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LUSHERA sensed something had changed the moment she stepped foot on Mount Kugus. There was a pressure, like being bound head to toe. A tension, like having a blade to her throat.
Lightning filled the sky, and it almost felt like it was aiming for Lushera’s back.
It wasn’t just that the entire mountain was brimming with dragon aura, it felt like one chain binding the mountain had been undone.
With the mountain located between Setrayu and Martgarz, the power naturally present here was normally held back by the dracovitae in both countries, but something was different now.
Something terrifying coiled beneath the ever-so-thin layer of earth. Lushera felt she might just melt and disappear if her footsteps broke through.
Far up the mountain, near Kaphal’s nest, was what looked very similar to an arena. It was a bowl-shaped space with stone shored up around it to form “spectator” seats, with figures of red and blue arranged there, human in shape only.
“You came. I wondered if you might run,” said Shurei as Lushera approached, his teeth bared in a grin.
“I’m not running.”
Shurei may look like an old man, but there was nothing frail about him. There was something filling this human-sized body to near bursting, something that concentrated the power filling the mountain even more.
The princely human form of the blue dragon stood beside Shurei, looking as displeased as ever.
His two attendant-like dragons in human form sat in the spectator seats, while Kaphal’s main body sat curled around and clinging to a jutting shard of rock as she watched Lushera uneasily.
“We of the Flight of Shilneer Ocean have made a contract with the leader of the Flight of Mount Bermarl. If the Flight of Mount Bermarl acknowledges you as one of their own, then we will help,” said the princely blue dragon curtly. “What happens after that is none of our concern. So long as Kaphal doesn’t give meaning to your name, you will have no connection to us. This is a favor we do for the leader of the Bermarl dragons, and whatever happens after is for them to deal with.”
In the end, the deal was made with Shurei. The prince spoke with such finality that she knew he gave her no further thought.
But apparently that wasn’t enough for him. He stepped closer to Lushera, looking down at her with eyes shining tumultuously like a swirling tide. “I expected you to come in with some superficial scheme, but perhaps you have nothing.”
He must not have sensed any change in Lushera even after eyeing her up and down. It wasn’t like she was going to get stronger in just seven days. Lushera herself knew there wasn’t suddenly some bright light just over the horizon now, but even so, she wasn’t the same Lushera she was seven days ago.
“I’ve made my progress,” she said.
“Hmph… You seem to believe that, at least. Then show me what you’re made of. I hope you don’t embarrass the Bermarl king for his kindness.”
He seemed wary and indifferent. He wasn’t expecting much from her. Perhaps that was a fair assessment of the Lushera of seven days ago, she was just someone trying to be more than she was.
“That’s enough, Blue,” said Shurei. “The mountain is going to become busy soon. We can’t stay long here.”
“I know.” The blue prince backed down, once stepping back, leaving a ripple in the air.
The next thing Lushera knew, he was sitting high atop an outcropping, looking down at her.
“…So, what do I have to do for the test?” she asked.
“Right. First, take off your clothing.”
“What?!” Lushera wrapped her arms around herself, as if to defend her body. What he said wasn’t a joke though. He was entirely businesslike. “Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-why do I have to be naked?!”
“I will never understand humans and how embarrassed they get when removing a single piece of cloth.”
“But why?!”
“That’s armor, isn’t it? Even if it is, it’s pointless in the test I’m about to give you. And as a dragon with his pride, I would be pained to see an item of such great value lost for no reason. Put it somewhere safe.”
What he said wasn’t some clever justification. He was utterly serious.
Lushera wore her adventuring outfit to this test. Shurei didn’t seem to like that.
Dragons were more intelligent than people, or so it was said, but that didn’t mean they were without their own desires. In particular, they had an incredibly powerful drive to collect and hoard treasure, and that was a general trait that all dragons shared. They had an eye for discerning what was valuable and rare, and they loved those items.
They even lamented the loss of something valuable even if it wasn’t their own, almost like they hoped to meet again someday in their long lives.
“A-Ah… I appreciate your concern,” she said.
“The ring too. You don’t often see a ring that grants you the ability to speak Draconic. Take it off.”
Lushera didn’t remember mentioning the ring to him. Maybe Kaphal told him…
Or really, he probably just guessed based on Lushera’s actions. She shouldn’t underestimate his insight.
She really didn’t want to get undressed with people watching, but she gritted her teeth and started removing the armor. She threw it all in a pile and placed it at the edge of the rink, then set Giselle’s Ring on top.
This armor is incredibly sturdy…but even it might end up destroyed in this test?
The adventuring outfit with its eye-catching red was made from the pelts of variants from the mountain. It might look like some unconventional, inexplicable costume, but it held great power. It would take an attack of great strength to even scratch it. It was without a doubt one of the most powerful sets of armor in the entire world.
And Shurei just said it might be lost for no reason.
Early summer sun and a hot breeze brimming with dragon aura hit Lushera. She felt them on her bare skin. The day was warm.
Or rather…it was hot.
It felt like an abnormal heat rose from the earth, like the soles of her feet would burn as if walking across sun-scorched sands. Lushera had an abnormal resistance to heat and fire, so how was she feeling this?
Shurei looked at the clothing and ring Lushera set down and waved a finger. An invisible force picked them up, pulling them towards the stones encircling the area. It was like where she put them was still too dangerous.
“Shall we begin?” he said.
“Ah!”
With just his short statement, the ground roared. The earth puckered and roiled, like a cursed swamp releasing noxious fumes. It came with a raging heat that seemed likely to burn Lushera’s very soul.
“The humanoid races are inferior creatures who must use the power of these so-called dracovitae to calm the strength of heaven and earth to survive. Dragons are different. Crimson lava continues to flow in great rivers in lands brimming with the power of fire. In our flight, you are only considered an adult when you bathe yourself in lava. That same lava would take the life of a hatchling whose scales and plating are not yet developed.”
Red light spilled out, filling the area. The ground sunk slowly into glowing lava, transforming the area into a burning pool. Only the ground where she stood remained, so small she couldn’t take a single step.
“It will be painful for your human body, but survive,” said Shurei, and the ground beneath Lushera cracked, dumping her into the lava.