We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The sky of Dragon Peak.
After finishing our goodbyes, Asher, with Nimia and me on his back, faced Old Sleigsta.
“Alright, here we go,” Old Sleigsta said.
Old Sleigsta’s golden eyes began to shine, and a 3D magic circle materialized around Asher.
Then, we were enveloped in a blinding light.
The light was so intense that I closed my eyes.
After a while, I felt the light dimming, so I slowly opened my eyes.
We had emerged into a grassland.
Trees were sparsely scattered, and the ground was overgrown with green grass. A wall of trees, seemingly the entrance to a forest, could be seen in the distance behind us. In front of us, rugged mountains stretched out in a range.
“Is that Dragon Peak?”
“South, by the lake,” Asher replied briefly.
“So, we have to find the Rotten Dragon from here. I wonder where it is in this vast Dragon Peak?”
“You’re human, yet you’re learning Dragon Veins from the old man, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Though it’s only been about half a year.”
“Hmm, six months for that much Dragon Power. I see, the old man’s eyes are as sharp as ever.”
*Am I being praised? This makes me a little happy.*
“If you’re learning Dragon Veins, it should be easy to follow them to find your prey.”
“No, it seems I’ll be able to do it if I become more proficient, but it’s still impossible for me.”
“The Rotten Dragon unnecessarily absorbs Dragon Veins, so it’s easy to find. Try it.”
*Why is he suddenly being so kind? He looked down on me, calling me a mere human, yet now he’s teaching me.*
“Since I’m entrusting my beloved daughter to you, I need to be somewhat strong and reliable to feel at ease.”
“Ah, so that’s why.”
“Meow. Elnea, Older Brother, do your best, meow!”
“Yeah, I’ll do my best for Nimia. By the way, Nimia, can you sense it?”
“Meow, I can tell the direction now, meow.”
“Oh, amazing.”
*I can’t be outdone by Nimia.*
I sat in a meditative pose on Asher’s back and began to meditate.
Asher’s back was covered in soft fur, making it comfortable to ride. I wonder if Nimia feels the same. I should try riding on her sometime.
“Nyaaah.”
As I closed my eyes and calmed my mind, I was startled by Asher’s presence just below me. Asher was shining with immeasurable Dragon Power. Since I was sensing it with my eyes closed, it was a pseudo-dazzling light, but still, it was so bright it made me dizzy. I squeezed my eyelids shut. What a powerful presence this is. It was only through meditation that I realized Asher’s extraordinary existence.
*Could he possibly be even more amazing than Old Sleigsta?*
“That’s just the old man. In his prime, even I, a Dragon Fighter, couldn’t lay a hand on him.”
“Hehehe. It feels like something from another world.”
*From Asher’s and Old Sleigsta’s perspective, even Listea the Hero would be considered weak, wouldn’t she? Dragons are amazing.*
“Now, cast aside your distracting thoughts.”
“Uuuu, right.”
I meditated deeply. Beneath Asher’s radiant presence, I searched for Dragon Veins. To my surprise, I quickly found a strong flow of Dragon Veins, though not as powerful as the ones in the Moss Garden.
How do I find the Rotten Dragon from here? Asher said it unnecessarily absorbs Dragon Veins. If dragons are absorbing so many, perhaps there’s an anomaly in the flow. I followed the flow of the Dragon Veins, expanding my consciousness. Soon, I noticed something amiss.
“There’s a place where the Dragon Veins are disturbed… Ah, what’s that? There’s a strong evil presence.”
From our position, it seemed to be in the southwest. The Dragon Veins were showing unusual disturbances, and beyond that, I felt a strong, dark, and evil presence, directly opposite to Asher’s. However, this evil presence wasn’t as cohesive as Asher’s; it was formless, spreading like mist, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact location beyond the general direction.
“That’s fine. I can’t determine the exact location either. The Rotten Dragon is disturbing the Dragon Veins too much.”
*It’s easy to find such an evil and giant being, but even Asher can’t pinpoint its exact location. But with this, I feel like I’ve learned a bit about how to search for the target using Dragon Veins. Maybe I’ll play hide-and-seek with Mistral when he returns, as a form of training.*
“To grasp that just by this alone.” Asher turned and looked at me.
“It was just a feeling. I still feel like I need more training.”
“What a mysterious human.”
“Meow, what a mysterious Older Brother, meow.”
*Speaking of which, Nimia said the same thing about me when we first met.*
I gently stroked Nimia’s head.
“Meow.” Nimia leaned against me contentedly.
“Well, now that we know the direction, let’s hurry and defeat it.” With those words, Asher spread his large wings and flapped them. Instead of the frantic flapping of a bird, a few graceful flaps were enough for the giant Asher to hover in the air.
“Woah, amazing.” For a moment, I tensed up from the unfamiliar sensation of floating, but I soon found myself absorbed in the receding scenery below. With each flap of Asher’s wings, our altitude increased significantly. The landscape on the ground grew smaller and smaller. I gasped at the breathtaking view, unlike anything I had ever seen.
“Nimia, cast a wind barrier on this boy.”
“Nyaa.” With Nimia’s cute meow, a soft aura enveloped me.
“A wind barrier?”
“The sky is cold, meow. And when Mother flies, the wind is strong, so without a barrier, you’ll be blown away, meow.”
“Oh, is that so?”
*Do the Wyvern Knights of the Yorttenitos Kingdom also fly with barriers from dragons? More importantly, I’m riding on a dragon’s back right now, so this is the special scenery that the Wyvern Knights see.* My heart swelled with emotion.
“Do Wyverns cast barriers on humans? Besides, to compare it to the scenery of mere Wyverns is insulting.”
“Mother can fly higher than Wyverns, meow.”
Even as Nimia said this, Asher suddenly increased our altitude.
“Waaaaahhhhhh!” Asher ascended at a steep angle. I desperately clung to his fur to avoid falling. We pierced through the cold, white mist in an instant. Then, the ascent stopped. Trembling, I peered down.
“What is this?!” Below me, a vast expanse of forest land stretched out as far as the eye could see. Was that white mist the clouds in the sky? Forgetting my fear, I became captivated by the terrestrial landscape. This is amazing. I want to show this to Ruiseine, Priscilla-chan, and Mistral.
“I’ll bring you here next time, meow.”
“Oh, Nimia, you can fly this high too?”
“Nyaa.” I’ve never seen a Wyvern fly above the clouds, so this is a sight even the Wyvern Knights have never witnessed. How incredible.
“The sightseeing is over. We’re going to find the Rotten Dragon.” Asher then began to swim through the sky, moving forward.
“Uwah!” I was surprised again. Ahead of us, mountains rose even higher than our current altitude, piercing the sky. The towering peaks rapidly approached us. Asher’s flying speed was terrifyingly fast. The mountain scenery, which had seemed so distant, suddenly loomed before us. Asher entered the mountainous region, weaving through valleys and peaks. It was so fast that the flowing scenery appeared as mere streaks to my eyes. *Yes, with my eyes alone, I won’t be able to find the Rotten Dragon.*
“Nimia, are you seeing the scenery properly?”
“I can see it, meow.”
*Wow, that’s amazing.* Since I couldn’t search with my eyes, I thought about trying to search through Dragon Veins, so I began to meditate. But I gave up quickly. Even with deep meditation, I couldn’t sense the Dragon Veins.
“Dragon Veins are the flow of life of the earth. You cannot sense them when you are far from the ground.”
*Oh, really? I didn’t know that. In that case, visual search is even more necessary, and I can’t be of much help.*
“Put Dragon Energy into your eyes.”
“Ah, that’s a good idea.” I refined my Dragon Energy and channeled it into my eyes. As I did so, I unconsciously drew power from the Dragon Veins, which caused me to panic as I absorbed too much from Asher.
“There’s no need to worry. Your and the Dragon Race’s Dragon Power are trivial to me. Take as much as you want.”
*Wow. When he says it so casually, I’m reminded anew of how amazing Asher is.* Gritting my teeth, I looked at the scenery with my Dragon Energy-infused eyes. This time, I could recognize the scenery properly. I could follow the scenery flowing by at high speed. With further concentration, I could even spot animals like goats on the rocky slopes and bears by the river.
“Nimia, could you watch the left side? I’ll watch the right.”
“Meow.”
“Asher is facing forward. It would be terrible if he crashed into a mountain by looking away.”
“Do you think I’d make such a clumsy mistake!” Asher rocked violently once. I almost fell off and quickly clung on.
“That was dangerous!”
“Hmph.” Asher snorted. *Damn, in this situation of flying at high speed, offending Asher could be life-threatening.* This is scary. *It’s in my best interest to take this job seriously.* I focused on searching for the Rotten Dragon. Nimia and Asher were also searching earnestly.
“Aha, it’s that thing.” After passing through a valley, following a river upstream, and leaping over several peaks, Asher grunted. Suddenly, a fireball flew up from below in front of us.
“Hmph, do you think such a slow attack can hit me!” Asher ascended sharply, evading the fireball. Following the direction the fireball came from, I saw a monstrous creature with a grotesque appearance. Even from a distance, my vision, now imbued with Dragon Energy, could see it clearly. Its scales and skin were discolored to a dark purplish hue. Parts of its surface had melted, exposing its flesh. Gray blood bubbled and dripped from the exposed flesh. Half of its face was gnawed away, revealing bone. Its eyes were gone, but the sockets glowed with an eerie red light, fixing on us. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth, dripping saliva. The wings that should have been on its back had melted into bone, and one wing was missing. Furthermore, the dark liquid that seeped from its body smoked and rotted the surrounding grass and earth wherever it touched. The path the Rotten Dragon had taken was a trail of decay, like the slime left by a slug.
“Ugh.” The sight was so repulsive that I wanted to turn my head away, and I felt nauseous. *Is that the Rotten Dragon? Just looking at its monstrous form is making me feel faint.*
“Those with weak souls die just by looking. Keep your resolve firm.”
“Uwah, you should have warned me beforehand!” *What if I were a timid boy!*
“Hmph, if you were a weakling, I wouldn’t entrust Nimia to you.”
“Elnea, Older Brother is strong, meow.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at Nimia. In contrast to Nimia’s and my heartwarming moment, Asher and the Rotten Dragon faced each other with tense determination.
