Chapter Fourteen: Learning to Fly – Part One

  Anyway, the novel in which William was the protagonist was a short one, consisting of about fifty chapters. It included a prologue through which many things were expressed, such as the world of the ancient tombs, in addition to clarifications regarding the successor of one of the heroes and how his father met his mother.

  The novel also touched on some clans, such as the Golden Dragon Clan, the White Dragon Clan, the Silver Dragon Clan, the Heavenly Winged Tiger Kingdom, the Imperial Winter Scorpion Kingdom, and the Volcanic Lion Clan. In addition, it explained the reasons behind the war between the Kingdom of Winter and the Kingdom of Flame.

  It also addressed the successor of the Kingdom of Storms, the relationship between the Demon Emperor and the King of the Kingdom of Storms, the Golden Lion, as well as the relationship of both with the world of the ancient tombs.

  But there was one thing that was never clarified, not even in the novel that came after William’s story…

  The first chapter of that new novel, which was supposed to continue the story, announced the death of William. But the reason? Unknown. No one knew how he died, or why. He just… died.

  Even when the new protagonist went to William’s world, and even after he obtained the treasure that William had possessed, nothing was discovered. All he found there, in the depths of all that William had left behind, was a single word:

  “The Tower.”

  Because of that word, the new protagonist began to climb the tower… just like that. As if everything begins and ends there.

  But the author later hinted at an intriguing detail: that the King of Golden Storms and the Demon Emperor knew exactly what had happened—they knew the reason for William’s death in full detail… and yet, they never spoke about it to anyone.

  Well, that mystery was never solved within the novel. And despite all the ideas and theories presented by enthusiastic readers, the author kept denying all their guesses, one after another.

  In the end… it didn’t matter anymore.

  William died, the new protagonist began climbing the tower, and the world changed.

  Anyway…

  Zelthan, the old black serpent, took a whole year to recover from all his wounds. During that year, my friendship with him deepened. Yes, it might sound strange for a red dragon to speak of “friendship,” but Zelthan was an exception.

  One day, he told me, in a calm tone unbefitting a creature of his size:

  “My ancestors… descend from the bloodline of the black serpent that pierced the world.”

  Yes, pierced the world!

  That beast… was a true legend.

  In ancient times, the legends say he managed to kill three emperors at once. He even defeated them before he had reached the rank of a full emperor… just a half-emperor.

  But the legend says he suddenly disappeared before the start of the Emperors’ War, and since then he has not appeared, and his descendants were unable to revive his lineage, so he was forgotten in the long history, as was the clan to which he belonged.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The Black Serpent clan that pierced the world fell after his disappearance, and this clan vanished since ancient times.

  Well, I know where he is. In fact, he is not dead yet; he is still alive and in good health.

  Anyway, I know the secret to awakening the bloodline of the Black Serpent that pierced the world, through my reading of the novel in my first life, but I want this old serpent Zelthan to become my servant. After that, I will tell him how to awaken his lineage.

  Anyway, I do not need to ask him for that because, being a psychologist in my first life, I have 1000 ways to make him become my servant without him realizing it.

  If he agrees to be my servant, I will teach him how to awaken the bloodline of the Black Serpent that pierced the world, as well as tell him the location of his ancestors.

  Well, the decision is now in the hands of this old serpent… let him choose his own fate!

  Anyway…

  At this large size, we cannot fly. What a shame! I have brought disgrace to the dragon bloodline!

  Well, who needs flying anyway? We never needed it before, so we never learned it!

  But today I decided that we will learn how to flap our wings and learn to fly, and that means only one thing: I will look for a very high place and jump from it. Yes, this is the best way to learn to fly! A very reliable method… if we don’t crash, of course.

  And luckily, I have an idea about the perfect place for that.

  Anyway, the old serpent knows every inch of this continent, so it won’t be hard for him to help me find the spot I want to jump from in a suicidal leap… and learn to fly while screaming from the top of the cliff!

  And speaking of continents, the world of the ancient tombs is divided into four continents, each with its unique characteristics. The Forest of Doom is located in the continent of Mira, where legend says the first battle between the races took place within it in ancient times.

  In this continent, there is also the tomb of one of the Dragon Emperors.

  Now I have to go to where the old serpent Zelthan lives, and I will think about this matter when the time is right. Currently, I can’t even fly, so I have to forget about the matter of the dragon’s tomb until I become stronger.

  I turned to Mia and said to her enthusiastically:

  “Mia, come on! It’s time to learn how to fly! Enough living like ground lizards! It’s time to level up… we will become flying lizards!”

  Mia said, frowning: “Lizards? Flying lizards? Brother, I am the queen of the red dragons! A beautiful, strong, fiery female dragon… and I’m not a lizard that walks on four legs and rubs its belly on the dirt! Are you the one who considers yourself a lizard?”

  I sighed.

  “My little sister, my situation… is complicated. I can’t answer that question right now, for reasons related to identity, the past, and maybe dignity.”

  Mia replied, staring at me suspiciously: “What do you mean your situation is different? Aren’t you born a dragon like me? Or are you actually standing there wondering if you’re a lizard?”

  I scratched my head and said:

  “Even if I explained it to you, you would misunderstand. This is a deep philosophical subject… I’ll tell you when I see you’re ready mentally and emotionally.”

  Mia said with a long sigh: “Okay… I’ll wait. But if you really turn out to be a lizard, let me know early so I can deal with it.”

  Mia and I finally emerged from the cave, after finishing the “flying lizards” debate that almost turned into an identity crisis.

  The moment we stepped out, we were greeted by orange sunlight shyly filtering through the trees; it was late afternoon, and the air was heavy with the scent of wet mud and fallen leaves. The sun was leaning toward the sunset, bathing the forest in a magical golden hue, as if pouring honey over the trees. The glossy leaves reflected the light with a soft shimmer, and the breeze passed by as if the forest were quietly breathing.

  But before I could be fully enchanted by the scene, a strange roar echoed from among the trees, followed by the fluttering of wings like a giant carpet flying swiftly.

  I muttered sarcastically:

  “Welcome to the enchanted dense forest… where everything either glitters or wants to eat you.”

  As for Mia, she was busy dusting off her wings while muttering:

  “The air is nice, but can we not die today? Just a suggestion.”

  Ahead of us stretched a dense and enchanting forest. Towering trees, their leaves glowing with strange colors—emerald blue, smoky purple, and shimmering leaves as if covered with stardust. But the beauty of the forest hid something less poetic…

  The sounds of monsters.

  From every direction we heard roaring, hissing, unnatural screaming… and suddenly, a strange-looking creature flew out from between the branches, holding a mushroom in its hand, as if offering it to us saying: “Taste death… with an herbal flavor!”

  I looked at Mia with a nervous smile and said: “A magical forest, full of monsters, we don’t know the way, we don’t know how to fly… perfect situation! All we’re missing is group singing and a dragon barbecue party.”

  Mia replied while staring into the depths of the forest: “Are you sure we don’t need the cave more than we need flying?”

  I said to her with fake confidence: “Don’t worry, we have a plan: we look for a tall tree… we jump from it… and we learn to fly. Or we fall and learn regret. Either way, a great learning experience!”

  Anyway, let’s go to Zelthan.

  Three days later…

  It has been three days since we left the Forest of Doom, accompanied by the Black Serpent.

  And after three continuous days of walking, we finally reached a massive cliff, which looked like a towering tower of gray rocks, topped with a peak that resembled a hand waving to the sun.

  When my claw touched the peak of the cliff, I looked at Zelthan, who nodded his head quietly, then stood on one of the fingers and looked over the edge.

  The ground was very far away, and the cliff was astonishingly high. It was so tall that the air itself seemed thinner at the top.

  I muttered while staring into the deep abyss: “Oh my God… this is going to be a very long free fall.”

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  (Number of words in this chapter: 1,647 words)

  Best regards,

  [Ss1000101]

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