All these different influences came together and the image of the future in Nisha’s mind to chaos.

In her daze, she walked down the stairs without paying much attention to anything else.

Her mulling over the future had captured all of her attention and only when she passed the reception room did something disturb the haze on her mind and forcefully bring her out of that muddled and dazed state.

The leading good-for-nothing still fondled the girl in his arms as he took another swig from one of the full brown bottles on the table. Who knew what kind of content they held; the sour vapor spreading everywhere did not give the sensitive nose of the elf any clue.

Some of his underlings had already reached the more explicit moves in their arsenal. One pulled a woman, who rolled her eyes at him when he looked away, into an adjacent room as another pair left it.

Since the sour taste already masked plenty of filth, their activity had yet to be noticed by Nisha either.

Startled by the door closing, the small-time boss looked up from the half-dressed lass and scanned the room through the cloudy mist. The mist existed because of his drunken state as well as the bad air made by the bitter burning substance his gang enjoyed.

With that, he noticed the young teenager descending the stairs, dressed in an airy sundress and a sky-blue scarf.

Murky layers disappeared as the intoxication weakened in his system. Elves happened to be one of his personal favorites. Although the current target looked a bit young, he did not shy away from that either.

The leader halfway propped up his body in the sofa, as he caressed the woman he had brought from the guild with him earlier. Her fake smile faltered more than once but she said nothing.

 

“Girlie, did the old bugger not have enough vitality left in him? You barely stayed in there. Do you want to play with me and my friend and test out if my ‘dagger’ has enough steel left in it for both of you?”

He reached into the folds of his pants and pulled out a serrated knife that was long enough to qualify as a short sword in case the city guards ever bothered to search him.

The blade thrummed as he rammed it in the middle of the table. Proud of his wits and his wordplay, he eagerly eyed the young elf without realizing that he was vastly mistaken about her profession and the activities that took place in Alester’s room.

Nisha had initially paid him no attention. She had already learned from her previous conversation that the man was sent by other forces in the guild and posed a problem to the newly appointed count.

According to the old scoundrel, the band of vagabonds did nothing but freeload off of him and use up his financial budget that was granted by the [Thieves Guild].

Since they were not anything good, the dragon had decided to ignore them and let the man deal with them himself. However, the situation changed now.

In a brief moment of macabre amusement, the elf wondered if this counted as unknowingly provoking a calamity for these men. They had lower cultivation in both mana and aura, even if they took her on as a group, they were inebriated and in various states of undress.

Without a care in the world, the young elf skipped the last steps and ignored the lecherous gaze on her body.

She did not know yet what exactly the intentions behind the intense stare were, yet it still revolted her by instinct.

 

“I’m not too sure what you meant right now. Care to repeat yourself?”

Rather than walking away and continuing her life as usual, Nisha decided to stand up for herself here and establish her strength.

She stepped in front of the table and stared fearlessly at the leader. Small whirlwinds of aura and mana surged from her body and let her sundress drift at the edges like a gust of air had blown through it.

The leader laughed in his drunken stupor and missed the obvious signs of a fight brewing in the air.

He stretched his hands and groped the girl in his arms again.

“Just trust me and let me have a go at you, I’ll show you a good time. At least, it’ll last longer than the old fart up there.

Ask my little lass here, she can attest to that.”

Under his rough hands, the woman squirmed and moaned, but whether that attested to his skill or brute force was difficult to say.

Suddenly, the dragon snatched the long dagger from the table and scrutinized the workmanship and quality.

Even though the weapon was a tad heavy with rough edges at the back of the blade as a result of the poor forging method employed, it did not impede Nisha’s ability to handle it.

“I really don’t like your tone. It seems you are not here to work at all but only to fool around all day.

Drink less in the future, will you? At least, after the priest cures you.”

Flipping the dagger once in the air, the dragon gripped the tip in her delicate hands before she shook her wrist.

The blade twirled through the air and nailed the man’s shoulder to the back of the sofa, sinking deep into his flesh until only the handle remained visible.

 

Initially none of the present people reacted, only the elf admired the precision of her handiwork.

Even though it was her first time handling the long dagger, her toss had accurately pierced through the flesh on his shoulder, injuring the leader with a painful wound. It would not leave a permanent disability or threaten his life.

The simple and disgusting way the leader talked to her had actually helped Nisha resolve her thoughts about the future when she realized a simple truth.

She was stronger than anyone in the room.

No matter what decision she came to, no one could object to her arrangements, whether they were violent or not.

At this point in time, the daze from his smoking and drinking wore off and the wastrel started to squeal like a pig on a spit.

Shock and disbelief set in and he threw the girl in his other arm to the ground while he attempted to free himself from the painful metal slab pinning him down.

“Help me! Fuck! Come here and help me, I’m bleeding like swine!”

Those words kept coming out of his mouth again and again in many variations, while his lackeys slowly shook off the stupor from their excesses as well.

About half of them swarmed around his head and attempted to free him from the dagger while the other half readied their weapons and looked at the elf.

Their faces showed hesitation and they did not immediately rush towards her. Based on the proficiency shown by her weapon throw, they could tell that Nisha was not an easy opponent or common thug.

Seeing their fear and aversion, the dragon smirked at the cowards and turned around to leave the mansion.

Strength reigned without equal.

Based on her superior cultivation, none of the opponents dared to retaliate for their leader’s injury or to question her actions.

As Nisha left the property for good and headed for the next destination, a loud voice hollered from behind her, mixed with expletives and curses.

“What are you waiting for! Get her! Beat her to death! She injured me!”

 

Even as she waited for a short while, not a single figure left the empty gates; she let out a small snort.

Apparently her deterrence had been strong enough to intimidate all of the thugs—not that any of them had a solid cultivation base or enough guts to take action against a stronger for anyway. Otherwise, they would not have been stuck as underlings for that good-for-nothing in the first place.

When her small figure, partly hidden beneath the sky-blue scarf, passed through the gates from the noble district to the common district, her disordered thoughts were sorted . The revelation she had from the small altercation took on a solid form in her mind.

Nisha whistled a bell-like tune and reaffirmed her decision.

Only by being stronger than all of the other competitors can I make my voice heard.

Whatever I want to undertake in the future, I need to have the strength to back it up.

The gap between the third and fourth level in cultivation usually caused countless magicians and warriors to sigh.

Due to the qualitative change between the two, a warrior could change his or her title to knight after leveling up—the difference was that big.

Similarly, the royal court never even entertained the thought of employing a court magician that had not reached the standard of fourth grade.

In the past, Nisha had once broken through this barrier in her dragon form. The increased might was not just a small increase and it cemented her seat as the ruler of the entire domain of the [Dragon’s Den] encompassed.

If they had relied on the goodwill of their neighbours—especially the [Fairy Queen] and [Harpy Queen] that awakened as beasts—before, then she counted as a powerhouse of her own after that breakthrough.

With the decision to pursue strength earnestly in the future, the shackles that bound her elven body from reaching that height were shattered again.

Nisha did not know why, but her intuition told her that within a few days, she would naturally attain that strength again in mana and aura cultivation.

 

Faint wisps of energy already lingered around her lithe frame. The imminent power up gave her figure a natural elegance and authority; the commoners around her subconsciously made way for the dragon to walk through.

Resolve coupled with confidence steeled in her heart and an additional goal for her future filled her mind.

Nisha had never actively pursued strength for the sake of strength itself; she either protected her siblings or learned about her different curiosities.

As a race blessed by the heavens, dragons in truth had no real need to practice in order to advance their cultivation.

Merely by eating and sleeping, these naturally awakening beasts grew into their powers as their bodies grew.

An adult dragon broke at least through the second layer, according to the records the [Adventurer’s Guild] stored in their library. Other sources claimed that they belonged to a legendary species and surmounted the ninth level barrier only by virtue of their heritage, meaning that with enough time they naturally reached that height in cultivation.

On the contrary, Nisha now did not want to waste countless moons and turns until she grew into her natural potential.

Cultivation meant suffering, shedding sweat and blood, enduring hardship and holding onto her resolve in exchange for personal power and glory.

Humans invented cultivation manuals, sword styles and meditation techniques to bridge the gap between their weak bodies and the countless dangers that awaited them in the Wilderness.

Battle also had potential to elevate one’s own power by surviving through life and death situations.

The elf now had the chance to walk these paths and rise rapidly through the ranks.

 

Her feet carried her through the city gate at the front of the commoner’s district.

Countless commoners tread through the polished path each day. They had no capacity to spare for cultivation matters, pursuit of a higher goal or conquering new lands for humans to inhabit.

The next meal or the next pay was a much higher priority on their mind.

Simple lifestyles and common origins were not necessarily bad. Many of them carried a smile on their faces as they entered the security and symbol of humanity that was the capital, Thurgau.

What gave them the conviction to carry through each day was a mystery to Nisha, but she surveyed the empty field in front of the city either way.

When her cultivation level and personal prestige reached the required standard, the elf swore in her thoughts to build a new district here. Countless common citizens would live and prosper at this place.

Tearing her mind from her future prospects and ideals, Nisha diverged from the main path and strode in the direction of a huge wooden structure.