On one of the days, a loud roar was heard in the city of Avarice. The citizens immediately entered their homes, and the adventurers immediately prepared their armors and weapons for battle. Moreover, the knights quickly assembled in their quarters and the commander stood in front of his troops.
"Attention! As you have heard, the subjugation request for the dragon in the Forest of Avira was suddenly rushed, and also, a significant number of adventurers are going to join us. So, for now, we have to cooperate with them and throw away our pride as nobles. For the future of Avarice!"
However, nobody followed and started to talk among themselves.
"You idiots!" The captain bellowed.
"But Captain Darvyn!"
"What more do you want to add? As we talk here, there would be more casualties."
"Aren't we strong enough to hold down a Calamity dragon? Why do we need more force?! Besides, those are commoners!"
"Did you forget I was also a commoner?!" Darvyn shouted back, the rest of the troops fell into silence. He continued, "I know that you praise me for my strength, those people are also here to protect this city. Even if we have class systems, those are just bullshts! You do also know that we have an S class adventurer that is aspiring to be SS class. His strength is greatly welcomed by all of the people here and it is a great contribution to our fighting force."
"Isn't he not inclined to our city? You're judging things poorly, Darvyn," a man approached them from behind and announced his presence.
"Prince Gaius..." Darvyn murmured. He added in his thoughts, 'Why is he in Avarice?'
"Although Dallas is an adventurer based his operations here in Avarice, he is still neutral. There is also a high chance that he will allied himself to the neighboring kingdom which is quite dangerous."
"That's right!" One of the men raised his voice, and many came next.
"Besides, I just came to give you the news that we will subjugate the dragon ourselves and we don't need your incompetent knights."
"What did you say?!" One of them raged and was in the midst of attacking the prince. However, he was stopped by his comrade.
"Hush! That's the prince! Keep your head low!"
"I don't care if he's the prince or not! For slandering our knight corps that much... It's unforgivable!"
"Heh," Gaius scoffed and then looked at Darvyn, "So, Darvyn, don't put your nose into my business and just silently watch how we bring its core here."
"Yes, your highness."
"Captain! Are you just going to accept this?!"
"Shut the hell up!"
"That's right. Just step back," Gaius sneered and then left the area. The knights' breathing suddenly became shallow and then they sighed in relief.
"That fucking prince..." one of them mumbled in anger.
"It can't be helped. He's a prince."
"Prince my ass. He's just a spoiled brat to the core."
When they were talking to themselves casually, a messenger came and said something to Darvyn's ear. He sighed and then turned towards his troops. "We have an order from the King. Protect the prince with your lives!"
"What?! After what he did to us?!"
"Silence, you fools! Us knights have the responsibility to protect the royalty, our city and the kingdom!"
They could only reluctantly nod and hurriedly left their quarters to follow the prince. The adventurers that were waiting for them followed until they reached the northern gate.
There was another loud roar that pierced their ears and then it was suddenly so quiet, then the ground shook violently. They have no idea what happened in the forest, but they hastened their movements. Once they saw the party where the prince was, they immediately slowed down and quietly followed the small group. When the small group entered Avira, and walked a considerable distance, they saw no dragon at all. From where they stood at the top of a hill, there weren't any signs of a huge lifeform flying through the air.
What's going on?
From the guild information, it was a humongous dragon that was almost at the same height of the big trees in Avira. It could be seen resting on a mountain, flying through the air, and sometimes, walking in the forest. It was also the dragon that lived for hundreds of years and was in the legends.
No matter how long lived you were, you could never contend to the small girl in front of the dead dragon. There were deep wounds on its neck and the party of ten was dumbfounded when they saw a small human defeated a dragon in just three strikes.
Back in time, Chang Xiuying was musing to herself when the party passed by their group. From their panic, they rushed ahead as the dragon chased after them. After confirming that the group left the vicinity, she stood in front of the dragon.
Chang Xiuying retrieved a broadsword that is two meters in length and twice as big than her height. Oscar and Kiel were baffled as they saw the child swing it around for a bit then jumped towards the flying dragon. She exactly stopped her ascent in front of the dragon and then slashed at its wide neck. However, it could only cut shallowly before the sword broke into two.
The dragon roared so loud that it gave Chang Xiuying a slight pain in her ears since she was the closest. When she descended, she grabbed a trunk of a tree and dangled herself there for a few seconds, and then landed on a thick branch. She was waiting and waiting for the dragon to look at her. Focus on me, was what she thought. When she glanced at where the party was, they were watching her with their eyes wide. She also saw the sky rider look at her, but quickly descended to the ground to hide his presence.
A wise choice. But Chang Xiuying was seen. She didn't have any more choices but to defeat the dragon in front of them.
When the dragon calmed down as it pressed its huge scaled hand on its wound, it looked at Chang Xiuying with the intent to kill. It flapped its wings more violently towards Chang Xiuying and then breathed out a poisonous breath.
However, before it could spout it out with fire, Chang Xiuying already threw another sword into its other side of the neck. The sword broke through the sturdy flesh and the dragon roared one last time before Chang Xiuying slashed the injured neck with a different sword. The ground shook when the dragon fell from the sky.
Chang Xiuying landed on the dragon and quickly stored the body in her storage. However, the people around her was frozen stiff as they witnessed the battle happened right before their eyes.
"What... just happened..." they murmured.
"I have no idea either..."
"A kid... a kid just killed a dragon..."
"So... who wants some Dragon Meal?" Chang Xiuying asked as she scratched her head.
"Eh?" They simultaneously muttered.
"Well... I have no use hiding if you all already saw me..."
"Right... uh... are you an elf?" one of them asked.
"No. I'm human, just like you lots. So, anyone of you interested to eat a dragon meat?"
They were dumbfounded at first but they eventually nodded their heads. With that, Chang Xiuying retrieved a pot and instructed the others to prepare a small bonfire. When they were finished preparing, and Chang Xiuying already cut the dragon into individual parts, she started cooking.
After a few minutes, the aroma of garlic and onion wafted through the group and their stomachs growled immediately. When Chang Xiuying sprinkled a lot of spices and cooked the dragon meat, they watched her cook as they won't miss a detail. Then, water was retrieved from her storage and the soup was made. After the soup was boiled, Chang Xiuying removed the pot from the fire and settled it on the grassy ground. She replaced it with another pot and poured milk into it.
"What's that?" One of them took the courage to ask.
"Well... this is almond milk."
"Eh? Almonds can be made into milk?"
"Yes. You'll be able to taste it after a good meal."
While they waited for the milk to boil, Chang Xiuying served them their shares. They smelled the enticing aroma and tentatively sipped from their bowls. Their eyes went wide as they drank more, completely disregarding how hot it was. Others coughed and the rest drank more.
"Can we ask for another bowl?"
Chang Xiuying smiled and then nodded, "Of course!" and served them until they were full.
"Where did you learn cooking?" one of the women asked.
"Uhm... I was taught since I was a kid," which was the truth since Auntie Zoe taught her how to cook in such a young age.
"But... aren't you a kid?"
"Ah... well..."
"Alison, give it up. That child is beyond the standard means."
Alison? Chang Xiuying thought for a moment.
"Well then... since we're mostly done here, we better get back before it gets dark. Do you want to go with us, kid?"
"To Avarice, right?"
"Of course. We also have to go back to the guild to report our completion of the quest."
"I'll come!"
Then, with Oscar, Kiel and the others, they walked until they saw the main road. However, for some reason, there was a bunch of teenagers and knights waiting at the middle of the road.