Chapter 8

For the entirety of the last two months he’d spent transcribing, he never heard any sounds, save for the occasional breeze and his own scribbling.

For this reason, Jin didn’t need to check beyond the sliding door to realize it was Murakhan’s glass coffin that was opening. That would be the first guess anyone would have, should they find themselves in his shoes.

Come on, this is crazy. Why is Murakhan waking up now, of all time?

Thump, Thump! His heart was beating so loud, he almost felt like the sound resonated on the outside of his body.

It felt as though the silent and safe underground dungeon of the Storm Castle had just turned itself into an unpredictable cursed land. Cold sweat and a chill ran down his spine.

Perhaps he had only misheard the noise.

As Jin considered the possibility of this, he heard yet another click.

In fact, that wasn’t everything. He could hear the sound of cloth brushing against the surface of glass and the sounds of footsteps on the floor.

As it was unlikely that the dragon which had been sleeping for a thousand years suffered from sleep walking, it was safe to assume that it awoke with a purpose.

Or its slumber had finally come to an end.

I should calm down. Relax. It’s not like I did anything wrong to Murakhan.

He’d never heard anything about Murakhan waking up in his previous life.

If Murakhan had awoken and became active around this period, he would have certainly known about it.

Then this must be something that changed due to my activities this time around. Murakhan did not just wake up by himself. He woke up because I kept frequenting the dungeon.

Stories of people waking up a dormant dragon to meet their untimely end was quite a common tale around the continent.

Although, common as the tales may be, the number of people who actually lost lives in this manner wasn’t as common, for running into an encounter with a dragon was nearly impossible to begin with.

But the moral of the common tale was this: Dragons have a nasty temper.

“Hey.”

Jin came to a halt.

A thin yet low-pitched voice wafted through the sliding door. Jin had been busy trying to figure out how to make it out of this situation.

A few troubling seconds passed. Fortunately, Jin was able to decide how he would behave when confronting the dragon.

I should show respect, yet be bold. And even if he should attack me, I just need to hold on until the guardian knights arrive.

Obviously, that was the worst-case scenario.

And even if such a scenario unfolded, he was confident he could stay alive. He could use Solderet’s spiritual powers and magic, or try to buy time with cunning words.

Maybe this wouldn’t have to involve dying at all.

He felt much lighter in his heart. Besides, who knew? Perhaps Murakhan might even be friendly, instead of being hostile.

Creak.

Jin sprung to his feet, opened the sliding door, and came face-to-face with Murakhan.

The handsome, jet black-haired man whom he always saw laying in the glass coffin was now standing directly in front of him. He had an impressively well-built figure—which was surprising for someone, or anything, that had been asleep for the last thousand years.

“A child of the R-Runcandel. Face the guardian, of the clan.”

He stuttered and slurred his speech on purpose.

He felt like it wouldn’t be harmful to show the dragon of more than thousand years the fear and humility of a child. He also emphasized the word, guardian, as that was the actual term Runcandels used to describe Murakhan.

“Ha!” Murakhan scoffed. “Guaaaardian, eh? A guardian? Did you just say the word, guardian, huh?”

Whooosh!

The dragon did nothing other than speak, but the magic in the air started trembling and was already forming small twisters.

“Say that again, you wicked brat. Did you just say I’m supposed to be your guardian?”

Murakhan’s body, which had just dissolved into black smoke, reconstituted itself inches away from Jin’s face.

“Aren’t you Murakhan? I’ve been told that the dark dragon Murakhan is the guardian of the Runcandel clan.” Jin answered with a clear tone and the old dragon blinked his eyes. The slurred speech no longer seemed necessary.

“Phew. Fine. Those blasted Runcandel jerks. So that’s what they decided to tell their descendants about me, eh? Haha! It’s not like I could take the anger out on a tiny little thing like you. This is driving me crazy.”

Once the conversation had come this far, Jin started feeling a little more relaxed about things.

Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be ruthless toward children.

However, the dragon’s black pupils were filled with an intent to kill, which spoke much about his personality.

If Jin was not in the body of a child, but in his twenty-eight-year-old body instead, Murakhan would have initiated this small talk only after breaking a limb or two.

So what was it that awoke this dark dragon at this time? I don’t think he woke up from me moving about in this area. Could there be any other reason? Oh, could it be the spiritual powers of Solderet?

Spiritual powers, or spiritual energy.

The power of shadows.

If there was anything that could’ve forced a reaction that would awaken the dragon from its thousand-year slumber, it had to be that.

Jin refrained from using the spiritual energy unless it was an emergency, but he was constantly shrouded in a subtle aura of spiritual energy which was too subtle for people to notice.

Now that I think about it, people who enter a contract with gods are assigned a guardian dragon. Save for a few special exceptions...

Fire drakes were friendly to those entering a contract with Shinu, the god of flames.

Likewise, wind drakes were friendly to those contracted to Melziah, the god of wind.

This was partly the reason why the Zeifl clan was slightly ahead of the Runcandel clan, for they were joined by a hundred dragons, at least what was known.

In that line of understanding, one could assess that the chance encounter that Jin was having with Murakhan was a fortunate turn of events.

Although the problem is, I can’t tell for certain. I haven’t heard anything about dragons that took a liking to the shadows either...

Keliac Zeifl, the current leader of the Zeifl clan, was supposed to have entered a contract with Shinu, the god of flames, and shared a deep bond with the Kadun the fire drake.

It was also a well-known fact that the high archon of the Zeifls, who was second in rank, was contracted to Melziah, the god of wind, and commanded a wind drake. The dragons always tended to seek people of their elemental constitution.

However, he’d never heard anything about Solderet and dragons.

Even when he used to talk with Solderet regularly upon entering the contract, they never shared anything about Murakhan.

I should just confront it head on. It doesn’t seem to be a terrible situation.

If Murakhan indeed was drawn out of sleep due to his spiritual energy, then he had no reason to fear.

Shwooooom...

Shrrrt!

Murakhan continued to inhale deeply, as a dog would cherish delightful scents, or more like an avid smoker having his first puff in ages.

“Alright, fine. What would one blame on a child anyway? Hmph. Breathing in this energy does make me feel much better now. Child! What is your name?”

“It is Jin Runcandel, exalted Murakhan.”

“I see, I see. Jin, you say? In truth, I have no interest in your useless name. But you’re still a Runcandel, eh? Then hurry up and take me to the one contracted to Solderet.”

“The contractor of Solderet?”

“Yes! This rich spiritual energy... It could only come from one who has entered the contract. I do hope this one isn’t an arrogant jerk like Temar was.”

Temar Runcandel: this was the name of the forefather, the first Patriarch.

Jin nearly let out a shriek of joy.

He had the feeling that things could only go his way in this life. To think that the dragon would be the first to bring up the very detail he was feeling uncertain about!

I am certain it was the spiritual energy that awoke him! And from his reaction... I can tell I have the upper hand here.

Sniff, sniff. Koomph!

Murakhan didn’t even acknowledge Jin’s presence anymore. He was too focused on feeling out the spiritual energy with his eyes closed.

And Jin began to think.

Should I tell him that I’m the contractor? Or should I just say I don’t know what he’s talking about? He opted for the former, for it was clearly the better choice to have the dragon do his bidding.

The latter would be troublesome in many ways. If Jin told him he didn’t know of such things, then the dragon would tell him to bring in the grown-ups, after which, Jin would inevitably have to explain the entire situation before the clan.

That meant farewell to these happy days of transcribing the secret tomes. It also meant that this fortunate encounter with Murakhan would have amounted to nothing.

Fwoosh.

A small flame of spiritual energy opened in Jin’s hands.

“Fwoom, sniff! Oh, yes. My mind is becoming clearer and...what?”

Murakhan, who had been savoring the spiritual energy, opened his eyes wide.

“I think I am the contractor you speak of, exalted Murakhan.”

“Wh- Wha- What’s the matter with you? Crazy. This is just crazy! Do you mean to say Solderet entered a contract with a child like you?”

Murakhan stepped back in shock. He certainly was in a hurry to withdraw himself, for he nearly fell on his feet.

“This can’t be. This is wrong. Hey, Solderet! You can hear me, don’t you? Have you finally gone mad? Come out this instant. You owe me an explanation!”

While Murakhan was busy making a fuss, Jin formed another lump of shadows on his other hand.

“My father told me that this power belongs to the one from whom all shadows of the world came about.”

“Noooo.”

Thud.

Murakhan fell to the floor and looked up toward Jin.

Silence followed. Jin wanted to continue their conversation, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it when he could see the stages of shock the dragon was going through before his eyes.

Denial, anger, doubt, fear, loss.

Murakhan’s expression turned in that precise order.

“Look. Solderet, this is a joke, right? This is wrong. Say something. How could the promised contractor who was to come in a thousand years be nothing but this measly child?”

Solderet continued his silence.

In fact, Solderet’s silence was something that continued to bother Jin as well.

When he had entered the contract, Solderet used to talk with him as one would with a friend, but he hadn’t heard anything from him, at least since the moment he was about to die in his past life.

In any case, Murakhan appeared direly in need of some time to accept his reality.

Then again, he was a dragon.

He did possess a nasty temper with a peculiar personality to boot, but nonetheless, he was still a dragon that had lived thousands of years. That meant he was wise and had an unbreakable mental fortitude that didn’t lose hope even in the most unexpected of circumstances.

The dragon was quick to accept the present situation which he clearly didn’t favor, for that was the best he could make out of the circumstances.

“Sigh. Look, kid.”

“Yes?”

“It would seem that you are the one I have to learn to live with and be a partner to, as per the covenant between me and Solderet.”

To be a partner with a dragon!

And to imagine, he heard it straight from the dragon himself. Not just any dragon, but the dark dragon Murakhan, the very dragon whom his forefather had once defeated.

Hearing stories of grand warlocks fighting battles alongside dragons were things that made his heart beat faster when he was a sorcerer.

He felt his breath heating with excitement. His face was turning so red that it felt like his head would pop. He couldn’t keep himself from blushing, so he dropped his head instead.

“By being a partner to, what do you...”

“Sigh. You’re too young to hear the details just yet, not to add that I’m in no state to explain things to you right now.”

Jin nodded without replying.

“But first, as a friend of Solderet meeting Solderet’s contractor, allow me to formally introduce myself again.”

Whoooosh...

Sounds of heavy wind filled the room, and the dark energy that was scattered in the air began shrouding Murakhan’s body.

He was transforming into his dragon form. The dark energy surrounding him dissipated like clouds, and a giant dragon large enough to fill the entire dungeon hall now stood before Jin’s eyes.

“I am Murakhan, the emissary of Solderet, his friend, and the last descendant to the first being molded from the shadows. In fulfillment of the covenant made a thousand years ago, I shall be with you from today forth. State your name.” The majestic voice boomed, unlike the quick-tempered voice of a teen he had donned until this point.

“I am Jin Runcandel, the thirteenth child of the Runcandels, and the lattermost of my generation,” Jin answered, barely managing to contain his trembling heart.