Chapter 3: Spine dragon

Halley always finds the tastiest alcohol in this cheap bar. It's a small building made of wood and was located in a valley, a distance from the town. This place is the reason he traveled so far to this planet.

The Charax planet is a planet thousands of light years away from the galactic space station. It was once considered one of the isolated planets, but since a visitor came here a few hundred years ago and started a trading line, this place has become the best planet for a vacation.

Halley took a sip of his drink. He savored the taste of the alcohol that flowed into his throat. Then one of the clerks in that bar came out of a room with chalk. He wrote something on the wall and put prices on his letters.

"Another bounty has been set! The spine dragon in Malla Village is causing a catastrophe once again! One bounty cost 4.000 Antz!"

The clerk announced the new bounty hunt to all the customers. But their reactions were not as excited as they hoped to be. The customers, some of whom were bounty hunters, started bickering about the bounty's price and challenge.

"4,000 for a dragon? Isn't that too cheap?"

"This business never cared for the hunters' lives."

"I'd rather take down a criminal than a dragon."

All the bounty hunters are gossiping about whether to take the bounty or not. Halley took his chance to step forward and take the bounty hunt.

"I'll take it."

All the customers there were shocked to death. Their eyes lay on Halley as he received the card for the bounty from the clerk. The gossip went louder than before. Some of the hunters even came up to Halley and gave him advice.

"Little kid. Have you no care for your life? You should take an easier task for a bounty."

"Yes, you don't know what dangers you will face if you accept this task."

"why? Is it deadly?"

"More than deadly, child. The spine dragon is also the most difficult dragon to defeat. To get near that dragon, you must survive in the darkest cave where the dragon lives. The cave was full of traps. Some minions serve the dragon to kill all the outsiders. Believe me, you won't get a chance to live dealing with the minions."

Halley listened with a poker face. Half of the words that the hunter said didn't even reach his ear. People always exaggerate when it comes to giving warnings. Or maybe these idiots gave him a warning so he could lend the task to them.

"All right, I won't know if it's deadly or not if I don't find out," Halley said his final word before leaving the bar. The hunter gave him the final warning, but Halley didn't bother to listen.

He started his spaceship and went to Malla Village. He parked his spaceship in the forest so people wouldn't find it and steal it. He went inside the village and saw the village of Malla.

The village looks like it's under construction. Many buildings were being renovated or built by workers who were wandering around the village. The citizens didn't look so miserable or happy. They were seen in the crowd between the workers and the construction as well. The way Halley sees it, it's like looking at a village in its beginning state.

Halley walked long enough until he saw someone who was managing all the workers and the economy in one place.

"Hey," Halley called him. The manager responds.

"Good day, sir."

The manager was short. He has a bald head with a bit of fin hanging from the forehead. His face was as long as if he'd been wearing a mask. Though the membranes on his jaw shake slightly whenever he talks As if he uses those membranes to talk. He had six tiny eyes marching across his forehead and one curve as his nose.

"Are you the village head?" Halley asked him.

"That's me; my name's Odrox, at your service." Odrox lifted his fin ear and bowed his head slightly as a greeting.

"Listen, I came from the little bar down the valley and..."

"Oh, you're here for the bounty? Ohoho, are you sure though?"

"I'm already here, so why not?"

"The task of hunting the dragon is really hard. I lost half of my citizens in the cave expedition. We received help from a traveler, but they failed, and only one of them survived."

So the story was true, back at the bar.

"I've had enough of hearing every warning here. Better look up the cave myself."

"You're a tough guy, huh? Well, if you're brave enough, I guess I can give my trust to you."

"I only came for the money."

"I know, I asked every place that wags a bounty challenge to put on that task. For the price, since this village isn't wealthy enough, I could only give 4.000 antz."

"Fine by me," Halley responded.

"Yeah, we had to spend our money supply for the reparation of the village. But I saved a bit for the prize in the bounty."

Halley didn't respond, but Odrox could tolerate his attitude. He gave the map to the dragon cave to Halley and had a carriage to take Halley to the dragon cave.

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Halley arrived at the cave. The carriage bid their thanks and good luck before they left, leaving Halley behind. Halley started walking towards the cave without any fear.

The cave was dark. Halley had to turn on a flashlight with his left eye. Truth be told, the cave wasn't as scary as he thought. Halley had seen worse.

The eyes that lurked in the darkness didn't even scare him. Halley kept walking casually until he reached the dragon's lair.

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Half an hour after he walked, Halley was already too far from the cave's mouth. There's no going back. He kept walking, and then he found a small pond inside the lake. Surround the lake, filled with plants and roots. The small pond shone a light underneath as if someone had thrown stars into the pond. Halley took a closer look at the pond; nothing happened, and it seemed like no creature lived in that pond.

"Something will appear if I touch this pond."

Halley dipped the tip of his hand in the small pond. He sensed nothing dangerous, so he dipped his hand deeper. But no creature appears on the surface. Halley raised his hand from the pond and straightened up his back. He wondered if the cave was really that frightening.

Then, a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness stared from behind him. The eyes moved slowly to the side but kept their silence from behind Halley. Halley, who sat near the pond like an idiot, pierced the corner of his eyes. He might not sense any danger, but he sensed that something was behind him.

Then, the creature attacked from behind. Pull out its teeth to Halley at instants. But Halley dared it immediately. He dashed to the side and had the monster bite the dirt instead. Halley looked at the full form of the monster.

It was long, like a snake. It has webbed feet and scales on its skin. The head of the monster was flat like it was bumped against the wall so hard that it formed like a wall. But it has a wide and long mouth filled with fangs. The saliva is running down between the fangs. The line of saliva was getting long when the monster opened its mouth. Halley could say that even the saliva is poisonous.

Instead of being scared, Halley smirked at the roar of the monster.

Halley took out his blade from his arm and charged at the monster; at the same time, the monster struck against him again.

The monster leaped up and attacked him from underneath, but Halley sprinted from the side and slid his blade into the monster's neck. However, one slide isn't enough. The monster's skin was so tough that it only lasted for a small wound. To his surprise, the monster raided again.

Halley was lucky he dodged the attack because his pace was slow due to his reaction. Halley stood up, but the monster kept striking him from every angle. Halley dodged all of the attacks, but he couldn't keep sidestepping forever. One dodge almost failed when one tooth whipped his arm. It wasn't his prosthetic arm; it was his real arm.

"Damn!" Halley cursed his luck.

He peaked his injury and saw the blood trickling from the wound. Halley was aware that the tooth was poisonous. Halley grunted at the thought of the poison side effect.

The monster didn't stop. It ambushed him, using its teeth as its weapon. Halley avoided all of the attacks until he could find a solution.

Before one solution came, the monster had Halley between his teeth. Halley tried to escape, but the grip was too strong. The monster dragged him into the water and dove into it.

The monster drowned itself along with its prayers. The pond was deeper than it looked; Halley already suspected it from how dark the center of the pond looked.

Halley struggled against the monster's grip. He can't remove the teeth with his strength. If the strength was lost to a stronger power, then Halley used his special weapon. He transformed his prosthetic arm into a bazooka. He positioned it against the monster's throat inside its mouth. Then shoot a cannon down to his throat.

The monster screamed in pain. Its' inside exploded; it widened its mouth. Halley was released from the grip; he took his chance to swim to the surface. Luckily, Halley was a great swimmer.

He reached the surface. He breathed as soon as he was out of the pit of water. Halley reached the edge of the pond and got up. He controlled his breath after getting drowned in the depths of the pit.

Suddenly, the monster's head got up from the pond. It turned out it was alive and angry. The neck was already torn by Halley's cannon. It bared its teeth and was ready to shred Halley's flesh to ruin.

Halley only stood there in silence until he blew his second cannon at the torn neck of the monster. Ending its life.

After Halley made sure that the monster was dead, he took the antidote of the poison for his arm from the monster's other tooth. Because of his knowledge, for a monster with a poisonous tooth, one tooth receives poison, while the other one is the antidote. Halley put the antidote on his injured arm and continued on his journey.

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This is a weird sight to behold in a cave. Halley entered the world in the winter season. From the snow and the ice, and the cold weather. Thankfully, Halley's jacket contained a warmer to keep him warm in any season. But he was certainly confused. How could winter come here when it's in the depths of a cave?

He walked casually, then a strong wind attacked him from the front. Halley almost got swiped away by the wind, but he stood his ground. The wind that was mixed with crystals of snow suddenly formed into a shape. Halley took a closer look. Then a figure shaped like a short old woman with two heads screamed at him.

"LEEEEEAAAAAAVVVVVEEEEEEE!!!!"

Halley whistled; she gave a catchy entrance. The woman growled at his reaction and gave him another warning.

"HOW DARE YOU TRESPASS MY LAND? I WILL NOT FORGIVE ANY MORTALS WHO DARE TO STEP THEIR BODIES ON THE BREEZING AND CHILLING LAND OF THE ICE! YOU MUST LEAVE!!!! OR I'LL FREEZE YOU TO DEATH!!!"

"Are you the dragon's minion?"

"I AM AN ICE WIZARD! AND THIS IS MY LAAAANNNNDDDD!"

"So, you're not," he said, pulling out his blade and stepping closer.

"How dare you!? Come your way at me! I'll show you painful death; you won't know the torture of being frozen alive."

"Been there, actually". Halley sprints forward without fear towards the ice wizard.

The wizard assembled her position, ready to blow a deadly wind at Halley. But Halley suddenly disappeared. It startled the wizard; she looked for him from every angle. But what she doesn't find is Halley, who hides behind her vision.

Halley attacked like thunder. His blade hit the armpit of the wizard. One head was screaming in pain, while the other one looked at the wound with shock.

The wizard fell to the ground. She held her armpit and muffled her scream. Halley smirked at her pain. The wizard was in a rage. She spat out her ice magic at a powerful level. Yet she let them out randomly.

Halley dodged all of her attacks. He moved with speed like a spider in a chase. When he got close to the wizard, he jumped in a second and stabbed her chest. All that movement happened in such an instant that the wizard couldn't even see him when he got close.

The wizard collapsed, and the powers shut down. Two of her heads are crippled as if there's nothing inside them, not even a skull.

Halley shrugged off and went on his journey.

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Halley's getting closer to the dragon's nest. After an hour's journey, encountering many minions that stood as guards, he finally arrived at the center.

It was like a wide forest. With a field covered with grass and flowers. There are also trees and a lake in that forest. One thing that's different from any forest is that it doesn't have a sky. The sky was covered with a shiny decoration of diamonds.

Halley strolled around to find the dragon. But with not a minute left, a grumbling sound penetrated his ear from behind. That's where he knew the dragon noticed his presence and decided to reveal himself.

"What mortal have I seen before my eyes at this present?" The spine dragon spoke.

Halley turned around and faced him.

It was a giant snake with a dragon head. A long spine formed from the back of the head and went through the body of the dragon as if the dragon had a spine that was built outside of his body. The flank bones were long and wide until they shielded the body of the dragon, except for the belly.

So, this is why they called him Spine Dragon Halley thought.

The dragon struck him. He was opening his mouth to swallow Halley full. But Halley ducked his opening by flipping to the side. The dragon pulled off another attack with another strike. Halley easily dodged him by moving up to his spine. He ran on the hard bones of the dragon's spine, followed by the head from behind.

When Halley almost reached the tail, he got hit by the end of the dragon's tail that was passing through. He rolled on the ground and held his belly, which was hit by the dragon.

The dragon chuckled in satisfaction. Halley tried to stand up even with the pain as if his belly were cut in half.

"You are pretty strong for your kind. You still have the strength to stand up."

"Crap, that hurts."

Even with incredible pain, Halley sprints at the dragon with enormous speed. At the same time, the dragon charged at him. He pulled out his hard bones, as strong as a metal as his weapon. He hit it with Halley's blade, then they began to engage in a dagger battle.

During the battle, the dragon spoke.

"It's an accomplishment for you to have achieved this far; I can guess that you already defeated the other monsters."

"I'm just doing my job," Halley responded.

The dragon squinted his eyes as if he were annoyed. "Was it the Odrox that sent you?"

"He bought me to finish you."

"So, you don't understand what you're doing".

The dragon advanced his strength and speed. Halley was surprised. He became fast like a cheetah. Then, without Halley's notice, the dragon wrapped Halley around his body and crushed him.

The feeling of the strong grip mixed with the hard spine could make Halley's back break. He spurted out blood from his mouth as his belly was twisted. Halley became silent and surrendered to the spine dragon, but the dragon did not kill him easily.

"You don't know a thing or two between me and that village."

Halley talked during his pain. "I heard you are the dangerous dragon that destroys a village."

"It was for Vengeance"

"What do you mean?"

The grip grew so strong that Halley couldn't hold it any longer. Unexpectedly, the dragon released his grip. He dropped Halley to the ground and let him breathe. He stared at the pitiful Halley, trying to regain consciousness before he spoke.

"That village had used me and my family for their good. Then they returned the favor by killing my wife and my children."

"Woah, what?"

"They used their fake smiles and pity words to convince my wife, who had a soft side against the weak. and they brought their children to play with my kids, making us comfortable with them. All those years they used us and never helped us in return. When I knew their intention, I told them to stop. Then they repay me with this."

"They killed your family, but they failed to kill you."

"Their last favor was aimed at my family, not me. So, I took revenge, but I failed. That village had installed a barrier to protect itself against monsters like me. I tried to destroy that village twice, but I always got away with the barrier."

"So, they sent an assassin through a bounty challenge to kill you?"

"Yes, but it never succeeds either."

"What's with the minions up there?"

"Those are not minions. I don't even know their names. they're just creatures that stayed in this cave after I lost my family to a shelter. I don't care if they die or not "

Halley took a moment of silence for a while, then stood up and walked towards the dragon, saying, "Hey, listen. I came from the bounty challenge and was expected to be given 4000 Anzt. If you can give me something more than 4000 Anzt, I could help you."

"You're not taking any sides?"

"I'm only siding with the part that could give me the biggest reward.

"What is it that you want to help me by asking for a fortune?"

"I can unfold any barrier. I'm a good fighter and weapon collector. I can also bomb the village into ashes."

The dragon didn't answer, then Halley continued.

"Or I can just let you have fun with your revenge.

Both got into a big silence for a moment, then the dragon gave him his answers.

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 The village was like a land of hell. All the houses turned into ruins, the dead bodies of villagers scattered everywhere, and there were echoes of crying children and prying women from afar. The fire caused by the dragon spread all over the village.

Meanwhile, Halley watched them from the hill with a satisfied face. He also saw the spine dragon thrilled with excitement for putting the villagers suffering.

Halley took his earphones and placed them in his ears so he wouldn't listen to the annoying screams of the village. He turned on some music to relieve his mind. Now he saw Odrox, the villager's head, running away like a madman.

Halley threw a pebble at him, hurting his head and making him stumble and fall into a pit. Halley had a good laugh seeing Odrox fall into a boobie trap like some cartoon character. 

 The revenge was done. He saw the spine dragon crawling up to him. He faced him with a warm face as if he were saying thank you. Then the dragon pulled out a sack that he kept in his spine. A sack that was as big as Halley's half-body. Then he gave it to Halley.

"As a reward for thanking you."

Halley received that sack and peered inside. It was chunks of diamonds from the cave, some spices, and plants for food. Halley was beyond happy to receive this. He could get some money by selling the diamonds to a jeweler or a collector. He could also use these gifts for himself.

"It's nice to have business with you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."