"This is it? What a disappointment you are. And you were just starting to get good as well."
Cain tried to take a deep breath but his chest hurt. He must have punctured something inside him because it was getting difficult by the second.
"Come on. Show me what you got. Your magic is so scary but you can't even use it properly. You have yet to touch me."
The lady was a demon. A beast in human form.
When she had first appeared in front of Cain, he could not help but think of her as a goddess.
After all, what kind of human possessed lushed and soft grey air. Who had jewel-like green eyes that could pierce through your soul? Who had skin as snow-white and smooth-looking as butter?
The female in front of him had seemed like a personification of a goddess from his mother's novels.
She was beautiful and strong.
Even her voice was smooth and melodic to Cain's ears.
But standing opposite to her now and trying to breach the gap between himself and the goddess made him realize this woman was more than what she showed him.
Her magical aura was weaker than him but her control was much more refined.
And her every strike was aimed to kill Cain. she was not holding back.
Her latest strike had even managed to hit Cain in the chest and send him flying. Ever since then, the pain in his chest was getting worse.
Cain could feel his life force depleting at a rapid rate. If this continued, then he would die.
But he did not want to die. He still had to take revenge for his mother and father's death. He still had to do his best to get stronger.
'I still have to lead the royal guards back to Prince Lawrance. I cannot die here.'
But wishing did not make one stronger. Only a miracle could save him now.
And that miracle happened.
Just when he was about to die, Cain saw the light of heaven shine in front of him and he reached out toward it.
==========================
Congratulations to the user for gaining access to the system archive.
User information:
Name: Cain Miller (E rank)
Age: 15 (M)
Occupation: Unemployed
Skills:
[Mana recovery: E ranked (upgradable)]
Boost the mana recovery rate by 2%
[Hyper mode: D rank (Fixed)]
Boost your body's overall performance for a short amount of time. But beware of the drawbacks. You might not be able to move for some time.
[Items available]
Recovery potionX1 - use?
==========================
Cain did not know what the screen in front of him was. He just knew that it sprouted useless information back at him.
But it did offer him a recovery potion. And if Cain was right about the meaning of the potion's name, then it was what he needed to get out of this situation.
'Yes, I want to use the potion'
The potion disappeared from the screen and Cain instantly felt better. His condition was improving.
He was still nowhere strong enough to take the female in front of him but Cain was no longer useless.
Now if only he could tell what kind of person the lady in front of him was? How muchmuhc power difference was between him and her currently?
==========================
Person identified
Name: Patricia Doe (S-Ranked)
Age: 28 (F)
Occupation: Head of the Royal Guards of Eternia
Additional information not available
==========================
Cain was fucked.
His opponent was an S-ranker. There was no way he was going to win from her.
"What's wrong? You can always give up and die. I will make your death gentle if you beg."
The female taunted and Cain felt his patience reach its end. He was more than down with the female and her arrogant ways.
"S-Shut up. I w-won't give up. I can't give up."
Cain was serious. But in the end, it did not matter. There was too much difference between him and the female in front of him.
==========================
Activate skill [Hyper mode] - Yes/No
==========================
Cain had been hesitant ever since he had seen the skill description. It would take a toll on his body if he used it but he also knew he could not hesitate forever.
After all, it was either he use the skill or he die at the hands of the female in front of him.
So he made a decision and decide to use the skill.
-Hyper mode: Activate
Instantly, his body was filled with power. His muscles bulged with strength and his steps felt light.
He could tell that his moment had changed and he could concentrate better.
Even his senses had sharpened and it allowed him to dodge the female's almost-lethal attack.
"Ho, you got better all of a sudden. Have you finally decided to take our spar seriously?"
The female still seemed out of his reach but Cain no longer felt like he had lost control of this situation.
In fact, his sudden calmness and certainty made him realize a huge plot point he had been missing before.
He did not need to defeat the female in front of him. He just needed to touch her to ensure his win.
And she had never said that he had to do all the work.
"Hey kid, what's your name? I'm Patricia Doe"
The female introduced herself with narrowed eyes. Her interest sparked in her green jewelry eyes and Cain felt like lips move.
"My name is Cain Miller. I will be the one to win this challenge."
==========================
Patricia watched as the teen struggled to even stand on his feet.
She was not serious in her spar against him but she was impressed with the teen's resolute.
Having exchanged blows with the teen, Patricia could already tell that he had no experience. His control was nothing to write home about either.
But he certainly had resolved.
Most people would have given up by this time and proceeded to beg Patricia for their lives. But the kid was different.
She could tell that he had not given up yet.
That was the only reason she had not interfered when the teen had been struggling to stand back up after he almost died.
Not that Patricia would have allowed the teen to die. He had too much potential and was impressing her with his every move.
"Hey kid, what's your name? I'm Patricia Doe"
Patricia was not only surprised at the teen's resolute but she was also surprised at the sudden recovery he had shown.
From what she could see, the kid had the drive to live. But it was nowhere as strong as Prince Lowrance.
And yet, he showed signs of instant recovery.
Then there was a change in his aura. It almost looked like an identical copy of Crown prince Edward.
Even the chillness it sends down Patricia's back felt similar in nature.
"My name is Cain Miller. I will be the one to win this challenge."
Miller? Patricia did not recognize that name. But she did recognize the almost-pure aura the kid was giving off.
There was no way he belonged to an ordinary lineage. He had to be from a noble bloodline.
But no self-respected group would give up such a precious member. Not when they were tested at birth for potential.
Just where had this kid emerged from?
"Hey kid, were you adopted by your parents? Do you think I can meet them?"
Patricia could not help but ask. Things were not adding up inside her mind.
"Ah, sure you can meet them. You can meet them once you are dead."
Ah, fuck. It looked like she had hit a sore spot for the teen. She should have been more careful in her wordings.
The kid was faster than before and his strike rang harder than before.
It almost felt like she was sparring with the young crown prince Edward. The teen carried himself the same way Edward used to.
"You are so good. Where were you hiding all this before?"
Patricia asked as she was finally forced to take action.
How humiliating for her. She had to take out her weapon against an E-ranked opponent.
"Do you think you are going to win this fight? There is too much difference between you and me. Both in ranks and experience. I should teach you a lesson."
Patricia stopped the boy's fist with her hand and raised her spear with her other.
She expected to see Cain look at her with frightened eyes, but he surprised her by smiling back at her.
"I finally did it. I finally touched you."
The teen smiled at his trump.
Patricia could not help but feel shocked at what had just happened.
In her interest and arrogance, she had forgotten when terms she had initially purposed to get the teen motivated.
And now that he reminded her about them, she had to admit that she had lost this bet.
"I guess I did lose."
Interesting. How interesting this Cain Miller was.
His untapped potential along with his cunning wits made him the perfect candidate for the central academy.
And she would make sure he gets a seat in the academy.
==========================
"So you finally decided to be sensible and accept my help. It is nice to see that you are beginning to accept your real place in the hierarchy."
I could only look at my brother's impassive face as he took my hand in his.
His touch burned when he tried to bend my fingers.
"Ouch. Be careful with my hands."
My mouth was speaking without my permission. My mind and body felt like different entities.
-grrrrr
Ryu let out a hostile growl toward Edwards's location, clearly not liking the elder in his space but I nudged him to calm down.
After all, there was not much I knew about Edward and his thought process.
Unlike Cain, the novel hardly mentioned Edward and his thoughts. He was as much an enigma to the readers as to the people surrounding him.
Despite being called as the protagonist (a role he shared with Cain), there was no personal stuff available about him.
The author deliberately cut off any inner monologue Edward had. The author also never showed what kind of struggles he went through to get to his place.
All we, as the reader, saw of him were his schemes and the benefits he reaped.
"Keep your hands still because it will hurt. And try not to cry out this time."
Edward wanted before he poured some kind of tonic over my fingers.
"AHHHHH"
It burned.
It burned so bad.
It burned worse than getting poisoned.
-grrrr
-chomp
I could hardly make out Ryu's moment but it looked like the dragon decided to bite Edward's offending fingers off.
But Edward was the protagonist. So how could a small baby dragon hurt him so?
Edward used his fast reflexes to save his fingers in time.
"This little one seems fond of you. Where did you find it? Or, did you hatch it from an egg? It doesn't look old enough to have been separated from its pack."
Forget the fact that dragons had not been spotted in years, how could someone weak like me ever hope to get away by kidnapping a dragon?
Dragons were fiercely protective of their families.
"F-Found the e-egg."
I could only force those words out through the pain I felt. My mouth almost forget how to move due to the pain I was in.
"I see. So it was imprinting. Are you going to take over its mother's place? Can you even do it?"
Edward sounded amused. I could not even tell if he was happy to see me alive or to observe what condition I was in.
The pain was finally starting to lessen and I could finally focus on my surroundings.
My fingers were returning to their original color and Edward finally let them go. He looked satisfied to see my progress.
"What do you say little one? Would you like to come with me?"
Edward raised his hand toward the dragon in a peace offering.
I had never read about Edward having a dragon in the novel but my presence here could have changed things.
This incident had been explained from Cain's POV in the original novel so I did not know what happened to the victim he had left behind.
What I did remember was that Cain met the crown prince when he returned to the base. And the royal guards had already taken the other hostage home.
Whether Cain ever managed to talk with that other hostage was never explained in the novel.
But now I realised that the 'other hostage' mentioned in the novel was actually Prince Lawrance.
If someone read the novel without this context, they would have thought of the crown prince as a noble character. One who had gone out of his way to save a bunch of 'no-name' people.
But knowing this context and Edward's character, I could not help but feel like things were not that simple.
-Chomp.
Ryu seemed to have decided that he did not like Edward.
I could only watch in disbelief as the dragon chomped at the crown prince's hand.
"Seems like this dragon doesn't like me. Fine, you can keep him with you. At least I will not have to worry about you so often with this dragon by your side."
Edward spoke and the door rustled.
Guards entered and started the clean-up process. There would be no clue about what happened here buy the morning.
"Let's go home, Lawrance. Mother is waiting for us."
Edward sounded so sincere when he spoke those words. But I did not know why they send a shiver of fear down my spine.