The day of the fateful meeting part 2

This world was indeed not fair.

From birth, people were assigned levels of strength. Everyone started at grade G and could raise it to A through hard work. But going beyond that was not possible with effort alone.

It required luck as well as a born potential. Only then could you be called the best. And people who had power beyond level A were rare.

Their number ranged to a mere 500 at the moment which was a minority when compared to human society.

Mainly, the central academy accepted anyone who could show potential beyond level E. And that in itself was rare.

Not that people didn't try their best. People tried everything - from connections to bribes. Central Academy was a dream for most people. It was a point of prestige.

Patricia Doe was someone who could be called gifted in every sense. She had been one of the top students of the academy when she had attended it.

Along with that, she had a healthy body, a nice background, and even had the luck to be born as an S-grade mage.

In short, she was the dream girl of every man - strong and beautiful.

But she didn't care about the world or its shallow titles. The only thing that mattered to her as an individual was power. That was why she had agreed to follow the crown prince.

That guy might not be the strongest in the world right now but Edward had potential. And his magic was something else.

He was currently the only S-class mage in the elite academy and his power was nothing to scoff at. He had entered the academy at the tender age of 15 and had stormed through it all in a matter of months.

Patricia was sure she would not be able to find another like him no matter how hard she tried to look around.

Despite being a rank S magician, Prince Edward's magic power eclipsed her own by a great margin. This was just how much potential he held at his disposal.

And he was young as well. He still had time to cultivate his magic how he wanted to. He was one of a kind.

Or so Patricia had thought.

But reality had handed her a reality check in the form of a stumbling teen.

The child looked weak but his magical aura was potent. It rivaled the prince in everything but its control.

In terms of potential, this child was no worse than the crown prince.

"P-Please help me. P-Prince Lawrance is in d-danger."

The kid fell to his knees in front of Patricia. The magic pushing at her felt desperate and urged her to listen.

Disappointment filled her mind as the teen clawed at her arm.

So much potential and it was all being wasted in begging. This child was interesting but so boring as well.

And of course, he had to be affiliated with that worthless younger prince of the empire. Everyone knew he was a failure who refused to die.

"Get up kid. You are irritating me."

Patricia wanted to leave the powerful kid here and see what he would do. Would his suffering unlock his power? Or will he finally stumble to his death?

It would be a waste of his potential but Patricia was not kind-hearted enough to help every kid she met.

Potential or not, she had standards.

"I-no. You cannot leave. He would die if you did not help him out."

The kid still begged for her to help.

"No, I don't want to. If you want my help then you will have to show me your resolve."

The teen looked confused at her words. Maybe she was not clear enough in her demand.

"You will need to touch me to show your resolve. If you managed to do that much then I will help you out."

The kid finally seemed to get it. And he panicked as soon as he realized what he had to do.

"It's impossible. I don't know how to fight and I can't control my magic either." the kid almost whispered.

Patricia refused to feel sorry for him.

"Then rot here. I will be going back now."

No, she will not be. She will still need to get the young prince out before Edward decided to interfere. She could not allow the crown prince to dirty his hands like that.

"N-No. I will do it. I will show my resolve."

The teen whispered and his aura finally felt determined. Patricia gave off a small smile as he build his magic.

It was uncontrolled and wild. But it was powerful and pure.

'Score.'

She had found a rough diamond and she was sure she could mould it to serve Prince Edward.

==========================

"I won't be done in like this. I will not die a dog's death."

I could only watch in sympathy as the man tried to stand up and fight against the poison.

But a human body could only take so much. Even I was beginning to feel my body fail me and it would not be long until I fall unconscious as well.

"You will die if you did not find the antidote in time. Now, why don't you tell me where you have kept it."

I did not care whether I die or not. But I could not allow this man to die.

It was because I finally remembered what the scene was.

I had thought that this part was not mentioned in the original novel but I could not be more wrong.

It was because this was mentioned in a flash-back that I could not connect the dots. But now that I knew where I was, I knew what was going to happen next.

This was the time when the two main protagonists of the novel finally met for the first time. It was also the time Cain's life changed for the better and he resolved to enter the academy and make something of himself.

"D-Don't you feel the pain of the poison? H-How are you still standing?"

"How are you still speaking?"

I answered the man's question with a question of my own.

The boss looked dumb-folded for a few seconds before he broke down laughing.

"Of course. The rumors! I never believed in them before but it looks like they were true after all."

"Your will to live is so strong that your body refuses to die. You are like a worm, clinging to your life with everything you've got."

The man gloated when he informed me of this news.

His words stung my heart. They were a repeat of the words my 'father' had told me a long time ago when he had tried to end my life.

According to him, I had survived having my head bashed in a wall at full force and taken a hit with a wine bottle on my head.

I never believed him before when he said things like 'my will to live.'

I might have been desperate to cling to my life once but that was no longer the case. I did not shy away from death any longer.

"Your talk is as pathetic as your life. Why don't you do us all a favor and finally die?"

The man looked angry but I could see life fading away from his eyes.

And once he died, it would be time for me to lie down and wait around.

My eyes were already quite heavy with fatigue and my body's attempt in keeping me alive.

"Kyuuuu~"

The baby dragon neared my body with a worried expression. It sounded worried but that might have been my wishful thinking.

After all, dragons were beasts and did not feel emotions like humans.

"I'm alright. Listen…."

I only realized that I had never named the dragon baby.

In the novel world, naming a beast was akin to forming a contract. If the beast accepted a given name then you were bound to them for life.

As far as I remembered, the novel world had five major races - humans, demons, giants, sea-folks, and elves.

Among the races, the demons and giants had an alliance. And that alliance was at war with the other three races.

The war had resulted in world calamities many times. Their goal was unknown in the novel so I was not sure what they wanted.

Just like humans, every species had a ranking system ranging from (G) to (SSS). Only the leaders of a race, the very pinnacle of the top, had an L ranking.

Both demons and giants had their (L) ranked leaders. Their side was indeed strong.

The human, sea-folks, and elf alliance only had the elf Queen as their (L) ranked. But her power was enough to cause a stalemate.

Beasts were a free race and chose to serve their master rather than being their one race.

But unlike humans and other races, they could not evolve their rank by natural means.

And a dragon was a big name in the beast tamer community.

"Kyuuu~"

And recently the baby dragon I had picked up decided I made a comfortable pillow. His weight was keeping me pressed against the bed.

"Fine. I'll name you but you must agree to kill me once you grow up."

I was not sure if the beast even understood me but I knew I could not abandon it.

"How about Flora?"

-A hump on my back.

"No, well Shen?"

-another stomp and this one hurt.

And this went on for quite sometime before the baby finally liked a name enough to calm down.

"About about Ryu? You like it, right?"

I waited for the pain but it did not come.

The baby finally decided that he liked the name 'Ryu' enough to stop hurting me.

Call me basic but my vocabulary was very much influenced by the novels and TV shows I had watched before I had died.

And with the weight of the dragon gone from my body, I finally felt well enough to take a deep breath.

But of course, like all nice things this moment had to end as well.

And this time it happened when I felt a chilling aura descent over the room. It was so powerful that it caused my body to break out in a cold sweat.

I found out that I could not breathe properly. I had no idea why that was happening but I found myself struggling against the immense pressure.

"I take time out to come and save my foolish brother and this is what I get? The corpse of the kidnapper and a dying brother. Why did I even bother coming here?"

The voice that washed and entered my ears sounded soft and cosy. It would have been nice to hear if not for the situation.

"W-Who?"

I was foolish enough to ask that question.

I only realized who the speaker could be after I had asked the question already. After all, who else but the protagonist could emit such an aura.

The author of this novel has taken to great lengths to explain how the protagonist's aura felt when someone was under its influence.

But you see, reading and feeling were two different things. Even if someone said that the aura was bone-chilling, you can't know what it is till you experience it for yourself.

That was what happened to me as well.

I knew how the crown prince's aura felt but I could not recognize it when I had to feel it for myself.

"B-Brother?"

My mouth forced out those words. The hesitance sounded so clear in my voice that Ryu took it as a sign of aggression.

Against a dragon, even the strongest of foes crumbled. But Ryu was just a baby and killing Prince Edward was out of his current capabilities.

"Don't worry. I am not here to kill him. I just want to save my foolish brother before he loses the functionality in his fingers forever."

My fingers hurt but so did my whole body.

Ryu was hesitating in his approach. The massive aura of the prince Edward must be making it scared of the larger predator.

"It's alright Ryu. He's not an enemy so you can let him come closer. Everything is alright."

Ryu growled lowly in warning but even a baby dragon was not enough to resist the protagonist for long. Prince Edward's aura made him almost look like an angel.

"So you finally decided to be sensible and accept my help. It is nice to see that you are beginning to accept your real place in the hierarchy."

Forget angel. That smile screamed devil. Edward was scary.