Valerian, The Legendary

279 Interesting Encounter.

Valerian fell from the sky and took a moment before he figured out how to maintain his balance. When he adjusted his position, he realized he would fall into the ocean if his trajectory were not corrected. It was not a good situation to be in. Moreover, the ocean housed magical beasts about whom Valerian did not know.

One of the lessons he learned back in the academy was never to be overconfident. So, adjusting his body, the young man cast a few winds spells to propel himself in the desired direction. Then, as he reached the surface, he cast a few gust spells against himself to break his fall.

Landing on the shore, Valerian heaved a sigh of relief. However, he did not stand up from the ground for a few moments. The fall may have been short, but it did consume his brain cells to figure out a safe way to land.

After a few minutes, the young man sat up on the ground when he relaxed. He was surprised when his mind registered the scenery around him. The beach was covered with gold. Valerian was surprised, but when he picked up a handful of sand, he found that this place was covered with gold grains. All the grains were akin to sand particles.

He was surprised to see this. It got him wondering where all this gold came from. A gentle thump channeling through the ground disrupted his train of thought. He looked around and found a dragon walking over.

It was a dragon, but it did not have any wings. Valerian recalled that there are different kinds of dragons. There were ones with no wings; some had no horns, while some had no scales. Only the royal bloodline gave birth to the so-called perfect dragons.

Fortuna was a perfect dragon. She had small horns, glistening scales, and majestic wings. Valerian wondered what this dragon might have to do with him when the beast arrived near him. The beast let out a low roar and assumed an attacking stance. The young man hopped off the ground and became vigilant. He was sure that he might be able to take on this guy, but he did not want to start on the wrong footing with the entire dragon clan.

Despite having strict segregation, the dragons were very protective of their own. They never allowed any outsider to be unruly with even the lowest of their kin. Valerian had never experienced all this, but the books related to the dragon temple mentioned such stories.

The dragon saw Valerian’s action and said, “Who are you? Humans are forbidden from entering this place. Leave now.”

.....

Valerian said, “Sir, I am Valerian, and the Dragon Queen, Her Majesty Fortuna bought me here for a trial.”

The dragon in front of him was more like an oversized lizard. It was dark brown in color, without scales or wings. However, it had two big horns. The beast was surprised and thought Valerian was lying and said, “You dare to lie in the name of our queen. I shall bring you to the court and have you skinned.”

Valerian was surprised at this quick, violent reaction and was about to get serious when a roar echoed around the island. The guardian dragon stopped in its tracks and watched Valerian with shocked eyes.

The roar was from Fortuna, and she was telling everyone that her human companion had stepped on the island. None of the dragons were to bring him harm. However, just when Valerian was about to feel smug about it, another roar sounded. Valerian was kicked back into the ocean of despair.

Fortuna sent a message that if anyone was interested, they could challenge him for a fair one on one duel. Valerian doubted his decision to follow this brat of a queen here. This was straight of a case of bullying in a foreign country.

Valerian sighed, and looking at the oversized lizard, he asked, “Do you want to fight me?”

The lizard revealed a set of jaws adorned by drill-like teeth and nodded, saying, “I want to see what caliber you have to step in the sacred land of dragons. And why can a human make a magical bond of companionship with our Queen.”

Valerian sighed and said, “Fine, then come at me.”

The lizard was surprised but saw Valerian covering his body with a battle aura and forming a sword. The lizard was as huge as a carriage. It rushed at Valerian without any hesitation. The speed was fast, and the impact on the ground was heavier than earlier.

While the beast charged forward, it cast a few spells at Valerian. These imperfect dragons also mastered multiple elements, but the range was limited. So, the lizard cast earth spells on Valerian, who dissolved them with water magic. However, he did not take the initiative to charge ahead and face the lizard. Instead, he waited patiently for the opponent to come at him.

The lizard approached Valerian and charged at him with pointy horns. Valerian parried the attack quickly and then kicked the beast in its sides. The blow’s impact made the lizard roar, and to counter, it swept its tail like a whip cracking at Valerian.

The young man had been sparing with Fortuna and was already somewhat used to this move. He jumped over the whipping tail to avoid it. A dragon’s tail is like a whip that does not tear one’s flesh but breaks all the bones on impact.

Even if Valerian was strong enough to withstand this, he did not wish to risk a severe injury. The young man landed behind the lizard and instantly rolled on the ground. One mistake in such combat was to overlook the nature of the tail. It was a pendulum that would come back with the same speed too.

Valerian rolled back to his initial position and slid under the lizard’s body. Then he aimed his hand at the belly of the beast and cast a high-level wind spell. This spell was called procellae. It could call forth winds as fast and strong as a hurricane.

The spell was cast from under a being, and the impact sent the lizard into the void. Valerian flipped his body and stood up on his two feet. His gaze was locked on the beast in the void, flapping its body as it fell. When the roaring beast was about to make contact with the ground, Valerian cast a wind bubble shield spell.

The spinning shield broke the fall and shifted the momentum to the side. The lizard was thrown to the side, leaving trails on the ground. Valerian lamented about how such a miserable sight could look beautiful. Then he realized that the flying gold grains were the reason behind this scene and nodded.

The lizard stopped sliding on the ground and was twitching on the floor. Valerian scratched the back of his head and was about to approach the lizard when he heard a flurry of footsteps from the side. The young man immediately put up his guard.

However, the creature approaching him had a peculiar appearance, making it hard for him to hold back his laughter. The beast was a golden duck with dragon scales all over its body. When the duck arrived next to the lizard, Valerian wanted to communicate with this rare creature and said, “You good for nothing, reptile. You messed up my ground one more time. I will take you to court, you bastard.”

Valerian opened his eyes wide in shock to think this adorable-looking thing had a fiery temper. This was out of expectation. Then Valerian watched the duck use its palmate feet to swipe the ground and restore the perfectly leveled golden shore. Soon the duck arrived next to Valerian and asked, “Do you know why that half-dead reptile messed with my ground?”

Valerian nodded and said, “We had a battle, and he lost. Unfortunately, the final attack sent him sliding. I apologize. I should have been careful.”

The duck used emerald eyes and said, ‘It is fine. You look like a newcomer and do not know the shore rules. Ignorant is not guilty, but this fucking worm… Oye, how long are you going to play possum?”

The lizard turned to its side and stood up all wobbly. The creature shook its head to clear the haze in his mind and cursed, “Damn you, duckling. Your fucking mother swallowed a drop of dragon blood, and you appeared to nag over us. So today, I will roast you and eat you whole, you scourge.”

The duck was not scared and looked at the giant lizard. Instead, it said, “Oi, oi, oi, who the fuck are you to drag my mother in this, you little bitch. I am half sisters with the dragon queen. Do you understand your place, son of a bitch.”

Valerian could not hold back his laughter. The cussing aside, this duck just said it was half sisters with Fortuna. He fell to the ground laughing hard.