The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary

“Well well well…what do we have here?”

The grand wizard saw the dragon appear out of the stone…and he smiled even more.

At the sight of it, he came to a curious pause…a curious thought.

“How can someone like him survive an encounter such as a dragon…a lesser dragon no less.”

Lesser dragons, known for being extremely territorial, intelligent to speak and being extremely violent. When its hungry, the chances of surviving it when a person is nothing but a normal villager in an unprotected village is practically zero.

When compared to a true dragon that stands over mountains, lesser dragons could never compare to a true dragon…yet their pride and ferocity were twice as menacing…being a lesser dragon was known to their culture and life…they were the lesser race of dragons…and they were infuriated by this fact. Lesser dragons hated being lesser dragons…their own pride and intelligence mocks their own identity…they live in wonder of what it means to truly live as a dragon…to stand a top everything else…

So they hate…they tear…they swallow…they burn…to simply express their hate for being lesser dragons.

Although it is a rare encounter, Lesser dragons were still dragons. One can never imagine to survive a dragon’s attack…

So the grand wizard was curious about the boy’s survival against such a beast.

So he watched.

***

As the dragon stood with such a ferocious glare, Theodore who stood alone against it, felt fear in his heart grew.

No longer could he properly manifest his magic…everything relied on his instinct to survive. And thanks to his brother, he knew just how to survive simply by instinct alone.’

At the moment the two came to match each other’s eyes…one came to charge with a fiery breath filled with poison, while the other ran with such desperation.

At a single moment’s call, the dragon fired its breath…and Theodore ran as fast as he could to the side.

But even to his desperation, it was not enough.

***

I remember this dragon. The day when it flew over our house, I saw the large span of its wings cover over five houses. The size it brought was intimidating…

At the sound of its roar, I couldn’t help but cower in fear under the table with my sisters…while my brother on the other hand had a brave face put on.

He ran outside while carrying our father’s sword and he faced it all on his own…

He was like a brave knight…a person who unlike me, faced the dangers all for the sake of protecting the village.

It was at that time, I saw him prove his strength to the world; that he fought like a warrior born to carry a weapon. He knew what he had to do…he was decisive in that decision.

To face a monster even at the chance of death…

I knew my brother was strong…in fact, I know him to be the strongest…

But now…why, why is it in front of me!?

“You’re already dead!! Why are you back!” I screamed as the ashened-dragon stood with its red-blood eyes.

And at my scream, the dragon roared its ashy breath down my way, and I came to face the intense heat it brought.

Once again, I protected myself with a fiery wall, but the heat was still strong.

I could feel the oxygen in the air starting to rise…my head was starting to feel…drowsy…

I couldn’t breathe properly with all the smoke around me.

I was sure to die today, but my instincts screamed at me to keep on running.

So I did.

I just kept running and the dragon just kept chasing.

If I keep on doing this, it won’t be long before I’ll meet its jaw…

But I can’t kill that dragon…I know I can’t.

I’m not strong enough…I know I’m not strong enough.

But I know someone who can…

“…” by the distance, I tried looking to my brother…to try and ask for help, but when I came to meet his eyes, all I felt was the pride inside me, telling me to not call out his name.

“B-Br-” I couldn’t call out to him.

I believe that my brother was strong…

he could easily kill this dragon again…

So why was I hesitating to call out his name?

I wanted to scream so badly…but instead, I kept it all to myself and I ran again.

‘No, I’m going to die at this rate!’ I thought…

And this was a test…a test to prove my love and dedication to attend this school…my love for magic stands at the chance of my passing this test…

But it’s impossible…

I can’t do it…

I just can’t…

***

Before long, Theodore started to tire out…

His legs were shaking both out of fear and the lost of desperation…

The spark in his eyes were starting to fade away…

Until finally, he fell to the floor and the dragon halted before him.

Like a prey finally falling down at the efforts of a predator’s hunt…

It was served, soaked in sweat and fear.

“Khk…haa..haa..haa..” Theodore breathed heavily as he crawled on the floor, trying to get away from the dragon. But it was pointless.

And the people watched…

The noblemen looked with sweat dripping from their foreheads, while the participants were in shock by the challenge that was placed before the stone. But for the grand wizard, he simply looked with a bit of a dissapointed expression…a furrowed brow to say the least.

And for Thill…he watched while his siblings tried to call out to Theodore, telling him to keep on running.

***

His magic is ineffective not only because of how he can’t properly utilize it under the influence of fear, but because fire is one of the elements that compliments the race of common lesser dragons.

And truth be told, his chances of ever conquering a dragon was zero. He never had a chance to begin with. From someone who only awakened the first stage of their mana core two days ago, and has zero experience of fighting a monster three times the size of a house, Theodore was never going to win this fight…which is why it was weird that it was part of the test.

The Stone that is used in this test is called the Fear Stone. Its as rare as that of an angel’s feather…and its mainly used in cults that teaches magic around the dark arts. Under the properties of using curses and potions that bring about plagues, dark arts are not allowed for those not under the supervision of the church.

For this academy to be able to grab hold of a dark-arts item is quite a intriguing mystery.

And what’s more…its being used as a test.

Fear Stones are used to discover a person’s fear. If a person were to touch the stone, they will experience their fear ten times more hideous than it normally should be. To conquer and escape the stone’s influence, one should know that the stone’s illusion isn’t real. If they can identify that, they can easily pull away their hand from the stone and be brought back to the real world.

Once they escape, the only issue they can worry about is the fact that those fears can follow them as well into the real world, but only for a period of time.

And the time the fear stays in the real world differs by just how much they are feared. If a person is traumatized to a point that they can lose sleep, that fear can easily stay in the real world for a week, probably even a month to say the most.

If a fear is as minor as that of a simple shock, it can last for about twenty minutes at most.

Although it may seem like it’s a curse used on people, its actually a handy item that lets people conquer their own fears.

Because once you are able to defeat your own fear physically, it results in you never being afraid of that particular fear again. It doesn’t matter how the fear is dealt with, as long as it is killed, it can never conquer one’s heart again.

And the test itself is unclear…it feels like there is not a single clear directive to claim in passing this test. In a situation like this, its already clear that a student isn’t capable of defeating a monster of this calibre. But the grand wizard himself is the one evaluating every action and decision.

So I worry…is it possible to pass this test when the odds are against the student?

When I asked myself this…I couldn’t help but feel sorry for my brother who wanted to pass this test no matter what.

And what’s worse was the fact that in his struggle, he looked me in the eye…but he didn’t called out for help.

“Why aren’t you calling for help?” in a soft murmur, I kept talking to myself. Observing for every single moment when my brother would have a chance at meeting death.

But I couldn’t move…

This was a test…and despite how dangerous it was, I was not allowed to interfere.

But if…if he called…just once, if he called my name. If he called out for help…I would be there even if it was against the rules.

I can’t lose him again…

Not to something like this…

So please, call out to me.

***

At the end of it all, I was on the floor…crawling and struggling.

And once I was there, helpless to the danger in front of me…in but a moment, I saw the dragon face to face once again.

At the state that I was, I thought that this was the end…

In the end, I just ran in fear…

I didn’t show my love for magic…

I couldn’t be anymore than what I was before…a stupid, talentless child…even with magic, I was pathetic.

“…Khk….fuck…fuck it…it was all pointless!” I said as I felt my own tears fall down to my hands….my injured hands. I was so frustrated with myself that I couldn’t help but reminisce in all the effort I did to get here. The training I did for two months with my brother…the late night readings and reviews I made just to prepare myself for this day…

All of it was pointless…

…

No, it can’t just end like this.

I can’t be this pathetic…not in front of my siblings…not in front of my brother who helped me get this far…

One last…

One last chance…

One to end it all…

And if I can’t pass the test, then what’s the point of it all…

***

In one last call to his desperation, he gathered every last bit of strength he had on his legs and he stood up to face the dragon.

Standing face to face, they both looked at each other.

And he could tell that the dragon was smiling down on him like he was a pathetic, yet fun toy being played around with.

“Are you having this much fun?” he said in a ragged voice.

“…” the dragon stared…and opened its jaw, ready to fire one last breath of poison.

And for Theodore, he raised both of his hands up against the dragon.

One last time…

One ot end it all…

Closing his eyes, Theodore…chanted his skill.

“…Let the embers dance and burn.”

One last look, he turned his head to his brother who stood at the side.

And he smiled.

“Ignis Volara.”

A fireball was manifested.

A fireball ten times the size of his own body appeared out of thin air…

And he fired.

For the dragon, it too fired its breath and it clashed against the large fireball.

When the two powers collided, it caused an explosion so large, it shook the stage.

*BOOM!*

And dust of smoke and poison breath was scattered all over.

Everyone was in shock…especially Thill who saw his brother smile at the end.

The grand wizard, in his power, blew the dust away…clearing the stage for the people to see.

And in it, the sight of Theodore’s body laid on the floor…

Barely breathing…barely alive.

But alive nonetheless…

But the dragon…the dragon stood tall on its four legs…

Barely a scratch on its body.

It was clearly the end of the test for Theodore Cicial…

He failed to conquer the dragon.

So why hasn’t it ended.

Why did the Grand Wizard still stood on the air, waiting for something to happen.

In all this heavy atmosphere…the dragon, unchained by nothing…stepped forward to the boy’s space…and over he’s body, the dragon opened its jaw…ready to claim its prey.

“N-no!” Theresa screamed as she saw the dragon, opening its jaw.

“Theodore!!” Thomas screamed as he rushed to try and get close to his brother.

While Thalia held Tilly close, and protected her sister from seeing what was about to happen.

In all that was about to happen, something was heard.

“B-brother…H-help…”

And just like that, a ringing and breaking sound was heard in a matter of a second.

Glass-like textures were seen breaking and scattering through the air as the barrier was forcibly broken through.

And the sound of a fist breaking a dragon’s jaw was heard at the last second.

Before anyone from the side could comprehend what had happened, on the stage…the dragon was found with a broken jaw…bleeding and in pain while its body was stumbling far from where Theodore was found to be lying on.

While in front of it, there stood Thill, with a killer’s eye. His left hand was dripping red from the dragon’s blood while his other hand was gripping so tightly it bled on its own.

“I’ve killed you once…and I’m going to do it again.”