Chapter 145: A Half-Meant Joke (2)
There were untold numbers of caves throughout the world, and most had owners. For example, a tiger’s den was occupied by tigers, and you could find snakes coiling up in their cave. A cozy cave was for the brown bears to hibernate in the winter. And the fiery lair, located at the southern end of the eastern range, was no exception.
“I hate being single… I want to fall in love.”
A resentful sigh rang aloud the deeper part of the fiery dungeon. Later, a large figure tossed and turned.
Thud! Thump!
Because of his 557-foot physique, a simple turn gave an impression of a hill moving. His 6,000-ton weight caused the entire dungeon to boom when his waist only touched the ground as he turned.
“I am so… lonely now,” Solitas, a red dragon owning the fiery den, murmured. But no answer came except for a meaningless echo of his words that traveled as his voice hit the walls of the vast place. The truth dampened Solitas’s heart all the more.
Dammit. It wouldn’t echo this much had I stacked up more treasures in here.
His red eyes scanned the center of the dungeon with annoyance. The place was empty and plain. There weren’t any crowns or treasure chests that were commonly found in dragon dungeons. There weren’t any rare jewels, let alone the comparatively mundane piles of gold. Solitas was, in fact, a penniless dragon.
Tsk. This is why I’m single.
Solitas’s gaze now reflected greater annoyance and grief. Once again, he sighed.
I wish I wasn’t a dragon.
Solitas wondered what it would have been like if he were a human. Then, he would be free from the pressure of this money-grubbing destiny just to get married.
Probably. Humans look like they only need to farm to get married and have children and live happily until they die.
If this dragon’s thoughts were spoken aloud in the presence of job seekers, newlyweds, younger generations, and others living in the twenty-first century, they would have cocked their heads, wondering if they heard him right. But being the ignorant dragon Solitas was, he drew a sigh and grumbled.
Ahh. I want to get married! I want to meet my wife!
But the problem was that Solitas didn’t have any money. He lacked gold and silver. So even if he got married, he wouldn’t have any food, that is gold and jewels, to feed his hatchlings. Gold and jewels were food for hatchlings, but Solitas didn’t have any. As such, no dragon attempted to get married to him, and that was his biggest problem.
If times were different, I’d have ambushed human cities and threatened them.
Another sigh. Solitas had heard the story from his mother when he was still a hatchling. A long time ago, that is about hundreds of years ago, dragons had it easy. Accumulating treasures wasn’t a difficult task. There were lots of convenient methods.
We simply had to attack cities and threaten the kings, kidnap hundreds of dwarf masters and put them into forced labor, or steal the treasure storage of greedy and scheming nobles.
Dragons of the past could easily accumulate wealth in that simple manner, and they got married quite easily. But now, such a method was no longer available. It was hundreds of years ago Dragon King Verkis cooperated with dragons of the older generations to declare to the world “The Dragon Commandment.”
To hell with the Dragon Commandment!
The commandment brought about a myriad of changes to their lifestyle. It banned them from pilfering human cities, and threatening was no longer an acceptable method. Kidnapping dwarves into slavery was equally forbidden. In other words, the commandment declared peace across all races and restricted all dragons from any activities that posed a threat to other races without a clear basis. That was what the commandment was about.
Up yours! It’s so disgusting how they act nice and gentle when they’ve spent their entire lives putting humans to hard labor and threatening to usurp mountains of their gold and treasures! What a bunch of hypocrites!
Sure, the dragon king Verkis had married a human girl and eliminated an evil dragon that once wiped out the world. And Verkis did devise the commandment with excellent intentions as he brought about peace and prosperity among the races. But Solitas was just a fledgling at 1,050 years old. To him, the commandment was beyond his reason, and he felt particularly so toward the “New Guidelines on Accumulating Wealth,” which was a recommendation in the Dragon Commandment.
No pilfering or threatening other races. And what, veins of treasure ought to be discovered on my own! And since dragons have massive strength and stamina, we are to directly dig up giant minerals that can be found in the mantle, which humans and dwarfs can’t reach. And we should process the minerals with our abilities and magic to produce treasures… Crap.
That was the problem. Solitas had complied with the guideline at first, so the first thing he did after becoming independent was searching for a vein of treasure. He rushed dozens of miles deep into the underground and finally came across a vein of diamond. He dug up large piles of unprocessed diamonds with superior strength and stamina. But he encountered a problem next.
I couldn’t process them.
Solitas put in quite a lot of effort, but his painstaking attempts didn’t translate to good results. Even though he further concentrated his attention and worked harder, the shapes of the diamond came out all rugged and unbalanced. Cracks and chips to the stones were frequent. Not even a single one came out successfully, even though Solitas processed a hundred of them. The reason behind his failure was simple.
Damn these clumsy hands!
Solitas berated his rough and unskilled craftsmanship. No matter how much he toiled away, the result was the same. He wondered if he was cursed with clumsy hands. So even though Solitas spent all his time digging up minerals, his efforts were useless as he couldn’t process the minerals properly. Since poorly processed gems and stones were worthless, he didn’t have a thing to store in his dungeon.
I’m a failure. After all, I failed to get treasures even after I became independent.
The thought caused Solitas to let out another sigh.
I should be accumulating treasures right now. That’s how I can feed my hatchling that will be born when I get married. But I got nothing in my hands. It means my babies will die of hunger even if they come into the world. What kind of foolish dragon out there would want to marry and have babies with me?
Solitas put himself in the shoes of the female dragons, and he instantly knew that he was hopeless. He had no chance in the marriage market, and that was where he was at.
Whew… I don’t know. Should I just give up on marriage?
It had been 50 years since he became a fully-grown dragon. And he was starting to have such thoughts these days. Solitas was scratching the floor of the dungeon in resignation when…
“Hmm…?”
Solitas, who was about to sigh again, stopped and lifted his giant head to gaze at the pathway that led to the outside. He felt something near there.
“Invaders?”
They weren’t near. Actually, the invaders were near the dungeon entrance, which was situated very far from where Solitas was. It was that the magical trap installed there had been activated. But Solitaas soon sensed that the trap got destroyed and dismantled. In other words, there was someone entering the dungeon after breaking the traps. Solitas activated his transcendental senses unique to dragons, and he identified who these invaders were in a flash.
Humans. Two of them. How dare they?!
Boom! Solitas lifted his giant body, his four pillar-like legs rising up later. His wings, whose one side stretched about 200 yards, spread far and wide. His red eyes held a glint of deathly anger.
Good. I was just getting stressed. I shall tear you two into tiny pieces. Grrrr…
Enraged, Solitas walked toward the direction where the invaders were.
Kaboom! An acidic solution was discharged from the stone to flood throughout the tunnel. But the attack didn’t last long.
Swish! Swoosh! A long sword glinted in the air vertically like a streak of lightning. It cut the space in one stroke, slashing the acidic solution that had filled up the space. Then, it was followed by a storm of wind created by the sword.
Kaboom! The overwhelming blow of the sword dried the acidic solution without leaving behind a single drop. And once a vacuum was created for a split second, Javier sprinted ahead.
Jump! Three light jumps. Those were all Javier needed to cover about 100 feet. Then, he wielded his sword as soon as he landed.
Clatter! Boom! A slab of stone marked with a delicate magic circle was sliced in half. The flow of the acidic solution then stopped.
“Whew.”
Javier breathed in. For a split second, Lloyd and Javier fell into danger as he had never expected that a terrible acidic solution would spurt from the stone. Javier turned and looked at Lloyd behind him.
“Are you okay, Young Master?”
“Yeah, roughly.”
Javier heard the nonchalant answer traveling from the outer part of the passage. Later, Lloyd shrugged and appeared in sight. Javier secretly let out a sigh.
What in the world am I doing here? Invading a dragon’s dungeon? Seriously?
It never occurred to Javier that Master Lloyd was being serious about it. Really. About ten days ago, Lloyd had suggested Javier go on a picnic. Javier was confused, so he asked with a grimace on his face why and where this picnic was taking place. Then Lloyd answered…
“To a dragon lair. To meet a dragon.”
At that time, Javier thought it was a joke. He thought so even when Lloyd held out a bag full of food and camping equipment and when they hopped on their horses. Javier simply thought that he was up to something again, but it would only require him to protect Lloyd, and that was it. Nothing more. This mindset lasted throughout their ten-day travel. Sometimes, Javier did ask Lloyd where they were heading, and Lloyd would shrug and say, “I told you. To a dragon lair.” Javier still thought that Master Lloyd was joking in an attempt to mask the real destination for some mysterious reasons. Javier thought that was the reason why Lloyd was throwing such a nasty and corny joke. So, Javier was absolutely shocked that they would be visiting the dragon lair right now!
“Whew…”
Javier never thought that the young master he served was this much of a nutjob. Javier suddenly felt a pang of resignation toward the human race as a whole.
“So I wish to ask once again. Do you have any thoughts on turning back here?” Javier asked sincerely, but Lloyd simply raised his brows.
“No, I don’t.”
“…”
“What? Why? What?”
Javier glared at him.
“I came here because I have a plan. So you simply have to trust me and break through the traps just like you did right now,” explained Lloyd.
“Whew… Sure, I can break through the trap whenever I want, but…”
Javier spoke as he sighed.
“How long do I have to break through these traps? I want to know if I have to charge forward until I encounter the dragon,” asked Javier.
“Yeah, you are correct.”
“…”
“You are to move forward until we meet the dragon,” Lloyd stated.
“…”
“I’ve been telling you all these times,” huffed Lloyd. “We’re heading to a dragon lair. And we’re going to meet a dragon.”
“But-”
“It’s all right,” Lloyd interrupted, “I have a plan.”
“…”
Javier was suspicious of whether Lloyd had a plan. He was dumbfounded, but there wasn’t anything he could do. He had already set foot in the cave.
Should I just trust him again?
Javier gathered himself and remembered that Master Lloyd could be trusted when he acted like this. Lloyd frequently came up with plans that Javier had never even dreamed of in the past. So, he needed to put his faith in Master Lloyd.
And in case Master Lloyd’s measure doesn’t work, I’m going to run to the best of my ability.
Javier was determined such as he walked. He would protect his young master first should an unexpected danger appear.
Creak. Clank! Boom!
A host of traps tried to stop Javier in numerous ways. On top of the acidic solution, a streak of lightning, fire, poison-smeared arrow, and mist explosion attempted to kill him. Falling rocks and nightmarish ghosts. Frigid air and blinding flashlight. Each trap seemed to test Javier’s human limit. But Javier was a sword master and had already surpassed that limit. All he needed to do was wield his sword to slice, break, distort, and split the traps. No amount of clever trickery could deceive his senses, and the traps weren’t enough to hurt him. After moving forward and passing through dozens of passages and corners, a plain lot finally appeared in front of them. A giant creature with red skin was looking down at them.
“So you two are the ones who invaded my dungeon.”
Fwoosh! The red dragon threw the question at them, and it was a simple question. But that alone created a stormy echo across the whole space. But it wasn’t just a simple echo.
“…!”
Javier’s whole body trembled, and the pressure was so powerful that every single cell in his body seemed to scream aloud. So he hurried to stand in front of Lloyd when he felt the shockwave. Raising the sword high, Javier created an aura.
Bzzt!
The brilliant sword light wrapped the sword, and Javier reverberated the aura to engulf the whole space.
Bzzt!
The shockwave flowing from the aura shook the air and trembled at the same speed as the shockwave resonated and canceled one another.
Kaboom!
The two wavelengths crashed right in front of him and dissipated. Right after Javier defended the dragon’s first blow, he wheeled around and spoke.
“Master Lloyd, tell me the plan you have right now.”
It was time to respond. Javier’s voice grew hasty. The collision a moment ago convinced Javier that the dragon wasn’t a fabrication. It was real, so any haphazard response only meant death. Javier was right about it because Solitas drew in another breath once more.
Breath.
Javier could sense it. This dragon was breathing in to let out its most formidable weapon and power—breath. Time was running out. Javier pressed Lloyd once again as he had to act at once.
“Master Lloyd.”
“Yeah? Oh, but you see, my plan is already happening,” Lloyd said.
“Excuse me…?”
Javier didn’t understand what this young master was saying. How was his plan taking place right now?
Just then, Lloyd spoke with a strange smile on his face. “You.”
“Excuse me?” Javier asked again.
“I said, you.”
“…”
No way.
“What are you doing? Go fight,” directed Lloyd.
“…”
Is he serious?
“You can easily beat this dragon,” assured Lloyd.
“…”
Javier gazed at Lloyd incredulously and wondered if his young master had irrevocably lost it. But at the same time, Javier thought it was very strange that Lloyd was so composed. It appeared as though the latter fully trusted Javier without a hint of doubt. Lloyd simply looked at Javier with a composed face and gaze and pointed at the dragon with his cheek. Just then, the red dragon opened its mouth and discharged terrible heat.
Fwoosh! Solitas launched his breath, and the storm of heat, which was like fire from hell, swept over them.