Becoming a Maxed Level Reincarnated Dragon

Chapter 12: Final Stand

Mere moments after entering the cave, everyone began lighting up torches which only allowed a limited view of the surrounding.

Jon felt something grasp him and jumped back before grabbing a torch from a nearby person.

To his relief and disappointment, it was Airen.

"Whoops, sorry! I was wondering if you know where Sir Fenris is because I thought I heard noises and he said that the monsters were further into the cave..."

"Wait back up, what do you mean 'noises'?"

"Well I swear I heard skittering sounds within the walls, I know it sounds crazy but something about this place is... Wrong."

Jon nodded at that statement since he also felt the cave exuded some sort of inexplicable repulsive feeling.

Further, into the cave, Jon tried to listen out for the noises mentioned by Airen but to no avail so he figured it was merely Airen's imagination.

Nothing eventful has occurred after a long time, so the large expedition stopped to take a break.

Campfires were set up swiftly with the help of magic from the mages in the group, while patrols were set up to make sure no ambushes were nearby.

Jon sat alone staring into the flickering flames of the fire until someone sat next to him, which was no other than Airen.

Oh great, this guy is sticking to me like glue...

I bet this guy is waiting to stab me in the back when he has the chance.

I'll surely repay Sir Fenris tenfold for anything that happens to me.

"Hey! So Nerius, I was wondering if you have any sort of story... For being here?"

"Wait... You don't know why I'm here...? What I am?"

"Uhhh, no. Sir Fenris just told me to stick with you and make sure you don't do anything dangerous. I guess since I'm a trainee from the Imperial Academy, I have to prove myself first before getting towards the goal of being a knight."

Jon rolled his eyes since he didn't feel like trading origin stories, although telling him a false one heavily inspired by a certain dark bat-caped crusader could be funny.

"Anyways you probably don't want to hear me rambling too much..."

"No no its fine. How about you start first, why are you in this dangerous expedition?"

"I'm in here because Sir Fenris says that he can take care of my younger sister if I manage to complete my task, which is to watch over you. So its not like I have a death wish or something but I'd do anything for my sister. She deserves the best, and I'll make sure she gets it. Maybe I sound ridiculous but she's the only thing left of my family..."

"Er, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your... Family?"

Airen stares into the fire in silence but finds the courage to talk about his past.

"It honestly still feels like yesterday... The fire, the pain, the screams. We lived in a rather large village and even though we were commoners and scraping by, it was great. Then a dragon came and burned everything, nothing was left. I managed to escape with my sister thanks to my parents pushing us into the water right before they were incinerated."

Jon felt slightly guilty even though he wasn't the perpetrator.

One reason being the fact that he was a dragon but also the tragedy.

He couldn't fully sympathize with Airen but pain and sorrow were something he was familiar with all well.

Before he could even start his own story, distant shouting further down in the cave caused a commotion.