Time waited for no one. The season had changed 8 times since Azar first stepped foot back in the land of the living. Azar, who at the time was supposedly in the body of a then 10-year-old human boy. His journey had been long and hard. Crossing from lands to lands, from mountains to rivers, and now Azar found himself climbing through towers and towers of scorching sand and under the unforgiving sun of the vast desert of emptiness.

It was hard for him to believe that it had already been two years since that day, from almost being starved to death and avoiding humans as much as possible. Azar was now in better physical condition. He had grown a lot in two years, gaining muscle and height. Mostly thanks to his tough journey. And now, he had many ways to get food, though money was still sort of a problem.

Most importantly, Azar found himself helping humans much more than he could ever imagine. Though as of far, it was only giving some poor souls some of his food or guiding them to the nearest town, it was still something he could be proud of. His interaction with humans was getting better and better. Though there was still a clear distrust against humans in his heart and instinct.

“Ok that’s enough,” he muttered. It had been a week since he walked the desert, and there was no civilization to be seen. It was extremely difficult for Azar to travel during the day due to the extreme environment. He had to take many breaks during his journey to preserve his stamina.

“Come on! When will this suffering end !?” Azar spoke out loud. The extreme environment also came with a lack of food and water resources. His supplies were almost empty at that point.

But it was nighttime that proved to be most difficult for Azar. The temperature dropped fast in the desert, as sand could not hold the heat well. Experiencing this extreme temperature drop regularly really took a toll on Azar. But as luck would have it, one the seventh night, right before he took the last drop of water, civilization at last. In fact, it was a relatively big city.

“Habarga the city of the sand.”

Azar had been through a few cities in his two-year journey so far, but none was as impressive as this one. The buildings were a lot taller than those of others he had been through, not to mention they were made with much better material. Their architectural style was also very different. For example, most buildings and houses had a pointed arch, multifoil arch, onion dome, or pointed dome. Not to mention, they were much more focused on adding more mesmerizing and unknown symbols and patterns, whether it was outside of their houses, on the domes, or the walls. And of course, a bigger city meant a much bigger population. Azar saw a variety of humankind walking through the street, from light skin to dark skin, from those that looked like giants to those that seemed like little trolls. In addition, the goods that they traded and sold here had much more variety. However, as Azar soon found out, they were very expensive. Everything in that city was at a premium price, much more than Azar could wish to afford at the time. But that was not the worst part about the city.

Azar roamed the street at night. However, everywhere he went, every breath he took, he could feel someone was watching him. Soon, Azar realized that almost everyone was watching him. They all had that distinct gaze of hatred and intimidation on them. It did not take long for Azar to realize that all of those giving him a look were all dressed in high-end material clothing and wore some jewelry on them. But, on the other hand, Azar still dressed very much like the hobo that he was. Of course, Azar had changed his raggy clothing since he was 8 years old, but his new one was not very much better, not to mention it also had to go through the harrowing journey with him.

Azar paid no mind to it. If it was just human usually discrimination, even back when he was a dragon, simple discrimination like this happened regularly. So Azar would be fine with the circumstances, as long as they meant him no real harm.

The moon had risen high above their heads, and the people of Habarga had long gone to sleep on their comfortable beds. For Azar, it was just another night of sleeping somewhere on the street for him. At least in the city, there were tall buildings to block the sand and winds for him.

However, a couple of hours after he slept, all of his senses were tingling. Someone or something was coming close to him. Then came the sound of sand gently being stepped on, getting closer and closer to him. Whatever it was, Azar could even hear its heartbeat and breathing. It was young and nervous, Azar felt. The heart was breathing rapidly, like drums in a festival, and its breathing was fast and heavy. It was scared and inexperienced at whatever it was trying to do. Azar patiently waited until it had reached Azar’s attack range. Then like a viper, Azar lunged at whatever it was, daggers in hands, and went straight for the fatal blow.

“NO PLEASE !” The voice of a young human managed to stop him just in time as he was just about to slit his throat. But, just like what Azar had suspected, it was just a young human. The boy was young, probably about Azar’s human age. He had deep brown eyes with caramel skin that short messy hair, skinny body, and raggy clothes told Azar that this boy was probably from a poor household or an orphan. His face embodied the word “fear” at that moment, and he was shedding tears uncontrollably.

“PLEASE! DON’T KILL ME! I’M SORRY !”

Azar slowly moved his knives away and let go of the boy. He hastily crawled away from Azar.

“Stop !” Azar ordered the boy, who instantly froze after Azar's order.

“What were you trying to do ?”

The boy was too afraid to respond, he just stood in front of Azar with his head down and his legs shaking.

“Answer me now, or you’ll lose a finger !”

“Stealing … I was about to look through your stuff….”

“What kind of dumb-ass thief are you !? Do I even look like I have money to spare ???!!!”

“...”

“There are thousands of wealthy houses around here and you thought you would get more loot from a boy sleeping in the alley of a street !!??” Azar scolded the little boy.

“I’m sorry ….” The boy said in an apologetic voice.

“So who are you, and why are you doing this kind of crime in the middle of the night? Where are your parents….”

The boy’s face changed color when Azar mentioned his parents.

“Ok, … just tell me who you are then.”

“My name is Munir, … Saqat Munir…”

“And…” Azar waited for the boy to continue. “Is there a reason why you target me ?”

“I have to….”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true !” Munir instantly replied, “If I go back empty-handed, he will ….” The boy was too afraid to finish his sentence. Azar took notice instantly as he could sense the fear in his heart. And considering that Azar just held a knife up his throat, that spoke some volume.

“Never use that as an excuse, boy. You are the one that decided to steal, no one made you do it,” Azar coldly told the boy.

“If I don’t want to sleep cold and hungry, If I don’t want to live in fear of getting beaten up over and over again, … then yes, I have to..” the boy, Munir, bluntly answered.

Azar looked deep into his eyes and saw that the boy wasn’t lying. He sighed then told him.

“You’re lucky, this time.” Azar got back to where he was sleeping. “Go, don’t let me catch you again.”

The skinny boy ran away from Azar right after. As there were thieves everywhere, humans or others, Azar was not surprised by him. However, he still found it a little bit sad that a boy at such a young age had to do what he had to. Life was hard for many humans. That was the lesson that Azar concluded after his two-year journey as a human. Azar had seen them show the potential to be kind, but he also saw what the poor and corrupted world had done to them as well. “At least being a thief was not that bad. He could have been worse,” Azar thought.

Morning came, and the city had already woken up. The street was packed with humans going on their business. Azar found it surprising that the street had already got the smell of wine and alcohol even before breakfast time. Azar needed to restock his supply, which meant he needed to earn some money. However, finding a job in a city like this was nearly impossible for a boy like Azar. Everywhere he looked, they denied his request, either because of size, strength, or skill. In a city where most things were premium, a homeless boy with dirty clothing did not have much chance. With just three silver coins in his pocket, there wasn’t much supply he could afford. His memory from last night came rushing back to him, and Azar thought to himself,

“How about I just take something ?”. Azar thought to himself. Most of the humans he saw in this city had plenty to spare. They probably wouldn’t even notice if something went missing.

He nodded his head and headed toward the marketplace, where there were a lot of humans, or to Azar, potential victims. However, while he was browsing for his target,

“THIEF !!!” Someone shouted. Azar got a little jumpy and panicked. How could a human tell what he was going to do? He asked himself. But then, a small and thin figure started to run across the market. Azar looked closely and saw that it was just a skinny human. This one looked even younger than the boy from last night. The long hair and thin body told Azar that this was likely to be a little girl, even though she covered her face with a thin dark fabric. And the thing she stole... a thin loaf of bread.

“Why does it take 5 grown adult humans to chase after one small little girl like her ?” Azar was deeply confused by what he saw. “Is that little girl that dangerous, is that bread really so expensive ?”

And soon enough, his question got answered. All armed with weapons and leather armor, the men easily caught up to the little girl.

“Why don’t they learn ….” Azar sighed. “Never steal from someone you can’t outrun...”. That was it, he thought. She was caught and probably would be sent to prison or a punishment equal to her crime.

“Bring her back here! You street rats know what the penalty is for thieves in this city !”

Azar stood and watched as the little girl got dragged back to where she stole the bread.

“PLEASE, SIR! I’M SORRY! PLEASE, NOT THAT !” The girl cried out and begged the men. But none of them cared. Instead, everyone around the area started to cheer as the girl got dragged away. Azar suddenly got a very uneasy feeling about what was about to happen. No matter how hard she cried, her fate was sealed. The men pinned her down, then to Azar's ultimate horror, one of them pulled out his sword. One swift and cold-blooded swing later, the little girl was screaming in a puddle of her own blood. Her little hand was cut clean off.

Azar’s eyes almost popped out of his head. He did not know what disgusted him more, the fact that the penalty for a little girl, no older than 8 years old, for the crime of stealing a loaf of bread was getting her hand cut off in public. Or the fact that all of these adult humans were watching and cheering for the men to cut her hand. Azar felt sick just by listening to the crowd cheering at the scene.

“Let this be a lesson for any dumb thieves that dare step foot in this beautiful city !” those men shouted. The girl was quickly taken away after. Azar did not find out what happened to her after. However, it was not hard for him to imagine what the life of a one-handed poor young human female would be in this sort of world. The men did do their job well, though, after seeing what happened, Azar no longer had the intention to steal in that city ever again.

Another mission failed for Azar, he felt. There was no way he could find food or earn some money here. Arar walked away from the marketplace and started thinking about what he was supposed to do next. As far as he could see, the desert was still beyond the horizon. Without sufficient supply, Azar doubted he could make it.

“Hey kid, you look like you’re someone who needs some quick coin.”

Azar turned around and saw a very shady-looking human male was standing disturbingly close to him. He was an adult, leaning more on the older side. Though the human did not give Azar the sense of someone wealthy, even if his clothes were at least clean, and judging by the long slicked back raven hair, the man spent quite a lot of time on his appearance. His eyes were like those of a snake, and the yellow and crooked teeth gave everyone who met him the impression that he was someone you shouldn’t talk to.

“So kid, Do you ?”

The man then led Azar to a house near the city's outskirts. The house looked as if it had been through wars. It was as dilapidated as it could be, the dirty walls, the rusty metals all around the house. However, Azar could smell all of the wine and opioids from that place, mixing with the wild laughter and shouting. And as Azar expected, there was a burden of humans within that house. Three floors and a basement full of humans, to be exact. They came from all sorts of lives, from the wealthy to the beggars. The basement was where most lowlife humans, who did not have much to spare, threw their last silver on gambling, praying for their fortune to change in a roll of the dice. The first and second floors were where those who had a bit of fortune to spare came and spent their days, suffocating themself with cheap wine and opioids. And the third floor was only for a few wealthy people to pass their time. Gambling for them was merely a hobby. Azar found it much easier to tell which humans belong to which floor by just their smell. They came from dirty, smelly humans in the basement to wine and opioids on the ground, the cologne and perfume on the top.

Azar felt the snake eyes man’s hand almost as if pushing him forward toward the basement.

“Sorry, but I have no money to gamble. Not today.” Azar bluntly answered the man and tried to turn back. But the man was relentless.

“Oh no ! Don’t worry about money! Just think about how much fun it would be! How much money you could earn! This can change your life !”

It was not hard for Azar to tell he was trying to lure him in. He took a glance around and, as he expected. There were a surprisingly high number of children among those gambling on the ground floor. Azar was sure that that number would even be more in the basement. However, one kid caught Azar’s attention, the brown eyes and caramel skin little boy from last night, Munir, he was there too. However, the human boy did not look as though he was gambling. Judging by all the empty cups he was carrying, he looked more like an employee than a player. But Azar noticed something else as well. Munir had a lot more bruises than before. His bruised black left eyes and bruised knee tell the story of somebody who did that to him. Azar already did not like where this was going.

“Yeah, I only have like three silver coins __” Azar tried to talk his way out of it. But the man cut him off just as quickly.

“In this house, one silver coin to make your fortune! Three are more than enough !” Then his voice changed a little bit. The man started to talk a bit more quietly to Azar.

“And you know, you just need some extra. I can always lend you some” the man smiled.

“Lend me some ?...” And there was the hook and bait. “And if I can’t repay you those coins ?”

“Oh don’t think so negatively my young friend,” He padded Azar on the back. “I’m sure that a bright and handsome young man like you wouldn’t let me down.”

“And who are you again !?” Azar asked.

“I’m Firmino Salah, the proud owner of this residence.”

And there was Azar’s answer to the question of who ran this place and who Munir was so afraid of last night. Stepping into that house was a mistake, Azar felt. However, there was one thing that humans got right about him, he needed the money.

“Alright, but I don’t even know how to play these games….”

“Oh don’t worry! I’ll teach you myself !” the snake-eyed man said in a very cheery voice. He thought he had just found another victim. Salah personally walked Azar to the basement and taught him how to play a couple of games there. After just about 15 minutes, Azar had known the rules of half the games there. Finally, Azar chose a table to sit on and joined the smelly humans. Azar decided to only participate in games that they could not cheat so easily. A simple game of dice where each participant had three dice and the one that rolled out the highest number won. Each dive had 6 faces counted from 1 to 6, and they would add them all together for the final result. There was another similar game where they had to roll out the smallest, but Azar was more interested in this one.

Sitting down among all the dirty human and raggy clothing, the table consisted of humans young and old. Two of which looked around his age.

“Let’s get this over with !” Azar bet all three silver coins he had on that turn. Based on the number of players, he would gain 15 coins if he won. After everyone had taken their turn, Azar needed a 15 or higher (Out of a total of 18 max) to win. The odds were certainly against him, Azar sighed. He reluctantly shook his dice in an old and filthy-looking dark cup and threw them on the table.

“16! And we have a winner !” Azar just won 15 silver coins with no effort. That could buy him a day or two of food and water.

“Fucking beginner luck !” Someone shouted among the crowd. Azar’s face suddenly grew irritated and annoyed. Then, he gave himself a facepalm and mumbled.

“Bloody Hell, why didn’t I think of this earlier !”

Everyone else gave the young boy a confused look. Azar had just won 15 silver coins. So why was he the one that looked disappointed?

“Hey, in or out kid ?!” a dirty human next to Azar asked him. He replied with the brightest smile he had ever had since becoming a human.

“GAMBLING IS AWESOME !” he shouted out loud and slammed his hand on the table.

Hours passed by, and Azar had moved away from the basement filled with a disgraceful smelly bunch of humans to the first floor with a disgraceful bunch of humans that smell like opioids all the time. The sun was about to set, and Azar was still in that abomination of a building.

“Odd ... !” a young adult human male was holding on to an upside-down cup, looking extremely nervously. Sweat was covering all of his face and palm. And sitting in front of him, Azar looked as bored as humanly could.

“So I’ll be even …” he said nonchalantly. There were a lot of spectators watching for a simple reason. Ever since Azar came and played, no one had been able to win a single coin from him. The game Azar was playing now was simple, 4 dice. One player put them in a cup and shook it however they wanted, then they guessed if the number would be even or odd.

Seeing that Azar was going to flip the cup up, the man in front of him stopped him in an instant and shouted.

“NO ! I’LL BE EVEN !”

“Alright, so I’ll be odd then….”

“Stop this with your fucking mind game !” the man screamed at him. He had lost all his money to Azar so far, not even a single win since Azar came along. Everyone in that house started to spectate and talk about Azar. Azar couldn't cheat. They would have caught him in an instant as all eyes were on him. But it was even harder to believe that it was just simply luck that pushed him so far. Even at that moment, Azar proved himself that he was no cheater. He even let the man in front of him choose the dice, shook them then picked first. They all thought they were being hustled by that little boy like some super-genius who was winning by playing mind games with them.

To Azar, the joy of winning in gambling was long gone as all he did was win since he stepped foot in that house. However, the inflow of money still made his heart feel warm.

“Gambling is the best !” he told himself. Azar smiled cheerfully as he saw the man sitting opposite him, losing his mind trying to take what was supposed to be a 50-50 chance.

“No no… hahaha”, the man started to laugh like a mad man. “I get it now ! I got it right the first time, and you’re just trying to trick me to think that I was wrong !”

“So odd ?” Azar asked the man.

“NO ! EVEN YOU FOOL !” the man shouted back at him. “THAT WAS ONLY A TEST TO SEE IF YOU WOULD ACTUALLY EXCEPT! I GOT YOU NOW !”

The guy lifted the cup, and inside, the dices gave an odd number.

“Thanks for playing” Azar took the coins and packed his stuff. He was almost empty-handed when he first came in with 3 silver coins in his pocket. Now he had 5 sacks of coins which contained more than 800 silver. Azar joyfully walked outside the door, under the watchful and hateful full eyes of all who were there, especially the place owner, Firmino Salah. He had basically cleaned the basement and first floor of that house, making Salad lose quite some silver. He had special players among those floors who were skilled and capable of cheating. It was the usual conman trick, luring naive young faces to the place, lending them some money and winning them all back to your pocket, then forcing those people to pay him back with interest. However, his plan failed miserably with Azar. He knew that there was such a thing as beginner's luck. But what the boy did there was out of this world.