-----
"One week left before the inheritance trials begin…" Erald sighed, sitting over a stone-made chair inside of his room within the green mountain tower he had built inside of Drake's Divine Realm. This was a tower that he had made trying to imitate Surtr, a movable fortress of his own.
It was now being mostly inhabited by the Lizardn Tribes that had entered Drake's Divine Realm for the anti. Mostly out of security because even though there was a big spirit tree creating a barrier there, they didn't know if it could hold back yet another demon attack.
They were all holding back and waiting for them to confront Pandemonium, once he was out of the picture, the threat of demons showing up within Muspelheim should be completely nullified, although it wasn't the sa for the rest of the world, as his body fragnts were spread everywhere.
Erald couldn't help but rember his entire life so far as he admired the beautiful sight, his sharp green eyes looking rather troubled with himself. Despite all the strength he has attained after training and cultivating both his soul and divinities to his limits, he still felt lacking.
"Am I good enough to accompany them?" He wondered. "Won't I just be dead weight?"
Even in his humanoid form, his hands were covered on his golden scales, his sharp claws gripping one another as he seed stressed. He had grown to be able to handle stress better now, but deep down, he was still rather childish and unexperienced.
"I'm so grateful for everyone's help… But can I truly return the favor for everything they've done for ?" He continued sighing. "Mom… Siblings… What should I do?"
He didn't really want to go to their Draconic Realm and ask them, he felt embarrassed by going there more than needed. After they pampered him on his growth this entire ti, he felt like if he tried to even ask them for advice, he would only make them more disappointed on him.
Erald suffered with terrible depression deep down, sothing he hid from everyone in the façade of a slightly cheerful young man.
"My wings are healed, my magic is strong, and I got soul gear too! Yet…" He muttered. "I just… I am not good enough…"
Before he could continue his self-loathing tendencies, soone entered his large room out of nowhere, slamming the door open. A bright and feminine voice reverberated behind him.
"Erald! These shields are amazing! I already gave one to dad! He liked it a lot! Oh, right, his Wind Dragon Bloodline Cultivation is almost reaching perfection too!"
It was Ahia, who was carrying with herself the giant rainbow-colored scale shield with a single arm. Despite being a Spirit Shaman, she had grown really strong in these last four months, not only has she continued cultivating her Mana Core into a Divine Core, but she evolved her Soul into a Divine Spiritual Soul that could harbor Spiritual Energy and produce it on its own, evolved her Spirit, Shaman, and Druid-related Divinities to their limits, and inherited, cultivated, and assimilated the Wind Dragon Bloodline Erald lend to her and her father.
Therefore, her cute appearance as a lizardman woman had changed drastically, she now had long, green-, red-, and yellow-colored feathers growing from her head all the way down her hips, making her look really beautiful, her face beca more refined and smaller, with larger, adorable golden eyes. Her claws beca gold, and she gained a pair of wings above her shoulders, with feathers similar to those of Erald. And she had also grown a pair of small, gold-colored horns on top of her head. She was the first one between she and her father to evolve her Wind Dragon Bloodline after a lot of cultivation and drinking Erald's blood elixirs (made by Drake), so much that sneakily, Erald's mother accepted her as a Wind Dragon already.
"A-Ahia?! I told you to knock before entering…" Erald sighed. "Oh, the shields! Y-Yeah, they're very good. I am glad you liked it…"
"Yeah! Everyone saw from here when you and your friends made them… It was amazing- Huh?" Ahia walked towards Erald. "What's wrong? A-Are you okay?"
"E-Eh? I'm fine…" Erald sighed, looking elsewhere. Ahia, however, knew that there was sothing wrong. After all, as a Druid, she could sense spiritual signals and mana fluctuations more acutely than anybody, and dragons happened to let them out very strongly based on their emotions, as innately magical beings of great power. It was sothing they couldn't control.
"No, you're not okay…"
She walked towards him and patted his shoulders, caressing his feathered wings.
"Is sothing bothering you, Erald?"
"I told you I was fine, Ahia. I'm okay, haha. Don't worry."
"Stop pretending! Tell what's wrong. I want to help you…"
"I-I… Well, ugh… I just…"
Erald was about to open up, but quickly stopped.
"No, it's nothing."
"Hmm…"
Ahia sighed, sitting right by his side and then hugging him.
"E-Eh?!"
Erald naturally was startled, blushing like crazy.
"I'm glad you can change into a smaller form, so I can hug you as much as I can! Mom always says that whenever you seem soone down, you have to hug them and coil your tail around theirs, so they can feel your warmth." Ahia's cute words hit Erald right in the heart, as he only grew redder, feeling Ahia's thick tail slowly slid around his, coiling around it.
"W-Woah!"
It was a feeling he had never experienced before, so warm and comforting!
"Do you feel better now?" Ahia smiled adorably, her big eyes seed to look at Erald for who he truly was.
In the ti he had spent with her, Erald couldn't help but develop more feelings for her.
But it was part of his own self-loathing to think that she wouldn't deserve soone pathetic like him.
"T-Thanks… I feel better now, Ahia…" Erald sighed. "But you don't need to force yourself to comfort an useless person like … You're much better and incredible, you don't really need to… bother yourself with ."
"E-Erald…" Ahia gasped. "H-How can you say that?! You're a dragon! Based on that you're already incredible and amazing! What are you talking about? Why do you feel that way? You're special to ! T-To everyone I an! A-And… You saved our village, despite everyone blaming you for the things that monster did… Do you still feel bad about that? Everyone already apologized, but we can make up for it in other ways and-"
"It's not that… I…" Erald started crying. "I just never think I'm good enough… I always feel I'm a piece of trash all the ti… I'm useless, garbage…"
"N-No, no, no! You aren't!" Ahia started crying as she saw the person she loved and respected so much break down in front of her. "You aren't! Erald… You're amazing, stop thinking that! Whatever happened in the past, it's the past! Y-You have to live the present, you have to prepare for the future! Everyone admires you, everyone looks forward to you… Drake and Surtr too, they respect you like equals!"
"Y-You think?" Erald sighed. "But…"
"No buts!" Ahia covered his mouth. "No more self-loathing around here, okay? I don't want you to EVER feel that way again! Everyone loves you and cares so much for you all the ti! I've seen people praying to you several tis every day!"
"A-Ah, but…" Erald was trying to find excuses to justify his own self-hatred, born from the mistakes he had committed, which he couldn't get over with.
"A-And I love you!" Ahia blushed.
"EH?!" Erald gasped.
"I love you, I really like you! Like, romantic way! I-I love you a lot…" Ahia mustered the strength. "I don't want to see you crying, because that breaks my heart!" She kept crying. "Don't cry, please… I don't want to see your beautiful eyes crying…"
She hugged him tightly, resting her face over his chest.
The warmth he felt.
The love he felt.
Sothing surged within him.
His love slowly washed away his emotions, as he felt the love of soone else embracing him.
He didn't feel as hollow anymore.
And at the sa ti, he felt bad with himself for making the girl he loved, and that loved him, cry over his own stupid thoughts.
But this ti, it was a self-hatred that he wanted to redy.
And he rembered sothing his mother once said.
"Erald, you will experience many new things in the world outside. One of them might be love itself… Once you find that person, make sure to never let them go. Be it a giant, a human, an elf, a lizardman, whoever it is, that person that manages to love you, is special!" She said. "Treasure their love for you, as much as you treasure your love for them."
Erald quickly cleansed the tears of his face, and then placed his hands over the scaled girl's shoulders.
"Ahia!"
"H-Huh?"
"I-I love you too!"
"A-Ah…? R-Really?!"
"Yeah!"
Erald finally decided to muster the strength to say it.
-----
Reviews
All reviews (0)