Episode 20

After the resounding roar, Jacq was petrified. He thought that he had hid himself well, but it turned out that he was seen. Peeking over the rock, he saw a terrifying sight. The werewolf was in a pitiful state, his tail had been ripped off and he was currently being dangled by one of his legs in the air, his other limbs were missing. As if to answer his question of where the limbs went, he heard a loud sound of bones breaking.

"CRUNCH!"

At first, Jacq was very confused. The werewolf was as if floating in the air, however he slowly saw an outline of something wrapped around the werewolf's leg. The thing was black as the cave itself, making it hard to see it. Upon closer inspection once a person's eye became used to the darkness, you could see a snake-like being wrapped around the werewolf's leg. The scales were dim, as if they had lost their shiny color and only a dull black remained. Following the snake-like thing, Jacq noticed that it ended near a black wall.

"It is ironic that you mentioned running away from a dog and to "rush to a dragon", turns out that this is indeed a dragon you have encountered," Jacq stiffened at the sound of Nero's voice.

"But you said it isn't a dragon, how can this be a dragon then!" Jacq yelled back in a panic.

"Even a legendary blade can go dull in the passage of time. It seems that I am slightly out of practice. Sorry!" Nero replied with a hint of sadness. It seemed to Jacq that Nero's pride had been affected by this encounter.

"So I will die here after all huh? I guess it's fine, I am very sleepy. The pain from me eating the berry earlier is starting to affect me, and the wounds I accumulated on the run here are draining my energy," Jacq said softly to himself. He seemed more tired than scared at this point. Upon hearing Jacq's comment, Nero remained quiet, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Jacq continued to look at the black wall which was the back of the dragon. The tail that held the werewolf was almost seven meters in length. It's tail was small in girth, which is why Jacq mistook it as a snake-like being earlier. The dragon was sitting down, with it's hind legs on the ground while the front two held onto parts of the werewolf. It seemed like the dragon enjoyed eating in a wild manner. 'Why is the dragon's body smaller than it's tail by almost a meter,' Jacq asked to himself.

"That's a given. This is a Black Dragon, they are also known as lesser dragons by the older generation of cultivators. The difference in the tail and body helps provide them balance when they are walking." Nero answered him.

"Oh? Also, why can't I see it's wings? I thought dragons have cool wings!" Jacq asked in a low voice.

"I recommend you ask me everything in your head, if that dragon hears you he might rip you apart like that werewolf. They tend to get aggressive because of their weak genes. The chance to grow wings as a Black Dragon is low. If we were to use percentage, then I would say that one out of ten thousand will have a chance to be born with wings. Even then, it is a chance. That means even one in twenty thousand or thirty thousand will have that chance. The chance is there, but whether it produces a winged Black Dragon or not is not certain," Nero broadened Jacq's knowledge about the Black Dragons after seeing his interest in them.

'What! How is that a "low" chance?' Jacq replied back confused, he stopped talking with his mouth after hearing Nero.

"The ratio does seem like it is high I agree, however, the population of these lesser dragons is low. So according to that, the "high" chance has now became a "low" chance," amused by Jacq's shock, Nero replied with a smug voice. He was clearly proud of his vast knowledge.

While the two were conversing, the pitiful werewolf struggled with all it's might, only landing a soft scratch on the Black Dragon's tail before being completely eaten. Seeing that the werewolf was finished, Jacq prepared himself to die.

The Black Dragon walked towards Jacq on all fours, it's tail swinging behind it. Upon reaching Jacq, the Black Dragon lifted a part of it's lips to show it's bloodied fangs. Jacq could feel the surroundings become hotter from the Black Dragon's breath. He could even smell the blood and meat of the freshly devoured werewolf. Lowering it's head, the Black Dragon made eye contact with Jacq after sniffing him for a bit.

"The Gnome Mint Berry, what extraordinary luck you have here kid." the Black Dragon spoke to him.

"Thank you," Jacq replied back firmly. He had already threw away his fear thinking that death was inevitable, so he might as well inspect a dragon close up. 'I always been fond of dragons in movies and books I've read, so seeing one before dying wasn't so bad I guess,' he thought to himself.

"There is no fear in your eyes? Only curiosity? Oh right, you must be numb to everything due to the pain from the berry and your injuries. It is understandable now that a weak being like you would not tremble at the sight of me," the Black Dragon spoke up after thinking for a bit. He had mistakenly taken Jacq's lack of fear for his tiredness. The Black Dragon opened his mouth and moved forward, placing Jacq right between his fangs. Nero, who had been quiet up until now, spoke up.

"Jacq, if you trust me then speak after me. It doesn't matter if you butcher the pronunciations and grammar, as long as you try then it should work."

Hearing Nero's voice, Jacq nodded his head and repeated after Nero.

Jacq couldn't understand what he had said, however the Black Dragon paused in it's bite and pulled it's head back, looking at Jacq in shock.

"You, how can you speak the Language of the Dragons?" the shock in the Black Dragon's voice was obvious. "It may be ragged, but that is definitely our language. Tell me where you learned it from?"

Jacq was also surprised, Language of the Dragons? 'What was that and when did I speak in such a language? All I did was repeat after Nero. Unless...,' as to confirm his guess, Nero answered his question for him.

"Yes, I had you speak the Language of the Dragons to stop the beast from eating you. Just tell him that your master, I, have taught you a few things before I left for adventures."

"My.. um.. master taught me a few things about this language before he left in pursuit of adventures," Jacq replied back while holding his head, he felt an immense headache coming.

The Black Dragon stared at Jacq for a while before speaking to him again. However, this time Jacq couldn't understand a thing. Luckily Nero understood it and translated it for him while helping him reply back properly. After a small conversation between the Black Dragon and Jacq, the former seemed to have given up on eating the latter due to his curiosity at finding a being who could speak the Language of Dragons, so they just sat down in silence. Taking this time to heal up, Jacq curled up into a ball as he felt fatigue overtake him. Before he knew it, he had passed out.

A few hours later, Jacq woke up due to screams that could be heard. He looked at the origin of the chaos and found a woman and man running with their clothes torn apart, the woman's small bunnies could be seen bouncing. Although he appreciated the sight of them, he was more shocked at what was happening behind them. The Black Dragon was standing in front of them while a sea of Cave Spiders were chasing behind them. However, they stopped at the entrance of the Black Dragon's den.

The small man had a rough face with a scar running down his bald head. His mustache and beard were trimmed, or they were before he went through hell. As of now, it looked like he hadn't shaved in years. He wore a golden necklace and had multiple golden rings on his fingers. The woman was petite as well, she wore a suit that matched the man's, except for the color. She had a refined figure, but the cuts on her clothes made her look exotic. If it wasn't for the current situation and the blood staining the suits, Jacq would have assumed that this was her way of dressing up.

The two were naturally Don and Hina, they had run all the way from where Tony made a stand to the lair of the Black Dragon. The Cave Spiders screeched a few times before they turned around and went back from where they came from. The Black Dragon looked at the two before looking at Jacq, seeing that all three had a similar accessory, he stayed quiet and closed his eyes before laying back down.

Jacq nodded at the pair before also closing his eyes, however his vigilance was up. Ever since the two had entered the room, Nero reported to him that these two showed signs of blood lust on the ride over, especially so when he was falling when all of the participants were dropped down. If it wasn't for Nero, he would have never expected a beauty like Hina to have thoughts about killing him. He didn't know them and had no plans on changing that.

Hina and Don took out a piece of paper and started writing back and forth to each other, they were afraid of the Black Dragon so they had stayed put near the entrance of the cave. They would have fled back to the tunnel, but seeing the boy that they had targeted earlier and the Black Dragon not doing anything, they decided to stay.

'It seems luck is on our side after all. I don't know why there is a dragon here, but seeing that it isn't attacking any of us, we will just work around it,' -Don.

'That dragon is scary! I thought it would eat us for sure! What's the new plan' -Hina.

'Lady Luck has graced us with her presence, the foolish boy is sitting on one of the streams that is leading to the room in the back. I want you to go to the boy and stab him in the heart when I am in position. His blood will flow to the room and open the seal on the crystal in there. While that is happening, I will also steal one of the treasures under that dragon.' -Don.

The two looked at each other and nodded before Hina moved closer to Jacq while Don acted like he was asleep. Unknown to them, Nero had already felt their blood lust and woke Jacq up. Although Jacq looked like he was sleeping, he had already woken up and was preparing to run at any moment. Don looked at the massive amount of gold and shiny gems under the dragon before looking at Hina approaching Jacq.

'We can get a treasure here and in the room. Nothing like getting more than you expected,' Don snickered to himself. 'As for the dragon? It can't enter the room since the pathway is too narrow for it. There should be a door in the back of the room for us to escape out of after getting the crystal and anything else I loot from the dragon.'

At this moment, Hina knelt down near Jacq while softly calling out to him to see if he was awake or not. Knowing that he was a high school student, she didn't expect him to respond unless he was already awake. If he replied to her, then she would adjust the plan a little in order to make an opening before going in for the kill.

Hearing Hina's voice call out to him, Jacq felt his heart tighten. He knew something was going to happen but he didn't know what it was. However, he was ready.