Crisis and the Dragon's Shadow

As Linley explored the old house, the setting sun squeezed its last rays through the windows.

Dust danced in the shafts of light like countless tiny sprites. Holding a broom taller than he was, he swept diligently, stroke after stroke, unwilling to miss any chance of finding an antique. But the house had stood empty for too long, and a thick layer of dust had accumulated. Every sweep stirred up a cloud that made him choke and frown.

The Baruch Clan's ancestral home had once been rather imposing, but it had grown increasingly dilapidated over the years. The roof leaked, the walls peeled, and many rooms stood empty, piled with old furnishings no one used. Linley rarely came here. Ever since learning how valuable stone sculptures were, he had wanted to explore the old house to see whether he could find anything worth money and ease his father's burden. Now it seemed he had been too optimistic. If the idea had occurred to him, it must have occurred to the Baruch Clan's ancestors as well.

As he searched and swept his way to the old bookshelf in the western corner, something unexpected happened.

There was no telling how long insects had been eating away at the bookshelf, which was already on the verge of collapse. The moment Linley's broom touched its lowest shelf, it gave a teeth-grating creak. Then the whole bookshelf swayed like a drunk before crashing down toward him!

Startled, Linley instinctively jumped back. Splintered wood, scattered old books, and all sorts of unidentified odds and ends clattered across the floor, raising an even bigger cloud of dust that blinded him.

"Cough, cough, cough!" He waved away the dust, feeling distressed-not over the broken bookshelf, but for fear that his father would blame him. He collected himself and began clearing up the mess.

First, he moved the larger pieces of broken wood aside, then gathered the old books with their tattered covers and yellowed, brittle pages. As he continued sweeping, he reached a spot near the threshold and suddenly stepped on something hard.

"Hm?" Linley stopped, assuming it was a scrap of wood he had swept over. Annoyed that this pile of junk was wasting his time, he ground his foot down hard on the "piece of wood."

But instead of the expected sensation of wood breaking, he felt something unusually hard pressing painfully into his sole.

"What is this thing? Why is it so hard?" Puzzled, Linley moved his foot and bent down for a closer look.

A small, blackish object lay quietly in the dust beside the threshold. It was ring-shaped and covered in a thick layer of dust, utterly inconspicuous. Mixed in with the wood chips earlier, it had been impossible to spot.

Linley picked it up. It had a little weight to it, unlike a light piece of wood. Using a sleeve so dirty its original color was unrecognizable, he rubbed the little black ring hard several times, wiping away the loose dust on its surface.

Now he could see it a little more clearly.

It was black all over, made of a strange material that was neither wood nor stone. It felt both warm and smooth yet hard, a peculiar contradiction. It was a ring. The band itself was unadorned, but on its face, there seemed to be an extremely indistinct engraving, its lines twisting and coiling together.

"What is this supposed to be? An earthworm?" Linley brought it close to his eyes and studied it. The pattern looked pitifully crude, the engraving so clumsy that even the town blacksmith's apprentice could probably have done better. The ring was bare, set with neither sparkling gemstones nor precious magic crystals. It looked like nothing more than a worthless old trinket.

Yet, for some reason, as Linley held the Black Ring between his fingertips, a strange fondness welled up in him. It was as though this unremarkable little thing shared some inexplicable connection with him. Perhaps it was because this was his only find after spending so long "treasure hunting" in the ancestral home?

He shrugged and tucked the ring into his clothes, thinking he would find a cord to wear it on. It was getting late. He had to hurry to the training assembly and not keep Loa waiting too long.

Meanwhile, at the blacksmith's shop on the other side of town.

Loa had just quenched the last repaired farm tool, sending white steam billowing up with a hiss. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the sinking sun, estimating that it was nearly time to meet Linley.

Over the past several months, he seemed to have poured all his emotions and energy into day after day of relentless practice. His swordsmanship had become increasingly refined. His Gale Thrust was so fast that it left only a blurred afterimage, and he could precisely pierce whichever leaf he wanted among five or six falling leaves. The "qi" within him had grown stronger, surging ceaselessly, ready at any moment to break through the thin barrier to becoming a Rank 3 Warrior.

After Old Jack's passing, the town's warmth had wrapped around him, thread by thread, keeping the cold smithy from losing all its warmth. But the flame deep within Loa had never gone out-to grow stronger, live forever, and control his own destiny. After losing his closest family, that resolve had been tempered into something colder and harder.

He put away his tools, washed his face, picked up the iron sword he had polished to an ever-brighter shine, locked the shop, and headed for the training ground.

The setting sun stretched his shadow across the flagstone road, and the evening breeze was slightly cool.

Almost at the very moment Loa approached the center of town, Wushan Town's peaceful evening was utterly shattered.

First came hurried, disorderly, immensely heavy running and panting from the main road to the east, rapidly drawing closer. It was not the stampede of beasts, but more like... a group of people fleeing for their lives, their steps stumbling, accompanied by the clatter of metal armor plates and suppressed groans tinged with blood.

Then an even more terrifying sound joined this prelude to flight.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Distinct, rhythmic tremors traveled through the ground, each one like a massive hammer striking the hearts of every resident of Wushan Town. Those footsteps were incredibly heavy, accompanied by the rough, scorching breaths of some enormous creature. Every step seemed enough to make the distant woods tremble.

"Hurry! Run!"

The terrified shouts finally reached him clearly, filled with despair. Loa's gaze sharpened. In an instant, he slipped behind a roadside tree, held his breath, and looked toward the sounds.

At the end of the road, clouds of dust billowed as seven or eight figures rushed toward him in utter disarray. They wore badly damaged leather armor or chain mail, stained with mud and dark red blood. They carried all kinds of weapons-sabers, swords, axes, and hammers-and their faces were filled with exhaustion and panic. This was a mercenary squad, but they had no semblance of formation now. They were in full rout.

Behind them, within the dust, an enormous, heart-stopping silhouette gradually emerged.

It was a terrifying creature Loa had never seen and could never even have imagined!

Nearly six meters tall, it had a streamlined body covered in hard, fiery-red scales mottled with brown, their metallic surfaces reflecting a cold sheen in the sunset. Each stride of its two powerful hind legs covered an astonishing distance. Its forelimbs were relatively short, but ended in terrifying claws that curved upward like enormous sickles, glinting coldly. A long tail swung behind it, maintaining its astonishing balance as it ran.

Most terrifying of all was its head, packed with sharp, closely set teeth. Its mouth was slightly open, exhaling scorching white vapor that smelled of sulfur. And seated steadily on the back of this terrifying creature was a person!

It was a man in deep blue mage's robes embroidered with intricate runes in silver thread. He looked to be in his thirties, with a sinister face and eyes cold and greedy. He held a short staff set with a blue gemstone. Rather than urging his enormous mount to full speed, he pursued the fleeing mercenaries at a leisurely pace, with the cruel amusement of a cat toying with mice.

A Velociraptor! And a tamed one, being used as a mount!

The illustrations in books had sprung to life before him.

Loa's breathing nearly stopped, his heart pounding wildly. The scene before him lay completely beyond the bounds of daily life in Wushan Town. The beast's primal, oppressive presence, the cold elemental fluctuations surrounding the mage, and the mercenaries' overwhelming air of blood and death combined into a brutal, vivid picture-this was the world outside the town, a cruel world where strength ruled and people fought to the death!

The mercenaries had already reached the town center, trying to use the surrounding houses as cover. The mage riding the Velociraptor seemed to lose patience, a cold smile curling his lips.

"Hand it over, and I'll give you a quick death." His voice was not loud, but magic gave it a penetrating power that carried clearly to Loa's ears. "Is a mere Depelo Shadow Diamond worth losing your lives in this backwater?"

"Pah! Harris, you shameless bandit! You want to force us to sell a treasure worth a hundred thousand for seven hundred gold coins? Dream on!" a burly, red-haired mercenary with a scarred face roared back. Waving his battle-axe, he called to his companions, "Brothers, let's fight this bastard to the death!"

"Obstinate fools." The mage named Harris shook his head, murderous intent laid bare in his eyes. He lightly tapped the Velociraptor's neck with his short staff.

"ROAR-!!!"

The Velociraptor let out a deafening roar, its sound waves visibly spreading outward and shaking leaves from the tree where Loa hid. It suddenly accelerated, its enormous body displaying an incongruous agility, and caught up to an injured mercenary at the rear in only a few strides.

The mercenary looked back in terror, only to see a gaping maw packed with sharp teeth rapidly filling his vision.

"No-!"

Crunch!

The sound of shattering bones made one's scalp crawl. The Velociraptor violently jerked its head, and before the mercenary could even finish screaming, its terrible bite tore his upper body apart. Blood and severed limbs flew, and the thick stench of blood instantly spread through the air.

The Velociraptor chewed a few times and spat out several broken pieces of armor. Dark red dragon saliva mingled with blood dripped from the corners of its mouth. Its crimson eyes swiveled and fixed on its next target.

The battle-or rather, the slaughter-began in blood that evening in Wushan Town.

Loa tightened his grip on his sword, his knuckles turning white. He could feel the earth-yellow Magic Crystal Core inside his clothes growing slightly hot, while the "qi" within him circulated faster beyond his control. Fear-yes, faced with such a terrifying beast and a mysterious mage, he felt instinctive fear. But deep within that fear, another, stronger emotion surged-longing, a longing for truly formidable power; there was also cold scrutiny as he examined this sudden, deadly conflict.

Who was that behind them? Captain Hillman and Linley!

He crouched low like a startled wildcat and, using the shadows of the surrounding houses, silently moved toward Hillman and the others at the edge of the battlefield. He wanted to know why this disaster had descended on Wushan Town, and just what that Depelo Shadow Diamond was, to make a mage pursue them a thousand miles to kill them. Too much time had passed; he could no longer remember exactly what it was.