Chapter 9 – What to be alerted of

The village of Nonius was in chaos as the gathering of people, including Thomas and his guards ran into different directions to escape the flames from the dragon. After some minutes, Thomas settled down behind a random house with his guards who looked even more scared than him.

“That… That was a freaking dragon.” He screamed in fright as if he could see the creature right before his eyes. The guards who had a duty to protect him were even more scared as they shrieked in fright.

“And.. I think it wanted to save the impersonator.” The guard suggested with a terrified look. Thomas simply ignored the speech of the guard and began to walk out from the back of the with a serious face.

The guards quickly followed after him, still scared of the past incident.

***

“Royal highness, I request for a meeting with you and the other council of elders for a very important discussion.” Thomas could be seen standing before a high podium that was made accessible with the help of the marbled floor that was beautifully coated with a diamond-made carpet.

“Thomas Raynard.” A vibrating and bold voice echoed into the huge, lit room that proudly illuminated its royalty-made aura, “What discussion that I aren’t aware of? it isn’t like a dragon appeared or something else happened.”

“Exactly your highness. Your suspicion are true.”

“Ehnn, what do you mean?”

“A dragon made its appearance in the village and rescued a man who was supposed to be executed.”

The king who sat on a high throne on the podium looked dumbstruck as his butt stood from the royal seat and began to climb down the stairs with an odd silent. He stood in front of Thomas after a long minute with a jaw-drop.

“You should be aware of the law that is bound to all the village of this kingdom. The penalty for falsehood is death by stoning.”

“I’m fully aware of that! The village, including the village can’t believe our own eyes. So I won’t blame you if you don’t, because I would’ve never believe it too.” Thomas’s serious face even made the king’s blood boil with fright as the dragon’s name resounded in his head.

“Oh! If that’s true.. The council of elders with gather in the round table tomorrow.” The king shivered and quickly began to climb up the stairs with a hidden look of fear. Thomas in the other hand prostrated with a bow and walked out of the place with a gentle smile.

____

Meanwhile, in the tainted lair, Bel and a humanoid shadow stood before each other. The shadow figure looked in pain as his eyes roamed around his body that were oddly dark, yet a little bit transparent.

This shadowy figure is Leo, he looked stressed even with his facial expression that looked enrage even when he wasn’t fixed on that emotion. He turned to Bel who transformed into his husky humane figure.

“This is how you look like? So basic, yet to petrifying.” Bel commented with a demonic smile and he began to move his hands through the black shapeless and thick air.

“What was that? You didn’t even give a warning!” Leo retorted and backed away from Bel who looked stunned for a brief second, “And.. And why do I look like this.”

“You’ve been fire-graded. Which means from now on, all your physical stats, possessions of your ability and its capacity has increased by ten fold.”

“Ehn!”

Leo could only exclaim to the sentence while staring intensely at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. You should be rejoicing as I’ve made you more stronger than a first-class human.”

“What if I try them out?” He lit up in excitement and some seconds later a golden bull appeared in front of him. The creature that was half his size looked ugly and terrific as a huge pair of fangs escaped its lips that totally ruined its appearance.

“What in heaven’s name is this? This is not a bull for heaven’s sake.” Leo immediately complained as the supposed bull stood still, and it’s eyes fixated on his shapeless body. Some seconds later, the animal exploded into pieces of golden dust.

“You aren’t that Leo anymore, look at your terrifying gaze. This creature must be terrific too.”

“Well that’s dumb! But, I’ll be making my moves on the village this night.”

“Isn’t that too quickly. At least, you should take a break from today’s incident.” Bel had a proud smile as he slowly made his way into his dark lair.

Leo immediately transformed into his natural appearance in the blink of an eyes, “Bel, were those eggs I saw in your lair?”

“You ask too many questions for your own good. Ignore whatever you saw and ready yourself for the future.”

Leo had a suspicious grin as his palms began to rub his pale beards. He was certain that those stone-like objects were eggs and yet, Bel strange ignored the question.

He began to walk out of the cave after a long period of time. And when his body crossed the waterfall that guarded the cave, it was already sunset. Leo summoned a huge bird the next minute and threw a handful of stone to it therefore solidifying its formally plain texture.

****

The sunrise in the village of Nonius came with terrifying cries and agony as the pathways, or rather streets, were littered with bloodstains and corpses that looked like they had been wildly attack by a harden-hearted beast.

Although, some of the villages had heard collusion in the streets, they were too lazy to some out of their shelter or they simply thought it was a simple disagreement.

The news of the strange death quickly reached the ears of Thomas and he looked frightened as he imagined that it was an attack from the dragon. Especially from the huge claws cuts the villagers claimed dissembled the corpse.

Luckily, the meeting with the elders in the round table was sure and a solution may be found. He rushed into the bathroom to do the necessary things and only came out many minutes later. He dressed up in a pair of leather clothing and coated it all with a long reddish coat.

He walked out of the room immediately, ignoring a young beautiful lady, and a sleeping baby in a small crib in the room.