~ Chapter 53: The return of the Human Hero ~

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 Flying through the open sky was the best!

I could feel the air as it flowed around my wings; with each beat, giving me the power to conquer the sky. The sensation of flying so freely and unchained, without the fear of falling and with the power to control my direction at the tip of my tail and wings was absolutely exhilarating.

Although a dragon was not the most aerodynamic species of them all, having a lot of Magic Energy to help sustain their mass was an important factor in keeping them up in the air. In my case, despite having a pair of powerful wings, my weight left much to be desired when compared to a simple bird, but with the help of a large pool Magic Energy, I had nothing to worry about. Casting the spells that kept me afloat and granted me both speed and endurance while in the air proved to be remarkably easy for me. It was almost instinctual, which I guessed had to do with my species being half-draconian now. Unlike Kataryna and other natural-born dragons and dragonesses, I could not change into a full-beast form as they called it.

When I first changed into this half-beast shape back when I began my long training adventure in the Seculiar Forest, I had no idea what I was to expect. I feared the possibility of not being able to change back and the fact that I might not be able to effectively use my new body from the very first go. It was indeed like that, I had to stay in that shape for two weeks until I got used to it.

Flying was another matter though. It was only until two months ago that I was finally able to get the hang of it, afterwards, the process went smoothly. Sailing through the sky became my main form of transportation only because I enjoyed the feeling it gave me. It was relaxing and gave me a feeling of belonging that I had never felt before, it was as if I was meant for the sky.

Anyway, at this moment, I was heading towards Drakaria. Today was the appointed day of my reunion with the King as well as my friends. I was past Pertiko village and approaching Toros at this point. The time was maybe somewhere around 9 or 10 AM, meaning that I would reach Drakaria around noon.

I just couldn’t wait to see Seryanna again!

Speaking of her, I was currently using the red dragoness as the beacon to guide me with my [Dragon Tamer] skill. If I did not have this handy function, I would have been forced to either travel by road or leave earlier in order to get my bearings straight. The way I was doing it now required me only to follow the green arrow visible only to me and enjoy my casual and relaxing flight.

In this shape I was quite fast. Surprisingly, faster or maybe just as fast as Gragh’jaggar, the armored giant chicken I could summon with my skill, which could reach a staggering speed of over 100km/h. It was an insane speed that could rival that of a cheetah on Earth, and an actual nightmare for a passenger seeing how this world’s roads left much to be desired.

Only after using that mount several times did I realize why mankind, back on Earth, was able to reach such high speeds with ease. It was mostly due to the smooth roads and good springs that helped cushion the impact on your bottom. Shock absorption was the one thing I missed the most when taking a carriage or riding a mount. Basically, it was like traveling with an indestructible fast sports car that had no springs or seat belt on a country road stacked with boulders.

“Hm? That must be Toros.” I said as I spotted the fortress town at the edge of the Great Chasm.

Seen from above, it did not look that big, but the roads were a jumbled-up mess. That pattern was intentional though. It wasn’t like the builders had no idea what a straight line was, but in case of an attack, the twisted roads familiar to the kingdom’s troops and foreign to the enemy would give them the field advantage.

Honestly speaking, when I was still human and living in Romania, I often thought that construction engineers were dimwits who had no idea how to build in a straight line, but as I traveled through Albeyater, and I grew a few more neurons between my ears, I understood that it had to do with both the history and the ‘feel’ of the city. It wasn’t that hard to build straight roads, but every single city in Europe, unlike the USA, had a history of war that spanned over centuries. There were not that many which were spared from the bloodshed. As such, they were initially built with the intent to confuse the enemy, then as technology and civilization evolved, the new buildings were built as a continuation of the old ones, keeping the same pattern. If this was the instinct of the local people to do so or something else, I had no idea, but in this new world I was living in, it all made sense.

After all, war was always knocking on the kingdom’s door and many dragons feared a second human invasion.

Flying over the Great Chasm was an interesting experience as well. I felt like I was getting sucked into the darkness, but at the same time, I was completely untouched by it because of the simple fact that I was up in the air.

It was incredible, and I suspected that in the future it was going to be a great tourist attraction. It was the Grand Canyon of the Albeyater Kingdom.

When I crossed over, I saw the inn where me and Seryanna were reunited with Kataryna and Kleo after we left Toros. That town was also home to an embarrassing memory. From up in the air, I could see many dragons traveling towards the capital or the nearby villages.

Back then, I was not able to see it, but across these plains, there were many small villages spread out. Even when flying here from the Seculiar Forest, I could see smoke rising left and right, and my keen eyesight caught the shape of the simple buildings. It was a shame I did not notice them back when I was flying with Kleo and Kataryna.

Lately, I have grown the desire to go out and experience this world as it was. There were many things I had yet to see and being stuck in Albeyater felt like such a shame. I also wanted to meet some fellow human heroes who were trying to make this world a better place rather than attempt to subjugate it.

Maybe once I’ve settled my scores in Drakaria, I can go and visit the other nations of this world. After all, I’m more or less immortal now. I thought to myself.

Being a half dragon granted me a similar life span as a normal dragon. If I did not reach a Breakthrough, I would have probably lived about just as much as Seryanna did, which wasn’t such a bad deal. With me reaching a Breakthrough, however, I gained immortality, just as Kataryna once did. I wasn’t going to age any more than this, meaning that I was going to forever be a 19-year-old man.

Grooming an awesome beard was now nothing more than a fleeting dream...

Then, as I flew closer to Drakaria, I began to spot a couple of noticeable differences from when I last saw it. The city was vast as usual, beautifully built like a white marble sculpture. It was a symbol of Albeyater’s greatness, its determination, its power. But around it was the stain called the Brekkar Army.

I stopped mid-flight and looked down at the countless tents spreading across the plains. It was two, maybe three times larger than it was nine months ago. The feeling it gave off was not a welcoming one. If so I desired, I could have wiped them out in a second, but all of these were dragons employed as soldiers in an official army. Any act of violence done against them was treated as an act of violence against the Kingdom itself, although, I had a feeling Breakthrough-ers were an exception to this rule.

“This might be a problem...” I said to myself when I noticed the big line at the entrance to the city.

They were checking everyone thoroughly, and there were many that wished to enter. They didn’t look like refugees, but it made me wonder why the security tightened up like this?

As for why it was going to be a problem, well... It was a long line... a very long line.

“Meh, I’ll just go stealth mode and fly over.” I shrugged and then moved on.

I was a Breakthrough-er myself, and I had a meeting with the King, there was no way in Hell I was going to wait patiently at an endless line like that.

So, without further ado, I wished for no dragon to spot me as I made my way into the city, and at the same time, I used a spell that camouflaged me with my surroundings, in this case, the sky.

I paid close attention to everyone on the ground and in the air, then I picked a spot behind an old building where I wanted to land. Once I did, I folded my wings and looked around to see if anyone spotted me.

I’m safe. I thought and let out a sigh of relief.

Walking through the city in my half-beast form did not pose any threat, I had an anthropomorphic body, but the main problem were my scales. Gold was a sign of royalty in this Kingdom, and I had a mix of Red, Gold, Black, and White, forming streak patterns, which I found to give me both an imposing and awesome look. It was as though I was designed for glorious battles.

Luckily, the color of my scales did not represent my elemental affinity. The moment I changed; I literally gained affinity for ALL the elements. There was no spell I could not use, and with time and practice that I could not master. I was like a version 2.0 of a Jack of All Trades, good at everything, master of everything.

Speaking of which, that camouflage spell was also a spell of my own design, not something I had gained through my cheat abilities. This also meant that it was not easy to develop. It was hard... painstakingly hard, but when you had a heard of man-eating giant sheep hot on your tail, you tended to learn fast.

Thus, I switched to my human form, which was no different from before. I had no scales on my body, and my eyes were the same as before. I looked a little bit older, as much as a growth spurt of a few months allowed, but that was about it.

I did not need to change my clothes, seeing how they stretched back to accommodate my new size. It was an armor I had enchanted myself with my ability [Pony Power]. The name, unfortunately, was not something I could change, but every time I used this skill, I had to shout it out. I, a powerful anthropomorphic dragon, while making my armor in the heat of fire and under the powerful strikes of my hammer, had to scream ‘Pony Power!’ every single time I had to enchant it with my desired spells.

This was definitely the work of that blasted no-good God-like with a naming sense so bad even the God of Bad Naming Sense would cringe upon hearing it!

As a result, my annoyance and embarrassment when enchanting were at their very peak...

I also had other neat crafting skills that allowed me to make the best of armors and weapons. Of course, all of them were at Level 5 upgrade, and I had plenty of other combat skills as well. The only one I could not find was one that could help me with learning other languages besides Albeyater’s draconian. Most likely someone else took it, so I only ended up with a third-rate skill that allowed me to learn the language faster, but not insanely fast.

I also had a lot of spare points I did not use. The reason was quite simple. I had the most important ones: close combat, ranged combat, magic combat, crafting, gathering, tracking, and item storage. The last one was one of the first ones I had acquire and had the rather ominous name of [Black Hole]. I desperately needed it. After all, my [Purse] ring was getting full, and I did not know how to make another one.

Although this skill was convenient, each use consumed a lot of Magic Energy to not only cast but also put in or take out something from it, going from anywhere around 10 to 100 Magic Energy Points if I pulled out an alchemy lab. Compared to this, the [Purse] ring was insanely convenient as it did not require any Magic Energy to activate. I only had to recharge it now and then, while my skill ate my Magic Energy like some starved sheep.

Speaking of which, the armor I was currently wearing was probably on par if not better than the one Seryanna used. It was one of my weakest ones though. If I pulled out my latest combat armor, that thing was a monster...

As for weapons, I carried a short sword and a wide blade longsword. In half-beast form, they were the equivalent of a short sword and a dagger. The enchants on them allowed them to be incredibly durable and impossible to steal. They also could amplify my elements and allow me to cast a spell by pointing the tip at my target. The longsword was especially made to give physical boosts and increase its sharpness, while the short sword was focused more on spell casting.

In other words, the big one was for melee combat, while the small one was for ranged combat.

I had yet to try a bow.

“The palace should be... that way!” I said as I pointed left and started walking.

Thus, I reached the outer wall.

“It was the other way, wasn’t it?” I told myself and let out a sigh.

When not using Luck actively, I tended to get lost... quite often.

I never had this predicament when I was a human, but my senses changed after achieving a Breakthrough. Just as Kataryna said, I saw the world with different eyes, or rather... I had clearer view than I did before. Worries and fears I used to hold in my heart all seemed to have vanished. It wasn’t overconfidence or anything, just the simple fact that I saw what laid behind them and what would happen if I kept letting them have a hold over my heart.

It was a True Breakthrough, just as Kataryna had, and to be fair, I achieved it long before I reached Level 1000. Speaking of which, as soon as I turned into a half-draconian, my Level reset to 1, but luckily, I kept my abilities.

I was so surprised by this, I lost one whole day just staring at my status and wondering if I had eaten some poisonous mushroom that made me see things.

It wasn’t so ghastly dangerous though; my base stats were far higher when compared to when I was still a human Level 1. Strength alone was in the 300 points range, so overall, I was far stronger than when I had first stepped into the Seculiar Forest.

Afterwards, I entered a mode which could only be seen as a grind fest by someone familiar with hack and slash games. All I did was level up, raise my skill, eat, and sleep.

It did not take me too long to reach the main street after making an inner wish, but even inside the great capital, the air had definitely changed from the last time I was here. It was heavy, and everyone was looking out with caution. The number of soldiers was incredibly high as well, almost all of them were from the Brekkar Army. Their armors and shields displayed the respective emblem: two swords crossed over a river.

Curious about it, I approached a nearby food store and bought something from it. I paid with some of the coins Kataryna gave me nine months ago. The debt I was amassing with that dragoness was no joke...

“Hey, do you have any idea what’s up with all of these soldiers lately?” I asked casually as I cleaned up one of the apples I bought and then bit into it. “Oh! This juicy!” I remarked.

“It is, isn’t it? My apples are grown with the best nourishment magic out there! It’s guaranteed to be free of pests and taste delicious!” the vendor bragged.

Is he ignoring my question? I wondered and then took another bite.

“Mister, you’re new in town, aren’t you?” he asked after a while.

“Mhm! I came here not too long ago hoping to get accepted into the Adventurers Guild.” I replied with a smile.

“Is that so? Aren’t you a bit too young for that, though?” he asked with a wry smile.

“No, mister. Father said it’s best to start young to get the hang of things by the time I Awakened!” I showed him a childish smile after lying through my teeth.

It was common knowledge that draconians who had yet to Awaken looked very similar to humans in appearance, and no matter how old they really were, in the eyes of the others, they were seen as either immature or big children. Turning into a half-draconian, did not change my aspect from when I was one, and my half-beast form gave off a more mature impression.

“Ah, is that so? True. True.” the vendor crossed his arms at his chest and nodded.

“About my previous question...” I asked him.

“Well, I don’t know much about it myself, but apparently that new dragon that’s going to be the general of the Brekkar Army already took matters into his own hands and started reorganizing it. Many lads I saw today wanted to join it, but with all due respect... they all looked like ruffians.” he shook his head.

“So, it’s bad?” I asked.

“No, not exactly... Well, it depends on what the new general will do once he is officially in charge, but right now, people are a bit wary of his troops. They’re not the best of lot. I even heard some of them committed some crimes like rape and thievery, but they never got punished for it.” he let out a heavy sigh.

“How can that be? Isn’t that wrong? What’s that palace doing about it?” I inquired as I took another bite of my apple.

“Nothing really...” he shrugged “The officials keep saying that it’s to be expected for one or two soldiers to get out of line. Well, the only ones that do something about it are those three under the Third Princess.” he nodded.

“Those three?” I asked curiously.

“Sir Kataryna Greorg, Sir Seryanna Draketerus, Sir Thaaraer... Thrakea... Ahem! Sir Seryanna’s sister.” he said after he gave up pronouncing Kleo’s name.

“What did they do or didn’t do exactly?”

“Well, they are the only ones who don’t mind breaking several of their bones or downright killing one or two. Lately, when they are walking down the street, the soldiers make way or hide from them. They scared them stiff, and there’s a rumor going on that unless it’s an order from the King or the Third Princess, they are unlikely to listen to any noble’s commands, which is a good thing for us commoners.” he nodded and smiled.

“Is that so, they did that, huh? Well... it should be more or less expected of them, but even Kleo?” I muttered to myself.

“What was that?” the man asked since he didn’t hear me.

“Nothing, I was just talking to myself, but thank you for the information and the delicious apples!” I smiled and then left.

“You’re welcome! Come again!”

I tossed the remaining apples inside my [Purse] ring and took out a cooked seasoned strip of jerky from it. Cooking was something I had to learn on my own. I didn’t want to lose points on something like this.

Now it was time to make my way to the palace, but just as I was about to take a turn, two soldiers blocked my way. They were smirking and looking down at me. One of them was a blue scale and the other a green scale. Both were in their anthropomorphic form.

“You there! Are you new in the city?” the one on the right asked, causing many eyes to turn towards us.

“Erm, sort of...” I shrugged.

“Show us your identification plate.” he requested.

I raised an eyebrow.

“A what now?”

“Oh? You don’t have one? Are you someone who sneaked inside then?” he questioned.

“Yes.” I shrugged.

“What?” he blinked surprised.

I’m guessing they weren’t expecting me to be blunt about it.

“Oi! Oi! Are you serious?” the other asked.

“I don’t need one.” I shrugged.

“What do you mean you don’t need one? Huh? Are you making fun of us?” the blue scaled asked as he unsheathed his sword.

“He’s definitely making fun of us! He doesn’t have an identification plate, so we HAVE to take him down now, don’t we?” he smirked.

“Hm? What is this? Some sort of an intimidation game?” I asked.

“Boy! Don’t get cocky with us!” he tried to grab my collar.

I grabbed his hand and then... I broke it.

The snap made everyone around me turn silent.

“AAARGH! MY HAND!” he screamed.

“That’s it! You’re going down!” the other threatened and tried to slash at me with his sword.

I stopped it with two fingers, grabbing onto the blade, then I pulled it out of his hand.

“What’s this? A toothpick?” I questioned and then easily snapped it in half.

The dragon went pale.

“Hm... Can you fly?” I asked him with an innocent smile.

He gulped “No... I have no wings...” he pointed out.

“Grow some.” I smiled and then grabbed him by the neck and tossed him into the air.

“GYAAA!” he screamed before landing somewhere outside of the city.

“Please! I’m sorry! I give up!” the other soldier begged as he tried to run away.

“You need to fly too!” I smiled and grabbed him by his tail and tossed him in the air after his friend.

This guy had wings, so maybe he was not going to end up heavily injured. They were both past level 100, so it was unlikely they would die from the fall, but I could not guarantee no broken bones.

“Well, that was that with taking out the garbage!” I said with a smile as I made my way to the palace.

It would be a lie to say I did not wish for such a stereotypical event to happen. I practically begged for the cannon fodder to appear, but it was fun.

It was past noon, and the arrow was directing me towards the castle. The reason I was not following it was because of the complicated mess of roads here. Also, the arrow did not point me at the entrance to the palace grounds. If I followed it, I would reach the wall or a dead end.

While I was heading there, the King was probably handling his part of the bargain and gathering everyone there at this very moment. The reunion was going to be a fun one, and I hoped my acting was going to be enjoyable both for him and Kataryna. I was also 100% sure Seryanna was either going to scold me afterwards or drag me to her room.

[Feryumstark’s point of view]

 At noon, I gathered the nobles of my Kingdom in the throne room for a special announcement. The son of the Doesya Duke was also here together with his father. There were several barons and marquis from the outskirts of the Kingdom, especially around the Scar Battlefield. My third daughter, Elleyzabelle was here as well together with her aides, Seryanna Draketerus, Kataryna Greorg, and Thraherkleyoseya Draketerus. Brekkar was present as well, standing at my left side, wearing his old armor and looking as lively as ever.

Many of them were wondering why an old general like him was at this gathering as well as why he looked as though he had not been touched by disease, only by age. I knew the answer to this question, but so far, I had yet to properly talk with him about the Alkelios matter.

Apparently, his apprentice, former Paladin Iolaus von Striggnyark was also here. The lad made me curious about why he gave up his position but seeing how he was the fiancé of the black-scaled granddaughter of Brekkar, I had a feeling Alkelios was behind it as well.

Both of that dragon’s grandchildren were meant for greatness, and they were not the type to look weak either. I could bet my scales on the fact that they were strong enough to stand as commanders on a battlefield.

“Fa... Your Majesty. Are you feeling well?” my son, Elovius asked.

He almost had a slip of tongue there.

I nodded.

The boy was always worried about me and his mother. Ever since Elliessara was poisoned, he showed a remarkably strong character as well as rigid and strict demeanor to hide any potential weakness or flaw. He was putting on a show because among my children, he was the most worried about us.

“I wonder what’s the hold up.” Kataryna asked as she let out a bored sigh.

This one was a dangerous fellow. She would leave this place if she felt it did not matter for her, so I tossed her a gaze and showed her a smirk.

The dragoness blinked surprised and then smirked back.

“Maybe I’ll stay for a bit longer.” she said and crossed her arms at her chest.

Among those like us, there was no need for words in order to speak up our intentions.

Now, all that’s left is to wait for Alkelios to show up... I wonder what he’s going to show us. I thought and then aimed my gaze at the doors in front of me.