Black Cloak

Velios didn't know how to react because, quite frankly, he wanted to fight him as well, but he had promised to only fight if attacked first. The masses were confused by the words of the proud man who had suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. Not only that, but he then talked about a human being there. Impossible, most of them thought. There hadn't been an invader in forever, and it had never been a threat. And there was no human strong enough to break through the barrier, many dragons thought. Some didn't even have time to react to what had just happened. The dragon who had claimed that there was a human amongst the crowd had suddenly vanished from his place. With sword in hand, the dragon swung down as he was already in Velios' face.

A massive explosion was created, and the crowd was shocked, to say the least. The other dragons who were also close were flung away by the explosion. A cloud of smoke had formed where the dragon had struck down, and a body could be seen flying out of there as well. Weirdly enough, the other dragons were shocked to see that the apparent human that the dragon knight had found was not the one who was found getting flung away but it was instead that very same knight. The dragons who were even closer witnessed what had happened to the dragon knight's body. All of the armor was broken beyond repair, multiple cuts scattered across the whole body were seen, as well as a missing arm that flew elsewhere. The midday sun enhanced the glow of the blood, creating a beautiful and breathtaking scene as the dragon king continued to fly through the air before he smashed into a building a couple of blocks away.

As the smoke cleared, it became apparent that there was something that had caused it. Something too strong for it to be a human. But, the culprit was unknown as Velios had escaped before anyone was fully able to get a grasp on the situation. Even though it pained Velios deepest within him that he couldn't fight the dragon, he didn't want to risk having to leave the city before the so-called annual tournament was going to take place. If anything, he now had even more time to gather as much information as possible. If he was going to be serious, then he would need to find the best way to counter fire magic, the trademark magic for dragons. If only there was a library in this city. I heard that they had knight schools and stuff. Maybe there are some books there? Are there even books? Do dragons even know what a book is? Velios couldn't seem to stop asking himself dumb questions until he realized what he had to do. Since he didn't know anything, he would go into any big building that looks important to try and find (steal) anything that resembles books or has any kind of value.

The city was big, and it looked fairly developed. But there was no doubt about it; the dragons relied too much on their strength and magic while building. There were barely any well-architected buildings. Most of them looked like you had taken multiple squares and built around them just a little. There were, however, some buildings that were vastly bigger and more grandiose than the rest. But before sneaking into any of them, he had to find a way to disguise himself. Velios wasn't nervous about anyone finding him except for that one guy. No other dragon even saw what he looked like, and as long as he got a disguise, he would be able to walk freely even if they were to report that a human was within the capital. Velios only had one problem, which was that he had no way to get it.

The door was opened with a single customer walking in. The store was pretty empty, and there was a single jacked guy standing in the back. The customer who had walked in was looking around the store as if he were some baby who had never seen similar stuff before. "Can I help you?" The guy behind the counter watched, bored as he realized that it most likely was some random kid who wasn't going to buy anything either. "Do you understand me?" Velios asked hastily. "Of course, I understand ya', kid. What a stupid question. Is there anything you need from my store?" The store owner sighed as the customer kept getting distracted by different pieces hanging on the walls. "Oh, right. I overheard from some dragons that you do custom orders and pretty good ones too. I was thinking of getting a robe. Oh, and don't worry, I will provide the necessary material." Velios now only stood a few feet away from the counter. "Listen, kid. I just don't go around and give out custom orders for free, y'know. Even if you have material, it can get very expensive."

Velios walked even closer to the counter, staring up at him, right in the eyes. "Yeah, uhm, about that. I don't have any money right now, or the material, yet. So I just wonder if you could give some time until later today so that I have a chance to at least gather the material." Velios knew that it was a risky move but he had to beg for anything if he wanted to have it. "Huh? So you come in here and waste my time? Why are you even here if you don't have either? Get lost!" The store owner was pushing Velios outside before closing the door in his face. That... How dare he throw me out after I was trying to be polite to a monster? I don't care about anything else; I'll get thrice the amount of money and ten times the amount of materials just to see his jaw sink to the ground! Velios was yet again walking on the side of the street with barely any dragons there. He looked up at the sky to find a horde of inferior dragons flying through the air, the same way he had come from. Did I usually get this angry about stuff like this before? No matter... As long as I get what I need, I'll be done in just an hour's time. Then I can have as much fun as I want to... fun?

Velios had truly set his mind and body to accomplish the task at hand, and just under an hour later, he had come back and was now standing in front of the shop he swore to come back to. He opened the door while carrying a huge bag behind him. "Welcome-" "I'm back!" Velios put on a smile of arrogance and confidence. "You! How dare you come back to my... store..." He was truly left speechless at the sight he saw. It had been under an hour since Velios had left, and he was back with a bag big enough to almost not fit through the front door. "Hey, you piece of shit blacksmith! Catch this!" Velios threw the bag over to the store owner with just enough force that it landed directly in front of him. "T-This is... an adult's black scorpion's skin! How did you acquire it? And with so much precision..." The store owner was confused and left without words. Black scorpions are not only really rare but are also very hard to skin because of its hard body. For a dragon, it is still impressive to beat one of them solo at a young age, but the kid in front of him had a full bag of finely cut out pieces as if he had been slicing butter.

"Let's make a deal here. I don't have the money because I'm broke, but I want you to complete my order as fast as you can. I want a robe crafted out of the materials I provided. The rest of the materials left after the completed orders will be all yours. If I don't have the necessary payment on time, then you can keep the robe that you've made with no right of ownership to me. What do you think? Sounds like a good deal for you, no?" Velios was confident and was not afraid to let a small amount of mana around him be visible to further enhance his chances. "At least you know how to make a good deal, kid. I accept it." They shook hands with both smiling faces as Velios left right after. It was only after Velios left that the store owner lost his composure. He started breathing heavily while looking through the bag multiple times to discern just how many materials he had harvested.

The store owner pondered to himself. How did that kid gather so much? It would have been way cheaper to just buy a robe of good quality if he had the money. Heck, this is worth way more than just a robe; look at the amount of it! That kid was no less a surprise... I didn't notice it while we were talking, but his mannerism was strange. He kept on saying "dragons" as if he wasn't one himself. And that aura of his... how powerful is he really? I've seen a lot of people here in my life, but I've never seen anyone similar to him. But if he's not a dragon, then what is he? The store owner couldn't quite find the answer to the questions he wanted answered, but he knew two things. He had a client to impress, and he would get a ton of money either way. At most, it would only take a day to complete it.