The forest did not just echo; it screamed.
Two blurs of impossible speed tore through the ancient grove, moving so fast that the air ignited in their wake. One was a towering pillar of shadow and golden intent—Argon. The other was a streak of crimson hair and jagged black light—Arthur.
I was fourteen now. My body had leaned out, replaced by cords of dense, flexible muscle that hummed with a constant, low-level vibration. I didn't just walk on the ground anymore; I glided across the surface of reality.
"Focus, Arthur!" Argon's voice boomed, appearing behind me.
I didn't turn around. I didn't need to. I felt the displacement of space behind my left shoulder. I tilted my head an inch to the side as a fist clad in black scales—partially transformed—whistled past my ear. The friction alone singed a few strands of my red hair.
I countered instantly. I didn't just punch; I folded the space between my knuckles and Argon's ribs. My hand vanished and reappeared inches from his torso, dripping with concentrated black lightning.
CRACK-BOOM!
Argon blocked it, but the force of the collision sent a shockwave that flattened every tree within a fifty-meter radius. The dust hadn't even settled before I launched a kick, my leg trailing a wake of violet sparks. We traded a hundred blows in the span of three seconds, the sounds of our impacts resembling a continuous, deafening roar of thunder.
I dived low, sweeping his leg while simultaneously manifesting a blade of lightning in my palm. Argon leaped, but I was already ahead of him. I used the Law of Space to "anchor" myself to a point in the air, swinging around an invisible axis to deliver a devastating heel drop.
Argon caught my heel, his feet sinking deep into the bedrock. The ground for a mile around us cracked under the pressure. He looked up at me, a fierce, prideful grin stretching across his human face.
"Not bad," he grunted, the lightning in his eyes swirling like a nebula. He shoved me back, and the kinetic energy sent me flying through three stone pillars before I flipped and landed gracefully on my feet.
"You're getting slower, old man," I teased, though my chest was heaving and my knuckles were bleeding. "Or maybe I'm just getting faster."
Argon let out a hearty laugh, his form flickering as the divine pressure he radiated began to settle. "Enough. The trees can only take so much of your 'growth,' Arthur. Let's have a feast. I caught a mountain boar earlier."
The fire crackled between us, the scent of roasting meat filling the clearing. It was a familiar, warm scene—one that had played out countless times over the last nine years. But tonight, there was a weight in the air that no amount of lightning could disperse.
I sat across from Argon, staring into the flames. I was no longer the broken, terrified boy from that cramped apartment. I was strong. I was capable. But inside, that five-year-old who just wanted to be loved was still there, looking at the dragon who had become my entire world.
"Arthur," Argon said, his voice unusually soft. He wasn't looking at me; he was looking at the stars. "I have nothing left to teach you. Your foundation is absolute. Your understanding of the Laws is deeper than most beings who have lived for millennia. All you lack now is experience. You need to see the world beyond this forest."
I looked at him, a sudden pit forming in my stomach. "What do you mean? We can just keep training. I'm happy here. I don't need the world."
Argon turned his gaze to me, his golden eyes filled with a warmth that felt like a hug. "What do you truly want in life, Arthur? Not as my student, but as yourself?"
I got shocked by the question. I thought about it—really thought about it. "I... I just want to live with you. I mean, I spent my first life being a shadow. Here, I'm alive. I just wanted someone to love me, and friends to smile with. I've always wanted to be happy and strong enough to protect that happiness. But... I have you. Why would I leave?"
Argon sighed, a sound that carried the weariness of ages. "Arthur... there is a mission. A calling for the higher dragons. We have to go to the other continent. The balance of the world is shifting."
The meat in my hand felt like ash. "Is that why you were making me train so hard? For the last few months, you've been acting like we were running out of time."
"Yes," Argon admitted. "The Higher Beings... they are restless. Most of them think of humans as a lower species, as insects to be stepped upon." His tone dropped into a low, dangerous growl. "Something is brewing on the other side. A storm that will swallow the weak."
He reached across the fire and placed a heavy hand on my shoulder. "And Arthur... it's time for you to go home. To the human world."
"No," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Don't say that."
"I want the life you described for you," Argon continued, ignoring my protest. "I want you to find those friends. I want you to lead a brave life where you don't have to hide in a forest with an old dragon. This is not a goodbye, little spark. It is a transition."
Tears began to well up in my eyes, hot and stinging. "What if no one wants me? What if it's like before??"
Argon stood up, pulling me into a standing position. He gripped my shoulders firmly. "Arthur. it s a leap of faith. The world is different when you have the power to shape it. These last nine years have been the most amazing of my long life. You didn't just learn from me; you gave an old dragon a reason to care about the world again."
I couldn't hold it back anymore. I stepped forward and hugged him, burying my face in his robes. "You're the first one who ever accepted me. My real parents hated me. My brother mocked me. You... you gave me everything."
I pulled back, wiping my face with my sleeve, my blue eyes burning with a new resolve. "I will become strong. I won't give up. I'll make them see. And I will meet you at the top, Dad. I'll be strong enough then to call you my Master in front of everyone."
Argon smiled, a genuine, proud expression. "I know you will. Here, take this."
He handed me a small, pulsing black stone. It felt heavy, vibrating with a familiar frequency. "It contains a fragment of my magic. You can use it to teleport to the place you want to go. It is a one-time use. Use it when you are ready to start your story."
I gripped the stone tight. "Never bow. Never give up."
"That's my boy," Argon whispered.
He stepped back, and the air began to distort. His human form shimmered and expanded, his clothes melting into obsidian scales, his stature growing until he towered over the trees. The Black Lightning Dragon stood before me one last time, his wings unfurling like the sails of a ghost ship.
With a powerful leap, he took to the sky. A massive shockwave of wind nearly knocked me over as he ascended, black lightning trailing behind him like a comet's tail. He let out one final, earth-shaking roar that sounded suspiciously like a blessing.
I stood in the clearing, watching until the last spark of his light vanished into the night sky.
I cried for a while. I let out all the loneliness of two lifetimes into the silent forest. But when I finally stopped, I didn't feel empty. I felt full.
I looked at the black stone in my hand. I thought of the world of Eleceed—of the Shinhwa Association, of the Union, of Kayden and Jiwoo.
"Until next time, Dad," I whispered.
I crushed the stone.
The world dissolved into black lightning.