Chapter 31
"Michalis, I am going to need you to be in charge for a short while. I will be going to the surface to get us some food," Draco instructed.
Michalis sniffled as he wiped the remaining tears from his eyes.
"Yes, Draco nii," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
Draco then turned to his other two younger brothers, Nikolaos and Vasileios.
"I need you two to stay close to the entrance and send down anything I find," he instructed.
The boys nodded in understanding, their faces a mixture of fear and exhaustion.
Dimitra stepped forward, her brow furrowed with concern. "What can we do?" she asked.
"I'll search the nearest house for useful things and send them down first before getting the food. You, Clair, Eleni, and Vasiliki will deal with that," he replied.
"Hmm, be careful Draco" Clair said.
"I will" Draco replied. Steeling himself, Draco crawled through the tunnel he had made, emerging onto the surface.
The scent of burning wood hit him immediately, and he looked towards the source to see the town and a part of the forest engulfed in flames.
'That damn black dragon,' Draco growled, clenching his fist in frustration.
But he knew now was not the time to dwell on that.
He needed to focus on the task at hand.
The mid-evening light barely provided visibility as thick smoke enveloped the sky, so he had strain his senses to make his way around.
Draco soon spotted that some of the old food storage facilities on the farm were still somewhat intact.
'If I remember correctly, Grandpa Marcus secretly stored some things there. There should be potatoes, various cuts of dried meat, and some other preserved food,' he recalled, a glimmer in his eyes.
'Food is sorted. Now I should probably go to the nearest house first,' Draco thought.
As he walked further away from the farm, Draco came across a group of battle boars feasting on the corpses of other dead monsters.
They were blocking the path to his destination.
Going around was an option but he didn't know if he would run into something worse, so he decided to deal with the easier target.
His eyes narrowed; fear being the last thing he currently felt.
Draco's hand transformed, the skin rippling and shifting into sharp curved claws.
With an angry roar, he drew their attention and charged at the battle boars, his claws slashing through the air.
Swish!! Grunt!! Squeal!!
"Buhiiii," the battle boars turned towards the sound of Draco's roar, their beady eyes locking onto the approaching threat.
With a chorus of angry squeals, they rushed to meet him, their razor-sharp tusks bared.
Swish! Splat!
Draco's claws ripped through the thick hide of the first boar to arrive, sending it crashing to the ground in a heap.
The others quickly parted away from the body of their fallen brethren and surrounded him, their hooves pounding the earth as they charged.
Snarl! Snort!
Draco moved quick, dancing between the boars, his movements fluid and graceful, his claws lashing out with precision at their weak spots.
He dodged their attacks, countering with devastating blows that sent the beasts tumbling to the ground, one by one.
Thud!!
The battle boars, their numbers dwindling, tried to retreat, but Draco would not let them escape.
He pursued them relentlessly; he couldn't let them escape or they might regroup and come back with more.
With a final, agonizing squeal, the last battle boar fell, its life extinguished by Draco's razor-sharp claws.
Draco stood amidst the carnage, his breathing heavy, but his expression one of relief.
He wasn't worried about attracting more monsters because, the thick smell of the burning wood emanating from the burning town was strong enough to mask the smell of blood from his kills.
Turning his attention away from the slain boars, Draco made his way to the nearest house.
He searched the building thoroughly, gathering whatever supplies he could find – blankets, candles, a few basic tools, spices, and some other useful items.
Carefully, he wrapped the items in a makeshift sack and made his way back to the tunnel entrance.
Once back at the tunnel entrance, Draco quickly passed the supplies to Vasileios and Nikolaos waiting there.
"This should help us for a while," he said, his voice tinged with exhaustion.
Next, Draco returned to the battle boar carcasses and began carving off large chunks of edible fresh meat.
It was better to eat the fresh meat that could go bad quicker than the preserved dried meat in the storage, which he knew they would need for the future.
After harvesting as much as he could get from one corpse, he took the boar meat to the entrance, passed it on and moved on to the next corpse.
When he felt that he had gathered everything, he went to the storage to grab some potatoes and some other preserved food.
He didn't need water since he could just use magic to gather some.
Lastly he stopped by a tree in the field where they used to train.
Hidden beneath the tree was an iron box which contained a decent stash of Valis that was being saved up for when he and his siblings decided to become adventurers.
His Grandpa John and Marcus had been secretly saving it for them.
He heard them talk about it once, that's why he knew about it but kept quiet.
Looking at the box, he caressed it, reminiscing about the fun times with John and Marcus, but didn't dwell on it for long.
He soon returned to the tunnel entrance; it was time to cook and eat.
As he worked, the others watched in silent awe, their hunger evident in their eyes.
The smell of the seared meat, potatoes, and various spices soon filled the small underground space, and the group eagerly awaited their share.
'Who knew that my cooking hobby would come to use now?' Draco thought.
Once the food was prepared, Draco divided it evenly among the group, ensuring that everyone had enough to sustain them.
"Eat up," he said, his voice soft but firm.
"We'll need our strength for tomorrow," he muttered.
The group ate in silence, their focus solely on the task of filling their empty stomachs.
Draco observed them, his own fatigue evident in the slight slump of his shoulders.
As the last morsel of his cooked food was consumed, Draco turned his attention to the others.
"Rest up now; we will try moving away from here tomorrow. There will likely be monster attacks along the way. But we can manage together," Draco said softly.
"Where are we going?" Eleni asked curiously.
"I don't exactly know yet, but anywhere that isn't here," Draco replied.
He didn't plan on going to Orario yet, so they were going to find a temporary settlement to stay.
As much as he dearly wanted revenge, he knew that they first needed strength.
After thoroughly making plans, training, the children grew a bit older and things somewhat settled down in Orario, would they finally move to Orario to begin their path to acquiring strength.
Additionally, if possible, he wanted to find the dragon gods he met soon after his birth; there were several things he desperately wanted to know.
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