Increasing Danger

(A NOTE FOR THIS CHAPTER, the beginning of this chapter is a large speel of information. As boring as this is, the rest of the chapter after that is very important.)

A solid week of training had passed. Ragan had taught him a massive amount of information. He had learned more wind magic as well as some general magic. Apparently, there wasn't just elemental magics. Spells like Telepathy, for example, had no specific element to them. But then again, Telepathy was an extremely rare spell that only dragons and extremely strong mages could learn.

Due to continuously using his spells and practicing, his spells were also leveling up quite quickly. He had also managed to get his core up to the first layer. His core was no longer just a foundation. Ragan had been shocked by his constant growth and quick learning. As time went on, Emre began to think it was merely due to his intelligence stat.

Regardless of whether it was him or his intelligence, he was a quick learner. Learning magic almost felt easier than learning math in high school. Unlike school where a teacher would slap a whiteboard and tell you to memorize a formula you know nothing about, magic was far more hands-on.

His wind magic was a lot more useful than math would ever be in his old life and yet it was still easier to learn. Emre had scoffed at that fact.

Ragan had also been teaching him about herbs as well as informing him about the world. It was easy to use the excuse that he was a young dragon to get Ragan to tell him about the Kingdoms and other things.

The only problem during this time is that he had been gaining barely any experience. He was learning spells, but spells were useless if he didn't use them. The only time he was able to use his magic and gain experience for it was when Ragan returned from a hunt with an injury.

He had been nagging Ragan to take him hunting with him but Ragan said that until he had learned some patience he wasn't allowed to come. As such, Emre had shut up about hunting for a few days at this point. At least he had learned more about the experience he earned from healing.

Small cuts, small bruises, or scrapes only gave him 50 experience. Large scratches, bites, or large bruises from small animals like chickens or goats gave him a whopping 100. Deep bites or small gashes gave him 500. Large gashes or deep punctures like the scratches that had been on his side and hind leg would give him 1000. As for life-threatening injuries like the soldiers from Silvis's he only knew that aiding in healing them gave him 1000. He wasn't sure how much he'd get from fully healing them himself.

He also found out that Ragan has a bad habit of getting harmed in some way while hunting. And the animals on the farm seem to hate but also love him. It was hard to tell. He got scratched by the chickens and pecked every time he went into the pen. The goats would find some way to catch him off guard to headbutt his legs. Emre could only sigh as Ragan yelled at them.

Luckily, Ragan had his own personal healer right now. Emre was just worried that one day he wouldn't return from a hunting trip. The other day he returned with a gash from the same corruption that had beat Emre up. But this time he had killed the dark creature.

Through all these little scrapes and bruises every day, aside from a bite and the injury from the corruption, he actually managed to level up twice and get another set of skills due to reaching level 20. Mostly radiant magic which would be nice against the dark creatures. His current status looked massive now.

[ Titles, Other-Worlder, Tirian's Angel, Frog Slayer, Destroyer of Corruption ]

[ Name, Emre ] [ Radiant Faerie Dragon ]

[ Lvl, 20/30 ] [ Exp, 500/1050 ]

[ Stats ] [ Stat Points, 0 ]

[ Str, 11 ] [ Dex, 14 ] [ Int, 18 ]

[ Con, 11 ] [ Wis, 13 ]

[ Skills, Swimming [Lvl 6], Climbing [Lvl 3], Venom Bite [Lvl 8], Venom Spit [Lvl 2], Claw [Lvl 4], Ambush [Lvl 7], Perception [Lvl 7], Stealth [Lvl 7], Light [Lvl 1], Healing Touch [Lvl 3], Light Bolt [ Lvl 1], Radiant Flame [ Lvl 1], Healing Breath [Lvl 1], Radiant Flame Breath [Lvl 1], Dragon Detection, Telepathy, Circle of Protection [Lvl 1], Radiant Claws [Lvl 1], Dispel Magic [Lvl 1], Dragon Aura, Wind Manipulation [Lvl 7], Wind Burst [Lvl 4], Wind Arrow [Lvl 5], Wind Wall [Lvl 3], Wind Blades [Lvl 2], Shield [Lvl 2], Light Arrow [Lvl 1], Radiant Bite [Lvl 1], Alarm ]

[ Titles, Other-Worlder, Tirian's Angel, Frog Slayer, Destroyer of Corruption ]

He had many new things in his status. Most were the wind spells and skills that he had learned. The spells he had learned at level 20 were Light Arrow, Radiant Bite, and Alarm. Alarm was supposed to be able to allow him to set an alarm on an object through touch and if anything walked past it within 10 feet, it would go off in Emre's head. He had yet to test it while he was worrying about how long Ragan was taking.

Emre was worried that an even stronger corruption would appear and Ragan wouldn't be able to fight it off so he wanted to be able to hunt with him as soon as possible. He had also asked about the time Ragan and his company had rescued a large village from an invasion of these creatures.

Apparently, their most common forms were animals, but there were also zombie-like corruptions that were made from humans. They were all classified as dark creatures, however. Emre knew that the Voice called them corruptions though.

Dark creatures were created by the Goddess of Despair. Their touch burns upon contact and any injuries they cause become infected almost immediately. It is very hard to treat. However, despite this, they are not known to be very strong creatures. That is why Emre was able to kill one in practically one attack.

The problem with an invasion is the huge number of them. While they may be weak, in high numbers they are hard to handle while also trying to avoid touching them or getting injured in any way. These creatures only sought out the despair and pain of others. Their creation was disgusting and despicable.

Humanoids also do not know how they are created or who created them. This means that Emre or even a small number of people were the only ones who knew that it was the Goddess of Despair's work.

Emre was wondering what allowed the Goddess of Despair to be created in the first place. He was adamant about believing that Tirian wouldn't create a being like this so what allowed her creation? Maybe Tirian wasn't as all-powerful as Emre had thought she'd been.

She was able to give him a body and a fragment of her voice, but at what cost? She had also taken his soul from one planet to another. Did this cost her power, or was she simply able to do it? Emre thought the latter was very unlikely. If that was the case, what was stopping her from getting rid of the corruption?

Why was it that the only thing the Voice could tell him about the creature was that single word?

Too many questions that could not be answered. He had not told Ragan anything. That would be too much risk. As good of a mentor that he was, Emre was still too unsure about his whole situation to tell others. He wanted to talk to Tirian before anything. He had to hope that the shrine in the Gaia Kingdom capital was the right place to do so.

There were six Kingdoms on the continent and surrounding islands in total. The Gaia Kingdom was a Kingdom run by humans. Although anyone could live here, the majority of the population as well as the nobility were human. The Gaia Kingdom was known for its strong army yet was still unable to push the Alama Kingdom from the northern half of the Evagor Mountains.

The Alama Kingdom, located in the central north area of the continent, is a Kingdom of many races. The Kingdom is run by all types of races and the current Queen is a half-elf. Despite keeping the Gaia Kingdom from pushing the borders, they are seen as the weakest Kingdom merely due to the royal bloodline not being pure. It resides between the Gaia Kingdom and the Laovi Kingdom.

The Laovi Kingdom, located northwest, is a Kingdom of mostly halfling races. While their territory is not the largest, the Laetus Mountains right next to their capital are known to be full of rich materials. A lot of trade goes through them and due to this they are known as the richest Kingdom. Their dwarf King is never seen without being covered head to toe with jewels of the highest qualities.

The westernmost island is the Amar Kingdom, it is separated from the main continent. They are a quiet Kingdom full of races that are close to nature. Legend says that a True Dragon is friends with the elven King and watches over the land to make sure balance remains. As such, none of the other Kingdoms have dared try to mess with them for years and not much else is known about them.

The Rean Kingdom, located southwest, is a land of mostly desert. While the northern part of their territory is cooler their capital resides surrounded by sand dunes. It is impossible to sneak up on them. Their capital is also famed to be the largest of the capitals and is ruled by a rather dashing beast-person.

The Soralai Kingdom, located southeast, was known as the most aggressive Kingdom. While they haven't attempted to start any wars, it is a mostly mountainous land of orcs and goblinoids. The southern half of their territory is a vast savannah.

While not a Kingdom, the Isles of Lakos are their own free area. It is a cluster of islands residing northeast. The waters are covered with pirates and ruled by a Grand Captain. The Grand Captain's over the years have refused to claim the title of Kingdom for the Isles of Lakos. They believe that they do not need to be a Kingdom to be able to protect and claim the islands because an army would not even be able to land on one of their shores.

There were also parts of the continent that were not claimed by a Kingdom or faction. The Dead Lands and the Night Desert. Starting in the center of the continent a wretched darkness began to spread and kill nature, this place is known as the Dead Lands. While people are able to travel through it, it is considered extremely risky and barely anyone has survived the trip.

The Night Desert is a desert covered by an eternal night with sand as black as coal. The land was said to be infected by the Dead Lands. Even so, in the middle of the black desert sits a Free City. The city is run by one person and the title for this leadership position was simply called the Powerful One. The title is not passed through bloodline but instead, passed through power. As such, the ruler of this Free City is never a ruler for long before being replaced by someone stronger.

It was a lot of information that Emre kept lingering in his head. He didn't intend to leave for a while, but he wanted to go to each place at least once in this lifetime. Plus the Dead Lands had fully perked Emre's attention. He wondered if corruptions resided there…

Emre was bored and worried even as he recalled all this information. Ragan had been taking too long. His long tail was tapping on the cushion in irritation as if he were a cat. The increasing appearances of corruptions that Ragan had mentioned kept popping into his head.

He internally felt that he should be out there right now looking for them to destroy them. What use was a radiant dragon if it did not get rid of darkness? He felt like a child confined to his room after being scolded by his father. The house was suffocating but he did not want to disobey Ragan's requests.

Today Ragan had told him to stay in the house because he had seen traces of a relatively large group of creatures pass through one of his trails. It wasn't safe for Emre to be outside if there was a pack roaming around the area. Ragan had left to find out what they had been.

'Ragan, can you hear me?' Emre called out to him with Telepathy.

If Ragan was within 100 meters of the house he would be able to respond through the mental connection. Emre felt nothing and no voice responded. Emre cursed inwardly. He was going to disobey Ragan.

Quickly, Emre stood up and raced toward the door. He touched his finger to the base of the door and cast Alarm. If Ragan returned while Emre was gone, this spell would be able to tell him if he came through the door.

Emre lifted up his arms and used his small hand to open the door and scoot outside. He made sure it was closed before immediately taking flight. If he was flying he would be fine.

He flew quite high before focusing on his Dragon Detection. He scanned the forest for an abundant amount of wind mana as he began to fly over the trees. Ragan had to be farther than 100 meters from the house so he would have to fly around quite a bit.

Gliding along the treetops he was scanning for wind mana while also occasionally calling out with Telepathy. He flew around the house in a circle with unease. His golden eyes had been scanning the horizon so quickly that he almost missed an abnormal flow of mana after 10 minutes of searching.

It was off quite a ways but he urged the wind to help him and his speed burst forward. He quickly came into range and called out with Telepathy.

'Ragan! Are you there?'

Finally, a voice responded back within his mind.

'Emre, what are you doing? Where are you?' Ragan's voice sounded irritated.

'I'm in the sky nearby. I'm sorry I disobeyed you. You were taking too long.' Emre stated as he slowed his speed.

'Come down here and help me then. If you're going to be out here you mind as well be useful.' He sounded tired.

Emre immediately lowered toward where the wind mana was the most abundant. He could hear the sounds of snarling and the rushing of wind. Ragan was being attacked by something.

He dove toward the sound and burst through the treetops. Emre's eyes widened at the view. There were five black creatures. Each of them had smoke flowing from their bodies. His worries were right. It was corruption. They all took the body form of wolves but still held the signature four red eyes.

One darted toward Ragan's ankle and he quickly blew the wolf-like corruption back with a hard gust of wind. Emre wondered why Ragan wasn't just killing them. These corruptions should be weak like normal, right? They were even smaller than the first corruption Emre had killed.

That was when he noticed Ragan's awkward positioning. He was hunched over, gripping his side. His sword was missing from the sheath and his bow had been snapped. Just what the hell happened?

Emre felt anger bubble up in his chest and he threw himself into the nearest beast. His claws were lit up with radiant light as he sunk them into the back of one of the corruptions. It screeched in surprise and tried to twist around but Emre, who was just a bit larger. He had already latched his teeth onto its head.

He released the venom through his teeth out of instinct before using a gust of wind to boost him back into the air, his claws tearing at the dark creatures back as he lifted off.

His hands and mouth burned but the wolf corruption was whimpering as it tried to escape the burning brightness that was left like a flame upon its back.

'Don't be so reckless.' Ragan scolded him with a harsh voice.

'I know that.' Emre responded with a snarl as he circled overhead. 'How injured are you?'

The corruptions were now paying attention to him as he let out a hiss. The one who had been scratched with his Radiant Claws was still dealing with the flames burning the smoke away. These wolves were definitely weak so how did Ragan get so injured?

'My side and my leg.' Ragan answered quickly as he shot a wind arrow toward one of the corruptions that were looking up at Emre.

It barely noticed and dodged. They were fast. Weak but very fast.

'There is a bigger one. It ran off after I hit it pretty hard but it might come back.' Ragan winced as he shifted his gait to react to one of them snapping its black teeth at him again. 'I exhausted most of my mana on it. It's stronger than the one that injured you before.'

Stronger than the panther-like one? Emre had barely left a scratch on that one, but the big one around here was stronger? That must be how Ragan got injured. Emre wouldn't be able to kill it if it had reduced Ragan to this state.

He was going to have to make this quick. Get rid of the small ones before the big one returns. That was the plan. If these were weaker than the one he had killed before, then this should be a breeze. Not only were his mana stores better now, but he also had new spells.

Two beads of light slowly started to shine on either side of him. With the sun setting slowly, the bright light easily caught the corruption's attention again.

'Distract the one on your right.' Emre told Ragan as the beads of light slowly sharped into arrows as his wind arrows did.

Ragan quickly reacted and shot a burst of wind at the corruption on his right as Emre told him. It moved to jump back and the moment it lifted into the air Emre released one of the arrows. With it in the air already there was no way for it to dodge. The Light Arrow inevitably hit its mark.

Unlike wind which he had to work hard to form at his will, light and radiance were already in his grasp. Just like his venom, radiance was within his innate nature. He wasn't just a Faerie Dragon. He was a Radiant Faerie Dragon. Using radiant magic was like cutting a hot knife through butter compared to using wind magic.

The corruption didn't get the chance to land on its feet as the arrow pierced into its body, the impact sending it tumbling. The radiant point of light that was sticking out of its ribs burst into flames and began to greedily devour the darkness despite the creature already being dead.

[ Corruption slain, gained 1000 experience ]

[ You leveled up ]

[ Gained 3 stat points ]

He might not feel powerful against Ragan, but against these corruptions? He was nothing but powerful. Radiant magic was the bane of darkness. His being was a bane to corruption. He wanted nothing more but to get rid of these things. Everything about them felt wrong.

Even if killing dark creatures wasn't Tirian's intention for putting him in this world, he would still do it. He didn't think it had anything to do with the fact that he was a radiant being now. It was the fact that these creatures would seek to harm others no matter what. If Emre wanted to not only heal but also protect, these things needed to disappear from this world.

His past life didn't matter anymore. What mattered right now is that his mentor, the one man who did not care for the fact that he was a rare being and was just helping Emre out of the good of his heart, was injured and needed help. Whether it was a real pack of wolves or these corruptions, he still would have fought them.

His second arrow shot out. The corruption had gone in for a bite on the leg Ragan was favoring. Emre would not let it. It screeched as the radiant arrow struck its hindleg. Even if it didn't kill it right away, the flames that quickly started to engulf its body would.

[ Corruption slain, gained 1000 experience ]

[ You leveled up ]

[ Gained 3 stat points ]

Swooping down he landed with a small thud beside Ragan and bared his teeth at the corruptions. He had killed two. There were three left, along with the possibility of a large one. Just these weak ones even gave him so much experience.

"Emre, what are you doing? You have a better advantage in the air!" Ragan yelled.

'Shut up, I'm trying to focus.' Emre spoke back as he stamped his paw onto the ground in front of Ragan.

A flash of light appeared under his foot and quickly spread out as one of the corruptions came in for a bite at him. A circle of transparent golden light shot up toward the sky, surrounding both him and Ragan. It was his spell Circle of Protection.

The corruption that had leapt forward suddenly released a whimper as it barely skidded to a halt before touching the radiant barrier. Emre took this as a chance and darted forward, glad for his high Dexterity stat.

The corruption wasn't able to back up in time as Emre latched his teeth around its neck, easily able to leave the Circle of Protection at his own will. It didn't need to be a strong bite. It didn't need to be strong because his teeth suddenly lit up. The light only lasted a second as they sunk into the creature's neck. Radiant Bite.

The creature yelped as the light dug into its skin. Emre released it just as quickly as he grabbed it before backing back into the Circle of Protection. The light from his bite lingered right before its throat burst into golden flame. Emre silently wondered why the hell his attacks looked so violent and explosive. Of course, he didn't get the time to think before he boosted himself back into the air with a gust of wind.

[ Corruption slain, gained 1000 experience ]

[ You leveled up ]

[ Gained 3 stat points ]

The corruptions were getting cold feet. They were just down to two now but they couldn't attack their original target because doing so would injure them in return. As such, they had to switch targets. They started to growl and snap their teeth at Emre who was purposely dangling above them just outside of reach.

Perfect. They were jumping up in one spot, desperately trying to reach him like rapid animals. The frightening part was that they knew that they couldn't touch the Circle of Protection. That meant that they had some intelligence. Maybe it was just the wolf in them, but he was just glad they didn't know his spells at least.

He was sure they weren't expecting this. Besides he was running low on mana so this would be a perfect ending. He angled his head downward and opened his maw. He felt the warmth rising up from his throat and a bright light began to form at the opening of his mouth.

Radiant Flame Breath. The golden flame shot from his mouth and engulfed the corruptions who had been still snapping at his toes. They screeched in pain and attempted to roll upon the grass while wailing. His radiant fire did not burn the grass as the screams died down and the hot fire dissipated into the air, leaving nothing but another pile of ash.

[ Corruption slain, gained 1000 experience ]

[ You leveled up ]

[ Gained 3 stat points ]

[ Corruption slain, gained 1000 experience ]

Emre let out a sigh but quickly looked around for a moment. He could not see anything larger approaching through the dark forest. He turned around just as his Circle of Protection ran out of duration and faded out.

Ragan had sat down upon the ground, still clutching his side as he wheezed in pain.

'Move your hands.' Emre's voice was harsher than he meant.

Ragan hesitantly moved them to reveal a disgusting, black oozing gash. This was definitely life-threatening… Emre didn't want to touch it and make things worse so instead, he opened his maw. A soft golden mist blew from his mouth like blowing into a pile of glitter. It was his first time using Healing Breath.

The mist that landed on the wound quickly caused the blackness around it to disappear and reveal a nasty-looking, deep red gash. It wasn't bleeding anymore though. His Healing Breath wasn't as high level as his Healing Touch so Emre gently touched the outside of the wound. He could hear the sharp inhale of Ragan before he cast the spell.

The deepest part began to reform slowly and Emre cast it again.

[ Healing Touch has leveled up ]

The message popped into his head as Ragan grabbed his arm. "That's enough for now. Heal my leg before the big one comes back." It hadn't healed enough to give him experience yet...

But Emre could only nod and move to heal his leg as well. The light ate up the blackness and the smaller wound healed much better than the gash in his side. Ragan quickly stood up and tested the pressure he could put down.

"Good enough, let's go." Ragan muttered before starting toward the house.

[ Healed a Human, gained 100 experience ]

Looks like that was enough for his leg. Emre followed alongside him quietly, his heart still beating like crazy from the adrenaline. His golden eyes kept looking out around them for any signs of something coming for them, but there was nothing for now.

They walked for quite a while and Emre could hear the increasing ragged breaths of his mentor. His brows furrowed and he lifted his head and opened his maw but Ragan stopped him.

"Don't. Save your mana just in case."

Emre reluctantly closed his mouth and glanced around once more. They were almost home. It should be fine… They walked another few minutes as the clearing came into view. They were coming from the side of the house. Emre could see the training area in the backyard and the white flowering tree in the front.

Nothing was here. The chickens were quiet in the coop and the goats were sleeping in their little barn. They made it home without any more incidents. Emre couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as they walked through the door.

The alarm he had set let him know that someone entered the house and he almost laughed. Well, at least he knew exactly how it worked and what it sounded like.

Ragan stumbled forward and plopped onto the couch with a loud raspy sigh. Emre hopped up next to him and immediately cast Healing Touch on the gash that had started to bleed again.

He had to heal it three times, even with his spell now at level four, to get it to the point where the Voice notified him that he had healed a human.

[ Healed a Human, gained 1200 experience ]

[ You leveled up ]

[ Gained 3 stat points]

[ Level requirements met for new skills ]

[ Skill gained, Beacon ]

[ Skill gained, Levitation ]

[ Skill gained, Divine Oath ]

[ Skill gained, Divine Eye ]

The wound had been bad enough to give him that much experience. He glanced at his hands that had traces of Ragan's blood.

'Take me hunting with you from now on.' Emre spoke softly for the first time tonight.

If there was something powerful enough to injure Ragan like this then it was too strong for him alone. Ragan had been strong enough to fight off an invasion of these things in the past. Even if he was a bit older, this surely wasn't just some stray dark creatures wandering around.

If the monsters were getting stronger and more abundant… that would mean the Goddess of Despair was as well. Something was happening. Something bad.

"Sounds like a good idea." Ragan had been looking at Emre who was staring at his own hand. "I'll be more careful next time."

At those words, Emre looked up at Ragan's exhausted face. He needed to level up quickly. If he were stronger by now Ragan might have allowed him to come with him sooner. If he were stronger they wouldn't have to worry about the corruptions.

He was just six levels from level 30. Once he was a Lesser Dragon he was sure his power would increase exponentially. Dragons were always known to be more powerful than humans. He just needed to learn as many spells as possible and focus on strengthening his mana core. A stronger core meant for stronger spells.

'Get some rest.' Emre said before hopping off the couch.

He headed to his room and sat neatly on the bed. Time to focus on forming the next layer of his core.