Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As Zeke exchanged greetings with his father, he had no choice but to lie when asked whether there had been any results.

‘There is no need to tell him about learning aura or about the dragon. Even if I tell him, it will only end up hurting me.’

After all, even an archmage could not detect the aura in one’s dantian.

If he remained silent like this, he should be able to pass without suspicion.

‘But somehow...’

The way his father was looking at him was strange.

He seemed startled by something.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Zeke, were there truly no results at the Dragon Ruins?”

“Yes. Why?”

“...No, it is nothing. You have worked hard. Go inside and rest.”

Seeing his father turn away with a grave expression, Zeke could only tilt his head.

‘Why is he acting like that? Is he feeling unwell?’

The answer came unexpectedly from the dragon.

-It seems that human sensed my dragon force.

‘What? Dragon force?’

Zeke asked back with a puzzled expression.

‘What is that? Explain it properly.’

-I possess two kinds of energy. One is what you commonly call magical energy, and the other is a special energy that flows from my soul. In the past, you humans called it dragon force.

Dragon force...

He had never heard of such a thing.

Not even Zeke, who had read every book in the magical archive.

‘You mean, aside from the magical energy I am absorbing right now, you are also releasing a separate energy called dragon force? And Father sensed that?’

-Correct. Ordinary humans cannot sense dragon force, but that human seems to have excellent Mana Sensitivity, for he read my energy.

‘Ah...’

Now he understood.

Why his father had looked strange.

Why he had asked once more whether nothing had happened.

‘Hey, Goldie! You should have told me something like that earlier! Dragon force? Father is going to think it is suspicious!’

-What does that have to do with me?

‘You damn lizard bastard! Do you want to taste Mental Collapse?’

Perhaps because the memory of Mental Collapse remained, the dragon’s voice trembled slightly.

-I-If one looks at it fairly, you never asked me, did you? And I have no obligation to disclose personal information to you.

‘What?’

Zeke looked down at the necklace with an incredulous expression.

He wanted to argue, but it was not exactly wrong.

‘So you are going to be uncooperative like this, are you?’

Thinking in Korean so the dragon could not hear him, Zeke suppressed his rising anger.

He wanted to use Mental Collapse, but he was in no position to do so.

He could not keep threatening the dragon forever.

After all, there was a limit to how far fear alone could take him.

‘If I want to draw out cooperation from the other party, coercive means are not the only answer.’

-What have you been muttering to yourself since earlier, human?

‘Not human. Zeke.’

-What?

‘Now that I think about it, I never introduced myself.’

Having opened the conversation, Zeke spoke in a gentler voice than before.

‘Your name is Karbolearos, is it not? The Gold Dragon who left a mark on human history three thousand years ago.’

-Ahem. So you remember.

‘From now on, I will call you by your proper name instead of Goldie. I will also stop threatening to use Mental Collapse at every turn.’

-What wind has suddenly blown through you? You are doing things you never did before.

‘When I thought about it, I realized I was not entirely in the right either. I trespassed into your home without permission. Even though there was a warning telling me not to enter, I forced my way in. If I were you, I would probably have been angry too.’

-Hmm. So you are not a human entirely without thought.

Perhaps because Zeke first understood his position, the dragon’s voice became considerably softer.

‘But it was still a bit much to use Mental Collapse right away when I had not even stolen anything. Of course, I am not saying I was blameless.’

-I was flustered at the time. A human suddenly appeared and invaded my territory.

‘I know, I know. In that sense, why do we not forget what happened and reconcile? Whether we like it or not, we are in a position where we will have to stay together from now on.’

-I have no reason to stay with you.

‘Why would there be no reason? You were trapped inside for three thousand years. Was it not stifling? Are you not curious about how the world has changed?’

-What are you trying to say?

‘I will show you the world. In exchange, you listen to my requests too.’

-Requests?

The sudden demand made his voice sound displeased, but only for a moment.

‘What I want is communication.’

-Communication?

‘Earlier, you did not tell me that a being on the level of an archmage could sense dragon force, so Father noticed. To prevent that kind of thing in advance, I think we need communication.’

-Ahem. So that is why you lowered yourself like this?

Perhaps he had expected some grand demand, because his response sounded deflated.

But it was not ineffective.

Maybe because Zeke had offered reconciliation first, the answer that came back was positive.

-If it is something like that, very well. If you want communication, I will grant it.

‘Good. Then I will formally introduce myself first. I am Zeke McLaughlin, the Fourth Young Master of the McLaughlin family, one of the three prestigious magical families of the Deccan Kingdom. Let us get along from now on.’

-Very well, Zeke. You, too, shall call this body by its proper name. Do not call me by that trifling name Goldie or whatever it was.

‘Understood. But is Karbolearos not too long?’

-Then call me Karbol. It was the name I used three thousand years ago, when I went out to amuse myself in human form.

‘All right, Karbol.’

Zeke smiled in satisfaction.

Once he offered reconciliation first, the dragon’s anger subsided quickly.

As expected, he was the type for whom the carrot worked better than the whip.

‘Then, Karbol. Will you tell me what happened three thousand years ago? And why you were in a spiritual state?’

-Very well. That is not difficult.

Afterward, Zeke returned to his room and held a long conversation with Karbol.

***

‘That feeling just now was definitely something I felt before...’

Thinking of Zeke, Gerard quickened his pace.

The place he headed to was his private study, where only he could enter.

When he overlaid his magical energy pattern onto the crystal orb, the study door opened.

-Gerard McLaughlin. Confirmed.

RUMBLE.

The study held books gathered by past family heads.

There were even ancient books so old that their colors had faded.

‘I am certain I remember reading it when I was young... Here it is.’

Gerard was examining a book called [On Ancient Dragons], and before long, his gaze fixed on one page.

-The magical energy emitted by ancient dragons is terrifying, but they also possess a unique energy. People called that energy dragon force.

‘Dragon force... I have heard of it.’

-The effect dragon force has on the human body is not yet known. However, one thing is certain...

‘The Circle, reacting to fear, instinctively contracts.’

Gerard recalled the unfathomable power he had felt just moments ago.

The aura of an apex predator that made his heart seem to shrivel.

Unbelievably, that energy had been coming from his youngest son, Zeke.

‘I definitely felt it. The eight rings embedded in my heart moved as though trembling in fear.’

And that trembling had vanished like a lie the moment he moved away from Zeke.

‘Could Zeke have dragon force?’

He had felt something like this once before in his life, when he first met one of the Twelve Pioneers.

Gerard turned more pages of the book.

-On rare occasions, there are humans who awaken dragon force. The world calls such people Dragonians.

‘Dragonian. A once-in-a-generation genius who possesses the power of a dragon.’

A genius among geniuses, born with such magical talent that they were considered descendants of dragons, the originators of magic.

That was what a Dragonian was, and the world regarded them as beings with the power to shake the world.

‘My son... has the talent of a Dragonian?’

Now that he thought about it, the pieces fit together.

After all, Dragonians were born with the talent to read ancient runic script.

‘By going to the Dragon Ruins, did he awaken not Mana Affinity, but rather the talent of a Dragonian?’

Was that why the dragon force he had never felt before could now be sensed?

‘Zeke... You truly surprise me in many ways.’

Gerard’s eyes flashed with expectation as he thought of his youngest son.

***

At the time Gerard was in his private study, Zeke was hearing an interesting story from Karbol.

‘So, to summarize, you turned yourself into a soul because of a lich?’

-Correct. In the ruins you speak of, we dragons were not the only ones present. There was a lich, called the enemy of dragons.

Three thousand years ago.

The dragons had waged war against a lich.

A lich referred to a mage who had turned themselves undead.

It was a method chosen by mages who clung to life in order to extend their lives, but it had the drawback of making them lose their reason.

However, the lich Karbol spoke of was not human.

‘Dragons can become liches too?’

-Correct. We dragons live far longer than other beings, but that does not mean we do not cling to life.

‘Well, if you had no lingering attachment to the mortal world, you would not have continued existing as a soul like this. You also would not have tried to use Mental Collapse just because someone touched your belongings.’

-Ahem. I suppose I am rather attached to my possessions.

‘It seems to me you are not just rather attached, but extremely attached.’

-...In any case, there certainly are dragons who, when their lifespan ends, transform into liches to continue living. We call them Lich Dragons.

‘Then the ruins I saw were not the site where ordinary dragons fought one another, but where they fought a Lich Dragon?’

-That is right. We dragons also despise Lich Dragons, who traded their reason for life. Conflict was inevitable.

‘So what was the result of the fight? Did your side ultimately lose?’

-I do not know what the result was. In the middle of it, I sensed danger and sealed my soul within the underground stone chamber. But judging from the situation at the time, we would not have been able to defeat the lich.

‘So that is why you put up such a warning in the stone chamber?’

A Lich Dragon...

He had never heard of such a thing.

It was also known in the present day that all dragons were extinct.

‘To think I am tangled up with dragons here too... Could there perhaps be a connection to the Dragon Legion from my previous life?’

He had doubts, but for now, it did not matter.

Lich or not, was this not still something related to dragons?

What mattered to him right now was obtaining Karbol’s cooperation.

Fortunately, it seemed he had achieved that goal.

‘That is enough history for now. I want you to help me.’

-You mean you want me to cast magic?

‘Yes. I will get you mana stones, so cast magic like before.’

-Why would you do such a thing? Your body could be harmed.

‘I will not be harmed, so do not worry.’

-To learn a spell after seeing it once. That is something even dragons, the originators of magic, cannot do.

‘And yet I can.’

-Unbelievable. Are you truly a Descendant of God?

‘I do not know about being a Descendant of God. What is certain is that I was born into a prestigious magical family.’

-So you are indeed a child of a prestigious magical family?

‘Other people would not think so.’

-Why not?

‘Because even though I have outstanding talent, I am in a position where I cannot form a Circle in my body.’

-At your level, there is no need to form a Circle. Do you not also possess the martial strength to break a stone chamber with your bare hands?

‘That kind of martial strength has no meaning in a prestigious magical family. Only the number of Circles is the measure of talent.’

-What foolish humans. Strength cannot be defined by Circles alone.

Zeke was grateful that Karbol took his side, but there was no time for this.

He wanted to raise the proficiency of Magic Absorption immediately.

‘I will get you mana stones, so let us begin.’

In that way, Zeke began training with Karbol to raise the proficiency of Magic Absorption.

Three years passed after that, and the First Young Master, who had left for training in the magical arts, returned from the Magic Tower.

And today was the long-awaited day of the successor trial.