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~Chapter 19~
The Sleeping Dragon
Calix, sleeves rolled up, cleared debris without hesitation.
He moved like he knew exactly what he was looking for.
Rena only snapped out of her trance when he lifted the last plank with a thud.
“Calix.”
He looked at her and softened, as if remembering she was there.
“Shall we go?”
She silently took his hand. Beneath the rubble lay stairs descending into darkness.
Standing atop the collapsed roof of her former home felt strange. She stared at the sealed door below.
“If you want to turn back, we can leave right now.”
“…Would you prefer if I didn’t know anything?”
“Honestly, yes.”
But he shrugged.
“Still, I know you wouldn’t listen even if I tried to stop you.”
She saw the frustration hidden behind his casual words but stepped forward regardless.
Magic pulsed from beyond the door—woven seals like spiderwebs.
“Can you unlock it?”
“Yeah. I… learned how before.”
She removed her signet ring, pressed it to the seal, and channelled her magic. The ring’s engraved crest lit up, filling the seal’s missing piece.
A brief thrill ran through her as the seal dissolved and the door opened with a faint thud.
Calix swung it wide open, torches along the walls lighting one by one to reveal endless stairs spiraling down.
“Shall we?”
She swallowed hard and took his hand.
As they descended, Calix led confidently.
“Have you been here before?”
“…Yeah. Just once.”
“What was it like then?”
“Same as now. Dark, narrow, deep.”
The deeper they went, the denser the magic became—humid and heavy, like walking by a summer river.
Doesn’t Calix feel this?
She alone felt dizzy from the pressure. Troxia mages were born with strong magic sensitivity. Perhaps that’s why she could endure.
Eventually, a wall disappeared beside them. Calix warned softly:
“Be careful from here.”
Rena stepped out and froze.
They had entered a vast chamber—large enough to hold dozens of elephants, taller than a ten-story building.
How could such a place exist beneath their estate without her knowing?
In the center lay something massive, colorless yet multicolored, white yet black—an unearthly being.
The oppressive aura it exuded made her tremble in fear and awe.
She realized:
All this powerful magic came from it.
“…Calix.”
Her trembling voice reached him.
“What is that…?”
Calix turned, expression unreadable.
“That, Rena… is a dragon.”
A dragon.
Why… why is a dragon here…?
It lay utterly still, like a mountain carved from stone.
“Dragons… are ancient beings. Living masses of pure magic.”
Calix descended further, unfazed, while Rena followed in a daze. Soon they reached the ground.
Up close, its enormity overwhelmed her senses.
It felt as if it only half-existed in this world—both alive and dead, draining all magic while being its source.
Magic flowed from it, and returned to it.
“Calix… don’t you feel this magic?”
“Hertrio family members can’t sense magic well, Rena.”
“The whole family?”
“More like… not at all.”
He glanced at her with concern.
“Are you okay?”
Only then did she notice her body trembling.
This wasn’t rejection. It felt like…
“Attraction.”
Suddenly, she blurted out:
“I want to touch it.”
“What…?”
Before she realized it, her feet were already moving.
“Rena, wait.”
Calix grabbed her hand, but she shook him off.
Normally, she would never approach something so dangerous.
