The dragon's breath warmed the very air around me as I stood—well, shook—on the edge of the bridge. Bruno, the majestic fire-breathing lizard with maxed-out stats and a passion for monologuing, grinned wide enough to show off his dental hygiene. Which, honestly? Impressive. Those fangs gleamed.
"You have nowhere to run," he said, voice deep and ominous. "Scream, little Summon."
"I don't scream," I said bravely, then immediately tripped over a loose stone and screeched like a teapot falling down the stairs.
Bruno squinted. "That was screaming."
"Nope," I said, scrambling to my feet. "That was… a strategic sound-based intimidation display."
"You peed a little."
"Strategic leaking."
His wings flared. "Let me taste your courage. Come! Fight me, Summon!"
I reached for any possible strategy. Passive skills only. Active skills were off-limits thanks to Raiden and her arbitrary no-fun rules.
"Cherubim," I whispered, "I need you to think like an anime protagonist. How do I win this with style?"
[Analyzing anime tropes… Done. Recommending: Overconfident Villain + Comedic Misunderstanding + Environmental Hazard.]
"…That's both helpful and deeply concerning."
Bruno reared his head back, fire brewing in his throat like he'd just swallowed a hot pepper and didn't care who suffered.
"Any last words?"
I reached deep into my soul, summoned the courage of every shounen hero before me, and shouted:
"YOUR MOM'S A LIZARD!"
The fire paused.
Bruno blinked. "…She is, actually. Rude."
He fired anyway.
I dove to the side like a sack of wet laundry, the flames scorching past me and setting what remained of the bridge ablaze.
"Is that all?" I shouted while choking on the smoke. "I've had spicier burritos!"
Bruno growled. "Mock me while you can, worm."
Then, I remembered something important: Sympathetic Magic.
According to Cherubim, it lets me reflect or mirror emotional energy. So… what if I could reflect his rage? Or his ego? Or, better yet—his overconfidence?
I closed my eyes and focused. I let the magic flow through me like a very confused Netflix algorithm.
[Sympathetic Magic: Engaged.]
I opened my eyes and roared back at Bruno.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE HOT STUFF, BUT I'M THE KING OF SPICY! I ONCE ATE A GHOST PEPPER AND ONLY CRIED FOR EIGHT MINUTES!"
A strange shimmer enveloped Bruno.
"What… is happening?" he asked, blinking.
Suddenly, his fire sputtered. His wings folded in. He looked down at his claws, then at me.
"…Wait. Do I even want to fight you?"
Bingo.
"Are you sure?" I asked, gently fanning the flames of doubt. "You seem more like a poetry dragon. Have you tried journaling?"
"I do dabble…" Bruno said, stroking his chin with one claw.
Sympathetic Magic was working! The more I leaned into his inner feelings, the more confused he got.
"You don't have to prove anything, man," I said. "You're a majestic murder-lizard. That's enough. Go write some sad haikus or something."
"I AM A MAJEST—wait. Murder-lizard?"
He shook his head, fire coming back to his eyes. "Nice try. But I'm not that easily manipulated!"
Then, he charged.
Okay. Plan B: Environmental Hazard.
I ran across the rest of the bridge toward a crumbled statue that looked suspiciously unstable. Behind it, a glowing crystal embedded in the ground radiated energy like a "touch this and regret your life choices" kind of trap.
"Come on, big guy! Bet you can't catch me with those stubby little dragon legs!"
"I HAVE EXCELLENT LEG DEFINITION!"
He stomped after me.
I leapt over a pile of debris and dodged behind the statue. Bruno lunged—and crashed right into it.
CRACK.
The statue groaned like it had just woken up from a 600-year nap, then tipped.
Bruno looked up.
"Oh no."
WHAM.
The statue fell squarely on his head.
There was a moment of silence. Then:
"Ow," he muttered from underneath it.
I peeked over the rubble. His wings were twitching. His tail flailed like a confused cat.
"Are you… okay?"
"…I think I pulled a wing."
I stepped closer, feeling vaguely guilty.
"You good? Need a band-aid? Maybe a juice box?"
Bruno coughed. "This isn't over. I will—oof—rise again! I just… need to do a little stretching first."
A panel on the nearby wall fell open with a clunk. Inside? A bunch of dusty healing potions. The label said "For Extremely Dumb Injuries." I pocketed one for later.
Then, just to be sure, I grabbed a stick, poked Bruno's snout, and whispered, "Defeated?"
He groaned. "Ugh. Fine. You win, Summon."
"Say it louder."
"You. Win."
I struck a pose. "The mighty Troy Hercules defeats the Dragon of Fire using zero active skills, 100% accidental genius, and a healthy disrespect for authority!"
A rumble echoed beneath us.
Bruno's eyes widened. "Uh… did you step on the…"
CLICK.
"…pressure plate?"
"Oh, for the love of—"
The ground vanished.
Both of us dropped like bowling pins down a trap chute, bouncing off slide-y rock walls and screaming all the way.
I landed in a pile of hay, coughing up dust.
Bruno landed next to me with a loud, indignant thud.
"I hate this dungeon," he muttered.
"Same."
A second passed.
"…Want to team up?" I asked.
He glared. "Do I look like a sidekick to you?"
"You look like a dragon who just got defeated by a guy in foam horns."
He grumbled something in Draconic that I'm pretty sure translated to "I will eat your shoes in your sleep."
But he didn't leave.
Instead, he flopped dramatically onto his side.
"Well," I said, "if it makes you feel better, I didn't even mean to win."
"That… actually makes it worse."
"Yeah, I get that."
And that's how I accidentally defeated a dragon using passive skills, emotional manipulation, bad poetry, and a crumbling statue.
What can I say?
I'm Troy Hercules.
Master of accidental victories.
"M-mister?"
Huh? Someone spoke behind me, and when I turned around, a man, no, a beast folk who looked exactly like a younger version of Leo, was standing behind me. He was all bones and barely could stand up.
"W-who are you?!"
A sudden sound of stomach growling came from his stomach startled us.
"I'm hungry. Do you have some food with you?"
I ended up cutting a few slices of Dragon meat and decided to Roast it. Even though we didn't have salt to add flavor to the meat, the young beastfolk gobbled it like it was the most delicious food he had ever tasted.
"So, who are you?" I asked him after he burped, indicating he was full.
"My name is Leland. And who are you too? I saw you suddenly appearing on that top of the statue over there," he said as he looked at the Dragon's carcass.
"My name is Troy. I came from Levaerûn."
"Levaerûn?"
Leland eyes become interested.
"Yes. Do you know that town?"
"It's the town where my older brother went to! Do you perhaps have met him? His name is Leonidas."
Why am I not surprised that this beastfolk was Leo's younger brother?
"Yes. He's working under me now," I replied.
Leland's eyes become teary.
"Thank goodness. I thought he didn't make it. The barrier was too powerful to even allow us to leave this place. But I'm glad brother is safe."
Mister Heizou mentioned mw before that Leonidas was actually a slave who escaped from his owner.
"Uhm, is it okay if I ask you something?"
"Sure," Leland replied.
"If Leo escaped this place, why didn't you go with him?"
"I don't have any magic in me. If I pass the barrier, I'll be pulverized. Besides, I don't want to hinder my big brother's dream. He already suffered so much because of me."
"But does Leo know you're still alive?"
"No," he replied. It's a good thing he'll never know that I'm still alive; otherwise, he'll come back to this hell-hole nation. I don't want that to happen."
"What happened to this nation's place, and who was that statue?"
"Ah," he said and stood up. "This place used to be the Zephyrus's Capital city, Eos. These ruins you see were the house of the Caelum and where the Wind Dragon resided," Leland explained. "And that statue over there was him."
I followed what he was saying and observed the statue. Now that I had time to look at it, the statue looked like a man with long hair.
"What exactly happened here? Raiden told me that this Nation was closed for a long time."
"You also know Raiden?"
"Uh, yeah? Why were you so surprised?"
"Raiden was the head priestest of the seven elemental Nations. She was the bridge of the seven sovereigns."
"Seven Sovereigns?"
"The seven strongest dragons ruled the elemental continent hundreds of years ago."