LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 122
“Seris…?”
I turned my head at the voice behind me. Wendy, who had come along with Nightmare, was staring at me in surprise.
“Were you surprised?”
“Uh, um. A little… Could this be my hometown?”
I awkwardly smiled and touched the horns sprouting from my head. Having exhausted my mana, I could no longer maintain my dragon form. The horns were slowly shrinking. I neither affirmed nor denied Wendy’s question.
“Oh, the Ice Stone! Where is our Ice Stone?”
“Um…”
I looked up at Wendy’s question. The clear blue sky had not a single cloud. The cold mana swirling above was too weak to be called dragon’s mana.
Kalbain’s flames burn everything in existence. It was no different even if it was dragon’s mana. The mana of the nameless dragon, which was called Ice Stone, had merely succumbed to my power and disappeared.
The lord of the Blood Dragon Gate chose to suppress the power of the Ice Stone with overwhelming strength rather than reclaiming it. I took it for granted back then. The dragon’s pride affected my thoughts.
The real problem was my own hasty alteration of the techniques that intertwined the two hearts at my whim. Even though I discarded the incantations imbued with the dragon’s arrogance, they stubbornly remained. It seemed I had to start over from the beginning.
“There’s nothing. It seems to have vanished.”
“Ah…”
Wendy’s face fell at my answer. It was a fruitless struggle. Instead, we had lost much. I lost the sword I was using and the Ice Stone that could have been in my hands.
I didn’t necessarily think that there had to be a material reward at the end of an adventure. I believed the experiences and memories left behind were treasures too. However, not being able to obtain something and losing it are two different things. The feeling of losing something precious that was once in my hands was indescribable.
“Rana…!”
At that moment, Red Wind and Ch’eong-bin approached me. The two, battered and blood-soaked, looked terrible.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere…?”
Red Wind trailed off, unable to finish his sentence, and smiled awkwardly at my intact appearance. Ch’eong-bin also seemed to have much to say but glanced at Wendy beside me and fell silent. It appeared they couldn’t disclose family matters in front of an outsider.
“Should we move to a different spot for now…?”
I said while looking around. The two dragon’s blood were covered in wounds, and I too had run out of mana. Although Wendy and Nightmare were still fine, we couldn’t deal with all the presences approaching us from all directions.
We needed a place to rest. Luckily, I knew a suitable location.
Red Wind and Ch’eong-bin didn’t refuse my suggestion to find a place to avoid danger. It seemed they prioritized their lives over their dragon blood pride.
We all exited the massive shrine made of ice. Since the ice wall covering the top was broken, we could leave without going through the stairs.
“But… is there a place to stay…”
It was Wendy’s question. I frowned and turned my head, scanning the mountainside below.
Half of the great Taebaek Mountain had vanished. Where did the eternal snow that covered the mountain go? It must have crashed onto the city at the mountain’s foot. There wasn’t a single place left intact. For the city’s inhabitants, it must have felt like a bolt from the blue—two avalanches had struck in quick succession.
Taebaek means “great white” written in white. Even with half of the massive eternal snow gone, it was still fitting to call this place Taebaek. The scenery of the city covered in white snow was just that.
“Finding an inn won’t be easy… It might be better to sleep outside.”
“There’s a place to stay.”
“Is that really true…?”
“I’m not sure if it’s still intact, though…”
I trailed off, thinking of the White Night Fortress, a village known for its safety. Its location was outside the avalanche’s reach, so it might still be alright.
I approached the White Night Fortress with small expectations.
“Eun-gong…?”
Upon arriving, the White Night Fortress appeared intact. The lights and sacred threads outside the village indicated they would properly conduct the rituals for the deceased. Then, the village gate opened, revealing a mountain goat beastman dressed in white.
“Eun-gong…?”
“Um, I know it’s rude to ask, but could we stay in the village for a few more days…?”
“Uh…”
The mountain goat beastman’s mouth fell open in surprise at my question. His contemplation didn’t last long. He nodded and guided us into the village.
Faint scents wafted from every corner of the village. The sacred threads stretched between the lights held the belongings of the deceased. The villagers appeared through the white-tinged breeze.
As I surveyed the surroundings, I asked the mountain goat beastman walking ahead.
“Are all the villagers out?”
“Yes, everyone is out.”
“Where’s that little kid? The one who gave me the horns.”
“He’s dead.”
“He’s dead…?”
“After you left, he quietly closed his eyes. I don’t know if he followed his parents or if his lifespan was up, but he was smiling at the end. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“Um…”
*
Wendy collapsed as soon as she entered the room. Ch’eong-bin and Red Wind, who had sustained serious injuries, were the same. Only I, unscathed, sat on the wide floor and let out a long sigh.
The sound of shuffling footsteps grew closer. At that moment, a familiar man peeked his head in. It was the mountain goat beastman.
“Eun-gong, did you find the Ice Stone?”
“I found it, but it slipped from my hands.”
“Was it a real object…?”
“Yes.”
“Ah…”
The mountain goat beastman sighed in awe at my response. It seemed he believed the Ice Stone didn’t exist.
He moved about eagerly. With most of the villagers dead now, it was entirely up to him to handle the village’s affairs.
Then, he emerged from an abandoned house with a heavy-looking wooden box.
“What is that?”
“Items belonging to the undead. If there’s anything useful, we’re checking to share among the villagers.”
The mountain goat beastman stopped in front of the wide floor, set down the box, and opened the lid.
“What’s this…?”
Inside the box were a rusty hammer, a pair of iron tongs, and a tattered book. Even without professional skills, I could tell at a glance that these items related to smithing.
The strange markings etched on the hammer exuded a peculiar energy.
“Didn’t you say there were no blacksmiths in the village?”
“It seems there were some in the past…”
The mountain goat beastman sat down and began to skim through the book. It didn’t take long before his demeanor changed. As he quickly flipped through the pages, he eventually returned to the very first chapter and began to study the text closely.
“What does it say?”
“It’s a diary… a diary left by the owner of this hammer.”
“Can I take a look?”
“Hmm… It shouldn’t be a problem.”
[The technique passed down through generations declines with time. Amidst the hastily flowing years, every sense goes dull. Iron doesn’t harden without hammering. Human skill is no different.]
[Though I’ve held the hammer, I’ve never stood before the forge even once. I keep waiting, again and again, for the moment when the spirit within me emanates light. Just as my forebears did, I await to hammer the breath of dragons.]
[For a dragon that lives for thousands of years, ten years is but a fleeting moment. Ten years pass, then twenty. The time of those who have lived their lives for dragons fades in vain. If I cannot accomplish it in my generation, then the next will bear this pain as an inheritance.]
[In this meaningless passing of time, I have increasingly become lost in thought. As the time apart from body and spirit lengthens, a peculiar transformation occurs. I have become two.]
[I left the Dragon’s Furnace. What remains is a soul imbued with spirit. I have reclaimed my freedom from all.]
The diary continued. The serious narratives from the first few pages vanished, giving way to comments about food he had eaten, as well as musings about women he fancied.
I flipped through all those contents, finally turning to the last page.
[This is the last ember. My body is stiffening. Just as cold iron hardens, so too does my body. As I watch my body hardening, I felt the final moment approaching. Just before dying, what flickered in front of my eyes was the very Dragon’s Furnace I had resented so much. It’s regrettable to die without ever having displayed the skills accumulated over a lifetime.]
That is the final page. I closed the book and asked the mountain goat beastman.
“Where is the Dragon’s Furnace?”
“Hm… I’m sorry. I don’t know either.”
The villagers didn’t know where the Dragon’s Furnace was. The undead might have known, but the dozens of gravestones prepared on one side of the village didn’t say a word.
*
The ones who reacted to the words “Dragon’s Furnace” were surprisingly the two I wasn’t expecting.
“The Dragon’s Furnace…? Isn’t that the place?”
“Are you talking about that place in Hyun-ho?”
It was Red Wind and Ch’eong-bin speaking. I pretended not to care and continued the conversation with the two.
“I remember seeing it in a book when I was a child. It said it was where the dragon’s servants lived.”
“What book was it?”
“It was a history of dragons. Rana, you haven’t learned about them yet, huh?”
“No.”
“Good. When we return home, I’ll read it to you.”
That early morning, I quietly slipped out of the room, suppressing my presence and breathing. It was the deep hour of the night where everyone was sleeping, but I couldn’t afford to let my guard down to deceive the senses of Ch’eong-bin and Red Wind.
Did the lord of the Blood Dragon Gate move like this?
I began to move cautiously, recalling the memories of yesterday.
The breath escaping from my mouth elongated. The thin and long breath had the effect of minimizing the sound I made. Slowly advancing, my steps slid like a serpent’s movement.
I entered the mountain goat beastman’s room and borrowed the book and the hammer. Then, without looking back, I left the village with Nightmare. I hadn’t been caught by anyone.
*
The fact that Seris had vanished became apparent just before lunch.
“Um…”
“Ah… That child really…”
Red Wind and Ch’eong-bin sighed in disheartenment as they looked at the empty room. Despite it being lunchtime, the absence of the little girl felt ominous. Red Wind and Ch’eong-bin recalled the small letter left at home.
“Red Wind, do you know where Rana has gone?”
“I don’t.”
“What about the sorceress girl who was with her?”
“She stayed behind. It seems she was abandoned.”
“Hmm… As expected, bloodlines of dragon blood must always tread alone. It seems she naturally understands that principle.”
“You lunatic.”
“Red Wind, aren’t you worried at all?”
“She’s a girl with the blood of dragons running thick in her veins. Who could harm her?”
“Well…”
“Besides, Rana is now fourteen, isn’t she? Or is it fifteen? Anyway, she wouldn’t like being followed.”
“Hm… Indeed…”
Ch’eong-bin recalled past events from Red Wind’s words. He too had left home around fifteen, just wanting to wander outside. And so did Red Wind.
Once they both recovered, Red Wind and Ch’eong-bin set out from the village. Their destination was Jinchun, where the authority of the Dragon’s Blood was.
“Shall we go back…?”
Left alone, Wendy decided to return to the Mage Tower. It was the moment she was saying farewell to the mountain goat beastman that the wind wrapped around her body.
Whoosh—!
“Eh!”
The stronger wind than usual lifted Wendy high into the sky.