“Man’s romance? Like the matter between women and men?” The elder asked with a confused look on his face. A hint of red appeared on his cheeks as he fidgeted and looked at Shango.

Seeing the old man blushing sent a cold chill down Shango spine. The urge to slug the old wack job once again reemerged within Shango before disappearing again.

This man is even weirder than Ave and Rolla said he would be, Shango thought to himself. Planning just not to let this old guy get to him, Shango replied. “No, it’s nothing like that. If I had to say…” He paused as he folded both of his arms and looked up at the ceiling. “It’s like having an urge—no, a dream to do something you would never think you would get the chance to do. It’s more or less a once in a lifetime super rare chance to do something you could only dream of doing. That’s what I think it is, at least.”

Thinking for a moment, the elder slammed his hand together in excitement.

“Oh, I get it. Like seducing the Succubus Queen, or welding a legendary sword or subduing and riding a dragon!”

“Ya, something like tha—Dragon!”

Shango had learned about the other races and different types of monsters from Rolla and Ave, but legendary creatures such as dragons, phoenixes and Leviathans were omitted because previous summoned heroes had caused a scene or gotten violent when they were brought up. So it had been written long ago to save legendary creatures such as those for later, or at least till the hero grows more accustomed to this world. But it seemed like the elder had forgotten this rule.

“Dragons!?” Shango yelled with eyes wide open.

“Like a dragon dragon!?”

“Yep.”

“Big, flying, ROAR I breathe fire, ROAR kneel or die, dragon dragon?”

“Yep, large vicious creatures. Just one of them is enough to bring ruins to an entire country one hundred times over. Luckily, those creatures have a strict restriction on their existence.”

“Restriction on their existence? What do you mean by that?” Shango asked the elder.

“We don’t know the exact reasons, but there can only be seven true dragons at any time. Each one is linked to an element.”

“So, seeing a dragon must be rare?”

“Not exactly, even though there can only ever be seven true dragons at any time, there are many sub dragon type dragons. They are not as powerful as a true dragon, but still require a lot of force to deal with. The last one that ran rapid claimed the lives of nearly 2 million people before it was put down.”

“How was it stopped?” Shango asked eagerly.

“Well, it took a small alliance between King Mortimer and the Beast King. Even then, they only won by a thin margin.”

The elder looked at Shango who had a look on his face that he could not read. It was a mixture of fear, excitement, curiosity, and many other emotions.

“Oh, crap.”

That’s when he remembered the rule about not revealing too much information about creatures like dragons. Hoping that the hero was not scared stupid, he asked Shango a question.

“Does the thought of fighting a dragon frighten you?”

Even though Shango was a bit taken back about the dragon, he was a bit excited about it.

“Remember the conversation about man’s romance?”

“I do.”

“Well, here’s another type of romance. Where I’m from, I would be considered this thing called a nerd or otaku.”

“Nerd...otaku? What are those?”

“If I would have to describe them, I’d say they are people who tend to become obsessed with things they like or admire, and things such as dragons are related to the things I like. So yes, I’m a little scared, very scared, but a dragon? Hehe.” A strange, somewhat perverted smile appeared on Shango’s face.

The thought of slaying a dragon, taming a dragon, or sexing up a cute half-dragon girl ran a mock in his head. It seemed his mind had truly become strange since coming to this new world.

Seeing the smile on Shango’s face, the elder felt a chill ran down his spine, similar to what Shango had felt early. Not being able to stand his smiling face any longer, he said, “Let’s move on.”

The elder’s voice snapped Shango of his delusions. Looking at the elder, he saw the old man was staring at him with an odd look in his eye, clearing his throat.

“Ahem, sure. So what are we doing next?” Shango asked.

“Walk to the center of the double circle and lay down. I’m going to test your element next.”

“I’m so ready for this!” Shango said as he walked to the center circle and laid down.

“The light will change five times, each one corresponding to an element. It may go up to six or seven if you have an affinity for the Light or Dark elements.”

“I’ll say this now. The chance of you being able to use Light and Dark elements is slim. Even among the Mortimer family who can handle multiple elements, only one person since the death of the last hero has been able to use light and dark elements, and with no teacher, she basically had a disability.”

“Now, let’s get the ball rolling.” With that said, he poured his mana into an object that activated the runes that were scattered all over on the floor. Slowly but surely, the runes started to light up around Shango, glowing different colors that each represented an element. Not long after, Shango saw that the runes were beginning to move and swarm all over him.

A while later, the rune had crawled and settled on nearly every inch of his body. They then changed to an earthy brown and started to glow more intensely. It felt like he was covered in sand, like being at the beach and being completely submerged underneath the sand. It felt fantastic. Next, it turned into a blueish hue and it felt like he was floating in the water. Shango felt totally at peace, and it was not long till the rune changed once again into a yellow-orange glow. It was a soothing, burning sensation and Shango could feel his blood heating up, but it felt great, really great, like stepping into a hot bath. It just felt so comforting.

Getting lost in that feeling, a memory that he had long forgotten started to reemerge.

A small child was crying in the arms of a beautiful woman. She was a black woman with peanut butter-colored skin, long black hair down her back and brown eyes that held a look that could calm the most savage of beasts.

The woman was cuddling the young boy, gently rocking back and forth and trying to soothe him.

“Mom, why is my name so weird?” the young boy asked his mother while sinking deeper into her embrace.

Earlier that day, some kids were teasing him about his name. It was not the first time that it had happened. Ever since he could remember, his name has caused him all sorts of trouble, from kids picking at his name to teacher mispronouncing his name, causing the young children to burst out laughing.

He always wondered why his parents gave him such a name. He knew they named him after a mighty god, but what person would give a real person a name like his?

Looking up at his mother for answers, he could not understand a word she was saying. Her lips were moving, but words were not coming out. After a while, her lips stop moving and then the most dazzling smile appeared on her face. To the young Shango, the smile of his mother was his everything, and it could rid him of all his problematic thoughts. The feeling he got from seeing his mother smile healed his heart time after time.

“Looks like your most compatible with fire. Good, good.”

The elder’s loud voice had awoken Shango from his daydream. Tears were rolling down his face.

Deep down, Shango knew fire would be his element. Quickly getting up and wiping away his tears, he walked to where the elder was standing too. It seemed like the elder did not notice that Shango had shed tears or maybe he did not care because he was fiddling with the tool he had poured mana into.

“So is having a fire element a good thing? What are some of its benefits and downsides?” Shango asked after completely covering up any signs of him crying.

The elder thought for a moment. “Well, fire is the element with the most offensive prowess and with the second best movement abilities. If you’re going to war, a Fire Mage or Knight is a must, but the downside is that it is the most mana consuming of the elements and the healing spells are crude.”

“What about the others then?” Shango asked the elder, eager to learn more.

“Let’s see…water is the most balanced with an excellent offense, good defense, and it has the second strongest healing ability with light being the strongest. Earth users are more geared towards having a strong defense, but those who have developed a deep mastery of the earth element could hold their own in a battle with the other elements. Those who are Air users can fly with no artifact or tools, so they are the best when it comes to movement with Fire users behind them and then earth users. They offer the second best offensive power and healing that places third among the elements.”

“So what about the Light and Dark elements?”

“Hmm, I know very little about the Light element. It’s the strongest element when it comes to healing, being able to restore entire limbs as long as the person is not dead or doesn’t have a high-level curse placed on. Then there are those Demons and Dark elves who are more commonly able to use the Dark element. One of the scariest things about Dark element users is their ability to place curses on others. They could be a real headache to deal with if you are unprepared.” he explained, “Now then, enough talk about elements that you cannot use. I did my part and told you what element you are, now it’s time for you to decide which path you will be choosing. Mage or Knight, little hero.”