'Do you know yourself, Aether?' Grandma's words still resounded in my ears long after we landed back in the secluded forest. She was leaning against the large rock in the middle of the clearing, basking under the sun while enjoying a rainbow-colored fruit in her human form.
I on the other hand was still out of it, I couldn't help but think back to her question. 'Did I know myself?' Grandma was right, I still lacked a sense of direction, an actual goal per se. Ever since I was born in this new world, I was mostly going with the flow.
The countless trials, the rite of passage, the destruction of Piya. I was following orders while trying not to think too much into them. I sighed as I began to walk away from the clearing, grandmother didn't say anything to stop me and simply watched me go with a gentle smile.
I bowed my head in respect and walked away. I didn't fly, no, I wanted to walk. The leaves crackled beneath my claws as a gentle wind caressed my scales. Faint rays of sunlight shone from between the tree branches forming a soothing scenery.
I slowly wandered about, aimlessly, my mind drifting to my various encounters, my first fight, my meeting with Amanita, my naming ceremony, my rite of passage. Everything floated in my mind like a dream, and for the first time, I found myself wondering.
'What do I want to do?'
As a dragon, it seems like the natural course of things is to grow stronger and eventually fight off against the Shades to protect the planet, akin to a guardian of sorts all the while safeguarding the balance and the mana stream.
That's what a dragon is 'supposed' to do, an honorable goal. 'But is that what I want to do?' I inwardly mumbled. Up to this point, I didn't question anything, I didn't question what was right and what was wrong, I simply took things as they came and went with the flow as grandma mentioned.
'But is that a bad thing?' I quickly found myself wondering about that.
Just as I started thinking about it, my mind subconsciously recalled the scene of the Piya knights throwing themselves against me in helpless suicidal attacks, hoping to stop me for at least a second, they all knew it was hopeless, and almost all of them were terrified, yet they still fought to their last breath because of their conviction.
They had something they wanted to protect, their friends, their lovers, their children, 'Was that really the right choice?' I mumbled, my feet carried me to the edge of the forest where I came across a small hidden waterfall.
A sigh escaped my mouth as I lay down next to the waterfall, the rhythmic sound of water crashing against the large boulder was soothing. I raised my head to glance at the sky, my mind still filled with the scenes of destruction I had caused in the Piya kingdom.
'The whole rite of passage mission seemed to have been influenced by father's drive for revenge, still, most of the humans I killed were sinless, at least in this matter, so what type of revenge did I carry?' Another long sigh escaped my mouth.
My feelings concerning the humans felt a lot more muddled ever since my reincarnation, the more I accepted my newfound instincts the more twisted my point of view became. At first, I followed orders without questioning them since I figured that's how things are, and I who was born as a dragon in this life had to get used to it.
And I 'did' I reached a point where I treated human life like trash, we weren't on the same plane...just my train of thought began to delve into that direction once again, I recalled what grandmother had told my father once before.
'Every life matters to someone boy, just like how Amanita mattered to you, and to that damned old lizard,'
Her words still resounded in my ears, every life matters to someone. The more I thought about this whole situation, the more conflicted I became. My dragonic instincts were indifferent to the massacre I had committed, treating it as If it was nothing.
My rational side still felt that it was too much, that maybe, things could have developed differently had I not been so passive about everything. As if sensing my sour mood, the surrounding water mana began to gather around my body in what looked like an attempt to cheer me up.
The elements danced around me, some tickling my scales while others morphed into various forms that swirled around me. A weary smile made its way to my face at that scene, I slowly extended my claw and gently caressed a humanoid-shaped element.
'I can't change the past, in the eyes of the humans, I'm now a devil responsible for Piya's tragedy, most of them still don't know why I attacked. They still don't know what they are doing wrong, and they still don't know that their use of mana is harmful to the stream,'
I lowered my claw and fell in deep thought, 'None of the other dragons seem to have any intentions nor interest in correcting their wrongs, or guiding them towards a better path,'
"Ah, what am I saying, what guiding them towards a better path after all I did," I shook my head with a frown, "How hypocritical," I sighed.
Glancing at my surroundings for a final time, I then swiftly launched myself towards the sky and made my way back home, my mind was still a mess as I found myself thinking of various things I was avoiding up until now.
Once I landed in front of the cave's entrance, Immy who was basking under the sun glanced at me with a curious gaze and surprisingly took the initiative to speak as she asked, "What's wrong with you older brother? You look conflicted,"
Glancing at her, I sighed, and instead of walking into the cave chose to walk over and sit down by her side. For a while, I didn't say anything, and neither did she press me for anything. We just sat there basking under the sun's glow.
"Immy," I called out.
"Hmm?"
"Do you have a goal?" I asked.
She turned to look at me for a second before answering, "A goal huh, I suppose I want to learn more about the humans," She replied, causing me to look at her in surprise.
"The humans? How come?"
"Our first inheritance, the memories of the dragon I relived belonged to one that was worshiped by the humans, 'he' lived amongst them, helped them when they encountered any problems, through his eyes, I watched the humans, their civilization, their customs, their habits," She paused for a second before continuing.
“Before I was pulled out of the inheritance, I saw something I didn’t understand, the humans that once worshiped the dragon turned against him, they turned their swords and spears and attacked him, there was no sign of the respect they once held towards him....”
“Before I could understand what had happened, I was abruptly pulled out of the dream, desperate to find out what had occurred, I went off to hunt another monster, one even stronger than the previous one, hoping that my immersion would be longer,” A sigh escaped her mouth as she continued.
“Who would have thought that father would not agree. And so because of that, I want to learn, just what sort of existences are the humans, and what exactly happened before, that’s my goal,”
I’m not sure if any noticed, but the chapter referred to is chapter 20 when Immy hunted another werewolf trying to go back to the nightmarish realm,
I'm not sure if any noticed, but the chapter referred to is chapter 20 when Immy hunted another werewolf trying to go back to the nightmarish realm,
Unless someone has the memory of a fish, I think they would realize hahaha.
I wonder what goal Aether will choose. What do you want and where do you want to go? His heritage was a lot of dragon views.
Their pride, freedom, honor, conflicts, magic and combat skills, the "role" and points of view that each one had and, finally, "the dragon king" and his intention to maintain balance.
I wonder if he would choose some goal related to the very nature of the dragon and the maintenance of his own balance. protect his family, the planet and all living beings (although that would already be his obligation as a dragon but is that what he wants in the end?)
Or will somehow repair relations in human society and have a magician "disciple".Somehow he will repair relationships in human society and have a magician "disciple" to whom he will teach the true nature of mana and impart those teachings afterwards (but is that really what he would hope for his future?)
maybe there is an option that has not really been put on the table and there are even more surprises.
Unless someone has the memory of a fish, I think they would realize hahaha.
Why you gotta call me out like that
@Argado Hahaha it's alright my friend. I put that note there exactly for people with bad memory
@Argado It was not to offend, but I thought that at this point it is something that one would keep in mind... oops
Or maybe Aether’s purpose is going to be getting the goal of how to make the Shades and Dragons coexist. I don’t think that’ll happen, but maybe he can find a way to balance both sides and stop the war between them
@Dragons that is already dreaming too much about an ideal world, the Shades are the other side of the coin, they seek to devour and transform all forms of mana to their own and the dragons are part of the flow of mana and its different variations and existences.
It's like saying that Sora (game kingdom hearts, that it a keyblade master and his role is to fight against the darkness) makes peace with the "heartless" (that arise from mighty hearts tainted with darkness), that their natural variation is pure instincts without intellect that only seek hearts and multiply.
The "Shades" is the same, they act instinctively like mindless beasts and very few are intelligent and the ones that are intelligent are infinitely more dangerous and obviously unreasonable.
It would be like trying to make a Zerg supermind come to their senses.
@hanck95 No idea what that is but I understand. It is a bit too far to hope they can coexist, but how about a way to permanently trap them without harming the ecosystem?
@Dragons In my opinion, the closest would be that, somehow "seal" or "isolate" the dimension, the question is, are you willing to isolate the dimension in which dragons and other creatures live? Or are they strong enough to seal or isolate the dimension from the Shades?
from the looks of it, the dragon king is pretty busy trying to close all the dimensional "rifts" that the Shades create. It would take several dragons with an affinity for star/spatial mana to maintain something of such magnitude, or so I think.
No idea if there is any solution to this "war" as such. Although more than war, rather those who live in "order" and "creation" and the other side "consume", assimilate and/or destroy other dimensions, it will only end when one of the two sides is eliminated.
@hanck95 Ah I’ll just resign to seeing how the story develops then. It was nice having a competitor to talk to tho 🙃
@Dragons Well, what I said is in my opinion, who knows what surprises the author has in store. But hey, with different opinions you can develop different theories and, also, my theories are not perfect.
I still have no idea how the dragons in this story can mutate their basic elements and about the different dimensions or worlds and about the "purpose" of the space pillar (maybe to inherit the power of the dragon king or maybe just a part or to maintain the stability of the planet, no idea).