[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Gained new skill: Battle Instinct (Novice)]
[Gained new trait: Dragonkiller's Resolve (Epic)]
Lucen heard the sound he had been waiting for ever since unlocking the leveling system, the sweet, sweet chime of a level up. As it echoed in his mind, he felt a surge of energy ripple through his body. His fatigue faded, his limbs felt lighter, and he could even sense a subtle increase in strength.
He didn't yet know what his new skill or trait did, but just hearing their names filled him with anticipation. Battle Instinct, Dragonkiller's Resolve. Both sounded like they were made for combat.
Without hesitation, Lucen brought up his status window.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Lucen Thornehart
Age: 12
Class: Gun Mage
Level: 4
Health: 120 / 530
Mana: 50 / 170
Aura: Locked
Mana Core: First Circle
SKILLS
• Bullet Creation – Active (Novice)
• Gun Creation – Active (Novice)
• Gun Knowledge – Passive (Novice)
• Marksmanship – Passive (Intermediate)
• Gun Kata – Passive (Novice)
• Alchemy – Passive (Novice)
• Battle Instinct – Passive (Novice)
TRAITS
• Thornehart Lineage (Dormant)
• Foreign Soul (Unique)
• Training Adept (Rare)
• Grit (Normal)
• Acting Adept (Rare)
• Dragonkiller's Resolve (Epic)
BLESSINGS
• Ashen's Vow – Duration: 21 Days (Varkun)
• Flame Forged Wrath – Duration: 36 Days (Kalderos)
• Veil of the Silent Moon – Duration: 26 Days (Velmira)
Every time Lucen saw his list of skills and traits grow, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. It was like watching tangible proof of his progress. Unfortunately, he still lacked detailed knowledge about what most of them actually did. What he knew came only from instinct, trial, and the occasional system prompt.
'I hope there's a way to upgrade the status window someday,' he thought. 'Something to show stat numbers or explanations. I'm pretty sure I have higher stats than a normal level four Gun Mage. Also, even after all that, my Aura hasn't unlocked? How much more do I need to forge this body to have my Aura unlocked?'
Lucen closed the status window with a blink. The world returned in full color, and with it, the looming presence of the dragon's cooling corpse.
Lucen looked at the young fire dragon's corpse and sighed. He wasn't expecting the dragon to be alive, and that they had to fight it.
In the game, the only thing left of the young fire dragon was a skeleton and its heart of ember. Now he had a giant monster's body in front of him, seeing this scene in real life was something else.
'I wonder if I can use the parts of this young dragon for weapons and armor like in those games I used to play back on earth... Now that I think about it, isn't my armor made from different monster parts? Hm, now I wonder what I should do with this.'
Lucen was deep in thought while looking at the young dragon's corpse. Harlik stood beside Lucen, arms crossed over a thick leather coat layered over chainmail, the collar lined with worn fur. A scar ran from his left brow to the edge of his jaw, long faded but unmistakably earned. His square jaw, ash-blond hair tied in a rough tail, and broad frame marked him as a man forged in battlefields, not banquet halls.
"So, Lucen, what should we do next?"
"Did you bring any horses?"
"We don't have horses with us, since no horse would go near these mountains, and now it's obvious why," Harlik responded while looking at the dead young dragon.
Lucen didn't want to leave something like the body of a young fire dragon lying around, especially since he felt like there should be a lot of things that could be done with its body.
It was already a miracle that they won, even though the dragon was already wounded and dying.
"Do you have any monster harvesting tools?" Lucen asked.
"We're mercenaries that were supposed to kidnap a young noble brat, of course, we don't have any tools for harvesting monster parts," Harlik responded while shrugging his shoulders.
"If we leave it alone, other predators will notice that the young dragon's presence is gone and come to eat his remains. I read that monsters eat more powerful monsters to grow stronger. This dead body will attract powerful predators in a while. It's a waste to give this valuable body to those monsters."
"So what do you want to do?"
Lucen crossed his hands while frowning. "Do you guys have any parchment?" The second he asked the question, Lucen regretted it since he already knew the answer.
"Come on, we're not some fancy group carrying expensive parchment. What's next, are you going to ask if we have a poet or a bard in our group?"
"... Fine, we need to stay here in this place, and secure it. We also need to send someone back to meet my father and tell him about the situation here. Asking to bring people to harvest the body parts of the young dragon."
"You want one of my men to go and meet with the Iron Duke. Ain't he going to kill anyone we send?"
"Aren't you guys my men now? Also, of course, I'll give the person going back something to identify you guys as my men. So, which one among you is the fastest?" Lucen asked as he scanned the mercenaries.
"That's Renz, a first mantle aura user; he's the fastest guy in our group. Hey Renz, come here, our new leader wants to say something to you."
One of the younger members of the mercenary group stepped forward. He was a young man in his early twenties. He had black hair, black eyes, a few tattoos on the side of his neck, he was wearing leather armor, and two combat axes on his waist.
"So you're the fastest. How long do you think it will take you to reach Ironhold?"
"If I start now, and I run, I'll get there in the evening."
"That's better than expected. Alright, here's what I wanted you to do. Take this sword and tell them that you have a message for my father from Lucen Thornehart."
Lucen unsheathed his sword, a finely forged weapon with the emblem of House Thornehart subtly engraved on the guard.
"This sword was made just for me. My father would understand when he sees this. Now, you just need to tell him that we defeated a young fire dragon, and we need skilled people who can properly harvest its remains."
Lucen handed the sword over, and Renz took it with both hands.
"Sure, new boss, I'll get to Ironhold and tell them what we've done," Renz spoke in a very casual way with a wide grin on his face.
"You better hide your face so no one can recognize you, especially those guys that hired you to capture me."
"Sure can, new boss. Hey, Jack, give me your cloak."
Renz shouted behind at the men behind, and a slightly bigger man than Renz removed his cloak and tossed it at him. Renz covered his body with the cloak that was bigger than him, and it was hard to see who he was wearing it.
"It seems you have everything you need. Did you guys find an alternative exit already?"
"Yes, there was one over there." One mercenary pointed in the area where the dragon was defeated. "Do you want us to remove the rubble in the entrance we came from?"
"There's no need to make more entry points. Do you know how to get back to Ironhold?" Lucen asked Renz, who responded by nodding enthusiastically. Between Renz and Lucen, it looked like Renz was the twelve-year-old while Lucen was the one in his early twenties.
"Then you better get going, the faster the better."
"Sure thing, new boss."
Renz, covered in Jack's cloak holding onto Lucen's sword, wrapped his aura around him and then sprinted away at incredible speed.
***
Once Renz was gone, Lucen told Harlik that they needed to secure the area since monsters might be attracted to the young dragon's dead body. Harlik nodded his head and ordered some of his men to scout the area, others will hunt, and others to find branches that could be used as firewood.
As mercenaries who have mostly been outside safe spaces, the group moved with surprising efficiency after receiving their orders. Seeing that only he and Harlik were left, Lucen asked a question.
"Do you have any healers?"
"Yeah, we did, and you killed one of them," Harlik responded half seriously, half jokingly. Lucen frowned and looked away a bit.
"... Right, sorry about that."
When Harlik saw Lucen's reaction, he was stunned. He wasn't expecting such a reaction. Harlik sighed as he patted the young man who was now his leader.
"Hey, kid, you already know that you just did what you had to do to survive. I'm sure no sane person takes life because they want to... You know, we mercs, we pretty much are always ready to die in some ditch somewhere. So don't think too deeply about it. Just fulfill your promise, and I'm sure Anice would forgive you."
"... Was that her name?"
"Yeah, she was a fine lass. She, like the others, didn't really want to do this job. It's as much my fault as it is yours that she's dead." Harlik's tone was flat as he spoke.
"Can you tell me the names of the others?"
Harlik looked at Lucen's eyes, which seemed to be holding back tears. Seeing Lucen like this just reminded Harlik that even though the kid was weird and acted beyond his age, he was still, in essence, a twelve-year-old noble brat. Harlik sighed before responding.
"They were Jeremy, Ike, Ruper, and Matt."
"I see..." Lucen responded and started walking towards the exit.
"Hey, where you going?" Harlik, who followed behind, asked.
"I plan to give your comrades, my now fallen men who died by my own hands, a proper burial." Lucen's tone was heavy but filled with resolve. Harlik scratched his head as his lips curved up a little.
"Then I'd better help you out, our little leader."
...
The group of mercenaries that came back from their respective tasks saw their old leader and their new leader digging, and behind them were the bodies of their fallen comrades. The group immediately understood what was happening and started helping to dig for their comrades' graves. They used what they had for shoveling, and some cut the nearby trees to create makeshift shovels.
One merc hesitated, shovel halfway in the dirt. He glanced at Lucen, then back at the grave.
"I thought I'd hate that noble brat," he muttered. "But damn it... Look at him. He's grieving for them like he's truly one of us."
It didn't take too long for them to place their bodies under the land and snow. Aside from the two bodies that were cleaned up a bit because of the iron bomb Lucen used, the other three looked like they were simply sleeping. The mercenaries started commenting.
One merc looked at the buried and Anice and muttered, "She never did like snow."
"Matt, they did say he wanted to at least die with a sword at hand."
Another merc came and smiled at the body of Ike, and spoke in almost a soft whisper. "Hey, Ike, you said that you wanted our little mercenary group to be known across the continent. I think with the new leader we might be able to do that."
"Matt, you should've been there, we actually saw a real-life dragon. Not only that, but we even killed it. Heh, who would have guessed our little mercenary group would become dragon slayers?..."
"Ruper, you did say your dream was to become a knight. That dream, I'll fulfill it for you."
While the mercenaries were saying their last goodbyes to their fallen comrades, Lucen knelt on one knee, placed his right hand over his chest, bowed his head, and spoke.
"I know it might not seem right of me to say this, since I was the one who killed them."
The mercenaries, hearing what Lucen said, became quiet, and all looked at him. They looked at the twelve-year-old child who had taken the lives of their comrades, but they could no longer feel any anger towards him.
Lucen lifted his head and looked at the mercenaries who just moments ago were his enemies and now his men.
The falling snow as the background with Lucen's gleaming armor, and his silver hair, coupled with his resolute red eyes, made him look like something out of a fairytale. A boy forged by battle, crowned by sorrow.
"I promise that their deaths will forever be a part of me... May Lady Velmira guide them to their rightful places."
Snow drifted silently around them, blanketing the graves in white. A soft hush fell over the world, as if even the mountain held its breath. And in the center of it all, a boy knelt not as a noble, but simply as a person, as Lucen Thornehart.