I wiped the sweat from my head as I looked at my work. It took all night, but I loaded all the valuable materials like scales and cws from the dragon on a primitive wagon I made from Earth magic. Presently, I was burning the rest of the corpse in a small clearing I found.

  Despite the fact that the sun was already rising, I still didn't feel any exhaustion. I still don't know why I'm like this, but I am grateful for my condition all the same. However, I am not grateful for this horrible headache I've been suffering from all night.

  Remember the small bit of dragon blood that spshed in my mouth? I think it may be toxic. Luckily, non of my healing magic - which can cure or heal anything as long as I'm not already dead - worked to ease the pain, which means it's not anything that needs to be healed. Unfortunately, that means I still have to suffer. Hopefully it's gone before we find another dragon.

  Once the fire burnt out, I scattered the ashes with Burst and returned to the campsite to wake Luci. We had a quick breakfast of bread rations then left camp behind to hunt down another dragon.

  While we were walking, Luci took the time to debrief me on everything I'd ever need to know about dragons.

  “By Guild standard, dragons can be ranked anywhere from A-SS rank. Of course, there could always be exceptions, but generally, they're going to be within the parameters of the rank given by the Guild.

  “There are three draconic creatures that are cssified as A rank. First, there is the drake. They're a little smaller than the dragon from st night, but they don't have any wings and cannot fly. There are two subspecies of drake: Gray drakes, and brown drakes. They each have some control over their corresponding magic element. Gray is for the Frost division of Water, and brown is Earth.

  “After drakes, there are wyverns. Where standard dragons have four legs and two wings, wyverns have only two legs, and the wings are repced with wingarms, like a bat. Red ones control Fire magic, blue control Water, and green control Wind.

  “Keep in mind, drakes and wyverns do tend to live in areas near dragons, so may start encountering some soon. The final draconic A-tier is the wyrm. Think or them as really big snakes. They control both divisions of Water magic, and are only found in the ocean.”

  I see. Just because they're called dragons doesn't mean they really are.

  “Now for the S and SS rank dragons. These are the ones that really matter. While the A-tiers are nothing to scoff at, the stronger dragons have the power to destroy a vilge if they ever felt the need to do so. Luckily, it's very rare for one to leave this corner of the continent.

  “To start with the different kinds of true dragons, there is a subspecies for every color and element shared between drakes and wyverns. What we fought st night was a green dragon - likely juvenile - which controls Wind to a higher degree than a green wyvern. These dragon subspecies are all S rank.

  “The SS rank dragons can only be described as living natural disasters. While we might stand a chance against one, it would usually take at least a full, well-rounded party of equally ranked adventures. There are four kinds of these.

  “The first and weakest is a steel dragon. True to their name, their scales are made of metal, and they control the Steel division of Earth magic. Fortunately, they aren't as strong as the other SS-tiers, but they're still fairly uncommon. They're only this highly ranked because the only thing that can harm them is Fire magic.

  “Next, we have the remaining element of Mind and Light, giving us white and mind dragons. White dragons are considered to be divine beasts, and there are no reports of any attacking anyone, but there was a time about two-hundred years ago according the Guild's files where a vilge was attacked by a mind dragon. Every adventurer ranked S or higher registered with the Guild was mobilized, and they only managed to repel it after the vilge was destroyed.”

  That sounds strong… I kinda wanna fight it.

  “There's one more kind of dragon: A bck dragon. The only information I could find on them was from when the Guild was founded just under five-hundred years ago. They used a strange type of ancient magic that no longer exists, supposedly they could even teleport. There's never been any historical mention of them outside of the fact that they're cssified by the Guild. They were mentioned in The Legend of Arnagir as being part of the Dark Lord's army, but like said in the book's name, it's just a legend. I tend to keep away from fiction when trying to learn facts.”

  “The Legend of Arnagir… I feel like I've heard that name before.” I doubt it has anything to do with me, but I feel like someone's mentioned it before…

  “It's likely you have. The book is very popur amongst children everywhere. Arnagir is said to have been the founder of the human kingdom of Osakara, but that's likely to be false. Some people actually believe it though.”

  “Why do you know all of this, actually?”

  “Well… like any kid wanting to be an adventurer, I've always dreamed of being a dragonsyer. I just happened to be a princess who could access all this information.” Luci had a grin on her face while reminiscing about her past.

  I decided to try to keep the conversation going. I was enjoying it quite a bit. “What's the book you were talking about anyway? I am curious.”

  “It starts of with a man named Arnagir who was summoned by the goddess Arduin to save the world from an evil being called the Dark Lord. Throughout the story he forms bonds with an elven archer, a dwarven warrior, a catkin mage, and a dragon, and together they fight back against the Dark Lord, eventually reaching his castle and killing him using the Ultimate Fire spell. It's pretty cliché, but it's actually a good read despite its tropes.

  “While we're on the topic, there are also another three dragons. They're only mentioned in the story, and the Guild has no records of them. Essentially, they're even stronger versions of white, mind, and bck dragons. First, the Holy Dragon. This was the one that Arnagir tamed. Its name was Yuto-”

  Suddenly, a massive roar filled the sky, and in the moments following, it was like the whole world was in fear of the beast above. At the same time, my headache completely disappeared, as if it was waiting for this specific moment.

  We couldn't see it yet, but we could tell this was a much stronger dragon than st night's, so we prepared our weapons for a fight. I cast my buff spells, and we began waiting.

  Before it came into view, it began… speaking. It had a deep voice, and it sounded calm, yet somehow angry at the same time.

  “Tell me your allegiance, Zotoh! What brings you this near to Shutoh?!”

  No, angry isn't the right word. It's definitely pissed off. Maybe this is because of the dragon we killed st night…

  “No answer? If you wish to remain silent, then I, Artoh Mirka, shall ensure you never speak again! I shall sy you, the second Zotoh, and my Lord shall return uncontested!”

  Suddenly, a giant, bck dragon appeared before us. It was easily three- no, four times the size of the one we killed. Although… isn't this a wyvern? From what Luci said, only wyverns have wingarms like that. When it nded, the force of the nding sent a bst of pressurized wind in all directions, uprooting trees and sending the two of flying backwards several feet before nding on our butts. Whatever this thing was, it had to have been at least SS tier.

  “Zotoh. Why do you carry that sword? It should be worthless without its chosen warrior, and that man is dead. Tell me Zotoh… and I shall make it painless.”

  [This is bad…]

  That voice…

  Sword?

  [It's me.]

  I nearly forgot you could talk.

  [I use your mana to communicate, so I only do it when necessary. Such as now. He can attack any time, so listen up. I can't say too much now, but that dragon wields magic simir to the essence of the Shadows. Unlike them, however, he is not weak to Light, and he is incredibly powerful. You are not likely to win this fight.]

  Even so, he said he wants me dead, right? I doubt we can escape.

  [That's true. Howev-]

  “Luci, listen up! I've told you before that my sword can talk right? Well, it just did. It told me that this thing is strong. Stronger than me. I could very easily lose this.”

  “I understand, Mira. You have my full support, so I'll make sure we can win!”

  “No! That's not what I meant. I want you to run, Luci. Don't bother with the camp, just get back to the vilge.”

  “I- I can't do that!”

  What an unexpected way for a first date to py out. I guess you could say it's on me for wanting to come hunt dragons, but… well, there are no ‘buts’. I underestimated the strongest creatures known to man, and I'm paying the price.

  “I'm sorry, Luci.”

  “Mira-”

  I didn't let her respond. I held my hand in front of her chest and cast Burst, loading it with plenty of extra mana that I should conserve for this fight. I sent her flying quite far, so hopefully she won't be caught in the crossfire of this fight.

  “Taking your time I see, Zotoh! Come! Make the first move now that the Tiinii is gone!”

  If he's offering… I guess I'll have to try to end it quickly and meet back up with Luci.

  “AAAAHHHHH!!”

  I charged forward and lept and lept at its head. I put everything I had in that first strike. Then, when I was about to make contact, the dragon simply vanished.

  Alpy376