– Definitely worth a try.
Alberu seemed to be a bit excited.
– You're telling me something refreshing, albeit annoying, for the first time in a while.
Cale nodded his head.
"That is true. I don't only pass the headaches to you."
Alberu naturally scoffed. He had never seen anybody who had more incidents revolving around them than Cale Henituse. At Cale's level, it was pretty much fate.
However, Alberu did not share his thoughts. Instead, he shared the information he needed to share with Cale.
– The prisoner you sent over is being interrogated by my aunt right now.
"Is it going well?"
Of course, Cale knew that Tasha was probably torturing the prisoner and not actually interrogating him. However, Cale did not point that out.
– I presume that he may give us some information in the near future. My aunt brought over an expert to help out.
Cale wondered who the expert the Dark Elves had brought in was. He had an idea but still nodded his head while feigning ignorance. Alberu was talking to himself in order to process his thoughts while Cale did that.
– There's a lot to do. I will contact the Queen of the Jungle and the Whipper Kingdom's Chiefs. If we do that, we should be able to at least divide the Empire and the Northern Alliance geographically-
Alberu stopped mid-sentence to look at Cale.
– Why are you looking at me like that?
Cale was looking at Alberu with a warm smile on his face. Cale had no problem responding to Alberu's question.
"Because I am proud to call you my prince. I have so much respect for you, your highness."
Cale was thinking that it was a good decision to speak with Alberu.
This smart person was also diligent, willing to do all of the annoying things for him. That was why he was proud of Alberu.
– …Haaaaa.
Alberu just sighed in response before asking a question.
– What do you plan to do next?
Cale did not even blink as he responded back to Alberu.
"I will gather information."
However, he had other plans.
'Gather information? I plan to go relax until Fall. What else can I do right now?'
However, Cale could see Alberu smiling oddly.
– Yes, I'm sure you'll bring me some useful information.
Alberu was thinking that Cale would end up getting involved in something, as usual, and be able to bring him information.
Cale alone was better than Alberu's entire information network.
"…Yes, well."
Cale felt iffy about Alberu's smile, so he chose to just look away. He just told Alberu to deliver a message to Mary on his behalf before turning the communication device off.
Their farewell became friendlier every time they talked.
– I always have nightmares after chatting with you. You bastard.
"May you live long and healthy, young master."
– You funny bastard.
Click.
Alberu then hung up on Cale. Cale felt like he could relax a bit, but he could not do so.
Shhhhhhhhhh-
It was the sound of something flying through the air.
Cale got scared after seeing the black blob flying toward him like a bullet.
'Why is he acting like this?'
Raon stopped almost right in front of Cale's face. Raon's eyes were burning up with passion, making Cale start to worry.
"Human!"
Raon suddenly shouted.
"Let's go find the power of earth!"
'Ah, right. I still had to do that.'
Cale started to feel tired. He pushed the floating Raon away before letting out a sigh.
"What about your lessons?"
Raon needed to learn from Eruhaben. Raon's wings flinched for a moment at Cale's question, but Raon responded back confidently.
"…I can ask him to take me on a trip in order to get practical experience."
'Woah woah woah, he wants Eruhaben to come with us to find the Super Rock? Is he planning to destroy a continent or something?'
Cale waved his hand and responded back.
"You just stay here and focus on your lessons. I can just go with Choi Han."
He was not crazy enough to take two Dragons with him to find the Super Rock. Cale sighed at this unbelievable suggestion. He then felt like something was wrong.
Raon was quiet.
Cale turned his head to look at Raon.
"…Human."
Raon lowered his voice and puffed up his chest.
"Listen to the words of the great and mighty Raon. The weak human needs me."
The five-year-old was trying to look majestic. However, it did not change the fact that he was a five-year-old that Cale had seen since he was four.
'Is Eruhaben not teaching him about the majestic air of Dragons?'
Cale just agreed since it would be too annoying to argue.
"…Whatever."
Raon started to smile.
"Good! Human! You made the right decision! I will go tell Eruhaben!"
Raon left the room that was shining from gold and jewels and flew toward Eruhaben. Cale looked at Raon flying away and started to think.
'Shouldn't it be asking Eruhaben and not telling him?'
He felt iffy again at Raon's choice of words, but took out the book he received from the Elves as there was nothing he could do about Raon.
It was an old book, but it seemed to be imbued with magic, as the pages were still in good condition.
Flip. Flip.
Cale opened the book to the first page which only had a single sentence.
< Someone said that a stupid human is like a rock. I will show that person the power of a small rock. >
Click.
Cale closed the book. This book was weird as well.
However, Cale opened the book again in order to be able to live his life without a ticking bomb inside his body. He thought to himself that he has to do all sorts of things in order to live a safe life and started to frown.
He turned the page.
< The earth that is under my foot is sturdier than anything else. >
< The earth sacrifices its body in order to provide a place for all lifeforms to live. >
< The strongest form of the earth is a rock. >
This part sounded normal.
Flip. Flip.
Cale slowly turned the pages while reading through. His frown slowly started to disappear. There were sentences that caught his attention every so often.
< He was called the Guardian. The first time he was called the Guardian was probably when he stopped an ogre that was headed down to his village. >
< He was the hidden guardian of the Kingdom of Boulders. He always appeared wherever there was trouble and confidently defended against anything and everything. >
< People respected the noble spirit of the Guardian. >
Cale recalled the ancient legend that Taylor had shared with him in the past.
It was about the Guardian that saved the Kingdom of Boulders.
It was a legend about a hero who saved the continent's Northeast territory when the continent was covered in darkness.
'Is it related to that legend?'
Cale recalled that legend as he continued to read on. He slowly started to smile.
< The Guardian had another hero that was both a friend and enemy. This hero was the one who freed the North from the freezing cold. That hero was a cheapskate whose hobby was picking up coins. >
The Fire of Destruction.
The money that the owner of the Fire of Destruction had collected was taken by the hero in this book.
< The Guardian said the following after seeing the money saved by that hero. >
< "Crazy bastard, you saved and saved without spending and accumulated so much!" >
Cale was happy after reading the words, 'accumulated so much.'
However, his expression turned odd as he continued to read.
< The Guardian was talented at both offense and defense. Even a small rock would have devastating power when he threw it. >
The ancient power described in this book seemed to be the Scary Giant Cobblestone.
However, that was not the problem.
< Right before going to save the world from darkness, he left all of his belongings, as well as the belongings of his friends, in his hometown. >
Cale started to flip the pages faster.
Flip.
Cale flipped the book over after reading until the last page.
"Haaaa."
Cale let out a sigh and started to think about what he had just read.
< The location of the strongest boulders in the Kingdom of Boulders. >
The strongest boulder was referring to granite.
< His hometown was a dangerous place where all sorts of monsters roamed wild, a place that allowed people to move between the continents. >
< That is where he left everything. >
"God damn it."
Cale started to frown again.
"Sounds like my backyard."
It definitely seemed to be describing the Henituse territory, specifically, the Forest of Darkness.
Cale had a good idea about what he needed to do in order to earn the, 'Scary Giant Cobblestone.'
< The Guardian who was filled with justice and truth is said to have left a mark on his house so that his friends' heirs could take what he had left behind. >
The Fire of Destruction would show Cale the way.
Although he knew the approximate location as well as how to get it, Cale was feeling oddly uncomfortable. It was at that moment.
"Human, human!"
Raon flew back in through the open door.
"Wha- hmm?"
Cale's expression turned odd as he lifted his head up.
"Human! Don't you eat fruits when you read? I brought you some! Fresh fruit!"
Raon was flying toward him while carrying a tray of fruits on top of his short front paws. He then put it on the table in front of Cale. Raon started to speak as Cale quietly stared at him.
"Human, I heard that you were drenched by the rain as you went to the cave. You suffered quite a bit. You need to eat delicious food so that you can grow up strong."
At that moment, Cale could hear another voice behind Raon.
"Wow, I've never seen a Dragon serve a human in my thousand years of existence. I've seen it all at this point."
The Gold Dragon Eruhaben, who was walking in behind Raon, clicked his tongue and shook his head. Raon seemed to have finally thought about Eruhaben, as he pointed toward Eruhaben.
"I brought Goldie gramps as well! I brought him so that we can talk about the practical experience!"
Eruhaben looked toward Raon with disbelief.
'When did Eruhaben become Goldie gramps?'
Cale was curious about that but just pointed to a chair for Eruhaben.
"Eruhaben-nim, please sit."
"Haa."
The Gold Dragon let out a sigh that did not fit his appearance and plopped down on the couch across from Cale.
"Why did I let in such a troublesome little kid at my old age?"
"Goldie, I am not troublesome!"
Plop. Plop.
Cale was eating grapes one at a time while observing the two Dragons chatting. Eruhaben scoffed at Raon's retort.
"Not troublesome? You're already thinking about ditching your lessons."
"No! I am trying to go help the weak human become strong! And I am not trying to ditch, I just want to go get real experience with you Goldie!"
Bang. Bang.
Raon banged on the golden table.
"Goldie! I want to go with you!"
Cale did not miss the short twitch in the corner of Eruhaben's lips.
The Ancient Dragon, who had lived alone for close to 1,000 years, responded back to the five-year-old Dragon with indifference.
"I don't feel like going with you."
"No! I want to go with you Goldie!"
Raon vigorously shook his head and made his stance clear. The corner of Eruhaben's lips twitched once again.
Cale did not miss any of this.
The Gold Dragon spoke with indifference once more.
"Little kid, it is my decision whether or not I go with you."
He then coldly spoke to Cale.
"Cale Henituse, it is not easy to find the power of earth. It will be very different to go around looking for it without any information."
Cale started to think that this Ancient Dragon was a total softy.
The Gold Dragon did not know Cale's thoughts as he continued to speak.
"We will first need to look for any books that might discuss the power."
Plop.
Eruhaben looked toward the table after hearing the noise.
He could see an ancient book that looked like it would hold information about ancient legends.
Eruhaben stopped for a moment before starting to speak again.
"Once we find the book, we will need to find the location of the ancient power, as well as the method of gaining it."
"I already found it."
"…All of it?"
"Yes sir."
The Gold Dragon observed the human sitting confidently in front of him. This human already had six ancient powers on him. Eruhaben had no choice but to accept it.
"You must be crazy lucky."
Cale started to smile. Eruhaben snorted in response. At that moment, there was a short paw tapping on Eruhaben's arm.
"Goldie, let's go!"
An excited Raon was the owner of the paw. Eruhaben looked back and forth between Raon and Cale. Raon had explained everything to him, including the four years of hell and how he had met Cale.
Eruhaben responded coldly to the human and Black Dragon.
"I will do whatever I want to do. That is what a Dragon does."
***
A few days later, Cale arrived back at Harris Village in order to head into the Forest of Darkness and earn the Super Rock.
A knight standing guard greeted Cale.
"Young master-nim, welcome back."
"Thanks."
"The people who are always with you aren't here today. Looks like only a few people are with you this time."
The knight asked after seeing the people Cale brought with him. Cale casually nodded his head and responded back.
"Well, we're just resting here for a few days. Right, Hilsman?"
Hilsman, one of the people who came with Cale, was standing there with a blank expression before getting shocked at Cale calling out his name.
"Yes, yes! T, that is correct!"
The knight looked toward Hilsman with concern after seeing Hilsman respond with a pale expression. Cale's stern but warm voice reached the knight's ear.
"The Vice Captain seems to have gotten motion sickness. I thought he was only prone to seasickness, but it looks like he has carriage sickness as well."
"Ah, I see. Vice Captain-nim, are you doing okay?"
Hilsman nodded his head.
"I'm fine! A-Okay!"
Hilsman continued to speak once Cale patted him on the shoulder.
"And I will be guarding the young master-nim with this, this this-."
Hilsman could not continue to speak. His gaze headed over to the only other person who came with them. It was a handsome man with blonde hair.
Hilsman pointed to the blonde man with both hands after seeing that handsome man looking at him.
"This senior and I will be guarding the young master-nim. We will be moving around freely, so there is no need to follow us."
"Yes sir!"
The knight responded energetically before peeking at the person next to Cale. Everybody that Cale had brought over had a scary disposition, but this person seemed even more difficult to approach.
"Then keep up the good work."
"Yes young master-nim."
The knight and soldiers saluted Cale before watching the three people walk into the village. They were Cale, Vice Captain Hilsman, and the new person.
Cale clicked his tongue and started to speak to Hilsman.
"Why are you so nervous? Right, Eruhaben-nim?"
"Indeed."
Eruhaben looked toward Hilsman and continued to speak.
"Human, live life in peace."
Hilsman vigorously nodded his head. Cale naturally explained to Hilsman about Eruhaben. The majority of Cale's group was currently in Eruhaben's lair, with only three of Cale's group following him into the Forest of Darkness.
One was Hilsman, who would take care of all of the chores and necessities, while the other two were the Dragons.
"The human world has not changed."
The Ancient Dragon's words made Hilsman grab onto Cale's clothes like he had done when he had gotten seasick. Cale naturally pushed Hilsman's hand away as Raon started to speak in his mind.
– Super Rock! I am not scared of this supposedly Scary Giant Cobblestone! We have two Dragons!
Indeed. Cale was not afraid at all.
There was no way he could be scared.