The invisible strings running all over the cave started shining as Leo's instinct screamed.
BOOM
Before he could even know what was going on, a huge explosion occurred as he crouched down in an attempt to protect himself.
'…'
Staying crouched, Leo expected for there to be a lot of noise, but the surroundings became silent after that one explosion as he slowly opened his eyes and raised his head.
'Hissssss.'
Grrrrrrrr
As soon as he stood up, he saw a ring of black fire surrounding him as he hissed.
The black fire was giving him a sour vibe as he stayed vigilant towards it.
'Tsk.'
As he stayed on his guard, he heard a disappointed sound on his head as he became confused and looked around.
'Human?' He thought as he looked around in excitement.
'What a useless soul for a mighty dragon.'
Leo heard someone talking on his head again as he realized that it wasn't Aiden.
'Who?'
Leo said as he looked around while staying on his guard.
'In front of you, kid.' The voice said as Leo looked ahead and tilted his head when he saw no one.
Whoosh
The black fire became big as it appeared huge and threatening.
'Hissssss'
Grrrrrrr
Leo was taken by surprise as he tried to back down and hissed at the black fire.
'Tsk. Cowardly soul. Don't make me further regret choosing you.' The voice on his head said as Leo carefully looked at the fire.
'Oh. You do realize that it's me who is talking.' The voice said as Leo stayed vigilant.
'I guess you indeed are one of the almighty dragon races.' The voice said.
'…Dragon. Race?' Leo thought as he didn't know anything.
'…You have to be kidding with me. I have to start from there?' The voice said as it seemed to be reacting to Leo's lack of knowledge of dragons.
'Tsk. Cowardly soul. Stand up.' The voice said as Leo frowned.
'Don't. Trust.' Leo said as the voice went silent for a moment.
'…Don't make me repeat myself.' The voice said, but Leo stayed stubborn as the fire lost his temper.
Whoosh
The black fire became even bigger as it surrounded Leo from every direction. Ultimately, it became a dome, trapping Leo inside it.
'Let's see how much you can hold on.' The voice said as Leo sat still.
Even though the fire was hot, heating the ground, his body remained unaffected as he kept on staying still and stubborn.
His dark scales that ran throughout his body were the ones to praise for that, as he wasn't aware of how strong a dragon's scales were.
…
The waiting game kept on persisting as the fire looked at Leo in surprise.
Leo had decided to sleep as his instinct to save his energy had kicked in.
'How could this be?' The fire thought as he started to shrink and looked at Leo.
'There's no way this dragon is from a very high ranking dragon species.' He thought as he looked at Leo in disbelief.
He was one of the nine sacred flames. Although he was just reborn, his strength was still enough to burn a few dragons to bones.
Looking at Leo's dark scales and his youngling features, the reason for him not being affected by the fire could only be that he was a descendent of a very high ranking dragon species.
'…But even for a young dragon, his intelligence level is nonexistent.' The fire thought as he started pondering about things.
'No no. I have already chosen him. I will have to train this kid and make him strong so that I don't have to be perished and reborn again.' The fire thought as an image of two human like figures with horns flashed on his mind.
'…Hey kid.'
Connecting to Leo telepathically, the fire called out to him, but Leo kept his eyes closed, making the fire already pissed.
'Don't you want to escape from this place?'
The fire said as Leo raised his ears in interest.
'Even if you are a coward, you want to escape this place, don't you?' The fire said as Leo raised his head and looked at the fire.
'I can help you escape. You just have to listen to what I say, and I will give you freedom. Not only that, but immeasurable power and fame too.' The fire said as its color started to become darker.
Looking at Leo, who was just quietly staring at him, the fire started to become confident that his tactics for persuading Leo were working.
'So, do you agree to listen to me?' He asked, being sure that Leo would accept him.
'No. I don't.'
'…What?'
Listening to the unexpected answer, the fire asked as a form of making sure he heard correctly.
'I don't need to escape this place; my rescuer will come.' Leo said as he confidently stared at the fire.
'Rescuer? Hah! Does anyone even know your location?' The fire said, but Leo didn't back down as he kept on being confident and stared at the fire.
As he did so, he remembered something he had heard while dying as he recited the words.
'I will reunite one day. I just have to stay strong.'
…
"Leo"
Looking in front of him, his heart got filled with happiness as he heard his name being called out.
Growl
Calling out to him, Leo lowered his head and placed it in front of Aiden.
"…A-are you really Leo?"
Aiden walked forward, ignoring the black fire that was on his way.
The black fire remained between them, but right before Aiden walked through it, it shifted away, letting Aiden get closer to Leo.
Tap
Placing his hand on Leo's head, Aiden's tears kept raining down as he kept on patting his head.
Sniff Sniff
"T-thank god." He muttered as he cried to his heart's content.
"Thank God you're alright." He muttered as he hugged Leo.
Growl
Leo growled in response as Aiden reluctantly let go of him.
Raising his head, Leo looked at Aiden as he opened his mouth and licked on Aiden's face just like he used to do in the past, but he forgot that he was much larder than before as he licked on Aiden's full face.
"Ah- Hahahaha." Aiden, confused at first, realized what Leo was doing as he laughed.
One moment crying, another moment laughing, Aiden found himself in an emotional rollercoaster.
He was happy. The thing he had hoped for the most had finally happened.
Ding
[Emergency! Poison detected on the host's body.]
'…Huh?'
Reading the random message from the window, Aiden became dumbfounded as he slowly raised his head and looked towards Leo.
"L-Leo."
Stuttering on his words out of fear and confusion, Aiden looked back at Leo as his vision started to become blurry.
Was it the poison or just his teary eyes? He couldn't tell the reason behind his blurry eyes.
"W-why?" Aiden thought as he blindly walked forward and hugged Leo's leg.
"A-are you leaving me again? Please don't." Aiden cried as he desperately clung onto Leo's leg.
Unbeknownst to him, a shiny string extending from the back wall was going right through his head as it started to shine.
BOOM
Before Aiden could hear Leo's response, a massive explosion occurred from somewhere, making his surroundings shake.
Tremble Tremble
The shiny string that was going through his head also disappeared.
Whoosh
"H-huh?"
As Aiden balanced himself, he felt a wave of bright light entering the surrounding area, making everything visible.
'…Fire?'
He thought as he looked around.
The dark thing that had been surrounding them all this time, which Aiden mistook for just a regular cave wall, was actually made of the black fire, as Aiden found the sight of the wall of black fire chilling.
'Where was this plac-agh.'
As Aiden tried to process his surroundings, the poison started getting stronger, creating a sharp pain on his head.
'Oh- Leo!'
Turning around, Aiden tried to look for Leo despite his now messed up vision, but he failed as everything was appearing blurry.
Whoosh
Shring
As he kept on looking, he suddenly felt a cold air on his back as shivers ran down his whole body.
'Something's coming.'
He thought as he immediately crouched on the ground.
BOOM
As soon as he did, he heard a loud explosion from a distant place.
Feeling worried about Leo, Aiden worriedly stood up as he called out his name.
"LEO."
"LEO. Please return with me. Let's get out of here." He said as he blindly walked around.
THWACK