6 – Flee!
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‘Why is there a dragon here!?’

Vaan sprinted through the forest, using the pouncing skill from the goblins to try and gain as much speed as he could. Even so, from the trees collapsing behind him, he could tell that it wasn’t going to be enough.

It didn’t even make any sense! Dragons were supposed to be creatures guarding dungeons or something like that! Everything that he could tell told him that there shouldn’t be something like that here! Not to mention the weird call it sent out…

To double check, Vaan glanced back.

“KWEH!”

That strange squawk sounded out again and the dragon opened its mouth. At the same time, orange sparks started to gather.

‘Dragon breath. A high level attack by dragons using their inherent capabilities to breathe fire, but fueled by their boundless mana. When young, it consists of pure heat and fire, but elder dragons utilize a pure magical attack.’

Was it because his life was in danger? As Vaan stared at the dragon, knowledge about the attack and its nature filled his mind.

However, it didn’t help considering that he didn’t have anything to stop it.

His eyes swept around the surroundings, looking for a means to save himself.

Climb? He wasn’t dexterous enough. Not only that, but one slip up meant he’d lose his chance to escape.

Hide? With how large that dragon was, even if he did hide, he’d get run over and killed that way.

Fight? There was no way that was going to work.

Gritting his teeth, Vaan glanced at the ground. As he did, a faint idea came to mind.

From the fact that the dragon’s fire was orange, it probably wasn’t that old. Meaning that the attack would actually just be fire. And so it wouldn’t be able to cut through a barrier right away.

Then…

A surge of heat welling up from behind. The dragon letting loose a sea of flames.

Praying that it worked, Vaan swiped at a tree as he passed, imagining it bursting into a thick fence.

Crackling flames, rustling tree branches. And then the faint spark of light and a slight headache.

Orange sparks flew into the air, followed by the scent of burning wood.

“KWEH!”

But that didn’t stop the dragon. In fact, it seemed to make it more furious as the tremors grew more intense, the dragon picking up its pace.

‘Just what did I even do?!’

Dragons were territorial creatures, yes. But even so, surely he wasn’t a threat…?

Vaan glanced back again just in time to see the emerald dragon burst through his makeshift barrier, sending blackened twigs into the air along with glowing embers.

The dragon’s eyes were narrowed, still glowing an angry red. But since it was closer, Vaan could also see something he didn’t notice before.

Just above the dragon’s eyes, wedged in-between the smaller scales there, were what looked like tiny sticks. But that was only relative compared to the dragon’s size.

At first, he wondered just how a dragon got those stuck in its scales. And then he realized it.

The goblin that he stabbed to the tree. Those arrows that flew up randomly into the forest…

‘Oh.’

From the bloodshot eyes, the dragon had probably been enjoying a nice slumber. But then those arrows fell down and struck it.

To a monster like that, it was nothing damaging. But even so, it would be the same as trying to nap and having someone throw sand in your eyes.

In short, the dragon was mad. And probably after Vaan because it chased down the goblin, saw that the goblin was dead, and then noticed that Vaan was the one who killed it.

…Which was good to know, but did nothing to change the fact that Vaan was still being pursued by a monster that even high-ranking adventurers would have trouble calming down, let alone defeating.

“KWEH!” The dragon squawked again and opened its mouth.

Another breath attack. Except this time, the flames were different. Emerald instead of orange.

Vaan’s eyes widened.

A miscalculation. Either the dragon was older than he thought, or he severely underestimated how upset it was at being woken up.

Gritting his teeth, he made a quick judgment and then dove to the side, swiping his hand at the ground this time.

Another headache, this one making his vision blur. But with it, a ravine opened up in the ground and formed a thick wall behind him.

Vaan rolled, quickly getting back on his feet. His vision spun, but he forced himself to keep moving, this time at a diagonal direction.

Emerald light erupted, piercing through the dirt wall and sending debris flying into the air. At the same time, heat rippled, drying the nearby leaves and scorching Vaan’s back.

But he didn’t stop. Instead, he kept running, gritting his teeth to keep his consciousness that threatened to slip away any second.

The moment he made a mistake would be over. But… how much longer could he keep this up?

While he’d managed to avoid two sure kill attacks by the dragon, he doubted he had enough in him to stop a third. Not to mention the dangers of other monsters showing up to attack him if he collapsed.

Just how-

“There it is! Just like the scouts said, the Emerald Dragon is rampaging!”

A female voice, calling out off to the side.

Vaan’s eyes widened and he crouched behind a tree, making a small hollow to hide in.

“Dammit… What are those rookie adventurers doing wandering so deep into the Southern Forest anyway?”

That one was a gruff voice, male.

“What’s the plan, Boss?”

Another voice, male, but younger.

“The usual. Beat it up and put it back to sleep if it won’t listen. Now come on, the Guildmaster will be pissed off if we don’t have it settled by the end of the day.” The gruff male voice responded.

Following that, footsteps echoed, moving away from Vaan and towards the dragon.

“KWEH!”

The monster squawked again and the ground trembled, no doubt as a result of its rampage.

Vaan wasn’t sure what those people were doing, but he had a feeling he’d get wrapped up in a lot of trouble if they noticed him hanging around… And he didn’t fancy his odds with someone whose plan was to casually beat up a dragon.

After waiting a bit to catch his breath and calm down, and after hearing the sounds of combat in the distance, Vaan carefully got out of his hollow. Taking a glance back to make sure that nobody was watching, he activated his Spark of Creation and frantically prayed to not be discovered as he ran off.

Like before, thanks for reading! I'd appreciate it if you left a comment, favorite, or rating if you enjoyed! Even if you didn't, I'd appreciate the feedback! Either way, thanks again, and I hope it was enjoyable!

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