it seems like his body of a child is also affecting his mental mind, which is being quickly overwhelmed by the emotions he’s feeling. Sometimes, in times like these he wished he was Kim Rok Soo - Not needing to feel these emotions that he desperately wished to bottle up and throw away. -

Chapter Text

Okay, after the whole scene of whatever happened, he’s right now hiding from an ancient dragon, a small dragon, and two over powered cats who are trying to find him. That’s definitely bad news. More bad news is that he’s currently hyperventilating as his breathing is getting quicker by each second as if his body is trying to greedily take every single last drop of air that is around him. But who knows, maybe it’s just his body trying to supply himself with enough air after running what felt like a marathon.

Good news is at least he prolonged whatever discussion that was about to happen. God knows why Raon did what he did. After all, why should his backstory be known? He’s just a minor villain in the novel, unlike Raon who actually has an important role. So what could make Raon be so tempted to tell them?

“Hah..”

Maybe this was the heaven’s punishment or something. He has done some concerning bad deeds in his past life as Kim Rok Soo, maybe this was their payback towards him.

He quickly drove that thought away. After all, he’s not the type to believe in superstitions or Gods. He’ll just have to make use of this time to find another hiding spot as there’s no way he’ll be able to hide from all of them forever. As if right on cue, he heard the ancient dragon’s voice near him.

“Kid, we’re not going to push answers out of you. You can tell us whenever you want, just come out of your hiding spot..”

And then there was another younger voice seemingly whispering into the golden dragon’s ear. However Cale didn’t catch what they said.

“What?! No, i’m not going to say “please”, a mighty dragon should never do that.”

Ah.. seems like Raon is getting too used to human etiquette. But one day, he’ll eventually have to learn about how dragons act too. Maybe when that time comes, Raon would’ve already forgotten about Cale by then. Raon will go on and live a happy ending unlike the novel.

He should really stop day dreaming at this moment. Raon’s fate is still not set in stone, and so is the others ; On, Hong, and even Eruhaben’s. And that of course doesn’t leave him out.

He’s really tempted on the offer, however dragon’s sometimes do not keep their words. Eruhaben is an ancient dragon and has lived through many seasons. There’s no reason to trust him.

But.. why does he want to?

There’s an absolute feeling in his chest that wants to accept that offer and just live like this for his entire life.

This was absurd. He never got these kind of feelings when he was Kim Rok Soo. Perhaps some of the lingering feelings of the original Cale Henituse was still here? Longing?

Whatever the case is, he needs it gone. He’s already learned so much from trusting others. It leads you to nowhere. But damn, this feeling in his chest wasn’t making things easy.

“…”

He was just staying silent. Unsure of what to do at this point. Sitting curled up beside of the door of what ever room he’s in. Looks like his rapid breathing has stopped due to his mind being else where.

All of a sudden, the door beside him opens. He’s not sure why he couldn’t sense any footsteps of anything that could note anyone going to open the door. And that’s when he realized it. Oh yeah, this IS and ancient dragon he’s talking about.

Getting out of his thoughts, Cale stands up to run to the other side of the room seeking whatever source that can make him as far away from the ancient dragon. Which is pretty funny because moments ago he was just seeking the presence of the ancient dragon.

A new sort of emotion flashes across the Eruhaben’s face but it was not shown clearly as the room was quite dark. Him and Cale were having a staring contest before he sighed and broke the silence.

“Listen, i know you might be scared, but we’re all here for you. The kids seem to miss you as their family.”

“…”

“Hah.. we can talk about this later. We can even talk in private about it whenever you want if you don’t want them hearing about it.”

“…”

Eruhaben then stretched out his hand towards Cale.

“Look at this, i am a mighty ancient dragon stretching out my hand towards a human child. Won’t you accept this token of blessing?”

“…”

Eruhaben was seemingly waiting patiently for Cale to make his choice. However the choice never came. Cale was seemingly waiting for something to happen. He was waiting for Eruhaben to get tired.

“Hah.. i’ll stretch my hand out like this for how long it takes for you to make your mind, however the longer you take, the longer your siblings have to wait for you in the other room.”

As soon as Eruhaben said that, something flashed in Cale’s mind.

As if having a new found goal, Cale walked towards Eruhaben with no hesitation and grabbed his hand.

“What a wise choice indeed for a small human like you.”

And after that comment, no one said anything. Eruhaben just quietly shut the door behind them and lead Cale to where the others were while holding his hand.

Cale was just staring absentmindedly during the whole trip. His mind wandering else where. Not that Eruhaben minds, he was just concerned on what this small child could be thinking about.

Tsk, small children of any kind aren’t supposed to be worn down by anything in their childhood. They’re just supposed to eat, sleep, and play, not whatever these children have been through.

All of these children he’s seen have been through some kind of traumatic event. The tribe cats having seemingly abandonment issues and seemed having traits of past abuse and malnourishment, the small dragon having obvious PTSD and scars from torture, and this kid bearing the weight of being their caretaker even though being a young child himself, and that is not to mention what ever fucked up thing that happened to him.

Truly, what has he gotten himself into his old age? He’s surely about to die in roughly 20 more years or less. Who’s going to take care of these children?

All of them do not have a parental figure in their lives. Even though this one has an air of nobility around him, anyone from a noble family would’ve had their parents looking left and right for him!

“Hah…”

Eruhaben sighed to himself for all of the troubles he’s gathered for him. However he did notice the human child looking at him sharply before turning back to his usual expression when he sighed.

What a load of trouble indeed.