Renowned

Chapter 1 - Silver

On a cold, snowy night, a delicate figure with long scarlet hair was battling against a massive beast of monumental stature. It was unclear where the confrontation had started as smoke rose in the sky, and there was destruction wherever one looked.

The two opponents had somehow found themselves fighting above a large forest, once green and full of life but now masked by a sheet of white.

The beast was the epitome of cruelty, its eyes dark and hollow and its wings so large that they covered the sky in its entirety. It had claws and scales harder than any metal known in the region, which seemed to consume the light that came across them.

This was the king of all beasts: A true dragon.

The beast roared as it slashed at the delicate figure, who successfully dodged the attack by a hair's length. The individual who was either brave or ignorant enough to fight against the dragon was finally drawing weary after a whole day of battling.

Despite this, the figure dashed forward with a long sword, slashing several dozen times in the blink of an eye.

This move had served the dragon's foe well in the past, decimating many enemies before they had known what had happened. However, the attack barely damaged the dragon, lacking its usual accuracy.

It was as though the delicate figure was distracted today. Their gaze lingered towards the west every once in a while.

There was the smell of death, and a scene of carnage as hundreds of magical beasts contended for whatever scraps came falling several thousand meters below. These beasts would usually cower in fear and run as far away as possible from the two opponents in the sky.

However, today they hoped to be the battle's benefactors due to the high chance of injury or death for both sides in the encounter.

Among them, some beasts could have used their flight capabilities to claim the rewards first. But they did not dare, in fear of becoming unfortunate casualties of the conflict.

Before the delicate figure could relax, the dragon had already recovered and retaliated by blowing out unforgiving dragon fire, which had reached a temperature so high it was white.

The dragon's opponent could see through the beast's attack due to past experiences and was able to dodge skillfully before it connected. Taking advantage of the time it took for the dragon to react, the stranger struck again with a flurry of sword movements.

Meanwhile, as the dragon's cries resounded throughout the forest, by a river several kilometers west of the battle, a leaf fell and slowly landed on a casket floating down the river. Inside the casket lay a baby with short scarlet hair and grey eyes full of wonder.

Had the baby cried even once during the journey downriver, several beasts lurked in the shadows that were able to make a quick snack out of him.

Despite this, the baby remained silent as though he was incapable of speaking, or perhaps even at this young age, caution was a part of his nature.

Many hours later, on a river bank far away from the forest hosting the battle, an old man with grey hair, whose eyes seemed to have lost their light, was humming a tune while happily fishing. The old man had a long grey beard and wore clothing that were so ordinary and ragged that one could mistake him for a beggar.

"Oh, and what do we have here?" said the old man as he spotted a casket floating in the river. He cautiously walked over.

"A baby?" he picked up the baby and gave him a quick examination.

"Hahaha! What a fortunate baby to have met me" he fished the casket out of the river while holding the baby in one of his arms.

"What's this? A pendant?" the old man questioned as he noticed a pendant made of a dark alloy shaped like a sword in the baby's casket.