What I saw after following Yena was the corpse of a very particular mythological beast. There was no way it should be here, but the reality before me was that it was found on the village's outskirts.
A Dragon...! Not of a half-breed, but a pure-blood considering its features and lack of mutations.
"Why did no one notice this? And who was it that killed it?" I turned to looked at the party members.
"It definitely wasn't me." After Yena's brother spoke that, she had the politeness to smack his head for the rest of us. Now wasn't the time for bad jokes, it was a serious situation we were in right now.
"Jeremy, shut your gob or I rip it off." The young Fire Mage covered his mouth in response.
His sister wasn't really the type you'd want to mess with. As a Fire Swords-woman, you could say that her fiery temper turning into violence was quite common. None of us gave this idiot any help though as he regularly irritated his teammates...
Gordon, the tall and built Earth Swordsman, and Freya, our party's own Healer, seemed to be secretly giving a thumbs up to Yena while I wasn't looking. Did they think my eyes were blind?
"Jeremy, report this to the guild. We need to exercise caution so get some reinforcements?"
"Do we even need it?"
"...Are you refusing to cooperate?" I asked the kid as I turned to looked at him with menacing eyes.
"I-I'll get it done fast!"
"Yena, you go with him just in case."
"Alright." Unlike that ignorant kid, Yena was aware of her responsibilities and my leadership position.
Since the two of them were too young to hear about what I was going to talk about next, it was better to have more mature people around that would help me in what was going to do next.
"What are your thoughts?" I asked the most knowledgeable person among us for her opinion.
Freya looked distressed for a moment, before speaking in a fearful tone she couldn't even hide:
"T-This Dragon is a child. Probably taken from her nest and l-left here to implicate our village, b-but who would do this...?!" Her voice was shaky as she looked at the injuries this 'child' had sustained.
There are those who mouth-off at being able to kill dragons and exaggerate their strength. This was mostly because of the existence of too many mixed-bloods over the years that had attained some aspects of their fiery draconic inheritance.
However, it was well-known even now that actual Dragons couldn't be messed with...! Their power wasn't anything to laugh at all considering their famed 'Destruction Breath' could destroy most magics and evaporate most armours like water.
That's not even mentioning that these natural born Fire Mages had large physiques that could carry a tremendous amount of Fire Mana that far surpassed any ordinary human. Being attacked by a Dragon meant the absolute end of any village.
"Are you going to leave?"
"Where to?" I answered back to Freya's dumb question. Unless we were willing to live as refugees and starve to death from having no land or well-paying occupation, there was no way my family could leave this 'home' I'd finally found years ago.
Even if I had the Water Affinity and enough strength to hunt independently, there was a limit to what I could do if we left this village. If that was ever an option, then why would villagers live here instead of a place more closer to the kingdom?
Who would we sell our houses to? Undead? Was there anyone who'd pay money to buy our house?
What about the travel out of the village? Who'd be able to afford going somewhere they couldn't live?
And most important of all, what about the feeble old-bats and children that would be left behind?
"You guys can leave if your scared."
"Ha, hardly!" Gordon, the man holding a broadsword on his back, spoke with confidence.
"Then you better get ready..." My eyes picked up a blazing magical signature coming from the distance along with a loud roar. A terrifying existence was slowly approaching from the horizon with killing intent that spiked as soon as it saw its dead child. The roar of mourning that hit our ears even while it was far away really chilled our spines.
Rather than attacking instantly, the adult Dragon that was the size of several stacked buildings in the air descended towards the location of its child before changing its form. A woman with scaly clothes ran out in front of the Dragon, screaming:
"My child...!!!" Her eyes were filled with loss as she put her hand on the scaly corpse. Those eyes she showed reminded me of my original mother on Earth from the sheer protectiveness it displayed.
As I was the only one who could check if a person was alive or not using my Mana Sensory, the mother and even my companions held on to the optimistic thought that maybe it was still alive.
It was scary to think what this Dragon woman would do once she flew into a fit of rage, so tried to talk to her before she 'exploded'. I wanted to get to the bottom of things to protect the village I lived in.
"We are unsure of what creature attacked your child, but our Guild will get to the bottom of this to avenge him...!" It was a hit or miss at this point, the mind of a despairing woman who lost her child couldn't be easily moved by just a few words.
"You... killed my only child!" I miscalculated as she wasn't even listening anymore after seeing the corpse of her 'baby'. I'm unsure how old the fallen Dragon would be in human years, but I could sense that the lizard woman before me was ancient...
Her body moved at an insane speed as she claws at my throat. The only thing I could tell my other two companions was the word 'retreat' before I used this opportunity to move somewhere else.
As soon as her hand's claw came close, my body turned at a breakneck speed using Wind Aura.
[Martial Arts + Wind Clad- Whirlwind Throw!]
The humanoid body of the Dragon went flying into the sky opposite direction of the village after launching her away like a catapult. Even trying to used her wings after transforming back to her 'true form' didn't change much as she glared at me.
{Burn with my child!} Once she finally stopped herself in the air, she spoke to me in 'Dragon Tongue'. The only reason I could make out what she was saying was due to the characteristics of the language itself, rather than my own wisdom.
Fire could be used for things other than destruction as well. However, I was about to get a taste of what Dragon's were most known for in the form of a Destruction Breath from a distance...!
I had to dodge! There was no other option, so it was only natural I used 'Air Walk' to fly around at a speed much faster than the Dragon. Even though my body was like a mouse in front of this gigantic elephant of a being, my eyes didn't lose hope.
Who was I anyway? Could a mere Destruction Breath kill me? The sword in my hand creaked as I infused a high amount of Wind Mana into it. If I was just a Mage or Swordsman instead of a 'proper' Wind Specialist, what was going to happen next would be impossible... The Dragon's eyes widened as it regained a small amount of its composure.
I knew what the shocked expression on her lizard-like face meant to say. The capability that was about to be shown now was the strength of someone who reached the highest grade of Wind Swordsmanship and Spell Casting in this world.
Only a select few Chosen Ones by the elements were able to bring out such capabilities. There was no way a random person from an unknown village at the outskirts of a kingdom should have the capability to manipulate Wind Ether like myself.
Looks like the woman wasn't a mouthy individual as she saw my almost divine Wind Clad appearance.
The only thing he said was: "Devour!" Like it was some sort of incantation before shooting a 'breath' again. This time the power and ranged seemed to have enhanced tremendously as it cunningly aimed for the village behind me. It's eyes blinded by fury...
In this fantasy world, Mystic Races other than Beasts (who had a chaotic ecosystem) weren't allowed to be hunted without express permission from the race itself and vice-versa. Normally, a trial would be put forth to find and punish the culprits that tried to break the treaty we had between the Elemental Races. This was already an international incident the moment a true Dragon was found dead in the outskirts of some unknown village.
If this damn woman didn't fly into a rage to kill unrelated villagers, then I'd have shown some mercy considering her child was killed. However, I wasn't going to sit back as she actively tried to burn my new family members to death...!
My 'kill switch' was flipped as a truly amazing amount of Wind Ether (External Energy) poured into me from my surroundings. Since I was already far enough for the Adventurers below me to not notice, I even took out my Main Skill's Heavenly Sword just in case. Now wasn't the time to be hiding my capabilities, as I needed all I could use.
The D Rank Wind Marble of my Auxiliary Skill was like its own Mana Flame in my body as dual wielded two swords in connection. My hands slashed out hundreds- No, thousands of times in a second as I diced the incoming Destruction Breath into oblivion. Starting from the closest spot near me to the farthest parts trying to burn the village, my eyes didn't leave the silent Dragon for a second.
This wasn't anything like what you'd see in stories or fiction. The Dragon wasn't a loudmouth spouting off nonsense nor an idiot who had yet to fight many battles. It was an experienced and ancient entity that abandoned all forms on communication and focused solely whatever it desired to do. It that passion wasn't directed out in such a manner, I'd be happier that way... Life is such a pain!
My Mana Sensing had yet to be deactivated as I chose this opportune moment to go onto the offensive. I may not have experience fight 'real' Dragons, but I knew a few fireballs wouldn't kill me.
My swords filled with Wind Aura as I prepared to behead it. However, I'd been too arrogant of my achievements and had forgotten the basics of battle: Know both your enemy and yourself!
The latter was already expansive, but the former played a crucial role in the mistake I made.
Dragons might have the most destructive ranged firepower, but that didn't mean they were weaker in close combat. In fact, other races other than Beasts didn't have varying Magical Talents as those of pure-blood lineages were all at A Rank.
What did this mean? It meant that every Mystical Race apart from Humans and Beasts had a vast supply of Mana that could be 'wasted' to their leisure. As soon as the Dragon saw me try to close the distance, its entire body reddened as veins of lava-like fire appeared on top of its scales. Its claw slashed towards me, creating a slicing air pressure!
As this was made purely through physical strength rather than offensive magic, it was a lot harder to dispel compared to the fireball. My own wind blades shot out and intercepted the air pressure.
It was in that moment of distraction that the Dragon used the true nature of its fighting style to appear behind me and smash me into the ground with an overwhelmingly force! It's speed far surpassed even my own as it descended to kill...!
In martial art fiction: They say that once a person reaches the limit of speed, they unlock the ability to tap into 'power'. However, I'd misunderstood that power to be the same as physical strength.
In reality, what 'power' meant was the resulting enhancements that came from proper technique.
If ultimate speed could allow for the resulting impact to of a strike heighten tremendously, then what happens when an individual reaches the highest level of 'strength'? My body was taught first hand back then as the Dragon's body shifted.
The already massive muscles of the Dragon was improved multiple steps further by the enhancement using Fire Mana. This allowed each one of its sharp movements to launch it much more faster than anything of lower physical strength.
It was like the misunderstanding people have that all bulky fighters are slow. The one mistake I made cost me an arm and the metal sword in my right hand after I'd used Earth Mana to boost my defence. Just when my eyes glowed an amethyst light and I was about to reveal my Universal Affinity for all elements, those who had been staying in the background jumped in as the villagers banded together. The injuries all over me were so severe that I could only watch as they launched a rescue.
"Don't forget we're here!" Yena roared at the top of her lungs as the rest of them gave a battle cry.