A man with black skin and silver hair looked outside the glass window of his office, admiring the lively scenery the bustling city provided. Tevan Karama was the current head of the Karama family and the chairman of the Planerium group.
“They have some balls sneaking into my territory,” Tevan Karama commented when he received the report. “Who’s in charge of the sector?”
“It was Ms. Kayde,” the agent answered. “She personally intercepted the group. There was no indicator which family they belonged, but Ms. Kayde stated that the Nero family was behind this due to an attempt to silence the people that knew about their involvement in slave trafficking.”
Kayde was one of the rising stars of Planerium group. She has a lot of talent, but she was very difficult to work with. Primarily because she doesn’t like following orders and any instructions given to her is rarely done.
Tevan hummed. “This will be quite the mess. Just pass it along to the council. We already have too much on our plate.”
“Understood,” the agent bowed.
“How is Tasha doing?” Tevan asked.
“She is currently participating in arena,” the agent replied.
Tevan sighed. His niece was supposed to be meeting a potential suitor tonight, but hearing that she was in the arena, the chances of that happening were slim. “What am I supposed to do?” Tevan grumbled.
“From what I know about this kind situations, young lady would simply find a suitor on her own,” the agent responded.
Tevan gave the agent a flat look. “You really expect her to find someone?”
The agent looked away.
------
Zane listened as Melissa was humming a song he didn’t know, while they waited for the train to arrive at their destination. Throughout the train ride, Zane used the mana control Averin thought him to gather and circulate mana through his body.
“You’re doing well.”
“I’m doing it out of habit at this point,” Zane replied.
“That’s good. I don’t know the standard for humans, but this is a steady progress for a dragon.”
“I’m still stage one though.”
“A core’s stage does not define your strength.”
“Maybe for dragons, but for humans, a core is a major factor on who lives.”
Zane may be oblivious of the outside world, but Melissa wasted no time telling him stories happening outside. Melissa didn’t sugarcoat things and told him about the harshness of the world.
Even now, there’s a small war going on somewhere else.
“We’re here,” Melissa said. “This is Vegas city. It’s named after a famous city before the war.”
Looking out the window, could see the bustling city. Despite it being in the afternoon, beaming lights could be seen as blimps floated above the buildings.
Zane stood up and guided Melissa to the exit of the train. Zane had to carry her down the train since they didn’t have a ramp, but it wasn’t a problem thanks to his strength.
“You’ve really gotten stronger,” Melissa commented.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“It’s the mana control. Apparently, I’m an augmenter type,” Zane stated.
There were two types of mages, augmenters and conjurers. Augmenters applied magic internally, enhancing their physical abilities or applying an element. Conjurers applied magic externally, creating magic circles and using the mana in the surrounding to cast powerful magic.
“Is that why you’re so fast?” Melissa asked, recalling Zane’s speed during his fight at the hospital.
Zane shook his head. “That was actually a technique I learned.”
“From who?” Melissa raised an eyebrow.
“... some random guy at the hospital.”
Melissa gave him a flat look. “If it’s something you can’t tell me, I can wait until you’re ready,” Melissa looked to the front again. “Let’s go find a place to stay.”
Zane nodded.
------
After getting a room at a hotel, Zane went out to look for ways to make money. Melissa had warned him about scams and strictly told him to call her first when he found a job before accepting.
“Now... how do people find jobs,” Zane muttered as he looked around the city.
The buildings practically covered the sky, not allowing any sunlight to hit the streets. The streets were lively with the cheers of people that seemed to be celebrating.
“What are they so happy about?” Zane wondered as he kept walking.
At some point, he noticed a crowd and walked closer to see what was going on. They were standing in front of shop that had a television displayed. It was showing some sort of arena where to people were fighting. There wasn’t any volume, so Zane had no idea what was going on.
“Better get back to what I was doing,” Zane muttered as he walked away from the crowd.
After resuming his hunt for employment, Zane saw a “Help wanted” sign posted on a door. Entering the establishment, Zane found out it was a bar. But despite being a bar, the place was quiet with everyone just minding their own business.
Zane approached the bartender who was polishing a glass. “I saw the sign.”
The bartender looked him over. “No.”
Zane raised an eyebrow, then just walked away, catching the bartender off-guard. Normally, that interaction would result in someone throwing a fit and start asking questions, but Zane didn’t like complicated things. It was a waste of energy.
When he reached the door, it opened to reveal a large man covered in tattoos. “Where’s the bitch?!” he yelled in front Zane, making his eyes twitch in annoyance.
The large man attempted to push Zane out of the way, but he didn’t budge. Zane’s hand blurred forward, digging into the man’s gut. The man fell to his knees, clutching his stomach.
“Tsk,” Zane walked past and exited the bar.
“You’re reckless,” Averin commented. “Pointlessly making enemies will do you no good.”
“Where have you been?” Zane asked. “Didn’t hear you talk for a while.”
“I have my own matters to attend to. And my presence isn’t always needed,” Averin stated. “There’s nothing to teach you until you reach the second stage of your mana core.”
“About that... is my strength normal?” Zane asked.
“You manifest dragons repeatedly and you thought you were normal?”
“Hey! I have no idea what’s the standard for mages,” Zane replied. “For all I know, they could throw their dragon around.”
“Manifesting the dragon’s signature is incredibly taxing,” Averin stated. “The only reason you could manifest them without any recoil is because the flow mana in your body doesn’t get disturbed. Your physical abilities is simply the result of the efficiency of the mana control.”
“Can you repeat that in words I understand?”
Averin sighed. “The mana control I thought is not only the best for Augmenters, it’s also the most efficient in handling dragon manifestations.”
“It’s that great huh,” Zane hummed. “Thanks.”
“Do not be mistaken human. This is only for the purpose of my revenge.”
Zane shrugged. “Anyways... I’m being followed, aren’t I?”
“Ever since you left the bar.”
Zane sighed. He looked around, searching for a place isolated enough to confront his pursuer. His biggest weapon was his dragon manifestation, so he needed to find a place where he could openly use it.
After weaving through the crowd and slipping through allies, Zane ended up in an empty lot. His pursuer revealed himself shortly after. It was skinny man wearing a tattered black cloak. Zane couldn’t see any distinguishable features, except for the man’s sunken face.
“Should I know you?” Zane asked.
“No. I’m just here to give you the Vegas city welcome,” the man stated, pulling out two daggers from his cloak.
“If you’re an assassin, shouldn’t you be relying on ambushes?” Zane raised an eyebrow.
“There’s no need to resort to that in order to deal with a green bud.”
Zane shrugged and raised a hand. “You’re funeral.”
A black dragon roared.