What Was That You Just Showed Me?
Rune popped a crunchy cookie into his mouth and asked Rai.
“Chirp.”
[Where'd Christina go?]
[( ??? )]
The light image roughly scratched at its cheek, playing dumb.
'Maybe Perdikion knows.'
He could contact them right away if he wanted, the moment he woke up.
But he wanted to savor a bit more time to himself first.
The crunchy cookie delighted his mouth, and the baked pastry scent was sweet and comforting.
Once he'd swallowed it all, energy filled his body, and the drowsiness vanished completely.
With his belly now nicely full, Rune finally pulled out his Mokoji Stone.
Several unread messages from Perdikion had piled up during his absence, but the last one caught his eye.
The young fire dragon hatchling might be hot-tempered, but leaving a message like that on the Mokoji Stone meant it was no small matter.
'What could it be? Something related to becoming an Adult Dragon?'
Guessing as much inwardly, Rune tapped out a message on the Mokoji Stone.
At the same time, Rune telepathically asked Rai, who was peeking around.
[Do you know where Dullahan went?]
[( *｀ω´)?]
Rai proudly took the lead, as if it was close enough to walk.
'This way is toward the aquarium... no, the fish farm.'
Passing through a passage carrying the briny scent of the sea, the sound of lapping waves reached his ears.
Rune, following Rai, widened his eyes at the sight before him.
'When did they do all this construction?'
The fish farm, once the size of a swimming pool, had expanded into a proper lake.
And there, a kraken's shadow loomed beneath the surface.
Even at a rough guess, it looked twice the size of the one Rune had first caught.
Splash!
Clank!
The massive kraken, so huge he could barely take it all in even craning his neck, raised its head and tentacles.
Ahead of it, where he sensed a presence, Dullahan was in a strange standoff with the kraken.
A cleaver gleamed in Dullahan's hand.
Before he could even call out, the giant black-armored knight launched himself at the kraken with a heavy metallic clang.
The kraken, ten times his size, thrust sucker-covered tentacles at Dullahan.
Splish!
Water sprayed as their strikes collided.
'Oho.'
The kraken's leg, vast as a wall, whistled down with terrifying force.
The black-armored knight wrapped his cleaver in fierce aura and twisted his body with minimal motion to evade.
Dullahan dodged the leg by a hair's breadth, spun twice more, and slashed downward.
Slash!
The cleaver sliced into the joint between body and leg.
Thwack!
A thick, rubbery impact flung Dullahan back with elastic force.
Another tentacle rose, sending waves nearly three feet high crashing down.
Splash!
Rune watched the kraken-Dullahan duel with rapt fascination.
He half-wished he had butter-honey potato chips to munch on.
'The kraken's mucus and suckers would stick to normal weapons. He's coating his blade in sword energy to counter it.'
Rune signaled Rai with a gesture to dim the light.
Then he stepped back quietly to observe their exchange from afar.
No killing intent in the air, so it was perfect for relaxed viewing.
'Makes sense. Someone like Dullahan has no real opponents if he's serious.'
As he watched the fight a bit longer, Dullahan—momentarily separated—flashed his glowing green eyes.
He swung the cleaver fiercely several times.
Sharp whooshes exploded, bursting water around the kraken.
Boom!
Boom boom boom!
The kraken couldn't dodge but took no real damage due to its massive size, letting out a roar.
Truly enraged now, it raised its eight beam-like tentacles like a thousand-armed bodhisattva.
-Groooar!
Thumping its resonance chamber in fury, the tentacles hammered randomly around Dullahan.
Thud! Boom thud! Thud! Crash crash!
Splash—
Water and floor impacts echoed wildly as Dullahan dodged with lightning speed.
Left, right, spin into a diagonal.
Whenever a sucker neared, he conjured black barriers on his hands and palms.
During Rune's sleep, he'd clearly trained well to wield the darkness granted as a vassal.
'Good on Dullahan. The fruits of steady effort.'
Rune unwittingly let slip a pleased smile.
Dullahan vanished from sight after evading the wide random strikes.
He reappeared in an instant in empty space, bringing the cleaver to his chest and thrusting it straight forward.
A heavy pressure pressed the air, his aura shifting from chaotic brawl to something else.
'Gonna show me something?'
Sword energy gathered and condensed on the cleaver.
Sensing it, the kraken swiftly retracted its tentacles and retreated.
But Dullahan ignored the distance, slowly lowering his blade.
-Whoooosh!
Black energy cloaked Dullahan's cleaver.
The completed form was an intangible blade of dark, translucent light.
Then, Dullahan diagonally bisected the massive kraken's body.
The motion looked agonizingly slow, yet like an unstoppable instant.
-Slash!
The kraken's epidermis swelled bright red.
Its huge body heaved, churning waves in the small fish farm.
Churned water surged up, then rained down as a rough shower.
Rune watched the disaster-like scene and thought.
'Guess they've been living like this, sparring.'
What Dullahan had forged was an aura sword.
A technique to manifest aura as a blade.
Swordsmen who gripped the sword for ages and mastered it could achieve it—and Dullahan had reached the realm where even a cleaver became one.
Plus, the kraken's battle sense was oddly sharp.
One more inch inward, and its torso would've been split—but its exquisite retreat saved it from death.
The kraken didn't seem ready to quit despite the swelling flesh, shaking its tentacles eagerly.
But Dullahan raised a hand, signaling the end.
Ignoring it, he walked toward Rune.
“Chirp.”
[Been well?]
The fluorescent green glow, once somber, now flickered lively.
Still an armor without form, but his upright posture and majestic presence made him seem far grander than before.
'Sensing mana cooking as scent must've been a good trigger.'
Then, the Mokoji Stone buzzed on silent mode.
'Faster than I thought?'
The kraken-Dullahan bout had been thrillingly intense, but the exchanges blisteringly fast.
Not even time for a cup of tea—and here was Perdikion's reply.
'Looks like he already knows Christina's gone.'
Of course—even if Christina was swamped, she'd have told Perdikion ahead of time.
Soon after, Perdikion arrived to find Rune.
“Sleep well, little brother? For 100 years asleep, you haven't grown much, have you?”
“Chirrrup.”
'Knew it—didn't grow much after all.'
He'd wondered if hatchlings around 100 didn't grow much normally, but Perdikion's reaction confirmed he'd just grown little.
Born smaller than average hatchlings to begin with, it wasn't something impatience could fix—but he did have ambitions for growth, so it nagged a bit.
'Well... it's not up to me.'
Days might feel the same, but one day you'd look back and see your growth.
Thinking that, Rune nodded inwardly.
'Yeah. Someday I could even surpass Christina.'
Anticipating a bigger future self, Rune pulled out his golden bracelet and slipped it onto his forepaw.
Now in human form, Perdikion asked him.
“What were you thinking to make that face?”
'That face?'
He pondered briefly but couldn't grasp it.
Sure, the tiny hatchling form was a bit disappointing, but nothing to show on his face.
In the end, Rune blinked at Perdikion with puzzled eyes.
“No idea what face you're talking about.”
“Kh, ahem. Never mind... Just wondering, that's all.”
His gaze darted away suspiciously.
Rune felt Perdikion was tiptoeing around him.
From the awkward pivot and hesitation, a thought flashed.
“Bro, what was the urgent thing in your Mokoji message?”
“……”
His instincts screamed bad news.
Rune fixed Perdikion with a serious look.
It was something he'd planned to say anyway, so Perdikion crossed his arms and spoke.
“……I don't know how you'll take it, but don't get too shocked.”
“?”
Now that it was time to say it, Perdikion clenched his fist and furrowed his brow anxiously.
And the words that came out far exceeded Rune's expectations.
“While you were in your sleep period, the great reformer blacksmith—and your vassal—Jed Musket…… he, uh, crossed the rainbow bridge.”
“……What?”
“I mean…… Jed's gone to a place we can't see him again.”
Perdikion added euphemistically.
He must've thought Rune didn't get it.
But Rune understood Jed's death perfectly.
The disbelief on his face stemmed from questions about the cause.
'Thought he had more time before his lifespan ran out.'
When they first met in the Red Dragon Lair, Jed was 37.
Over 100 years had passed since, but dwarf lifespans were short at 150, average around 200.
By that measure, Jed was still young for old age.
But Perdikion mistook Rune's processing thoughts for shock.
“First vassal death must sting. But he met you and got to chase his continental dreams. He'd call it an honorable life.”
His serious tone left no doubt it wasn't a joke.
Rune, momentarily at a loss, finally spoke.
“……Can you tell me how Jed's end went?”
Good thing Heungmi wasn't around.
Perdikion had probably rushed over knowing only Rune was awake.
Telling Heungmi—who knew little of death—about Jed's passing.
Breaking news of a close one's death to an innocent child didn't sit right.
'That's why the rainbow bridge euphemism.'
Perdikion must've agonized over how his little brother would take a vassal's death.
Worried he'd mope, no doubt.