The body was skinless but the flesh was pink, his charred exterior had disappeared at some point.

The Dragon stone brought Larian back to life, but the full recovery would take more time.

Now Larian looked like a lump of flesh quite similar to the Human anatomical figures doctors would refer to.

Larian awoke, his eyes were moist. As he sat up he realised he was still in the dark cave. He looked around and saw Shiro by his side

"Master…Noooo… Not you… PLEASE! Anybody but you…!"

His eyes already moist, Larian couldn't control it any longer. He bawled his eyes out. Snot and tears flowed uncontrollably. Larian would have looked disgusting if this scene wasn't so sad.

"WHY US?! WHY HER! What have we done to deserve this!"

Larian gripped the ground with his only available right arm. It dug deep into the rock.

'What the hell is this…this cursed place. How can the world allow this? How can God allow this!? Was everything rigged from the start? Everyone else gets to prance around in their fucking lives while we sit here enduring this shit!.'

Larian eyes burned dangerously at this moment. His heart was gripped with intense wrath and sorrow.

"Are we stains in a book that needs to be erased? Is that it? Are we some defects of the world meant to be cleansed!?"

Larian had not thought of this world as a storybook. He never acted like a God among men since he was the Author. He treated the people as real beings, it was how he grew to respect Shiro.

But still, it seemed like he was still discriminated by the world.

'This is a world that welcomes Grand Heroes like Shinon… Hans… Ren… All the people like them! They will be hailed all around as Heroes and enjoying their lives while people act as if nothing is wrong here!'

Thinking back to his past, Larian was sure.

'There's always people like this, back on Earth too… It's never changed, life never changed.'

Larian's hand pressed down, the rock started to crack under Larian's grip. It cracked and broke. While it did, something in Larian broke with it.

Larian spirit had whittled down.

'If this world can't accept us…'

"I won't accept this fucking World."

All that is left is… Hatred.

Larian brimmed in Resolution, he shifted to Shiro's side.

"I promise, with everything I have left. To clear your name, your disgraced past, everything. They will pay, whoever who put us in this situation must pay."

'Including those who turned their back on me, Selarian Academy and the ones who sealed a Dragon here, I will find them all.'

He strapped her to his back, then tried moving.

'My legs… it hasn't recovered yet.'

With his only arm left, Larian dragged himself with his Master's corpse on his back. Surprisingly the blade had remained intact throughout the fire, it was still pristine.

'The blades. Master's blades, I have to bring them back.'

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Like this he crawled out of the portal into the rain.

Once out he noticed the bodies of the student's were gone.

'These fucking scum, they left right after we saved them? They repaid our kindness with malice. I will never forgive them!'

Larian crawled towards Shiro's home, his home. As he crawled his arm sunk into the mud, but Larian persisted. Branches and sharp stone scraped his body and arm over and over again leaving bits of flesh on them but he endured the pain

The mud that caked his body would get washed by the droplets that fell only to reenter the muddy ground, this repeated like a cycle.

The smell of sweat, rain and blood would remind Larian that he was alive. So he kept crawling.

He crawled for hours. The sky turned dark first but he kept crawling. Then the rain stopped, and he still crawled.

The moonlight shone brightly in the sky so he kept crawling.

When the moon hid past the clouds the night turned to absolute darkness, he crawled blindly in the dark.

Until eventually the sun started to rise, but Larian kept crawling.

'!'

Larian finally caught sight of the hut. His eyes were drooping and he was zoning out. But his destination was within sight.

As he reached the steps of the hut, he finally stopped to rest. Setting Shiro's body down, he laid in front of the hut.

'Home… I'm Home.''

***

"Sir! It's all real, we came across a full fledged dragon! It nearly tore us to shreds!"

Donald, the teacher of Larian's Magic classes, still wore the same gorget with black robes as any other day. His frown from god knows when was still plastered on his face.

"You are telling me after passing out in front of this Dragon you woke up in the middle of the forest completely safe? Did you guys have too much magic mushrooms to eat?"

The 5 students were anxious that Mr Donnald didn't believe them.

"But our entire team saw the same sight! It was a black dragon with stone-like scales."

The surrounding students nodded in agreement.

"Ok if so many of you have seen the same sight I'll believe you for now. I'll bring a few teachers to confirm the situation."

"But Mr Donnald, that dragon was as big as the entire academy building. You would be torn to shreds!"

Almost annoyed Donnald dismissed their remarks.

"Do you take me for a fluke? A dragon would have no chance to catch me if I escape."

'If a dragon still exists in this time and age anyways.'

***

Donald and a few teachers of Selarian Academy followed one of the students and traced back to the deep forest.

Lily was among the teachers that joined the expedition. Despite being an infirmary doctor she doubled as security to the school. In fact most staff of the school had significant qualifications in the Magic society.

"Is this it?"

The student nodded.

"Alright go back."

Looking towards the shimmering ripple the teachers finally took this claim seriously.

"Is this a Dungeon? A dungeon forming this deep in the forest is not a rare sight. But the students claim that they witnessed a Dragon within this dungeon. Can you believe it? Donald this could be huge!"

Donald masked his surprise under his frown but still nodded in agreement.

"A Dragon… There have been no records of such a sight since the Dark Ages. No… we can't deny the possibility of it being a monster capable of illusions."

"The chance for being the first Dragon Slayer of this age is right in front of us. And you are hesitating? I'm heading in."

Though slightly anxious, the teachers chose to enter the portal.

Once inside, they saw the black cave surrounded by rocks. A smoky smell filled the air.

"Do you smell that? It's ash! My god it IS true. There's a dragon in this Dungeon, stay near the entrance! We can retreat if the situation falls."

There was tension in the air as the teachers advanced. But no matter how long they explored the area. It was closed off, there was just a big open space with nothing within.

Disappointed and perplexed they began coming up with their hypothesis on the situation.

But among them Lily spotted a torn arm that was still clothed with the sleeve of an Academy student's uniform.

"This is…"

Donald saw the sight and came over.

"Found something?"

The sight of the torn arm was concerning to them as teachers.

"But the students mentioned that they were the only explorers of this dungeon. There were no casualties confirmed. Who could this belong to?"

"We will perform a check on every student once we return to the academy. As of now this arm is our only lead. Give it to me, I'll cast a tracker spell and we'll find the rest of the body.

Lily nodded and gave the arm to Donald. Donald held the arm out as he started a chant.

"Oh Contract of the Spirit Domain, I beseech upon you to grant me aid in finding the owner of this arm. In the name of Selarian I offer you this Magic crystal."

Finishing the prayer, a silver crystal in his pocket dimmed and lost it's color. From the shadows a translucent Mole appeared, it appeared round and soft. This was a spirit mole.

"..."

The mole sniffed the arm and its surrounding trying to get some traces. Soon it found it's mark and began to move as it continued to sniff.

"Lets follow it. We should find this student and ensure he is safe."

Lily looked towards the teachers still conducting the search, feeling like she should inform the rest.

"Don't mind those buffoons, they are too busy entertaining the prospects of hunting a dragon that they won't care about us. Let's go."

Lily and Donald left the dungeon and continued to follow the spirit mole as it traced the smell.

They moved through the forest, occasionally finding marks that stretch a long distance. It looked as if someone was dragging something large through the mud.

'This is quite far, how long have we moved? It's almost time for the sun to set and we haven't found this student. How deep did you go into the forest?' Donnald thought to himself.

Astonished by how long the traces drag Lily and Donald urged the Spirit Mole. Annoyed it poked its head up and placed its tiny paws on both sides of its perfectly round waist.

It was almost saying 'If you continue to bother me I won't help you!'

"Alright I'm sorry, but please understand this concerns the safety of a student. We have to hurry."

Releasing a huge sigh the mole pulled out a hat with a light in front, it shone the way in the ensuing darkness. Like this the trio speed up their search.

By the time midnight struck they finally found what they were looking for. It was an elegant hut in the forest.

The mole finally done with its work breathed a sigh of relief as it disappeared into the spirit realm in a poof.

The teachers ready to investigate searched the entire area. In the biggest hut there was basic living necessities.

"Someone's been living here recently. The student?"

Lily shook her head, disagreeing. "In this drawer there are only clothes belonging to a woman, there are traces of ageing grey hair on it that suggest an elderly women has been living here."

The duo continued their search outside. In the open space, there was a doghouse that stretched enough to fit an entire person while on the other side, there was a dirt mound with a tall stone on its head.

"Is this… a grave? The dirt is very fresh. And there's some writing on the stone."

On the stone, letters were carved in neat handwriting.

"Beloved Mentor with a caring heart."

"Died protecting her Idiot disciple."

"Beautiful light that shone in my darkest hours."

"May you Rest In Peace, Shiro."

For some reason, Lily's heart sank. She recognised the handwriting but chose not to say a word. Her clutch of the torn arm tightened.

'Luman…Please be alright.'

***