Chapter 223: A Familiar Face

Early Morning - Early Winter : Elder Hall, Northern Bahamut

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*CrUnCh* The noise of teeth shattering echoed through the courtyard as I slowly turned around to see the kid, a third my size, biting on my tail with bloody chunks of his teeth falling to the ground. -You.. can't be serious...-

The silence that followed the terrible crunch was genuinely excruciating.

But it didn't last long.

"AHHHH!" The kid let out a terrible yell as he fell to the ground and noticed the bloody chunks of his teeth falling out of his mouth.

A part of me wanted to laugh seeing his unfathomable arrogance backfire, but I sadly didn't get the chance to.

"What is going on here?!" A large, nearly 60-meter-tall dragon covered in armor came running up with a concerned look that quickly shifted to anger. "Sir, it is a grave crime to fight here."

His reaction made my urge to laugh vanish in an instant. "I wasn't the one to start it, sir." -This.. feels like it will get troublesome...- "The kid was mad at me for something that happened a few years ago, and when I ignored his threats about forcing me to become his servant, he got mad and bit my tail." I gave the knightly dragon an unamused look, expecting him to continue to defend the kid.

But surprisingly, confusion slipped into his expression instead. "I..is that so?" Turning back to the kid, he leaned down and looked him in the eye like a parent would. "Sir Aetos, is that true?"

But instead of simply agreeing and letting things end simply, the kid looked back up at me with fiery eyes. "HE MADE FUN OF FATHER'S DEATH!" He screamed through his tears as his expression only turned more distraught.

-You have to be f*cking kidding me...- The serious look I was trying to maintain quickly shifted to one of annoyance. 

But someone else spoke up before I could. "No, he didn't." Her voice was smooth and elegant but carried deep displeasure.

-Who?- Looking toward the voice, I noticed the dragon who was with Amara walking toward us.

"Young Aetos, do you understand what troubles you could have given this man with such a lie?" The intimidating woman gave me a judgmental glance as she walked by, but eventually turned back to the kid. "You seem to not understand the weight of your words."

Her ruthless tone made his already visible worry and fear worsen, finally dissipating his lingering anger. "U..uh..." Hastily looking around as if to find someone to help him, he finally noticed the disappointed and annoyed looks on everyone's faces. "I... I-"

"Quit looking for someone to save you. Even if your grandfather was here, he would have to show me respect." Although her words sounded arrogant, her tone made me believe it. "Now, apologize."

The kid's fearful eyes slowly drifted over to me before he anxiously lowered his gaze.

I gave the woman an odd look as I questioned her motives before eventually sending the kid off. "Kid, don't-"

*Fwooosh* But, once again, I was interrupted. *fwoosh* -Again?!- *fwoosh-thud* Looking toward the dragon landing next to us, I met eyes with a beautiful, turquoise-scaled elder. -She's quite pretty...-

But even though she had a beautiful body, her gaze was sharp. "Bite on this while picking up the pieces of your teeth, kid. I will bring you to the infirmary in a moment." She spoke coldly as she handed the boy a damp cloth and turned to us. "I just happened to be flying by and noticed this brat bleeding. Does anyone care to explain?"

There was a short moment of silence before the copper dragon next to me spoke up. "It's been a while, Galen." She bowed her head slightly to show courtesy before quickly straightening back up. "This child here is the young Aetos, as I'm sure you know, and what I assume was done to vent some of the emotions from his Father's recent passing, picked a fight, and bit this gentleman's tail."

But although what she said was generally the truth, Galen wasn't buying it. "Are you seriously telling me this young boy, broke his teeth by biting this.. 'man's' tail?" She turned to me with a look of skepticism. "I don't even see a scratch... That kind of durability isn't possible below the Ancient stage."

I wanted to deny her words, but I couldn't. -She has a point...- But I couldn't just accept her believing it was a lie. "In that case, what could I do to prove it to you?"

"Let me slash your tail." She responded immediately with a merciless tone.

Everyone in earshot immediately turned to me with wide eyes hearing her request, but instead of listening to the red flag, I turned slightly and pointed my tail at her. "Go for it."

Giving a displeased look at my tail, she lifted her paw and drove her claws straight into the top of it.

*CrUnCh* A familiar crunch sounded through the area as I looked back and noticed there was hardly a scratch on my scales. -Ah...-

Galen's cold expression quickly turned to one of disbelief as she slowly pulled away her paw and noticed a drop of blood drip off one of her claws.

-Was she not suspicious of my confidence at all?- "I'm not sure if you thought I was lying or what, but I believe this proves it."

She slowly looked back up at me with a mix of awe and confusion. "W..what are you made of?" A dim glow appeared around her cracked claw as it quickly started healing.

-Healing magic?- But although I was curious, I had more pressing matters to deal with. "No idea. So can I go now?"

"Y..yes. I.. apologize for the trouble..." Still wearing a look of disbelief, she waited for her nail to quickly heal before driving it into the ground. 

*Crunch* Her whole paw pierced the ground without issue, but as she went to look back up at me, I was already walking away.

Quickly coming up next to the copper-scaled woman, I gave a formal greeting. "My name is Vasilias. Thanks for the help there. That.. would have been troublesome without you."

Her imposing posture quickly relaxed once I greeted her. "Haha, my name is Vounó, Vounó Chalkos. I thought my daughter was crazy for forcing me to come help you out, but it seems like she has a good eye." Her smile was a bit greedy, but I surprisingly didn't mind it.

-She speaks much more elegantly than Amara.. I'm surprised they're even related...- Looking over toward Amara again, I saw her walking toward us.

She wore a refreshingly familiar smile. "I didn't recognize you at first, I'm glad I saw Ilios."

-Ah...- I wanted to laugh realizing I nearly forgot Ilios was still sleeping on my back. -Maybe that explains some of the odd looks.- 

"So you two do know each other?" Vounó gave Amara a curious glance.

"We're good friends, Mom. We met in Siratha a few years ago."

"Oh, I see." Turning back to me, her smile turned sly. "What do you think of my daughter, Vasilias?"

-What's with that look?- "She's an irreplaceable friend." Seeing her sly grin widen, I quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, I didn't expect to see you here, Amara."

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story. I wanted to leave a proper message for you and Yolanda, but.. was in a bit of a rush..."

"Don't worry about it. Yolanda calmed down after a bit, and I figured you had your reasons."

"Y..yeah... In any case, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, I'm just here to meet with my gr- I mean, with Asimi Ragnarok."

Both Vounó and Amara raised their eyebrows as they caught my slip-up, but neither of them mentioned anything. "So were you not summoned here for the investigation?"

-Hm?- "Investigation? What investigation?"

They both glanced at each other before awkwardly standing up. "Asimi is busy inside currently, so why don't we.. go somewhere more private to talk?"

Slowly standing up with them, I carefully watched their expressions become complicated. -Is it something that serious?-