One of the goblins screeches, pointing a spear towards him. Adam tries to run, but he's surrounded. He backs away, unsure of what to do. The tips of spears, and arrows point towards him.

"Come on!" Adam yells at himself. "I've been hoping for an opportunity like this. Now I can put to the test everything I've learned."

Adam gets up, facing the goblins. He takes a deep breath, preparing himself. Adam charges the nearest goblin, slamming his fist into its chest. The goblin falls back, groaning.

Adam moves to another goblin, punching it in the stomach. It doubles over, grabbing its gut. Adam punches again, hitting it in the face, knocking it unconscious. He moves onto the next goblin, punching it in the jaw, making it hit the ground.

Adam backs away, looking for another target. Arrows fly towards him, striking the ground near his feet. Adam quickly dodges the attack, turning to face another group of goblins. He grabs a nearby spear, throwing it at the closest goblin. The spear hits the creature in the chest, impaling it.

Adam grabs a nearby rock, hurling it at the goblins attacking him. It hits the first goblin in the temple, causing it to drop its bow. Adam throws the rock at another goblin, hitting it square in the forehead.

The last goblin standing panics and makes a run for it, disappearing into the bushes.

Adam stands up straight, breathing heavily. He looks around, looking at the several goblin bodies lying on the ground.

Adam snickers, placing his hands on his hips. "Not bad."

He walks towards a goblin, examining it. He picks up the body, carrying it over his shoulders. If he's going to impress everyone, he has to bring proof.

"Goblins?" Maria looks at the corpse he dropped on the training ground floor.

"Yeah. They attacked me while I was practicing my strength in the woods." Adam explains.

Adam was expecting everyone to be impressed, instead, his mother and the homunculi have expressions of worry on their faces.

"How the hell did goblins pass through to this side?" Kaley thought out loud.

"Did you kill all of the goblins that attacked you?" Maria asked.

Adam shook his head. "One got so scared he ran away."

Maria gritted her teeth. She turned to the three homunculi. "Can any of you track magical creatures?"

They all shook their heads.

"Then scour the area, they must have a nest nearby." Maria ordered.

The three homunculi nodded and ran upstairs. Adam watched them leave, getting worried.

"You think there's more?" Adam asked.

"There shouldn't be any." Maria stated. "Have you ever seen goblins before?"

"No. But a week ago I've never seen dragons or people that can use magic either." Adam replied.

"Right. Because all of that is kept from this side." Maria sighs. "Your arm is hurt are you okay?"

"Shallow wound. I'll be fine."

"Take me to where you were attacked."

As Adam led his mother to the site outside the house where he encountered the goblins, Maria explains to him the oddity of the situation.

"There's another layer of reality built on top of this one. It was created long ago, in order to keep magic away from this world."

Adam listened.

"A long time ago, a rift opened up between our world and another. Hordes of monsters seeped through, some more passive than others. Still in the early bronze age, humanity held its own against the beasts. Until dragons started passing through the rift."

Maria takes a look around the site where Adam fought the goblins. "This was just a scouting party. There has to be a nest nearby."

"What happened to the dragons?" Adam asked.

"They nearly wiped out humanity. We were all but done for, had it not been for a pair of dragons that took pity on us." She turned to look at Adam in the eyes. "Our brands looking like dragons, being able to transform into dragons, the manifestation of your mana you saw. All sources of magic that can be used by humans came from these two dragons. They gifted us with the brands you and I now have to defend ourselves." She looks around. "What direction did the surviving goblin run towards?"

Adam points ahead. Maria follows his finger and grimaces. "That way, we should start tracking."

Maria turned to Adam. "I'm glad you're safe." She put her palm over his wound, he could feel his flesh healing. "You did great at handling yourself."

Adam smiles. "Thanks. Could you keep telling the story of what happened."

"With the magic gifted by the dragons, humanity pushed back. Wiping out an entire species is not a easy as it sounds. Especially when that species are dragons. What the first mages were able to do was close the rift, making sure more beasts didn't make it through again."

"Is that the 'other side' you were talking about, the rift?" Adam asked.

"No. After humanity's safety was assured, the first mages left this side of our reality. That's what they called it, our 'side.' They either found, or created another reality, another earth, living in parallel to our side. They took all the beasts that had passed through the rift with them. Allowing them to live in their natural environments, with no contact to the people on this side."

"The goblins found a way to pass through to this side, then?" Adam asked.

"Or someone or something led them here." Maria said, as she finished healing Adam's wound. "Remember that place, where Kaley came out and attacked us, with the carved stones? That's called a dragon ritual site. It allows passage from one side to another."

Adam looked up at his mother. "That dragon ritual site we saw isn't far from here."

Maria's eyes widened. "You're right. I haven't thought about that."

Maria transforms into a smaller version of her dragon form, no wings, shaped like a jaguar. She turns to Adam, expecting him to do the same. He tries, instead transforms into his giant, winged, red dragon form. At least he's not losing control. He turns back to his human form.

"Get on." Maria said telepathically.

He mounts his dragon mother's back, and they take off into the wood. Adam holds on to the spikes protruding from her shoulders as she covers a great distance in a matter of seconds.

A loud crashing sound echoes through the forest, followed by a thunderous roar. Maria stops in her tracks, changing direction towards the source of the loud noise.

"Do you think one of the homunculi found the nest?" Adam asked telepathically.

"Probably." Maria replied.

They reach a clearing, and the sound of battle can be heard.

"It's coming from there!" Maria points towards a small hill surrounded by trees.

A large group of goblins surround a black dragon. The goblins are twice as big as the ones that attacked Adam in the forest.

Adam looks to his mother. "We have to help."

Maria reverts to her human form. "Let's go."

They approach the hill, where the battle is taking place between Kaley in her dragon form and the goblins. From a distance, Adam can see that the goblins are holding her down.

Kaley's tail is pulled back behind her, and tied to a tree. Her hands, feet, neck, and head are bound.

Adam charges the goblins. His giant red dragon form rips through the goblin ranks. He tears apart every goblin he comes across, they break rank and make a run for it. A single goblin stands its ground before him, even bigger than the rest of his kind.

Adam growls, preparing to engage his opponent. The goblin hunkers down, waiting for the blow. Adam swings his mighty claws at the goblin, who easily dodges the attack.

Adam is surprised by the goblin's quick reaction. He doesn't know if it's a trick, or just good luck.

Adam decides to attack, but the goblin darts aside. Another goblin appears, the same size as the other, wielding a war hammer.

The goblin moves to strike Adam, but he avoids the swing.

"Adam, turn back to your human form." His mother's voice instructs inside his head.

Adam does as he is told, transforming into his human self.

"These two are different. Your moves are slow in your dragon form. Let's face them together." Maria says.

She jumps into the fight, striking the first goblin in the knee with her fist. He falls to the ground, crying out in pain.

The second goblin approaches her, swinging his hammer at Maria's head. She ducks under the blow, then raises her foot to smash the goblin in the face. The goblin slumps to the ground, knocked out cold. To finish them off she incinerates them with a blast of her magic.

"Good job, mom." Adam congratulates her.

Maria walks over to Kaley, freeing her from her restraints.

"Are you okay?" Maria asks.

Kaley looks up, smiling. "I knew I could count on you, mommy."

Something can be heard approaching at great speed. Adam, Maria, and Kaley brace themselves for another fight. A green and blue dragon in their swift forms appears amongst the trees.

Coraline transforms into her human form. "We found their nest."

Jocasta_Complex

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