Chapter 18: Not Just a Hoard
Emre felt like he was sleeping peacefully. But the loud voice and something pressing on his nose was like an annoying fly. He let out an exhale through his nostrils and heard another yell. Finally, although groggily he opened his golden eyes.
The first thing he saw was Ragan standing in front of him. Only something was different. Something was very different. Ragan was considerably smaller. Before Emre was basically a large dog to him, now, as Emre lifted his head up, he realized how long his neck was now.
His size had drastically changed. Judging by Ragan's height, Emre figured he was at least five or four feet taller than him now.
Glancing back at his body, he noticed that his scales were no longer blue and white, but instead a pearly white with faint gold markings. There were two golden streaks going along his flank, but one reached up along his long neck. They also ringed around his tail. The previous swirled golden marking that he had on his shoulder as a Faerie had become even more extravagant.
He also noticed that starting on his head, snaked down a long silky white mane. His wings were folded but as he slowly unfolded them, they resembled a natural western dragon's wings.
"Emre…" Ragan's voice interrupted his observations.
Emre responded and turned his head back to the shocked-looking Ragan. Well, how would he explain this?
"Were you trying to hide your true form?" He asked.
Emre gave Ragan a small smile. That was actually a decent excuse.
"In a way." Emre answered, only to realize that he had unconsciously spoken with his mouth.
Wait! He was able to speak with his mouth now! It didn't need to be Telepathy! That would save him a bit of energy. He wanted to look at his status, but this should be dealt with first.
"I see… I'm sorry I came down even though I said I wouldn't." Ragan's brows furrowed as he spoke, probably still unsure what to make of this. "It had been hours… so I got worried."
"Hours? Ah… I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to make you wait long." Emre sighed out. Of course, it would take hours, what had he been thinking?
"But… I don't think you'll be able to leave in that form." Ragan said with an awkward smile.
Emre looked toward the entrance and then to himself. "Ah, yes, give me a second."
He would quickly put his stat points into his stats and take a look at all his new skills. As he went to look at them a different message than usual popped up followed by his usual status.
[ Note, due to evolution, certain stats and skills have been automatically improved ]
[ Name, Emre ] [ Radiant Lesser Dragon ]
[ Lvl, 32/100 ] [ Exp, 400/1650 ]
[ Stats ] [ Stat Points, 0 ]
[ Str, 25 ] [ Dex, 25 ] [ Int, 29 ]
[ Con, 25 ] [ Wis, 25 ]
[ Skills, Swimming [Lvl 6], Climbing [Lvl 5], Venom Bite [Lvl 10], Venom Spit [Lvl 5], Claw [Lvl 10], Ambush [Lvl 7], Perception [Lvl 15], Stealth [Lvl 10], Light [Lvl 10], Healing Touch [Lvl 10], Light Bolt [ Lvl 5], Healing Breath [Lvl 5], Radiant Flame Breath [Lvl 5], Dragon Detection, Telepathy, Circle of Protection [Lvl 5], Radiant Claws [Lvl 5], Dispel Magic [Lvl 5], Dragon Aura, Wind Manipulation [Lvl 7], Wind Burst [Lvl 4], Wind Arrow [Lvl 5], Wind Wall [Lvl 3], Wind Blades [Lvl 2], Shield [Lvl 5], Light Arrow [Lvl 5], Radiant Bite [Lvl 5], Alarm, Beacon, Levitation, Divine Oath, Divine Eye [Lvl 5], Radiant Spear [Lvl 1], Invisibility, Shapeshift, Barrier, Thundershock [Lvl 1], Divine Bolt [Lvl 1], Spatial Storage ]
[ Titles, Other-Worlder, Tirian's Angel, Frog Slayer, Destroyer of Corruption ]
[ Radiant Spear, a large spear made from divine light. Can be thrown or wielded as a weapon ]
[ Invisibility, allows the caster to turn invisible ]
[ Shapeshift, allows the caster to transform into any living animal that they know of ]
[ Barrier, creates a barrier in a specific room or an area within a 40-foot diameter to disallow any being from seeing or hearing inside ]
[ Thundershock, sends a shock wave of electrical energy from the caster ]
[ Divine Bolt, a thunderbolt that descends from the White Castles to smite down upon enemies within a 30-foot diameter ]
[ Spatial Storage, a storage space that is exclusive to the caster ]
Most of his stats had been put at 20 aside from his Intelligence which had been at 25. After putting his stat points in, he made it all pretty even for now. A lot of his radiant magics had been improved, and four new skills had also been added. It was a lot to take in… It just meant that he was getting stronger.
Radiant Spear could be useful in his human form and Divine Bolt especially sounded powerful, but what was White Castles? He'd have to ask the Voice later, but what he was looking for right now was Shapeshift. Any animal he knew of? Then he could just transform back into his Faerie form, right?
Focusing on it, he felt his form change in a flash. Opening his eyes, he looked like the same Faerie Dragon as before. With a smile, he looked up at Ragan who simply sighed in response.
"Let's go?" Emre said before trotting toward the tunnel entrance.
While he was excited, Ragan just seemed troubled at the developments. He could understand why Emre had been trying to hide his true form, but what struck him the most was the aura that came from him now.
While people could not see mana as dragons could, they were able to sense aura if they were good enough. Ragan was one of those people who were good enough. At first, Emre's aura hadn't been more than about his level once the dragon had learned more magic and began forming his core.
But now things felt different. It felt stronger than before. It was like his core had jumped from only being two layers to being seven or eight. Ragan could only guess that this had been the case the whole time, but Emre had been hiding it until Ragan found out his true form.
Meanwhile, Emre was oblivious to the thoughts going on in Ragan's mind. He wanted to transform into a human as soon as possible, but the thought of probably popping up as a naked man wasn't the best idea. Once they got back to the house, Emre could ask to borrow some of Ragan's clothes.
"We should go find your sword now." Emre said as they made it to the end of the tunnel.
When he exited he realized the sun was slowly rising into the sky. His eyes widened in the realization on how many hours really had passed.
"Actually… we should head home." Emre said instead.
"Yeah." Ragan agreed. "I stayed up all night waiting, you bastard." Although the words were harsh, Ragan's tone was lighthearted as he chuckled.
"Ah… I'm really sorry, Ragan." Emre sighed.
"It's fine. We can get my sword after I get some rest. My old bones have gone through too much shock today."
"Was it that shocking?"
"Hah? Are you asking if it's shocking seeing that the little pipsqueak dragon I've been seeing is actually this big holy looking one?"
"Yeah, that was a dumb question." Emre nodded.
He was going to be more shocked later when Emre showed off his human form. Emre actually wanted to surprise him. But he figured it would be best when Ragan had gotten some rest. While he seriously doubted Ragan would die from shock, it was better to be safe than sorry for the old man, heh.
"Do you have the mana to get there quickly?" Emre asked.
"Of course, I regained my mana before the first hour had passed." Ragan grunted.
"Alright! Let's go!"
With that, the both of them sped off with the aid of the wind to get back home. It only took them ten minutes to get back. The house and animals seemed untouched, which was quite surprising. Ragan's house was being spared by the vicious dark creatures for now.
They didn't even eat before they both headed into their respective rooms. Ragan passed out in bed pretty quickly but Emre spent his time focusing on forming his third layer. It was going far smoother because of the evolution so it would probably take about the same amount of time as forming his second layer did.
After getting through a bit of that he laid down for a nap.
Emre woke up first, it was about mid-day and had fed the chickens and goats. It was a bit difficult for him in his Faerie form, but he got through it quickly. He had wanted to collect eggs for breakfast anyway, even though it was noon.
He was cooking the eggs with much difficulty as Ragan exited his room with a yawn. He immediately noticed Emre's struggle but didn't come to help.
"You better not burn those eggs." He stated.
"I just might." Emre responded. "Oh, and do you have a mirror and some extra clothes I can borrow?"
Ragan looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"
"It's a yes or no question!"
"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged and walked back into his room. He brought out an old-looking hand mirror and a set of his usual tan tunic and brown trousers.
Setting them on the couch he casually took over the cooking with a yawn. Emre took that chance to snatch up the clothes and head for his room.
"Oi, don't you ruin my clothes. And don't make a nest out of them either." Ragan called after him.
"I'm not a cat!" Emre retorted, slamming the door behind him.
He set the clothes and mirror on the bed before jumping up afterward. He sat down and closed his eyes to focus on shapeshifting. It took but a second and as he opened his eyes, he looked down at the familiar shape of a human. He flexed his long, slim fingers.
His past life appearance was nothing to this, his form was well-toned and his pale skin was smooth and flawless. Draped over his shoulders was long silky white hair, whiter than Silvis's was. He ran his fingers through the strands before standing up and stretching out his long legs. He figured he was at least 6 feet tall.
Oh, to have a human body again! Although naked, he ignored that and grabbed the mirror first. It was time to get a good look at his face! Moving the few white strands of hair from his face, he looked at himself from all angles.
He had a wonderful jawline, his skin was fair and smooth, but the most prominent features on his face were his bright golden amber eyes and long white eyelashes. Wait! Moving his hair out of the way, he also had long pointed ears that were even longer than Silvis's were! He was beautiful, to say the least. But what else would one expect from a dragon?
"Emre! Breakfast is almost done." Ragan called from the other room.
Ah! He was still naked too. He quickly began to dress, wearing the clothes that actually were a bit baggy on his slim figure. Not only that but the shabbiness of this outfit put pure shame to his stunning looks. But it wasn't like he had any money to buy anything decent to wear.
Not to mention going out in public looking like this… He would attract just as much attention. Both men and women would swoon! Thinking about it, he attempted to change the appearance of himself.
It took a second, but he successfully changed his long silky white hair to shorter bluish-black hair. It was about as long as Ragan's but cut a bit shorter than the shoulders. His ears also changed to a normal humans. Changing his eyelashes to black as well, with his eyes becoming a bright blue. Although still handsome, he wouldn't be as eye-catching.
Now it was time to surprise the hell out of Ragan! Confident, he turned and opened the door. Ragan turned his head to look at Emre only to drop the fork he had been holding. While Ragan had laughed at himself at the idea that Emre could turn into a human, he didn't actually think that he could do it.
"Tah-dah!" Emre said, shaking his hands outward.
"Who the hell are you?" Ragan asked with an unamused look.
"Who do you think!?"
"Emre~, some strange person just came out of your room."
"Oi! Quit messing around!"
Ragan then sighed and picked the fork he had dropped off the floor. "Who is the one messing around? If you could turn into a human in the first place, why didn't you ever do it before?"
"I couldn't just reveal all of my secrets to you." That was Emre's excuse.
"That so?"
"You think I would have wanted to eat stew like a dog every time?"
"Hmm…"
"No! I wouldn't have. Human bodies are much more convenient."
"Since your dragon form looked so holy I thought you'd look holy too. Your dark hair doesn't match."
"Oh? Wanna see my true human form?"
Ragan looked at him. "This isn't your real one?"
At that question Emre allowed his original appearance with long white hair to appear. "Aren't I beautiful?" He flaunted.
"Okay change back, you're too bright." Ragan squinted at him.
Emre laughed and changed his hair back to the black color. It seemed like every time Ragan got surprised he would brush it off like it was nothing. He also never pried about him. To be honest, Emre hadn't ever expected to meet a human who didn't try to pry a little bit.
Ragan had only asked about his bracelet but never asked further than where he had gotten it. He didn't ask who gifted it to him or anything like that. When it came to his new Lesser Dragon form, he only asked one question and left it at that. Emre couldn't tell if he was trying to respect his privacy or was just trying not to get too close.
"Well, breakfast is done." He stated as he divided the food onto two plates before handing Emre one.
Emre took it without reserve and followed him to the dining table. Sitting down as a human was so much better. He felt great now that he was taking the form of something that he was most familiar with.
Glancing up, Ragan had already begun eating but looked to be lost in his thoughts with a small look of grimace. Emre took a few bites, but after some consideration, he spoke up.
"Ragan."
Ragan looked up at him as if he didn't just have that look on his face.
"If you have any questions… I'll answer them to the best of my ability."
"Yeah, I have a lot of questions." Ragan said as he shoveled in some of his food. "I have a lot, but I've been holding back because I thought at first that they didn't concern me."
"And now they do?"
"Yeah, I've come to realize that you're not like other dragons. At least from what I've heard of them from my own mentor." Ragan stated. "But I also realized that you're not just some weird dragon; you're my apprentice."
There was a small pause between them.
"Yet despite that, I barely know anything about you or what you're doing here." He added on.
"To be honest with you, I don't know what I'm doing here." Emre said with furrowed brows.
Ragan's eyes raised at that statement.
"You'd think that because I'm some holy dragon that I'd know exactly what I'm doing. But I actually dont. I don't know why I can use radiant magic or what's exactly going on in this forest, but I do know that the corruptions are not meant to be in this world. So I want to get rid of them."
While he did choose the path of a radiant dragon himself, it was still specifically made for his being by Tirian. She had some sort of thing planned for him, he was sure. But he barely knows anything about this world or how it works. Corruptions aren't new to this world, but Ragan has been saying this is abnormal.
A village was massacred by a hoard of corruptions, just like in the past. Only this time, the village was lost. Ragan had stated that he hadn't really seen a corruption as strong as the ones they have been seeing. They were all appearing now. Emre had even seen several in the visions he was given.
Visions of something that had already happened. The question was, why did Tirian show him that carnage? Was it to show him that things were going to get worse? Or perhaps showing him the force of which he would be meant to fight?
"I've barely seen anything about this world. You could say I've been holed up somewhere else. That's why I was asking you about the Kingdoms and if you could teach me things."
"I see. So even if you look like a grown man or a big dragon, you're still just a child, huh?" Ragan chuckled.
Emre scoffed. "I'm just ignorant, not a child." His mind was actually 21 years old.
"So what do you have in mind then? The dark creatures around here lately are strong and high in number. We've killed the ones we know about, but there are probably more out there. What do you want to do about it?"
"A village was destroyed by them. The refugees made it to the village here, but what are the corruptions doing?"
"I don't know… usually they would keep following and just try to kill."
Wait! He had totally forgotten! "Intelligence!" Emre blurted out.
"What?" Ragan looked serious.
"The big corruption I fought in the cave. They were able to respond to me…"
"Do you mean they have the ability to talk?"
"I don't know if the small ones can, but the big one I fought did. This is bad…"
"This is extremely bad, Emre! If they can think about what they are doing, they are no longer just mindless beasts that want to kill!"
"I know!"
"I need to send a letter to the King." Ragan quickly stood up and began to head for his room.
"Ragan, I need you to teach me how to use a sword. I can't use my radiant magic in front of people."
He halted at the door and turned back to Emre. "You won't use your radiant magic?"
"No. I can't be tied down. If people know about my magic I'll be tied to an expectation I cannot meet." Emre explained. "Not yet, at least. But that is why I needed to know other magics."
Ragan seemed hesitant in the matter but nodded before entering the room. Things were about to get more complicated. Corruptions with intelligence were less of a hoard and more like a dumb army of sorts. If anything, due to the amount he had seen in his visions, there were far too many for him and Ragan to take on alone.
Telling the King to send troops to combat them was the best option. And as much as he wanted to use his radiant magic to just get rid of them, if people knew that he could use holy magic he would surely be revered as someone blessed by the Gods and be placed in a position that he could not escape.
Just like his wind, he wanted freedom. And to keep his freedom he would need to do it the hard way. He would just have to grow strong enough in his other magic and herbs in order to protect and heal. Just like a normal person. He was sure there would be a time where he would need to reveal himself but now was not that time.
He was still a dragon. As a dragon, his magic should be more powerful than a humans. For now, he would need to focus on increasing his knowledge and skill with wind. He could learn the other elements in time. His core was also important. The better his core was, the more strength he could put into his spells and the longer his mana can last from casting them.
He could only hope that the hoard of corruptions from the other village wouldn't come quickly. That way he had a chance to actually get to that point. If a village had been attacked, they would send soldiers as they had with Ragan, right? He hoped they were on the way already…
If they weren't and the village was attacked before they got here... It would most likely be destroyed just like the last one. Emre would use his radiant magic if that was the case. He would rather reveal himself than have people like Anne and Audr killed because of his own well-being.
Finally, Ragan exited the room with a sealed letter and a full pack. "Let's find my sword now. We'll head back to the village and get this letter sent. Then I'll teach you everything I know."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Trraven
Trraven This chapter is pretty chaotic. It's not my favorite, but this is just the build-up anyway.
Emre finally has his human form and a big power boost that he hasn't realized how much it has impacted yet.
I would also like to warn that he will remain in his human form for a while. He is meant to be in hiding for a bit. But also note that this story is not meant to be small, so please stick with me while he remains a human for now.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone