The black soared towards its target before unleashing a powerful blast of dark energy that destroyed everything in its path.
“You’re relying too much on your dragon manifestation.”
“You’re the one that said I could use it without worry,” Zane said as the black dragon vanished after destroying the area.
“That doesn’t mean you should use it as a crutch.”
“Fine,” Zane grumbled.
A few meters away, the cloaked man landed on the ground, the left side of his body exposed to reveal a burn mark with purple veins. “Y-you!”
“What?” Zane smirked. “You’re the one that wanted to give me a warm welcome.”
The man got veiled in shadows and dashed away. The man had run away, leaving Zane alone in the wreckage. He scratched his head in confusion, but made no move to pursue the man. When he turned to leave the scene, he found a blonde woman with a braided ponytail staring at him with a grin.
“You have a dragon trigger!”
Zane was startled by the sudden appearance of the woman and backed away from the woman.
“And you can manifest a dragon!”
“Yeah...”
The woman far too excited and it unnerved Zane. He didn’t know who she was and didn’t even notice her presence.
The woman had a pretty athletic build, and a few scars could be seen on her arms. She wore a leather jacket with a blue shirt underneath along with a brown skirt.
“My name is Astrid and I have an offer for you,” the woman introduced herself.
“An offer?” Zane raised an eyebrow.
“Yup, but before I tell you about it, we should change locations.”
Zane heard sirens approaching. “That’s probably a good idea...”
------
Elfina slammed her hands on her desk after hearing Katherine’s report. Elfina couldn’t blame Katherine for not stopping subject Z. The majority of the cryo subjects had shown uncooperativeness or even hostility after being sent to different facilities, so subject Z’s actions weren’t a surprise. But unlike the others, subject Z had shown immense compatibility with a Dragon trigger. Losing him would be a huge loss for the organization.
“Where is he now?” Elfina asked Katherine.
“The last report was that they purchased a ticket to Vegas city,” Katherine answered.
“Find them,” Elfina ordered.
The door to her office suddenly slammed open as a cackling black-haired woman came in. “Looks like you’re having some trouble,” the woman said as she leaned against the door.
“Subject L, what are you doing here?” Elfina’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at the woman.
“I can go wherever I want,” Subject L replied. “In case you forgot, the last time you guys tried to keep us in one place, you got a pretty harsh warning from upper management,” Subject L pointed upwards with her middle finger, flipping off Elfina.
Elfina’s expression grew even more intense, much to Subject L’s pleasure.
“Anyways... so one of siblings decided to screw you over? Which one?” Subject L asked.
“That’s confidential,” Elfina replied.
“A B C D E F...” Subject L began singing the alphabet as she strutted around Elfina’s office. “X Y Z.”
Katherine flinched.
“Seriously? I had to get to the last letter?” Subject L wrapped an arm around Katherine’s shoulder. “So... where is he?”
“That’s classified,” Elfina spoke up.
“Oh?” Subject L’s hair began to levitate as her eyes glowed a pink hue. “Well... I’ll find out eventually,” she smirked before removing her arm on Katherine and leaving the room.
------
“You want to invite him to a Dragon den exploration?” Melissa asked after Zane brought Astrid to the hotel room they rented.
“Yup. It’s just a class 1, so it won’t be a problem for him,” Astrid stated.
“Class 1?” Zane raised an eyebrow.
“It refers to the difficulty of the Dragon den,” Melissa explained. “The class is determined based on the density of the resentful mana in the dungeon. If it’s just a class 1, it was probably just a wyvern.”
“How strong was the dragon den I went to?” Zane asked Averin.
“It was far stronger than a wyvern, but the mana had yet to properly stabilize, so it did not spawn a powerful monster. You got lucky.”
Zane rolled his eyes. “How much will I get?”
“Depends on how much we earn,” Astrid answered. “Other teams will go in as well, so it’s a race to get to the hoard.”
Zane turned to Melissa who seemed to be invested in reading through the documents Astrid provided about the Dragon den. It was located just outside of the city and was scheduled to be opened in three days.
“Don’t these things already exist decades ago? Why does it seem that this just popped up recently?”
“Most Dragon dens were hidden in rifts, so they only appear once the mana hiding it finally ran out and released all the monsters that had spawned inside it,” Melissa answered. “You really weren’t paying attention in class huh.”
Zane looked away.
“So... are you in?” Astrid asked.
Zane turned to Melissa.
Melissa sighed. “The dragon den itself won’t be a challenge for you since you’re abnormally strong for a Stage 1, but the problem is the other groups participating,” Melissa mentioned. “There’s no guarantee that these people won’t intentionally target you.”
Zane nodded in agreement. His defeat against the wind woman was still fresh in his mind.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Astrid said. “Nobody that’s strong enough to face someone with a Dragon trigger would go to a Class 1 Dragon den.”
“Is there anyone else joining you?” Melissa asked.
“There’s two more,” Astrid answered. “One is a navigator and the other is a porter.”
“Supposedly Zane takes the role of the combatant, what about you?” Melissa followed up.
“I provide backup. I’m a stage 1 mage too,” Astrid said proudly.
With all that information, Melissa pondered the benefits of the deal. “There’s a risk, but I don’t think it’s anything you can’t handle,” Melissa turned to Zane. “It’s your decision.”
“Do it.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“I’ll do it,” Zane replied.
------
Alrius looked over everything he needed to proceed with his plan to deal with the pests causing him problems. However, he was interrupted by his phone ringing.
“What?”
The only he heard on the other line was screaming and explosions. Alrius stared at the phone in confusion until the door to his office opened.
“You’ve been busy.”
Alrius’s eyes widened when the matriarch entered his office. “Matriarch,” Alrius bowed, then he felt his entire body tightened.
“Do you think I wouldn’t find out about your recent endeavors?”
The Matriarch walked past him and stood behind Alrius who was still bowing. He couldn’t move his body at all as the matriarch walked around his office. As he stared at the floor, he heard a thud then something rolled to his feet. His eyes widened when he saw Adelaida’s severed head.
“Because of you, I had to personally do some cleaning.”
“Matriarch wa-”
Alrius didn’t get to finish as his head fell to the floor.
As Alrius’s body fell to the ground, the matriarch stared at the files on his desk. His involvement in the slave trafficking, and the files on the opposing party. The matriarch recognized a few familiar faces, except for one young man.
------
“There’s a lot more people than I expected...” Zane awkwardly looked around the crowd of people gathered in the area.
“They’re nothing. Most of them are just here to buy whatever people get in there,” Astrid assured. “Anyways, here’s the rest of the team,” Astrid gestured to two young women behind her. “The tall one is Hanna, the navigator,” Hanna waved at him. “The other one is Rache, the porter,” Rache gave him a nod.
Hanna was a tall woman with long black hair and black eyes. She was dressed in hiking gear with a lot of stuff strapped to her utility belt. She seemed nervous, but didn’t complain about the situation.
Rache had a slightly bulky figure and a fierce look on her face. She had short brown hair and green eyes. She wore a similar outfit to Hanna, but she carried a large bag and a bunch of rope on her belt.
“This Zane. He just hits hard,” Astrid introduced him.
Zane turned to her, slightly offended. “It’s nice to meet you,” Hanna greeted him.
“Likewise,” Zane replied.
“Let’s head in. They opened the gates an hour ago,” Astrid said, taking the lead.
Hanna and Rache walked after Astrid, so Zane just shrugged and followed. The entrance of the Dragon den was a giant hole on the side of a cliffside. The gate itself was a giant swirling mass of energy, nothing like the tunnel he went to for his first Dragon den.
“Is that how they normally look?” Zane asked.
Hanna shook her head. “Dragon dens look different based on the Dragon that made them. Some are just caves, tunnels, and even castles.”
Zane nodded in understanding. The group entered the Dragon den and found an open cavern leading to a tunnel system. “They must have liked digging,” Zane muttered as Hanna took the lead.
They passed by several groups who seemed to be focused on planning out on how to navigate the tunnels. However, Hanna just led them forward. “This isn’t a tunnel system,” Hanna whispered, making Zane raise an eyebrow. “They’re for ventilation.”
“For what?” Zane got his answer when a torrent of wind slammed into them.
He braced himself and caught Hanna and Astrid before they got blown away. Rache had stood her ground, enduring the blast of wind.
“A warning would have been nice,” Astrid grumbled.
Hanna scratched her head in embarrassment. “Sorry. I thought it would be weaker,” Hanna apologized. “Anyways, all we need to is follow the source of the wind.”
“Any monsters?” Zane asked.
“They’ll pop up when we get past the vents,” Hanna answered.
The group continued forward, but this time Zane took the lead, taking the brunt of the wind currents. This continued for next hour and by the end of it, Zane’s hair was blown back.
“It’s a good look for you,” Astrid commented as they arrived at another opening.
Mana crystals started appearing, meaning they were getting closer to the Den’s source. They stopped for a moment to take a break, but Rache insisted on mining the mana crystals. Zane helped Rache out until Hanna called them back.
“I found traces of what monsters we’ll find in here,” Hanna stated. “She pointed at blast marks on the wall. We’re dealing with Stone slugs,” Hanna revealed.
“... slugs?” Zane raised an eyebrow.
Hanna nodded, completely serious. “Thanks to their biology, they’re very heavy. They won’t be affected by the wind currents, and their form of attack is shooting rocks.”
“Are they big?” Zane asked.
“Yes.”
“Brown?”
“Yup.”
Zane stared at the ceiling of the cavern. “Like that?”
They all looked up to find slugs sticking to the ceiling of the cavern.
“Yes...” Hanna nodded.
The slugs began shooting stones from their mouths. “Rely on it my ass!” Zane yelled as he manifested the Frozen mirror dragon, who created a barrier to block the stones as it charged right at them.
The blue dragon crashed into the ceiling, causing all the slugs to fall to the ground with a heavy crash due to their weight.
Zane smirked when the slugs stopped moving.
“Don’t make it a habit.”
“Well, I don’t have other tools to use.”
“Once you reach the second stage, you’ll be able to use Dragonification and the shadow movement.”
“Until then, I’m spamming dragons.”
“You can use Dragon manifestation?” Hanna asked him in shock.
“Yes?” Zane turned to Hanna who looked very surprised, then turned to Astrid. “You didn’t tell them?”
“Not my secret to tell,” Astrid replied. “That’s an important rule to keep in mind in this business.”
“Astrid told us you were a stage one,” Hanna mentioned. “Only Stage fours can use Dragon manifestations.”
Zane nodded and decided to change the topic since he did not know anything about what Hanna just said. “Anything worth taking from these guys?”
Rache shook her head. “They’re more valuable alive since they’re trail is basically cement.”
“Let’s go,” Hanna began leading away again.
This time, without the wind currents showing them the way, Hanna showed off her expertise as she followed several different tracks to find the hoard. Along the way, Zane had to deal with a couple more slugs, but it wasn’t much of a challenge with how slow they were.
After several hours, they arrived at another opening, but this this one lacks any other tunnels aside from the one they came from. At the center of cavern, a cloud of corrupted mana could be seen.
“Where’s the treasure?” Zane asked.
“We need to get rid of the corrupted mana first,” Astrid approached the cloud, and began muttering some kind of ritual.
Zane turned to Hanna and Rache, who just shrugged. Zane walked past Astrid, approached the cloud and absorbed the corrupted mana.
That took Astrid by surprise, but nobody got the chance to question it when a small pile of treasure suddenly fell from a rift that appeared where the corrupted mana once was.
The treasure comprised of jewelry, gold trinkets, decorated weapons, and other expensive looking stuff. Some of them looked busted up and even fake, but Zane guessed that they would still a bit from everything.
“Looks like someone beat us to the treasure.”
Zane glanced back at the entrance to find a group of five people. Two men and three women, all of them wearing some kind of uniform.
“They’re from the academy too,” Astrid stated.
“Too?” Zane turned to Astrid in confusion.
“We came here to earn some pocket money, but it seems we wasted out time,” one of the new arrivals spoke.
Zane noticed that the ladies were on guard at the new arrivals. Judging by the situation, Zane had to assume Hanna and Rache were also from this academy. “Can I kill them?” Zane asked.
“Why bother asking?” Averin made his presence known. “You’ve never hesitated before.”
“Trying to look cool.”
“Did he just threa-” the man at the front of the group didn’t get to finish as Zane grabbed him by the face.
“Don’t!” Astrid yelled.
“Piece of shi-” the other man nearby got backhanded by Zane, knocking them out.
“You think you can get away with this?” one of the women in uniform spoke up.
Zane responded by squeezing the man’s head, making him scream. “I’m not a nice guy.”
“Just end it.”
“Please stop!” Astrid yelled.
Zane turned to Astrid. “I don’t know about this academy, but I know a cliche villain when I see one,” he turned to the remaining three women and aimed his other arm at them. “Give me a reason to not kill you.”
“We didn’t do anything!”
“Yet,” Zane spoke. “You expect me to believe you all came here. Tried to set a mood, and just walk away?”
Zane’s hand tightened, causing the man in his hand to faint.
“We’ll leave! We won’t bother you again.”
Zane scoffed and threw the unconscious man at them. The three women hurriedly picked up their companions and left. Zane turned back to Astrid and other to find them staring at him. “What?”
“I don’t understand you at all,” Astrid commented. “Do you just pretend to be nice in front of the wheelchair lady?”
Zane chuckled. “My attitude depends on who the one receiving it is,” Zane replied before heading to the pile of treasure.
------
Tevan looked at the person who just arrived in front of him. The matriarch of the Nero family, Cassandra Nero. She had fiery red hair and golden eyes. She wore a business suit that hugged the curves of her slender figure.
“I came to apologize for my rowdy family,” Cassandra spoke.
“I’m flattered that you came yourself,” Tevan replied.
“I had to since the ones responsible, are no longer capable of doing so themselves,” Cassandra stated.
“Well, if that’s all. I accept your apology,” Tevan smiled, wanting the woman to leave as soon as possible.
“Of course that’s not all. I came to give you proper compensation and to ask a favor,” Cassandra placed a brief case in front of Tevan and an envelope.
Tevan ignored the brief case that obviously contained money and opened the envelope. He found a picture of a young man with black hair and eyes. The man had no unique features, nor gave any impression to consider remembering him.
“Who’s this?”
“He’s mine.”
Tevan raised an eyebrow. “Again, I ask. Who’s this?”
“I’ve disposed of a lot of weeds because of him, so I’ll need him as a replacement,” Cassandra replied.
Tevan’s eyes twitched. “Again... who the fuck is this?”
“... he’s Subject Z, but he goes by Zane.”