Chapter 104: Old story

After dropping such shocking news, grandmother remained silent for a few seconds as If letting everything sink in. 'Amanita is her brother? And grandfather's best friend? Wait, so that means he is father's uncle?' my mind spun on high gear as I recalled what grandmother said to my father.

'Revenge? So the reason father and grandfather hate the humans have to do with Amanita's death, but If he was as powerful as grandfather, I doubt the humans would pause any threat to him no?' Thinking about that, I suddenly found myself remembering my grandfather's warning before I left to destroy the human boats back in my naming ceremony.

'He told me to be careful, and not underestimate the humans. Then does that mean they actually possess a power that can threaten us?' I quickly shook my head at the ridiculous notion, 'No, Amanita died surrounded by the corpses of the Gods, If anything it's them that should be considered dangerous,'

'So then, just what the hell happened? And what do the humans have to do with It all?' I wondered as I raised my head to glance at my grandmother who was glancing at me with a gentle expression on her face.

"I can sense your confusion, little Aether," She said with a light chuckle. I lowered my head respectfully before I nodded and carefully replied. "Yes I apologize, grandmother, I'm just a little bit confused," I spoke honestly to which she smiled with an understanding expression.

"You are confused as to how the humans could pose a threat to a dragon of Amanita's caliber, right?" She spoke with her all-knowing smile, causing me to subconsciously nod. "Yes, although I know that one must not underestimate his opponent, I cannot help but think that the humans are incredibly weak. Perhaps if they were lucky, they might accidentally manage to defeat a youngling but to take down a full-grown dragon, especially someone like grandfather, I find that to be ridiculous," I said before I hastily lowered my head once again and added. "Please forgive my ignorance grandmother, I do not dare offend you,"

"Haha! You sure are a respectful one. I wonder where you got that from because It was for sure not from your father, and I doubt It was from Iver either, she always had a fiery temperament that one," Happily laughed grandmother as she adjusted her body into a more comfortable position on top of the giant rock. I on the other hand just remained silent and did not say anything as I waited for her to continue speaking.

"Though I already said It once, no need to be so tense around me little one. Now about the humans, well you would be correct in thinking that they can't hold a candle to an adult dragon, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous. You see little Aether, the humans are a resilient race, they survived and even thrived while most of the others were driven to the brink of extinction. The once prideful elves, the arrogant demons, are all barely hanging by a thread as they fight against an almost imminent doom while the humans are not, quite the opposite, they found a way to turn things into their favor. That is precisely what makes them dangerous,"

Hearing that, I squinted my eyes as a frown made its way to my face. Elves? Demons? My mind automatically went back to the scene of all the various races living in harmony at the now-ruined city I once visited before the Shades attacked.

"You see Aether, a long time ago, the Elven Goddess and the Demon God broke an ancient pact, one that must never be broken, due to that they almost brought the entire plane into ruins," Shaking her head, grandmother continued, "Now that, was something they should have never done since It directly challenged the authority of the King,"

My frown deepened as I recalled the vaguely familiar scene I once watched play out in front of me. 'So that colossal black dragon was indeed the King!' I inwardly noted before carefully asking. "Challenged the King's authority, does that mean the one that created this ancient pact was the King himself?"

To my question, grandmother looked at me with a weird expression before speaking, "Isn't that obvious?" Hearing that, I quickly lowered my head in shame and let her continue. "You see little Aether, the King is the one that calls for the balance of the planes, we merely abide by his wishes,"

Her eyes seemed to shine for a second as she stared deep into my eyes before continuing, "And by we, I mean the dragons and the Gods!" My eyes widened in surprise, 'So even the Gods must listen to the Dragon King? I mean, that's to be expected, just look at how Amanita was able to kill so many of them all by himself,' A dangerous thought made its way to my mind. 'Perhaps the gods aren't that-' * hastily shook my head. 'No! What the heck am I thinking about? I'm still nowhere near any Gods, I can't grow arrogant,' I thought as I glanced at the small scar on my side left behind from my fight with Sidus.

'Yes, I can't underestimate anyone,'

"Grandmother, but I still don't understand how any of this has to do with the humans?" I asked in a respectful tone. Chuckling, grandmother shook her head before speaking. "Younglings these days have no patience,"

"Ah, I apologize!" I quickly replied with my head hung low.

Shaking her head to indicate she didn't mind, grandmother continued. "You see, with their guardian deities dead, the ranks of the elves and demons quickly plunged into chaos, yet that was exactly the time where the humans made their counterattack. They cleverly made use of the appearance of the King, making It to be a divine judgment towards the wicked races, and took It upon themselves to 'purge' them in the name of the Dragon King,"

My ears perked as I listened carefully to my grandmother's old story with bated breath. "Once they secured their position as the lower continent's new overlords, and with the elves and demons gone, they quickly turned against themselves dividing the land amongst them into what they now call Kingdoms and Empires," Grandmother said with a sigh, a disappointed expression hanging on her face.

"Still, It had nothing to do with us as our job is to simply guard the balance of the plane. Matters of the lower realm are of no concern to us, that Is until they began their experiments on magic," She said, her tone quickly turning heavy.