Akara sat on top of a tree, watching Arma repeatedly swing a long-sword up and down to build up his strength.

Ability to use magic was extremely rare among humans, only one in ten thousand possesses the ability to use extremely weak form of magic. As a rule, human beings are considered a race that lacks magical ability altogether.

Dragons are so dangerous not only because of their colossal size and fire breath, but also due to their unrivaled control over magic. If humans are a race that is considered the weakest in magical affinity, then the dragons would be the strongest.

Dragon Hunters utilized special weapons made of metal called Blazesteel. Aside from powerful magic, that was the only known way of fighting against dragons.

Under Akara’s tutelage, Arma was learning the skills needed to fight against the dragons.

But in order to fight them, you needed to be able to wield the weapons, and light weapons were no good, so training to wield heavier weapons was necessary.

Even if you learn a good fighting style, unless you have power to back it up, it would be practically useless. And building up strength takes time and a strong resolve.

Akara: “You will train to use this sword. Swing it up and down every single day. Once your body gets used to it, I will teach you how to fight with it”

Arma took Akara’s words to heart. Every day, he would train until his hands ended up full of blisters and bleeding. Now his hands were covered in bandages, but he did not show any sign of stopping.

Akara: ‘He is the same as me, huh’ she glanced down at her right foot, a sore reminder of her loss against a High Class Dragon, Erinoza the Blood Dragon.

Akara: ‘The only style I can teach him is geared towards fighting dragons, which is impossible to do without wielding a weapon. The sooner he becomes strong enough to use it, sooner I can teach him to master it’

Even if he did master his weapon, Akara was not sure if that would be enough to save Arma’s life.

It was already a year since Arma had joined them, and during that time, three members of their group already fell victim to dragons. Torn to pieces, eaten, or burnt to ashes, it was considered lucky if there was at least one body part left to be buried.

The three members were not exactly seasoned fighters like Akara, but they had been hunting dragons with her for at least a decade, so they had enough experience under their belt, but even that was not enough to save them.

Akara: ‘The brat is too stubborn. I tried to persuade him to quit so many times, but each time he say ‘No way! Give me more training!’ Honestly, how do I deal with this kid?’

Since she was a member of demon race, Akara aged slower than humans, which was why, even though she was in her late 50’s, she still had the appearance of a woman in her twenties.

Age-wise, aside from Magna, Akara was the oldest member of the group, and their leader.

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And she considered the Dragon Hunters in her group to be her ‘children’, even Magna, who was technically older than her.

Including Arma, there were a total of ten Dragon Hunters in their group.

Each one of them had his own circumstances for ending up in their group.

Wolf demi human, Wiley Sid.

Due to the discrimination against demi-humans, many of them resort to becoming criminals, and that was exactly what this foolish lad had done.

Except he chose the worst person he could target, Akara Velen, the Red Ogre.

He thought he could easily rob Akara, only to be beaten up and almost cooked and eaten by her.

Akara gave him a choice, either end up on the death gallows or work for her to pay off his debt, the debt of having his life spared. He immediately conceded.

Double-sided spear wielder, Monkey type-demi human, Burmongo.

Among them, he was the true voice of humor and could make even the stoic Arma laugh out loud with his jokes.

Akara was glad that Burmongo had adjusted so well, after all the first time she met him, he was in a rather traumatized state.

While investigating a site of dragon attack, she found Burmongo, hiding behind a brick structure. Of his family, he was the only survivor, forced to watch them get eaten right before his eyes, but too afraid to move. Akara promptly took him under her wing.

For several years, he was completely mute, following only Akara’s orders without question. Only recently did he start to lighten up, gaining a sense of happiness and humor in the process.

Bow wielder, elven folk, Manga Sevel.

Unlike the others she had found, Magna was the one who found her.

Dragons were responsible for burning down his entire village. What he wanted more than anything was a chance at vengeance, asking to join her group. Akara saw the resolve in his eyes and agreed.

As for the boar type demi-human wielding a gigantic great sword, Banro, he waas a little strange case.

Akara had been in the business of dragon slaying for more than thirty years, by now, her name is well known far and wide as that of a mighty warrior.

Banro challenged Akara to a duel, wanting to beat her and gain fame for himself.

Sadly, he got his ass handed to him on a silver platter.

After she was done Akara thought she would never see him again, only for Banro to beg her to become her subordinate the very next morning.

Then, there was Noira, a serpent type demi-human. Essentially she was like a human sized snake that had limbs.

Ironically enough, she was the most nurturing person in their group, serving as a medic and healer.

Dragons had eaten her people, and then bandits found and enslaved her.

The first time Akara met her was during the slave auction, during which Akara proceeded to buy her. Akara did it on a whim, not thinking too much of the consequences.

Afterwards, Akara gave Noira her freedom and told her she could go anywhere she wants now. Much to Akara’s surprise, Noira asked to come with her.

As for the horned twins, Kura and Raku, as far as Akara knew, they were orphans who joined to avenge their parents.

The member Akara thought of as the weirdest was the Gryphon folk named Siracus.

One word that would describe him the best would be a narcissist.

Apparently, his goal in life was to prove that Gryphons are superior to dragons. He wanted to defeat many dragons to inspire his race.

“Birds are superior to lizards!” he would say that so much that it kind of became his catchphrase.

The last member who joined was a human, Arma, Arma Blood.

Until him, all the members that joined Akara’s group were non-humans. Non-humans usually could access magic and their bodies were tougher than those of humans, able to take far more damage.

Even ignoring his race, the fact that he was a twelve year old boy was most concerning. Most of the members who joined were already adults; even the twins were already 17 or 18. Arma was still a child, a kid who wanted to go the path that would surely lead him to doom.

Akara: ‘If I left him alone, he would have ended up in even worse situation, at least if he learns, he might survive longer….’

By now, Akara already considered Arma one of them, one of her ‘children’. Just thinking of him dying would send tears streaming down her eyes.

With each loss of a Dragon Hunter, Akara lost one of her ‘children’.

Dragons were a dire threat and it was up to Dragon Hunters to face them.

It was a mission that needed to be done, but at what a price?