Magnus' presence was powerful. No matter what he did, even if he tried to suppress it, the presence of a dragon instilled fear into everything, even things that one would consider fearless.

The three skeletons that followed Melinoe's order hesitated when Magnus first appeared. That was a mistake.

The body of the nearest skeleton was immediately shattered to pieces as Magnus swiped his right claw. The force of the dragonet was enough to shatter bone infused with magic.

Melinoe screamed as he saw Magnus shatter one of his soldiers. He remembers the time he dug those graves in the middle of the night while always looking behind him to see if anyone would stop him. The stress was enough to kill a man and yet his hard work was immediately destroyed.

Magnus didn't care and he shattered the two undead in front of him with a swipe and a powerful bite.

"Attack! Destroy the dra-dragon!"

Melinoe managed to recover some of his courage and ordered the remaining undead to swarm Magnus. Something that Magnus seems to remember is that the lowest tier of the undead isn't too powerful. They're capable of wounding ordinary people but against trained individuals, these entities are nothing but moving flesh bags or, in this case, a walking pile of bones. Despite being on all fours, Magnus attacked with great swiftness.

His claws rendered bone into dust and his bites dealt damage sufficient enough to scatter the reanimating magic within the skeletons. Once Melinoe gathered his wits, he opened the book and started casting a spell.

With the meager demonic essence he gathered, Melinoe starts to cast a spell of destruction.

"Oh great beast of the unknown, summon yourself in the presence of a humble servant and destroy his foes. Let their flesh be melted, their bones dusted, and their memories wiped from the mind of their beloved!"

Melinoe summons demonic energy on his decrepit right hand. As he chants, the dark energy starts to crackle and even slowly burn off his flesh. Before his whole right hand is burnt off, Melinoe releases the spell.

Demon Lightning!!

A bolt of red lightning appears from Melinoe's hand and it streaks towards Magnus with great speed. The skeletons in between were obliterated as the lightning destroyed everything in its path. Magnus' eyes looked forward at the incoming spell. The lightning spreads out as it hits Magnus straight on the body. The collision releases a small area of smoke that covered Magnus.

"Yes! I am all-powerful!"

Before Melinoe could continue his celebration, he hears an exhalation of air as the smoke is cleared with ease, revealing Magnus. The lightning strikes Magnus' front chest, leaving a small wound on it. The wound is small and negligent but the spell still managed to harm Magnus, albeit minimally.

Melinoe's eyes widen. He used almost all the demonic essence he gathered for that spell and it just scratched the dragon.

"Wh-why me?! What did I deserve to reach such horrible luck!? Skeletons destroy it!"

Melinoe's command wills the undead to rush forward and attack Magnus. Despite seeing his servants get eviscerated earlier, Melinoe somehow believes that the remaining undead can kill the dragon.

His weak confidence is quickly shattered as Magnus shatters the first skeletons by swiping both his claws in front of him. Melinoe's legs slowly weakened as he saw his small army get decimated without any effort.

While the forces that harmed the forest's denizens were being destroyed, the animals stayed. It's not because they were interested in watching their attacker's demise, not that they understand such a concept, but it is because they were afraid that the dragon's wrath would be directed at them.

Magnus studied his work. The bones were scattered everywhere. He wasn't particularly proud of his actions. It's not like a weak skeleton could possibly harm him, especially these types of undead.

He turned his attention to Melinoe who is standing still in complete fear.

Magnus thought of what he needed to do. Should he kill this necromancer? The necromancer had the scent of dark magic and if one wasn't aware of the intricacies of magic his old age would be a sign that he has been a user of dark magic for a long time.

This isn't the case for Magnus.

A dragon's senses aren't simply on the physical plane but also extend to the spiritual and astral plane. Magnus peered into Melinoe's soul and sees a young tortured soul. The soul was white with its farthest edges being black in color. It meant that the soul wasn't fully corrupted by evil. From the fear evident in Melinoe's face, Magnus knew that Melinoe might have been coerced or even manipulated into this situation, albeit with his free will, if you can even call it free will.

Magnus started to walk towards Melinoe. Melinoe screams and he uses the last of his demonic essence to cast Demonic Lightning.

The red lightning strikes Magnus straight on the head. The smoke quickly dissipates and reveals an unharmed dragon. Unknown to most, except the most fanatic of dragon scholars, the head of a dragon has the toughest scales.

Melinoe screams with an undignified sound and he tries to summon the power of his demonic mana but he finds himself drained dry. Desperate, Melinoe starts to cast neutral mana spells instead, the spells he learned in the academy.

"Strike true, I call upon the movement of energy and allow my will to strike my enemy without missing a beat!"

Mana Missiles!

Multiple darts of energy appear from Melinoe's hand and they fly with great speed towards Magnus. Each dart strikes true and hits Magnus' body. As expected, there was no effect. After all, even if multiple mana missiles hit a single spot, it would still be significantly weaker than a single demonic lightning spell. But Melinoe was afraid. If he wasn't so desperate, he would realize that his spells would not be able to harm Magnus. It was better to escape.

It was too late now. After casting multiple spells in succession, Melinoe's mana was running dry. Magnus eventually stopped a few feet in front of the aged young man. On all fours, Magnus only stood at 3 feet tall yet he looked gargantuan for Melinoe. The poor man dropped to his knees.

After he escaped the academy, he hid for 2 years. He hid in the worst conditions. He was a mage that came from a wealthy merchant family and yet he could not approach his family. He was afraid that if he did, they would be persecuted like him so he hid in the recesses of society. When he became 20 years old, he acted upon his plan and started studying the book to gain power. Unwilling to harm the innocent, he used his life force to power his first experiments. And after giving almost 60 years' worth of his life for power, it was destroyed by an unlucky meeting with a legendary creature thought to be extinct.

For the first time in those 3 miserable years, Melinoe prayed. Before his mind could conceive any prayer, Magnus lunged forward with his gaping mouth. It should've been done there. The average dragonet's bite force exceeded 5000 psi and Magnus was definitely not an average dragonet. Despite this, Melinoe felt no pain. He opened his eyes and he saw Magnus in front of him. The dragonet wasn't moving but Melinoe definitely felt the dragon move.

Despite being a magic caster, Melinoe was not powerful enough nor did he have the talent or skill to perceive the spiritual world. Magnus momentarily split his soul from his body and with his spirit, he lunged forward and took a bite out of Melinoe's soul. Magnus could easily consume Melinoe's soul to become stronger but that would taint his soul and Melinoe's soul was lacking compared to the crystals in his cave. Instead, Magnus took a bite of the tainted part of Melinoe's soul.

Demonic bile...

Magnus felt disgusted but it was over just as fast as it started. He ripped the darkened soul and threw it into the recesses of the void, home of the demons. Fortunately for Melinoe, the corruption wasn't deep, or else it would have been impossible to save his soul.

The moment Magnus' astral self returned to his physical body, Melinoe undergoes a quick change. His body becomes engulfed in greenish light as the gaps in his soul try to find a substitute. With no demonic essence in the area to fill those gaps, Melinoe's soul instead absorbs the forest spirits around him. Due to his soul's nature changing, Melinoe regains his youth as his body changes from that of an old man to a man in his prime. The change didn't stop there. His eyes changed to the color green as if to reflect the forest. His white hair turned to a nice shade of brown. When the transformation was finished, Melinoe felt refreshed. It was the most refreshed he has ever been.

He no longer felt burdened by his past mistakes. He felt like a new person. In this case, he truly was a new person.

Before he could think about what just happened, he turned to his benefactor, the dragon who destroyed his devilish work. When he looked up, he saw Magnus walking away. The whole affair didn't seem to bother the dragon.

It didn't. Magnus didn't really care about much of what happened but he did take the book. He didn't want anyone picking it up and using it so near his home. It was just a bit annoying carrying the book with his mouth.

"Wa-wait!"

Melinoe, with his new body and reinvigorated youth, screams for Magnus. He runs and for the first time in three years, he feels strong. His lungs are coping well with his physical effort. It was like all the suffering was a dream.

Magnus turned to see the man. He didn't care much for him, he simply decided to follow what his old memories were warning him about. He needed to care. It was weird but he needed to change. Magnus didn't speak. It wasn't because he didn't want to. He was too young. Speaking was not something he could do yet.

"Ancient one! Please wait!"

Melinoe only knew of the legends of dragons and how they were the true immortals. He didn't know about their growth process or how they grow. He knows that they become big and powerful but he didn't know the specifics either. For him, Magnus might as well be the god of dragons.

Magnus stopped. He waited for the man to speak. When Melinoe sees Magnus wait, he heaves a sigh of relief. He wanted to thank him. But is that it? The dragon removed the corruption in his soul but could he do more?

"Ancient one! I, Melinoe Vourina, wish to become your servant!"

Magnus huffed and turned around, immediately rejecting the request. He didn't want a servant. Melinoe started panicking and he followed Magnus, to wherever the great dragon walked.