SSS Rank Sword Mage: Awakening Starts with Weakest Mana Affinity Chapter 44: A New Stranger

"Huh? Who's there?" I repeated, turning my head this way and that. Still, no one. "Huh…"

"Down here, dummy," the voice ca again. "You should've realized that by now, you know." The voice's huge mouth and condescending tone were definitely not sothing I was liking.

My gaze dropped to the only possible source: the fish pond. The fish were moving around casually. Could it be? Could one of them be the source of the voice? But… which one was it? I stared at the pond, my attention switching from fish to fish. Maybe if I called out, I'd be able to detect them.

"Hello," I said, hoping for a response, and I got one.

"Yes, I can hear you," the voice said with a hint of sarcasm. "Co closer to the pond."

I followed its instruction and moved in closer. Then, the voice, sounding amused, threw a curveball question at .

"Now, take a guess which one am I, the carp or the koi fish?" it said, urging to play a guessing ga.

"Umm, I don't know," I replied. "Why don't you just say?"

"Boring! Now where's the fun in that?" the voice replied. "Co on, guess! Don't be boring…"

"Mmm, okay… the koi?" I replied, as that was the only thought that ca to mind.

"Wrong! Hahaha! Try again."

I stared at the pond, feeling confused. What did it want to try again? Was it not aware that the only thing left was the carp? "Obviously, you're the carp. Tsk."

"Wrong again! Man, you're really bad at guessing gas." I couldn't believe it. It was like this voice didn't understand how guessing gas worked. It had just given two wrong answers and wanted to guess again.

"The correct answer is, I am the pond, dummy! That should have been obvious, right? Don't you see the glow I give off from the pond any ti I talk? Should have been obvious. Haha, you fail, you fail, I win."

"Umm… okay, that's good. You win." This voice obviously had the mind of a child, but where did it co from? There wasn't anything in my father's book listed as a talking pond. And if there was, how did Father even get it and why did it just appear now?

"I'm sure you're wondering where I ca from," the voice responded as if it knew my thoughts. Then, in a cocky tone, it added, "Let save you the trouble… since you're bad at guessing gas, I'm from that koi pendant."

Wait, so the thing that protected from the demon? It was this voice? So this is what Midwife Anaya ant by the pendant would protect ? It had so kind of spirit inside it?

"Are you a spirit?" I asked the voice. After all, I had just found myself in Derrick's domain; a spirit wouldn't be a crazy thought.

The voice replied, "Well… technically, and no, hahaha." Of course, this voice was never straightforward. "But hmm, if I rember correctly…," the voice said, sounding deep in thought as it seed to recollect past mories, "I'm what my master calls a dragon seed."

"A dragon seed?" I rephrased, as if I hadn't heard him the first ti. Was this how dragon seeds were? Father had described them in his book as more like cores or essences that could evolve into dragons, but this was completely far from it.

"Wait, back in the cave, were you the one who protected from the demon?"

"Demon? Cave? Sorry, pal, you've got the wrong dragon seed. I just gained consciousness since my seal was broken from that pendant." It seed not to know what happened in Derrick's domain. Could this be the power Derrick was talking about? Well, it did seem powerful.

"By the way, why were you sealed in a pendant? I thought dragon seeds only exist in animals."

"Well, dummy, that's because my master is a great mage… yes, he is!" ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by N()velFire

"Oh, really?" I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"He really is! He was so good he made exist outside a dragon seed's natural settlent."

"If he was so good, then why did you get sealed in this pendant?"

The voice turned sad. "Umm… I failed my master. I couldn't evolve to Stage One." Then, suddenly, its tone brightened into a nervous, energetic laugh. "But don't worry—hahaha—Master said he had a plan…"

"And what exactly was his plan?" I asked.

In an energetic tone, it said, "He would seal inside the pendant. He said I was no good to him in my current state, but the only way to prove my worth was to show him I could be sealed in the pendant. Then he would unseal , when I was ready to wvolaning I could evolve. But it's been so long…" The voice now sounded sad. "I went unconscious after, but I do rember the last thing I heard was soone ask how much for the pendant. Too bad for them, Master would never sell ."

"Poor guy, he probably got sold as so protective charm tool."

"Are you my master's son?" the voice asked, trying to get a sense of its new environnt.

"Well, that depends," I replied. "What's your master's na? Maybe I can see if we're related." I was thinking to myself that his master was most likely dead, and Midwife Anaya, the person who gave the pendant, probably knew more about it.

The voice then revealed its master's na: "Gilgash."

"Is that the family na?" I asked.

"Oh, Astre… Gilgash Astre."

"Sorry, I've never heard of him," I replied.

The voice sounded shocked. "What? Not even the family na? Then what is your na?" it asked.

"I'm Astraga Fula."

"Astraga? Haha, that's boring." Sothing about him using the word "boring" always got on my nerves. Gritting my teeth, I asked, "Well, what's your na?"

It thought for a mont. "Well, my friends called Mo, for short, but my na is Morad. NICE TO ET YOU, ASTRAGA."