Disclaimer:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 32: The Menacing Green Drake

That night, Zephyr had a nice dream. There were no fights or arguments.

He dreamed about a simple and fun afternoon he spent with his loyal companions. He met them very early in his life as The Hero, and they have been by his side since then.

The five of them were at a cozy-looking tavern, eating, drinking, and talking about their past adventures.

Zephyr was conscious of everything that was happening as if he were the one living it.

With this pleasant feeling, Zephyr's mind returned to the real world.

He opened his eyes and smiled, feeling very relaxed and well-rested.

'I have a hunch that today is going to be a good day.'

"Zephyr, wake up!" Seth came running into the cave while screaming in a panicked state.

"Maybe not…," he mumbled.

"Zephyr, oh, you are awake! Hurry up, we have to leave!" Seth kept pointing his shaky fingers outside.

"What is going on?... More red bears?" Zephyr asked.

He had wiped out a large part of their population the day before, but there should still be plenty of bears remaining in these mountains.

"No, it's not red bears, it's something much… much worse," Seth told him.

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"Worse than red bears?..." He could not imagine something like that. They were the most aggressive and dangerous creatures he had faced so far.

They then heard a loud shriek before the entire cave started to shake.

'Something is hitting the wall with tremendous force!' Zephyr realized. And to shake the entire cave in such a way, it must be something gigantic.

"Hurry, before the entrance collapses and we are left trapped in here," Seth said urgently.

Without saying one more word, Zephyr stored his things inside his pack and rushed outside.

[Warning…hostile presence detected…]

After hearing the warning and noticing some movement on his left, he moved aside as a giant claw slashed the rock wall behind him like it was butter.

Zephyr took some distance from the creature so he could get a better look.

"Is that?!..." He exclaimed in absolute shock. He had seen depictions of that creature in books.

A legendary beast that everyone seemed to fear, including the Celestials.

"A D-Dragon?!" He said with horror in his voice.

"That's not a dragon, it's a green drake!" The voice of Seth came from the entrance of the cave where he was taking refuge.

"Drake?..." Now that Seth mentioned it, despite its similarities, this creature was quite small in comparison with the dragons he saw depicted in those books.

The one in front of him was perhaps two or three times the size of a red bear, while a real dragon should be like ten times bigger than that.

The drake looked like a giant lizard with wings and light green scales.

'It may not be a real dragon, but it's still very intimidating.' With just one look, Zephyr could tell that this creature was many times more dangerous than any bear.

'Identify!'

[Green Drake from the Red Bear Peak, Level 15]

"Where did this drake come from?" Zephyr asked.

"My grandpa told me that green drakes live at the peak of these mountains. They are the real reason hunters avoid coming here, not for the red bears," Seth explained.

Not wanting to give them any time to converse, the drake let out a menacing noise and flew up for a couple of seconds before descending upon Zephyr.

The creature had sharp claws on its two feet and used them as its main weapon, as well as for carrying its prey away.

Zephyr made use of his enhanced reflexes to avoid the deadly claws with a well-timed sidestep.

"Now it's my turn… Lightning Strike!"

He intended to aim for the head of the creature but ended up hitting one of its wings instead.

He at least expected to pierce that thin membrane of the wings, crippling its ability to fly, but much to his surprise, his lightning magic did little more than create a small burn mark. Other than that, the wing remained intact.

"What?!" This was the first time he encountered an opponent he could not destroy with one spell.

The wing moved out of the way, and Zephyr saw the drake's head snapping at him with its mouth open.

He was not fast enough to get out of the way in time and ended up receiving a nasty bite on his shoulder.

"Lightning Nova!" He tried to push past the pain and used his Nova to force the creature off him.

This time it was much more effective than before, and the drake's mouth opened.

The beast let go of him immediately and retreated a bit.

[You have been poisoned…]

Zephyr placed a hand over his wounded shoulder. It felt like it was burning.

"Zephyr, don't let it bite you. The green drake's fangs are extremely venomous!" Seth yelled.

'A bit late for that…' Zephyr thought with bitterness. Not that he had the choice to avoid being bitten.

'Status'

[Status: Zephyr Level 10 (Poisoned) Health points: 21/30 Mana points: 26/42]

'I lost one-third of my Health plus I'm losing one more per minute… I can't get hit again or I will probably die before I figure out how to eliminate the venom.'

His magic didn't seem to have much effect on the beast, at least not on the wings.

'The Nova had certainly hurt it… that's probably because it had its mouth open. If I don't hit it on a weak point… I will be wasting my limited mana.'