Claire panted as she ducked under some rubble to hide from her pursuers. She looked down at the little girl in her, watching her ragged breathing.
“They’re still nearby. Find them!”
As their pursuers closed in, Claire spotted an open tunnel. With nowhere else to go, she ran into the tunnel. She didn’t even look back as she ran past some monster corpses. Claire kept running until she arrived at a cavern.
At the center of the cavern, right under the cloud of corrupted mana, a young man stood. He seemed to be in a meditative state, not even registering her arrival. But that was the least of her concern as she needed a place to hide from her pursuers.
A moment later, she heard the sound of footsteps. Claire rushed to hide between the cracks in the wall and hid just in time as their pursuers arrived at the cavern.
“Find them!” the man that seemed to be the leader yelled.
The group noticed the young man at the center of the cavern and aimed their guns at him.
“Hey!”
Claire saw the displeasure in the young man’s face when he turned to face the armed group pointing their weapons at him.
“Kill them? They’re not monsters,” then the young man scoffed. “Of course, I know humans are worse than monsters. Fine, they’re already aiming their weapons at me anyway.”
With her enhanced hearing, Claire heard the young man talking to himself. The young man raised a hand, making her pursuers react and started firing their weapons.
“Trigger.”
Claire’s eyes widened when a blue dragon materialized along with a barrier that stopped all the bullets from reaching the young man. The blue dragon then continued towards the armed group, conjuring another barrier that slammed into them and knocking them back.
“Huh... so blue dragons focused on defense,” the young man resumed talking to himself as the cloud of corrupted mana behind him vanished. “But they’re still alive. I don’t think another blue dragon would work. Yes, I’m aware it’s called Frozen mirror dragon, but it’s a mouthful.”
Claire didn’t know what to think about the young man that seemed to be talking to himself, but thanks to him, they were going to survive. All she needed to do now was to wait for him to finish her pursuers, then she could go look for a hospital for the little girl she was carrying.
“I know, I know. End it quick,” the young man raised his hand again.
Claire was shocked once again when a black dragon materialized this time and unleashed a breath of dark energy, finishing off her pursuers.
“Now, who might you be?” the young man suddenly asked. “The one hiding in the cracks.”
Claire flinched, but she revealed herself and the little girl in her hands. “We mean you no harm. We just wanted to escape.”
The young man glanced at the little girl. “She was exposed to corrupted mana?” the young man whispered. “I can do that?”
The Claire stood there awkwardly as the man talked to himself. “Hng!” the little girl balled up in pain.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“I need to find a hospital!” Claire was about to leave when the young man grabbed her arm to stop her, then he placed a hand on the little girl’s head.
“This won’t take long,” he said as Claire noticed the corrupted mana being absorbed by the man.
“What are you doing?!” Claire asked in a panic. “Corrupted mana could kill you!”
“The cloud earlier didn’t. How would this?” he smirked as he retracted his hands from the little girl.
Claire noticed that the little girl was no longer struggling and in pain. She looked back at the man with teary eyes. “H-how?”
He just shrugged. “Follow me. I’ll take you to a hospital.”
------
“I suggest you converse with me through your mind. It would make you appear saner to others.”
“You couldn’t have mentioned that sooner?”
“You were the foolish one to not consider it when I’m literally conversing with you through your mind.”
“Touche. By the way... how did I get another dragon trigger?”
Zane was surprised when he felt another dragon’s mana in his mana core. Having one Dragon trigger was impressive enough, but having two pretty much meant he won the lottery twice.
“You didn’t obtain another dragon’s relic. You simply absorbed the dragon’s residual mana core,” Averin explained. “Dragons leave their mana in their den to mark it. Upon their death, the residual mana is corrupted and results in the monsters spawning.”
“Then if I absorb more corrupted mana in dungeons, I could get more dragons?”
“In theory, yes. But not all residual mana belongs to dragons or is potent enough to leave the signature of their mana core. You’re just lucky this time. Very lucky.”
Zane rolled his eyes at Averin. “And them?”
“The woman is a dark elf.”
Zane observed the woman carrying the little girl following behind him. He had offered to carry the little girl, but she refused and insisted the she carried her to the hospital.
The woman had silver hair and brown skin. She had the pointed ears of an elf and green eyes. She had a skinny but athletic build, and was quite tall. As for her clothes, she wasn’t quite modest with just a black sports bra and cycling shorts that were torn in several places.
In contrast, the little girl she was carrying had fair white skin and blonde hair. She was wearing a dirty yellow sundress.
“So what if she’s a dark elf?”
“They heavily favor their benefactors and would be a promising mate.”
“... so... that’s your type of women...”
“Dragons do not desire a mate from another species. Her potential as a mate relates to you.”
Zane just sighed, not wanting a conversation like this from a literal dragon. He turned to the dark elf. “So... what’s your story.”
He noticed the dark elf looked down. “We’re from sector 17. Those guys were from an organization that attacked our town,” she revealed.
They were currently in sector 56, so they were a long way from home. If Zane had to guess, their town was caught up in an unofficial sector take over. Zane had heard about independent organizations going against the New Earth government and not going through the proper procedures to take over sectors and make it a part of their territory. He barely listened about those in class, but he knew those organizations didn’t last long.
“The truck they were transporting us in were attacked, so I grabbed her and ran,” she glanced at the little girl in her arms. “They wanted to sell us to the Nero family.”
“Human trafficking is a serious crime,” Zane commented. “The Nero family would probably come after you to make sure this doesn’t come out.”
“I’m aware...” the dark elf looked away.
Zane sighed. “Zane. No last name.”
The dark elf turned back to him. “Claire,” she turned to the little girl. “I don’t know her name.”
“Do you have family to return to?” Zane asked.
Claire shook her head. “Lost them during the war on our world.”
Zane glanced back at her. By her words, it meant she was part of the elves that moved here after the revitalization. That was fifty years ago...
That meant Claire was over fifty...
Zane decided that was a topic left undiscussed.
“We’ve arrived at the hospital.”