novelnext Ep 189. Get Used To It. (1)
Ep 189. Get Used To It. (1)
ep 189. get used to it. (1)
ep 189. get used to it. (1)
after returning to vulka’s grave, it didn’t take too long for serenis to finish her examination of the area: the remaining traps were easily dismantled with their lack of mana, and reinforcing the ice to prevent a collapse was simple enough through the help of magic.
and, funnily enough, the sorting work inside also began to speed along once raizel and ilias were absent. with no bickering or interruptions to distract, the others continued to work apace – although bruton visibly flinched with a mild frown every time they heard a loud bashing noise from above.
and when the only work that remained was carrying the sorted tribute outside of vulka’s remains, serenis once again took a brief leave – this time to bring other kin to their aid.
initially, bruton and xerun had volunteered (although one was rather reluctant) to do the work on their own. despite the large quantity, bringing the tributes outside wasn’t anything that couldn’t be done given a few trips back and forth.
but serenis was quick to decline their offer, opting to call the rest of their kin to aid instead.
‘and i thought she only meant to lessen our burden, but...’
for a while now, xerun had returned to standing cross-armed in the tribute chamber. a number of others worked about instead as the gold dragon stood by in case of emergencies to ensure his kin’s safety.
but truth be told, what he was really doing was observing his kin’s reactions.
while varying in severity, the dragonkin’s reactions to the pit’s innards have been quite consistent in theme – as was the case with the pair of younger dragons he was looking at this very moment.
“blegh...a bit odd to think we’re in someone else’s corpse.”
“then go back up, why don’t you? it’s not like this was an order.”
“i’m just saying! the elders always spoke of this place as some cursed...forsaken place. i expected more than just bones and ice.”
“at least we know now.”
...at this point, the second lord’s remains had become something of a local attraction.
truth be told, there were countless dragons who were all too eager to take up the dragonlord’s request. most had spent their entire lives wondering what was in here; to them, the dragonlord’s request had been an exploration opportunity more than it was work.
and with that, one of the two younglings wrapped up the last of the tributes in a leather sack, slinging it over his shoulders with a brief scan around the chamber.
“well...that seems to be the last of it. though, where do we even use these glowing rocks? we can’t eat them, can we?”
“apparently they’re worth way more than food to humans.”
“really?...can humans eat gems?”
“...i don’t think so? we see eline around, and she’s never eating one.”
“maybe we just never chanced on it. we always see her feeding that hatchling with her, but she never eats anything herself.”
“huh...maybe you’re right...”
“...”
...5 seconds was all it took for their gold-horned supervisor’s fist to land upon each of their heads.
smack!
“...humans do not consume stone.”
“ow! wh- you could’ve just said so, you know!”
“i swear i’m going to breathe fire on you, raizel.”
“fine, do it! i haven’t been using metals either, you know!”
“your whole body’s metal, you metalhead!”
before the two could continue their argument, the dragonlord quietly tightened her grip over the younglings’ fists with a visible frown.
and soon enough, both raizel and ilias dropped their gaze to the ground once more.
once their fists completely loosened, only then did serenis let go of their hands.
“...you both know very well what you’re each capable of. not only could you two hurt each other, the ground itself may collapse, and there are others nearby as well; be mindful of your surroundings.”
“...tch. fineee...”
“...okay...”
hearing the dragonlord’s response, many of the onlookers wore a quizzical, confused expression.
everyone agreed that raizel and ilias could level their surroundings. they’d seen it happen far more than serenis had; that wasn’t the issue.
instead, their confusion was regarding the dragonlord that was standing right in between the two younglings.
“first she toys with xerun, now she gets between those two? how strong is she exactly?”
“ah, that reminds me...pft. that was quite the sight, xerun choking in her tail. seems even our mighty steel dragon can’t do much against the king.”
“and some were saying the dragonlord was using raizel as a shield...i guess that line’s never coming back.”
“i heard raizel was sick though? isn’t she weaker than us right now then?”
as the dragons surrounding them began to mutter amongst themselves, the anger serenis had killed was slowly rising back up within raizel.
and it wasn’t that long until the youngling would dart her head, growling at her muttering onlookers.
“all of you piss off!!”
...and that’s all it took for the crowd to disperse.
suddenly left by themselves, serenis quietly shook her head at the steel dragon.
‘...when will she mature, i wonder...’
countless others had wondered the same, but even the dragonkin’s lord had no way of telling such things. raizel’s temper had refused to die for decades which, paired with the steel dragon’s affinity to metals and violence, had turned her into the kin’s biggest icon of trouble.
“...”
alas, serenis soon met raizel’s gaze with a faint smile.
truth be told, raizel’s maturity was hardly an issue in the dragonlord’s head.
as long as she remains as healthy as she is now, then...
perhaps that’d be enough.