Florian, thirty eight years old. The Apostle known as the Lightning Bolt by most.

This man was born with the second rarest element in this world, lightning.

Compared to fire and its inherent tremendous discharge of power, lightning was most tricky to work with.

For each ability you tried to develop, you had to sacrifice something in the form of incredible anguish.

What it means, is that if you had the idea to throw lightning spears like Ivan, you had to sacrifice both of your arms for that. The members chosen to support lightning had to be refined by the lightning element itself, to even be able to hold the form of the spear.

For Florian, it was no different. He was always the fastest kid in Albriar. His mother, thankfully for him, never bothered with limiting her child in any ways, so she let him play with other children in the city.

Not only was he the fastest, but he was also a great athlete overall. His father was the same, but he past away a few days after his tenth birthday, and Florian's dreams of learning more from him also vanished.

Around a third into his fourteenth years, his magic finally appeared. Even though it was lightning, everyone was happy for him. Never did he boast about his magic to his friends, and never did his mother mock him for having the same magic as his father.

In fact, his mother was happy for him. She knew that she hadn't been a really good mother because of her status of Apostle, and because she was shy, even within her own family, but Florian never cared about that.

She was kind, and for him, it was everything.

So, he secretly wandered inside his father's study and found many texts explaining the process of improving lightning abilities. That you had to suffer to be stronger.

With determination, he sacrificed his legs. He could have sacrificed his feet only, but he wanted every single fiber of his body to endure. This resulted in more pain than necessary, a lot of grinding teeth and questioning, and more than anything, in his ability to run faster than anybody was able to.

To help processing the speed, he wanted to improve his brain, but the texts clearly said not to try, in case you fried it and died.

When his training was done after a only two years, his interest was redirected to the large library of his house, and the one in the city.

Between reading, absorbing knowledge, and building stamina for his ability, Florian somehow knew how hard leading a city was. It was even more impressive that his mother managed to fulfil the role of logistics for the whole human faction.

Once he became eighteen, his mother asked if he would be fine with taking over her role as Apostle.

He took part in his first Ceremony, and realized why his mother was so tired after coming back.

'Lots of greedy, self-important, and hungry for power people.'

Understanding that was the moment his mind began to grow. He hid his disgusted feelings, and played nice with them, but refused to drink the sludge.

At the same time, he noticed another man that did the same as him, and this man was none other than Eric Layman, also eighteen.

After the Ceremony, he approached Eric, and engaged in a friendly discussion, but it was nothing else than pleasantry and learning about the place they lived in.

But it was enough for both young men. They were both new Apostles, even though Eric took his place as Apostle around two years before Florian.

The reason why Florian and Eric immediately agreed to form an alliance between them was because of that small discussion they had in the past, and the event that happened right after.

Not long after returning from the Ceremony, the greatest disaster of human history happened. The great Azur Dragon was in rampage across the continent.

And with that, the matter of the gold and silver pillar, and the one with Dylan Ravale, the savior of the beastmen.

He quickly dispatched all soldiers that had any hate for the beastmen by sending them to other cities with the excuse of logistics and help against the dragon.

But then, he learned that the first stop of the dragon was Albriar. What was Florian supposed to do? He could evacuate the city, and flee with his mother, but where to go? He managed to avoid having the beastman savior to hunt his head, but now, the dragon was here for it.

He could also request for help from the other Apostles, but he knew that no one would help him. His only ally in this situation was Eric.

So, without thinking too long about it, he left Albriar, and ran south-east, toward Turric. The distance between the two was not negligible. For a human on foot, it would be around two weeks.

But for Florian? Half a day without break was enough. To be fair, that distance wasn't enough to tire him at all.

He arrived at Turric after noticing how the climate was not as cold as he imagined, and asked around for Eric. The man wasn't that hard to find.

The two men looked at each other, and both had a discussion. Eric also received the notice of the dragon, and understood that Albriar was about to fall into danger. But why would he help? He only knew that Florian a little.

He was about to refuse, when his girlfriend, Caroline, at the time entered in panic after hearing words of a dragon coming to raze their city. Florian looked at him, and proposed the most crazyiest plan ever.

'Why don't you come defend Albriar with me? If we are successful, the Azur Dragon would divert his attention elsewhere.'

Eric blinked until his brain understood, Florian was not thinking about himself at all. The other cities had more veterans capable of defending their cities, they were older Apostles too, with more experience in dealing with dangerous things. Or so they thought.

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With the idea that defending Albriar would also help his own city, Eric grabbed Florian's hand, and shook it strongly.

Their temporary alliance against the dragon threat was born.

Florian asked Eric to grab his shoulders from behind, and both returned to Albriar, though Florian had to take break because of Eric's massive body type. Carrying someone else was something he never thought about in the past.

The two men finally arrived at Albriar, a day before the stand against the Azur Dragon.

In a night that was mostly restless because of the tension, they prepared and even planned on everything, in case they would fail.

The citizens were evacuated a few kilometers away from the city, with only Florian's mother refusing to leave her house. She said that her son would definitely protect his city, and stayed hopeful.

Everyone was hopeful, but they had to follow his orders anyways. If he was to lose his life in the fight, and the city was razed, they had to walk toward Turric. If both died in this fight, they had to go toward the most accepting city at the time, Noctelagia.

Now, only Florian and Eric were left in the vicinity of Albriar. They refused to fight in the city, and thought of stopping the dragon before that.

A painful silence suddenly fell around them. The birds disappeared, the insects stopped chirping, and the wind blew forcefully.

A giant shadow was casted on the grass, rapidly approaching them.

After that was a fight that Monolavir himself called 'valiant'.

Both men protected each other as much as possible. Eric was on the long range attack, while Florian on the close range.

The long and arduous fight finally stopped when the Azur Dragon notice a blue scale fly in front of his eyes.

With a loud and eardrum shattering roar, the dragon stopped attacking. It even shared his name with them telepathically as proof of their courage against him.

This is the reason why Florian and Eric knew his name during his appearance at the Ceremony that Orion broke into.

As trophy, they kept his scale. More accurately, they broke it in half and shared it, both making an item out of it. Only small items would be able to be made, but that was still a great reward.

But nothing was able to beat the gratification of their citizens. The sense that defending them was worth more than his own life.

At that moment, Florian knew why such a challenge happened in his life. It was for him to value the lives around him. To value everything not with discrimination, but with acceptance.

After that point, he did everything to have the surrounding beastmen village under his wing. Auro accepted that offer, unknowing to Orion at the time.

He chose to ask his citizens if they would accept understanding the beastmen not through conflict, but through cohabitation. It was mildly received at first, but once they had the people they though as barbaric appeared in groups in front of them, their opinion slowly changed.

Of course, there were some problems here and there, but after a few years, the talent to build houses, their sense of cooking meat better than humans, and their soft ears and fluffy tails that children and women loved changed that.

Nowadays, Albriar was a bustling city with both humans and beastmen living together, just like Hocride.

From that point, Florian focused on his city, and his own body. Life went by without any major events, or problems other than the Ceremonies.

But in these Ceremonies, he noticed that one seat was always empty, the seat of Andila Genathis. He asked Laylah, the woman organizing this group, and she told him that when the dragon attacked, she died. Since then, she was waiting for the heir of Andila to come take her seat.

And after seven years, at the age of twenty, Kamala finally arrived at the Ceremony. To say that he was surprised was an understatement.

She was beautiful, but extremely quiet. She rarely said more than necessary, and ignored everyone around her. She also refused to take part in the sludge drinking part, to Laylah's despair.

A little something he never experienced grew in him. Every time a Ceremony took place, his only joy was to see Kamala.

Finally, most recently, one of the thorns that was bothering his plans to integrate other species to human culture, Kiel Varon, died 'tragically'. He felt a little bothered that he was rejoicing at someone else's death, but the treatment the lamia's were victims to was impossible to ignore, and Kiel was responsable of that.

Florian did not missed that chance, and he shamelessly took over Lahro. This is the reason why he had such a high esteem of Orion. The man helped his plans get closer to reality, even if involuntary.

He had to find him, to thank him for his action, and to avoid making an enemy out of him, and the people he found 'pure' of the corruption at the table.

Those individuals were himself, Eric, Kamala, and the young girl that seemed to be made of the same blood as them, Olivia.

He secured the young girls future from potential harm, and explicitly noticed Orion about it.

The only problem he didn't managed to notice was Julian and Leonis forming an alliance to attack the lamias, and at the same time, hindering his plans to help the lamias.

All of his work, his audiences with the queen, and the difficulty of being accepted by the faction was about the be thrown out the window, because two morons that were siding with Kiel before lost their 'toys'.

This was all it took for Florian to enter the queens quarter without being invited, and ask her to place a curfew for her citizens, and say that some noise was about to happen sometimes.

A few days later, Florian killed Leonis without a shred of remorse, only to be seen by Orion.

From there, the story is as you know it.

~

Back to the present.

Florian took his glasses back from his breast pocket and showed it to Monolavir.

"I also have to thank you. The scale you left from that battle was divided between us, and made as small items to help us. For me, there it is."

He showed the pair of blue glasses he rarely wore in public. It usually was a pair of black glasses that was up his nose.

Orion spoke for Monolavir.

"And how a simple item like this was able to aid you?"

Dragons didn't know what a pair of glasses was.

"This item is necessary for me to see clearly. My vision is blurred if I do not wear them."

"But the one I made with half of your scale is the best thing I ever received. I think a lot, to lead the lives of everyone, the humans, the beastmen, and the lamias, in a path away from discrimination. I use these glasses a lot in those cases, because of the coldness emanating from it. It helps my brain stay cooled at those moments."

"The lamias, you said? Are you the man who take care of them? We know how bad they are treated, and you dare to show your face."

Orion intervened before any more misanderstanding could happen.

"You don't have to judge him for that, I killed the man responsible for these horrible treatments moments before you saved me a few months ago."

A little moment of dialogue between Orion and Monolavir happened, with Ruminona giving a few words too, before they accepted that fact.

"If what you really wish is for the various factions of this world to coexist, we can relate to that. It is not like us dragons are wishing for the end of the human faction either, even if we despise them."

"What we want, is clear vengeance on that front. We ask a name. Give us the name of the thief that stole my children and killed them, and I will accept a your efforts as an exchange of good faith."

Florian blinked a few times. Even though he had removed his glasses and saw the world blurry, he felt the hostility slowing disappear toward him, from both dragons.

What Orion told them, that he seemed to truly want peace for all factions, and that the lamias were as important as anyone else, made the relatives of the lamias, the dragons, more open to discussion.

A man had to show his true self when dealing with superior beings like dragons, and Remnants. Humility is a quality that most being find appealing.

When Monolavir remembered this man, the idea that a man fought for a city and its inhabitants made him thought of himself, fighting for his brothers and sisters.

"Tell me, human. Do you remember my name?"

Florian squeezed a little his pair of glasses, carefully not to damage them, and proudly spoke.

"I would never forget the name of the dragon that gave purpose to my life. We call you the Azur Dragon as a token of respect, but I know that you are Monolavir."

A loud snort came from the Azur Dragon, Monolavir, as his teeth came in full view as if he was smiling.