34 Time Goes Up and Down

Nera watched as Nia practiced using her wooden training sword that she saved up money for. Memories went back towards when she had to find a wagon to take her to one of the towns to find a general store.

The land was recovering and the crops began turning up healthy again. The village turned back to becoming a prosperous farming village. The village had enough money to spare.

The first time she was really outside of the village. She wanted to take Nia with her, but was too afraid that somebody might found out that she was a dragon. Nera was astounded by the different buildings and people. The carts and wagons that flooded the streets. An unfamiliar place to her. However, she felt bad about leaving Nia in the care of the other villagers. She bought some practice swords from a smithy and decided to rent a wagon back to

While she was there, she happened upon a merchant who was selling magical items. He was a strange man who didn't really try to interact with other people. He wore silver armor and his face was cloaked. Nera couldn't even see the man's eyes, but the merchant came over to her.

"Hello, maam. Would you be interested in seeing my magical wares?"

"No, thanks.

"What about a magical wand that turns people into chickens, or a mask that transforms one into a vampire."

Nera ignored the merchant's goods, but she froze to ask, "Do you have anything that can change appearances? For example... changing an ugly person to a beautiful one."

"Well, maam, you are certainly not ugly, but I do have one thing."

The merchant pulled out a ring.

"This ring can change the appearance of the one wearing it. It's called an illusive ring. It can change anything to a regular average-looking human. From skeleton to... a human-form dragon."

"So, if I put this on, my appearance would change?"

The merchant handed the ring over, so that she can wear it. As Nera equipped it, the merchant held out a mirror towards her face. The ring changed her appearance from red-hair to black-hair and white skin to brown. She turned her face over to the sides.

"Are you sure it works on other creatures...like...for example... a dragon?"

The merchant paused and said, "Of course. I have sold it to dragons before, though don't tell anyone."

Nera took off the ring and said, "Well, I don't have too much money left, but how much would you give it to me?"

"How about 5000 gold coins!"

Nera's mouth dropped at the absurd price.

"5000 gold coins! I doubt anybody can afford that."

"You drive a hard bargain. What about 2 silver coins."

Nera's mouth dropped again at the price but for the opposite reason.

"Why would you drop it down to 2 silver coins?"

"3 silver."

Nera shut up and handed 3 silver coins to the merchant. She looked at the illusive ring and put it in her pocket. As she looked back at the merchant to say thanks, the silver armored merchant disappeared as if he was never there.

She felt around her pocket for the ring and it was still there. It wasn't some hallucination. She held the training swords and had the ring in her pocket. Nera hired a wagon to take her to Kyte village. She was glad that she didn't need to walk far to find a wagon. She sighed and said to herself, "Next time, I'll bring you, Nia."

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Nia swung her sword up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

Nia's optimism towards a better tomorrow never faded. She wore the illusive ring that magically would fit the child's finger when it was equipped. It worked as the merchant advertised. The light green scales were hidden and she looked like a normal village girl.

Up and down. Up and down.

Time flied. Dragonslayers continued to hunt dragons around the world, and the remaining dragons dwindled. Nera was lucky that they haven't visited Kyte village since that fateful day. But even so, she still wanted to see Akai. Nera still regretted that she was never able to see him again. She looked back at her red blade and wondered if she was going to hold the sword forever, but she still held hope that she would see the black-scaled dragon, again. Nia was aware of Akai from her stories. A dragon with black scales that told her stories from his adventures. Nera retold the young dragon about Akai's stories that he told her and how this black dragon visited Kyte village. However, that was the extent. Nia never knew about Akai as somebody who hunted dragons. Sometimes, She would catch Nera drifting out the windows thinking about whether she would meet the black dragon, again.

And over the years, Nera still feared that somehow somebody would realize that Nia was a dragon, so she didn't want to take the chance of taking her outside of the village. Nia never complained. Even though she had the mental capacity of a ten year old, she understood the dangers of the outside world.

Time flied. Years moved ahead. Back at the dragonslayers den, Akai, Miura, and Captain Halido continued to work against finding and slaying dragons. Miura's crows continued to scout places where dragons may hide. However, the crows were like sentries only looking for creatures that were either big scaly lizards with wings or humans with scales. They wouldn't be able to tell if a dragon was wearing an illusive ring, and Miura was completely aware of the fact, however, she didn't have a means of counteracting against it.

Up and down. Up and down. Nia continued swinging her sword every day. Practiced every dawn and night. In the middle of the day, she would help the villagers with their work or help Nera forage for herbs. As she did so, the other children followed suit helping her in whatever Nia did. Wherever the green dragon went, she tried to keep a pleasant smile like her big sister's.

"I won't let anything happen to my family, again," she muttered under her breath as sweat pored to the ground.

Up and down. Up and down. Practice again and again. Up and down. Up and down. Eventually, she practiced with the real thing. An actual sword. Nera allowed Nia to practice using the red blade as long as it was maintained and cared for.

Years and years passed.

Up and down. She breathed out bathed in sweat holding the red blade's grip firmly.

Nia looked up towards the bright village. Her body developed to that of a young adult in just under 30 years, even though she was 130 years old. Her constant training has built her body from a petite girl to one that could fend for herself.

She wore simple village clothes and continued to wear that illusive ring.

She hasn't been in dragon form during that time skip as she didn't want to bring attention to herself and more importantly to the rest of Kyte village.

Nera, the old farmers and the children that grew up to become fathers knew about Nia being a dragon. No new villagers flocked to the village. Kyte village was very much left alone with the exception of carts coming to trade and buy crops.

Nia smiled as she looked towards the horizon as the sun rose. She thought, the future is getting brighter and brighter every day. Nera looked out the window of her cabin and smiled. She was older than most the villagers, but she didn't look anywhere near as old. She only looked to be at most 30 years old. Her body was completely healthy with only a few occasions of back pain. Her simple beauty struck many in the village and those who came to trade. She finished drinking her tea and got up.

"Nia, I may need some help finding some more herbs. Would you be able to help me?" Nera asked as she walked outside.

Nia turned around and said, "Of course, big sister Nera. But you may want me to carry all of the heavy buckets."

"Seriously? I'm only 45 years old. I'm nowhere near old. You're 130. You're the elder in this family."

Nera and Nia shared a laugh as they both held empty buckets towards the forest. Nera was still healthy and able to fend for herself, although she hasn't used her sword in a long time. Not many monsters have attacked Kyte village and the few that do get fought back by Nia.

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Meanwhile, Akai, Miura, Captain Halido, and the recently promoted Captain Leo continued to hunt dragons, but with the lack of dragon activity, their numbers dwindled. Dragonslayers felt that they have done a satisfactory job and most moved onto other jobs. Some have become mercenaries, monster hunters, blacksmiths, shopkeeps, and some moved onto having families. Still, some stayed as a dragonslayer for their own personal reasons. But Akai knew that his work wasn't finished. He could sense that dragons were still alive. As a dragonslayer, he deepened his voice and kept his helmet on at all times, so that nobody could tell how old he was.

At the dragonslayers den, there were still enough dragonslayers to still go on raids and check any location that may have any dragons.

In an office, Akai looked over requests for both dragons and other monsters. He thought that perhaps they needed to branch out to other monsters to get some extra funds. He essentially became the leader to fill in the void.

Miura had her eyes closed while sitting in a corner. She looked almost the same as when Akai found her. A pale woman wearing a chain dress. Akai never told her to sit there. He trusted that she wouldn't get into any trouble. His helmet was on his desk, but the door was locked so that nobody could see his face. The windows were shut and covered. Only torches lit the room with some small openings of sunlight. She worked every day controlling crows to find more dragons, but even so, it would be very difficult to find any. Akai has already traveled during his 30 years to other biomes to kill any dragon.

Miura's eyes opened.

"The future still hasn't changed. It's been delayed, but it will still happen."

Akai heard and continued to look over requests and rumors hoping to find some hidden dragon somewhere.

"My crows haven't alerted me to anything, either. Their able to send a shock through my body when one finds a giant lizard with wings or a human covered in scales, but nothing has come up."

"There must be some dragons still alive. In hiding. I'm glad that there hasn't been any dragons attacking people for a long time, but still... I can't let that future happen. There must still be some dragons left in hiding."

"Well, it's too bad that my crows wouldn't be able to tell if somebody was wearing an illusive ring like yours. And it's still a shame that we can't tell any other dragonslayers about it. Otherwise, they may start piecing together your own ring."

Akai scanned through reports of possible dragon sightings until one of them sparked his interest.

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"Captain Halido" a voice called out.

Captain Halido stood up and said "Yes, Crimson Black Knight. Did your...witch find us a dragon?"

The old captain was the oldest member of the dragonslayers, besides Akai and possibly Miura considering that Miura almost looks the same as she did 30 years ago, so nobody really knew how old she was. Though, nobody wanted to actually ask or talk to the witch in fear that she may do something. Since, nobody knew how old Miura was and how old Akai actually was, Captain Halido was considered the senior dragonslayer. He had many wrinkles, however, he was in top shape for an old man. He still trained his body and was still stronger than most of the other dragonslayers in terms of raw strength.

Akai in his crimson black armor and cloak along with his dragon-like helmet replied, "Not exactly. There were some rumors from passing wagons and carts who say they have seen a girl who has barely aged for almost 30 years. If she exists, I think that she may be some dragon."

"Alright, so you want me to find out if this '30 year-old girl' exists, right?"

All dragonslayers including Captain Halido were aware that dragons have a human form, but they would show scales and features such as wings and a tail. Nobody knew about the existence of illusive rings that would hide such features.

"That's not what I was concerned about. The rumors are scarce, but they all point towards a certain... village. Kyte village."

"Kyte village? I remember that nice place. Well, wouldn't that be a perfect opportunity for you and that girl to meet again? "

Akai looked away as he remembered the last time they met. She knew that Akai was a dragon and yet also killed dragons. He couldn't bring himself to go back there after blaming himself over ruining his relationship with Nera and essentially destroying the plant life near the village. He believed for 30 years that he was the cause of bringing bad fortune to Kyte village by either killing Kytlmyne or using that manufactured gas. "Well, besides the fact that she's not a small girl anymore, I don't think it would be a good idea to show my face around there."

Captain Halido sighed and disappointingly said, "Well, that's just too bad. It's just that for 30 years, you have been focused on hunting dragons rather than living a life. My life was over a long time ago, but yours was beginning."

Akai seemingly ignored Halido's last statement, but he knew that 30 years for a human was far longer than 30 years for a dragon. He directed the conversation back to the matter at Kyte village.

"Take a couple of dragonslayers with you. Also, make sure to bring Captain Leo with you. It would be good practice for him to lead some men."

The boy that Akai rescued 30 years ago became a captain recently. Since, Leo never had a last name as an orphan even before he was save, they just referred to him as Captain Leo.

"Alright. I'll go... but I really think that you should come, too."

Akai walked past him ignoring that last statement, but as he walked away, he could only think of one real reason that was holding him back. He just didn't have the courage to confront her.