Dray sat inside a dark room in the church outside of Aradite. He was sitting on a hard bad that was very old inside a prison cell in the underground area of the church. Dray couldn't believe the things that have been happening to him for the last few months.
Ever since Dray met Elias, there has only been misfortune in his life. Everything that Elias told Dray from the beginning has always been a lie. Elias said that he would help Dray to get revenge against the demon lord, and instead of helping Dray, Elias was just using Dray like a tool for his own purpose! Elias never even planned on leaving Dray alive once he completed his part of this mission.
After the incident that happened in the hospital area where Dray tried to attack Elias and then Dray was almost killed, Dray was taken away by some of the priests and placed down here because he was refusing to calm down or listen to anyone. There was nothing anyone could tell Dray that would make him stop trying to kill Elias. That bastard betrayed him and Dray would never forgive him for it!
Dray has been down in this dungeon for more than two weeks now. There was a window beside his bed that he would always look out from to watch the priests and nuns that were passing through the corridor on the other side of the wall. Dray never spoke to anyone since he was placed here, and other than the nun that comes to bring him food, no one else has come to visit him.
Dray grimaced a little and held his chest suddenly as he felt a burning sensation travel through his body again. This pain was much worse than the previous one and it took more time for Dray to finally calm down. This has been happening for a while now and Dray was no longer surprised by it, but he could never get used to the pain.
The burning sensation was from the dragon mana that was still inside Dray. Dray didn't know how he managed to survive all this time with everything that he went through. Dray knows he should have died because of this dragon's mana, but for some reason, he was still alive.
What the fuck am I doing?
Dray groaned and put his head in his hands as he thought this. All of this was too much for Dray. It wasn't even a year ago that he was still a regular student at the bottom of his class trying to impress his girlfriend! And now, he was some sort of fugitive who didn't have any hope of living longer than a month! What would Willow say if she saw me like this? Would she say that I did the right thing by trying to avenge her, or will she call me an idiot?
Dray clicked his tongue and scratched his hair with his hands as he cursed out loud. This was just a fucking mess.
Ka-cha!
The door to the cell where Dray was sitting was suddenly opened and Dray looked up immediately. Dray frowned and he had to squint his eyes up because of the amount o flight that flooded into the room suddenly.
Dray couldn't see who exactly the person was, but he could see the silhouette of a woman standing at the door and he immediately wondered who the hell this was.
"Wow~ This place is so small. They really threw you into a cell like you are some sort of animal. How nice."
Dray's eyes narrowed in anger once he heard the voice and he immediately stood up! He recognized that voice! What the hell is this woman doing here!? She was the reason why everything was such a mess right now. Dray couldn't believe that they have been going through all this stress just so that they can retrieve this woman.
"Givalich. What the hell do you want?"
Givalich was still looking around the cell in curiosity when she heard Dray talk. She turned to him with a raised brow and she spoke up calmly.
"I think you are a bit too young to be speaking to me using my name. Don't make me tear out your tongue for such disrespect. I've killed people for far less,"
Dray grit his teeth and subconsciously rolled his tongue around inside his mouth while swallowing nervously. He could tell that Givalich was dead serious right now! She looked calm and peaceful on the surface, but she is definitely not joking about using her name so freely.
Givalich is thousands of years old and no matter how mature Dray believes he is, he will never be mature enough to use her name the way he is using it unless she permits him to use it. Dray just took a deep breath and then spoke again.
"What do you want?"
Givalich smiled and walked closer to Dray. Dray started walking back and he fell back to seat down on his bed as she came to stand right in front of him. When she stretched her hand out to him he immediately leaned back to avoid her. Dray didn't trust anybody in this church anymore. From the nuns that feed him right down to that bastard called Elias that tricked him all this while, Dray has realized the hard way that he doesn't have a single ally in this place.
Givalich rolled her eyes when she saw Dray leaning back. She took her hand away and sighed while scratching the back of her head. This kid is going to be a pain in the ass. She could already tell.
"Doesn't that hurt? The mana inside you is mine and I know more than anyone else just how dangerous it is for a human to have it inside them. I'm sure you're feeling a lot of pain right now,"
Dray's hand came up to his chest subconsciously as he started to feel that pain in his chest again. He managed to ignore the pain all this while because he was distracted by Givalich, but now that she pointed out that pain again, it came back with a vengeance and made his chest boil red!
Givalich noticed how he touched his chest and she immediately knew that her assumption was perfect! Givalich was actually surprised by the fact that Dray was still alive right now since he has had her mana inside him for more than two weeks.
She knew that Dray's Mana was also from the fire element and that it was helping him to control her mana, but that wasn't enough to allow anyone to bare the pain that comes with dragon mana swirling inside you.
Givalich could still remember what happened a long time ago when one of the Dragon Slayers convinced Dragonnel to transfer some of his ice mana to him. Dragonnel only put a little bit of his mana into the man's core and the man immediately turned into an ice sculpture and froze to death on the spot!
Based on strength, Givalich and Dragonnel were actually very close and that means that Givalich's mana would have the same effect that Dragonnel's Mana does! In fact, since Givalich's mana was based on fire, it would be far more spontaneous!
Givalich waited for Dray to finally say something that would tell her how he managed to survive for this long with all of her Mana inside of him, but it didn't seem like he even knew how he managed to survive because he looked just as lost as she did, so she just folded her hands across her chest and spoke.
"I have a proposition for you,"
Dray's eyes immediately narrowed into a glare and his defenses rose up to the highest point as he tried to stand up from the bed! He would never trust these people again and he would never agree to anything that they told him! There is no way he was going to agree to anything that Givalich asked him.
Givalich saw the mistrust in Dray's expression and she immediately stood in Dray's path and prevented him from standing up. Where the hell does he think he is going? She understood very well why he wouldn't trust her. What Elias did to the boy was regretful, but it is no one's fault but the boys. Why would you be stupid enough to fall for something so obvious? You weren't held down by any magic spell, and neither were you hypnotized when you agreed to help Elias. Dray agreed to help Elias out of his own free will and it is his job to accept the consequences of that decision.
Elias was actually the one that wanted to come here and talk to Dray at first, but Givalich already knew how that would go! If Elias came here then only one person would remain alive at the end of their talk and it would not be Dray! Givalich just decided to take on the responsibility to come and talk to Dray since this concerned her as well.
Givalich continued talking as though she didn't notice the look on Dray's face.
"I know you don't trust me or Elias right now and that's a good thing. You can't survive in this world if you go around trusting people, you'll only end up being used over and over again. You see, it's not really a problem for me if you don't trust me because your opinion of me is none of my concern, but you should reconsider my offer if you know what's good for you. That dragon mana inside your body isn't something that you can just adapt to and start living with like it so nothing. It will definitely kill you and there is no way around it. If you wish to have that revenge that you so desperately want, then you'll stop acting like a child and listen to me,"
Givalich said the last part with a scowl and it made Dray's blood boil when she called him a child! He knew that he was much younger than her, but the way she called him a child was so condescending that it made him feel like an idiot!
Givalich was very good at riling people up with the way she speaks. The only person that she has ever shown any respect to was Dragonnel and she wasn't going to change that anytime soon. Even though Dragonnel joined the demon lord, Givalich dint care. He was still her brother and she would bring him back to her side even though she had to tear this entire world apart for it.
But even though he was annoyed at the way she spoke, that didn't stop Dray from thinking seriously about what she said. Dray knew that Givalich was right about the mana inside him. Even though the mana hasn't yet caused any permanent damage to Dray, Dray could feel the mana getting more and more dangerous every day. The pain that he felt in his chest became worse every day and his own Mana became more and more unstable as time went on. At this rate, won't he just die from Mana poisoning?
But I can't die yet. I haven't even finished what I started. Dray buried his head in his palms and scratched his hair agitatedly! He didn't know what to do! Right now, he needed any opportunity he could get to live! He couldn't die before he avenged Willow! But he couldn't trust these people either! These aren't the sort of people that Dray wants to have by his side when he is in any dangerous situation because he knows that they would leave him to die if he wasn't useful to them. Why would you want to trust people like that!?
Givalich just stayed silent and she allowed him to have his emotional crisis. It was fine because she knew he didn't have a choice at the end of the day. Dray was the sort of person who had tunnel vision when it comes to his goals. He would focus on one thing and he would refuse to give up on that thing until he accomplished it. It wasn't a bad thing all the time because it just meant that Dray had a lot of drive, but that also meant that Dray would do anything to achieve his goal! He would even join hands with them again if it would help him.
And just like Givalich predicted, it didn't take more than three minutes before Dray sighed and stared down at the floor while talking.
"Okay then, what did you have in mind?"
Givalich grinned.
"Well, it seems you aren't a complete fool after all. Elias and I plan to move towards a new continent to complete the initial plan that you made with Elias. But for that, we need that dragon mana inside you, which means we need you as well. You'll help us with whatever we need for the next few months, and in return, I'll stabilize that mana inside you and make sure it doesn't tear a hole through your chest. That seems like a fair deal, doesn't it?"
Dray clicked his tongue while looking to the side and Givalich just smiled wider because she knew that Dray already agreed to the deal. Dray asked another question.
"What exactly do you want to do with the mana?"
Givalich hummed curiously.
"And why would I need to tell you that? That isn't part of the deal. Just do your part and I'll make sure you live. You have my word,"
The deal was a sensible one and since Dray would be helping them with Elias' initial plan to kill the demon lord, he didn't have any reason to refuse at all! Dray simply gave Givalich a small nod and once she saw it, Givalich turned to leave while giving Dray some last words.
"A nun will be here soon to get you cleaned up and you can meet us up on the ground floor. Don't be late or Elias will come here himself to drag you out,"
Once Givalich got to the door, she stopped as she heard Dray say something. She didn't think that he would talk to her until she left, but it seems she was wrong.
Dray spoke up softly as he looked at her anxiously.
"I already know I can't trust most of the people in this church, but just tell me one thing: can I trust you?"
Givalich scoffed loudly once she heard his question before she suddenly burst into loud laughter as she left the room. She didn't say a single word, but that laugh was more than enough to tell Dray everything he needed to know. She didn't even take his question seriously because she just saw it as a joke!
Dray desperately wanted to have someone that he could trust, but it seems that he was just acting like a fool right now. You really can't trust anyone in this world.
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