At the moment when all the hope was lost, they heard the voice of the Dragon King, who until now hadn't moved or done anything.
"Give me that space ring," the Dragon King said to Uncle Dior as he pointed his fingers towards the ring. A ray came out of the Dragon King's finger and covered the ring. In an instant, the healing potion emerged from the ring and floated towards Arrora.
When Arrora saw the potion coming, she didn't waste a single second. She just grabbed it and poured the potion into Don's mouth. The moment the potion touched his lips, the healing started.
Don tried hard to swallow even a little bit of the potion while most of it flowed outside of his mouth. The wounds on his body began to heal at a visible rate, and his broken bones began to mend as the healing process continued. Slowly, Don regained his control over the Battle Energy in his body. It was almost depleted in the battle with the Dragon King, yet a small amount of it sped up the healing process.
Seeing Don's wounds healing and his limbs looking like what they were supposed to be, Arrora's tears stopped as her mouth curved to let out a relieved smile.
"Let's help him up," Uncle Dior said as he saw Don trying to stand up and fail.
Arrora and Uncle Dior gently helped Don stand up, while Arrora had Don's hands wrapped around her neck to support him.
"Ye are a strong one, boyo," the Dragon King said.
Don almost coughed up more blood when he heard the Dragon King. He had almost stared death right in its eyes, yet the Dragon King said he was a strong one.
"I failed to beat you," Don strugglingly said. But when he said that, the Dragon King started to laugh.
"Yer doomed ta fail since tha moment we began, boyo."
"What?" Arrora shouted in shock and surprise.
"Ye should be proud, boyo. If I'm alive, I cou' have crushed ye with me pinky," the Dragon King laughed and raised his pinky.
When everyone heard the Dragon King, they were confused. What did he mean by 'if I'm alive?' However, they didn't have to wait for long to know the answer.
"What ye see now be just a piece o' soul I left behind."
"Left for what?" Don asked the Dragon King. He was still standing with the support of Arrora. The healing potion would have fully healed a normal person. But for his injuries, it took longer.
"To guide you to be my successor, boyo." Before anybody could say anything, the Dragon King continued, "There be a war coming, boyo. Tha war that decides tha fate o' tha world."
Don was confused, while Uncle Dior's eyes went wide as he heard about the war.
The Dragon King didn't even give him a second to process what he said a second ago as he continued, "The current yeh can't survive tha war, boyo. Nae in a million years."
Don felt the power of the dwarf in front of him. He knew that if he was talking about the so-called war this seriously, it must be a major and terrible one. But in his mind, some questions started to emerge. He knew that he was like an ant when compared to the Dragon King.
"What is this war? If even the Dragon King is reacting this badly, how long do I have?"
Seeing Don, the Dragon King gave him a little reassurance, "But ye still have some hope, boyo. Tha war be nae coming any sooner."
Hearing the Dragon King, Uncle Dior felt a little relaxed, as if he dodged a bullet. But soon, he realized that it was just a temporary one.
"This piece o' soul o' mine be just a heavenly level, but ye couldn't beat even this."
"What!!"
Uncle Dior shouted when the Dragon King mentioned the heavenly level. For him, the heavenly level was like a god-level. But now that he heard that a mere piece of a soul was heavenly level, he couldn't even imagine what level the Dragon King was when he was alive.
"In me time, tha heavenly level was child's game, boyo. But tha magix energy became scarce as time went by. But once again, tha magix energy started ta replenish in the world... Use this time ta raise ye power an' build a powerful army an' a kingdom, boyo."
Coincidently, Don had always planned to build an army and a kingdom. The war and the Dragon King's advice just made him more motivated.
"Why me?" Don asked the question that's been bothering him since the start.
"Ye be a chosen one, boyo. Tha one born wi'out a magical core. I had some doubts about tha prophecy, but after seeing ye, I guess it's all true."
"What prophecy?" Don again asked once more, but the Dragon King's body started to flicker.
"I don't have much time, boyo. I used most o' me energy ta battle ye, but I'll try ta answer your questions 'afore I fade away."
"What is the prophecy? Who I am going to face in that war, and how do I get stronger since you know I can't use magic?"
Arrora and Uncle Dior couldn't believe their ears. Uncle Dior already thought that Don was an otherworldly being, but only now did he realize that he was born in this world but only without a magical core. He had never heard of such a phenomenon before. Maybe ever.
In the magical world, the magical core was equal to the brain. A person without it could be considered a corpse. Obviously, no one was born without it. He had never heard of it until now.
"The dragon born without the ability to breathe fire is the only one who can light the fire that extinguishes the darkness," the Dragon King's figure became more transparent. "I don't know who ye be going ta face, boyo, but tha enemy be not someone tha current ye can fight." The Dragon king's body had almost turned into smoke. "Tha magix energy, tha Battle Energy ye use be all energies, boyo. Energies, but I dinna have tha time ta explain. I left some magix stones in tha castle. Use them wisely ta power up your army and conquer everything you could 'afore tha war. Only together ye can win, boyo."
The Dragon King paused for a second as he looked at a faraway distance with a sad look on his face. "An' help my people, Don." This time, the Dragon King had addressed him as Don instead of boyo or brat. It sounded as if he was asking a final favor from his successor.
But just before the Dragon King disappear, Don asked, "Are you really dead?"
However, the Dragon King didn't say anything. He just winked at him before completely disappearing.
Looking at the place where the Dragon King floated just a moment ago, the three of them stood in complete silence, each with their own thoughts and plans.
After a moment, Don took his hands out from Arrora's neck. His wounds had now mostly healed, but the clash between the two energies at that last moment of the battle took a toll on his body. He was still experiencing some pain.
"Cloaking spell deactivated."
Suddenly, a mechanical voice echoed in their ears. When the three of them turned to see the source, the scene before them shocked them to silence. Even Don.
The waterfall that they saw earlier slowly split in two, opening in the middle as a bridge seemingly made of light or energy came out of the waterfall.
"Let's go," Don said, already limping towards the light bridge. The Dragon King said he was his successor, so he guessed that the castle now belonged to him, and the bridge was the gateway to the castle. But behind him, the two were a little afraid to follow him.
However, Don didn't wait for them, so they had no choice but to follow him.
As Don slowly walked towards the waterfall, he couldn't see anything before him but full darkness. Walking towards the darkness reminded him of the dark portals in the Divine Continent that he used to travel from one domain to another.
The darkness was just a few inches away from him. The water falling beside him was being blocked from touching him by some kind of force field.
"Here we go," Don exhaled a long breath as he stepped into the darkness. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped into the darkness, he was welcomed by a very beautiful sight. To be exact, a new dimension.
"Oh my god," two shocked and astonished voices came from behind Don.
"What is this place?" Uncle Dior asked as his eyes sparkled at the beauty of the place in front of him. It was then that a sweet childish giggle of a little girl reached their ears.
"This is the Castle of the Dragon King."
Out of nowhere, a magical projection of a little girl in a white dress appeared in front of them. The girl clapped her hands together in joy.
She had a very bright smile as if she had just found her long-lost mother upon seeing them. She was extremely cute, particularly with that ponytail of hers.
Before they could even react upon seeing the cute little girl, she called out once more while looking at Don, "Welcome to the Castle of the Dragon King, brother."