Mila tapped my head as I finished lacing my boots. I looked up at her conflicted face and let out a small chuckle while rubbing her head. “What’s the matter, mmm?”

“Don’t…go?” she asked meekly and confused.

I chuckled again and brought her close for a hug. She was so warm, and it brought a smile to my face knowing she was okay with me hugging her like this. “Don’t worry, Mila. It’s only for a few days. Sylvia and I will be back soon, and in the meantime, Uncle Bowen will take care of you.”

Mila purred slightly and nodded her head in my chest. “Okay…” she muttered in between a sob.

Somebody cleared their throat and glared at me. “Uncle? When did I—”

“Uncle. You are her uncle, Bowen,” I said. “And you are going to keep up on her Human lessons, understood?”

Bowen sighed deeply and rubbed his beard. “Uncle…huh? I suppose it’s not the worst thing she can call me,” he muttered. “And why are you ordering me around?”

“And her lessons,” I chided him.

Bowen groaned, and his smile grew. “And her lessons.”

“Good. I went ahead and left your wife with everything Mila is going to need,” I said while releasing Mila and standing from the couch. Mila immediately waddled towards Sylvia and hugged her as well.

Mmm…she is finally getting a little bit of the strength back in her legs.

“Have fun on your exam,” Bowen said with a kind smile. “I’m positive this will be a valuable learning experience even for you.”

“I hope so,” Sylvia grunted after finishing her hug.

Bowen smiled wryly at Sylvia. “I’m sure you will find something important in this test as well, Sylvia.”

I sent my pack into my ring, and Mila watched it disappear with wide eyes. “We should get going.”

Sylvia grunted again and yawned. It was early in the morning, so this was typical for the young Vampire. We waved Bowen goodbye, and Mila waddled on barely steady legs towards me. “B—b—bye, Daddy! Bye…Sylvia!" she shouted, a small tear rolling down her face while sobbing.

How adorable. She’s being so strong for me. This is going to be good for her as well. Bowen has a daughter around her age, so the two can interact and maybe even become friends.

“Bye, Mila. You better be a good girl for Bowen,” I said with a final wave.

She weakly nodded her head and wiped the tears from her face. Mila grabbed ahold of my leg, and I could feel her tiny fingers digging into my skin. “Don’t go,” she whispered.

I wanted nothing more than to bring Mila along with me, but I could hardly manage her out in the wilderness while also focusing on the tasks at hand. The monsters we were going to be hunting shouldn’t amount to much, but I didn’t want to even take the risk with Mila. This way, she could have a safe place to be, an excellent teacher to help her learn more basic skills, and a little time away from Sylvia and me.

It’s not that I don’t adore her…I just don’t want Mila to become too attached to me. It’s terrible for both of us…oh…who am I kidding. This sucks.

I caressed Mila’s cheetah ears. “I’ll see you again very soon, Mila. I promise.”

Sylvia pushed me along. “Let’s go, Daddy, we are going to be late,” she whispered into my ear with a giggle.

Ah… I uh…oh…that’s different.

Mila waved goodbye to me with teary red eyes. My heart ached, but…I had to go. It almost made me momentarily forget what had just happened to me.

I rubbed my warm ears and shrugged. “Uh…don’t call me that?” I squeaked.

Sylvia’s giggle turned into a deep laugh. “Oh?! Why did you say it like that?! Does that mean you want me to call you Daddy? Daddy.”

“Sylvia…I am begging you…this is supposed to be a little break. Can we not do this right now?” I pleaded.

Sylvia suppressed her laughing and gave me a pat on the back. “Sure…but this won’t be the end of things.”

I’m sure it won’t.

The last few weeks have been nothing short of stressful. After I raided the rebels’ hideout, I was forced to make preparations for an escape. I’ve been somewhat apprehensive about Ren in that she would out me given a chance but that never came to pass. The authorities never knocked my door down, and I wasn’t followed into the aqueducts that night.

The aftermath has been…rough. Nobles are being ripped out of their homes, and royal guards along with them. The trials have already started, and many have already faced the sword. I’m sure there will be more to come, not that it matters to me.

I did give a direct report to Bowen on everything I found from those nobles while interrogating them, but that was it. Most of the information didn’t concern me as it didn’t help me find the Chapter of Despair. However, Bowen also agreed to hand over any information he found on them in exchange for my services.

It was… regrettable that Lauren and Ren were involved in my final attack.

The first base I raided was nothing more than a safe house. However, it did have a few nobles there who just so happened to have been having a pre-meeting. I quickly and quietly dispatched their guards. An Obedience Collar attached to those nobles’ necks gave me the information I needed to find the main base.

I made sure to cause distractions with a few well-placed constant spell cores that acted as explosives. The guards all rushed towards the noise, where I quickly slaughtered them all with some magic and more well-placed explosives. Nothing a little fire magic core underneath the ground couldn’t fix.

I also did want to try magic mines. They seemed pretty effective besides the mana cost to maintain the spell core.

In the end, I didn’t find a single member of the Chapter of Despair, and if I was being honest, the guards were nothing more than third-rate muscle for hire and a few rogue royal guards. Most of the more skilled guards had been turned into a paste by my explosives.

One could say that the nobles were… out of touch.

It was just a bunch of old men living their dying dreams hiring young men to protect them. I also purposely tried to bait Jessine into tracking me down later that night, but she never did show herself.

And then there was Parker…I never imagined he would have been involved and conspiring with those scumbags. But I suppose he got what he deserved in the end. I wish I could say I felt good about killing all of them…but it just left me feeling empty like usual.

It was unfortunate that Ren had to be there to witness me, but I can’t change what went down, and nor would I want to. Ren and Lauren have both taken a leave of absence from school, and I don’t blame them. Both have cut off contact with me, and considering what transpired, it was inevitable.

I don’t regret what I did, and I probably never will.

Parker and all of his cronies deserved to die, and I wasn’t going to let them get away with murder. The corruption was extensive, and if I turned them into the authorities, there was a good chance they would escape. But they can’t worm their way out if they are dead.

Lauren and Ren will probably never want to speak with me again, which hurts…but I have nobody to blame but myself, and I don’t plan on doing that whatsoever. I already hate myself enough as it is. Our broken relationship is just…unfortunate…that’s all.

Sylvia poked me in the side. “You are supposed to be relaxing,” she said pointedly. “Stop thinking about what you did already.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re one to talk. I believe you yelled at me for thirty minutes when I returned and claimed to all the heavens that you were never going to let me go anywhere alone again?”

Sylvia’s ears turned bright red as she averted her gaze. “Well…I believe I was well within my rights to be frustrated with you,” she said, trying to sound annoyed. “And I was serious. You are banned from doing stupid things.”

“Banned from doing stupid things? So what? Are you going to join in my stupid things from now on?” I asked playfully.

“Absolutely,” Sylvia stated with absolute seriousness.

“And what about Mila?” I asked. Sylvia elbowed me a little harder this time. ”Hey…”

“Stop using Mila as an excuse to be stupid and do even stupider things,” Sylvia hissed. “We can take the appropriate measures from now on….together.”

“Yes…you are right. Perhaps I was being selfish,” I told her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I know this means a lot to you and Mila, but I won’t let you ignore me. I want to help you. I want to help both of you,” Sylvia said with a warmth in her beautiful voice.

I hope I never get used to her voice or take it for granted. Maybe I should tell? Mmmm…no…I don’t think I will.

—

Sylvia quickly removed her sword tip from an Ovyun. Her ears pulled back in what I knew to be a scowl under her mask. “This thing is disgusting. Why are we wasting our time with this again?” Sylvia asked no one in particular.

Sylas sighed deeply and bent over to look at the dead monster. “What do you mean? This is completely normal. Not everyone is a well-decorated adventurer, Sylvia.”

Sylvia thrust her chest out while pointing her sword out to the horizon. “Well…when you put it that way, I guess I am pretty amazing.”

Linnetia poked Sylvia in the armpit. “Try not to make that head of yours any bigger. We are still fighting monsters, remember?”

Sylvia rubbed her side. “Hey…that kind of hurt…” she muttered.

All has been well so far. A few Ovyuns and even a single Yeti showed up. The Yeti was dispatched by a quick combination of a Fireball to its legs and an arrow to the cranium from Lin. I had no idea she was a capable archer until today, and her skills were on par with any Elven ranger I’ve seen.

It’s sort of embarrassing that she’s so good. Aren’t Elves supposed to be the best bow users around? Or is that only a Wood Elf stereotype? Mmmm…

“Jen, do you think all Elves are good with bows?” I asked her.

No response.

I looked down, expecting Jen to be next to me, but I should know better at this point. She was too busy shoving her face into the rock to notice what was happening. I couldn’t be sure if she knew we killed a monster moments ago.

She pulled her face from the rock, and I swear I saw a drool line form. “What was that? Did you ask me something?”

“Never mind…” I groaned.

Sometimes stereotypes are just stereotypes…and sometimes…they are just on point.

I looked up at the tall rock that Jen was drooling on and shrugged. I told myself I would find beauty in this world and wouldn’t be pessimistic about these things, but it was just a gray rock…going somewhat high into the sky. Meh.

The area we were in may be confused for the mountains, but it was just a patch of rocks northeast of the capital. It almost looks like a mountain used to be here, and then it was just…destroyed somehow and the only thing left are these stone spikes. This area is aptly called the Spike Forest, and well, it’s precisely that.

There isn’t much reason for ordinary people to come out here other than to specifically kill monsters. It’s sort of like a training ground for adventurers as the monsters are relatively low on the threat scale and aren’t so numerous you may get overwhelmed. It was as safe as one could get in hunting monsters, not in a dungeon.

But safe is a relative term.

Varnir and I both craned our necks and gazed out into the rocks. “Something different is coming, huh?”

“Mhm,” I agreed while ripping a horn off a dead monster for proof.

Varnir’s ears twitched, and I imagine mine was as well. “There are a few of them. They sound pretty big.” He looked over at me and raised his eyebrows. “More Yetis?”

I shook my head. “No…these are bigger.”

Jen pulled my tattered cloak to get my attention. I winced slightly at seeing Mother’s cloak in such a condition, but it had been through a lot. “Should we uh…run?” Jen suggested.

“I believe we can take them since we know they are coming. How many?” Sylas asked while taking out his sling.

I had recommended a sling to Sylas as it was a powerful weapon if used correctly. It also acted as a method to launch his alchemical creations at a much safer distance. He had been using it effectively and even finished off a monster with a well-placed shot to its skull.

Sylvia sniffed the air, and I could already tell she did not enjoy what she smelled. “At least..four…” she groaned.

“Well, what do you want to do, Captain?” I asked, turning to Linnetia.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t call me that.”

Oh…okay…

“Sorry?” I mumbled.

“We can fight them. Then, if things get too bad, Voker and Jen collapse the rocks, and we can make a retreat,” Lin said with confidence.

“So be it,” I said with a nod.

“The rocks! I don’t want to do that,” Jen groaned while looking up at the rocks with a sad expression.

Varnir patted her on the shoulder. “Then just kill all the monsters. Simple as that.”

Jen’s face morphed into a frown, then a scowl followed by a look of determination. “Understood.”

“Well, they are about to be on top of us, so get ready,” Sylvia said, taking a stance behind Varnir.

“I’m nearly done!” Sylas shouted.

Sylas was laying traps in the corridors between the stone spikes. They were essentially make-shift caltrops, another recommendation on my part. Of course, Sylas took them to another level and poisoned half of them while greasing the other half so they could be set ablaze.

Another level that I approve of. Good for Sylas. I know I can count on him.

I mean, he did improve my Berserker Cap concoction in only a few weeks. I wonder what else he can do if given a bit of assistance…I should be careful, though.

The heavy footsteps of a group of monsters were audible by all as they bounced off the rocks. Varnir led the group in a Vanguard position with Sylvia and me behind him. Linnetia, Jen, and Sylas brought up the rear. A balanced group, if I had to say so myself, we even had a light mage if things turned for the worse.

The first monster came into view and glared right at us. Drool rolled down its vile face, but something was off about it. Its eyes were bloodshot, and I got the impression that it was tired for whatever reason. I had seen this monster before with hunting quests in the guild and in my book, but I’d yet to see one in person.

So, this is a Troll? It’s damn ugly, but at least it isn’t an abomination.

It stood at about seven feet tall and was humanoid in appearance, with two arms and legs and a torso with a head connected at the top. Even its body appeared to be somewhat Human in form, but the skin color was definitely not.

It was a grayish pink color, and the creature's body was marked with white scars and a plethora of purple bruises. But any semblance of a Human figure is lost when someone observes this monster’s face.

It’s not even a face a mother could love.

But this thing is a bit too high on the threat scale at around seventy to be here. Let alone four of them. So typically, they only show up in the mountains, and you can find one wandering around if it got pushed down from there.

“Hey! What the heck are Trolls doing here!” Varnir shouted from the front.

The Trolls were waiting in the entryway as they had noticed Sylas’s traps. One of the lead Trolls was using his massive stone club to push away the caltrops. We were just waiting for Linnetia’s signal.

That’s odd… Trolls are notoriously stupid creatures. Why are they being so cautious?

“Now!” Linnetia ordered.

I raised my hand and yellow lightning arced between my fingers tips. A loud crack sounded off, and the bolt went straight for the first Troll. The giant monster swung his club rather quickly and managed to block my spell at the cost of his weapon. The stone club shattered into pieces as the Troll released a bellowing war cry that hurt my ears.

Then a giant spear of ice rammed into its stomach.

Sadly it wasn’t enough to kill the monster as it began pulling Jen’s spell out with a roar. This was also the cue for the other Trolls to start their charge. The monsters seemingly ignored the traps as they pushed onwards. Finally, one of the creatures seemed to have stepped directly on a caltrop and had had enough as it dropped its club and began hopping around on one foot.

The ground shook with their running, and the weight of the monster jumping made the rocks fall from up high. Linnetia shot an arrow into one of the charging Trolls, but it just sank into its fleshy shoulder. One of the Trolls finally reached Varnir’s position, only for a mass of vines to surround and ensnare it.

The monster fell to the ground with a thunderous boom. It tried to fight back, and it was having some success as it ripped entire sections of Varnir’s vines off, but it wasn’t enough to stop Sylvia. She was a blur as her purple and black hair trailed behind her. The Troll attempted to swat Sylvia away, but it wasn’t nearly fast enough to catch her.

Sylvia slid underneath the Troll’s massive hand and pointed her sword straight out like a lance. She slid directly into the Troll, her sword piercing the monster’s skull, ending its life with a death rattle. Unfortunately, the second Troll that managed to block my spell had returned with a vengeance as he picked up his fallen comrade’s weapon. With a mighty overhanded swing, the Troll brought his club down on Sylvia.

But it only ended up decimating the corpse of its kin as Sylvia moved away with ease. The following stench of Troll innards would most likely be engraved into my mind forever as it was truly wretched. And as if punishing the Troll, ice slowly began to creep up the creature’s legs.

I looked over to Jen as a bead of sweat rolled down her face as she concentrated on her spell. I figured I would give her a bit of assistance and stop the Troll from breaking free, so I sent a regular Fire Lance straight at the creature.

My orange Fire Lance soared off, dripping hot flames off its magical form as it impacted the monster’s left arm, ripping it off with an explosion. The Troll let out a wail of pain as it frantically tried to break free of Jen’s ever-encroaching ice. The pain the monster was experiencing was multiplied as Linnetia sent an arrow into one of the Troll’s eyes.

Sylas followed up her arrow as he launched a rock from his sling. The gray blur spun and cracked the Troll directly in the jaw. Unfortunately, these things were made of sterner stuff, and it only served to anger the creature more as blood dripped from its fresh wound. The final Troll that Jen’s ice spear had impaled had now joined the fray as well.

Sylvia retreated behind Varnir, and the two were standing firm at the front once more. The Troll had a massive gaping hole in its stomach, but it didn’t seem fazed all that much as pain and fury mixed on its ugly face. The Troll used its tree trunk-sized leg to kick down the ice forming on its companion. It only took two stomps to shatter Jen’s attempts as the Troll freed itself from her grasp.

Sylas, not wanting to be outdone, launched a glass ball from his sling. It soared through the air and shattered onto the now freed Troll, covering its chest with an oily black substance as glass embedded into it as well. Linnetia ran over to me with an arrow nocked.

It was also covered in the same oil, so I obliged and lit it on fire for her. She wasted no time, and her arrow flew true, hitting the same spot her brother did. Fortunately, the Troll wasn’t long for this world as the fire began to spread across its body.

The smell of burnt flesh assaulted my nostrils as the Troll writhed in agony, desperately attempting to halt the flames by patting them down. But it was no use. I figured I’d rather not watch this thing slowly die, so I turned my attention to Varnir and Sylvia, who were dancing around the last Troll.

Trolls were big and strong, but like most monsters, they were surprisingly agile and quick despite their size. But Varnir and Sylvia were much faster than the Troll as they dodged and weaved between its wild swings. Vines rippled out from Varnir’s shield and grabbed the Troll by the leg. The monster wouldn’t let that happen so easily as it crushed the vines with a single swipe of its stone club. But that’s what Varnir wanted, it seems.

The Dark Elf was moving quickly, and he made it directly behind the creature. His Dwarven Steel short spear was rammed into the back of the monster’s knee, sending the Troll to the ground. A barrage of arrows from Linnetia was blocked as they pierced into the Troll’s open palm. The monster released a bellow of pain as Sylvia’s silver estoc pierced into the flesh underneath the armpit. And with finality, the Troll’s head was turned to mush by a cannonball made of ice.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Well, that was eventful.

Sylvia and I had both agreed to take these things relatively lightly. We didn’t want to just obliterate all these monsters as we had nothing to prove to anyone. Robbing everyone else of valuable monster combat experience would be a crime and something we wanted to avoid. At the end of the day, we got credit for the test regardless of how easily we defeated the monsters.

But uh…I don’t think Trolls were on the list for this test. So, hopefully, we get extra points for it.

Varnir wiped the sweat from his forehead and chuckled. “Man! That was… uh… it went well!” he said, slightly out of breath.

“The rocks have been saved,” Jen muttered while wiping the sweat from her face and looking into the sky.

“Good work, everyone. Voker, can you hold onto the ears?” Linnetia asked after handing me a bloodied sack.

I put the bag away into my ring and looked off towards the rocks again. “Another one is coming.”

Sylvia crossed her arms. “Can we just kill this one super fast? I’d rather not fight these things…they smell like rotting corpses. Well, everything around here seems to smell like that,” she grumbled.

“That’s because they eat the flesh of anything and everything! Even rotting corpses and each other!” Sylas said with a little too much excitement.

“Focus! We have to kill this one!” Jen squeaked while pointing toward the general direction of the Troll.

“Huh…this one sounds a bit different, huh?” Varnir asked me.

“Yeah…more frantic than the others,” I agreed.

I got the impression that these Trolls were acting weird. They seemed too cautious and only really attacked us after we initiated contact. Trolls were noted as only acting on their base instincts. So what is causing them to be like this?

But could fear be overriding them? And if that’s the case…fear of what exactly?

Sure enough, a Troll came barreling toward us. It was flopping its arms around wildly and didn’t even have a weapon. Upon seeing us, the monster’s ugly face was twisted into a scowl, but just like the others, its eyes were bloodshot, and it appeared to be tired as dark circles formed around sunken eyes.

I extended my hand once more, and a Fire Lance went screeching towards the creature. Unfortunately, it put its entire arm into the path of the spell, and the impact was gruesome, blood sprayed, and the limb was turned into mincemeat from the explosion.

But the Troll kept running. Not good. It shouldn’t be ignoring pain like this.

A blade of ice spun towards the monster, and it sacrificed what was left of its mangled arm to stop Jen’s spell. The Troll burst through what was left of Sylas’s traps and completely ignored Varnir’s vines. This thing was in a full sprint towards us, and it was moving like a freight train made of meat.

Linnetia, Sylas, Jen, and I all began peppering the Troll with spells, arrows, and rocks but to no avail. It was getting to the point where I was about to unleash a White Fire Lance on the thing, but I decided against it…for some reason…it doesn’t seem to want to fight us.

The Troll blasted past Varnir without even sparing a glance for the Dark Elf. Sylvia managed to sneak a small slash onto the monster and looked straight at me for confirmation, but I shook my head. Jen and I launched more spells, and we were landing them without problems. A Fireball of mine took off some fingers from the Troll, and Jen’s ice spear went straight into the creature’s thigh.

But it kept going.

Now it was my turn to dodge, so I rolled out of the way, half expecting the creature to take a swipe at me, but it never came. The backline also threw themselves out of the way, and the Troll continued its apparent retreat, from what I still didn’t know. I got up from the ground and focused on my hearing, but I didn’t hear anything other—

Oh…somebody is coming… and they are moving fast.

I looked over at the Troll, and I blinked for only a moment and missed it. The monster had been split into two, and the halves crashed to the ground and spun off into bloody chunks. I blinked to ensure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, but Professor Garrison was standing tall in his silver armor. His jagged black sword didn’t even have a drop of blood on it after separating a Troll in half.

And he did that all without magic…incredible.

He beckoned us over, and although he was smiling, he seemed a little stressed. “Seems you guys had fun.”

“Professor? Is something wrong?” Jen asked.

He nodded and gave Jen a wry smile. “Indeed. It appears monster activity is increasing in the area. The other teachers and I agreed to cut things short and return to school. All things considered, you guys should have had ample time to pass the test.” He gazed off behind us and nodded approvingly. “And with that many dead Trolls, I imagine everyone else is going to be hard-pressed to outscore you guys. Perhaps I should have split this group up more…”

It didn’t take much convincing as we all readily agreed to come back to camp with the professor. The camp was where a large section of the stone spikes had been cleared out and had already been our base of operations for one night.

It was…comical watching some of these kids try their hands at survival skills. Of course, it’s not their fault, and those of us who knew what we were doing were more than happy to assist the others.

The instructors who tagged along for this test also made sure things went smoothly. It wasn’t only Class Onward here either. Nearly two hundred students were taking part in this test and living at this camp along with another hundred or so support staff.

And the camp wasn’t really a campsite as much as a small military encampment fitted with red and gold pitched tents. An entire section was dedicated to the mess tent, which happened to be fully stocked with a few chefs from the school.

Even a medical tent with a few members of the Paine family were present for any emergency situation, big or small. All for a three-day school test…looks like Bowen was not messing around, especially since I saw some Gryphon Knights patrolling the north.

Man…we just put all of this up…taking it down so soon is going to be a real pain in the neck.

I looked over to Profesor Garrison and caught him staring intently off into the distance. It was mid-day, and the sun was beaming down on us, but it didn’t deter the professor. He readjusted his glasses and looked at me with a smile. “Something the matter, Professor?” I asked.

He looked at me, then back in the sky. “Mmm…the Gryphon Knights should have returned by now. Maybe something caught their attention.”

“Was the monster activity getting to the point that we should be concerned?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t believe so. It was just enough to be noticeable, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. Good chance a dungeon spawned as it wouldn’t be the first time one has popped up in this area. Can’t be having you kids accidentally running into one of those.” He turned to me with a complicated smile. “Well…everyone but you and Sylvia maybe.”

I nodded along with his words and just decided to ignore the last part. “I see…that would be for the best, I suppose.”

“Go ahead and help with the teardown. I’m going to go check on some things,” the professor said.

He didn’t make it but a few steps before stopping suddenly. Perhaps he felt it before I heard it, but my eyes went wide, and I nearly hurt myself from spinning my neck around so fast. I scanned the horizon, but I couldn’t see anything, which was very, very troublesome because that means it is what I think it is. And it’s already passed us…this is not good.

That was a sonic boom, no doubt about it. So what the hell is moving fast enough to create one?

I looked up and tried to see anything, but I couldn’t find the source of the sound, let alone any disruptions in the cloud formations. This means it must be very high in the air… at least in the stratosphere. I’m not even confident what can fly that high in this world…I’ve never heard of a flying monster that can reach those heights. Wait…what the…what is that?

And then we heard it.

All the Elves and Beastmen were already looking into the sky as the Humans and Dwarves looked on in confusion. But now, the beating wings of a massive creature were finally reaching the ears of everyone.

The professor cupped his hands over his mouth as his eyes bulged from his head. “Everyone run!”

Professor Garrison's voice boomed throughout the encampment, and for a moment, nobody moved. Then suddenly, the entire camp exploded into a frenzy as students sprinted in all directions, including me. There was no point in attempting to stop whatever was coming. Mana filled my legs, and I pushed forward and ran as fast as possible.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and my heartbeat filled my ears. I was in flight or fight mode in an instant, and my stomach dropped, and that was all I needed to know. Things were bad…very bad.

Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to run. The only thing I could hear now was the blood rushing through my body and the sound of something falling from the sky.

Sylvia was rushing towards me, panic in her eye as her blood sorcery was being pushed to its limits. Red veins rippled across her arms and exposed legs, and the one running down her neck was large enough to grab with my fingers. She even went as far as to shove a student out of the way and didn’t pay the unfortunate boy a second glance. Then Sylvia looked up.

It was here.

Boom.

I only managed to catch a glimpse of the clouds that had been separated before the shockwave slapped into me. I tried putting a few walls of the earth in the way to save me, but it wasn’t enough. I was lifted off my feet and was flying in the air now as I tumbled about trying to discern up from down. The explosive force was so strong it ruptured the eardrum on my left side when I turned towards it.

I immediately cast gravity magic and attempted to ground myself, but I couldn’t muster enough mana into the core in time. I hit the ground and immediately broke my arm and dislocated my shoulder as I tumbled across the rocky surface. I crashed into a tent and was rolled up inside of it like a cocoon.

I need to get up. I need to run.

Fire magic consumed the hand of my good arm as I cut my way through the fabric. I felt the flames tickling me, and they were most likely burning my skin, but it mattered little. Not being here was the highest priority, along with finding Sylvia.

It was every man for…them…self…oh…no…

Once I cut a hole big enough to free myself, the first thing my eyes locked onto was the massive black figure standing where the mess tent used to be. The entire area around it was an impact crater now, and the monster sitting there now made everything I’d seen in this world so far seem tiny in comparison. Even the Wyrm was below this creature in every way possible. Hell, the guardians of the dungeon weren’t even on the same level.

The scales covering the entire body length were so black the only word to describe them was void. The enormous fleshy black wings sprouting from its back spanned the entirety of my vision. And I knew…I knew it was looking down at me with those purple eyes. The eyes were marred with red, and the sclera was a deep blood red…actually, it was bleeding from those same eyes.

Everyone who escaped the blast zone with magic or sheer luck was locked in place, staring up at this monster. The thing nobody ever thought they would see in their life. The thing people hoped they never saw this close. The stuff of legends.

A real living, breathing Dragon.

The Dragon let out a roar so loud it brought me to my knees. I let out a scream as my one good ear was on the verge of bursting. The deafening roar sent everyone still breathing into a frenzy, and a few people started casting spells. I watched as a single Fireball impacted the Dragon’s black scales…it didn’t even explode.

The teacher who cast it was flattened in an instant.

The Dragon immediately started moving on its four towering legs with a speed that belittled physics. Nothing…I mean, nothing should be able to move that fast…I could understand mana playing a part in monster biology…but this…this wasn’t okay…how the hell are we supposed to even run from this thing?

I ignored the blood pooling into my hands from my ears and started running again. The Dragon was indiscriminately slaughtering everyone who stood in its path…and I had a sickening feeling I was the end goal. I’m not sure how I knew…maybe this overwhelming bloodlust being directed at me gave it away.

The Dragon stopped for a moment, sliding to a halt through the ground, and I spared it a single glance. Professor Garrison was charging towards it and had managed to sink his Mythril blade into the creature's scales. But the Dragon didn’t even let out a roar of pain. Instead, it just swung its other clawed foreleg at the Professor. My eyes couldn’t even follow what happened next. The Professor was just gone, and the Dragon was on the move again.

A War God…reduced to nothing in the blink of an eye.

Even with all my mana forced into my body, I couldn’t hope to outrun the thing. It was nearly upon me with three strides. I figured that if this were going to be it, I would at least try something.

I wasted a ton of mana just forming the spell core as quickly as possible. My Plasma Bolt was flickering in and out between its white-hot and blue glass state, so I dumped even more mana into it. I hadn’t utilized so much mana for a single spell in such a long time.

The blue bolt of superheated plasma scorched the air as it raced off towards the incoming Dragon. My heart sank with dread as the impossible happened. My Plasma Bolt has never failed. I wasn’t expecting to kill it, just hurt it…maybe make it think twice.

I didn’t expect it to ricochet off like a tank round against sloped armor. I couldn’t even tell if it left a mark.

Time slowed to a crawl as the Dragon closed in on me. I could feel its hot breath now as I watched it rear back for a swing with its claw. It was a shame that guilt was going to be the last feeling I ever felt. I felt guilty that I’d be leaving Mila behind. That I would never see my family again after coming so far. That I would probably never see Sylvia again.

I was half expecting to die instantly from the impact, but no pain ever came. Perhaps I passed on so quickly that I couldn’t even comprehend anything.

Deciding to tempt fate, I opened my eyes ever so slightly. I instantly regretted it. Blood splattered across my mask, and I honestly wish I had died at that moment. The image of Sylvia’s upper body removed from her lower was enough to haunt me for years to come…if I could even live long enough to remember.

I wish I could say I felt anything at that moment. Instead, an odd numbness spread throughout my head and I just sort of stopped thinking altogether. This was just a bad dream. This wasn’t happening. All of this wasn’t real.

But why is Sylvia looking at me like that?

My vision darkened, and I was confident that I had just passed out for some reason. When I came to, I immediately pushed the rocks off me with my mana-enhanced body. I scanned my surroundings.

The Dragon was no longer in front of me and was busy stomping out a few teachers and students who had managed to muster the courage to fight back. I couldn’t look at them anymore... I didn’t need to hear them to see their screaming, horrified faces. The Dragon was extinguishing entire sections of people.

And Sylvia was gone…only a pool of blood left where she used to be and a trail leading off to somewhere.

My legs were moving before I commanded them as I followed the trail. It was hard to keep track of anything as my sole focus was on the blood trail. Eventually, I made it out of the clearing and back into the Spike Forest. My surroundings were being completely ignored as I stepped over students cowering and teachers alike. Some are still breathing…others…not so much.

Instincts took over, and I threw myself onto the ground into a roll, dodging a piece of the stone spike that threatened to crush me. The Dragon was back in the air, but it didn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon. It was too busy hunting down those who were fighting back or running.

I continued to dodge and weave between the falling debris. A Beastmen next to me was crushed by the rock I narrowly avoided, his cat reflexes failing him in his final moments. I finally found the end of Sylvia’s blood trail and found Jen…hiding in the crevice of rock with Sylvia’s body encased in a tomb of ice.

The reality of the situation dawned on me as Jen looked up at me with hollow eyes. She wasn’t dead, and I was sure the blood wasn’t hers but Sylvia’s. I also realized Sylvia probably wasn’t dead…hopefully…but why isn’t she healing? Was it too much damage? Did she die instantly? I…

I grabbed Jen by the collar and shook her, but the usual outgoing silly Dwarf was gone… a husk of a person…she had gone catatonic and, in her final moments, managed to carry Sylvia here.

This is also where I realized I could no longer hear. I wasn’t sure when I had lost my hearing, but it was completely gone now as my own screams failed to reach me. I felt so empty inside, and I hated it. I hated feeling like this. But I knew what had to be done. So I came to a decision.

We can’t run. We can’t hide. We can’t fight. So I guess we just have to fight? It’s all I can really do…it's all I’m suitable for anyways…not like this Dragon is going to let me escape anyway. So why was it that it focused on me first, I wonder?

I pushed past the students running for their lives and made my way back toward the clearing. All of these students running weren’t going to last very long, and even if they did manage to gain marginal distance, it mattered little against something that could fly.

Once the Dragon is done here, well… it’s probably going to the capital. I doubt they have any anti-Dragon technology to stop this thing. It’s going to be a massacre…Mila…I’m so sorry.

Once I made it to the clearing, the smell of brimstone and blood filled my nose. I watched on as the Dragon made passes on students and teachers alike. Finally, it landed on the ground and annihilated a group of teachers hiding behind a stone wall with its mighty claws. But I couldn’t help but notice something odd.

Amongst the carnage, a few people were still alive, just sitting there, unmoving from fear. They appeared to be relatively unharmed, and the Dragon wasn’t killing them. No…instead, the Dragon was slaughtering those using magic and who were running from it.

Dragons are supposed to be sentient beings. It should be taking out everyone, so why is it ignoring those not moving? Wait…is it attracted to mana and movement?

I kept looking on, forcing myself to watch my peers and teachers being massacred. I figured that if I did this, I needed to piece together as much information as I could. If my most potent spell bounced off the scales, then I would have to go about this a different way.

And what hope do I have? I’m confident I could kill most things, but…this is too much for anyone to handle. Maybe I can buy enough time for Sylvia to recover, and she can cast her ritual and save what’s left of the survivors?

The more I watched, the more I realized my hypothesis might have some legs to stand on. Sure enough, the people not moving or casting magic were seemingly ignored, but those attacking or running were being targeted. I watched as a pair of bloody footsteps waded through the puddles. I reached out and grabbed the invisible person by the collar.

What are the odds, huh? Who would have thought she was going to be the key. And I haven’t spoken to her in weeks.

Tsarra was light in my grip, and I didn’t even need both arms to raise her off the ground. I shook her somewhat violently. “Tsarra, undo your illusion,” I ordered.

I couldn’t hear myself talking, but I imagined my intent was getting through to her as she uncloaked. She was frantically trying to escape my grip, but I shook her once more to stop her. She was bloodied and caked in dust. Her uniform ripped to shreds, and she was pale from blood loss.

“Less moving is better for you right now,” I told her.

Tsarra tried saying something to me, and I watched her lips quiver as she stuttered words out, but I couldn’t make sense of them. “Tsarra, I can’t hear you, so I’m going to need you to listen to me very carefully. I want you to make as many illusions of me as possible and send them towards the Dragon. The more, the better, and they don’t even have to look good. Just make them fast.”

Her eyes went wide, and she once again tried freeing herself from my grip. She tried beating my hands away, but her mana enhancement was pitiful. “Stop thrashing around, or we are both going to die. Use the distraction as a decoy to escape. If nothing else, you may be the only survivor after this.”

Perhaps that Dragon is putting more stock into its sight if it ignored Tsarra for this long. On the other hand, it’s acting awfully belligerent for an intelligent creature…either way.

I increased my grip around Tsarra’s collar and glared down at her. The relationship between us hardly mattered if we were dead, so I didn’t particularly care if she hated me. I had people to protect… or at least I had people I needed to try and protect.

Tsarra eventually stopped squirming about and closed her eyes. I watched the High Elf Princess concentrate, a bead of sweat rolling down her face and collecting all the soot and blood. Then the air shimmered around me, and multiple versions of myself came into existence, about ten or so, all carrying a mirrored Tsarra.

Huh…she cut out the faces on herself…that’s sort of odd.

I let Tsarra go, and she crumbled to the ground giving me a pained expression. I had little time to worry about her and immediately ran off towards the Dragon, my illusions spreading out and doing the same. I went on the edge so as not to clump up with most of them, and I watched as the Tsarra illusions circled the encampment.

It wasn’t long till the Dragon turned its attention to me and the copies. First, it tilted its massive head and narrowed its bloodied eyes at the illusions, then it scraped its claws across the ground, sending stone chunks the size of horses towards me. Thankfully Tsarra was still controlling the illusions as most of them avoided the rocks. Being on the outside was the right choice as the Dragon opted to attack the cluster of fakes.

So it can’t tell the difference, that’s good. So now…what will I do when I get close to it?

Getting near its head is going to be impossible, and if the scales are impenetrable, that only leaves me with one viable option. It’s joints. Since the Dragon appeared to be a quadruped, it had to leave room for its joints to move. So…aiming for the wings then. At the bare minimum, if it can’t fly, that should give people enough time and space to run, maybe even alert the capital and get an evacuation started.

Bowen will be high on the priority list, meaning Mila will be one of the first. That’s good.

The Dragon’s long black tail scraped against the ground at Tsarra's illusions, clearing away all of them in a single strike. I was nearly upon the Dragon now, so I only had one chance, and I wasn’t even sure if it was going to work. Getting close to this thing was a death sentence, and I somehow had to get close enough to damage its wings.

This might be the most suicidal thing I’ve ever done.

I formed another gravity core and released it. My stomach lurched to the side of my body as I started falling towards the Dragon. Changing the orientation of my gravity was always an unpleasant feeling. But this…this was different and not in a good way.

It’s probably an even worse feeling having this giant killing machine glaring down at me.

I looked to my side, and my illusions were doing the same, which meant Tsarra was still maintaining and controlling her spells for me. If I ever got the chance, I’d have to thank her for that. The Dragon brought its foreleg down on a group of my illusions, dispersing them. Although its leg was close enough that I could grab it, I used my good arm to summon my sword.

I made a valiant attempt at cutting into the scales, but the second my cobalt gladius’s tip touched those void black scales, it broke right off like a toothpick. I continued to try and do anything, but any more attempts just left me shaving down my sword.

The Dragon must have noticed me finally as all the illusions were gone. It stood high onto its hind legs, and I felt the wind move as it brought its claws down on me. The Dragon was going to crush me against its own body.

But for some reason, that event never happened.

I was busy focusing on my spell core to guide me towards its back when I looked up to see a cloud of smoke around the Dragon’s face. I followed the barrage of spells and caught a glimpse of a disheveled and bloodied Lin pointing towards the Dragon. She was in the middle of a group of students and teachers with a blank expression, and it looked like she was giving orders.

Huh…thank you, Lin.

Apparently, not even rampaging Dragons enjoy getting blasted in the face with magic as the towering beast let out a mighty roar. Those few seconds were just what I needed. The simplest of distractions would hopefully allow me to finish my task.

I blew past the Dragon and was behind it now. My vision darkened around my eyes, and I felt the tremendous force of gravity on me as I swapped orientations once more. I was already using my limp arm to form a spell core when I landed against the Dragon’s back. My legs broke on impact, and the beast's scales were razor-sharp, digging into my flesh. But I ignored the pain and continued to pour even more mana into my spell core.

After all, this pain was temporary. It was do or die now. The warm feeling of water coursing through my veins multiplied, and it felt like a hot tidal wave was being forced from my solar plexus as I fed the spell.

I threw my hips and tossed my dislocated shoulder right onto the wings of the Dragon, where the limb connected to the back. Just as I thought, there were no scales here, the skin was a purplish-black, and my spell had been successfully planted. The spell core left my hand, and I was about to pull back when I felt weightless for a moment, followed by nothingness.

I looked down, and a giant black spike was protruding from my stomach. Oh…that’s not a spike…it’s the Dragon’s tail…huh…it impaled me.

My head rocked to the side, and my vision was a blur as I was tossed off the Dragon’s tail like a piece of meat on a skewer. My body continued to soar through the air, and I knew once I hit the ground, I was probably going to die. I activated the spell core, and my vision was filled with a brilliant blue light.

An impact charge made of plasma. If this doesn’t do it…then I don’t know what will.

I didn’t even feel myself hit the rock as I was only vaguely aware of my body anymore. The entire lower half of my body was unresponsive and what was working on my upper body wasn’t much better. I could only just barely move my right hand, and even then, it wasn’t much.

My neck wouldn’t respond to my commands, and I knew my body was beyond devastated. I hadn’t been like this since my fifth birthday, honestly…no…before even that. My body hadn’t been this decimated since I took a shredder grenade and plasma core explosion.

This is awful…how did I end up like this? I was so close…so close.

Once the blue-white smoke cleared, the Dragon let out a hateful, pained roar. Its wing on its back had been damaged and looked about ready to fall off. It worked. It took everything I had just to damage one of its wings…ah…I really hate overgrown lizards.

Well…at least this will hopefully save Mila. I’m sorry…Mila…I failed you before I could even really begin. Sorry, Mom and Dad…Cerila…Padraic…Grandpa…and Sylvia. Hopefully, Dad finds Mila…raises her with Mom…I may be leaving as their son, but at least I could give them a granddaughter.

I wanted to start crying, but I don’t think my body could manage even a drop. I was familiar with this feeling…I knew it well. I felt my life slipping away from me…and I hated it…I never wanted any of this…I hated Alnwar…I hated the Chapter of Despair…I hated that I’ll never see my family again…I hated that I was leaving Sylvia and Mila behind…

I just wasn’t enough in the end. Perhaps I should have spent more time with them…

I rolled my eyes up into my head and caught the Dragon about to annihilate Linnetia’s position. They were all scattering like ants, but it wouldn’t be enough.

Well…might as well do one last thing, right? Just for Lin.

I glared right at the Dragon and directed all my bloodlust at it…I wasn’t even sure if it was going to work…if the bloodlust of a dying man even mattered to a Dragon. But it seemed to have some effect as the Dragon stopped. I piled all my regrets, despair, and hatred into my bloodlust. I imagined myself ripping the things head off with my bare hands.

The Dragon was looking at me again, but this time something was different. The redness in its maddened eyes had faded as the blood dripped down its face. It looked like the Dragon was experiencing a moment of clarity. Or maybe it was just a lack of oxygen to my brain.

Yeah, most definitely a trick of the mind.

Whatever I thought I saw was not real as the Dragon reared its head back, mouth wide agape, revealing rows upon rows of human-sized teeth. Purplish energy began accumulating in the Dragon’s mouth, and I couldn’t believe it. I had read that Dragons could use magic…even Sylvia told me her master could use magic. But Dragon’s breath was indeed a rare sight…as most people didn’t live to tell the tale.

It seems I truly garnered its wrath. How nice. Perhaps…mmmm…

I summoned my sword into my hand and tried lifting it, but that wasn’t possible for me anymore. So instead, I just put a little bit of gravity magic on it and had it float as I began forming a spell core. I turned my brain off and just…did what needed to be done.

A white fire spread around my sword and quickly turned blue. But unlike my Plasma Round, this was going to be different. The heat increased tenfold, and the air around me began to warp. Any breathing I was managing before ceased as space around me was consumed by the heat.

The golden accents on my gladius began melting away, and even the Cobalt started dripping away, only to be consumed by the blazing inferno. The glass-like appearance was disrupted, and tiny tendrils of blue fire jetted out from my sword.

Huh…looks like a sun.

My vision went dark, and I was sure I had just scorched my eyes. At this point, I wasn’t even ignoring the pain. I had just melted away the skin and nerves on my body to the point where feeling anything wasn’t possible.

Mana left my body in droves as I completed a third of the core. Now…it just needed the final piece. I altered the gravity core and combined it for a triple school of magic core. Gravity, lightning, and fire mixed into one to create what would hopefully be my most potent spell yet.

I had attempted this once before and nearly died. Seems like triple magic cores just aren’t feasible regardless of my mana pool.

I knew I had used nearly all my mana up as I felt my consciousness drift away. I released the spell, and I wasn’t even sure if it was going to hit… although the Dragon was such a massive target, I doubted I could miss. Hopefully, my aim was true.

Enjoy the world's first railgun, you overgrown lizard.

And I’d never know if my spell worked because I knew I just died…again.

The Void already claiming me.