( The cowards retreat )

” I’m sorry, who exactly are you? ” Max said with panic in his voice as the more he looked around the room he was in, the more he realised that the identity of the turtle was not simple at all.

There were legendary grade items used as his light lamp, and treasures of grades he could not even inspect laying all around the room.

Max had never seen the items present in the room in both his lifetimes, however, he felt like he was hallucinating when he inspected the pot that the turtle was boiling water in and the inspection returned to reveal that it was an ‘ Ancient ‘ grade item.

” Hmmmm ” the turtle hummed as he ignored Max’s question and focused on the soup he was making as a medicinal aroma wasped through the room as the broth neared completion.

Max tried inspecting the turtle and the dragon but he could not even cause a system prompt to pop up both times meaning that they were both existences far beyond his league.

Max sat down and crossed his legs as he tried to soak in the new mess he had landed himself into as he stared towards the red dragon who was eyeing him with curiosity.

” Why don’t you get your mana veins fixed boy? The fine weapon embedded in your arm is nothing but junk if you can’t wield mana “. The red dragon said as Max’s breathing became erratic

He felt naked in front of the gaze of these two powerhouses, like he had no secrets at all and it made him feel powerless and tiny.

” I can’t fix it, I don’t know how to, I don’t think anybody does “. Max said replying to the red dragon who seemed to have lost interest after his short reply as it laid it’s head back down

” No wonder your race was wiped out, they certainly could not protect their precious knowledge and pass it down generation by generation.

I’m not even sure if your brethren are any better to be honest, I don’t remember there being a Library in the brat Regus Aurelius’s palace either, if it were my clansmen born like this, they would be cured of it the very next day “. The dragon said as it closed its eyes and began resting, her words causing a storm of emotions to brew inside Max’s mind as he could not digest the words that were spoken by the dragon so casually.

The red dragon actually dared to call the vampire monarch Regus Aurelius a ‘brat’ and she seemed to know the exact layout of his palace!

Max could not begin to comprehend just how powerful one had to be to call Regus Aurelius a brat.

However, most importantly Max’s heart began to thump out of his chest when he heard that the red dragon knew exactly how to cure Max’s mana veins, an ailment that not even his brother knew how to cure, and a disability that had haunted him for two lifetimes.

” C-can you tell me how? ” Max asked, his voice quivering as he looked at the dragon with a hopeful shine in his eyes

” No ” the dragon said without even opening her eyes as she coldly rejected Max.

Max wanted to protest at this instant, throw up a fit trying to explain just how much it meant to him and how selfish the dragon was by not sharing the information with him, but a shout from Drax stopped him in his tracks before he could utter a word.

‘ STOP! DON’T YOU DARE ACT LIKE A SPOILT CHILD NOW!

Nobody is anybody’s well-wisher in this universe, and there is always a price attached to knowledge.

You should be happy to know that now you have a way to be healed from this damage.

If you rant today like a child, the dragon will never help you, but you have 5 more days inside this damn dungeon to try and somehow win her favour and when you do, then you can ask for your reward ‘ Drax said as he slapped Max with the hard reality of life.

Choking on his words Max sat back down, what Drax said made perfect sense and instead of being disappointed, Max felt a fire being lit inside of him as he decided that he was going to do whatever it took to win the red dragons favour.

” Time to eat “. The turtle said interrupting Max’s thoughts as he handed a small bowl filled with a brown liquid with many herbs swimming inside

The portion size was extremely small for Max, about 30 ml at best while it was nearly 4 litres for the red dragon.

Max took a small sip and felt every single cell of his body jolted by an electric current as he suddenly felt extremely alive.

The small sip made his vision clear out, his slightly bleeding wound healed completely as his stamina bar and HP bar regenerated to Max and his mental fatigue vanished completely.

Before Max even realised it he had chugged down the entire 30 ml as he was left smacking his lips for more.

” Glad that you liked the food, ” the turtle said as he took Max’s bowl away without giving him any seconds, much to Max’s disappointment.

The turtle kept humming as he poured himself a bit of the leftovers and drank it slowly as he matched the dragon monarch’s speed of drinking the soup, finishing the meal exactly with her.

Only after the meal was finished did he bring out a chair as he sat across Max and Rhea as he sighed deeply and said ” Care to listen to an old man’s story, young children? “

Rhea chuckled, it had been a long time since she had been called a child and since she was interested in the old turtle’s background herself she nodded in approval, whereas Max looked him right in the eye and waited for the story to start.

Since he could not inspect the turtle anyways, a story would be good to help him understand his mysterious saviours background.

———

/// A/N – Bonus chapter for hitting the GT target, good job everyone!

Also, it’s time for me to drop the first riddle

I’m going to go easy since it’s the first one.

The rules are simple, crack the code and dm me on discord, the first 3 win the prices

Here is the riddle – βμοδμεττ ατιχα ///