Solryn walked quietly at the front of the long line of travelers. He kept his steps measured, his gaze fixed forward, yet his mind wandered. In all the history books he'd read, he knew there had never been such a group before — a human, a beastkin, a dragon, and twenty-three kobolds, all marching toward a place known to repel everyone.
The novelty wasn't lost on Hibana either. He trailed just behind Solryn, unable to ignore how strange this gathering truly was.
"Man… if only the guys back in Tokyo could see this." Hibana thought wryly.
Solryn kept glancing over his shoulder, scrutinizing Hibana whenever he thought the dragon wasn't paying attention. It wasn't just curiosity — Hibana knew that much. There was something calculating behind Solryn's eyes. A tension that spoke of suspicion and doubt.
But Solryn wasn't the only one. Hibana's gaze flicked toward Tsu. She walked with that same grim focus — her shoulders stiff, her hand resting near her sword. Each step she took was sharp and purposeful, her posture almost resembling a funeral march.
Then there was the kobold chief. The old warrior kept looking at him too. Not with suspicion — not quite. It was something harder to define. Curiosity? Wariness? Hibana couldn't tell.
"Guess I should try to lighten the mood." Hibana thought.
He shifted his pace, falling in line beside the chief.
"Do you have a name?" Hibana asked, casually.
The kobold turned his head, one scaly brow lifting. His voice was dry and sharp.
"The dragon bows. Apologizes for the behavior of others. And now asks lowly creatures they should care nothing about for their name…" The kobolds's voice hardened slightly. "Why?"
Hibana sighed. "Because I have a name too. It's Hibana... given to me by my own mother as an insult."
For a moment, the kobold said nothing. He just stared — not in awe, not in suspicion, but with a faint sort of confusion.
Then the old yellow kobold snorted. "My name is Dundru." He paused, then gave Hibana a long look.
"And we all know your name." His voice dropped lower. "It's written in your appraisal."
"Yeah... figures." Hibana muttered.
Dundru's sharp eyes lingered a moment longer. Then he shook his head and scoffed.
"Whatever you are…" Dundru muttered, "...you're... strange." His words weren't laced with mockery or aggression — just an odd uncertainty, like someone trying to describe a color they'd never seen before.
"You're too big to be weak... and too weak to be this big." He scratched his chin. "Don't make sense."
Then Dundru turned away, his pace steady as he rejoined the front of the column.
Hibana looked at his status screen again.
Name: — Hibana
Species: Dragon
Tier: [F-Tier]
Level: 1
XP:0/1000
Vitals:
HP: 30/30
MP: 10/10
Stamina: 50/50
Stats:
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 1
Intelligence: 3
Vitality: 2
Magic Affinity: 2
Resistances:
Fire Resistance: 5
Cold Resistance: 2
Skills:
[Active Skills]
Fire Breath (Lv.1) – Allows the user to exhale flames. Damage: Minimal.Cost: 8 MP.
Claw Attack (Lv.1) – Basic melee attack using claws. Damage: Pathetic.
Bite (Lv.1) – Basic bite attack. Damage: Weak.
Polymorph (Lv.1) – Disguise yourself as another living creature. Cost: 6 MP.
[Passive Skills]
Flight (Lv.0) [Locked] – Insufficient strength to sustain flight. 30 Strength required.
Draconic Regeneration (Lv.1) – Minor passive healing over time. Regenerates 1 HP every 30 minutes.
Heightened Senses (Lv.1) – Enhanced sight, smell, and hearing.
Night Vision (Lv.1) – Can see clearly in low-light environments.
Scaled Hide (Lv.1) – Provides natural damage reduction. Reduces all physical damage by 5%.
Magic Sensitivity (Lv.1) – Can instinctively sense nearby sources of magic, even without formal training.
Instinctual Combat Awareness (Lv.1) – Basic survival instincts allow for improved reaction speed against immediate danger.
Heat Absorption (Lv.1) – Passively absorbs heat from surroundings to maintain body temperature.
It was all still the same as it was the day he hatched. "This is how they always see me. Whatever this this glitch is that doesn't allow me to see my true stats is such a pain. I genuinely don't know how powerful I really am right now. But I can't let this intimidate me. I must try to make the lives of these kobolds better." He thought as he looked to them.
Solryn led the group to the edge of the Fae Wilds. The transition was stark — like stepping from a dying world into a dream. The lifeless dirt and brittle bushes suddenly gave way to impossible greenery. Towering trees stretched skyward, their branches weaving a dense canopy of leaves that shimmered like emerald glass. Vines spiraled around trunks thicker than castle towers, and waterfalls glittered in the distance, their rushing streams cutting through the landscape like silver veins.
Everything was vibrant — so impossibly colorful it felt unreal.
Hibana's gaze swept across the scene in quiet awe. The air itself seemed richer, heavier, as if the very atmosphere carried the weight of magic.
Then he felt it — a pulse, faint but undeniable, like the low rumble before a thunderstorm. His scales tightened instinctively, a crawling sensation rippling down his spine. Whatever power guarded this place, it wasn't something to take lightly.
Solryn walked to the precise point where the earth turned green. The line dividing the two worlds was sharp — unnaturally so. Not even a stray vine dared to creep across it.
He reached out and pressed his palm against the air. Silver light flickered to life, crawling across his hand like delicate threads of silk.
"This is the barrier," Solryn muttered. "It's been here longer than anyone can remember. Even the strongest elven mages couldn't so much as scratch it. That's why the elves — in their infinite wisdom — decided it's better left undisturbed."
He turned to Hibana with a dry chuckle. "But as a man of reason — and, more importantly, a human — I refuse to indulge in such ridiculous, superfluous frippery. That's precisely why I came here."
His gaze lingered on the glowing wall. "If the elves want to cower behind superstition, let them. Reality bends to knowledge, not whispered legends."
He paused, casting Hibana a sidelong look. "Still... if this actually works..." He scoffed, shaking his head.
"I'll eat my own staff."
Hibana's eyes lingered on the glowing barrier. "There are elves in this world?" he asked.
Solryn turned, blinking at him like he'd just claimed water wasn't wet. "Yes… of course there are." His brow furrowed, suspicion creeping into his voice. "What an odd question."
For a moment, an uncomfortable silence hung between them — a reminder that no matter how many times Hibana surprised Solryn, the mage could never quite shake the feeling that something about him didn't add up.
"Well," Solryn huffed, turning back to the barrier. "We're here. Might as well get this waste of time over with."
The kobolds and Tsu stood in silence, watching as Hibana approached the barrier. The air shifted — heavy with unseen energy, like the static before a lightning strike. The closer he drew, the more he could feel it — not just the power woven into the magic, but something else.
Something… playful.
Faint and distant, barely more than a whisper, he heard it — laughter. Light, musical, like wind chimes dancing in the breeze. It was hard to tell if it was welcoming… or mocking.
Hibana glanced back at the kobolds. Their anxious eyes flicked between him and the barrier, their tails twitching nervously.
He turned back, exhaling slowly.
Whatever happens… happens.
He held his breath, steeled himself, and stepped forward.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold, Solryn's mouth fell open.
Tsu's eyes widened, her usual stoic mask slipping for just a moment.
Hibana kept walking — one step, then another — until he stood several paces inside the Fae Wilds. The air felt richer here, almost too alive. The colors around him seemed brighter, more vivid — like the world had been painted with sharper hues. Even the air itself seemed warmer, more fragrant.
He turned back, meeting the crowd's stunned faces through the invisible wall.
The kobolds gawked, their jaws slack with disbelief. Solryn was frozen, still processing what he'd seen. Even Tsu — calm, steady Tsu — stared at him like he'd just grown a second head.
Hibana's gaze lingered on Solryn a beat longer. Solrin folded his arms and looked away. "Don't you dare ask me to eat my staff!"
Hibana couldn't help but smile. But then he turned his head to the technicolor wilderness ahead of him.
"Guess I'm invited," Hibana muttered.
As Hibana crept deeper into the wilderness, that strange laughter returned — distant yet far too close. It was the sound of children — or perhaps women — their voices bright yet unsettling. He turned his head, searching the trees, but the forest gave him nothing.
Then the voices spoke — light and melodic, yet sharp as glass.
"Is it mortal?"
"It isn't!"
"Is it divine?"
"It isn't!"
"Is it a dragon?"
"It is!"
"Far away the dragons went... far away, far away... And where they went, it was not here..."
"But here a dragon stands again... and yet..."
"Look at the color of his thoughts! Look at them!"
"Bright and blazing... like fire on dry leaves..."
"Oh yes... this should be fun!"
Hibana raised his head toward the source of the voices. Suddenly, his thoughts raced back to the days of Tetsuo playing video games in his apartment. He knew what these little magical creatures had to be — they could be nothing else.
"Are you... faeries?"
The voices answered at once.
"Stupid dragon!"
"Annoying dragon!"
"Guessing what we are so easily!"
Hibana frowned. "I'm sorry... if you want me to leave... I... I will."
The voices giggled.
"Silly dragon."
"Goofball!"
"...So easily hurt! As if you're not a dragon at all!"
"Yes! Just like all the others!"
Hibana's expression twisted in confusion. "But... I am a dragon."
The faeries erupted in laughter.
"Yes, you are!"
"No, he's not!"
"Shut up! He is!"
"Why?"
"Because I said so!"
"Who put you in charge?"
"You did, remember?"
"Oh yeah!"
Hibana blinked, unsure if he was part of the conversation or just a spectator.
"Umm..."
The faeries answered him.
"Oh, you're still here?"
"What do you want?"
Hibana glanced back the way he'd come, then turned to face the unseen voices.
"I... have a request," he said slowly. "If it's within your power to grant..."
The faeries gasped in exaggerated unison.
"A request?"
"A dragon with manners?"
"...How rare."
"How suspicious!"
Hibana pressed on. "I have some friends outside... they're not dragons like me. I told them I'd do whatever it took to allow them passage into this forest."
The faeries went silent — for a beat too long. Then, suddenly:
"Ohhh, so you promised something!"
"And now you want us to fix it!"
"How very dragon of you!"
"No no no, this one's different — he's asking for things instead of taking them!"
"Hah! That just makes him worse!"
The voices erupted into chaotic giggling.
Hibana lowered himself onto his haunches, his tail curling over his feet. Slowly, he bowed his head to the unseen voices. His draconic body shuddered — a trembling that reached deeper than muscle and bone.
What was this feeling in his chest?
Pain? No... something more. Something sharper. Something he couldn't remember feeling this strongly as a human.
Was it from his time with the goblins? Watching them grow, only to have them ripped away from him? Or maybe... maybe it was older than that. His parents — waiting eagerly for his arrival, only to cast him aside like refuse the moment they saw him.
His claws dug into the earth. His voice came low and strained.
"They are all I have left. If you cannot grant me this request..." He swallowed hard. "...you will never see me again. I promise."
The faeries fell silent again — but this time, it didn't last.
"He's ruining our fun!" one voice snapped.
"We can't give him what he asks!"
"Why not?"
"Because there are rules, you idiot!"
"Rules, schmules! He asked! No dragon's ever asked before!"
"That's the problem!"
The voices twisted together, chaotic and shrill, spiraling into frantic giggles — yet their laughter rang hollow, like bells chiming off-key.
Hibana Lifted his head once more. Tears streamed down his scaly cheeks. "I just want them to be safe."
The faeries' laughter sputtered and died.
"Fine!" one voice barked.
"Fine!" another echoed.
"We will grant you this!"
The air seemed to tighten, the forest itself holding its breath. Then the voices spoke again — quieter now, but sharper.
"But be warned, dragon!"
Their tone twisted, colder than before.
"Never take more than what is offered!"
The laughter returned — softer this time, almost nervous, like they weren't sure if they were mocking him or themselves.
Hibana nodded and smiled in the direction of the voices. Perhaps one day they would show themselves to him properly.
As he turned and walked back toward his party, their final words echoed in his mind.
"Never take more than what is offered..."
The phrase circled over and over, like a whisper scratching at the back of his thoughts.
"Perhaps Tsu... or Solryn would know what they meant by that."