Chapter 117: Before Something Notices Her

Cyrune had rules when it came to progression.

Quests existed, but people did not simply wake up every morning and receive random quests because something interesting happened around them.

Folds were one of the primary sources of quests.

Entering one could lead to Quests tied to whatever existed inside, especially when Magic Beasts, foreign beings or unusual environments were involved. Killing certain creatures could also produce rewards depending on the circumstances, while Guilds issued official requests that could qualify as recognized Quests.

Those were totally normal.

What happened to Zishan was not. Commander Garran Holtz had already reported one of the earliest strange incidents.

During Zishan’s military assessment, the boy had somehow leveled up from fighting Commander Holtz.

’An assessment. A controlled fight against his own Commander.’

There had been no Fold involved, no Guild request, and no legitimate target whose death should have produced that kind of reward.

And yet Zishan gained Levels from it.

Even Healer Maela had been stunned when she learned what had happened because ordinary Quests simply did not work that way.

Ernest had seen all kinds of abnormal people throughout his life. Some were natural geniuses, while others were born with rare Physiques and Bloodlines that allowed them to grow far faster than most.

Zishan felt different from all of them.

The old divination had described someone who would be vastly different from those born into Cyrune, and Ernest had spent years wondering what exactly that meant.

Now he was walking beside a nineteen-year-old who somehow received rewards from situations that should never produce them and had apparently hatched a dragon from one of those rewards.

His gaze returned to Silvy. "Silvy is her name, huh?"

"Yes."

"What species is she?" Ernest looked at the little creature more carefully. "She looks like a dragon..."

His voice trailed off as his attention remained on Silvy. Something about what he saw made him pause, though Zishan was too busy scratching beneath the little dragon’s chin to notice.

"Oh? Her?" Zishan replied. "She’s indeed a dragon."

Silvy leaned into his finger.

Ernest’s eyes widened.

His senses had already brushed against the little creature several times, but he had assumed he was misreading something because of the absurd difference between her appearance and what he felt from her.

Ernest checked Silvy again, and this time his eyes widened enough that even the mask could not hide it. "What the?! Level 400 and this dragon you said just hatched?!"

His voice carried much farther than intended, drawing looks from vendors and pedestrians nearby. Elinox closed her eyes for a moment while Zishan stared at him, and Ernest seemed to realize only then that half the street had heard him.

He coughed into one hand and lowered his voice. "Damn. That’s even more absurd than Noxi..."

Elinox opened her eyes. "Uncle."

"I said nothing."

Zishan burst out laughing. "I know, right? HAHAHAHA!"

Silvy started bouncing on top of his head after hearing him laugh, calling, "Papa! Papa!" while Zishan looked so proud of her that Ernest almost wanted to smack some sense into him.

"What are you laughing about, brat? Do you even realize how absurd she is?" Ernest moved closer and kept his voice low. "Hide her."

Zishan’s laughter faded. "What? Why do I need to hide her?"

"Because she’s a newborn Level 400 dragon."

"So?"

Ernest nearly raised his voice again. "So?! Brat, do you understand what people would do if they realized what was sitting on your head?"

Zishan reached up and placed one hand around Silvy protectively. "She doesn’t like being hidden, and I want her to experience the world with me. If someone tries to snatch her away from me, let me deal with them—"

Ernest grabbed both of his shoulders before he could finish. "Brat, don’t be stubborn. That little dragon of yours isn’t some ordinary beast you picked up from a Beast Tamer. There are species in Cyrune capable of sensing their own kind across enormous distances, especially when bloodline or species resonance is involved."

That finally wiped the stubborn look from Zishan’s face.

Ernest glanced toward Silvy before continuing. "If something powerful senses her and decides that a newborn dragon belongs with them instead of some nineteen-year-old human, what are you going to do?"

"Fight them."

Ernest’s grip tightened. "You’re Level 99."

Zishan frowned. "That’s temporary."

Ernest stared at him for several seconds, becoming even more annoyed because Zishan clearly meant it. "I’m serious."

"So am I."

Elinox had been listening beside them when something suddenly came back to her. Her gaze shifted toward Silvy, then toward Ernest.

"Uncle... those Wyverns."

Zishan turned toward her. "What about them?"

"We were attacked by Wyverns while we were returning to the capital," Elinox said, her attention remaining on Silvy. "And that happened after she hatched."

Ernest’s eyes narrowed behind the mask. "How long after?"

Elinox thought about it. "Not very long."

The three of them fell silent.

Zishan remembered that attack as well. At the time, there had been no reason to connect the Wyverns to Silvy. They had simply appeared, attacked them, and died like any other enemies they had encountered along the way.

Now, the timing suddenly felt much more suspicious.

Ernest released Zishan’s shoulders and looked toward Silvy. "Fuck."

His head lifted toward the sky before he looked back at Zishan. "Hide her for now. Unless you have something capable of concealing her aura, bloodline, species presence, or whatever they might be sensing, don’t let her remain exposed."

Silvy’s little claws tightened around Zishan’s hair. "Papa?"

Zishan hated the idea. Silvy was not some item he wanted to shove inside a storage space every time someone dangerous might notice her. She liked seeing new places, watching people, staring at food stalls, and sitting on his head despite the ongoing damage to his hair.

He wanted her to experience the world with him.

"Do it before something notices her again," Ernest warned.

Zishan opened his mouth to argue.

Then, a roar suddenly rolled across the capital.

ROAR!

The sound was powerful enough to make people along the street stop and look upward. Birds scattered from the rooftops, several nearby windows trembled, and guards farther down the road began shouting as another roar followed from somewhere beyond the buildings.

"Damn it!" Ernest cursed.

Elinox’s Mana stirred while Zishan raised his head toward the sky. He could already sense several auras approaching the capital, and every one of them felt far stronger than the Wyverns they had encountered before.

Silvy rose onto all four feet on top of his head, completely lacking the concern everyone else seemed to have. Her silver-gray eyes followed the approaching presences with growing curiosity before her tiny wings opened.

"Papa?"

Another roar echoed across the city.

Silvy tilted her head, stared toward the sky for another moment, and then her eyes lit up. "Papa? Papa? Litol dwagons?"