In the continent of Aetheria, there existed 7 races that ruled their respective territories: the humans, elves, demons, monsters, titans, spirits and lastly the aetherians. Each race battled against each other due to greed while others fought for peace, but unity between the races was never an option.
In Whisperwood, a village situated between the border of the kingdom of Aethelhum and the territory of monsters. A young boy named Leo Kaelen found himself lost inside the Abyssal Forest after venturing inside to find herbs for his sick mother. In the moment of silence as he picked up the herbs, his attention was caught by a floating ball of mana that seemed to attract him and wanted him to follow.
"Hm?"
He sits down freezing in the cold night under a tree. Unable to calm down, his attention was then caught again by the same ball of mana he saw earlier. It went inside a dark cave, illuminating the pathway ahead. Driven by his curiosity, he continued to follow it and found himself in the den of a large dragon.
It had scales as dark as the shadows of the cave and claws sharper and larger than great swords, its eyes like-crimson jewels that glows in the dark. A surprise to the dragon, Leo did not back off from fear but even decided to go near it, an unusual behavior from humans.
"A boy that does not fear the darkness but approaches it with courage..."
The dragon said with a gentle and soothing voice, as it watches Leo touches his scales.
"Perhaps- it's possible, with this boy. Hm..."
As the dragon was about to finish its sentence, voices shouting for Leo could be heard nearing the cave. Leo looked at the dragon.
"Can I- see you again?"
Leo asked the dragon in hopes to meet it again but due to unfortunate circumstances, the dragon declined.
Before sending Leo away from the cave, the dark dragon touched his forehead with its claws before putting him to sleep and using magic to instantly move him to the cave's entrance before disappearing completely.
<<16 years later, inside the Luminary Academy. An academy inside Aethelhum's Crown, the capital city of Aethelhum>>
"And that is why dragons are considered to be the strongest species within the monster race. Anymore questions before I end the class?"
Its been 16 years since I last saw the dragon. I still vividly remember that memory yet it only feels like a dream now. The villagers said that they found me lying outside a cave, the same cave where I saw it. I guess there's no point contemplating about it now, dragons are mythical creatures with no evidence of existence.
Leo left his classroom and headed to the library as part of his daily routine inside the academy. Grabbing books related to the study of monsters and their species, from their cultures, society and life but not one... showed any study of dragons.
Leo sat down beside the large window and opened his books.
"Goblins, is a species that boasts great accuracy using thunderbolts and is known for their great jungle warfare-"
Leo closes the book and slouches down on the table
"I already know all of this..., why can't I find something new."
"There you go again."
"Hm? Lena?"
Lena Stone, my childhood friend from the village. She was the only person who listened to my whole story without cutting me off.
"Did you finish with your mana-engineering class?"
Lena grabs a chair nearby and sits down
The two of them chat together inside the library till the sun went down.
As the two moons rose up, the sounds of the bushes bustling and cracking caught Leo's as he heard it inside his dorm. He looked outside the window and saw a pale looking boy with a single horn on his head running as if being chased. Leo, recognizing what it is, grabbed his coat and ran outside of his dorm and exited the campus, heading straight to the woods where the boy ran.
Leo saw the boy sitting under a tree but he was shocked to what he saw. The boy was bleeding from a stab wound and was pressing it as hard as he can despite the pain he felt. Leo, rushed to his side and ripped a piece of his clothing and used it as a bandage for the wound. Not long after, people with torches were getting near the tree they were sitting in.
Leo, after taking a proper look at the men, immediately recognized the situation at hand. The boy he was holding was an ogre and the people looking for it were part of a cartel that sold slaves from different races.
"Those scumbugs, to think they'd go as far as even selling young ogres."
Leo covered the boy's mouth and waited for them to leave, soon after, a spear pierced through the tree, accurately piercing them both at their chest.
"Did you really think you could hide from us? Ah, what to do, now the product is now damaged."
The man grabbed the boy before dropping it down like waste.
"A-ahh"
The man heard Leo's stuttering voice and smiled, as if he found a new toy. Leo's seemingly dead eyes looked at the man before resting-
"Look at you, you survived a mana imbued spear and is still breathing despite piercing your lung."
Leo was already between the border of life and death yet he didn't hold to only just life nor death but held both, like a bridge that connects the two. There, he saw the young ogre he tried save but failed.
"I'm sorry, if it weren't for me..."
Leo tried to hold back his tears but the young ogre hugged him, losing his strength as streams of tears fell from his eyes.
The young ogre, started to seemingly fuse with his body as if uniting with Leo, inheriting his bloodline and traits of the noble ogre race that held the mighty blade of the east and Leo, as he held onto both his life and death, his beginning and end.
Leo always had his vision from the beginning, that was to unite every race and the suffering of each one but was hopeless because he lacked power, until he met a dragon that changed his fate. With the power of unity within him, he united both his life and death, his beginning and his end, a feat that defies the logic that the scholars established.
"Ah, he's dead. I thought he was something special. Hm? WHAT THE-!"
As Leo's unconcious body held the man's leg, he stood up, ignoring the spear through his chest. Leo opened his eyes, his eyes glowed like the crimson fire of the dragons in the history texts. He gripped the man's neck and unconciously severed his life, only leaving his death.