The faint chirping of birds echoed through the land. They flew above the curious boulder that sat on a gently sloped hill.
The birds observed a creature that emerged from the structure. The massive door, which was not designed for a mere human, creaked open. The giant creature stretched it's wings and yawned. They fled after the breeze.
Ziffrit blinked at the grassy plain. He inhaled, the fresh mid-summer breeze lightened his mind.
“Mhm...”
Several patches of trees stretched from the distance, but mostly, just a grassy plain.
The spell had worked.
A surge of happiness swept on Ziffrit's heart.
Did he really came ahead of time!? Behind!?
Exploring this world will be nice. But maybe...next time? Ziffrit needed to rest, a time to relax. Incidents from the past three days was so hectic, that even with a tireless body of a Dragon, mental exhaustion took a toll.
He sighed. His cave was sitting in a gently-sloped hill. Yes, the cave is his' now, naturally.
He once again yawned then transformed into a human form.
“[ Image Shift ]”
He stroked his cheeks. Yep. It was chiseled.
Ziffrit, a Filipino native, had fairly average looking face and body build. But the transformation gave him a feeling that something had changed.
He stroked his eyebrows.
“Hm... ”
It felt...thicker and longer. He needed a mirror to check.
Ziffrit turned to the pile of treasures to search—
“!!”
He reflexively recoiled at what he saw from the distance.
“S-Sorry Mister Dragon!”
A little girl bowed, no, prostrated besides the pile of treasures. Ziffrit opened and closed his mouth several times.
He was startled. Seeing a child in the darkness from afar, wearing white dress, was pretty creepy.
How did a child entered here?
He stared at the child and himself. He blinked, staring at his naked body.
Ziffrit blocked the private parts with his hands then strode in front of the child. The girl cowered.
“It's ok little girl. You don't need to be sorry, ok?”
He squatted and patted the girl on the head.The girl twitched.
Of course, barging on someone's property is considered tresspassing. But Ziffrit will let it pass.
“I-I'm Sorry!”
The girl's cute voice pierced Ziffrit's heart. His 20 year old soul was too tainted for this.
“It's ok little girl. You dont need to be sorry, o—”
“GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER YOU PERVEEEERT!”
Whack!
A basket filled with green herbs smacked Ziffrit's face. He recoiled, catching the basket on his hands.
“Hey! Who the hell...!?”
Ziffrit gazed at the source of the throw. He examined the lady glaring in front of him.
She look and dressed like...a villager? Ziffrit didn't know, but she lookedvery pissed. Her hands clutched and her face enraged.
Ziffrit threw his hands immediately upwards. Showing innocence.
The lady stared, brows furrowing. She looked at her sister, on Ziffrit's face, and down...
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Oops.”
[ Create: Robe ]. He pointed at his chest. A maroon robe fluttered and wrapped his buck naked body.
“I didn't do anything, miss.”
Ziffrit raised his hands higher. Shrugging and making an innocent face. The lady's face was flushed. She glanced at her sister besides the pervert.
“Leila, let's go.”
“Okay...”
Ziffrit let the lady approach the little girl.
“Uhm...”
The two stride at the long hallway. They were leaving.
“Hey!”
Ziffrit bellowed at them. The child was holding hands with his sister, looking back at Ziffrit. But the big sister didn't respond or bat an eye at Ziffrit's call.
He was sitting at his throne. Ziffrit shouted at the grumpy sister again.
“Hey miss! You forgot your basket!”
The lady in the gateway halted. She snapped her head towards him, then freed her sister's hand from her's. Ziffrit heard her annoyed grunt.
She started to stomp briskly towards Ziffrit.
The clomping of her feet echoed through the cave. She stopped in front of him and snatched the basket from his hands, then quickly walked away.
The lady reached the doorway and grabbed her sister's hand. Ziffrit cupped his hand on his mouth then shouted.
“Thanks!”
He grinned. After a while, they disappeared from his sight.
——
Several minutes had passed since the incident. And Ziffrit was now roasting a slice of Wyvern's tail. The cast iron pan was wide, so is the meat. Finding a stove for a pan that was 50cm diameter will be a challenge.
The tool didn't need a stove for it was enchanted, though. Ziffrit just leveled the surrounding dirt to form a stage to put the pan on.
The self-produced heat seard the meat. It's mouth watering aroma wafted towards the cave entrance where Ziffrit was sitting.
He distanced himself from the pan, two meters away, to prevent the burning oil jump on his skin. Not that it will hurt him with a Dragon's strength. It's just a personal habit.
He leaned on the ground, listening to the sizzling noise. He just only sprinkled in with salt, but it smelled nice.
Ziffrit tilted his head behind. He looked blankly at the dim interior of the cave, rememberind the scene inside the massive gate behind his throne. It was a mess.
The room was neatly cut in half. Piles of different kinds of meat littered the ground—they stayed fresh because of a preservation spell. Even foreign spices, seasonings and herbs, too. That's also where he got the salt.
There are things that a man from Earth can undoubtedly recognize from the bunch of stuff there. Leeks, cabbages, carrots, onions, garlic, beans, the lists goes on. But these were not just your everyday vegetables. The fact that it was taller than his human form and their bizzare appearances makes it unnatural. He was lucky the Dragon's memories provided him with so much information, making him know what is what inside his cave.
But the memories of a Dragon that massacred countries and destroys for a treasure is unappealing.
Ziffrit shook his head. He stretched his hands and then stood.
“[ Fly ]”
Ziffrit floated and shotthrough the air. He stopped, suspending above to observe his home.
The cave looked like a chocolate truffle submerge halfway into the hill. With a dazzling dots of crystal toppings. A big hole bore the ceiling, providing a good view of the throne and the glittering hoard.
Ziffrit looked at the blazing sun abovehead. He was not hungry. But waiting for the food to cook, while the sun is at it's peak, brings back the memories from home...
His eyes became moist at the thought. He sniffed and brushed the water from his eyes.
Weeping about it now will do him no good. He cannot forget the moments on the first two days he was secluded at the cave. He had cried enough.
He sniffed, glancing at the sizzling pan below. Black smoke rose from th—
He dived swiftly then plummeted to the ground. Bits of dirt and grass flunged on the air. Ziffrit ran towards the pan. He frantically flipped the meat with his fingers.
He winced as he saw the burnt side of the meat.
“My mother will kill me if she saw this...”
The 6 storey-high entrance gate was open. He glanced beyond it. At the throne, and up at the hoard of treasure.
“[ Lesser Teleport ]”
Pop
Ziffrit appeared behind the mountain of treasures. He drifted his gaze at the items sticking from the myriad of gold coins.
He stopped at a dagger with a blade made of translucent crystal. Ziffrit tiptoed, reached for the wooden hilt, and yanked the dagger out the gold coins. Ziffrit pointed at the door behind him.
[ Lesser Teleport ]. Ziffrit appeared inside the storeroom, or basically, a 'meat room'. The missing part of the 30 meter wide and long room allowed the vibrant land beyon to peek at the inside. He glanced around, looking at the neat rows of meats and greens—but mostly meat. Several rows of towering shelves holds the produce. The seasonings and spices was arranged in a tidy corner. He arranged and cleaned the room before with the help of spell.
Ziffrit's gazed wandered and fixed at the skinned tail of a Wyvern near him. He leaned, sniffing the bloody meat.
“Nice.”
He drew the dagger and sliced a generous portion from the meat. He grabbed the huge chunk then walked to the piles of towering vegetables.
Ziffrit went in front of the 2 meter high cabbage in front of him. A single leaf can fill the belly of 20 men. He ran the dagger accross then stripped a good amount from the leaf. Ziffrit smiled.
This should be enough. He surveyed the wrecked room once more. The room was illuminated by the strong noon light. Stretch of grassy plain and trees can be seen through the missing half of the building. Too bad, that's where the liquid seasonings are stored.
It was a waste, considering that the Dragon collected these rare materials from his days. By plundering...
Ziffrit's stomach twisted.
He frowned, twitching his brows. Everyday, everytime, Ziffrit force and struggle to forget. Forget all the wicked and terrible memories of the Evil Dragon. It bothered him. All the deaths, despair, and cries of people felt so real.He inhaled—
—The Evil Dragon. The Mighty and Terrible being stood above the bodies of it's perished kin. People—rich, poor, slaves, childrens—running desperately on the blood stained land without direction.
The Evil Dragon roared. Explosions, blood , and death filled the air. The Dragon spread it's wings. It shot through the sky with a single flap.
A wounded man, standing on the ground against the chaos, raised a sword that shimmers like a burning sun. It's radiance tore the sky. Enough to reach the Dragon.
The Dragon just stared, flying in place above the bloody sky, unconcered.
The man stepped his foot backwards. His gaze fixed at the Dragon while lowering his body to the ground. He breathed in, and out. In and out.
He angled his grip backwards, pointing the sword behind, up. The man was clothed on a farmer's attire. But it was far from the truth.
A man that saves, loved by people, baring the strength to fight evil for justice. A glimmer of hope.
A Hero.
The Hero's eyes set ablazed, a blaze of the sun. He shouted, in between growl and howl. His muscles bulged, his grip tightened, his footing steadied, his wounds closed.
The sword expanded once more. He drove the sword archly upwards, towards the Evil Dragon. The running, stumbling and dying people stopped and stared at the blinding spectacle in—
The man suddenly exploded, leaving clouds of red mist on where he stand. The shower of gore scattered through the ground. The sword lost it's dazzling shine. It dropped to the ground.
The spectators shouted in horror. There was no escape.
The Dragon opened it's jaw, aiming at the running figures—
“Aaaargh!
Ziffrit's ear rang. He pounded his head several times, hoping to stop the memory. And it did.
Ziffrit gasped for air. It will take a long time to get used to that.
His mind became fuzzy and gaze unsteady.
“Ugh.”
He groaned in pain. Ziffrit will stay being himself. The human Ziffrit.
Ziffrit lightly tossed the huge strip of cabbage leaf at a nearby shelf. Leaning it on the polished wood. His freed hand touched the throbbing veins on his temples.
“[ Calm ]”
Without the existence of magic in this world, the surging memories of an immortal being invading his mind will definitely make him insane. He's lucky he temporarily coped with it the first time it happened.
The calming spell kicked in. He straighten his posture and then—
Smiled.
Ziffrit's picked up the cabbage strip. He pointed from afar. With a pop, Ziffrit disappeared from the room.