Sorry it took so long for the update, things were a little hectic so I barely had any time to write. Please enjoy~

Back in the Dragon Continent, a beautiful relationship had been formed. Yes, a truly beautiful relationship.

One between a young dragon and one who had existed since the birth of this world.

“M-Master Erebus! I’m here,” the voice of a small child called out. A boy with magenta hair peeked his head into a cave. His skinny arms were wrapped around a bag full of mana stones. His round cheeks were slightly tinged with red and he was somewhat out of breath.

“Oh, it’s Weryn,” a sleepy voice responded. “Come on in.”

Weryn ran into the room. “I’ve brought your mana stones that you asked for.” He put the heavy bag down onto the stone floor.

“Thanks~” Erebus said, jumping down from the top of the boulder where he sat reading a book. The boulder he was sitting on was surrounded by mana stones that gave off a soft green light.

Weryn smiled. “You’re welcome!”

Weryn had been rewarded(?) with Erebus becoming his ‘mentor’. Meaning that Weryn basically followed Erebus around everywhere.

It was mostly because they needed somebody to keep an eye on the careless dragon. Rolut had seen this as the perfect opportunity to keep Erebus under surveillance before he did anything else stupid.

Weryn, who didn’t really get this concept, was just happy to be able to be so close to one of his idols. His mother had told him so many stories about the Dragon Council and what happened during the First War...

Erebus was like a superhero to the young child.

Weryn watched as Erebus tossed the mana stones into his mouth like it was nothing at all.

So cool... Lord Erebus was so cool.

Weryn could hardly eat one mana stone because the mana was far too much for his little body to practice at once. But Erebus was going through them like candy.

Erebus, upon seeing Weryn’s look, thought that he wanted some so he held out a handful. “Here you go.”

“O-oh! Thank you, Lord Erebus. But I can’t eat those, my body is too weak.” Weryn looked down at his shoes.

“Too weak?” Erebus asked, tilting his head a little.

Weryn shuffled. “I, uh, can’t process that much mana in such a short amount of time, Lord Erebus.”

The elder dragon scratched his head. Is this his duty as a mentor to teach this young dragon? He didn’t really want to teach him, though, Rolut had forced the child upon Erebus.

He looked back down at Weryn who was staring at him with such admiration filling his innocent eyes... not good. Not good at all, Erebus wasn’t good with these types of people.

“How about I teach you something?” Erebus gritted out. He remembered the time when he had trained Yvick, he was a terrible teacher. It was mostly him defeating Yvick easily and then telling him what he did wrong.

But it wasn’t like he could be so rough with a kid. He’d get scolded by Ayirn if he was mean to Weryn.

She was scarier than Rolut when it came to these things.

“R-really?” Weryn perked up, even more hopefulness entered his eyes. Erebus gnashed his teeth together.

What was with those eyes? Ah... if you stare at me in such a way I’ll get embarrassed, you know? Erebus shifted his gaze away from Weryn.

“Yeah,” Erebus answered. “Anything you want to know.”

“Then, teach me how to destroy an entire army like you did! Mom told me about it, it was so cool.”

Long-shot. That was definitely a long-shot. There was no way he could ever use magic that powerful.

Erebus made a complicated expression.

Upon seeing this, Weryn said in a small voice, “It’s no good?” His eyes full of hopefulness gazed upwards at Erebus.

His mother had taught him some dangerous techniques.

“Something else?” Erebus asked with some difficulty. “I’m not sure your body will be able to handle it.”

Weryn pouted his lips and squinted his eyes in concentration. “What else...” He tapped his foot.

Something that I can do, preferably.

“Then teach me how to cast basic magic.”

Erebus’ expression faltered a little. He didn’t know much of any other magic... well, the basics should be fine, right?

“Sure,” Erebus said.

Weryn’s face lit up once more and the young dragon grabbed Erebus’ hand. “Yay! Thank you, Master Erebus.”

Erebus scratched his head with his free hand. “It’s nothing, really. Didn’t your parents teach you anything, though?”

The young dragon shook his head. “My father is a terrible teacher and my mother only knows healing magic. I want to learn attack magic...”

“I see.” Erebus rubbed his chin for a little. “We can get started on learning the basics tomorrow.”

Weryn’s eyes started to shine even more. “That reminds me, Lord Erebus. Are we going to see the Dragon Tournament?”

Erebus’ eye twitched.

“I’ve never been to one before, obviously, haha...” Weryn laughed.

Neither have I, Erebus thought. He completely ignored those types of things, they were annoying.

The Dragon Tournament happened every one thousand years were the best warriors of the dragon race (excluding Council members) would compete in many different types of games.

Erebus had managed to not come to a single one, they weren’t mandatory like Council meetings so there was no need for him to attend.

“Uh...”

“I’ve heard that the Tournament is amazing. Uwah~ I really wanna see it happen.”

Erebus nervously scratched his neck. “About that...”

Weryn tilted his head slightly. “Hm?”

Those eyes. It’s those eyes again.

“O-Of course, we’re going to go to the Dragon Tournament!” Erebus said, placing his hands on his hips and laughing.

Amazing. Erebus’ weakness would be something so common... the puppy dog eyes.

Weryn smiled broadly. “As I thought, Lord Erebus is amazing! I’ll get to see the Tournament in the special seats for the Dragon Council. Mom and Dad would only get the boring seats for commoners...”

This kid was surprisingly manipulative. He had a bright future ahead of him. He was able to utilize his childish appearance so well.

Erebus nodded and laughed again. As said before, he hasn't been to a single Dragon Tournament. He had no idea of the layout or seating. Nor did he particularly care if Weryn was using him.

I guess it makes sense that the council members get their own special seats, Erebus thought to himself.

"It’s going to be so awesome.” Weryn clapped his hands together. “And Master Erebus is going to teach me basic magic...” The young boy spread his arms out and spun around in circles around the dimly lit cave, his face was bright with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Weryn stopped spinning and turned to Erebus. “I heard that all the participants are super-powerful. Is that true?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been.”

The child gasped. “Seriously? Aren’t you really old, though?” He placed his hands on his hip and tilted his head, a confused expression on his face. “Like, you were alive before the Tournament even came to be. Isn’t that kind of lame if you never went?”

Erebus’ eye twitched again. Sure, he was old. That didn’t mean that it had to be pointed out in such a blatant manner. That kid would have a tongue sharp enough to rival Lisset when he grew older.

There was no way he could let that happen. The world didn’t need another foul-mouthed dragon.

Erebus would teach him the correct way to grow up. Yes, to be exactly like him.

“Listen, Weryn. I have a life lesson for you.”

“Yes?”

Erebus bent down so that they were eye-level. A completely serious expression on his face. “It’s okay to ignore things that you don’t care about. You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”

“Really? That’s not what my mom to--”

Erebus clamped his hands on Weryn’s shoulder. “I’m your mentor, okay? It’s your duty as a student to listen to me. What I say is the truth of this world.”

Weryn’s eyes widened. “The truth of this world?”

Erebus nodded his head rapidly. “If you allow yourself to think otherwise, you’ll find out things won’t work out too well.”

The child’s head bobbed up and down. “Understood!”

Erebus patted Weryn’s shoulders. “The only thing you need to worry about is finding the cure to your boredom. And that’s called fun.”