Destroyed City

Oki looked at Soul, a confused look on his face. "What the hell did you even do, Soul? It looks like you killed him." Oki admitted, looking at the now-asleep Orochi. "Well, I beat him in a fight, and his mind shut off for a bit. He's unconscious, I think. I overexerted him, even inside his own mind, and now he's tired." Soul explained, his hands trying to portray what happened. "Basically, I stopped him from hitting me until he fell unconscious. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have done that." Soul realised, a look of surprise on his face.

"Well, what are we going to do with him? Surely he isn't happy about losing, right?" Oki pondered, looking back to Soul. "Well, he has agreed to protect our city in exchange for a human body, so I made one for him, and now he can help protect the civilians," Soul told Oki, who wasn't expecting what Soul had just said. Oki took what Soul told him as they would be getting a dragon as a pet of sorts. Cool.

"Well, if you've made an agreement with him, that's okay with me, but what'll we do about my chest? After all, the thing that fell inside me is still spreading." Oki reminded him, pointing towards his chest. "Oh yeah, kinda forgot about that. Time is slower in someone else's mind, so it passed rather slowly in there. Anyways, what do you think we should do? After all, I don't know what the hell happened with it. It was my first time ever doing something like that." Soul responded, looking around as the Beastpeople returned to the area after not hearing any commotion for a few seconds. All they could see was Soul, the child they didn't know the name of, and a strange human lying on the ground in some unusual clothes.

"Listen. This is the kind of protection you'll be getting if you live in my city. Events like this never happen, and if they were to occur, you'd be safe under my protection. So, continuing with Aaron's original quest, I would ask that you live in my city. We're planning on creating an inter-racial place for people to live out their lives in peace. A neutral zone, if you will." Soul explained, sounding a lot like Aaron for a second. Not just in how his voice sounded but in the way he spoke. It was almost as if Aaron was back just to give this speech.

The people were moved. They looked at the destruction the dragon had caused by simply being here. When it had moved, it had destroyed a few houses, along with the damage caused when it swung its tail. The sheer destruction that the dragon caused couldn't be just ignored. Soul looked around before looking towards Orochi, who was fast asleep. "Oh yes, I never asked, but what happened to the dragon? He isn't dead, as far as I can see. Is that human, by chance, the dragon in question?" The Beastman that Soul had saved earlier asked him.

"Yes, that is the dragon in question. In exchange for a human body, he's going to be guarding my city. Also, Orochi will be accompanying us on travels in both his human and dragon forms. He can change between them at will, you see." Soul explained, walking over to Orochi. He was out for the count, so Soul pulled up the sleeve of his hoodie, revealing scales along the side of his arm. "I wanted to keep some resemblance between this version and his original form, so he has golden scales lining parts of his body, although he is almost entirely human. I can do the same thing as him as well." Soul continued before using a skill he had obtained from absorbing the Basilisk.

Hardened Skin activated as blue scales littered Soul's right arm. The light from the sun reflected off of the metallic plates, shining a scattered pattern on the ground. "You can kinda see why I don't use this form too much." Soul explained before making the scales disappear as if they were never there. "I make them fresh every time I use that skill, so that's the reason why it's so shiny." Soul continued, lifting Orochi onto his shoulders in a fireman's carry. It was just because he could, and he thought it'd be funny for Orochi to wake up like this.

"So, do you accept the offer that Aaron Stone planned to give to you himself?" Soul asked, sounding like Aaron if he was talking in the third person. "Well, I wouldn't mind, since my home is one of the ones that was destroyed, but you'd have to ask everyone here. We have a ruler as well, but they are extremely unwell. An unknown disease is afflicting them, and we can't seem to heal it. Anyway, could you help us, dragon slayer?" The Beastman asked as Soul realised what he had just said. "No, no, don't call me a dragon slayer. I didn't kill the dragon, merely tamed it, so if you wouldn't mind not branding me with such a brutish title." Soul responded, extending his hand out towards Oki.

"I'm alright with it. If you guys move into my city, I'll do what you need. However, I will remind them that their city is currently half-destroyed and that they may or may not be in serious trouble with some random dude who tried to kill me. You have to make sure that they know about everything before letting them make some decisions for their people." Soul explained, and everyone present agreed that what Soul had said was a valid point. "Anyways, where are they? I won't be able to help you if I don't know where they are."

"Yeah, that's the thing. The disease is contagious and violently poisons anyone who walks in. It's like we've overdosed on mana or something." The Beastman explained to Soul.

"If this is what I think it is, I'm going to wonder how the hell four of us are here at the same time," Soul said to himself. "Bring me there. I think I know what's going on."