Chapter 49

Chen, standing on the top of the newborn Goldie dragon, stared forward. He didn't know what kind of trouble he put himself in. He knew that if there was a battle to begin, he wouldn't simply win against an old powerful soul. For real, even a regular newborn one was hard to deal with. But that didn't act as a hinder to Chen's vision. He needed power for the worst-case scenario, and he would get it by convincing this mountain-like dragon to fuse with him. Besides, if the worst happened, Chen could always try to escape.

"Look for me?" the dragon muttered. "Is he trying to insult me or what? This little creature come to seek me. Even if he's joking, it's a bad joke, which deserves to be punished."

The dragon floated in the air and let its head close to Goldie, eyes fixed on Chen.

"Tell me, you think your pathetic sense of humour is worth of existence?" The dragon said. "I'm questioning if it's worth getting annihilated by me. But that would be just a service for your miserable kind."

Alright, the big flying snakefish with a moustache was acting quite arrogant. No. It was very arrogant. It was prideful, and it considered Chen's declaration for seeking it as an insulting joke.

"I understand your feeling. After all, humanity doesn't deserve such kind of services."

"And who are you to judge?" the dragon asked.

"And who am I not to not judge?" Chen spoke.

This world is a jungle. Freedom was everywhere, even the freedom of speech, but it came with a responsibility. The price can be some sort of punishment. If someone was willing to handle it, he earned that freedom. If not, don't bitch cry when you pay a heavy price.

"A soon-to-be dead if you don't learn your place in the world." The dragon replied.

"That's a good one." Chen turned his head, and he thought that it was a nice reply. He should write that down.

"Hey? Why are you not afraid." The dragon opened its large mouth. "You want to die?"

"No." Chen turned and looked dead in the eyes. The mouth looked like a large tunnel. Some fire was gathering at the bottom. "I want all of us to live, free with our own choices."

"By you, you mean your race?"

"You included," Chen replied.

"Hahahaha…." The dragon aimed its breath at the sky, releasing large fire steam that eliminated the clouds. It laughed so hard. It then looked at the human. "Why do you think so?"

"Vaatu is going to be freed soon," Chen replied. "And he will control you, like every other spirit."

"Vaatu, he's been toying with humans… too bad for him he ended up locked. I don't see how this concerns me." The dragon shook its head.

"Oh, this concern you very well. The last time I checked, I found that spirits were all sent back to the spirit world. If Vaatu became free and want to revenge on humans, where do you think he would take spirits to fight, a spirit to turn dark? You will be on his list of the enslaved spirits."

"The last time I checked, it was sealed in the tree of time." The dragon replied. "There's no way he would get free unless someone opened the portals. But it seems that one portal is opened. In that case, shouldn't we kill the one who can open the portals before Vaatu is free?"

"Yeah. About that." Chen thought of what he should say. He was the one who opened the first portal.

"You seem to know who did it? You have been there, haven't you."

"I know who did it. It's the avatar of Raava." Chen said. "If you want to stop her, you can try fighting the spirit of light. I believe a strong spirit, plus a skilful bender would give you a hard time."

"Nonsense," the dragon replied. "Why would Raava open the portals to free her enemy when the harmonic convergence is near? Hold on, are you trying to use me to kill the Avatar?"

This dragon was hard to talk to.

"No. I'm trying to correct her mistake. She's manipulated by Vaatu's follower." Chen sighed and turned.

"It's none of my business." The dragon replied.

This dragon was smart and very prideful.

He should try to play on the last one.

It was risky, and he could die, but it was worth trying.

"Hey, human," with a chilly voice, the ancient dragon said. "You turn your back to me. You wanna die?"

Chen pointed his hand without looking backwards.

"Yeah, non of your business. So says every coward." Chen said.

Non of my business. It was Chen's line and way of dealing with life.

Did he just self-roast?

No. He wouldn't care about holding a feeling against such self-burn.

Caring about himself non of his business.

It was Asami's business.

"Coward, you call me a coward? Prepare to die." However, the dragon's self was his own business. It was about to shoot fire at Chen when he said.

"Killing me won't change that fact, that you are coward enough not to deal with Vaatu."

"Hoho." The dragon replied. "I don't really care about what happens to the world. But As you said, darkness and light struggle has nothing to do with me. Besides, it would be hard for me to fight Raava or Vaatu."

"You don't have to," Chen said. "Fuse with me," he replied. "And you will be known as the spirit who saved the world. You'll be known to be someone who's greater than every spirit. Light and Dark won't be a thing compared to a mighty dragon. Skill, I have them. You have power. Together, I believe that we can stop anyone."

The dragon paused a bit, seeming to consider what Chen just said.

Chen had been playing on his pride for sure.

Pride can blind someone from the truth.

"Fuse with me, you know that it's impo… hold on, not totally." The dragon lowered its head. "Human, you should live proud as the person who spoke to me. As for your deal to fuse with me and fight the spirits, I'll have you know that they are nothing compared to me. I can beat them while brushing my teeth with the snowy jelly mountain. But I don't think you deserve fusing with me."

Weird? The dragon didn't even question how it was possible. All of the spirits knew that fusing with a human can kill him unless they touched some sort of energy.

At any rate, Chen found his plan of provoking the dragon's pride worked.

It had even said that it could beat Vaatu.

"How am I going to prove that I am worthy?" Chen decided to play along.

"Let's make a bet." The dragon said. "Since you amused me, here's my deal. If you can get inside the fog of the lost souls and get out of it, I'll fuse with you."

His words fell like a bomb to Chen's ears.

Wouldn't he face his worse fears in that fog?

Won't he lose his mind?

However, that fog wasn't invincible. Tenzin, who was a failed spiritual master, could do it in the other timeline. He'd accepted who he was, and he got out. He accepted himself. Chen had a rough past, and he'd never visited a therapist.

He believed that there was a chance he could get outside. Besides, he's a system, doesn't he? Chen clenched his fists. "You better remember your part of the deal."

"Don't worry. I always was the dragon of my word. Ho Ho Ho."

"And I've always been the man of my word," Chen replied.

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