"W-WHAT ARE YOU?" I managed to stammer.
Despite having lived two lives, my brain refused to believe what I was
looking at. A monster—for a lack of a better word—easily more than three
stories high, was seated cross-legged on a crudely carved throne of jagged
stone, one arm lazily supporting its—her, I reminded myself—head. The
petrifying red eyes that gazed down at me, though menacing, carried an oddly
tranquil quality. Two massive horns protruded from the sides of her head,
arching down and around her skull and curving up to a point near the front,
almost like a crown. Two fangs peeked out from her lips, and her body was
adorned in sleek black armor. Though it had neither decorations nor
embellishments, it still glowed like a priceless treasure.
I was once a king. Still, this being sitting before me now made me
embarrassed to have ever had the nerve to call myself one. No, the one sitting
on that giant throne was a being that would make even the most faithless of
heretics bow down in reverence.
Yet here she was, in all her glory, her head resting on one arm, nonchalantly
scratching her nose with the other hand.
And what I had failed to notice until now, because of the dim lighting in the
cave and the blackness of her body, was that this being had a gaping hole in
the side of her chest, from which blood oozed in a slow but steady flow.
"We finally meet," she repeated with a lazy half-smile that revealed a row of pointed teeth.
I tried to get up, but only made it halfway. I ended up back on my butt, my
face still slack with shock at what my eyes were seeing.
"Bugs will fly into your mouth if you keep it open that wide."
Well, at least she has a sense of humor, I thought.
"As for what I am, I won't discuss that. You can draw your own conclusions
based on what you see," the horned humanoid monster said. Her eyes seemed
to gaze straight through me.
I was speechless, but the creature didn't seem to notice.
"It will take some time for me to open a dimensional gate to transport you to
your house," she sighed. "Until then, just be patient and wait here. There are
special roots that grow here. You will be able to live off those until I finish."
That's right. In my shock at the creature's appearance I had completely
forgotten about my family. I managed to regain a bit of my composure and
stood, walking a little closer to the being.
Giving a courteous bow, I replied, "Thank you for everything you've done
for me, and for what you intend to do. If there is any way I can repay you, I
will do for you whatever is in my power."
"Such good manners for a child. Do not worry; I am expecting neither a favor
nor your gratitude. I'm doing this simply for my own amusement. Come! Sit
here closer to me and keep me company. I haven't talked to anyone in a
while," the being said with a laugh, and patted an area of her throne for me to
sit on.
I climbed up onto the platform rather awkwardly, forgetting I could use mana
to just jump up, and propped myself on the throne next to the being.
"Excuse me if I am being rude, but you don't really look like a lady. How
exactly shall I address you?" I said, making eye contact.
"You're right. I don't exactly look like a lady, now do I? I wonder why I said
that. My name is Sylvia," she replied, letting out a soft chuckle.
This giant demon god-like monster looked likeanything but a 'Sylvia' to me,but I chose to keep that to myself.
"Elder Sylvia, do you mind if I ask a few questions?"
"Go ahead, young one, although I may not be able to answer everything."
I immediately began rattling off questions, overcome by the curious
wonderment that her presence cast over me. "Where is this place? Why were
you here all alone? Where did you come from? Why do you have that huge
wound? Why did you save me?"
She patiently waited for me to finish before replying.
"You must have had a lot on your mind. The first question is easy to answer.
This place is in a narrow zone between the Beast Glades and the Forest of
Elshire," she explained easily. "No one knows of it because I've been
warding off anyone who came close, although there are few instances of that
in any case. You, young child, are the first to enter into this domain."
"Please, call me Art. My name is Arthur Leywin, but everyone calls me Art!
You can too," I blurted, before clapping my hands over my mouth, confused
as to why I had spoken like an excited child.
"Very well, child, I will call you Art." Her red eyes glazed over, gazing into
the distance while answering my next questions.
"Continuing on to your second question, I am here alone simply because I
have no one left to be with.
While I do not think telling you everything would
be wise, I will tell you that I have many enemies who desperately wish for
something I have. My last battle with my enemies left this wound. As for
where I come from, it is very far away."
Sylvia paused for a moment before continuing. This time her eyes looked
straight at me, as if she was studying me.
"Why I saved you… even I do not fully know the answer to that question.
Perhaps I have simply been alone for too long and wished to have someone to
talk to. I first noticed you when your party was engaged in battle with the bandits. When you fell off the cliff to save your mother, I felt compelled to
rescue you. It seemed a waste for such a good child to die. You are very brave. It is rare for even an adult to show such presence of mind under
pressure."
I shook my head. "I was scared, too, but I didn't have much of an option. I
just wanted to save my mother and my baby sibling inside her." I didn't know
if it was from the gentle way she talked or because of how big and powerful
she seemed, but when I was in front of her, I seemed to turn into a child. No,
I was a child in her presence.
"Your mother was pregnant? I see… You must miss them dearly. But rest
assured, your family and party escaped unscathed. As for where they have
gone, my sight cannot reach far enough to tell anymore."
A wave of relief washed over me, and it took all I had to keep my tears from
falling. They're safe. This new life was exposing me to emotions I had buried
deep down in my previous world.
"Thank God. Th-they're alive… They're okay." I let out a sniffle.
Sylvia's giant hand reached down and she softly patted my head with a
finger.
I spent the rest of the day conversing with Sylvia.
Toward afternoon, she
directed me to some edible roots, which looked and tasted very similar to
potatoes but were black in color. We talked about all sorts of things to pass
the time as she prepared to open a portal. At one point, she asked me how I
was able to use mana so well at my age.
"I was under the impression that, so far, the earliest a human mage had ever
awakened was at the age of ten—and even then, because the child couldn't
grasp how to use it, there was very little he could do with it. Yet not only
have you already formed your mana core, but, by the way you use your mana,
you seem to be more skilled than many full-fledged mages."
I just shrugged, feeling a twinge of pride at her compliment. "My parents said
I was a genius or something. I can read really well, and I understand what the
books are saying."
The twinkle in the being's piercing eyes seemed to show that whatever I was,she knew that the word 'genius' wasn't sufficient to describe it—but Sylvia
remained silent.
The days trickled by as Sylvia continued preparing the portal. One day, in a
regretful tone, she explained, "The spell will take some time to be completely
safe. I would not like for you to land in a destination you are not familiar
with. If there is even one inconsistency, it could lead to you arriving hundreds
of feet off the ground. Please be patient. You will be able to see your loved
ones soon."
I nodded. As long as I knew they were alive, I was fine with waiting. It beat
trying to climb back up the edge of the mountain.
While I trained my mana core and chatted with Sylvia, I noticed a few things.
Sylvia exemplified the cliché, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Contrary to
her intimidating appearance, she was kind, gentle, patient, and warm. She
reminded me of my mother, in the way that they both managed to be tender
while scolding me when I did something wrong. One afternoon I mentioned
that the mage I had fought, along with the other bandits, deserved worse
deaths than they had suffered. She suddenly flicked my forehead.
Even though she was gentle, a flick of a finger from someone over three
stories tall was nothing to make light of. I was sent tumbling to the ground.
When I recovered, I asked angrily, "What was that for?"
She picked me up and set me on her armored knee and, her tone soft but
pained, she said, "Art. Perhaps you are not wrong in that those bandits
deserved death. I myself could have saved the mage you fell with, but I chose
not to, for the same reasons.
However, do not let your heart be clouded with continuous thoughts of hatred and the like. Continue proudly with your life
and gain the strength to protect your loved ones from harm. Along the way,
you will face dangerous situations, maybe even worse than the ones you have
survived already—but don't let the grief and rage corrode your heart. Move
on, and learn from those experiences—better yourself—so they won't happen
again."I blinked, a bit stunned to be lectured on morality by someone who looked
like the epitome of evil herself. But her words struck a chord within me, and I
just responded with a blank nod.
As time passed, I noticed that her wound seemed to be getting bigger. At first
I found it somewhat odd that she could still be alive with a gaping hole in the
side of her chest, but I soon grew accustomed to the sight of it. After several
days, however, it was clear that the wound was bleeding more consistently
now. Sylvia tried at first to hide it with her hand, but it was growing more
and more obvious.
Noticing the direction of my concerned gaze, Sylvia gave me a weak smile
and said, "Do not worry, little one. This wound festers from time to time."
One day, while I was meditating and using strict movement techniques to
better control my mana, Sylvia suddenly interrupted. "Art. Try absorbing
mana during your movements. Ideally, while you are fighting you should be
able to absorb at least a fraction of the mana you would during meditation.
You'll be using mana faster than you can absorb it, but you should be able to
prolong the usage of your mana."
I remembered having had this exact idea. I had never gotten to test my
hypothesis, since I wasn't able to move as freely as I could now. I was used
to thinking of the absorption of mana and the manipulation of mana as two
separate things, and I hadn't stopped to think about the possibilities in this
new world.
I nodded. "I'll try."
"Humans have a very linear mindset regarding mana and find it hard to
deviate from anything that already works. Practice hard now, though, because
you can only acquire this skill while both your body and mana core are
immature. Even mana beasts learn this technique, but humans awaken much
too late and, in most cases, their bodies have nearly matured by that time. But considering how young you are, there shouldn't be a problem so long as you
practice," Sylvia continued, giving a proud puff of her nose.I had to admit that, as with most theories I tested, it was extremely difficult at
first. It reminded me of the exercises the headmaster at the orphanage had
showed us when I was younger, the ones where you tried to make each of
your arms do something different, but it was much harder. But mastering this
would essentially mean I would be able to fight proficiently while still
maintaining a constant inward flow of mana.
Sylvia's only advice was to tell me that an exceptional mage must be able to
split his conscious mind into multiple segments in order to process
information at the most efficient speed. I'd never had a teacher tell me to split
my mind, but I tried doing as she said. I've never tripped over my own body
so many times, not even if you combined all my experiences from both my
lives. This, at least, seemed to get a few hearty chuckles of amusement out of
Sylvia.
The months passed. I kept Sylvia company, telling stories of my family and
the town I was born in, and continued to improve in the mana technique
thanks to Sylvia's patience and my diligence.
If there was a name for this skill, Sylvia refused to reveal it, so I named it
myself: mana rotation.
It would be an understatement to say I had grown close to Sylvia. She had
treated me like her own blood grandson and, in response, I'd gotten attached
to this demon lord grandmother. And, because of our growing relationship, I
wasn't able to simply ignore what was happening. It was frustratingly clear
that, as the portal that would take me home became more distinct, her wound
was growing worse.
One especially bad night, after she had vomited a pool of blood, I couldn't
hold back my concern. "Sylvia, please tell me what's happening to your
wound. Why is it getting worse? It wasn't like this before. Your saying it
'festers from time to time' was clearly a lie. This isn't going to go away on its
own—it's actually getting worse!"I paused for a second, struck with the realization. Why didn't I notice this
before?
She had been getting worse while creating the portal.
In order to send me home—
She was sacrificing her life so I could return to my family.
Sylvia let out a deep breath, knowing that I had realized what was going on.
Managing a sheepish smile, she whispered, "Art. Yes, I am dying. But I will
be angry if you blame yourself, thinking that you have caused this.
I have
been dying for quite a while now. You are doing me a favor by allowing me
to leave this forsaken cave a bit faster."
As soon as she finished speaking, a bright golden glow began radiating from
her body. Shielding my eyes to keep from going blind, I tried to focus on the
shape forming where Sylvia had been sitting. In place of the ten-yard titan-
like figure was a dragon, even larger.
From her snout to the end of her tail,
she was a covered in a pearl-white coat of shimmering scales.
Beneath her
iridescent lavender eyes were glowing golden runes that marked her neck and
ran down to spread around her body and tail like sacred engravings.
They
looked like an elegant, almost celestial tribal pattern, branching out
harmoniously and with purpose, like carefully placed vines. The dragon's
wings were pure white adorned with white-bladed feathers so fine and sharp
as to put even a sword forged by a master smith to shame.
The golden light enveloping the dragon dimmed until I no longer needed to
shield my eyes. I looked at the celestial creature sitting where Sylvia had
been.
"There now… Do I look a bit more like a Sylvia in this form?" Sylvia gave a
toothy smirk.
"S-Sylvia? You're a dragon?" I said.
"Now that I am in this form, we do not have much time.
Yes, I am what you
humans refer to as a dragon. This wound that is killing me was inflicted
during a narrow escape from men who sought to capture me. I sensed one of them drawing dangerously close a few days ago, so I feel that my time of
hiding is drawing to an end. This form will alert them of my location, so I
have time to explain only what is necessary. First, take this. I will need you to
take care of it from now on."
One of her bladed wings unfolded to reveal a translucent, rainbow-colored
stone the size of two fists. With its myriad of colors and shades, the stone
gave off an aura that made me hesitate to take it. I felt almost as if I wasn't
worthy of holding it.
Without waiting for me to respond, she continued:
"Everything will reveal
itself when the time comes. Just hold onto it—and do not let anyone else
know that you have it. Most will not know what it is, but everyone will be
attracted by the aura it emits."
While she spoke, she had plucked a feather from her wings with her claw;
now she handed it to me. "Wrap the stone in this to conceal it."
After I followed her instructions, the once-divine, radiant stone now appeared
to be merely a smooth white rock—pretty, but ordinary.
While I studied the feather-encased stone, I was suddenly pushed back as
Sylvia's snout gently brushed against my chest, where my mana core was.
Taken aback, I looked up to see Sylvia's purple eyes, and the gold markings
around them, blazing even brighter than they had when she first transformed.
As the markings grew dimmer and then disappeared, Sylvia pierced my core
with her tongue, giving off wisps of a golden smoke that crackled with sparks
of purple.
A sharp yelp escaped my mouth as I blinked, confused and surprised. I
continued to just stare at her as she drew her head back, leaving a trail of
blood from a hole in my threadbare shirt. My sternum had bled, but when I
ran my hand over the area, there was no wound.
Sylvia's expression was visibly pained and weak; it was apparent even for a
mighty dragon. Perhaps most notably, her once-shimmering purple irises
were now just a dim yellow, and the beautiful runes that had flowed across her face and body were now gone.
I opened my mouth to ask what she had done, but a giant explosion
interrupted me.
I whipped my head up to see that the ceiling of the cave had been blown off.
The figure that now appeared through the opening reminded me of Sylvia's
previous form.
It was clad in sleek black armor and a blood-red cape that matched its eyes.
The figure's skin was pale grey, like the clouded sky in the background. Its
horns were different, though—this entity had two horns which curled down
and under its ears, following the line of its chin.
Sylvia immediately covered me with one of her wings to protect me from the
falling debris—and probably to keep me hidden from our visitor.
"Lady Sylvia! I advise you to stop your stubbornness and hand it over.
You've already caused us quite enough trouble by hiding yourself. If you
submit, the lord may even heal your wound." The entity sounded impatient.
As soon as he finished speaking, the world around me seemed to pause.
Except for Sylvia and myself, the colors of the world had changed, as if I was
looking at a photographic negative. Most surprising of all, everything was as
still, as if suspended in amber—the entity, the clouds behind him, even the
debris falling from the ceiling.
Ignoring the enemy, Sylvia casually peeked at me underneath her wing. "I'll
open the portal now," she whispered, her eyes solemn. "I didn't have time to
make it go directly to your home, but it should take you to a place with
humans nearby. Do not let him see you and do not look back."
But I had heard the intruder's promise, and I ignored Sylvia's instructions.
"Sylvia! Is what he said true? If you turn yourself over, will you be able to
live?"
"Do not trust his honey-coated words. It will be worse for you if you are
found right now. As for me, I would rather die than go back to where he is,"
Sylvia said, impatience and anger mingling in her voice."No! I won't let you die here. If you refuse to go with him, then please, just
come with me," I begged.
"I cannot go with you. You will forever be in danger if any one of them finds
out you have had contact with me. I must stay here."
Sylvia gently wiped my cheeks with a claw, her draconic eyes lined with
tears.
"You once asked me why I chose to save you. The truth is, it was to satisfy
my own greed. I wanted to keep you as my own child, even for just a little
while. I intentionally prolonged the transportation spell, because I wished to
have more time with you, and now there is not enough time to finish it. I'm
sorry, little Art, for my selfishness—but I have one last request to make. Can
you be my grandson? Will you call me 'grandmother' just this once?"
"I don't care about all that. I'll say it as much as you want if you come with
me. Grandma! Grandma! You can't! Not like this!" I was stuttering with fear
and frustration. "Please, I'm begging you, just come with me. I-I don't know
what you did but everything is frozen right now; we can escape! Please,
Grandmother, don't go. Not like this!" I held tight to Sylvia's claw, desperately trying to pull her away with me.
In that moment, Sylvia's face blossomed into a smile so beautiful she looked
almost human.
I barely caught the words she spoke as she pushed me into the portal.
"Thank you, my child."