"You must be cursed; I can't think of another explanation," Nerida sighed as she saw the pathetic state the bedridden Sirius was in. The continuous dangerous situations he kept falling in had given a permanent pale color on the boy's drawn face that made him look even more unhealthy compared to back when he was skinny.
He was definitely the unluckiest person she had ever known; Nerida had never heard about anyone else who had to fight for his life whenever he walked away from the village. He was certainly a difficult person to befriend as he seemed to have a natural gift of worrying the people who cared about him.
"It is one thing to encounter a demonic beast, but you even met an exiled person that we hadn't had news for years. We didn't even know whether he was alive or not. What's next? Do you plan to challenge Chief for his position?"
"Have mercy on me. It is already hard for me to endure the pain of my injuries. I can't handle your mockery too. W
"So that's why the demonic bear came so close to the village. How strange? Why didn't it take the stone and return to the mountains but stayed to protect it here? Even if the magic stone attracted other beasts, I dare to say they would be less dangerous than some of the warriors of the tribe; no need to mention the Chief and the Great Shaman," the boy wondered aloud. Was it because of the beast's low intelligence, or there was still something in the cave that discouraged the bear from leaving the area?"You have to thank Ajamu and his gang for that," the girl who was listening to him with amusement gave him suddenly an unexpected answer that crashed all the possible scenarios that had began to formulate in his mind."Ajamu? That's not a name I expected to hear," the boy remarked, surprised."Do you recall if anything unusual happened that day? Before the fight with the demonic bear, I mean," Nerida didn't proceed to explain immediately but addr
"Him?" the boy was genuinely surprised upon hearing the girl's answer. Sirius still remembered the Great Shaman's firm refusal to teach him anything relating to magic when he asked him once more the day he woke up from the coma.Did the man begin having second thoughts because of what happened later on that day? The two of them had an argument when the Great Shaman told the boy about Apollyon's past, and since then, they hadn't reconciled yet. Naturally, the reason Sirius was sulking hadn't been because he was angry for his enemy's sake. Although he felt some pity for him, he still hadn't forgotten how cruelly Apollyon had treated him on their first encounter. He had almost killed him. The boy was just afraid. Afraid that the coming awakening day could make him the next Apollyon. Afraid of losing the family and friends he had managed to acquire.No, if it was anything else, that geezer really might have changed his mind, but it's a different story when we are
"Isn't it obvious? If our bloodline was pure, wouldn't we have the characteristics of a dragon?""It's not like I have seen a dragon before, but considering the tattoos on your bodies, the image of the dragon I have in my mind shouldn't differ much from reality," the boy nodded in thought.What was the reason behind the peculiar human appearance of the Dragon tribe's people? Sirius had once thought of that question. The reasons he had concluded were far from complicated, however. Since there were four tribes with four different bloodlines residing in this island chain, the constant relations between the tribes might have triggered the change in their traits. As the years passed, their bloodline continued to deteriorate until their appearance looked nothing like their ancestors'.Another scenario was that their whole species had evolved gradually. Weren't mammals originally organisms that lived in the seas before moving to the land to find food? Supposing t
I don't have extraordinary things to remember about my life. Always the same monotony. Sometimes I stay in the house and help my mother with the household chores, and sometimes when I am bored, I play with my brothers, the only way that had remained for me to interact with the outside world. An everyday routine, that's how I would describe my life. And the turning point that led to this result was that fateful day, a curse disguised in the form of a blessing.My hair changed. They acquired my mother's awful color-- the color of a person loved by destiny. My eyes changed. They could see further, not in the distance, but the future. They became the eyes of the tribe, a power that made my position even higher than my father's. And finally, I changed. Destiny gave me wings, and from a mere caterpillar, I became a butterfly, a sacred existence that had to be worshipped and be protected by all in the village.I became afraid. I suddenly found myself having
Sirius's surprise was genuine and not for an unreasonable reason. Despite meeting with the girl regularly, the boy didn't remember doing anything remarkable that could induce Sarah's romantic feelings. It wouldn't be false to say that the two of them barely chatted at all during his visits to her house. Unless it was what the people call ''love at first sight"?The boy shook his head instinctively upon thinking this. He hardly had any commendable assets compared to the boys at his age. He was weak and timid, completely different from the warrior's paragon idolized in the village. As for his external appearance... Well, after gaining some weight and muscle, his looks had visibly improved. However, if he were to stand beside someone like Ajamu or Anders that looked like the reincarnations of heroes from fairy tales, he would be glad if he would be labeled as just average.If only I were taller,he thought with a pained smile. His biggest complex regar
"That's why I want to avoid any possibility of being involved with that guy," Sarah looked with a pleading expression at the boy, knowing her request was quite excessive. Although she knew that even without the boy's help, her father would probably refuse the tiger tribe's proposal anyhow, she didn't want to take a risk. She wanted to limit the possibility of any mishap's appearance, or the anxiety wouldn't allow her to sleep peacefully in the nights.There were also some selfish desires mixed behind her request, but Sarah judged the boy didn't need to know about them. Although Sirius's words had appeased the worries in her heart about his and Nerida's close relationship, it wouldn't be a bad idea to exploit the situation to discourage any annoying insects that might have strange intentions about the boy. Not to mention that her chances of getting closer to him would greatly improve if she stabilized her position as his fiancee."We are bound to be engaged
Dragon Island's forest had always been a place filled with numerous dangers. Although the area surrounding the village could be considered safe thanks to the Dragon Tribe's warriors, even someone with their strength wouldn't venture deep into the forest without making extensive preparations first. Someone had to be strong to survive in that kind of place. Plenty of formidable beasts existed on the island, some of them being so powerful that not even the Great Shaman or the Chief would dare to provoke unless they had no choice. That was why the forest had a rule that all the island's lifeforms were following regardless of their species or strength in order to cross the forest as more peacefully as they could: Move like a ghost, make as little noise as you can."This forest is annoying as always," a diminutive man with long silver hair muttered with annoyance as he pulled his sword from a wolf lying down near his feet. Since the battle's sound kept on echoing from b
For Sirius, the next several days had been way too exhausting. Because of his injuries, the boy had been forced to neglect his training for more than two weeks. No sooner had his body started to get used to the daily exercise than he encountered Apollyon. Sirius really wanted to express his frustration somehow. He felt as if his whole progress had regressed to zero. And the worst thing of all was the insufferable boredom of training alone. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about this. As Anders and Nerida had to prepare for the sparring competition with the Tiger Tribe, they were training these days singly. All the people who would participate in the competition were training feverishly, with Sirius being the only person at his age that didn't really have anything to do. Luckily, Sarah would sometimes join him when she finished her chores early, but as she was also busy helping the village's women organize the welcoming feast, the two barely spent any time together. At le