An Alchemist's Apprentice

The cloaked person stared at the towering black dragon for a brief moment before closing both of his eyes in thought. Despite his nonthreatening stance, he appeared to be threatening. Very threatening.

Both of the black and white dragon could instinctively sense this, and therefore, neither of them took any further actions. Instead, they opted to wait for the man to open his eyes once more.

That very action from the dragons awed Jonathan, for he had never seen them acted this way before, but then again, they had always seen humans as nothing more than foods.

"If you truly believe that," the man begun and raised his finger towards the black dragon, "then I shall prove you the foolishness of your claim."

The instant that he finished speaking, he flicked his outstretched finger downwards, which resulted in the black dragon crashing against the earth.

"Y-you…" the black dragon roared and used all of its strength to life its head upwards, but it was a very hard struggle. It was as if there was an invisible force pressing down the dragon from above, crushing it against the earth. "… dare!"

Its body glowed brightly, but before the black dragon could attack the man, the ground it stood upon collapsed inwards due to the incredible pressure, sending massive fissures in all directions. The dragon roared as cracks started to form all over its body, indicating it was physically injured.

The man eventually lifted his finger and stopped exerting his power, but not before the once prideful black dragon growled in submission. It was like a domesticated pet. There was no longer any arrogance within those draconic eyes.

It apparently understood the foolishness of its words. Or more correctly to say, the vast differences in powers. There was no way a human could possess that much power.

"I should kill you for disrespecting me, puny insect, but your life isn't mine to take," the man spoke up once more. There was little emotion in his words, but it weighted heavily on the black dragon.

He then paid attention to the white dragon, who immediately lowered its head submissively towards the ground, touching the very earth itself, for it did not dare to gaze upon the person who just proved to be far more powerful than he appeared.

If a dragon could feel fear, it was fearful of the man. Very fearful.

Jonathan could not believe what he had witnessed. Dragons were seen like an unstoppable force that devastate everything for years, so seeing them now as docile as domesticated dogs simply shattered that illusion.

How could someone – obviously not human – has that kind of power?

Jonathan wanted to know. He wanted it. If he had it, he would not have to keep hiding away, struggling to survive day after day.

"Please forgive this puny insect, Great Master," the black dragon apologized.

The man narrowed his eyes at the black dragon. In an instant, a vortex formed and tore a sizable hole into he black dragon's shoulder, vaporizing its black scale and powerful flesh effortlessly.

The black dragon roared in pain and lost its balance, collapsing onto the ground. Even so, it remained completely docile, not fighting back whatsoever. It understood that it stood no chance.

"Forgive. Yes. I have forgiven you a long time ago," the man commented, and within the next moment, the black dragon was torn to pieces by countless invisible air blades. What remained afterwards, was a fiery orb, hovering in the air.

The many stretched out his hand, drawling the fiery orb towards him. He grasped it within his fingers and palm before examining it very closely. While he did that, the only remaining dragon left alive stood still, remaining utterly silence.

The entire surrounding was the same, for not even a single sound could be heard. Jonathan even held his breath, not wanting to attract attention to himself.

"Useless," the man eventually spoke up and casually tossing the orb aside as if it was garbage. He then returned his attention to the white dragon. "Since your essence is even useless as an ingredient than that of the insect, scram before I decide to kill you for annoying me."

Despite being heavily wounded in battle, the white dragon immediately took flight, trying to get as far away from the man as soon as possible.

Within a handful of seconds, the dragon was nothing more than an indiscernible dot in the sky, at least to the naked eyes.

"Ah. I forgot. She is still a dragon," the man muttered before raising his hand towards the white dragon far in the distant. The aura shrouded under his cloak radiated outwards, and he clenched his hand into a fist.

Within the next moment, a piercing screech filled the air. It came as far as it left.

Once the world returned to tranquility, the man lowered his hand and seemingly let out a sigh. There was some kind of emotion within his eyes, but it was only there briefly. He eventually turned his eyes towards the direction of the bunker.

Thanked to the black dragon, the bunker was no longer covered in thick layer of snow. It was no longer hidden, and therefore, it was no longer safe.

"Come out," the man said flatly.

Jonathan understood that request – order – was for him, and he had no choice but to obey. It belonged to a person who could kill dragons like they were mere insect. No. They were probably less than that, at least from the power he had displayed.

And if that person wanted to, he could have killed Jonathan instantly, yet he did not. That alone gave Jonathan a hope, and without hesitation, he opened the blast door and exited the safety of the bunker.

"Great Master," Jonathan greeted the man as respectfully as he could muster. Against such a being, it was due.

"And you are?" the man questioned after scrutinizing Jonathan, seeming seeing pass the scarf covering his horrendous scarred facial features.

"I am just a nobody, Great Master," Jonathan answered and bowed.

"Someone who has survived this long is not a nobody," the man pointed out and turned his attention to a bush nearby. He reached out his hand, and a blade of grass flew into it. He then examined it before tossing that blade of grass aside. "Useless."

Jonathan was curious what the man was doing, but he did not voice his curiosity. What had happened to the black dragon was still vivid in his mind, and he was thankful that the black dragon was gone.

While Jonathan was not the one who had killed it, the end result was the same, nonetheless. One less dragon in the world. Two if he believed what had happened to the white dragon was to be true.

He would miss that white dragon, for it had unintentionally protected him for so long. Now, the white dragon was no longer around, snow would stop falling, and the forest would become more dangerous.

Jonathan knew that he would have to find another safe haven soon.

"You are curious to what I am doing," the man said before scanning another bush. "I am an Alchemist, and I am looking for ingredients. These white grasses are known as Snow Dragon Grasses. They appear to grow in a place with unending winter. However, all these ones are young. Unusable to me."

Jonathan simply nodded and absorbed the information. He wanted to speak up, but he did not know whether he should. A familiar motherly voice replayed in his mind, and he decided to remain silence, at least for now. It seemed like a good idea.

When the man begun heading off without saying any further, Jonathan swallowed his fear and spoke his mind. "Great Master. Please teach me the power to kill a dragon."

The man stopped moving and eyed Jonathan, who was now kowtowing on the scorched earth.

"You aim far too low, nobody. Dragons are nothing more than intelligence beasts as far as beasts go," the man stated and stepped in front of Jonathan. "I am an Alchemist, and I will only teach you Alchemy and only Alchemy. The rest, you will have to learn or acquire yourself, and when you are ready, come and find me."

The Alchemist then raised his hand and placed it upon Jonathan's head. His aura exploded, rising into the sky as the world soon faded away, replaced with pitch blackness.

"This will help you get started, my apprentice."

It was the last thing that Jonathan heard before his consciousness slipped away.