Chapter 3: Minor dragon

Chapter 3.

In my previous life, I had parents and a younger sibling.

But the last time I saw them was 50 years ago.

Their voices and faces were vague.

All I could accurately remember about my previous life’s family was that my parents were kind and my sibling was a mischievous child.

And yet,

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my sibling, every time I see this little one born 40 years after me.

This small elf named Iel, once seeing me hunt, immediately made me his idol.

Since then, he started following me wherever I went.

My sibling from my previous life also seemed to follow me well.

Both are similarly curious.

“Lua! Lua! Look what I found!”

Even though I was born 40 years before him, this kid treats me without hesitation.

It’s comfortable for me too.

“What is it this time?”

I didn’t dislike Iel following me.

Rather, I quite liked it.

It’s because he always finds interesting things.

Last time, he brought a treasure chest from under a tree stump, and it was full of written parchments.

The title of the first page was…

‘Regarding the Matter of Me, an Elf, Becoming a Slime’

“Huh?”

I doubted my eyes and looked at other pages.

‘The Elf I Want to Scold’

“Iel… what is this?”

“Uh… I don’t know either? What is it?”

Then there was only one way to find out.

Since I had nothing else to do, I picked one and read it, figuring I had nothing to lose.

But…

It was so interesting.

Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop.

This box was a collection of novels scribbled by some idle elf.

But they were so much fun.

It was like the novels I read in my previous life.

‘That’s why I once spent three months just reading novels without sleeping.’

Knowing Iel’s commendable track record, I was curious what he had brought this time.

“Ta-da~”

Iel held out a book in front of me.

The cover looked old, but it was made of a much better material than the previous parchments, and the pages inside were closer to modern paper.

On the cover was a drawing of a fire-breathing dragon.

“Where did you find this?”

“Heh, I found it in the Elder’s house storage.

It’s a good thing I searched all the storage rooms for the past six months.”

I gazed at Iel.

He grinned, as if expecting praise.

‘He’s not normal either.

I could have read 10 novels in that time.’

I patted Iel’s head once and opened the book.

The title on the first page.

‘All About Dragons’

The author’s name was Caligos Maelstrom.

There wasn’t any specific information about him.

Turning the page to the table of contents, it listed dragon abilities, habitats, characteristics, and so on.

Among them, there was a section that caught my eye.

‘The Reason Dragons Live Forever’

To put it simply, the reason was the Dragonheart located in a dragon’s heart.

As long as they possessed a Dragonheart, dragons could draw mana existing in the world and use it directly as life force.

Normally, one would die without mana, but having a lot of mana doesn’t necessarily mean living longer.

‘However, transcendent beings who have surpassed the limits of their species experience slowed aging and possess extremely long lifespans.’

What happens inside their bodies is the conversion of mana into life force.

What only a tiny fraction of transcendent beings can do, all dragons perform as naturally as breathing.

‘All dragons use the mana existing in the atmosphere as if it were their own.’

‘Therefore, dragons can be seen as standing at the pinnacle of all mages.’

The pinnacle of mages…

That’s a mouth-watering prospect.

If I were to hunt such a powerful dragon, I would be defeating the strongest being among those mages.

‘Then wouldn’t I be the strongest?’

My goal is to become the greatest mage in the world.

And greatness, by its very nature, requires strength and renown.

If I, an elf mage, were to single-handedly defeat a transcendent species like a dragon, everyone in the world would look up to me.

‘Oh! Lady Lua! You are the greatest!’

‘Lua! Lua! Lua! Lua!’

Hehe… just imagining it brings me joy.

Thinking of the dragon I would one day hunt, I began reading about the characteristics of dragons.

I thought that when I eventually traveled the world, I should seek out a dragon first.

Preferably a bad one.

****

I didn’t expect to meet one so soon.

95 years after I was born.

Zerus retired about 30 years ago, and now Kaleshi is the leader of the hunters.

Since I could go outside in just 5 more years, I continued my training repeatedly.

Iel, lacking perseverance, tried following my training a few times before giving up.

‘Haa… still, compared to other elves, Iel is quite persistent.’

That day, as usual, I was waiting for monsters.

What made me realize something was amiss was that the dust cloud rising from the monsters’ advance was much larger than usual.

And through it, a black creature flew.

Spreading its enormous wings.

It was like… yes, it looked like the dragon drawn on the cover of that book.

“A dragon?!”

“It’s a dragon!”

“Why a dragon?!”

The hunters were flustered.

Dragons, like elves, were a reclusive species, rarely leaving their nests for almost their entire lives.

That’s how it should be…

“It’s a Mad Dragon! Look at its red eyes!”

Kaleshi shouted.

Mad Dragon?

It was said that if a dragon lived for a very long time and its mind collapsed, it would become a Mad Dragon.

Until the end of its lifespan, it would become a god of destruction, simply smashing everything that existed.

To prevent that, dragons who felt themselves fading away were said to take their own lives.

But there were certainly those who couldn’t do so.

Like the colossal being now visible to the hunters.

That calamity was flying towards the elves’ forest.

The hunters were in disarray.

“Kaleshi! What do we do?!”

“If we stand still, we’ll all die!”

Kaleshi shouted in a trembling voice.

“Calm down! Mad Dragons are mindless! They can’t even use magic!”

But his face was far from calm.

Amidst the chaos, only one elf was not trembling.

‘I was planning to look for one once I left the village, but it came directly to me?

And a dragon that can’t even use magic…’

‘Hehe… becoming an elf in this reincarnation, I’m truly lucky.’

Seeing Lua’s sly smile, the expressions of the surrounding hunters brightened.

“Lua! If it’s Lua, she might be able to take down the dragon!”

“That’s right! Even if there are a hundred monsters, Lua can kill them all with a single spell!”

Even though Lua was still young, not even 100 years old, she was the self-proclaimed and publicly acknowledged strongest hunter.

The surrounding elves looked at Lua with expectant eyes.

“I will try to attack.

Please provide support.”

Shouting that, Lua dashed out.

‘If that thing shoots even one breath at the forest, it’s over.’

“Lua!”

I heard Iel calling from behind, but I needed to divert the dragon’s attention immediately.

I kicked off the ground and charged straight towards the dragon.

I took out arrows and strung them on my bow.

Rapid shots followed.

Acceleration.

Two magic-infused arrows cut through the air and flew.

Their speed was so immense that they created a tearing sound.

–Swoosh.

Before the Mad Dragon could even hear the sound, the arrows lodged themselves in its two red eyes.

The dragon roared.

“Kieeeeeeek!”

Unable to open its eyes, the Mad Dragon prepared to unleash its breath attack all around.

Seeing that, Lua cast another spell.

Wind Walk.

Wind surged up from beneath Lua’s feet.

Lua slowly floated into the air.

“Kaleshi! Just distract it for a moment!”

Kaleshi was momentarily flustered but quickly grasped the situation and ran out, shouting at the hunters.

“Everyone help Lua! Distract it so it doesn’t approach the forest!”

The elves, who didn’t usually care much about things, would feel hurt if they were called disloyal.

All of them rushed out with one mind.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

“Dragon! Look over here!”

Hearing the shouts, the Mad Dragon turned its head and shot a fireball from its mouth.

–Boom!

The ground in front of the forest, where the hunters had just been standing, instantly evaporated.

The hunters, who had already prepared, ran at full speed and barely escaped the blast radius.

This was what I was aiming for.

I leaped straight towards the Mad Dragon.

My magic-assisted jump was enough to get me on top of the dragon.

As I landed on its nose, the dragon roared.

I jumped straight in.

Into the dragon’s mouth.

‘There’s no chance outside.

I have to kill it from the inside where there are no scales.’

I slid down its throat as if on a slide.

Feeling the foreign object, the creature thrashed.

Dragon fluids splattered everywhere.

A little of the fluid got on the hem of my clothes.

–Hiss…

The fabric instantly evaporated.

Oh, wow.

I maximized my senses.

I needed its heart, as there was a high chance it would go into a frenzy if I didn’t finish it in one go.

I could feel the inside of the dragon’s body getting hotter and hotter.

‘If it breathes fire, I’m dead for sure…’

I focused, focused again.

As I had done for 100 years.

I drew mana to its limit.

At that moment, everything felt slow.

The rate at which the temperature rose, the dragon’s heartbeat, even the speed at which the air moved – everything.

The corners of my mouth curled upwards.

‘I can do this.’

I ran towards the sound of the heartbeat.

Soon, I saw the large, red dragon’s heart, just as I had seen in the book.

Without hesitation, I cast a spell towards it.

“Wind Blades.”

It was only a Grade 3 spell, but I poured my mana generously into it.

Wind, far surpassing the speed of sound, took the form of blades and swirled.

The vortex clawed its way through the Mad Dragon’s insides.

Its thrashing became much more violent.

“Kieeeeeeek!”

The Mad Dragon’s interior grew unbearably hot, as if its breath attack would erupt any moment.

“Wind Blades.”

I didn’t stop.

Each time I cast the spell, a wound appeared on the dragon’s heart.

“Wind Blades.”

I unleashed the most powerful attack spell I knew.

Continuously.

“Wind Blades.”

Continuously.

Until no more mana could be drawn.

–Whoosh!

How much time had passed?

With a tremendous ripping sound, the heart shattered into pieces.

At the same time, I felt the shaking dragon plummet.

I wrapped my body in wind to brace for impact.

–Thud.

The dragon’s massive body trembled.

This colossal creature was no longer alive.

I approached the shattered dragon heart.

‘Please… be there.’

I rummaged through the bloody fragments.

Just as I was starting to doubt the book’s contents, I saw a light seeping out from among the fragments.

“Found it!”

I immediately pulled out the source of the light.

A brilliant, glowing red gem.

This was the true Dragonheart.

I had read in the book that there was a gem, the true source of power, inside a dragon’s heart, but I was secretly anxious.

If it hadn’t appeared, I would have sought out the author for revenge, but thankfully, it did.

I admired the beautiful gem for a moment.

A faint crack was visible near the middle of the gem.

The crack rapidly expanded.

–Crack.

The Dragonheart split in half right in my hand.

Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding.

No power could be felt from the fragmented gem anymore.

‘Why…?’

Such a legendary treasure couldn’t possibly have been destroyed by a mere Grade 3 spell.

Could it be that a dead dragon’s heart loses its power… or perhaps it’s because it was a Mad Dragon unable to use magic.

Pondering various thoughts, I emerged from the dragon.

The elves were surrounding the dragon.

“Lua! You’re safe!”

Iel ran towards me the moment he saw me.

His eyes were teary, so he must have been worried.

The expressions of the hunters behind him were also worth seeing.

“Lua… I really didn’t think you could…”

“Yeah.

I wasn’t really expecting anything…”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at them.

“You didn’t think I’d lose, did you?”

“But an elf defeating a dragon? I’ve never heard of such a thing.

You’re probably the first.”

“That’s right.

It’s not that we doubted Lua, but… dragons are transcendent beings.”

Several heads nodded in agreement.

It might be the first time for an elf, but Caligos, the author of the book I read, had definitely hunted a dragon before.

Otherwise, he couldn’t have explained the existence of the Dragonheart in such detail.

I let my comrades’ doubt about my victory slide.

After all, if I had fought a true dragon that could use magic, I would have likely lost nine times out of ten.

When I gave the elves a triumphant expression, they cheered me on.

“Lua is definitely a genius!”

“Lua! Lua! Lua! Lua!”

I reveled in my victory amidst the pleasant cheers.

Ah… more, more, praise me more…

“Well, that’s enough of that, let’s go back.”

Kaleshi suddenly interjected.

When I glared at him with a sullen expression, he laughed.

“Tonight’s dinner is grilled dragon!”

Everyone cheered at his words.

It was the day a transcendent dragon was hunted.

Even if it was just half a one.

****

Five years later.

I turned 100 years old and left the village.

I stepped onto land I had never ventured into, beyond the forest’s outskirts.

I briefly pondered where to go but soon set my direction south.

‘First, of course, here.’

Towards the human kingdom.