As if a thunderbolt bellowed, Sylvester arose from the ground, erupting through the muddied, grass-covered patch. His legs propelled him upward, granting him momentum, swift enough to resemble a blinking blur of a shadow.
The spear of infinity remained firmly clasped in his grasp, and with a wave of Solarium seeping into it, the length elongated at the speed of a snap. The dragon hovering above in the air, spewing fire at the forest, had no idea of what was coming for him.
The resounding boom enveloped the area the moment the Spear of Infinity connected with the dragon's scale, rendering everyone in the vicinity deaf for a few moments. However, a surprising sight awaited them as the dragon remained unharmed.
The most vulnerable part of a Dragon was the underside of the belly, and it was also the most protected part, as any experienced dragon would never allow his belly to remain undefended. To protect it was akin to an automatic response.
"Who dares attack this elder like a coward? Present yourself!" The dragon roared, enraged.
Sylvester used his light step to float in the air. But since the light was invisible, he was able to make it appear as if he was soaring in the sky. The spread wings of his armor gave the illusion that they were some artifact for flying.
"I did." Sylvester presented himself while scrutinizing the giant dragon. The beast was truly magnificent to look at. With blue scales and a silver belly, the array of horns and spikes on its head and spine looked majestic. Combined with its size, big enough to be called a minor castle, it was nature's way of declaring it was a beast not to be trifled with.
The dragon glared at Sylvester with its bright blue, sharp eyes. Once he noticed the ears, he scoffed. "An elf? Of course, if anyone but your kind would attack from behind—wretched, spineless cowards. Now prepare to die!"
'Prideful, rageful, and beautiful—just like a dragon.' Sylvester almost chuckled at the stereotypical behavior of the dragon. 'Let's not go overboard.'
The mighty dragon opened his mouth and began creating tiny sparks that soon became majestic flames. The fiery red fire erupted out and washed all over Sylvester, appearing like a crimson cloud in the sky.
Woosh! — The dragon kept on spewing fire for a good minute before stopping, panting slightly. A grin plastered on his face and eyes narrowed in ridicule.
"You should've thought twice before challenging me, Elder Krakazan of the Silver Stone Trib—" Krakazan paused in the middle of his proud speech, his eyes widened in disbelief. "How?!"
Sylvester stood where he was initially, looking completely unaffected by the fire that could melt the mightiest stones. It was not like an ordinary fire, after all. It held a great deal of magic, and it was the perfect fire needed to smelt the Skygems that he had been collecting for his armor.
'The fire is mightier than the Lord Inquisitor's. But I don't think this dragon is magically stronger than I am.' Sylvester evaluated since he was now almost certain he could defeat it using ordinary Grand Wizard-level magic, let alone combining it with Elder Magic.
"I am Zohron, the Elder Krakazan. You see, I rescued a few Beastkins from the wretched pirates and was in the midst of transporting them back to their homes. I welcome your fury on the filthy goblins, but the collateral would have been my protectees," Sylvester said in the most noble manner.
"As if that matters." Elder Krakazan was furious, as expected, and he moved his massive body into the air. He swung his tail like a great whip and struck Sylvester at the speed of sound—creating a tremendous sonic boom that generated an airwave—uprooting a few trees beneath them.
Pa!—The tail connected with Sylvester's body. The Lord's Bard initially attempted to halt the tail with his mere palm since he was already at the Platinum Knight rank. However, surprises were in store.
The light tile Sylvester had conjured was strong enough and left behind a deep gash in the dragon's tail, but he was sent flying. He tried to regain his balance, but the force was so intense that he ended up falling to the ground.
With a loud bang and subsequent earthquake, Sylvester collided with the trees. A massive hole formed where he touched down, and the flora and fauna in the area were destroyed, including a good bunch of Goblins who were hiding from the dragon—good riddance.
"Ugh… That one hurt." Sylvester stood up, groaning, his entire body covered with mud, and his armor also dented slightly. "Amazing…"
He was indeed quite surprised by the dragon's sheer raw power. 'So they possess an innate physical buff. He's an elder, which means he should at least be in the realm of Diamond Knight or Grand Wizard—still being able to throw me like this is astounding.'
But the fact was that Sylvester had a sturdy body and bone structure, combined with his higher magical and knightly abilities. He was swatted away like a fly, for sure, but he wasn't injured. It did feel like a punch in the liver, but he was nowhere near calling it quits.
Clap! Clap!—Sylvester cheered the dragon, as he now at least knew something about the species. He now made it a point in his head not to mess with whoever was the Supreme Wizard among the Dragons and also not to mess with mutated dragons who had taken smaller forms. Because, from what Avanss said, the mutated dragons also retained their power. So that sort of explosive strength from a smaller size meant much more damage.
"That was a brilliant display of your innate powers, Elder Krakazan. But how about your magic? Care to show that to me?" Sylvester asked him respectfully. The being was a thousand years old, after all.
"Arrogant!" Krakazan growled, which was very hypocritical. "Then come and face the magic of Silver Stone Tribe!"
The dragon lowered his hind legs a little and started to bring his front claws together. He held them near his chest and stared at them with open jaws. It all happened very quickly, and in a moment, a silver orb of sand appeared, circulating like a tornado between his claws. He then spewed some flames from his mouth, and the turbulent orb turned into a solid silver sphere.
However, that was not the end. The dragon then hovered it over one hand and stared at Sylvester with pure malice—a hatred the dragons had generated over generations. He then utilized his free hand and created a few runes from spellcasting—circular fields of texts and shapes formed in the white color of the air elemental and the brown color of the earth elemental.
"Ancient Silver Arts—Spark of Annihilation!" Krakazan roared. "EAT THIS!"
Woosh—The palm-sized orb for the dragon was human for Sylvester—the strange magic flew toward him as the dragon threw it like a ball.
'Who shouts the name of their moves?' Sylvester felt awkward at the shout. But he reasoned that since Dragons were too proud and arrogant of themselves, it made sense they'd do something like that.
Sylvester didn't dare to be naive with the approaching orb. He swiftly constructed shields before himself, composed of multiple elements and reinforced with Elder Runes. A shield of earth, ice, fire, and air, with solidified light concealed within.
Crash!—The orb collided with Sylvester, and once again, he felt the pressure. But this time, he didn't allow himself to be thrown off and used fire magic on the back of his body to propel himself forward.
'I feel crushed.' Sylvester gritted but didn't lose his footing or focus. 'At best… this is peak Archwizard magic. He's about to become a Grand Wizard.'
Crack!
The shields started to break apart. However, the orb was slowed down to a halt.
'Let's end this the—' Sylvester, just when he thought of stopping making his shield, saw something crazy happen. 'Space magic? No… it's something else!'
Boom!
The dragon vanished from his spot and switched positions with the orb. That instantly brought the dragon face-to-face with Sylvester. And without wasting any moment, the dragon grasped Sylvester in his claw, squeezing him as if he were a toy.
"Haha!" Krakazan laughed, his breath seeming very hot and sulfurous from that close. "You're quite strong, elf. Which clan are you from?"
'Ugh… I forgot to ask this to Avanss.' Sylvester cursed under his breath.
Bam!
Just then, a tiny stone came out of nowhere and hit Krakazan's giant face. "You! Yes, you! Hey, dragon… you slimy old lizard!"
Krakazan looked down and noticed a black-haired elf. "Desperate for death?"
Avanss was trying to rescue Sylvester, and he moved without much thought. So after catching the dragon's attention, he had no clue what to do. He was weaker than Sylvester, after all.
"I… I pay respect to the Elder Krakazan…" Avanss bowed his head.
"..."
That made Krakazan even angrier. "Do you consider me a fool?!"
"Ah... of course not, elder. I'm but a lowly elf before your mighty, thick, slimy body, seeking to protect these poor Beastkins. If any, I'm sure an esteemed, mighty, thick, slimy being like you would understand our shared hatred for those bastardly humans. They hurt our gentle friends from the Beastkin tribes..." Avanss babbled whatever came to his mind.
"..."
Sylvester held his laugh while remaining in the dragon's grasp.
Krakazan turned to gaze at Sylvester with confused eyes. "You! Is he respecting me, requesting me, or disgracing me?"
"Pfft..." Sylvester chuckled and opened his mouth a bit too wide. "You know what would be more shameful?"
"What?"
"This! Haaaaa...!" Sylvester opened his mouth as much as he could and roared like there was no tomorrow. His voice amplified with the air elemental magic, and a light golden fire from his jaw oozed out. It was so focused and intense that it seemed like a beam rather than mere fire—but it was vast.
Sylvester, completely unhurt other than his armor getting ruined, aimed at the massive face of the dragon.
The mighty creature's own arrogance became his downfall that instant. Not taking the fire attack from Sylvester seriously, he initially ignored it. But when the smoke emanated from his burned and baked flesh, reality sank in.
"AAAAARGH! MY EYE!"
The moment the dragon retreated in pain, Sylvester freed himself by physically forcing the dragon's claws, breaking the big fingers in the process. But he didn't stop there and jumped swiftly with his fist engulfed in flames.
BOOM!
A sucker punch to the right side of the dragon's face and then an uppercut from down below. Sylvester launched a barrage of strikes with his fist and spear to teach the dragon that he was not at his physical peak.
Magic could have easily slain the dragon, but Sylvester refrained from doing it. Since Krakazan was an elder, killing him would have likely sparked an investigation, and that was the last thing he wanted.
Eventually, after various deep gashes appeared on the dragon, his huge body fell to the ground with a loud thud. The dirt flew around, and his cries echoed.
Sylvester also descended and landed in front of the defeated dragon's face. At that moment, he couldn't help but feel the difference in size. Just the size of Krakazan's eye was bigger than Sylvester's whole body.
"Kill it! Quick!" Avanss shouted from behind.
Sylvester didn't react and looked at the tired and half-closed eyes of the colossal creature. 'Amazing… there is still so much rage, but the scent of hate is replaced with the scent of cloves—of respect.'
"Avanss, we are enemies by nature, not by choice," Sylvester said loudly enough that the dragon focused on him again, his eyes opening more. "Today, I fought Elder Krakazan because I wanted to test my strength against him. But the fact is that he remains a powerhouse—and against Sol, we will need the help of our Dragon friends."
The dragon honestly looked cute with his raised eyes, glancing at Sylvester like a puzzled puppy half-asleep.
Sylvester whispered to the air and used 'space magic' to produce a few vials of healing potion. "Please apply this on Elder Krakazan's wounds."
Avanss wanted to object, as he knew that Krakazan would attack them again. "But, he will fight once he's healed."
Sylvester chuckled, "Well, then I shall defeat him once more. It will be excellent practice for me, and I'm certain someone will appreciate the assistance in ascending to the rank of Grand Wizard."
Elder Krakazan was confused before, and now he was utterly astonished. Sylvester's behavior contradicted everything he knew about elves—their nature, their enmity.
"W-Who… Who are… you?" Krakazan asked in a groaning voice.
Sylvester smiled. Being handsome as heck was a boon. "Just an elf who seeks peace… Tell me, elder, what brought you this far south? What have these vile Goblins done?"
"Grrr…" Krakazan's breath suddenly became violently hot. "They… They are traitors of Beastaria—they serve the d-demon of the swamp!"
Sylvester's brows furrowed, "Demon?"
"I went to investigate the Divider Swamp by the order of the Council of Dragonlords. Mighty elf, take my words to your King. Beastaria is doomed if the demon is not halted! Before it, we are nothing but tiny ducklings—for it reigns over a thousand bloodlings. Its name… is Zama'tar… It proudly claims!"
Breath stopped, face turned pale. Only a few words from his mouth could Sylvester exhale.
"O' good mother Remira…"
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