The First Dragon of Marble

Chapter 18

            A couple of months have passed since starting Lucy’s physical therapy. She has surprised me with how quickly she has recovered. She is now moving around better than ever and made a full recovery. We have grown closer to each other talking about anything and everything while taking walks around the city. Lucy told me that she is from a country called the Kingdom of Albam and the village she is from was a farming village. Since she was considered cursed, she was alone a lot and read books and explored the forest around the village to escape the segregation. She taught herself how to hunt and fight monsters in the forest to be of use to the village to try to fit in, but it never really mattered to the villagers in the end. Lucy was sixteen when the village was raided, and she was taken as a slave. She endured a lot during the two years as a slave and wouldn’t talk too much about them.

            When I have gone on incursions into the slums or on jobs for the guild that are close to the city this past couple of months, Helen would tell me that she would have nightmares, but when I slept beside her neither of us had any nightmares. I don’t know what to make of this because it feels that we depend on each just to get a good night’s sleep. Hopefully our traumas can be dealt with in time but for now we are taking it day by day.

            At the present we are in the room eating dinner together. I decide to ask Lucy if she is going to stay and be my partner or move on. She has recovered enough to be on her own and no longer have me or Helen hovering over her. “Fuck what am I feeling? Nervous? Fear? Both? I have never felt this way before not even with Amy. Sure, I loved Amy, but this is different. I don’t know if I love Lucy. It could just be me using her for comfort emotionally from all the shit that happened to me over the past couple of years. I do know one thing though. I want her to stay with me. I am scared that one day the same thing that happened with Amy will happen again. Argh! I hate this feeling. I just need to rip the band aid off and get it over with. Rather she stays or not I have to respect her decision.”

            [Lucy’s POV]

            I can see Ladon’s handsome face change expressions rapidly as I look on. “He must be thinking about something serious. I asked him about what happened in the dungeon that Cliff mentioned a few weeks ago and he had the same expressions while talking about how he was used for bait and left for dead in the dungeon. How he spent almost two years in the dungeon trying to conquer it to get out since the dungeon somehow trapped him inside. I could tell he wasn’t telling me everything but maybe someday he will…Wait someday? I have already gained my strength back why has he not asked me to leave? Why does he treat me so well when everyone in my village avoided me like a plague? Could I stay by his side? He said that I am not cursed like I have been told my whole life. Is that really true? I have asked that every day since he told me that.”

            Suddenly a hard knock is heard on the door with Helen shouting. “Ladon! Ladon! Are you in there?!” Ladon gets up and rushes to the door and opens it to see a distraught Helen. “What’s wrong Helen?” “Cliff is hurt. Some men came into the inn and started wrecking the place and when Cliff tried to stop them, they stabbed him. Please we need your help!” Ladon turns to me and says, “Lucy, stay here and lock the door.” “Wait Ladon. I want to come too…” Ladon puts on a serious face and says, “I need you safe Lucy. They could still be downstairs and though you have gathered your strength back you still need more time.” At that he leaves and rushes downstairs. I lock the door and wait. I hear fighting start up from below and become anxious. “What do I do? I want to help him but like he said I would be a hinderance right now.”

            *Crash* I turn around and see the window break as a man comes in through the window. I try to grab my knife that Ladon had bought me but was to slow and the world around me went dark.

            [Ladon’s Pov]

            When Helen said that Cliff was hurt my rage surged forward. “Who would dare harm my friends? Who would dare walk knowingly into a dragon’s den?” I tell Lucy to stay in the room and rush downstairs with Helen behind me, where I find black cloaked men destroying tables and bottles of wine and smashing barrels of ale. I see Cliff on the floor holding his stomach as he bleeds out. I hand Helen healing potions and bandages and say, “Pour the potion onto his wound and use the bandages to stop the bleeding. I’ll come over to help when I kill these assholes.” I don’t give her time to reply as I jump into action drawing my axe from my belt and cut off the head of the person smashing the tables. I barely notice that it belonged to a woman before moving to the others who were smashing chairs and tables before seeing their fellow’s head roll.

            “You bastard!” They shout as they pull their daggers and come at me. I dip and dodge their stabs and slashes while I cut the arteries in their legs and necks. More assailants seem to come from the back and front of the inn. They try to overwhelm me, but I keep them back with wind spells to try not to damage the inn more than it already is. I see one man try to go after Helen who is doing what I said and trying to stop Cliff’s bleeding. I rush forward and block his strike going for the back of her neck. She looks up and her eyes go wide, and I yell, “Keep doing what you’re doing Helen I’ll make sure they stay back I promise!” She nods with trust in me and continues helping Cliff. Soon I hear footsteps from the stairs and turn to look. I see other adventurers that stay here coming to help us fight the horde of people in all black clothing.

            The adventurers spread out and become locked in combat. Suddenly Lauren is by my side and asks, “Ladon! What is going on?” I cut down an idiot trying to take advantage of me looking away to the stairs. “I don’t know! Just help me kill these assholes! They stabbed Cliff and just tried to kill Helen!” I yell at her keeping more black covered persons breaking through. Lauren nods and uses her hammer to turn one into pink paste. I keep seeing more black cloaks pour in and there seems to be no end to them. I start to see the other adventurers getting overwhelmed and I think to myself, “Fuck what do I do? I don’t know if this has anything to do with me or not, but I can’t let others die from this. More than likely the Stray Dogs found out that the person taking their coins and destroying their establishments is me, but I don’t know how they would know. Probably some magic bullshit. I love magic but hate it when used against me. Should I use my dragon forms?” As I mulled over my thoughts and fought back against the waves of black clad persons, I see out of the corner of my eye that another one tries going after Helen again. Before I could do anything, Lauren blocks them and bursts his head with her hammer. She nods at me, and I nod back. “I was hoping to keep it a secret a little longer, but I have no choice.”

            I take a deep breath and roar like how Tiamat did when she breathed fire, though I am not going to breath fire nor is it as powerful as hers. I want to cause confusion. “ROOOOOAAAARRRRR!!!” While I roared, and I materialized my scales, claws, wings, and tail. I hear a thug say, “Wh..What the hell is that?!” I cut down all the thugs surrounding Helen, Lauren, and me with my claws and powerful tail. With the area clear I jump through the crowd and protect the adventurers cutting, biting, and smashing with my claws, fangs, and tail. Soon there no other black clad thugs coming through the doors in the back or front and the inn is silent other than whimpers and pained grunts from the wounded. I release my dragon traits and rush to Cliff. He is taking shallow breaths but still alive. I concentrate and use Healing light to speed up the process of the healing potion that Helen applied. After a few seconds his wound is closed and healed. I take a deep breath in relief. I look at Helen and say, “I cannot replace the blood he lost but make sure he drinks water and gets some food in him to help produce more blood.” She just stares wide eyed at me.

            “Ladon…What are you?” I look at her seriously and ask, “Do I scare you now, sister?” My question snaps her out of her daze and she just grins. “No brother just curious.” I smile and say, “I’ll tell you later I promise.” She nods. I stand up to see the remaining adventurers staring at me in fear. I roll my eyes and say, “If I wanted to kill you, I would have. Now stop standing around and make sure no other thugs are in or around the inn where you sleep!” Everyone jumps at my raised voice and starts sweeping the inn for anymore assailants. Suddenly I hear a crash from upstairs. Then I hear a muffled scream and recognize it as Lucy’s. Fear grips me and I rush up the stairs and to my room. I knock the door down and see glass from the window scattered on the floor and bed. I look around and see no sign of Lucy only a note on the desk. I start to breathe hard as I walk towards it and read it.

            [Come south out of the city in the hills. You have one hour.]

            I crumble the letter and breathe harder. My vision blurs and unfocused from the searing rage boiling inside of me. I notice blood on the floor and start to lose control before Helen appears in the doorway. “Ladon?” She looks around and sees the glass and blood. Putting two and two together, she brings her hand to her mouth and says, “Oh no, Lucy!” I shout, “They took her! They took my partner, my friend, my love…” I am surprised by what I just said. Then my eyes darken. Helen comes closer “Ladon calm down. We need to go to the guards they will…” “No Helen. Go contact Sherry and Jon at the guild and let them know that the Stray Dogs attacked the inn and me. They hurt my friend Cliff. They hurt someone I consider a sister, you. They hurt my fellow adventurers, the Planters. They HuRt My LoVE, LuCy. AGHHH! THEY WILL PAY. THEY THINK THEY CAN TAKE FROM A DRAGON! THEY WILL KNOW MY WRATH!” Helen starts to rush forward as I jump out of the window shouting and trying to stop me as I fly south towards the hills.

              [Lucy’s POV]

            “Ugh.” I moan as I wake up. I try to remember what happened but my head hurts so much. I open my eyes and see that my vision is blocked by something. Trying to lift my arms to take off whatever is blocking my view I feel my wrists tied painfully and tightly. I begin to panic when I am suddenly kicked in the stomach. “Agh!” “Stop moving and making noise you filthy rabbit!” I try to breath from the air being knocked out of my lungs. “Hey Boss, she’s awake now.” I hear footsteps coming and I brace for another strike to my body. Instead, whatever obscured my vision is pulled off my head and I see a man’s face in mine. He smiled at me with a cruel sadistic smile where I could see a tooth missing. He grabbed me and put me in a sitting position.

            He stepped back to look down at me where I got a better look at him. He is a human with a muscular body type with multiple scars all over his arms and face. I see a rabid dog tattoo on his arm and remember Ladon saying something about a gang in the city with the same tattoo. “Do you know why you are here little rabbit?” the man says with a deep voice. I shiver from the cold of the night and the terrifying man in front of me who reminds me of the bandits who killed everyone in my village and captured me. I barely shake my head from side to side from the sheer terror I am feeling right now.

            The man smiles and says, “Well let me educate you then!” He then slaps me so hard that I fall to my side, and I can feel blood in my mouth. Tears well up in my eyes from the pain that I have not felt in months ever since Ladon saved me. He grabs me roughly by my ears and sat me up in a sitting position again. “Your boyfriend has been mucking up my businesses for the past four months. I was finally able track him by the magic he uses, and it led us to the Adventurer’s Guild where we saw him walking beside you with a look only a man in love could have.” My eyes widen and tear up even more. “So, I ordered my pawns to destroy that inn and distract him while I took you. Let’s see if he survives long enough to find out you are gone. If he is smart enough, he will abandon you and leave the city, but I doubt he is that smart since he has no idea who he has messed with. I let it slide when he killed my men the first time but once I knew it was him that was destroying my businesses. Well, I can’t let that slide now, can I?”

            “What?! They came after me to get to Ladon? NO! Ladon please leave me! Don’t risk yourself for me!” I yelled inside my head as tears well up. I try to free myself but not only are my wrists tied but so are my legs. I may have recovered my strength, but I cannot seem to break the ropes binding me. The man grabs my chin and makes me look at him in the eye. “And once he comes, I’ll take you in front of him before I kill him so that even in the next life, he will fear the Stary Dogs! HAHAHAHA!” He laughs which make the people around us that I had not noticed yet laugh as well. “No, no, no, no, nonononononono!” Suddenly I hear a scream coming from the people surrounding us and an image of a white purplish blur. I hear more and more screams filling the darkness. “Oh gods! What is that?!” The torches in the ground are snuffed out as complete darkness surrounds everyone. The remaining men form a circle around the man and me where I could hear them breathing hard from fear.

            “What is that boss? A monster?!” one of the men ask the man in the middle. “I don’t know moron keep your eyes open and pay attention. I’m sure the men I had in reserve over the next hill heard the screams.” After finishing his sentence, I hear screams in the distance and see a purple hue light up the sky. Seconds pass and then I heard more screams though these were much closer, and I see the same white blur again. The men in the circle start to panic but are slain as they break the circle. The men shouted, cursed, and screamed until it was just the man who was talking to me before and me on the ground. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice that washed all the fear away only to be replaced with anxiety as to why he just didn’t abandon me. “You.” I look up to see Ladon in his dragon form with his white fur covered in blood and then quickly change into his half form and points at the man. “Are you the boss of the Stray Dogs? Are you the one who attacked the inn tonight? Are you the one who sent some common thugs to get rid of me a few months ago? Are you the one who took and hurt my partner, my friend, my love from me?” “My love?!” I thought as those were the only words that stood out to me. “What do you mean, Ladon? How could you love someone like me? Look at what my curse has brought on your friends and you.” I couldn’t stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes.

The man smiles nervously and says, “So you are the asshole who has disrupted my business.” Ladon just stares at him and says nothing. “Yes, I am the leader of the Stray Dogs and ordered all that you asked. My name…” His words were cut off as Ladon charges forward with a shield and spear thrusting at the man. Caught off guard the leader of the Stray Dogs doesn’t dodge in time and receives a cut to the side by the spearhead. I hear Ladon yell, “I do not want to know the name of some pissant scum! I have seen what your businesses provides as a product! I have seen men, women, and children abused, used, and killed by your subordinates! You do not deserve to speak another word, not to me and defiantly not to my Love!!!” Ladon continues to put on the pressure making multiple wounds on the man’s body.

I suddenly hear a pop and see the man try to use a magic item, “I will not let you escape!” Ladon swings his spear upward causing a blade of water to surge forward severing the man’s arm. “AGRHHHHH!” The man drops to his knees holding his severed arm. His breath hard and heavy. He looks up to Ladon and says, “You do not know who you are messing with. I have connections and they will not stand…” Ladon breathes in hard interrupting the man. After a second Ladon’s cheeks puff out and he opens his mouth and lets loose purple flames that engulf the man turning him to ash in seconds. Ladon looks at the pile of ash and says barely audible for me to hear, “Then they will die as well, human, whose name I will never know.” He puts away his shield and spear and comes towards me with sad expression on his face. His walk turns into a jog and then a run. Once he reaches me, he quickly cuts the ropes that bind me and pulls me into a tight hug and hear him sob, “I’m so sorry, Lucy. I’m so sorry they hurt you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to prevent you from being taken. I’m so sorry.” I am speechless and don’t know what to say. I have never had anyone care about me much less apologize for something that is not their fault.

The only thing that came out of my mouth before I could stop it was, “Did you mean what you said earlier?” He pulls back a little and looks in my eyes and says, “Of course. I’m sorry for letting them take you and h…” “No that’s not what I mean.” He thinks for a minute and then turns redder than a tomato but has a serious face. “Do…Do you mean when I said…my…love?” He barely gets out what he thought I meant, and I nod slowly. “What exactly did you mean by my love, Ladon? Is it love for a friend, family member like a sister, or…do you mean love for me as a person as…a mate?” His expression becomes strained as he thinks and then turns into an expression of determination that seems to lift some weight off his shoulders. “All of the above. I love you as a friend like no other that I have ever had. I love you as a family member that I have never had. Most importantly,” he pokes my heart, “I love the person that I have grown to know these past few months. I love the way you work hard and how cute you look reading books. I love our walks together. I love how curious you are about everything. Lucy, I love you.” “He loves me? Do I love him?” I think back to how he saved from slavery and just now, how he took care of me, how he does not look differently at me when I told him about my supposed curse, how we have talks and joke around. I think about the walks we had and the complaints of his about how he wished he could put me on his dragon form’s back and show how it feels to fly. I think of his handsome, kind smile. “Yes, I think, no, I know that I love him. So, this must be what love feels like.”

I look at him and softly say, “I love you too, Ladon.” His smile grows wide, wider than I have ever seen. I suddenly feel myself lean forward and close my eyes. The next thing I feel is his soft lips on mine. I melt into his arms and hug him tight. It is not a French kiss that I have read about, no, it is just a simple kiss, but the feelings that pass through the kiss from him to me and from me to him tell us that we truly love each other.

[Ladon’s Pov]

Right now, I am kissing Lucy after just figuring out my own feelings towards her and telling her, hoping for she felt the same. And this is the result. I feel the soft lips of hers as we pass our feelings of love through each other. Finally, we regretfully part and she gives me the brightest and sweetest smile I have seen so far. “That is my first kiss you know.” She says shyly looking embarrassed. I wish it was mine too, but I won’t lie. “It was the best kiss I have ever received.” Her eyes brighten at that and wags her fluffy bunny tail. “Gods how can you be so adorable.” I think to myself as her cuteness pierces my heart. I shake the thoughts from my head and stand up offering her my hand. She takes it and I pull her to her feet. I notice the blood at the corner of her mouth and the guilt comes back for letting her be taken. “Here.” I say as I cast Healing light to heal all her wounds from being roughly handled by those scum. I see the spell soothe her pain as she says, “Thank you.” I smile and spread my wings. She raises an eyebrow as to why I haven’t put them away yet. I smirk and quickly pick her up in a princess carry as she makes a cute yelp. “Ah! What are you doing, Ladon? I can walk now ya know.” “I now but this will be faster plus we can have a closer look at the moon as we go back.” Her eyes widen, “Huh? AHHHHHHHH!” I flap my wings and ascend into the sky.

Once I get enough altitude I level out and hover below the moon. I look at Lucy’s face and see her eyes are closed tight. “Look.” I say as she slowly opens her eyes and sees the moon larger and brighter than she has ever seen it before. “Beautiful.” She whispers. I smile at her and say, “I’m glad you like it.” She looks at me and says, “I’m glad that I met you Ladon. If didn’t I probably would have died in a mine soon after arriving here. Thank you so much.” “Lucy you are the one I have to thank. If you had not come into my life, I may not have kept my sanity. There is a lot I want to tell you and hopefully you will not think that I am insane. For now, let’s enjoy a nice date in the sky as we fly back to the inn. I still need to heal the others and straighten out this incident.” I peck her on the lips and start flying back to Melcox with her snuggled up to my chest with a smile.

We reach the inn and see people crowded around the doorway. With Lucy still in my arms I release my half dragon form and push through the crowd and see people taking the bodies of the black clad thugs out. I see Jon and Sherry talking to Helen and her fiancé the shopkeeper of Adventurer’s Lifeblood, Vincent. I walk up to them ask, “Is there any adventurers that need healing?” Helen looks at me and almost tackles me along with Lucy to the ground. “Where have you been?! I was so worried!” “Helen, he is okay. He came to save me and finished taking care of the Stray Dogs.” Lucy’s muffled voice could be heard from between mine and Helen’s bodies. “Lucy! You’re okay!” Helen then hugs Lucy and Lucy hugs her back for a few moments. When they separate, I ask, “How is Cliff, is he okay now?” Vincent is the one who comes up to me and answers. “He is fine, just resting now in his bed.” “Hello Vincent and thank you.” He nods his bull’s head. I turn back to Helen while putting Lucy back on her feet and hold her hand. “How are you, sis? Are you hurt anywhere?” “I’m fine. Your sister is stronger than she looks,” she strikes a pose to bulge out her nonexistent biceps and continues saying, “besides it seems that you two have finally stopped beating around the bush.” I blush and look at Lucy who does the same. “I guess you could say that. I know that I have never felt this way for anyone.” I smile at Lucy who smiles. “Yes, Ladon has done so much for me, but I realized he means more to me than anything.” Helen smiles and hugs Vincent’s hand and looks up at him. “I told you that they would end up together.” Helen says to Vincent to which he chuckles, “I never doubted you honey; besides, you know them better than I do.”

We chatted together for a little longer before Jon and Sherry came up to us. “Ladon, can we talk to privately?” Jon asks with a serious tone. I look around and people are still inside cleaning up the place. “Follow me. Good night, Helen, Vincent.” “Good night you two.” Helen says and Vincent simply nods. With Lucy’s hand still in mine we head to our room with Jon and Sherry behind us. I open the door and see the damage from the broken window. “Fuck, I forgot about the window.” I say out loud and then Sherry steps in. “Allow me.” She flicks her wrist, and the glass shards fall back in place in the window fusing together as if nothing ever happened. I look at Sherry impressed. “So, you know how to use the Time element. I am impressed. I still have not gotten a hang of the element.” I remark as the rest of us step inside and find places to sit. It is a rather tight fit for four people, but we make it work. I then cast Silent Room and the room becomes soundproof. “So, you can use Silent Room without a magic item. I would say you are more impressive Ladon.” Sherry says shaking her head. I smile and turn serious, “Let’s drop the flattery shall we. What is it you want to talk about?” Jon looks at Lucy who is still holding my hand and says, “I asked to speak privately.” “Whatever we talk about Lucy has every right to be a part of since we are mates.” Both Sherry and Jon go wide eyed in surprise and look at each other. “Very well. We looked at the bodies of the assailants and confirmed they are all affiliated with the Stray Dogs. We want to know where you went after the skirmish. All Helen told us was that the Stray Dogs attacked this inn.”

I took a breath and told them what happened before the attack, during, and after where I came to the room to see that Lucy was missing and the note that was left behind. I then told them about the slaughter I committed outside the walls and that I killed the boss of the Stray Dogs. Throughout Lucy gripped my hand tightly and listened intently. After finishing I turn to her and say, “None of this was your fault. If fault is to be found it is mine. So please do not think you caused this because of some superstitious curse your parents and village came up with, okay.” Lucy stares into my eyes and smiles sadly and nods. I peck her on the lips and turn back to Jon. “What do you mean the fault should be found in you, Ladon?” Sherry asks smiling at my show of affection for Lucy. I snap my fingers and with a pop a stack of papers appears in my lap, and I set them on the desk for them to look at. Jon takes some and so does Sherry. Their eyes widen as they studied the papers. Lucy also grabbed some and I raised my eyebrow at her. “Like you said when we first met ‘my enemies are yours and your enemies are mine’.” I smile at her and nod and soon her eyes are the same as Jon’s and Sherry’s.

“I figured that you were the one making a mess in the slums, but why did you bother gathering evidence?” Sherry asks. “There are very big names mentioned in these papers.” Jon says ignoring what Sherry asked me. “I gathered them to give to the right people of course. I do not care what happens after this, but just like with the Stray Dogs I will destroy any who decide to use me or harm me in any way. The same goes for if my friends are messed with.” Jon goes pale and says, “Who are you giving these to exactly?” I smile an evil smile and say, “You two of course. I do not want to be caught up in any politics. If you give them to lord of the city or anyone of power in the city, you should tell them to fix up the slums because I just created a power vacuum after killing most of the Stray Dogs. Consider this payback for digging to deeply into who I am without me being ready to tell you two.” They look at each other and groan because they know I have a point. Lucy giggles cutely and snuggles closer to me. “You are killing me woman!” I say to myself melting under her cuteness. “Haa…very well. We will make sure these get to the right people. Hopefully Melcox will turn for the better after this, though I will warn you that the lord’s son will most likely not be so happy about any of this.” Jon says seriously after sighing. My smile is wiped off my face and I make a bold statement, “I bow to no man, beast, or power, Jon. It may be custom here, but where I am from my country has a reputation of not bowing to so called nobles if you remember.” He just shakes his head and stands up and offers his hand to Sherry who grabs it. “Well, if that is all there is to say about tonight, we shall take our leave.” I stand up and offer my hand and say, “One last thing you two wanted to know what race I am correct?” Their faces became concerned like they about to decline but I gave them no choice as I transformed into my dragon form which I noticed has grown a little bigger, about the size of a Great Dane.

The look on their faces is priceless and I chuckle in a low growling tone. Lucy just smiles at my antics starts petting my fur. “I am a dragon the first of my kind on Marble and a new race. I hope you both know the severity of trust I have placed in you by showing this to you.” I say as breathe smoke out of my nostrils. Sherry recovers first and chuckles nervously and Jon just looks at the ceiling mumbling to himself. Jon comes back to reality and says, “What do you mean by dragon? Do you mean a wyvern?” I narrow my eyes and say in a very threatening voice, “Watch yourself Jon. If you just look at me, I am nothing like those vile creatures. You would been incinerated by mother if you said that in her presence.” He gulps and nods at the implication and threat. “Could you let us see your personal scroll?” Sherry asks suddenly. I raise an eyebrow and say, “You can see another person’s scroll?” She tilts her head in confusion and says, “Of course.” “Fuck I feel like an idiot again for not knowing something that seems to be common sense.” I think to myself as I morph back to my humanized form. I sigh and say, “How?” “Um just hold hands with the person you want to see the scroll of and invoke the scroll. There will be another scroll asking permission to show each other their scrolls and can even hide information that you do not want to share like titles and feats.” She finishes her explanation with a tone that feels like she is talking to a child. My eye twitches with annoyance but let it go and just nod. I grab her hand and say, “Fine” through gritted teeth. I close my eyes and invoke my scroll.

[Defeated Human X56. Human soul essence absorbed. X56]

[Defeated Dwarf X33. Dwarf soul essence absorbed. X33]

[Defeated Mink X42. Human soul essence absorbed. X42]

{Feat claimed. Rage towards the Wicked. Raises all attributes by 5 permanently.}

{Level up} {Level up} {Level up}

{Sherry has requested permission to share Personal Scrolls. Do you wish your scroll to be seen?}

I think mentally confirm that I want to show her while having my title, Dragon Son of Gods Tiamat & Odin, and my age to be hidden. I then have Sherry’s personal scroll show up in my mind.

Seems she hid her feats and titles but just from her attributes she is impressive though her level is seventy-two and her attributes are pretty close to mine while I am now level forty-five after the fights tonight along with a new feat. I open my eyes and see Sherry’s still closed but with her jaw opened wide. She opens her eyes finally and looks at me with a strange expression. She looks at Jon and jerks her neck while bringing my hands to his saying, “Please show Jon too.” I narrow my eyes, but does as she asks and the same thing happens when I invoke my scroll. I ignore my scroll this time and proceed through the prompt about sharing scrolls hiding the same information.

  Jon seems to be of higher level and better physical stats than Sherry but pales in comparison when it comes to Mana Capacity. “I wonder if attributes also take into account what race a person is.” I think to myself while waiting for Jon to open his eyes. Jon looks at Sherry and says, “How is that even possible? He is a far lower level than us, yet his attributes are…” He trails off in disbelief. “I assume what you saw is abnormal so I expect you to keep it quiet, yes?” I say with concern but also seriousness. “Of course, we will Ladon. Just…don’t show your scroll to too many people if you do not want trouble from people in power.” I nod, “I figured as much though it seems I am more out of the norm than I thought. Perhaps I am just in a growth spurt for dragons.” I just shrug my shoulders and say more to myself than them, “Well if it was really important then mother or father would have said something. Now as much as I have loved this chat both Lucy and I are very tired.” “Ah yes, it is getting rather late. We shall go and hope to see you at the guild soon for jobs. Have a nice evening you two.”

They both leave and finally Lucy and I are alone again. I sigh and say, “You can take a shower first. I’ll take one after you.” She nods and heads to the bathroom. After about thirty minutes we have showered and sitting on the bed. I turn to her and ask, “Do you mind if I lay down with you in my humanized form?” Lucy nods quickly and lays down. I lay beside her, and we look into each other’s eyes. I brush her hair out of face and kiss her on the nose. She shivers and giggles. I smile at her and whisper, “Do you want to know what I haven’t told you yet or do you want to wait until tomorrow?” She snuggles closer into my chest and says muffled, “It can wait until tomorrow. I just want to bask in the feeling of us being together like this for tonight.” My heart misses a beat, and I hug her closer to me. “Okay my love get some rest. Good night.” “Good night, Love.”