“Die!”
Pierce
Kael screamed as he plunged his sword right through the Eternal Flame Wolf’s mouth, piercing its core.
Flicker
The Wolf turned into flames, and the moment it did, Kael, who couldn’t hold his weight any longer, collapsed on the ground.
“We… we did it…”
He muttered, his voice sounding exhausted.
They did it.
He and Igni finally got rid of all the wolves. Yes, Igni did most of the work, and Kael was only truly useful when he used his skills, but considering that the enemies were technically stronger than him,
It was a great feat.
Not to mention, Igni improved a lot.
The little dragon was getting more and more used to his body. Of course, his body was still underdeveloped, so he couldn’t use his full strength, but whatever he did, he did it magnificently.
Even now, the little dragon was hovering in the air, flapping his wings effortlessly.
“Father, you cannot sit here for long.”
Igni warned like the diligent dragon he was.
“Agghh… I hate this fucking place.”
Kael cursed as he forced himself to stand up, still exhausted.
“I hate this… fucking place too, Father.”
Igni nodded at his father’s words, and in an instant, Kael froze.
“No, Igni. You aren’t supposed to say that word.”
He corrected his son.
“What word?”
Igni tilted his head.
“Fucking.”
“But you just said it.”
“I said it because I can.”
“I can say it as well.
I can speak now, Father.”
Igni answered, as if reminding his foolish father that he was all grown up now.
“No, you cannot say it.
It is a bad word.”
“Why? Does it not mean intercourse between two beings? How is that bad?”
“Well… now that you say it like that…”
Kael turned silent.
“But a few days old child shouldn’t be saying these words.”
“By that logic, I shouldn’t even be talking, Father.”
“…”
Once again, Kael turned silent.
How was it so difficult to win against a 20-day-old child?
Was it that difficult to raise children?
Or was it just his Dragon that was too smart for his own good?
Rumble Rumble Rumble
While Kael was thinking this through, he realized the ground beneath him was trembling. This quickly brought him out of his reverie and he then started moving.
“So should I say that word or not?”
Igni, who flew beside him, questioned innocently.
“You will not.”
Kael spoke with a determined look on his face.
“But wh-“
“No reason.
I just want you to remain my adorable little son all the time.”
“Will I not be your son if I say this word…?”
“Oh, come on! How are you so good at this!”
Kael complained.
It was almost as if he could never win against this little thing.
In the end, he just grabbed Igni and decided to carry him in his arms.
“You will always be my adorable son~
No matter what you say.”
The Hero spoke as he snuggled with the dragon in his arms.
“Yes, Father.”
Igni answered cutely as the two walked forward.
“So… can I say thi-“
“Don’t push it.” Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire
“…”
In the end, the Dragon turned silent, he decided to be satisfied by the belly rubs he was getting in exchange.
Whoosh
As the father and son walked forward the ground behind them erupted in flames.
“This feels badass.”
Kael grinned, but then.
“Badass…?”
“…”
Kael very quickly understood that he was the problem here.
Therefore, he decided to change the topic.
“Hmm, we are getting close.”
He muttered, bringing Igni’s attention back to the mission.
As they got closer and closer to the largest volcano, the temperature around them increased. To Igni, this didn’t matter. The little dragon literally bathed in lava back in the Sanctuary; this heat had next to no effect on him.
Kael, however, was having a difficult time.
He felt weak, more exhausted, and dehydrated. Honestly, he was surprised that he hadn’t passed out yet.
And he already had a theory as to why that was the case.
[Primordial Endurance]
[Description:]
[The ancient energy flowing through you fortifies your body and mind. You have resistance to fatigue, and your stamina regenerates at an accelerated rate. The more extreme conditions you are in, the faster your stamina regenerates.]
…
As he read about one of his passive abilities with sweat all over his face, he couldn’t help but smile.
‘This really is a cheat, huh…’
The more he realized it, the wider his grin became.
He continued to push his body to the limit, and his body continued to adapt. Kael felt like his body was changing in real-time; the effects were better than any training he had been through before.
For some reason, however, these changes weren’t reflected in his stats, which were still the same as before.
Yes, even after killing so many wolves in this mission or the one before where he had used the Ascendant of the Ancients, he didn’t level up.
He received no experience points for killing the wolves here.
It was a bit of a letdown, but Kael didn’t complain.
What was important was that his Igni was getting better and he seemed much happier now that they had won their first battle.
“Now, we just need to get on top of that thing and find out whatever that Crucible is and how to reignite its heart.”
Kael spoke as he stared at the large volcano that was now right in front of him. The heat had become intolerable for any human, but maybe because of his ability or some other reason, Kael was still holding on.
Barely, that is.
Things were getting more and more difficult for him.
And the land eruptions that had gotten more and more common, as if the entire place would fall any moment now, weren’t helping either.
“So the next Trial must be climbing on top of this thing, huh…”
Kael muttered. Just thinking about it made him exhausted.
“Father, I can carry you to the top.”
Igni suggested.
Even if Kael couldn’t sit on top of Igni yet, the dragon could definitely hold him with his mouth and pull him up. With the dragon’s strength, it was definitely possible.
But…
“No.”
Kael shook his head.
“I can feel my body changing the longer I stay here. I have a feeling that if I do it myself, the reward waiting for me at the end will be all worth it.”
Kael wasn’t a fool; he already knew the true goal of this mission.
It was to make him and Igni stronger.
Igni’s training was done with the wolves; now, it was his turn.
This is exactly how it happens in all those novels he read before, and honestly, every time the main characters took the easy way out, not understanding the underlying meaning of the mission, it annoyed him.
So many problems would have been solved if those guys just used their minds. But no, it was like those people were made to act dumb.
At the very least, one could test things out when you know your life isn’t in danger.
And this is exactly what Kael was going to do.
He was going to choose the hard way,
A way that would make him stronger.
He would push past his limits and climb the volcano on his own.