Thursday 29 August 2013

LMS: Volume 14 Chapter 9


Dark Gamers’ Conversation


This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Haikai, Junny, Lastear, Lei, Masadeer, and ThunderHamster.



Lee Hyun connected to the Dark Gamers’ chat room. Information disclosure, questions, sales, and grade advancement were the main topics of the chat room.

In normal chat rooms, there were people who were there just to waste time, but Dark Gamers were different. Information about the activities of Kingdoms, professions, quest information, and other necessary info were exchanged in real time.

These conversations weren’t open to everyone. The rooms were available through the forums, which could only be accessed if their rank permitted it, so only a small fraction of Dark Gamers were allowed to share the information.

It was a basic skill to use chatting to uncover the secrets of other gamers.


    - Huni: Hurry, hurry, come in. Hyun-nim.

    - Hyun: We meet again.

    - Huni: Yes, nice to see you.

    - Wicked Me: This is my first time meeting you, Hyun-nim.

There were about 7 users in the chat room.

Aside from the people who were lurking beneath the surface, in actuality only Huni and Wicked Me were chatting.


    - Huni: Hyun-nim, you’ve been coming here only for a little bit late at night. What have you been doing lately?

    - Hyun: I’ve just... I’ve been learning my profession’s skills.

    - Huni: Profession skills are very important. Normally, you access the chat room and don’t say anything, but you also check the market prices of items, right?

    - Hyun: Yes.

    - Wicked Me: I also often do that too.

    - Huni: All Dark Gamers are probably like that. It’s because there’s no job as busy as ours.

It was crucial for Dark Gamers to regularly check on the item market prices, commissions, and hunting grounds. For the sake of earning money, not only effort, but information in itself was crucial.

Only Dark Gamers who went beyond other players, could purely enjoy their meetings.


    - Huni: I have been a Dark Gamer for 7 years. How long have you two sirs been Dark Gamers?

    - Wicked Me: I've been one for three years. Well, two years actually.

    - Huni: Then I suppose I’m your senior, though that doesn’t mean much. If it’s 2 years, then did you start Dark Gamer activities since the release of Royal Road?

    - Wicked Me: That’s right. I started the same time Royal Road was released. Since I progressed faster than others, I was able to collect some money from the start.

    - Huni: I envy you. What about you, Hyun-nim?

    - Hyun: I’ve been a Dark Gamer in earnest for about one year.

    - Huni: That’s incredible!

    - Wicked Me: Is that true? If you can enter this rank’s chat room, you’re probably not on an ordinary level... And it’s not just level, but the quality of the information shared and your responses are important in determining your rank.

    - Huni: One year is really surprising. Can you please tell me your secret?

    - Hyun: I just worked really hard. And I started making money as a Dark Gamer way before then; it’s just that I registered a year ago.

    - Wicked Me: As I thought, that’s how. It’s hard to be a Dark Gamer in Royal Road.

    - Small Dragon: Nice to meet you. I see you’ve been having an interesting conversation while I was lurking. I’ve been a Dark Gamer for 6 years.

The users who had been lurking joined the conversation and the chat room soon became hectic.

As they exchanged greetings and conversations started, the old text ascended quickly. In spite of that, the frenzy didn’t even last 10 minutes before calming down.

Users left to look for information they needed, or were taking a break while keeping the chat room open.

Lee Hyun also briefly went to look at different information and returned to find Huni and Wicked Me having a conversation.


    - Huni: Hyun-nim. Are you there?

    - Hyun: Yes.

    - Huni: Actually, this time there’s a quest I want to accomplish.... I’d like to consult the two of you.

    - Wicked Me: What quest is that?

    - Huni: First of all, please be understanding of me when I say that I won’t disclose details about the quest’s contents.

    - Wicked Me: Of course.

    - Hyun: I understand.

    - Huni: Thank you for understanding. To be honest, I’ve been doing a quest that’s a little special.

    - Wicked Me: Is it a dangerous quest?

    - Huni: You could say that. It also has a high degree of difficulty... The quest prevents you from ever reviving again.

    - Wicked Me: I don’t understand what you said about not reviving. What does that mean?

    - Hyun: The character would completely die in Royal Road, right?

    - Huni: Yes. Thats right.

The complete death of a character.

It was something that could happen if you learned a forbidden magic, or if gave your soul for some reason or another. It was standard for Dark Gamers to refuse these kinds of requests. Curses that were difficult to cure could somehow be resolved after a time, but if your character disappeared, you have to start again from the very beginning.

After his profession was changed to Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, he had initially been very dissatisfied, but the reason he gave up on raising another profession was because it was hard to start over.


    - Hyun: How did you come about that quest?

    - Huni: I was with the guild I manage, it was a quest we got as a guild.

    - Wicked Me: If you’re managing a guild, you must have quite an exceptional character; that’s quite regretful.

    - Huni: Yes. Now I’m feeling a little regretful. I wonder if I started something too excessive because of my friends and guild mates, but the rewards that can be obtained through the quest are considerable.

    - Wicked Me: As a Dark Gamer, is it worth starting over?

    - Huni: I’ll have to see how the quest progresses, but right now I think it’s worth challenging. Even if we aren’t able to clear the quest, we accepted it because we can hope for such a huge reward.

    -Wicked Me: If it were me, I’d worry first. Even so, to raise another character is going to be tough.

    - Huni: In my 7 years of being a Dark Gamer, I think this is the biggest opportunity and challenge yet. Since there’s some money I’ve earned, even if I die I’ll probably be able to start over.

If you read in between the lines, you could feel that the Dark Gamer Huni was trying to force himself to be positive about his situation.

For a Dark Gamer, losing their character was the same as becoming unemployed!

To be unable to expect employment insurance and unemployment pension, if you considered such disaster, you would only become anxious. If Lee Hyun was also in a situation where his character Weed might be permanently deleted, his anxiety would be too great to express in words.

‘I haven’t made enough money yet!’

Perhaps because the all work he had done would have been a waste, so he didn’t think he would be able to accept a quest like that.

He’d have no choice but to suffer from an extremely severe apprehension. In real life, Grandma’s hospital bills and their living expenses would be threatened by this approaching menace. Though Huni might have saved up a little spare money, that alone would not assure him, for this was something that could very possibly ruin a Dark Gamer’s life.

If you died while hunting, your level and skill proficiency would drop, and if such an incident were to occur again and again, it would be an unfathomably devastating blow to a Dark Gamer.


    - Wicked Me: I hope you receive a lot of items. The items are what’s left.

    - Huni: Of course. All the items we obtained on the quest are gathered separately, and are being sold. However, when I imagine the character I raised and very attached to, completely disappearing... It’s not something that will happen right away, but my chest really hurts thinking about it.

    - Hyun: You must worry a lot.

    - Huni: There’s nothing I can do but to move forward.

    - Hyun: Since you have experience, you’ll be able to grow again, and the quest...

Lee Hyun’s hand, which had been clacking on the keyboard, suddenly came to a halt.

Though it was just a speculation, even if those kinds of quests were to be successful, because of the ridiculous chance for a character to be deleted, there was no one who would be willing to accept such quests.

But the Dark Gamer Huni was even considering death.

‘It seems like he has received a truly difficult quest.’

He guessed it would be much harder to succeed in this quest than to find a needle in a haystack.


    - Hyun: I pray for your success. Those words are all I can offer.

    - Huni: Thank you. I’ll do my best. I needed some reassurance.

    - Wicked Me: It’s really heartwarming to see you two talk.

    - Huni: Wicked Me-nim, Hyun-nim. Shall we be friends? Although I don’t know how old you are or where you live, I don’t think it’ll be bad to get along as friends in the Dark Gamer chatting room.

    - Hyun: I’d like that as well.

    - Huni: I will introduce myself first. I’m twenty-eight years old.

    - Hyun: I’m twenty-three years old.

    - Huni: Hyun is like my younger sibling then.

    - Hyun: Yes, elder brother. Please speak informally.

    -Huni: Do you mind? Then Wicked Me-nim, how old are you?

    - Wicked Me: Elder brothers! I am 15 years old. I’m the youngest. My two elder brothers, please take care of your cute brother.

    - Huni: ...

    - Hyun: ...

    - Huni: Hey Me.

    - Wicked Me: Yep!

    - Huni: It’s already 11. You’d better go to bed.

    - Wicked Me: Ah! Is that the time already. It’s nearly time for my mom to come home soon… I guess I’ll pretend to study and go to sleep. Goodbye.

    - Hyun: ...

    -Huni: ...

***


Lee Hyun’s school life went by busily. Even if he barely passed the tests, the assignments kept coming.

Tests and challenges concerning Royal Road.

Because of those, Choe Sang Jun and Park Soon Jo were to gather information about the dungeons, and the preparations were quickly underway.

“Hyung, just come when you can, and all you need to do is show us your sculptures.”

Choe Sang Jun said generously.

In any case, because it was a team assignment, Lee Hyun had to participate too, but not much was expected from a Sculptor. Hyun would show them his sculptures, and if Choe Sang Jun and his team mates acted as if they were deeply moved, he calculated that the professor would give them points.

‘If a team that includes a Sculptor is able to explore a difficult dungeon, that can be seen as a huge success.’

Choe Sang Jun was determined to use the dungeon exploration as a way to stand out. His brother, who was a high ranking player in the Black Lion Guild, lent him an item and was helping him raise his level.

But the one who worried him most was Park Soon Jo, the Thief!

‘Thieves aren’t as useful in dungeons as you’d think. Although it’s not bad to have 1 Thief to help me out. That’s right, I should be happy about it.’

Even if a Thief were to help out, all they could do were dismantle traps and opening doors, anyway.

For the sake of the dungeon exploration, the team held meetings at lunch without Lee Hyun.

While eating her sandwich in the school cafeteria, Min Sora asked a question.

“But you guys, who are the other 2 people going to be for our team? Everyone’s excited and it’s getting hectic, but we have to decide and get ready in advance.”

There were currently 5 people in their team C !

It was time to recruit the 2 people required.

Choe Sang Jun was also extremely interested in the new team members.

For him to stand out the most, the other team member can’t be too outstanding. However, he wanted to bring in a team member who could be at least somewhat useful.

‘It’d be good to have a Cleric or a Shaman... Who still hasn’t decided on a team yet? Do we have to pull out a guy from another team?’

It happened as he was making up his mind. Ju Eun Hee and Hong Sun Ye, who had been in his MT (Membership Training) team, were approaching him.

“Hey, we haven’t decided on our group yet either, can we do it together?”

Choe Sang Jun rejoiced and asked.

“What's your class and level?”

“Elemental Magician. Level 266. Current position is in Dale Kingdom.”

“I’m a Ranger. Level 285. I’m at Nekan Castle. I’m hunting with Eun Hee.”

A Magician associated with elements and a Ranger.

It was far from the Cleric and Shaman Choe Sang Jun had wanted.

“Let’s do it together!”

Despite that, Choe Sang Jun kept a smile on his face.

Women were always welcome. Particularly Ju Eun Hee and Hong Sun Ye, whose pretty faces and bodies caught the eyes of many guys in their department.

‘Eun Hee is really very pretty.’

Choe Sang Jun had no reason to refuse the ideal Eun-hee.

Ju Eun Hee beamed so brightly her dimples came out.

“Really? I’m grateful, Choe Sang Jun.”

“Yeah.”

With a pitiful look, Lee Yoo Jung spoke to Choe Sang Jun after watching him.

“If you’re in Dale Kingdom... We’re also in Dale Kingdom right now. Nekan Castle is only a day away.”

“Yoo Jung, what’s your level?”

“Identifier, 237. Sora, here, is an Enchanter. She’s 144.”

“I-is that so?”

Ju Eun Hee and Hong Sun Ye’s discontented expressions were obvious.

It was because the Identifier’s level was too low, and Enchanters weren’t very useful in dungeons.

Perhaps because she sensed their discomfort, Min Sora asked.

“Is it really okay to be in the same group as us?”
“Yeah. Well, it’ll be okay. But you know...”

Hong Sun Ye asked while blushing slightly.

“Why isn’t Lee Hyun oppa here? Isn’t Lee Hyun oppa in your group?”

“Oppa doesn’t participate in the meetings.”
“Why?”

“He said he’s busy. And ‘cause he’s a sculptor, we don’t need him for the exploration.”

“....”

“You two. You really decided to join our group, right?”
“You’re, you’re right.”

Somehow, they had gotten into a situation where they couldn’t refuse and ended up joining. However, once they learned the levels and professions of the other players, everyone could feel their reluctance.

‘This is the worst...’
‘For me to be in a group like this...’
‘I messed up.’
‘I’ll retake it later.’

***


At lunchtime, Lee Hyun went to the grass plaza to eat his packed lunch.

‘It’s here today as well.’

A girl’s red lunch box.

Since about ten days ago, there was a red lunch box at the place where Lee Hyun regularly ate. Of course he did not touch the lunch box.

‘It’s someone else’s lunch.’

He thought that the owner might come looking for it, so he didn’t open the lunch box.

The next day, the lunch box was placed in the same position. However, this time, there was a yellow lunch box was wrapped in a white handkerchief. There was even a note left on top.


    - Please eat me.

Sophisticated and beautiful handwriting.

Lee Hyun muttered while looking at the lunch box.

‘I don’t know who it’s for, but I envy them.’

The lunch box can be called the flower of love!

‘Traditionally, there’s nothing better to eat than that. How happy must that guy be, to have such a girlfriend. He’s even getting free food.’

Lee Hyun laughed lonesomely and ate the lunch he’d brought himself.

He thought for sure that some guy other than himself would come and eat that lunch box.

He, who had never dated before, would never have believed that lunch box was for him.

The next day.


    - Lee Hyun, please eat this packed lunch.

The message, which was a little longer and more detailed, was written beautifully.

Perhaps because the sender was tense, the text was firmly indented in the paper, but Lee Hyun didn’t notice this.

“It was my lunch!”

He knelt to open the lunch box.

It was packed to the brim with sushi rolls!

“Korean sushi rolls, of all things.”

Lee Hyun complained.

The food he always packed for school was sushi rolls. He brought them because they were simple and not very time-consuming to make, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to eat something different.

“Well, even sushi rolls are okay as long as they taste good.”

Lee Hyun tried 1 of the sushi rolls.

There was a harmony of evocative flavors bursting in his mouth.

A taste that could not be described by words!

The radish, imitation crab, and spinach she’d used were already in a different dimension from regular ingredients.

The faint sheen from the side of the rolls was from sturgeon eggs and plump lobster leg meat!

Lee Hyun was knowledgeable in cooking, but he had never seen these ingredients.

“The pollack eggs are fresh. And what in the world is this imitation crab that tastes so good?”

They were the best luxury sushi rolls!

After Lee Hyun ate the delicious sushi rolls, he left a note in the empty lunch box.


    - This time as well...

He had left the note while harbouring a faint hope.

The next day when he went to the grassy area, there was another lunch box.


    - Thank you for enjoying it. Please eat some today too.

Lee Hyun opened the lunch box lid.

They were korean sushi rolls today too, but today’s fillings were shark fin, eel, and salmon. There was even fresh fruit salad for dessert.

“It’s delicious.”

From that day on, Lee Hyun went to school without packing his lunch. Even if he didn’t pack a lunch, there was always food waiting for him.

As Lee Hyun ate, Seoyoon watched from a distance.

Every time he ate happily, she felt full, even if she hadn’t eaten.

‘Friends...’

Her precious friend, the only one she had in the world.

Seoyoon was thankful for him just eating it.

Due to her lack of cooking skills, her first batch of Korean sushi rolls had torn sides and their fillings protruded out. To pack delicious sushi rolls, she learned from five-star hotel chefs.

As Seoyoon watched Lee Hyun eat joyfully, she blushed. It was the sight of a goddess being shy.

***


In order to restore the art stats that had been consumed, Weed began working in Kuruso.

‘The fastest way to get art stats is through making handicrafts.’

A successful sculpture could earn him a lot of art stats.

Though it was a simple method in theory, the probability of success was low.

Since there was a limit to the techniques Weed could express with imagination, continuously making a successful sculpture was difficult.

Comparatively, jewelry handicrafts raised the art stat by 1 or 2 points, so it was good for replenishing. Although it took 10 works to raise the stat once, he had the perfect aptitude for doing these kinds of depressing jobs.

“The law is that rebuilding doesn’t lie. There’s nothing I’m more thankful to than rebuilding.”

In addition, videos of Kendellev’s Water Park for Children were being uploaded in Royal Road forums. Dwarven users had competitively put up their videos as quickly as they could.

Until then, Kuruso had existed so secretly that even amongst the Dwarves, there were only a few people who knew of it. However, after images of Dwarves enjoying the water park were published, the veil of secrecy was torn off.

As the number of interested people grew, the path to Kuruso was published and done with.

“We’re here!”
“WOW! This is the Dwarven Kingdom.”

More Humans and Elves came and found it, and the number of users in Kuruso increased by over 5-fold.

The sculptures of the newcomer Dwarves!

The sculptures they had acquired from above ground through one quest or another found their way to Weed.

“Art Hand-nim, I heard you can evaluate sculptures.”

“Yeah. Although I don’t do this for just any object... But since I have some time, I’ll appraise it for you.”

“Thank you!”

Even in Kuruso, where the best craftsmen had gathered, Art Hand was the most outstanding Sculptor.

The Battle in Shaspin Cave, and the victory against Death Hand!

There were Dwarven Soldiers and Warriors who gabbered in the taverns about the sculpting quests that had occurred in Kuruso, and Art Hand’s legend reached the ears of the newcomers through their gossip.

Weed, who was passing himself off as Art Hand, was gathering sculptures.

“Identify.”


    - The Repentant Bird A clay pigeon meditating on one leg. Made by a nameless, obscure sculptor. Although this is sculpture made with a remarkably polished skill and is a superior depiction, the meaning intended for this sculpture cannot be discerned. Artistic Value: 30

 


    - You have appreciated this work and your Art stat has risen by 1.

To gain Art stats through identification!

Whether they were drawings, famous swords, or even legendary armor dressers, they earned him a little Art stat.

‘The Art stat seems to be different from the other stats.’

Whenever he made a living sculpture or used a skill, the Art stat was consumed. However, when he was raising it again, there was a force of restoration, that gave him the feeling that the stat was a little easier to raise than others.

Albeit challenging to regain the Art stat by identifying sculptures alone, hi Art stats rose twice as fast after he activated Eternal Sculpture.
[T/N: Weed is talking about the title he’s using.]

Even just by sewing with good material, his Art stat would rise. When he made anything from Blacksmithing, Art stats also increased.

‘Still, it’s not a method I can use often.’

As indicated by its name, restoring force really recovered stats quickly!

If he only consumed the Art stat and didn’t rebuild it, he wouldn’t be able to reach a higher level.

In order to restore his Art stat, Weed met with a lot of Dwarves in Kuruso.

“Art Hand, would you like a beer? I’m buying.”

“Have you perhaps joined a guild?”

There were guilds that approached him to recruit a sculptor.

Weed refused them each time.

One day, Herman who was watching the scene, said in a courteous tone.

“It would be nice if you joined our guild. Production class, eh! Though you aren’t in a production profession. Anyway, for people like us, who have crafting professions, it’s comfortable to be in a guild.”

“I know that too.”

“Then is there a special reason why you are not in a guild?”

He was caught with remorse over the fact that he was a Dark Gamer. Even when he was playing the Continent of Magic, he had always acted alone, so getting fenced in by a guild was a burden for him.

Herman’s eyes twinkled as he laughed.

“You seem to have circumstances you can’t talk about. But just because you’re in a guild doesn’t mean everyone is going to want to know your life story.”

“...”

“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want others to know, just act comfortably. And if you don’t like the guild, can’t you just leave it?”

“That may be so, but...”

“When you’re my age, the biggest regret is not having tried many different things in your youth. Can’t you regret it after you’ve tried? It’s not healthy to worry too much when you’re young.”

Weed decided.

‘If there’s a guild I can move comfortably in, then I suppose it wouldn’t be bad to try joining.’

In many ways, he might become the odd man out, but he found no reason to avoid the concept of guilds.

Even the Elder SwordNoobs didn’t make a guild and act within in it, though they were getting so famous in Rosenheim Kingdom that they might be forced to do so.

‘Though I shouldn’t need to join the Instructor’s guild.’

He was on close terms with the Elder SwordNoobs, and he also saw their faces every day. They were also registered as his friends, so he spoke with them often. There was no need to join a guild made by the SwordNoobs.

As if sensing Weed’s indecisiveness, Herman spoke up.

“Have you heard about the Travelers of the Wilderness Guild, by any chance?”

“I haven’t heard of it.”

“It’s the guild I’m in. Quite often, we hunt without speaking, and there are also those who only go on adventures.... It’s a guild made of willful people.”

“How many people are in it?”

“About twenty-five? The activity rate is on the high side. As for the age group.... There are old people like me, and there are many in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. We are not affiliated with any Kingdom, and there aren’t any initiation rites, so it’ll be easy to join. Why don’t you join our guild?”

“And if it becomes uncomfortable for me?”

“Then you can just leave.”

Weed felt that Herman’s proposal was acceptable.

‘They won’t bother me about this and that for being a Sculptor.’

Most of the guilds that tried to recruit Weed approached him knowing that he was a sculptor.

A sculpture for their guild.

That was their motivation for inviting him to a guild. It seemed that nothing of that sort would happen in Herman’s guild.

“Alright. How do I join?”

“I can invite you. It’s a privilege given to all members who has been part of the guild for over a year.”

Ding!


    - Herman has invited you to the Travelers of the Wilderness guild.

 




Information about Travelers of the Wilderness guild



Members


25


Guild Leader


Vacant


Alignment


Good


Hostile Guilds


None


Hostile Kingdom


None




Only after a certain amount of time since becoming a member will you see detailed information on the guild.



 


    Do you want to accept this invitation?

Guilds that are at war or are hostile with other guilds make players reluctant to join, but if the guild is neutral, there is nothing to lose.

“I’ll join.”

Ding!


    - You have joined the Travelers of the Wilderness guild.

Just then, the new guild popped up in Weed’s message window.


    - Sabrina: Welcome to the guild, new member!

    - Pin: Welcome.

    - Edwin: It’s a pleasure to met you.

A guild that welcomed its new member!

Looking at the guild member list, there were 24 people on out of 26, including Weed.

Though you could say the activity was on an extreme level, since there were only 3 people who welcomed him.


    - Weed: Hello, I’m Weed. To all the guild members, nice to meet you.

    - Herman: It seems that other people are busy hunting or doing quests. In our guild, there are a lot of people who completely turn off their guild messages. So if there’s something you need, you’ll need to register them personally as friends and talk to them that way.

    - Weed: I understand.

    - Pin: But Herman grandpa, didn’t you say Art Hand-nim was joining too?

    - Herman: What are you saying? The one who joined just now is Art Hand.

    - Pin: No way. The one who joined is Weed. Please check it, grandpa.

    - Herman: There’s no way I’m wrong. I invited Art Hand when I was personally raising my hand towards him..... Huh, how did this happen? As Pin said, the one who joined is really Weed.

As soon as Weed joined, he immediately set his level and profession to hidden.

He didn’t want to be too friendly with this guild yet. He was reluctant to expose himself to a guild whose members he didn’t know.

However, his name was seen as is.


    - Weed: I am that Art Hand.

    - Herman: Are you really that Dwarven sculptor Art Hand?

    -Weed: Yes. But I'm not a Dwarf.

    - Herman: You’re not a Dwarf?

    - Weed: Due to circumstances, as of now I'm pretending to be a Dwarf.

    - Pin: Art Hand, it’s good to see you, but what do you mean, you’re not a Dwarf? You’re a perfectly short Dwarf... Ack! I’m really sorry for saying Dwarves are short. Anyways, are you not the same race as Herman grandpa?

    - Weed: I’m not.

    - Pin: Then what is your original race?

    - Weed: Human.

Herman, who was blankly standing next to Weed, suddenly realized something.

The incredible sculptures Weed made and the sight of him doing the Sculptor quests, and the time when he made the Wings of Light.

There was a thought glancing through Herman’s mind.


    - Herman: A Human as well as the sculptor Weed.... No way, the Lord of Morata?

    - Weed: That’s me.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

KNM: Volume 1 Chapter 5


This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.



Breakfast Interlude


Had he not chosen to leave the organization to find Anise, she must be still be alive today, right? And she probably would still be carrying her med kit, running around to save many more lives.

"If you don't want to kill anymore, please come find me."

Anise's voice resonated in Liola's head. However, the scene he remembered was not her firm expression, but rather one of Anise lying on the ground, bathed in blood, and still holding out a cross to him, because she wanted him to go to DuanChang Cliff1 with it.

He shouldn't have gone to look for Anise. Had he not done so, she would still be alive.

***


Liola suddenly opened his eyes and woke up. He felt his heart racing. Liola didn’t know if his eyes were filled with tears or sweat...

After a while, he sat up and wiped away the liquid on his forehead. He turned and looked, and he saw Kaiser was still sound asleep in a strange posture. His body was entirely wrapped in his blanket, and he was still drooling.

Liola put on his clothes, and wanted to do his morning exercises as usual. He walked to the window, stepped outside, and quickly jumped onto the roof of the building. He looked around and was happy to see there was no one around.

(Duh! Who would want to live in such a dangerous building, except you and Kaiser? Even Angel took Baolilong to a motel.)

Liola sat down cross legged, and began to examine his Ki. He started exercising his Ki as he had done in the past twenty years.

Exercising his Ki for 36 cycles was what he did every morning, as the first part of his basic Kung Fu training. His frustration caused by his dreams was slowly dissipating. All of his thoughts followed his steady Ki, and nothing else.

After 36 cycles were completed, Liola finished cooling down. With a few deep breaths, he suddenly jumped up, and while doing so, pulled out the hidden silver stick.

Although the organization's leader had given it a name — Broken Silver — when he gave him the weapon, but Liola, as someone who killed almost every who had seen it, never had the opportunity to even mention its name.

Liola started exercising his second basic Kung Fu, Windborn Blade. He jumped around as if gravity had no effect on him, while performing various aerial stunts in the process.

You could see how incredibly flexible he was. Bending his body back until his head touched his leg, was child's play to him.

Moreover, he did several unfathomable aerial maneuvers. Some people say that it's impossible to dodge attacks mid-air, but to Liola, it sounded like a joke.

While his body were moving around, Liola's hands weren't idle either. "Windborne Blade" does have the word "Blade" in it, so Liola was also practicing various stabbing angles and positions with the Broken Silver in his hand...

***


"Breakfast..." Kaiser's sleepy voice could be heard.

Liola stopped, turned around and looked at Kaiser, who was only holding onto the edge of the building by his arms. The rest of his body was swinging in air, plus he looked like he was about to fall asleep again.

"Is it time to have breakfast with Angel?" Liola sighed, remembered how difficult it was for him to wake Kaiser yesterday. It was surprising to see Kaiser awake because of breakfast with Angel at 7am. Of course, the reason was breakfast, definitely not Angel.

Liola jumped from the roof top and back into the room, grabbing Kaiser along the way, or else he might fall to his death while dreaming. After they both cleaned up, Liola dragged Kaiser toward the cafeteria.

When Liola got close to the cafeteria, he saw Angel standing at the doors already. He walked towards her, and said: "Morning."

"Morning, Liola-dage, and Kaiser." Angel laughed upon seeing Kaiser's half-open eyes and drool.

"Papa!" Baolilong felt like he’d been away from his father for a year. As soon as he saw Liola, he ran towards him.

Liola, however, frowned slightly and looked at Baolilong. Unlike the naked child yesterday, Baolilong was now wearing a small black vest, black shorts, and a pair of riding boots.

He was also carrying a backpack with two small wings. His silver hair was also pinned up with a hairpin, which showed his forehead. This made his face look even more like an egg, and made his eyes shine brighter.

"Baolilong is really cute, right?" Angel asked excitedly.

She had been through quite a few shopping streets yesterday, and finally bought everything she needed. Baolilong's clothes, and some necessities for Kaiser and Liola.

Liola nodded, but Kaiser complained loudly: "Who cares if he's cute, I'm starving."

With Kaiser pressing on, the three of them — and a Dragon — walked into the cafeteria. But as soon as they walked in, they found something rather strange.

Starting from the door, everyone to the left of Liola's gang were wearing blue, short-sleeved, military uniforms, and everyone to the right were wearing white and black Knight uniforms, whose clothes were adorned with colorful garnishments.

Most of them were green and red, with a few blue ones dotted in between. And the blue ones were sitting in the most obvious seats.

But they didn't see any gray robes, and this made Liola and Kaiser clueless as to where to go.

Angel was already striding towards the few seats in a corner furthest away from the food stand. It was then when everyone saw, that there were a few people in gray robes sitting there and eating quietly.

"The difference in treatment is quite obvious." Kaiser murmured, but he wasn't planning on starting any trouble. So long as he could eat, he didn't care where he sat.

As soon as they found some seats, Kaiser impatiently ran towards the food stands. Liola, instead, was walking leisurely behind him, with Baolilong holding his right leg.

"Get down." Liola said to Baolilong, who obediently got off his right leg, and stood next to him. Liola handed a tray to Baolilong, and said: "What do you want to eat? Tell me, I'll get you some."

Baolilong scanned the food stand with his eyes, and then pointed at the ham cutely and yelled: "Meat meat!"

Liola understood something else, Dragons were carnivores. He cut off a large piece of ham for Baolilong, whom looked at the other half of the ham in Liola's hand, and yelled in dissatisfaction: "More."

Liola frowned, and was just about to tell Baolilong not to waste food. Then he thought, Baolilong was ten-meter tall just yesterday, and to a large Dragon, this bit of food was definitely not enough.

Upon realizing this, Liola took the whole leg of ham and gave it to Baolilong altogether, and then took another plate that had an entire turkey. Baolilong happily carried the two plates of food that were even bigger than his body, and followed his father closely.

As Liola looked to see what food looked appetizing, he suddenly heard a commotion around him.

"Really cute!" A few girls screamed while looking at Baolilong.

"You took the ham and the turkey, so what are we going to eat?" A few guys in blue military uniforms blocked Liola's path.

Liola looked at the food stand, and he was sure that there were more ham and turkey.

These students from the School of Mecha Fighters probably just wanted to cause trouble. Liola frowned slightly, not sure how he should respond.

He didn't want to get into any more trouble, especially since he still had to deal with the duel in the afternoon.

"You’re that guy from yesterday!" Jetter recognized that the guy in front of him was the same person as the one who saved that damsel in distress.

Rage filled his heart. Had this guy not bothered him, Jetter wouldn’t have had to take revenge, he wouldn't have ran into Silver Mask, or destroyed a rank-C mecha.

***


"I guess we can't avoid our enemies after all !" Kaiser, who had just piled his plate with food and sat back down in his seat, was about to eat his breakfast comfortably, and was going to watch the show.

"What do we do? Aren't we going to help Liola-dage?" Angel said anxiously.

Kaiser snapped: "And how would we do that?"

"Even if you can't help, you should try. That's what friends are for. " Proudly said by a student dressed in gray robes, unlike the usual timid attitude of a School of Sorcery student.

Kaiser looked up curiously the guy in front of him.

Golden hair, gold eyes, handsome looks, and arrogant, but... This guy was actually carrying an elegantly carved mirror, and looking at his reflection in the mirror as he spoke.

He even took out a bottle of cologne and used it every now and then. What was even more disgusting was that, on the originally plain gray robe, he used golden threads to sew in a Mona Lisa Smile.

Kaiser quickly stuffed his mouth with a few small sandwiches, to stop himself from laughing out loud, because this horrifically elegant man might give him more trouble.

Angel hesitantly asked: "Meinan2, could you help Liola-dage?"

Beautiful guy? Kaiser almost choked on the sandwiches in his mouth.

Meinan suddenly stood, and elegantly took Angel's hand, and kissed it then said:

"Since such a beautiful lady asked, and a gentleman should never reject a lady’s request. Meinan will definitely help your dage get out of trouble."

"He..." Kaiser looked surprised: "His back had the ‘Last Supper’ sewed on!"

***


Jetter thought about the time when he went to the School of Knights for revenge. Not only did he fail to do so, the School of Knight teachers even put him on record.

Filled with anger, he made up his mind to teach this silver-haired guy a lesson. After all, the only teacher in the School of Sorcery was Babalis, and he obviously doesn't care about his students.

"You f—er!" Jetter said as he pushed Liola.

Liola originally wanted to duck, but he didn't want to expose his abilities. He was worried Jetter might suspect him of being Silver Mask, then, he would never have any peaceful days.

Liola decided that he wasn't going to do anything about it, and ignoring him would be enough. Jetter didn’t even pose a threat when he was in a mecha, so there was nothing to worry about.

Just because Liola doesn't care, didn’t mean that Baolilong wouldn't care about other people bullying his dad.

Seeing this guy push his dad, Baolilong's face turned red, put down his food, and jumped onto Jetter's leg. He opened his mouth wide, and took a huge bite.

"Damn!" Jetter screamed, and pushed Baolilong aside. Two rows of bite marks appeared on his legs, and blood was oozing out.

It was obvious the Dragon's teeth were very sharp. Considering that Jetter was wearing long boots, yet the teeth was still able to penetrate the boots, socks, and pierce into Jetter's flesh.

The pain in Jetter's legs was dreadful, and his scream also caught a ton of unwanted attention around the cafeteria. Some of it was mixed with laughter, which completely dulled Jetter's face. He roared:

"You little runt! Do you want to die? Fooling around with me!"

As a proud White Dragon, Baolilong would never fear this guy. He just made a funny face and grunted, which made Jetter even more furious.

Liola started to worry, but he wasn't worried about Baolilong. Instead, he was worried that Baolilong might swallow Jetter whole, and it might cause him to be expelled, and subsequently having to duel with Mizerui.

Jetter raised the barrels on his hands, and aimed them at Baolilong to teach him a lesson.

The girls surrounding him started a commotion:
"My god, he's going to attack that cute child"
"What a monster! He is going to fight a little kid"
"Bastard, if that pink-eyed child loses even a hair, I will break him!"

As soon as Jetter heard them, the hairs on his body stood up. He hurriedly changed his target back to Liola. As long as he could take it out on someone, it didn't matter who it was.

Having barrels pointed at him, Liola thought it wasn't a bad idea to test the power of these weapons, so he would have knowledge about them later on.

Bang! Bang! After two loud sounds, two blue shots flew towards Liola. Smoke covered the place, and many people sitting in the cafeteria complained, because their food got ruined.

As the smoke cleared, what appeared wasn't an injured Liola, but a gold-haired, gold-eyed, man posing, wearing a gray robe with a golden Mona Lisa Smile threaded across it.

His left hand playing with his hair, and his right hand was held out in front of him in a straight line. In front of his right palm there were some light blue energy shield.

Meinan smiled brightly, showing a flash of light reflecting from his white teeth, and said:

"Dage, seeing as I'm here, how about letting my fellow classmate go? Otherwise I would have a hard time answering to a pretty lady."

"Who the hell are you? How could tell me to..." Jetter couldn't take his revenge, and his rage made him open his mouth to scream. But then a member of his gang pulled him from behind.

The person behind him had a worried expression:

"Boss, that's Meinan from the School of Sorcery. His defensive abilities are quite amazing, and he once saved a Blue Knight, so he's heavily favored by the School of Knights. We shouldn't mess with him."

Jetter's face froze. He turned and looked towards the School of Knights, and sure enough there were a few Blue Knights glaring at him, which caused cold sweat to run down his back.

Blue Knights were something Jetter couldn't afford to mess with, and so he could only grunt, and led his gang off in disdain.

"My dear classmate, are you hurt?" Meinan asked softly.

Liola shook his head, but thought, why would this guy sew a bunch of people eating on his back?

"Then why don't you guys take your breakfast and sit down to eat, otherwise it's almost time for class." Meinan said passionately, and he helped Baolilong carry his turkey and ham, although he got bitten as a result, because Baolilong thought he was going to rob him of his food.

Back at their seats, there were very little food on Angel's plate, because she was worried about Liola. Kaiser, on the contrary, already has a stack of plates in front of him, and was currently finishing his desserts.

While eating, Liola said to Meinan: "Your powers are quite impressive."

Meinan replied proudly: "Of course. I studied magic for three years, and I'm completely familiar with every defensive magic, even more so than the principal."

"You didn't just learn defensive magics, right?" Kaiser asked skeptically.

"Of course not." Meinan denied: "I also know some luminescent magic, and I could also make a spark to start a fire. I also know some water magic which could create some drinking water. These are also very useful magic skills."

So basically no attack magic whatsoever... Sweat ran down Angel and Kaiser's foreheads.

"Liola, what's your relationship to this little child? Your younger sister?" Meinan curiously looked at Baolilong, who was swallowing a turkey whole.

"No, his name is Baolilong. He's Liola's son." Kaiser rushed to explain, and then satisfactorily enjoyed the sight of Meinan's dropped jaw.

"Uh... Being a young father is rather difficult, isn't it?" Meinan sighed, happy that he hadn't had any "accidents" yet, otherwise, like Liola, he would have to take his son to school.

Liola was speechless.

"Liola and Kaiser, what kind of magic are you going to learn? Or do you guys have some special abilities?" Meinan asked.

Liola was quiet for a while, then asked: "Are there any healing magic I could learn?"

Kaiser almost did a spit take with his milk, and Angel's jaw also dropped. They both wondered, an Assassin wants to be a Healer? What is he going to do, cut someone, then heal them back up for fun?

But they both didn't know Liola was thinking that, since Anise was a godly doctor, then he will continue her path, and become a 'Godly Healer'!



1. DuanChang Cliff carries the same name as a famous place in a novel, Legend of the Condor Heroes, at the bottom of said cliff, two lovers had agreed to meet again after 16 years. It's often used to describe a cliff that has heartbreaking scenery. As for why she wanted him to go there and what this cliff actually means, remains to be seen later in the book.

2. This is a play on sounds. His name, Meinan, are comprised of two characters, and other than the stress marks, it sounds identical to what Kaiser is about to think, which means Beautiful Guy.

Sunday 25 August 2013

KNM: Volume 1 Chapter 4


This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.

Staff Note:

Because many of the staff have expressed their wishes to have Chastity's name changed. Since her name means purity, Hikaru came up with the name 'Angel', which sounds a lot better than Chastity.

Therefore, starting this chapter, Chastity's name will be Angel.



Liola is a Dragon Knight?


"Heh, I ran into a person from another dimension in the morning, and then an X-ranked criminal forced us to go study at Aklan Academy.

Before noon we've already offended the son of the Commerce Alliance's leader. The next day, without taking a sip of afternoon tea, we've also provoked the Dragon Empire, and now we even have a baby Dragon who does nothing but eat."

Kaiser thought about what had transpired in these past few days:

"I say, Liola, there are only three countries in the world, and you've already offended two.
Looks like you’re running out of places to hide."

"If I remember correctly, you caused every single one of those things."

Liola refuted coldly:

"You wanted to catch Mizerui, you wanted me to teach Jetter a lesson, finally, you shot the Dragon to draw it away from those people."

"Well, that is true, but you seem to have the potential to make everything a big deal."

Kaiser was amazed, perhaps him and Liola were on the bottom of the list of people who are fated to be together?

One draws troubles, and the other make the troubles worse; it's only the second day and they've already destroyed a dorm, a Mecha, and defeated a Dragon. The days ahead are... worrisome.

"Oh no, Kaiser, Liola-dage!" Angel screamed while running into the room.

"What's wrong? What's worse than sitting in a half-destroyed dorm staring at a Dragon-turned-baby?"

Kaiser leaned against the table, staring at the pink-eyed child on the table. The child seemed to be curious about Kaiser, and he always stared at him with his big eyes.

"The School of Knights i-is giving Silver Mask a final warning, if he doesn't hand over the Sacred White Dragon, they will issue a kill-on-sight order on him, and search every last corner." Angel turned pale.

"Sacred White Dragon?"

Staring at the child in front of him, whose stare had made him cross-eyed, it was hard for him to think of the child as a Sacred White Dragon.

"Then hand him back." Liola said dispassionately.

"I do want to. But I've been thinking, which is worse? Not handing over the Dragon, or handing over the Dragon, only to have them find that the Dragon has already chosen a master?"

Liola was quiet as well. If the Dragon had already picked a master, then it would be useless to them, so wouldn't it be the same either way?

What to do? All three thought about the problem in their hearts.

"I-I used to read in the book..." Angel said with some uncertainty:

"Dragon Knights are very moral, gracious people, and they respect Dragons. If they know that the Dragon has picked a master, they would be happy for that Dragon..."

Under Kaiser's scornful gaze, Angel's voice grew quieter as she spoke, until even she didn’t believe her words were possible.

After all, the Dragon Empire was very strict about Dragons. Everyone in the world knew that. There was a story about a Dragon egg being stolen from the Empire via the sea.

They were so angry, they butchered thousands of passengers on the ship, and when the egg was not found, they sank the ship. So even if they couldn't get it back, they would never let anyone leave with it.

"Then I guess I have to do something I really don't want to!" Veins started popping out of Kaiser's forehead.

"Something Kaiser-dage doesn't want to do?" Angel was surprised, and guessed, "Could it be running away?"

"No, running away from Aklan Academy means we would be chased by Mizerui. Compared to him, I think the School of Knights is easier to deal with."

Liola said lightly, and a murderous intent flashed from his eyes: "You want to silence them?"

"F— you, you're even more unrealistic than Angel." Kaiser mercilessly rebuked:

"To quell this, are you going to kill the entire School of Knights? And if you do that, the other two schools will definitely react, so in the end are you going to kill everyone in Aklan Academy?"

"Well, it's not like I haven't done that..." Liola opened his mouth, and made the other two felt felt the hair on the back of their necks sticking up.

"No! Neither are what I’m want to do." Kaiser ceremoniously denied.

Liola and Angel stared at Kaiser, as if they were asking, "So what the hell do you want to do?"

Kaiser held his hand into a fist, and with a serious his face, he said:

"Well, since we can't offend Mizerui nor the School of Knight, then... Mizerui-dage, where are you? Help! If you don't come out soon, we will get killed. If we get killed, then you letting us go would have meant nothing! Mizerui-dage, come out and help us!"

Kaiser screamed and yelled, while pulling his hair and pounded loudly on the wall. If anyone saw him, they would probably think he was possessed.

"So he's calling for reinforcements..."

Liola said disapprovingly: "I don't think Mizerui would care about this."

"Okay okay, didn't dage come after all?" Mizerui's outline really appeared on top of the table.

He sat cross-legged on the table while holding the pink-eyed child, playing with it. The big-eyed child was so scared, he ran off into the arms of his 'papa' without even looking back at Mizerui.

"Damn! You really came..." Kaiser's jaws dropped as he looked at Mizerui.

"Hey, were you not the one who called me here?" Mizerui said with an aggravated expression.

"Well..." Kaiser only called for him jokingly, and it was done out of desperation. Who knew that this guy really had nothing to do, and came as soon as called upon!

"Ah, whatever. Now that you're here, help us with these huge problem!"

"This problem isn't going to be easy." Mizerui shook his head and sighed,

"You two really are the epitome of 'trouble-makers'. But luckily, you were clever, coming up with the Silver Mask."

"I've already spoken with the principal, and he will help you suppress this. But, in the future, don't let Silver Mask come out again, otherwise the School of Knights will create trouble again."

"Mi-Mizerui-dage..." Kaiser was so grateful, that it looked like he was about to kiss Mizerui's feet.

"Don't thank me yet," Mizerui smiled gently, but Kaiser already knew that this wasn't the end. It wasn't going to end simply like this.

"Go thank the Aklan Academy principal. You really owe him one so you should repay him." As Mizerui said this, he disappeared again.

"He does this every time, and never finishes saying his thoughts. What the hell does that principal want with us?" Kaiser mumbled.

Liola frowned. This feeling… There was an evil scheme in progress, and it was making him unhappy... But under the premise of not killing a person, it was not going to be easy beating Mizerui, especially when he wasn't familiar with Mizerui's power of sorcery.

"Hmm." Angel showed a worried expression.

"What's up, boss?"

Angel raised her said and said: "Do you guys want to go to the eighth period? If we go now, we can still make it."

Kaiser scratched his already messed up head: "Every time we go to class, it seems like something bad happens."

"We still have to go." Liola said firmly: "We'll go to the principal directly, to ask him how we have to repay him."

"What about the pink-eyed child?" Angel asked; but then everyone suddenly realized, the Dragon baby was gone... Even an idiot would know, Mizerui was the one who took him.

"Hey, Liola, your child was abducted." Kaiser elbowed the father next to him.

"Ignore him."

"What a heartless father, you don't even care about your precious daughter."

"B-but... I peeked a while ago; the pink-eyed child doesn't have something that girls should have..."

"What? Holy sh*t, Liola, your son doesn't have a penis!"

"..."

***


Mizerui's appearance started as a light outline, and slowly became denser, until finally, he materialized.

However unlike his usual carefree appearance, Mizerui was busy comforting the crying baby Dragon child in his hand, and sometimes having to rescue his own hair and face from the child.

"Aiya, Mizerui, why did you make a little child cry?" Babalis smiled while serving tea to Mizerui, and made fun of his good friend's rare misfortune.

Mizerui laughed bitterly: "I didn't make him cry. When I wanted to take this child, he tried desperately to get back to Liola, but instead Liola glanced at him coldly. And this is the result."

"Looks like that guy is definitely strong, but he isn't a good father." Babalis stroke his long beard, "Hmm, I guess, it wasn't a good idea to give him the Sacred White Dragon."

Mizerui snapped when he heard: "The Dragon already picked him. So even if it wasn't a good idea there's nothing we can do now."

"But the Dragon Empire's Princess is rather unhappy! This was her Dragon after all."

"So I've heard. But even after having the Dragon caged for years, she still couldn't obtain the Dragon's approval. That little girl is clearly incompetent, and they should've let someone else try a long time ago." Mizerui showed an unhappy face.

Babalis couldn't help but smile: "Looks like you've been dissatisfied about the Dragon Empire imprisoning the Sacred White Dragon, for a long time. After all, you have ties to the Dragons."

Mizerui glanced at Babalis, looked at the crying child in his arms, and patiently explained to the child:

"I didn't mean to steal you away from Liola. It's just that we have problems to solve first, you are the, after all, Sacred White Dragon, and you mean a lot to the Dragon Empire.

If you don't wish to trouble Liola, then you must first meet with the Dragon Empire's Princess, and explain to her that you've already chosen your master. Do you understand? Little White Dragon."

Dragon child seemed to have understood, and nodded unwillingly. It stopped crying, but still murmured: "papa..."

"Why would such a dignified, Sacred White Dragon treat Liola as its father? This is difficult for me to comprehend. Ordinarily, the Sacred White Dragon is the most prideful amongst all Dragons." Babalis sighed.

"Perhaps..." Mizerui's expression suddenly became strange: "This might have something to do with its father, the Black Dragon. In some ways, Liola does have a very dark side."

"So that's why... But, those two lads certainly didn't disappoint us two elders. They are interesting, perhaps too interesting. We even had to intervene in their problems ourselves."

Babalis shook his head. Why did it seem like they were the ones being played?

"It's a game, and if you're not involved, how is it fun?" Mizerui showed an evil smile: "But I believe that you, Babalis, will make sure that our efforts are worthwhile."

Babalis also showed an enigmatic smile: "Of course."

At this time, they both suddenly showed a thoughtful expression. Mizerui tossed the Dragon child into Babalis' arms, and watched him fumbling with the child.

Mizerui smiled as if he were happy that Babalis was there to help, and slowly started fading as he said:

"I'll take my leave first, Babalis, I don't want to deal with the spoiled Dragon Empire Princess."

"This guy..." Babalis sighed, and he felt the presence of the Dragon Empire Princess outside his door. All he could do, while preparing to negotiate with the empire's Princess, was straighten up his looks.

Babalis thought: "This isn't a easy job; later on, I will definitely have to 'teach' those two trouble-makers a lesson."

"Little White Dragon, hurry and change back into your Dragon form." Babalis looked down, and saw that the pouting child in his arms was clearly not going to cooperate.

As expected, the white Dragons are a prideful race. Nowadays, humans aren't even on the same level as Dragons.

Babalis sighed: "Little White Dragon, if you want to return to your father, you can't let the Princess see you in your human form, do you understand?"

Upon hearing "father", the little child pouted and unwillingly started to change.

Starting from a cute, human child, its body was slowly covered by white scale, his fingers turned into claws, and his circular face also slowly grew longer to become a Dragon's face.

Finally, a little white Dragon of about one meter long sat leisurely on the table.

There was a knock from outside. Although the Princess was extremely upset, the lessons in etiquette from her childhood had not been in vain. The knocking was unhurried, and no one could feel the anger of the person knocking, which, incidentally, had almost reached its limit.

"Please come in." Babalis secretly admired this little girl's ability to keep calm.

The door opened gently, and the majestic figure of the girl outside stepped into the principal's large office.

The Dragon Empire's prideful Princess, Lanski? Upon seeing her Royal Highness's unparalleled beauty, and her famous creamy, golden, long hair, Babalis was in awe. She was indeed worthy of being called the Dragon Empire's beautiful Princess.

As she walked in, her voice arrived before she did: "Principal, Sir, if you do not give us an explanation, I'm afraid that the Dragon Empire will not let this pass."

Despite her perfect manners, Lanski still carried a forcefulness in her voice, and her mesmerizing eyebrows were standing up. After all, what happened had greatly affected her, and pressure from the royal family had almost made her explode and swear.

After Lanski had calmed down and looked, there was a Sacred White Dragon sitting on the table.

The fact that the Sacred White Dragon was found made Lanski sigh in relief: "Sacred white Dragon! Thank you for finding the white Dragon for me, Principal, Sir."

Babalis laughed bitterly: "I'm afraid you will have to withdraw your thanks in just a moment."

Lanski, who was in a hurry to bring the Sacred White Dragon back, ignored Babalis' mutterings.

"Sacred white Dragon, please return with me."

Facing a prideful Sacred White Dragon, even Lanski didn't want to be disrespectful; she walked up to it and softly asked.

Little white Dragon turned its head in disgust, and neglected the Princess's gentle request.

Lanski frowned slightly, even though the Sacred White Dragon had never liked her much, at the very least it never displayed such open disgust.

What was going on... Wait, Lanski sudden realized that, on the Sacred White Dragon's forehead, there was a scale missing. That was the center scale, and it was replaced with a blood-red oval mark.

Lanski couldn't believe what she saw. As the Dragon Empire's Princess, she was very familiar with what this meant. In addition to how the Sacred White Dragon rejected her approach, this explained everything: the Sacred White Dragon had chosen its master!

The Sacred White Dragon chose its master, and its master was not her. This struck Lanski as if her boyfriend of many years was suddenly getting married, and the bride was someone else. Lanski felt her heart broken into pieces, and murmured while trembling:

"Why? I have been your companion for many years, and you still refused to recognize me as your Master. Yet, you’ve left me for less than a day, and you've already chosen another? In the end, what was the point of my many years of hard work?"

"Well, everything happened according to its destiny!" Babalis shook his head.

Lanski's beautiful clear blue eyes were filled with resentment. She asked bitterly: "Who? Who has the Sacred White Dragon chosen as its Master?"

Babalis' heart sank, but did not answer directly: "Princess, since the Sacred White Dragon had chosen its Master, the only thing you can do now is display your chivalrous spirit, and wish him well."

Lanski's beautiful face appeared to be struggling and unwilling. With that said, she had always been prideful of being the future master of the Sacred White Dragon.

Ever since she was a child, she had always loved the Sacred White Dragon, and personally prepared its food. Suddenly, her ambition had been in vain.

Even though she was brought up to accept the situation and be chivalrous, she could not easily let go.

"That man... Who is he? Is he the man who wore a mask that day?" Lanski forced herself to calm down. As a dignified Princess, she could not let her emotions get out of control.

Babalis did not know if he should say anything, so he nodded.

But to his relief, the two guys were not stupid. Fortunately, they created a Silver Mask persona. Otherwise, he was afraid that as soon as the Empire's Princess hears Liola's name, she'd take her sword and destroy the remaining half of the School of Sorcery's dorm...

Hmm, come to think of it, he still had to find a place for his few remaining students. It's a real pain, but what if...

"I want to see him." Lanski requested without hesitating.

"Uh..." Babalis revealed an embarrassed expression.

Though Lanski said first: "Even if I have to give up the Sacred White Dragon, I must see its master, and test him to see if he is qualified to be a Dragon Knight; otherwise, how would I be able to explain this to my Father, the Emperor?"

Although Lanski said that, her true motive was to have a duel with the Silver Mask, otherwise she would never be satisfied.

Heh, a test really wasn't necessary; Liola was definitely not a qualified Dragon Knight. Although that's what Babalis thought, he still said, with his head held high:

"There will someone who will explain this to the Dragon Emperor, your Highness does not need to worry about that. As for your meeting with Silver Mask, well..."

Although she doubted anyone could possibly calm her Father's anger upon hearing the news that the Sacred White Dragon had chosen another master, it was not something Lanski worried about at the moment.

She wanted to have a duel with the Silver Mask at any cost, and this determination was shown on her face.

Babalis knew that if he didn't let Lanski see the Silver Mask, then he, as a principal, would see no end to his problems.

Babalis was helplessly forced to say. "Tomorrow afternoon at 1 o’clock, on the 20th sports field."

Lanski receiving the appointment, raised her right arm across her chest, and performed a standard Knight’s salute. She then turned around and exited the principal's office.

Babalis was suddenly worried, how could he make a cold Assassin willing to have a duel with a lady, without killing her?

***


Finally they've arrived at the sports field, for the last lesson of the day, but...

"The principal has just announced, the last class had been canceled." Someone who wore the same gray robes as them said to the three late students with good intentions.

"No wonder it was peaceful on the way here." Kaiser's shoulders dropped: "We're destined not to have any classes today."

"Kaiser, don't be discouraged. As long as we are persistent, we will definitely be able to go to class." Angel earnestly encouraged Kaiser.

Kaiser scratched his head. Well, it doesn't really matter even if they're not persistent. He wasn't eager to the point of wanting to go to class. He only came because that he was afraid of being expelled for skipping class, and Kaiser was not mentally prepared to go against Mizerui.

Liola thought it was a pity that he wouldn't be able to understand the power of modern Sorcery. Still, Liola began to doubt his own heart. He had been wanting to ask more questions today than he had in the past twenty five years.

But this is something good, right? At least Liola felt more like a normal person, just as Anise wished upon him. Realizing this, Liola blurted out his question.

"Why didn't the School of Sorcery flourish?" According to his thoughts, Mizerui was a Sorcerer, and he's so strong; there is no reason why the School of Sorcery should be in ruins.

"Why didn't the School of Sorcery flourish?" According to his thoughts, Mizerui was a Sorcerer, and he was so strong, there’s no reason for the School of Sorcery to be in ruins.

"Hmm, Liola-dage doesn't know?" Angel showed a strange expression.

Because Sorcery had been in decline for many years, and it had been a trend throughout the world, so it was strange for Liola not to know.

"This guy came from another world, and he just arrived in this world today." Kaiser explained on behalf of Liola.

Angel was surprised, but not too much. After all, the space around this world wasn't too stable. Every two, three years, there will be a few new outsiders. Angel then started to explain this world to Liola.

"A long time ago, Sorcerers were also called Magicians, and they were mainly people who can control magical elements. But to those who didn't understand, Magicians appeared to be people with strange powers, and then they were all called Sorcerers."

"But as technology advanced, Sorcery declined." Angel showed a regretful expression.

Liola felt that, if he asked Kaiser a question, Kaiser would answer casually without thinking about it seriously, and then Liola wouldn't understand. But when he asks Angel a question, she will answer seriously, but her answer was always off the point...

Kaiser clearly couldn't stand it, and started talking:

"Sorcerers can use elemental magic to make Fireballs, Ice bolts, etc, to attack the enemy.

This used to be something powerful, but now technology has overtaken it. You have already seen that the Mechas' gun barrels could do a whole lot more damage than most magic.

Healing magic also used to be very desirable, but nowadays, it’s better to go to the hospital than to find a healing magician. Stay in the healing Maxun for a day, and whatever wounds you had would be healed."

Finally, Kaiser added:

"You’d feel pretty bad if you were to spend a lifetime learning Sorcery, only to realize that different Maxuns could perform better than your magic, which you could've only gotten after you’ve spent all your time making that money."

"Maxun?" Liola asked lightly, but he was thinking, that Kaiser's last sentence seemed to be carrying some sadness.

"Just a name for all the products of technology. Mechas are also just a more complex Maxun." Kaiser shrugged and explained.

Liola was still somewhat confused: "Mizerui is strong, and far stronger than Mechas."

Kaiser answered in disdain: "How many Mizeruis do you think there are in the world?"

"Besides Mizerui, there is still me!" A geezer who had been eavesdropping jumped out and said; as a Sorcerer he did consider himself to be powerful.

"What are you?" Getting used to Mizerui's sudden appearance, Kaiser was no longer surprised by the geezer, but this guy seemed to be... "Ah, you're the geezer who took our applications!"

The old guy facepalmed, and coughed: "I'm not a geezer..."

"Not a geezer?" Kaiser asked coldly: "Don't tell me, you're twenty five this year."

"That's not what I mean. I'm saying I'm no ordinary geezer." He added.

"Then what are you? Super geezer?" Kaiser pouted.

But Angel, who had been standing beside him, turned pale. Because the guy in front of her wasn't just an ordinary guy, but rather, the most powerful person in Aklan Academy.

"Cough, cough, listen up." The geezer coughed again, and said proudly:

"I am the Aklan Academy principal, Babalis, and I am also the only teacher in the School of Sorcery. Furthermore, I am one of the two top Sorcerers in Aklan Empire."

Kaiser was stunned. This geezer who looked like a worker was actually the principal? And his only teacher? Uh... Kaiser suddenly showed admiration, and said with praise:

"So you're Mr. Principal. No wonder I saw an extraordinary aura with you, as if you have hidden a gosu's talent. I was even wondering which gosu you were, and it turned out that you're the most famous, Aklan Academy principal, Mr. Babalis! Nice to finally meet you."

"Hahaha, this lad sure knows what's good." Hearing such flattering words, Babalis laughed wildly.

As expected, when all else fails, use flattery. Kaiser had an evil laugh in his heart, while keeping the same fake smile plastered across his face.

"Mr Principal, wasn't the last class canceled? W-why are you here?" Angel asked while trembling, for she was the person among the three of them who was aware of how terrifying the principal was.

"Oh, oh." After Angel had reminded him, Babalis finally remembered why he was here, and hurriedly stated the purpose of his visit:

"I'm here to tell Silver Mask, tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock sharp, go to the 20th sports field, for your entrance exam!"

What? Anyone who had heard this would have been suspicious. They said there would be no entrance exam, and now there suddenly was one.

What's even more strange was that Liola was the only one being tested, but not Kaiser; not to mention it was specifically calling for Silver Mask. This made them very suspicious.

"What's the test?" Kaiser asked curiously.

"Beat a Dragon Knight, but without seriously hurting or killing them." Babalis said proudly; this was something he finally came up with after hours of thinking — a good reason for Liola to duel with Lanski.

"So it's the problem about the pink-eyed child." Kaiser dawned on the truth.

"I decline." Liola said without hesitation.

Babalis stroke his beard and asked:

"Why? With your abilities, it shouldn't be hard for you to beat her. As long as you beat her, you can obtain a Dragon, and the Dragon Empire would stop their investigation into this."

Babalis took out the pink-eyed child from behind his back, and placed him in front of Liola: "Look, what a cute child! Are you going to abandon him?"

As soon as the pink-eyed child saw his dad, he struggled out of Babalis' grasp, and ran towards Liola while yelling: "Pa, papapa..."

"I don't want that Dragon." Liola firmly declined.

Even though the child was already glued to his back, he really didn’t want a child who yells all day calling him "papa", there was nothing that could possibly be more troublesome.

Babalis' face sank. Although he already heard Mizerui describing Liola's cold personality, this was far too heartless. What a cold-blooded assassin, who could even firmly say no to such a cute child.

Babalis had no choice but play his trump card: "Looks like I'll have to expel you. Either pit your lives against Mizerui, or defeat a mere Dragon Knight, your choice. Tomorrow afternoon, 1 o’clock in the afternoon, 20th sports field."

Before he left, he pounded yet another nail into the coffin. Babalis said, "Kaiser, your fate lies with Liola. If he's expelled, so are you."

What! Kaiser was alarmed, and quickly said:

"That's unfair! How could you punish me with him? This method was only used in ancient times. Principal, please be more modern. One has to be responsible for only one's actions."

Babalis grunted, ignoring Kaiser's begging, turned around and left, leaving Kaiser with Babalis' problem of how to convince Liola to duel with a Dragon Knight.

After thinking about it for a long while, Kaiser faced Liola with a sad look, and started bargaining with him:

"Liola, please go fight the Dragon Knight. I promise that I will answer all your questions seriously from now on."

"Really?" Liola thought about it.

Kaiser seemed to know a lot of things, and if he could answer his questions honestly, then it would be a fair deal. After all, he hadn't figured out a good way against Mizerui's "Failed Lecture".

"Really, and to show my sincerity, let me tell you the strengths of the Dragon Knights." Kaiser cleared his throat purposely, and began to show his sincerity.

"Dragon Knights, like their name suggests, ride on Dragons. The combination of a Dragon Knight and Dragon, is the symbol of being powerful.

Not only do they have air superiority, the intelligence of Dragons is far higher than that of a Mecha. Thus, the difference in level of dexterity between Mechas and Dragons is similar to the difference of climbing abilities between humans and monkeys."

"Under normal circumstances, a mounted Dragon Knight is comparable with a rank-A mecha.

Okay, Liola, I know you don't know how strong Mechas are, so here's some more freebies.

Mechas are divided into ranks A through D, but of course there are exceptions, and the three leaders of the Commerce Alliance each has a rank-X mecha. I think you already know what rank-X means? As in, the rank Mizerui carries.

Even though most Dragon Knights can't match a rank-X Mecha, rank-A Mechas are already frightening. Not only are they powerful, the price is damn astronomically high. Astronomical is an adjective, don't ask me what it means."

"Though I don't know what it means, I heard that Dragon Knights could use Dragon magic, and I heard it’s really strong. That's why even when Mechas run around with their biggest guns, they still won't be easily defeated."

After saying all that, even the talkative Kaiser was tired, so he had to stop to take a breath, before he could continue his "sincerity":

"Liola, you have to be careful. Even without their Dragons, Dragon Knights are not to be trifled with. After all, to obtain a Dragon's approval, they have to beat the Dragon first. If that Dragon happened to dislike them, they would have to find another Dragon. I think you know, for someone who will be fighting Dragons left and right, they won't be weak."

Liola thought for a bit, then asked: "Is there a way to judge how strong they are?"

"Yes!" Kaiser put up his index finger: "but you have to promise me, that tomorrow you will duel with the Dragon Knight, then I'll tell you."

Liola nodded.

Seeing Liola finally agree, Kaiser sighed in relief, and continued to pay his dues:

"All Knights will learn a Kung Fu called 'Aura'.

I heard that these auras will have different colors based on its strength: there are gold, silver, blue, red, and green, with the latter ones being weaker.

I heard that there are exceptions, too. Supposedly the strongest Paladin Lancelot had a pure white aura, and the strongest Dark Knight Blood Wolf had a black aura with strings of red. But these are just rumors, don't hold me liable for them."

"So, are you happy with my payment?" Kaiser asked snappily.

Liola was very satisfied, for he finally had a basic grasp of the world's strongest fighters.

"Jeez, can we go eat dinner now?" Kaiser complained, his over-exercised mouth had caused his stomach to growl.

"We can go to dinner, but I have a condition too!" Angel sudden held up her chest... her flat chest, and said.

Kaiser and Liola looked Angel, puzzled: "What condition?"

"I-I want Liola to name the pink-eyed child, then let me go buy him some clothes." Angel sadly looked at the naked child on Liola's back, who couldn't even get Liola's attention.

"Isn't this easy? Liola, give your penis-less son a name." Kaiser said with indifference.

"It's not like he doesn't have th-that." Angel refuted: "I looked up Dragon Knight's Glory and Honor, and it said that, before a Dragon matures, it is genderless."

A name? Liola put the pink-eyed child in front of him. The child's chubby face smiled, and the chubby arms waved around, as if it was trying to get closer to its father.

"How about we call it Pink Eyed White Dragon?" Liola asked seriously.

"Your naming abilities are about as good as Mizerui's!"

Kaiser shook his head and sighed, and with a sinister smile, he suggested:

"His dad is Liola, so why don't we call him Lilebao (Li - Happy - Buns)?"

"Fine." Liola nodded in agreement, since he didn't care what it was called.

Angel was worried: "No, we can't name it Lilebao (Li - Happy - Buns), it isn't a food."

Kaiser suddenly hit his palm, and yelled:

"I've got it. Let's call it Baolilong (Baby/child - Li - Dragon). It has Liola's Li, Dragon, and baby. What about that? It fits, right?"

"What!" Angel was very alarmed.

"Baolilong, then you're called Baolilong."

Liola said to the pink-eyed child, who was now named Baolilong, and started to happily nodded, for it was happy that its father had finally given it a name.

It did not realize that, many years later, it would regret that, due to the foolishness of its youth, it would be known to many as Baolilong...

Friday 23 August 2013

KNM: Volume 1 Chapter 3


This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Masadeer, and StellarAshes.



Pink Big-Eyed Child


"Liola, get undressed quickly. Hurry!"

Before he finished what he wanted to say, Kaiser pounced on Liola like a monkey, and started stripping the white Knight uniform off Liola.

"Wow, s-so the relationship between the two dages is like this..." Angel covered her eyes, but peeked from the crack.

"I think, it's because Kaiser wants to sell the clothes..." Liola calmly concluded.

"What?!" Angel immediately joined Kaiser, and started stripping Liola:

"You can't do that! It's my elder brother's clothes. It's Angel's precious treasure. You can't sell it!"

Facing two people who were forcefully stripping him, Liola didn't have much of a reaction. Instead, he let them do whatever they wanted.

The only question he raised was: "The dorm has been destroyed. What do we do?"

The two stopped after hearing that. Kaiser looked the other person, who had been in the school for a while:

"The dorm has already turned into a hazardous building. The principal will at least do something now, right?"

"Principal Babalis has always been..." Angel gulped, and continued: "Strange. What he's going to do, I have no idea."

"Who cares; the boss is going to take care of our accommodations." Kaiser carelessly answered.

Angel seemed to have mustered all her courage and said: "I-if you sell my older brother's clothes, then I won't hire you as bodyguards!"

"What!" Kaiser heard this, and his face turned pale. He immediately let go of the half of the shirt that he held, and his speech became extremely flattering.

"Boss, I was just kidding with you. I would never sell the boss's precious treasure."

"Good," Angel sighed with relief, "But Liola-dage looks really good in older brother's Knight uniform, so dage should keep it to wear as the Silver Mask."

Liola and Kaiser both looked at Angel. Kaiser started flailing:

"Why do we need the Silver Mask? That troublesome guy Jetter is already blaming the School of Knights. Now that the Silver Mask is gone, they will have no one to dispute with. Let the School of Knight and Mecha Fighters duke it out, and we can even watch the show."

"But... the Silver Mask was REALLY cool!" Angel lowered her head, disappointed.

"What's so cool about such a silly name?" Kaiser rolled his eyes. But when he saw that the boss was starting to pout, Kaiser immediately changed the topic: "It's already past noon. We should go to school now; if we get expelled from school, there will be deaths involved.

Liola was planning to change his clothes, but Angel looked at him with disappointed eyes.

Liola unfastened a button, and Angel's disappointed eyes started tearing up. And when Liola was done taking off his shirt, Angel was already crying in a corner while doodling on the ground.

'Three black lines' descended onto Kaiser's face, and he helplessly said to Liola: "I think you should just keep it on, and just wear your School of Sorcery robe on top of it. Otherwise, the boss might not be giving out dinner tonight."

Angel immediately turned around and looked at Liola with sparkly eyes, who, after looking at Angel, put on his gray robe, took off his mask and then put it in his pocket.

To avoid the class ending before they even arrive, they all hurried toward the classroom.

"Angel, what are the characteristics of the three schools?" On the way, Liola asked Angel, which was unusual for him. After having experienced it a few times, he finally understood that, if he didn't want an answer to something, all he had to do was ask Kaiser.

"Oh, Liola-dage you didn't know?" Angel explained excitedly:

"School of Knight specializes in training knights. There are all sorts of Knights inside. Paladins, Dark Knights. The most famous Knight would be Dragon Knights. But there aren't many Dragon Knights in the School of Knights. After all, most Dragon Knights come from the Dragon Empire, so there aren't many in Aklan Academy. Last I heard, I think there's only three or four."

"What's their..." Liola mainly wanted to know the Knights' characteristics, such as moves and weapons.

Kaiser flung his finger, and carelessly said: "Knights value honor, bloodline, and their weapons. Their strength comes mainly from their fighting spirit and their martial arts."

Angel nodded desperately and added: "The students from School of Knights are cool and handsome!"

"As for the School of Mecha Fighter, I think you've already seen it?"

"What are rank-D and rank-C mechas?" Liola pointed how what he didn't understand.

"Mechas are also put into ranks of A through D. A signifies the best and D the worst. Ordinarily, rank-C mechas are already pretty good. But with a pilot like Jetter, rank-C and rank-D probably don’t seem all that different; I felt sorry for that rank-C mecha." Kaiser sighed.

Liola wanted to also ask about the School of Sorcery, because it was rare for Kaiser to answer seriously. But he thought that, as soon as he gets to the classroom, he will understand what Sorcerers do, so he didn't bother to ask.

Quietly walking to school down along the broad road lined up with trees, Liola never imagined he’d be living so peacefully.

After deserting the organization and falling into an alien world, he felt that everything had turned out quite well for him. No matter how powerful the organization was, they can't chase him across dimensions.

But does falling into an alien world have something to do with Anise?

He remembered when the organization had cornered him, the necklace Anise gave him started to shake… Then a crack appeared in mid-air. With no alternatives left, he stepped into the crack and found himself in another world.

If this had something to do with Anise, then he owed her yet another favor that he can't possibly ever return.

"Wow, Kaiser-dage, Liola-dage, look over there!" Angel suddenly screamed surprisingly.

"Just call me Kaiser. It's strange for you to call me Kaiser-dage." Kaiser always felt there was something funny about calling him dage.

He then looked at where Angel pointed, and his eyes shone.

"Damn, a Dragon."

A green, enormous creature was imprisoned within an electrified cage.

The creature was about ten meters, and covered in a beautiful, white scales that shines under the sunlight. The pair of wings on the back, though restrained by the electrified cage, had large sharp ends that drove fear into the hearts of its enemies.

Its body full of muscle was also driving people away. This was the most famous creature from Dragon Empire — a Dragon.

"Dragon? Does this have to do with Dragon Knights?" Liola instinctively connected the dots.

Can't it be that this huge creature was actually a mount? This would be a bit too astonishing. Despite that, Liola's face still remained calm.

"Yup. This is my third time seeing a Dragon, and this white Dragon is the most beautiful one that I've seen. The Dragon Knight who entered this year must be a handsome guy too. I want to see how cool he is." Angel held her cheeks and began to daydream about the Dragon Knight.

"Uh, I think you might see him sooner than you think." Kaiser painfully raised his head: "This guy has almost broken out of the electrified cage."

"What?" Angel stared at the Dragon dumbfoundedly.

For some reason that beautiful yet fearsome Dragon seemed to have gone crazy, and it repeated rammed at the cage around it.

Liola frowned, the cage’s bars suddenly broke off, and the huge Dragon flew out unobstructed, and landed in front of everyone. It stretched its muscular hind legs, and it shook the ground with every step.

"W-what do we do now? I'm scared!" Angel grabbed Liola's leg, as if doing so would mean the Dragon couldn't step on her.

"Just don't worry about it." Kaiser watched as if he were watching a movie. Besides, the Dragon was fairly far away, and he saw that there were a few students in Knights' uniform around the Dragon.

According to what knew of the Knights' spirits, those people would stop the Dragon from harming innocent people like himself, even if it costs their lives.

"Wow, another one got flattened." Kaiser clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"What?!" Angel panicked and stared at the Dragon.

With the Dragon’s ferocity, there were already a few School of Knight students on the ground in a pool of blood. But everyone still standing held their swords, trying to prevent the Dragon from leaving.

Angel was so scared that she felt her heart beating out of her chest.

If this continues, the casualties would be too great to the School of Knight. Was there anyway to help those knights...?

Angel paused, and looked at the leg she was holding onto, and the white uniform underneath the robe... the Silver Mask!

"Liola, please!" Angel mustered her courage, and said, trembling, in front of Liola.

"No." Liola said decidedly.

Angel was surprised by Liola's cold face, and she lost the courage to ask Liola again. All she could do was turn around to ask Kaiser, who was the only one who could make Liola do anything. But instead Kaiser ignored her, and continued to enjoy the show.
[T/N: want some popcorn? E/N: Yes plz, you got buffalo flavor powder?]

With no one else to turn to, Angel took off her brooch and yelled:

"This brooch was given to me on my eighteenth birthday. It is adorned with three rubies, and several diamond pieces; it is also made out of the so-called strongest metal — adamantium alloy..."

Before Angel could finish explaining, Kaiser's eyes were shooting out blinding lights:

"That's the compensation for beating that Dragon?"

"Yes," Angel held tightly brooch, "If you beat that Dragon, it's yours."

Kaiser did not say anything else. He took out his gun, and fired it at the Dragon's head. And then... he grabbed the boss and ran off, and all he left behind was:

"Liola, the rest is up to the Silver Mask..."

Liola was planning on rejecting Kaiser, but when he turned around and saw the Dragon already angrily charging towards him.

With his sharp eyes, Liola could already see that the person reflected in the Dragon eyes was himself. Since the actual culprit ran off too quickly, the Dragon probably assumed that Liola was the one who shot it.

Without any delay, Liola put on his mask, threw his gray robe toward the forest around him, and became Silver Mask for the second time.

At this time, the Dragon was already in front of Liola, and opened his enormous mouth to attack Liola. But Liola used this opportunity to jump on top of the Dragon's head, and utilizing the momentum of his body to punch the back of the Dragon's head with his elbow.

The blow was definitely felt by the Dragon, because it started shaking his head wildly, and ran around crazily . It also tried to stick its head into the forest, trying to get the unwanted guest off his head.

But Liola already predicted its intentions. After he attacked the head, he slip down along the Dragon's spine to attack the Dragon's back, but... Wings!

Liola suddenly remembered this creature had a pair of wings.

Unfortunately, the Dragon spread its wings and took off. Dragons were, after all, the kings of sky, and in the blink of an eye, it was high up in the air.

"Ugh, too careless." Liola was a bit frustrated, thinking that his awareness had deteriorated.

But in actuality, it’s not really his fault. In the world Liola came from, there wasn't many things that could fly, much less to such an attitude, so fast that he couldn’t jump off.

The Dragon obviously knew that what's on its back could not fly, and it would fall to its death as soon as it detaches from the Dragon's body.

The Dragon started to accelerate and stop suddenly, trying to throw the invader off. It even started circling in the air.

At this time, more and more people gathered to watch, including the culprit and his accomplice.

Seeing Liola's tragic plight, Angel was at the point where foam was about to come out of her mouth:

"Lio..."

"Silver Mask." Kaiser corrected with a straight face.

There were too many people around them, and it was difficult to ascertain if someone was listening in on them. It's better off to call him Silver Mask for now.

"S-silver Mask... is he going to be okay?"

At this time, the Dragon started flying figure eights.

Angel was close to fainting, and had Kaiser not been holding her, she would've already been making out with the ground.

"Well..." Kaiser was looking into the sky.

Although he hadn't met Liola for long, the best assassin in the world, who could even take on a rank-X criminal, should be able to handle a simple Dragon.

Though judging by the circumstance, it does not bode well.

The situation with Liola in the air wasn't great. In order to not fall off, Liola had to hold tightly onto the Dragon. But the Dragon’s scales were extremely sharp and, before long, Liola's hands were full of cuts, and his white shirt were starting to be covered with blood.

Liola wasn't going to give up, and when the Dragon was doing aerial stunts, his feet repeatedly kicked the Dragon's spine. The Dragon roared in pain as a result, and Liola knew it wasn't feeling too great either.

After circling for a while, Liola was getting impatient:

"I only promised to not kill any sentient creatures. If you can understand what I'm saying, then let's go back to the ground; if not, then you're not sentient."

And with his threat, Liola finally took out the weapon that had never left his side — a silver stick of about forty centimeters long, with fine-patterned carvings.

With one hand holding onto the Dragon's spike, Liola held one end of the stick in his other hand, and biting onto the other end.

With a slight twist, the silver stick cracked open at about a fourth along its length; Liola pulled,
and he pulled out a dagger as wide as his thumb, from the silver stick.

After some contemplation, Liola chose to stab at near the Dragon's tail. This shouldn't affect the Dragon's flight, because, after all, he's not ready to plunge to the ground along with the Dragon.

When blue blood erupt from the Dragon, it roared again in pain.

Liola knew, however, that this bit of pain wasn't enough for the Dragon to surrender. He stabbed a few times more.

The Dragon's tail was now covered in blue blood, and Liola's white uniform was no longer white — it was red and blue.

"Descend now! Or I will kill you."

Liola no longer concealed his murderous intent, and his eyes were filled with ruthlessness. And his left hand that was originally simply holding onto the Dragon's spike, mercilessly turned the spike around and jabbed it into the Dragon's body, and twisted the spike to tear Dragon's flesh.

The Dragon was in severe pain. It turned around and, without caring whether it would harm itself, spat out several sharp Frostbolts toward Liola.

Despite the close distance, and his hand in the flesh of the Dragon, Liola quickly flipped and landed on the wing of the Dragon. Going with the flapping of its wings, Liola fearlessly broke a bone on the wing.

"Even if I fall, I will only get hurt."

Liola coldly stated his final threat, and broke yet another bone on the wing. The two broken bones had already made the flight quite unstable.

With two broken bones and several holes in its back, the Dragon sadly howled. It probably knew that it no longer had the advantage, and stopped performing stunts. It flew smoothly, and the fierceness it once had was now replaced with a pitiful moan.

Liola saw this, and stopped with his attacks. He was no longer destroying the poor Dragon's wings.

The silver dagger was also sheathed back to the silver stick, which was put back into his boots.

After having been through the killing career for many years, Liola knew that, unlike humans, animals won't have any evil plans. As long as they were tamed, they were no longer dangerous.

Liola said soothingly, "It's okay, I won't harm you anymore."

This time around, the Dragon seemed to have understood Liola. It turned around to look at him, and it wasn't until now that Liola realized, this white Dragon actually had pink eyes. With the white scales and pink eyes, had Angel been here, she would been shaking and screaming, "cute!"

Liola touched the Dragon's neck lightly. He originally wanted to touch its face, but the neck was far too long for him to do so. So he just had to settle with the neck.

Who knew that the Dragon actually turned his head around, and desperately nodded his head, as if it wanted Liola to touch his head. Liola laughed, and climbed up the Dragon's neck, to touch its head and to comfort it.

But, when Liola's bloodied hand touched the Dragon's head, it felt like he was electrified.

Liola felt a strong pain, and he heard a loud sound. Liola lost consciousness, and fell out of the sky...

That loud sound seemed to have been...

"I look forward to learning from you, my strong master."

***


"Liola, can you stop being an assassin?" A blurred yet familiar person stood in front of him, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"The day I stop being an assassin is the day I die." Because other than dying, there was no way that the organization would let him go.

"If, hypothetically, one day you won't have to be an assassin anymore, what would you want to do?"

Liola remained quiet. He was raised to be an assassin, and his career was a killer. Even in his spare time he practiced killing. What else could he do in his life, other than being an assassin?

"Liola, when you don't want to kill anymore, come find me, okay?"

Liola faintly answered: "... Okay."

Anise eventually left. She left the organization, left that bamboo forest, and left him, thanks to other martial arts organizations ceaselessly trying to rescue her.

The organization could not defend itself against everyone, and did not want to make an enemy out of the entire world; so they eventually let her go.

Anise was really happy to finally be free again, as shown on her face. But, she was also really worried about him.

The Anise who had always hoped he could live like a normal person and not an assassin, with happiness intertwined with sadness, she faded away in front of his very eyes.

***


Suddenly opening his eyes, Liola's mind was blank, "Where am I? Where is Anise?"

There's someone behind him!

The alertness that Liola had trained since a boy made him jump up, and reflexively grabbed the person's neck, about to break it. It was then when Liola suddenly heard in his head...

"Don't kill anymore, okay?"

Liola suddenly let go, and remembered everything.

Anise was dead, and the organization chased him. He also fell into another world, and then some bastard with a gun got him into an aerial battle with a Dragon...

Right, where is that Dragon? It was then when Liola heard a quiet sob from the direction of his hand.

He turned around to look, and two pink eyes stared at him, with his shadow reflecting in them.

Although they look far different, Liola still blatantly stated: "You're that Dragon."

A cute child nodded desperately.

Those pink eyes and pink cheeks, along with soft, silver hair, would make anyone's heart melt.

But the child's body was spotted with a strange blue liquid, and the young body had plenty of wounds. The child didn't seem to mind, but instead searched around Liola with curiosity.

Liola touched its forehead.

How would another person react when they see a ten-meter Dragon turn into a cute, five year old child?

Liola was confused.

(A normal person would probably be eaten when they see a Dragon, why would they even have a reaction to it?)

"Do you know how to talk?" Liola frowned. Compared to a young child, he was better at handling a Dragon.

The young child smiled and nodded, and desperately tried to run into Liola's arms: "Papa, papa... pa..."

"Never mind, you shut up."

Liola was having a headache.

What should he do now? If this were the old him, he would've definitely killed it without a second thought. Now... All he can do was give the child to Kaiser.

Grabbing the naked young child, Liola's body felt as if it grew wings.

He jumped through the forest without making any sound, and returned to the dorm before long.

He saw that there were no one around, so he jumped through the window to his room, and surely enough, found two people waiting for him.

"Looks like it's going to be hard to go to class today." Kaiser lazily laid on the desk, two eyes gazed on the ruby brooch in his hand.

"Liola-dage, what do you have there... cute!" Angel began to talk, but when she saw the cute child, she immediately ran up to try to pinch the child's pink cheeks.

Liola was more than happy to pass off the child, and immediately gave Angel the ‘hot potato’ in his hands.

He then grabbed a chair and sat next to Kaiser, and said coldly: "Don't do this again."

Kaiser smiled and answered: "Well, I can't guarantee that."

Liola frowned, but really wasn't angry. Being with a guy who was obviously going to bring him trouble was far better than being with a backstabber, although Liola found himself angry more often now than he did in the past twenty odd years.

"But, pregnancies take nine months; you were only gone for ten minutes, how come you brought back a child?" Kaiser asked, but he had an idea what the answer was.

Liola was gone with a Dragon, and then came back alone with a child; Kaiser could easily guess where the child came from.

Liola ignored Kaiser's nonsense and asked:

"What was the response from the School of Knight?"

Kaiser flung his finger and shrugged:

"Someone was really mad! Though this Dragon caused many casualties, I heard that a newcomer in the School of Knight shipped it from the Dragon Empire to be tamed later. But now it's missing, and if it's not returned, things may turn ugly."

"But at the same time, many people admired Silver Mask for his bravery, and his aerial struggle with the Dragon, especially among the female students." Kaiser laughed intently.

Liola coldly glanced at Kaiser, and looked at the pink-eyed child:

"Bring him back, and there will be no trouble."

"Heartless!" Kaiser says, but at the same time looks as if he agrees.

"What, you’re going to take this child back?" Angel's ears were quite sharp.

"Yeah, what else can we do? Keep him and cause more trouble?" Kaiser exclaimed.

Angel knew in her heart that the child in her arms was trouble, so she was reluctant to keep the child, and played with the child's cheek while she had the chance.

Then as she looked at his face, she suddenly realized that, on the child's forehead, there was a red oval mark, and according to what she remembers from ‘Dragon Knight's Glory and Honor’...

Angel immediately threw the child into Kaiser's arms, and then ran to Liola, as if she had forgotten what being afraid was.

Without caring about her brother's clothes, she tore off the Knight uniform's left sleeve, and was stunned at Liola's left arm.

Kaiser, who had been fumbling around, now finally grabbed the pink-eyed child, and examined Liola's arm with Angel.

Then Liola, too, looked at his own arm. He too, was stupefied. There was a silver scale growing out of his left arm.

Angel gulped:

"Liola-dage... Has turned into a Dragon Knight."

Kaiser and Liola were both stunned. Angel repeated what she could remember from ‘Dragon Knight's Glory and Honor’.

"Not everyone who wants to be a Dragon Knight could become one. Even at the Dragon Empire, the origin of the Dragon Knight, there are many Knights who could never gain the approval of a Dragon to become a true Dragon Knight."

"To be a real Dragon Knight, one must first accumulate enormous strength; then they must beat a Dragon by themselves. Finally, they must acquire a Dragon's approval. Only then, could they become a real Dragon Knight. In other words, Dragon Knights are powerful not just because of their Dragons, but also because they themselves are powerful."

Finally, Angel stared at the scale on Liola's left arm:

"The book says, when one acquires the Dragon's approval, they must then drop their own blood on the Dragon's forehead. And then the Dragon will take the scale from the center of its forehead and adorn it on the Dragon Knight's left arm, to show its loyalty and to link its spirit to the Dragon Knight."

Kaiser was petrified:

"You can also tell us, a Dragon who has linked its spirit with a master can't change its master."

Angel nodded.

The pink-eyed child, as if to show his intentions, wobbly walked up to Liola, and then climbed up Liola's body like a lizard, and then stayed at Liola's back.

The child even made a lowly snore, indicating that he was sound asleep.

"Right." Angel somewhat hesitantly said: "Don't let anyone know that Silver Mask is Liola-dage. Jetter from this morning is a son of the leader of Commerce Alliance — the origin of Mechas. And the leader is v-very influential."

"Liola, I seriously beg you." Kaiser showed a dignified expression: "Please don't tell anyone you know me."