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Chapter 9
“Is this the last one?”
Even just from what he had seen so far, Rian felt he could probably buy an entire territory.
There weren’t vast amounts of wealth or treasure as the world would imagine, but the rares alone held more than enough value for him.
Most of all, Rian was particularly fond of the healing hole that had restored his body.
While searching through the rares, Rian had lost all sense of time. He had no idea whether a day or two had passed. Whenever he felt tired, he would rest briefly, then get up again and continue exploring.
Passing through a corridor that felt like it might be the last, Rian wondered to himself what kind of place this could really be. But since everything that could appear had already done so, nothing came to mind.
Lost in thought, Rian stepped to the end of the corridor—and suddenly froze at the sight of an enormous creature filling his view.
“…!”
Was he so startled that he couldn’t even utter a scream or a whimper?
Before him, just a step away, stood a massive golden mountain of a being. Rian couldn’t bring himself to move a single step forward.
He never imagined a dragon could still be alive. Weren’t they supposed to have been extinct long ago?
The word death popped into his mind again, and Rian’s face turned pale as white.
Slowly, inch by inch, he moved backward. He needed to escape this place before those enormous eyes opened. That was the only thought in Rian’s mind.
“…?”
Yet, something strange happened. As Rian carefully retreated, his feet suddenly stopped moving.
Only then did he realize he had overlooked one fact in his surprise.
Taking a closer look with a clear mind, he noticed there was no movement.
At first, he thought the dragon might be asleep. But any living creature breathes. He should have heard its breathing or noticed some movement of air in its body.
But no matter where he looked on that massive body, there was no change. There were no signs of decay, but the likelihood was high that this was already a dead corpse.
Rian, whose feet had been pointing backward, moved forward again—but much more slowly than before.
Even a dead dragon is a dragon. The pressure emanating from such a colossal body was unbearable for a fragile human.
Rian felt a fear even greater than when he had clung to a cliff. Dragons were terrifying creatures, stirring primal human fears.
Time passed.
Eventually, Rian approached the dragon directly and stood still, like a statue, not daring to do anything.
He couldn’t bring himself to touch it. Even though the dragon’s nose and mouth gave no signs of breath, its lifelike appearance made him hesitant.
He thought about screaming but stopped, fearing what might happen.
“One, two, three…”
Rian took a deep breath and began counting slowly in his mind. If there was still no change after counting from one to a hundred, he decided he would summon the courage to act.
“….”
After a long, long silence, Rian stopped counting. Fortunately, nothing happened.
That it hadn’t reacted even after all that confirmed it was truly dead. Rian took a deep breath and began to walk slowly around the dragon.
Perhaps because he had concluded it was dead, his heart relaxed and calmness returned.
Still, he didn’t dare touch it. He carefully examined every part of the dragon with his eyes. From its golden body, it was clearly a Gold Dragon.
The two wings on its back resembled those of a bat, though far too massive to compare. Its long tail, matching the length of its body, was covered in sharp spikes. The golden, hairless, reptilian skin looked incredibly smooth.
Rian circled around the dragon and returned to its front.
What color were its eyes?
The dragon’s eyes were closed, as if shaded, which stirred unnecessary curiosity in Rian.
But a corpse would not open its eyes, and Rian did not have the strength to force the eyelids open. Not everything in the world can be known simply by curiosity.
Rian tore his gaze away and raised his hand slowly toward the dragon’s face.
What would it feel like? Smooth like a snake’s skin? How many people had ever touched a dragon besides him?
His heartbeat quickened as tension returned.
He swallowed hard and lowered his left hand onto the dragon’s face.
Then—
Flash!
The moment Rian felt the rough skin beneath his fingers, the dragon, which he thought was dead, raised its eyelids, revealing enormous golden eyes.
“Waaah!”
Rian screamed in shock, more startled than ever in his life.
At that instant, an indescribable radiance poured out from the dragon’s entire body, illuminating the surrounding area.
But it lasted only a moment. The dazzling light soon gathered at a single point. Suspended in the air above the dragon’s head, the glowing orb circled as if pondering something.
Rian, thinking he was about to be devoured, looked up at the suspicious orb with a terrified face.
Bzzzz…
The humming sound grew louder, and the orb’s movements became more violent.
Just as Rian tried to flee in despair, the orb shot toward him at lightning speed, colliding with his head.
Boom!
The crash sounded as if metal had collided. Rian’s body trembled violently, as if struck by lightning. The orb strained to enter his mind completely.
The more it tried, the more intense his trembling became.
Rian’s wide-open eyes gradually turned golden. Even his black hair changed, as if dyed, to gold.
When Rian’s hair and eyes were completely golden, the orb’s form pushing into his head vanished.
Bang!
At that moment, though Rian didn’t see it, the dragon’s body exploded into dust, scattering into the air.
Rian’s trembling body lost all strength and collapsed to the ground. He regained consciousness five days later.
It was noon, with the sun blazing. Though smaller, a small fireball burned in one of Rian’s hands.
“Lightning Ball.”
At Rian’s quiet voice, the fireball vanished, replaced by a similar-sized orb of lightning.
Sparking violently, the lightning in Rian’s hand looked ready to explode at any moment.
“Dragon speech magic is truly amazing.”
Rian stared at what he had created, fascinated. A golden shimmer occasionally glimmered in his eyes, lending him an aura of mystique.
Unbelievably, after losing consciousness for five days while exploring the rare, Rian had acquired dragon speech magic.
What was dragon speech magic?
Though some may have forgotten, dragon speech magic refers to magic used by dragons, which humans called “dragon speech.” Unlike human magic, which requires long incantations, dragon speech magic could be cast using only a single command word, earning humans’ awe.
And now, fifteen-year-old Rian could wield it.
“Seifried…”
Rian whispered the unfamiliar name to himself.
The Gold Dragon Seifried, the last dragon on the continent and the owner of the rare, had granted Rian the dragon speech magic.
Before even fully regaining consciousness after five days, Rian’s mind was flooded with magic knowledge, making things quite difficult.
Knowledge of magic he had never seen or heard of overwhelmed his mind.
Additionally, the structure of the rare—where things were and how they should be used—had entered his mind.
Thinking the rare exploration was complete had been a grave mistake. Secret areas and places only accessible by teleportation existed.
Most surprising, however, were the words left by the great dragon Seifried.
His voice, conveyed once with a gentle resonance, was enough to move Rian’s small body.
My name is Seifried. I am the last leader of the Gold Clan and will be known as the final dragon of this continent.
Whoever hears my voice, what species are you? Personally, I hope you are human. Humans, who live barely a hundred years, are weak, yet I have learned much from them.
Anyway, you must be very confused. I will explain the reasons now, so listen carefully.
As you may know, we dragons lived through long-standing conflicts among clans. Despite our strong bodies that live for thousands of years, we faced the shame of extinction.
As dragons that survived over centuries died off, I became the last dragon on this continent. Being solitary creatures, I was not lonely. But seeing dragon magic vanish was unbearable.
Thus, I made an important decision. I placed magic that can only be activated by a sufficiently intelligent being upon my body, so that my knowledge could transfer.
At first, I thought of giving it to humans or elves, but that would be too trivial. I did not want my final amusement to be so simple and boring.
So I gambled on fate. I removed all the magic in the rare, leaving only the door connected to the cliff open.
No matter how much I dislike magic disappearing, I cannot give my noble magic to anyone. If a destined being exists to connect with my magic, they can claim it according to fate.
I set a limit of five hundred years for this last magic. Beyond that period, the magic will disappear, and my body will turn to dust.
Currently, in the empire where my rare resides, it is the year 354. I hope someone will discover me within that time.
I wish I could teach everything I know, but the receiver would not be able to handle it. Thus, I limited it to magic and a few other things.
I leave these words to help you amid sudden confusion. I hope, even if you die, that the magic will not vanish.
You are now my successor.
After these words, Seifried’s voice faded, but it lingered in Rian’s mind as if engraved.
Moreover, the year 354! Rian could not believe his continuing luck.
It was now the year 853. If he had been a little later, he might not have found the dragon’s body—and certainly would not have acquired dragon speech magic.
Rian tried chanting any command word from the vast magical knowledge in his mind.
Though he struggled to accept that a human could wield dragon speech magic, hope was too great to resist. At first, nothing happened, leaving him disappointed.
But that disappointment was premature.
After a day or two of sorting through the chaotic thoughts, Rian understood the dragon’s breathing method. Dragons use their own breathing technique to absorb enormous amounts of mana and create a second heart—the Dragon Heart.
