: Threat

System: "Immediate quest: Defeat the monster or escape. Failure means death."

Kaelan says I know that much as well but the real question is how?

Kaelan felt sweat dripping down his face. He grabbed a thick stick from the ground, holding it like a weak sword. "I won't let you hurt him!"

The monster roared and charged. Kaelan barely dodged to the side. The ground shook when the branch smashed where he had been standing.

"Kuro, stay back!" Kaelan shouted, but his voice cracked with fear.

Kaelan tried to strike the monster's leg with his stick, but it was like hitting a rock. The monster didn't even flinch.

With a growl, the monster swung its club sideways. Kaelan ducked just in time, the club brushing his shoulder and knocking him off balance.

He rolled and narrowly avoided the next blow that shattered a tree trunk.

Breathing hard, Kaelan backed away. The monster raised its club again—and just as it was about to strike him directly, a fireball slammed into its face.

BOOM!

The creature reeled back, roaring in pain as smoke rose from its scorched face. It staggered and dropped to one knee.

A cloaked person stepped out from the shadows, sneering. "You cannot possibly defeat my companion with such a weak attack."

The monster roared again and began charging after them, eyes burning with fury.

Kaelan grabbed Kuro in his arms.

"Hold on!"

He sprinted through the trees, dodging roots and branches, while the beast thundered after them.

Kuro twisted around in Kaelan's arms, firing small fireballs to slow the monster. Some hit, some missed, but none were strong enough to stop it.

Kaelan gasped as they burst out of the forest, finally reaching the edge of their home. He slammed the door open and pushed Kuro inside.

"Go through the back door and hide! Run if you have to!"

Kuro hesitated, eyes full of fear. "GO!" Kaelan shouted, turning around.

He stepped outside and faced the monster alone. The cloaked figure approached slowly behind it, a dark smile on his face.

Kaelan stood his ground, pain and fear mixing in his chest. The monster raised its club again and slammed it in to the Kaelan chest which knocked him down unable to get up.

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed behind him.

Kuro came back standing in front of kaelan protecting him he looked fierce and angry at the same time. Kuro's eyes turned red and he unleashed a massive beam of fire.

It struck the monster squarely, burning a hole clean through its chest. The beast let out a final cry and collapsed with a thunderous crash.

The beam had also caught the cloaked person in the blast. Flames licked at his robe as he stumbled backward, coughing blood.

He fell to one knee and looked up at Kaelan with hate. "You may have defeated me... but you won't survive.

The great kingdom of Thornvale has many elite hunters and warriors and With your current power, you are nothing in front of them.

His voice turned to a curse. "May you burn in hell for protecting this anomaly and becoming the ultimate enemy of humans in Elarion."

He collapsed and took his final breath.

Smoke rose around them. The air smelled of burnt wood and ash. Kaelan stood frozen, staring at the destruction.

"Kuro… you…" Kaelan whispered.

The baby dragon turned, tears still in his eyes, and ran to Kaelan. "Papa!"

Kaelan knelt down, ignoring the pain, and hugged Kuro tightly. "You saved Papa… Thank you…"

System: "Bond increased. Kuro's power still limited to 1%."

Kaelan looked around at the burnt trees and sighed. "You're really strong, Kuro… but let's be careful next time. We don't want to burn down the whole forest."

Kuro tilted his head, looking worried. "Papa…"

Kaelan smiled despite everything. "It's okay. Papa understands. You did it to protect me, right?"

System: "...Cringe."

"Shut up," Kaelan muttered, laughing a little.

He lowered his guard, breathing heavily. "May your soul rest in peace," he whispered.

Then he noticed the man had been holding a bag. Curious, Kaelan knelt and opened it—and his eyes widened at what he saw inside.

There were many different things which looked like some tool which he was unable to use anyways because of the lack of knowledge and there was an old scroll as well which looked like a map.

Kaelan slowly unrolled the old map he had taken from the cloaked man's satchel. The paper was rough and dusty, its corners torn with age.

Strange symbols and faded ink covered the surface.

He noticed seven big regions marked across the map. Each had its own unique crest. One looked like tall mountains, another like crashing waves. A third had a tree with long roots stretching across the land.

His eyes stopped on the tree symbol because the name of the region written was "Thornvale," he whispered.

That was the name the cloaked man had said before collapsing. So this was one of the seven kingdoms.

Kaelan kept looking. In the corners of the map, away from the kingdoms, there were other marks— Nine of them.

They didn't look like crests. They looked like... beasts.

One of them had wings and horns. It looked just like a dragon. Another one was harder to understand —like a mix between smoke and scales with many limbs or heads.

The rest were even more confusing. He stared at the dragon symbol for a while. His heart beat a little faster.

He looked at Kuro, who was curled up beside him, sleeping peacefully after using all that fire.

"I wonder... is this dragon connected to you in some way?"

Kuro gave a soft puff of smoke from his nose, as if answering.

Kaelan looked at the map again. The symbols made his chest feel tight. There was so much he didn't know.

Seven kingdoms… and now these strange beasts? He carefully folded the map and tucked it into his bag.

"I'll find out," he whispered. "No matter what." and protect kuro even if it kills me.

They sat together for a while, breathing heavily. Kaelan's ribs still hurt, but the fear faded as he held Kuro close.

Kuro curled up in Kaelan's lap, his small body warm and comforting.

Kaelan whispered, "We'll get stronger together, okay? Papa will protect you, and you'll protect me right."

Kuro nodded softly and Kaelan decided to to visit the kingdom.