‘Gods damnit,’ Bratley was starting to miss the hero. At least that bastard sealed him and left. “Seth, there is a way for us to settle our score without you dying of old age and me of annoyance.”

“Nonesense,” the pixie retorted while summoning a small gravity field and slamming it into his claw. “I’m having the time of my life.”

Using the dragon as his own personal punching bag, Seth had used the past week to master several new elements, including lightning, fire, and now even gravity. Of course, since he was using ambient mana, none of these had the power to harm a dragon.

“Listen,” Bratley pleaded with a tired voice. “You’re not strong enough to kill me with your current power. So, how about, instead of giving me a manicure, you go fight a weaker monster to hone your skills?”

For a moment, Seth stopped his barrage and considered Bratley's offer. Unfortunately, he soon shook his head.

“Attacking the weak is cowardly,” said the warrior while taking water out of the grass, freezing it, and shooting spikes at his opponent.

“It’s not!” Bratley, shook in frustration. “You can attack strong monsters.”

“That’s what I’m doing.”

“You can attack evil monsters.”

Again, Seth stopped. “Go on,” he said while crossing his arms.

‘Bingo,’ the dragon inwardly grinned. After a month of being annoyed by this squirt, he’d finally figured him out.

“I’m just the protector of this forest,” he said in a meek tone. “But, there are great, evil, very bad monsters out there that hurt the innocent. They kill humans… and pixies, lots and lots of pixies. And there’s nobody to save them.”

The giant black dragon closed its eyes and shook its head. A small tear fell down his maw along with an unwitting whimper.

‘Today, I have seen everything,’ Momo nodded from the side. He finally had a story worthy of telling his children.

“Those bastards!” Blind to the horrible acting, Seth clenched his fists and roared towards the heavens. “Where are they? I will punish them all.”

“Excellent!” Bratley grinned before immediately going back to playing sad. “The first one is Yuki, Queen of the spiders, and a massive cunt, I mean, enemy to man and pixie kind. She once served as my underling…” Seth raised an eyebrow. “… upholding justice and protecting nature.

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But then, when the Hero attacked, that b**h, I mean vile woman, betrayed me and started committing atrocities throughout the Kingdom.” Bartley pretended to wipe away another tear. His eyes were dry as sand.

“Anyway, she’s now hiding, I mean, corrupting the Great Labyrinth near Guyfast City. Poor, unknowing innocents enter that place daily. Many never come back. Oh, if only a brave hero could save them…”

Bratley’s act was so bad that even the forest was cringing. The nearby birds were looking at him with disgust, and Momo's respect for the so-called protector had fallen into the red zone.

“Something’s fishy,” Seth eventually said.

‘No shit,’ thought Momo while shaking his head.

“Where is this Guyfast City?”

“300 Km. to the west,” the dragon readily answered.

“I don’t know where west is.”

“That way.”

“My geography skills are terrible,” Seth sighed. “You’re trying to make me get lost, aren’t you?”

“What? No. Listen," Bratley squirmed. "The squirrel, I mean, your Royal Steed can guide you. He knows these parts, right?” The colossal dragon looked at Momo with puppy dog eyes. It was so creepy, the squirrel flinched.

“See?” said the dragon taking it as a nod. “He can take you to a nearby city, and you can buy a map and a guide from there.”

“But, I don’t have any money,” Seth shrugged.

A vein popped on Bratley's skull, and he took a deep breath. Then, to release his frustration and to end this s**tshow, the dragon shot pure mana all around him. Soon, the grass and even the soil up to a meter deep turned into legendary grade mana crystals.

“Here,” pointed the dragon. “With this, you’re richer than a King.”

“But, I can’t carry all of this.”

‘Gods damnit!’ After some furious claw tapping, Bratley closed his fist and started hitting his chest. A minute later, the dragon lowered its maw and began vomiting treasure. From enhanced weapons to magical jewelry, an adventurer's wet dream was spit in a pile.

“Here.” The dragon picked out a ring and tapped it. Immediately, a vortex was summoned which sucked in not only the mana crystals but also the treasure. “Now, you’re richer than God. Just leave. Please.”

Bratley was desperate. After all he went through, the damn pixie still looked unconvinced.

‘The ring is covered in dragon vomit,’ Seth sighed. The warrior knew a brave knight needed to look past such details, but it was revolting nonetheless.

“Come here, Moses.”

His vassal slowly approached.

“Catch.” Seth grabbed the ring, and it shined brightly. He then threw it on Momo’s neck before scraping the remaining spit on the ground.

“Ew,” the squirrel did the same but with its whole body. For some atrocious reason, the ring wouldn’t come off no matter how hard he pushed it.

“So, do we have a deal?” said the dragon with a grin reminiscent of a car salesman.

“Sure,” Seth nodded though still a bit suspicious. “But know this, monster: After I banish that other monster and save the land, we will have our rematch!”

He then got on Momo’s back, and with a gust of wind, they were gone… in the wrong direction.

“Finally.” Bratley was so tired he collapsed on the ground. Yuki would kill the pest, and he could finally rest.

‘But, what if that bastard wins?’ a terrible thought entered his mind. ‘Nah, I'm not that unlucky... Am I?’