Dad strength...

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Thomas Ishviel POV...

Walking through the forest, I run my hands along the bark of the trees. A kindred nature spirit... is the exact opposite of me. I take deep breaths as I walk to maintain a clear mind and soul, despite mine having been tainted long ago. Usually I just chop wood and ignore my thoughts... but my axe broke today.

A good little trek through the woods, I reach the much familiar edge of the village. I hate this village... they hurt me son. Regardless, he wouldn't want revenge for it nor would hurting them provide actual satisfaction to me. I walk through the village and out the other end, passing straight through. The day is still plenty and frigid, the breeze rolling through as much as any other day.

I don't feel like talking with anyone. Not today, at least. I go forward step by step for maybe an hour before stopping.

Something about this particular field in the middle of nowhere feels... different. It feels a little charged with mana, similar to a grievous battlefield or legendary beast. Now I'm interested. I take a deep breath, concentrating on detecting the source of the mana. This... this could be a good fight.

It feels like it's coming from the... southwest, although perhaps swayed slightly from the natural currents of the breeze. I follow the trail towards a large cave. There seems to be a trail of blood leading in, a human corpse laid at the entrance. 

The man's armor is cracked and broken, his sword at his side chipped and shattered. He's coated in his own dried blood, likely having perished a few days ago. What once was a head of blonde hair is now crackly blood-soaked whisps, slicked back and behind his ears. From the little remaining mana in the corpse, this guy feels pretty good. Maybe B- rank, which certainly isn't terrible.

He looks to be Clarence, one of the local lord's finest... although I can't be certain due to lack of any facial features. His face is caved and torn, likely swung upon by something scaly. I've got a few ideas thus far, but I don't make assumptions.

"May you rest in peace, soldier," I remark, looking up from the corpse. The mana in the cave is incredibly dense since it's in a closed environment, giving whatever is inside a much fiercer aura than actually present.

I step forward and raw out a rune with my finger, reaching into my compact mana space and withdrawing my blade. Strange... I had never thought an item could collect dust whilst in mana space. Such an exquisite blade sitting in storage... I suppose that I did formally retire, so it makes sense. 

I blow off the top layer of dust, spinning the blade around in my hand. My footsteps echo throughout the cavern, my boots clicking with every step.

The further I go, the more I notice a thin smile creeping up my face. It's subtle and unsettling, as if feeling all this mana delights me. I keep stepping forward, following the cave path as if a moth to a flame. I stop for a moment, looking down. A large drop off, deep enough to where I can't see the bottom. I reach out and act as if there's an invisible platform there to support my weight, despite knowing no such thing exists.

I feel the ground shake as I land, a large cloud of dust being disturbed from my landing. The stone is slightly damaged beneath me as I step forward. The room is hot, almost to the point of a hearth. The mana in the air is now easily identifiable as fire mana, the same mana I myself bear. The environment is equally beneficial to me and the beast...

Imposing, tall, slender enough to be dreadful, scaled... before me sits a dragon. It looks quite aged, although that's a stressor more than it is stress relief. From the direct presence, it feels around S- rank... a minor rank above myself. It does also appear injured. It does not sit on a hoard as described in fables, rather a mound of bodies rendered and ground into effluvia before solidifying into a personal throne of death.

It raises it's head to me, the large eyes bearing into my soul. Dragons contain intelligence rivaling humans from birth, so it likely possesses the ability of speech. A small cut traces the length of its throat, dripping golden blood. It looks to be hiding something behind it, although unsure of what.

"Leave, human, lest you suffer at my claw," The words are seemingly transported into my head, basic telepathy. The beast flaps open its wings in a show of size and strength, glaring down at me. "You will surely lose this battle, foolish to even tempt fate to begin with,"

"Nah, I'd win."

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Arthur Ishviel POV...

Walking through the street, I find myself back at the train platform I arrived here from. I step on the train before I can really even think about it. I've been bored this weekend and too friended out since... "the incident". A nice and calm train ride seems about my speed today. I take a seat on the seat and gaze out the window, waiting for the conductor to come and check my ticket.

Maybe I can even train a little while I'm out here and not get beat up by some sentient vegetation. They said that the dungeon had mutated to C rank, so I can't really blame myself for losing when I'm only E+.

"Excuse me sir, may I see your ticket please?" The train conductor got here way faster than I thought he would. I raise my ticket and hand it over, watching him stamp it and hand it back.

The conductor moves on to the next cart since I'm the only one present in this one. It feels a tad bit isolating, but that's what I'm going for right now. Just good ol' fashioned alone time, y'know?I lean back, resting my head against the glass window and looking at the ceiling. Here's to a good train ride!

"Ow!"

The train starts up and jostles my head against the window, causing a slight hit as we start moving. I rub my head with my hand. It's just like my old school bus...

I feel the train start moving and soon begin to watch as the landscape gradually changes. Unlike my first train ride in this world, I won't be traveling across half of the kingdom for this, meaning it should only take a few hours to get to my destination. Today's stop is... Avonrane Crag!

Sometimes you just need a trip to clear your head and maybe fight some stuff... kinda like camping, but worse. Like, imagine if you had to fight a bear every time you went camping!

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