[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED AN ABILITY: GAZE KILLER]
The words stood in front of him, and it startled him. He turned to Ash and said:
"I didn't kill the dragon."
They heard footsteps at their backs.
"I did," said a female voice.
Rhett quickly spun around, facing a lady in a temple gown, her hair plaited into a ponytail, and a bow firmly held by her left hand. She was stunningly beautiful, her face a white tan, her eyes almond-shaped in a way with lashes that were dazzling, a normal nose, and small lips.
"Why did you kill it?" Rhett asked the lady.
She smiled. "Where are your manners? You should have firstly asked for my name before anything else. By the way, I'm Dhamsel, and I'm a dragon hunter."
Ash stood up, the ache in his legs almost gone. The other dragon slayers hiding in the cave all came out and began to run to where Rhett was.
Rhett ignored Dhamsel and went over to the dragon, staring at it for long and then touching the arrow that was in it.
Gingerly, he removed the arrow and noticed that the mouth of the arrow, which was supposed to be blood-stained, wasn't. Instead, it was covered in blue, thick liquid stuff.
"You ought not to have killed it," Rhett said, turning back to face Dhamsel. "It didn't attack us for no reason; perhaps it was in trouble or—" He stopped and sighed, facing back and looking at the dragon again.
Dhamsel shrugged and walked over to the dragon, almost shoving Rhett aside.
"You amuse me," she said. "Aren't you guys supposed to slay dragons? I mean," she scoffed, "dragon slayers."
Rhett ignored her and went aside. The dragon slayers had now reached where they were, startled expressions on their faces.
Rhett took the slayer pen out of his pocket and gently bit the end. His stats appeared:
NAME: KING RHETT
RANK: DRAGON SLAYER
Slayer Hub: Level 1/10
[XP - 80]
[XP Needed to Next Level: 400]
Abilities: [GAZE KILLER]
Artifacts: [NONE FOR NOW]
He sighed as he kept the pen by his side pocket. Turning back, he said out loud:
"I only got 20 added points. Damnit! It'll take ages before I enter the next level."
Dhamsel shrugged and smiled as she crouched near the dead dragon. "You could have gotten more if you had slayed the dragon. What you did a few seconds ago was really daft. I mean, I was lurking patiently, waiting for you to take a shot, and you literally shocked me!"
One of the dragon slayers stepped forward: "Don't talk to our king like that!"
Rhett raised a finger: "Let her be."
Dhamsel chuckled: "Oh, you're king? I honestly didn't know. Where's your crown, then?"
Rhett looked bemused. "My crown? Well, it's on my head." He touched his head and paused, looking at the dragon slayers.
"Where's my crown?" he asked them.
"I think it fell," said Ash. He turned to two of the dragon slayers. "Go help the king look for his crown."
The assigned slayers scampered away in search of the crown. Dhamsel focused on the dragon, her hands going over its body. The hands soon stopped after some long seconds, it seemed they had struck something. Suddenly she quickly pulled out a tiny object beside the toes.
Rhett, Ash, and the other dragon slayers stared at her with curious eyes. If anything, they felt bemused. Dhamsel, the thing she removed firmly clutched in her hand, stood up and hid it in the pocket of her gown.
"What's that?" Ash asked, curious.
Dhamsel let out a cute grin. "It's a secret of our clan."
Rhett furrowed an eye. "Secret of your clan? Which clan?"
"The dragon hunter clan," came the reply. "We're called Shaiiyeru normally in our native language, but since that'll be too much for your understanding, you can call it the dragon hunter clan."
Ash stroked his beard. "Sounds oddly familiar, I must say. Like something I've heard a long...long time ago, probably back in my youthful age."
Dhamsel smiled. "Well, we know about you guys and how you're the weakest slayers in all the clans. And also how you guys didn't have a king for many years. Honestly, I'm really shocked I'm seeing one."
Ash scoffed and gave a quick glimpse to the sky, a weary disdain on his face.
"Well, we do now," Ash began. "Meet our new king. KING RHETT! The first king in this sombre period and the only king we've had with his name."
"Rhett?" Dhamsel said, squinting her eyes. "Sounds Earth-like. He's from Earth?"
Ash wanted to speak but was interrupted by Rhett. "Yes, I am. Any problem with that?"
Dhamsel shrugged. "Not really, only that you guys are always weak. I hope that you're different because, from what I've seen, you seem to be the same. Sparing this dragon's life—a menace—because you thought it was cute or innocent, or whatever."
Ash stepped forward. "Again, don't talk to our king like that in our presence."
Dhamsel scoffed. "King, yeah, KING! Well, I'm a princess. I'm the daughter of the king of the dragon hunters."
Ash stopped, moving backward a bit. It felt awkward for him at that moment as he had just been 'shut up,' literally.
The sound of footfalls intervened as the two dragon slayers sent to bring the crown came running at them, one of them waving the crown which he held in his hands.
"I found it!" he said out loud. Reaching toward Rhett, he wore the crown on his head.
Rhett adjusted the crown on his head and faced Dhamsel. "Do I look like a king now?" he asked.
Dhamsel shrugged. "Almost." She looked at the sky. "It's getting late. I must return to my kingdom."
"Can we come along?" Rhett asked, to the disdain of Ash, who was looking at him disapprovingly.
"I don't think so," Dhamsel said. "Perhaps not today. Perhaps next time."
"Then how will we see you 'next time'? I mean, we literally can't," said Rhett.
"Come to this place, hit your swords on a tree, and I'll come!" she said as she did a backflip and then was on the branch of a tree. On the branch, she swung herself up and went into the leaves, Rhett and the dragon slayers not seeing her anymore.