65

As Id and Tristan’s Aura Beams collided with each other, the pattern of their swordfight entirely changed. The movements of Id, who used quick footwork to avoid the opponent’s attack when fighting with Aura Blades, slowed down, and the match became a confrontation of power versus power. Id and Tristan’s Aura Beams clashed about twenty times with thunderous sounds. As Tristan, who stopped attacking, stepped back and sheathed his sword, Id also backed off. With a satisfactory smile, Tristan looked at Id with curious eyes.

“You are even more potent than I expected.”

Also sheathing, Id spoke politely to Tristan.

“I learned a lot from your swordsmanship. Thank you.”

“You are the first swordsman since William Cronos to defy my Aura Beam. You can be proud of yourself.”

“Have you fought with William Cronos?”

“Not long after I returned home after traveling around the human world with my wife, I met him around here. I think it was about ten years ago. We fought for about half an hour, but neither of us tried to take a risk and conclude the confrontation, so it ended in a draw. I think I have a lot to talk with you about. Why don’t you stop by my house? It’s not far from here.”

When the match between Id and Tristan ended, the blue-haired woman and Id’s friends approached them. The blue-haired woman told Spica.

“Hey kid, you are half a hatchling, half a human. It won’t be easy for you to awaken as a dragon. You know, dragons don’t take care of other dragons’ abandoned hatchling.”

What the blue-haired woman said was true. Since dragons rarely cared for the other dragons’ hatchlings, it was improbable that the lone hatchling without a parent would survive and awaken as a true dragon. Even if the gold dragon Vega had had enough time before death, she would not have thought of entrusting Spica to another dragon. Spica retorted to the blue-haired woman.

“I don’t want to ask dragons to take care of me, either. Vega entrusted me to Id. If I can’t awaken as a genuine dragon, I’ll die a human.”

As Spica spoke, looking at Id, the blue-haired woman also glanced at Id for a moment.

“Are you Vega’s hatchling? What happened to Vega?”

Spica talked about Vega’s death to the blue-haired woman briefly and asked her.

“Do you know Vega? What’s your name?”

“I am Callisto. I had originally lived in the Plantio Mountains and met Vega once when I moved here a hundred years ago. At that time, I heard that Vega was raising you. Did you say Vega left you to that young man when she died?”

When Callisto tried to talk something to Id, Tristan said first.

“Let’s not talk long here and go home. Id, what do you think?”

After a glance at his party, Id said,

“Thank you for your invitation. Then, we’ll stop by your house for a while.”

Tristan and Callisto headed down the steep mountain path for about a couple of hours to a valley where a crystal-clear stream flowed. High and steep rocky cliff blocked the west of the valley, but relatively low hills formed dense forests in the east. The full moon warmly shone on the valley, and it did not feel stuffy for a valley. The stream flowing from north-northwest to south-southeast was relatively wide for a valley brook. It was abundant in the quantity of water and fast in current.

A sizable two-story log cabin stood twenty meters from the stream and thirty meters from the rocky cliff. On the first floor of the house, there were only a large living room and a dining room with a kitchen, and on the second floor, three bedrooms. Selena said.

“This is a typical human house. I didn’t expect the house where an elf and a dragon live together looked like this.”

Callisto replied to Selena.

“I’ve lived as a human for over a hundred years. It’s natural for me to live in a house like this.”

Id asked,

“This valley is pretty spacious and has a very suitable terrain for people to build a mountainous village, but it seems there are no people at all in the whole valley.”

Tristan answered.

“There was an orc village here a hundred years ago. I heard there had been a human village before then. The orcs had occupied the human village and driven the humans out of this valley. Since a violent blue dragon kicked out the orcs and built her lair in this valley, no other species have been around, not just orcs or humans. Sometimes dwarves are brought in for the blue dragon’s lair decoration, but they leave as soon as they’re done their mission.”

Tristan pointed his finger at the entrance to a large cave in the middle of the cliff seen through the large living room window. Callisto, the violent blue dragon, glared at Tristan.

“It’s a slander that I’m violent. All I’ve done was transform into the main body every few years and roar. If I don’t do that periodically, I’m afraid some things would come into this valley and live while we’re traveling around the human world. I hate having noisy things around my house.”

Apart from Callisto’s real personality, it was true that she had never done anything violent in this valley. When she first appeared in the valley, all the orcs fled on their own, and neither monsters nor predators invaded her territory. The presence of the four-thousand-year-old dragon was that threatening. Only small herbivores like roe deer and goats and small carnivores like foxes and badgers came to the valley to drink water. Eventually, the entire valley became a dragon lair. Callisto said, looking at Id.

“Did Vega give you her dragon heart to entrust Spica to you? Are you confident you will awaken her as a dragon?”

Callisto could sympathize with the reason why Vega had given her Dragon Heart and entrusted Spica to Id. Dragons were excessively devoted to raising their hatchling. Callisto, who had brought up her hatchling before, was well aware of the dragon’s mad motherhood. Dragons’ maternal love was absolute during parenting, even though it disappeared like a wash after the hatchling became independent. When Callisto had raised her hatchling, a stupid ogre had once threatened it. Then, the furious Callisto had slaughtered all ogres that had been living in the mountain where her lair had been. Callisto wondered if the young man named Id had the ability to awaken Spica as a true dragon. She began to observe Id closely. Feeling the curious eyes of the blue dragon, Id replied.

“I don’t know if I have that ability either. Thanks to Vega, I realized I had already entered the State of Harmony, and I think this was probably the reason why she entrusted Spica to me. I’m going to show Spica the way to the State of Harmony.”

Callisto was surprised to hear that Id had entered the State of Harmony and cast a spell to check whether it was true. She was a dragon who had lived for nearly four thousand years and had a prediction that she would enter the State of Harmony shortly. She had never imagined that a young human being would have entered the State of Harmony that she had yet to reach. However, the result of her Magic Examination came to the same conclusion as Vega’s. It seemed to her also that Id was already in the State of Harmony. Callisto’s attitude toward Id has changed considerably.

“You surprised me many times today. Anyway, I understand Vega’s decision. With death on the verge, she would have had no other option. But, why did you disintegrate Vega’s Dragon Heart?”

“I’ve just thought it was right to return Vega’s Dragon Heart to the arms of Mother Nature. Nevertheless, my party, including myself, received unexpected help in the process of dismantling her Dragon Heart.”

Callisto found a highly concentrated manna hall in Id’s lower abdomen through a Magic Investigation. She checked the other members of Id’s party and found manna halls in the bodies of Sasha, Lara and Spica. Callisto understood Id’s remark that they had been helped by Vega’s manna when dismantling it.

Lara created a manna hall while circulating manna in the rock groove surrounded by Vega’s manna. Although her manna hall was still small in size with low manna density, Lara felt proud of it. She had yet to tell her friends about her manna hall, but Id noticed that she had made it.

Spica’s manna hall had the characteristics of Dragon Heart, though it was located in her lower abdomen instead of her neck. Dragon Hearts and human manna halls were similar in that they refined and accumulated natural manna, but their growth processes were different. While Dragon Hearts grew very slowly but steadily, human manna halls grew step by step, repeating expansions and contractions. Although Spica’s polymorphous body was the same as that of humans, the growth of her manna hall progressed very slowly like a Dragon Heart, which was barely noticeable.

Sasha’s manna hall has grown as large as Id’s, but the concentration of manna accumulated in it has not yet been very high. Sasha laid the foundation for being a peak swordsman. Furthermore, depending on his efforts, he could become a Sword Master in the State of Harmony one day.