Garett’s entire world throbbed in agony, but if he were to pick a specific point it hurt the most, it was his mouth. The taste of blood was heavy on his tongue. As he opened his eyes the world rocked side to side. After moving his tongue around in his mouth he noticed something odd. He pushed himself up off the ground and spat out three of his front teeth in a puddle of blood.

“Eve?” he said as he rose.

His arms felt like they were attached to anvils, and he could barely move his feet.

*I have to move, I have to make sure she is okay*

He quickly scanned his environment and saw Vaan and Galt both in pools of their own blood, and nearby two of the girls. One with an arrow through the eye, while the other with pools of blood oozing from her eye sockets.

Garett fought off a gag, and turned towards the passageway. As he walked down it he heard a fuzzy sound to his right, saying something like rabbit.

*Rabbit? What? Who keeps saying rabbit?*

“Garett!”

*Wait, Garett is my name?*

“Yeah?” he said with a lisp.

“Don’t go down that way,” Silvia replied.

“Why not? Eve ran that way…”

“Urgh, it really hurts to speak, just don’t go that way… And if you can, help Yuta. He and I are the only one’s left now, and you. He might need you. I can’t see from here. Please help him if you can”

“Does this mean… This mean that… Everyone but us three are gone? Even… Even Eve…” A tear welled in Garett’s left eye. “No, she was… She was nice to me…”

Garett balled his fist, and turned around.

*If I can, I won’t let anyone else die*

Still in a haze, Garett picked up each of his feet one at a time, and put them in front of the other. He could see two blobs in the distance, but the blood in his eyes made it impossible to make them out.

…

The kobold swiped at the air wildly as Yuta jumped back to keep distance.

SWISH SWISH SWISH SWAT

Yuta swatted back at the kobold with his club and circled off to one side to try to change the position of the fight and maybe find his way back to his pike. While he wouldn’t be able to pick it up right away, he thought of plans that might make it possible.

*If I swat it away when it attacks, and then throw the club at it hard enough, it might give me enough time to grab the spear*

The kobold slashed again, pressuring Yuta, looking for an opportunity for a killing blow.

Yuta made sure to control his breathing, kept his grip relaxed but firm, and made sure to maintain the distance with sharp swatting attacks. He pointed at the creature’s centerline and made sure that it could not get a better angle.

*Damn, the fundamentals actually work pretty well, the only problem is I can’t confidently do anything else*

Yuta glanced over at the pike a few paces away from him and while it was only for a moment, the kobold darted off towards the pike at full speed.

*Oh shit! It is going to reach it first! What do I do!*

Yuta turned around and searched frantically for another weapon. Not far away a bone spear of one of the kobolds still stuck out of Jerimiah’s rib cage.

*Sorry Jerimiah, but I know you would throw it my way if you could*

Yuta quickly dashed over and extracted the bone spear from the corpse. He plucked it out with a pop and then twisted to point the tip of his spear at the kobold. By the time he had turned around the kobold was already striking at him, forcing him to flick his wrists in a circle to swat the pike’s tip away.

They both fenced and parried each other’s attacks, back and forth with Yuta more on the defensive and slowly getting pushed back. The two foot reach difference between the spear and the pike had him at a severe reach disadvantage.

SWIPE SWIPE SWIPE CLASH

Yuta could barely keep up with the defense let alone figure out how to time an attack of his own.

*Damn it, we are about the same strength, why am I getting pushed back? Is it because my stamina is low?*

The pike slashed inches away from Yuta’s eyes, and then spiralled a hair’s breadth away from his gut.

*Shit! Shit shit shit! I can’t let myself die to just one kobold… C’mon, I’ve already killed a few of them already, one more shouldn’t be impossible*

Yuta felt as if luck was somehow on the kobold’s side.

*Wait… is this what it means to be low on stamina? You can’t focus, or pull off a task you accomplished just moments ago? If that is true, then how do I get out of this? Really, how can I survive?*

A chill of terror rippled up Yuta’s spine as he realised that his chance to win was no longer equal to that of the kobold’s.

*Is that why it is so confident in its aggression?*

*No! No no no! This can’t be happening. Am I going to die?! Again*

The thrust of the kobold’s pike sliced past Yuta’s ear causing him to stumble off to the side and thud against one of the hall’s pillars.

“REEEE!” the kobold screeched in a frenzy. It swiped wildly at Yuta as if keenly aware that its chance at victory was close at hand.

Yuta swatted off blows, but then…

SLICE

“Arrrrgh!”, Yuta screamed as the tip of his own pike was plunged into his right shoulder by the kobold.

Yuta dropped his bone spear and grabbed onto the pike now sticking out of his shoulder, and held it in place, in a desperate attempt to not give the kobold a chance to stab him again.

The kobold suddenly released its grip and drew back its talons, ready to strike.

SLICE

Blood splashed over Yuta’s face, and then he felt the hard thud of the kobold’s body against his own, driving him off his feet and onto the floor.

Yuta spat the blood off his face, and wipe his eyes, to see the sight of Garett stood upon the upper back of the kobold, his dagger dripping in its blood.

Garett’s face was swollen and his front teeth were missing, but in Yuta’s eyes, in that moment. He was beautiful, the image of a true hero. Yuta laid his head back on the cold slab floor, uncaring as the kobolds blood soaked through his vest and onto his skin below.

“Thanks… Really… You saved my life...”

Garett’s eyes welled with tears, “If only… If only I could have saved the others''

“I know… I feel the same way…”

Garett hopped off the back of the kobold and helped Yuta push it off of him. He then extended his hand to Yuta.

Their hands slammed together in a way that spoke louder than words. Even though soaked in blood, Yuta reached out and gripped Garett in the tightest hug he had ever given anyone (including in his past life).

“You are a great guy Garett, a hero even…” Yuta mumbled during the hug.

Garett however couldn’t stop crying, “They are dead… All dead… I wasn’t strong enough… And Eve is gone because I am too little”

“No… No… You aren’t too little. You are the biggest guy in the world to me right now. Seriously. You saved me. Without Garett, there would be no Yuta. You are a giant”

“I’m a giant?” Garett sobbed.

“Yes!”

A smile broke through Garett’s teary eyes, “You know what, I thought you were an asshole before, but you are actually alright”.

“How is Silvia?” Yuta asked.

“Oh yes! She is still alive, but she is hurt pretty badly” Garett replied.

The blood covered duo walked over to the passageway and stood over Silvia.

“Ah, good, you both made it” Silvia said as she peered at them through one eye. “I guess I really messed up. I’m sorry I brought you guys down here”

Garett pulled a bandage from his bag of holding and began wrapping it around Silvia’s wound. “Can you walk?”

“Nah, I don’t think so… At least not on my own”

Yuta raised his hand. “I will help you, but before we do, I just need to check something out”

“Don’t, it isn’t worth it” Garett said.

“This trip has to mean something, or it was all for nothing,” Yuta replied.

Both Silvia and Garett were both silenced by Yuta’s logic. They wanted it to mean something too, and while they didn’t believe anything could make up for what had happened, they didn’t want to stand in the way of someone who wanted to try.

Yuta headed over to the opening in the rocks, and jumped through. The enormous black dragon set its eye on him.

“Do not approach me human, or I will turn you into ash”

Yuta raised his hands. “I just want to ask a question?”

The dragon looked at him with suspicion and took in a sniff of air. “I smell another world on you. You are a rebirth are you not?”

“Yes, I am reborn,” Yuta replied proudly.

“Pfff, and a pathetic one at that” the dragon said.

Yuta paused for a moment.

*Should I address what he just said? No no, that’s what led to that monster hunter leaving this scar on my arm… Best to let it slide*

“That brings me to my question actually… How can I become strong?”

“Hahaha! And you ask this of a dragon?! How foolish…”

“Why is it foolish?” Yuta asked

“Dragon’s are born with power. We know nothing of how to grow or to develop as you human’s attempt to. Though… I suppose there is perhaps one insight I could grant you, if you were to do something for me in exchange”

“I am not setting you free” Yuta responded, “I don’t know who wrapped you in chains, or why you are down here, but I am not rolling the dice that you aren’t some murder dragon or something”

The dragon chuckled, “I do not expect you to free me. And I am no ‘murder’ dragon as you put it. Though I am no friend of human kind either...”

*I wonder what that means? Does he view killing people like swatting mosquitoes?*

“Then what do you ask?”

“I have a debt to settle with one of the gods of this world. I would have you help me settle this debt with… interest”

*Holy crap, the dragon IS a quest giver!*

“Who is this god?” Yuta asked with a straight face.

“The lord of corruption and the god of the hidden, I do not know his true name, but I call him Akur”

*So the final boss of this world is Akur… Interesting*

“And the debt?” Yuta asked.

“He is the one that chained me here to hide something of his long ago”

*Oh and this is a mention of some kind of a quest item*

“Wait… How did he chain a dragon?” Yuta replied

“He enlisted the help of Calypso and a lover of hers, a mortal. After they chained me here, he betrayed them both. Robbing Calypso of her memories, and using her paladin as a catalyst for a powerful curse that grants him power over the collective consciousness of the world”

*Akur made a goddess lose her memories? And he can control the collective consciousness of the world by curses?*

“He sounds like a god you don’t want to mess with, and I guess you are an example of that,” Yuta replied.

“He will in time, rob all of the other gods of their power. He will rob the world of its magic. And he will continue to corrupt all beings walking the surface of the world. There is no more fierce enemy in the heavens than Akur… Although, he does have a weakness”

“A weakness?”

“He requires a catalyst for his curses to function, and if this catalyst is taken from him, the power he uses to corrupt, can be used to create. In the right hands, these creations might indeed counter his own power”

“So, if I am understanding you right. There is some way to take these catalysts from him?”

“Akur has made sure that many false catalysts are spread throughout the world. Mankind is blinded by its greed and hordes these stones, despite the fact their true purpose only he knows. This makes it difficult to find those that are directly tied to his power. You mortals call these false catalysts runestones. His true catalysts however are not stones. In this valley once resided a great mage, and it was she who manifested one of his true catalysts from the ether and forged it into a dagger of shadows. Akur’s wrath was swift… However, the true catalyst remains in this realm”

“Where is this catalyst?”

“I believe a boy has already found it”

“A boy? Who?”

“This boy is in danger… You already know of him… Born in the village of Gimly…”

“... Mirio?!”

“Yes… While the boy is able to resist the curse of having held the catalyst, Akur has set things in motion to recorrect it”

“Does this have anything to do with the Sawtooth queen the monster hunters have captured? And the power struggle of the royal factions in the south?”

The dragon blinked in agreement. “It is as you say”

“But how could I help him? He is far stronger than me in almost everything! And I am weak… look at this blood on my hands, I couldn’t even save the members of my party. I can’t fight the will of a god”

“In weakness there is strength, and in strength there is weakness” the dragon replied.

“I don’t understand”

“You are not meant to, but Mirio does… Take the mark of my power, and I will show you how to lend your power to others. And he will understand it, when the moment is right”

A circle began to glow on Yuta’s right arm over his burn scar. Within the glowing circle a glyph key started to form in the shape of a black dragon.

“Ahh” Yuta clutched at his arm as the sigil buried itself into his flesh.

Yuta’s status screen flashed with a notification

BLING

Mark Of The Dragon

Activation of this magical sigil granted to you by the grand dragon Ladon sacrifices all of the user’s stamina to give a target a 1% buff to all of their abilities

“One percent? Come on! That is ridiculous. It gets stronger right?” Yuta said.

“In a fight for power over a catalyst, 1% can be the difference between an eternity of failures, and success eternal. Learn how to use 1% to your advantage, and you will become strong. This is my insight to you”

“Okay, I will try to understand it, but it is pretty vague. I will try to protect Mirio but… Just one more thing before I go. Is there any treasure around here?”

“This is not my lair, I am here against my will, however the kobolds have some gems on the table over there”

Yuta looked at the table in front of the dragon’s mouth and considered for a moment if it was safe or not.

“You won’t blast me or anything will you, I mean you need me to help get your vengeance right, so you wouldn’t… Yeah okay, let me just grab them then”

Yuta rushed to the table by the far side wall in front of its mouth and picked up a pouch which rattled with the sound of gems.

The chains around the dragon Ladon began to rattle and shrink.

“Grrr! Akur…”

The dragon began to roar wildly. Smoke poured from its nose. Yuta knew better than to just stand there and he fled for the opening in the rocks.

Flames burst through the room and blasted out of the opening behind Yuta. The earth around them began to shake.

“Quick we have to get out of here” Yuta said as he rushed over to Garett and Silvia. As he picked her up and helped her to walk, rocks began to fall in the hallway just behind them.