Serendipity (Veldora x TBATE)

It was early on to the morning, and Veldora was in the adventurer's district.

"Yeah, hey," Veldora called out to a random woman with a friendly smile in his face. She froze in place, her eyes wide with fear, before quickly hurrying away without a word. He watched her go, a bit puzzled, but shrugged it off.

"Yo, uh-huh, Veldora here," he greeted a man carrying an infant, giving a small wave. The man's face turned pale as he clutched his child protectively, backing away as if Veldora was some kind of menace.

Veldora continued his impromptu introductions, addressing anyone he passed on his way to Xyrus' adventurer's guild. The reactions were either of shock or terror. A few people dropped their belongings in panic and fled, mistaking him for a thief or worse. Others stood rooted to the spot, paralyzed by fear, while some grew visibly nervous and clearly uncomfortable.

Veldora might look like an incredibly handsome and well-endowed young man, but his towering height was intimidating to most, leaving those he greeted too nervous to respond or too stunned to react at all.

Well, it's their loss, Veldora justified to himself.

Arriving at the adventurer's guild, Veldora stepped foot inside. The inside was a very lively atmosphere. Adventurers of all ranks were bustling about either collecting or discussing missions. But the moment Veldora stepped inside, silence fell over the room. Everyone turned to the unfamiliar newcomer.

Veldora continued walking inside with an impassive face, hands in his pockets, and his cape swaying slightly. He carried himself with regal pride. The atmosphere of his march and the silence in the whole guild made his walk seem to appear in slow motion. Each step in the marble floor echoed unnaturally loud.

How many aura points do I get from this?

"You gonna step aside or what?" Veldora asks in a tone barely above a whisper to a burly man with full-body armor—except for a helmet, revealing a shaven head—that stood in front of Veldora, blocking his way. The burly man didn't respond and just took two steps closer. The two men were now nose to nose.

"Am I supposed to listen to you?"

Veldora arrogantly smiled at this. The difference between this man's attitude and power level is humongous. But from the other adventurers whispering in the guild, Veldora overheard a few things.

"There goes Brom again with the rookies," Or something along the lines of such. The burly man smiled, then looked at Veldora, who just held his gaze. The man gulped as he was stared at by those golden eyes radiating an amber hue.

The seconds ticked and the whole guild was still in silence with the tension in the air so thick you could almost tangibly feel it. Beads of sweat dropped from the burly man's—Brom, as he was called—bald head. Finally, Brom took a step back, clearly in fright.

He tripped over his own foot and landed in an audible thump to the ground. That was the first sound in a long while. He rubbed his ass and looked up to Veldora, and Brom could bear it no longer. Yellowish liquid made their way from his biological heirloom through his clothes and even out of his armor until it ran uninterrupted in the marble floor below.

Veldora simply sneered at this. "Good chat. And drink some water," he said as he went past Brom, who still sat on the ground dumbfounded.

There was an awkward attempt at conversation in one corner, and the guild took this chance to resume their activities, choosing to instead pretend as if nothing happened. Things like these were oftentimes a daily occurrence, after all.

Veldora continued on his way to the attendant, all the while smiling as if he was eagerly waiting for something. He then lifted two of his nails and clawed at the air in front of the counter. A thin black line appeared and opened up like a curtain, and from it, forty mana beast heads fell out.

Veldora didn't unload all of it since it might not fit in the entire building, and for compactness, he removed every other part other than the head. He then crossed his arms and lifted his head up high while the attendant's jaw dropped, as it did for every other person in the guild.

"Well?" Veldora asked amidst the silence. "What do you think? This should be enough to get me to the highest of ranks, am I right?"

The female staff, still in shock and disbelief, regained her composure with a cough like a professional. Then, she calmly shattered Veldora's dreams.

"Please show me your quest form."

"…" Veldora's eyes twitched and his smile wavered imperceptibly. "…Would it be fair to say I lost it?"

"I see," the female staff replied, clearly suspicious. "What's your registered adventurer name?"

"Veldora."

"Please wait a moment, Veldora."

The attendant then imbued some mana into a crystal ball-looking orb, as if searching for something in its smooth emerald surface.

"I'm sorry, sir, but there's no record of you having ever taken a subjugation quest. Therefore, we cannot process your… goods as points."

Veldora is a true dragon, so he's supposed to be invulnerable—both physically and mentally. But at that moment, the dragon almost heard his nonexistent heart crack. His hands shook as he gripped the counter's edge, and it cracked ominously at his grip.

The female attendant gulped.

"…What value does it have then?" Veldora managed to question in a voice barely above a whisper, his head now hung low.

The attendant took a moment to answer as she readjusted her glasses. "You can sell it. It'll fetch a price in the market. Alchemists and craftsmen are always in need of mana beast parts."

"I see," Veldora replied as he turned around, his head still hung low while walking towards the exit—not forgetting to store back his monster heads of course.

Veldora sighed, running a hand through his hair. It seemed that enjoying himself in his vision as a rich and super-powerful and popular adventurer was going to be more complicated than he'd anticipated. But then again, what was a "classic Veldora tale" without a few bumps along the way?

And that, kids, is why you should read instructions and guides first.

...…

Veldora exited the adventurer's guild solemnly, and the moment he stepped out, he heard the guild broke into their usual bustle liveliness. It's an indirect way of saying Veldora ruined the whole mood. Tsk, he clicked his tongue, annoyed.

It was still early in the morning, and there as the clouds were still low, the floating city of Xyrus looked aesthetically misty and sublime. Veldora continued walking until he reached the town's square plaza. One thing he noticed that, other than the adventurers' district which he came from, the city's other districts have certainly been less… active.

Even at this hour, the city should have been stirring to life. Instead, the streets were eerily quiet, with barely a soul in sight. It reminded Veldora of the city's atmosphere during the dead of night, not the dawn of a new day. Veldora continued observing until he stepped on something that felt different from the marble pavement.

Glancing down, Veldora noticed a scrap of newspaper, its edges frayed and dirty from being trampled underfoot. He bent to retrieve it, his eyes quickly skimming the headline: "Lucas Wykes: Victim or Conspirator in Draneeve's Academy Invasion?"

"Heh," Veldora snorted as he read the article's contents. The so-called "victim" was painted as a helpless pawn in Draneeve's grand scheme, one who was forced against his will. But Veldora knew better. He'd seen firsthand the gleam of greed and insanity in Lucas's eyes—of a boy beyond help.

After everything he did in the academy, Veldora always found it suspicious that no one's heard of him, and considering how Veldora stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd—or "gorgeously handsome" as he modestly puts it—plenty of people would've recognized him if the government really wanted to track him down, which he was sure they had every reason to.

But there was none.

No manhunt.

Just monotony.

"Well, that's a shame." Veldora crumpled the newspaper in his fist. Something was off. The lack of pursuit, the melancholic atmosphere of the city, and now this propaganda masquerading as news—it all pointed to a larger conspiracy at play. And Veldora felt his curiosity being tugged.

Veldora stood there, pondering—an uncharacteristic behavior for the god who usually stormed headlong into whatever caught his fancy, heedless of the consequences whatever they may be. He cut off his own thoughts as he turned and began to walk once again.

There was someone—three silhouettes hidden in the morning clouds caressing the city grounds. They walked in the direction opposite of the one Veldora walked to, but it was only a matter of time before their paths collide.

Veldora continued walking in silence, confidence practically seeping out of him. His arrogant smile seemed near constant now, one he puts on as naturally and unconsciously as breathing.

The sound of footsteps, one after another—both his and those of the approaching figures—echoed in the otherwise eerily quiet and open space. And the three silhouettes in the morning mist finally revealed themselves as they neared Veldora.

The weird paradox?

...…

...

…

Arthur Leywin walked alongside Curtis and Kathlyn Glayder, his mind racing.

This is wrong, the auburn-haired boy thought.

Atop his head, his bond—currently taking the form of a harmless, cute fox—squirmed, sensing his discomfort. What is? came the telepathic reply.

The blonde guy from the academy—the absurdly dangerous one, Arthur paused as he struggled which words to pick in his mind. The council's lying to us… probably. And the thing is, we don't have time for all this bullshit.

"What's wrong, Arthur?" Kathlyn's voice snapped Arthur from his thoughts.

"Nothing," he replied, now unsure of how much he can trust the girl who he called his dear friend and classmate. "How much do we know about him?"

"That he's impossibly strong? And that he's not from around here—or from this continent overall?" Curtis' neutral voice added. "As far as we know anyways. They wouldn't send all six lances with us otherwise."

The three continued walking in silence—a silence that Arthur knew all too well was fabricated. Deep within the mists, he knew the elven lance Aya was doing her work of concealing a force that could otherwise bring this city crashing into the ground.

All three came to a sudden halt, their bodies tensing as they caught sight of a familiar figure approaching through the fog. A figure that Curtis and Kathlyn would never forget. A figure they saw as a symbol of mystery and raw, unbridled power.

Veldora.

The blonde man's presence hit them like a physical force, though not in the way they expected. There was no overwhelming surge of mana, no oppressive aura that typically accompanied powerful beings. Instead, they were met with a profound emptiness—a void so complete it was more unsettling than any display of power could have been.

Arthur's bond, perched atop his head, went unnaturally still. Veldora continued his casual and unhurried approach. His eyes swept over the trio without a flicker of recognition. It was as if they were no more significant than the cobblestones beneath his feet.

Time seemed to slow as Veldora drew level with them. He paused, standing next to Arthur, close enough that the young prodigy could feel the unnatural absence of life elements from the man's body. He couldn't feel him breathing, couldn't hear his heart beating—it was as if the man was not alive, but neither was he dead. Perhaps he was much more.

This is so creepy. What the hell are we really up against?

Without turning his head, Veldora spoke. His voice was calm, almost casual, but it that sent chills down their spines. "Are we doing this or what?"

The sounds froze in the air for a fraction of a second, and then chaos erupted. The assault began with a suddenness that caught even Arthur off guard. From the mist, blurs of motion signaled the approach of the hidden lances. Aya's concealment spell shattered like glass, revealing the full might of Dicathen's elite warriors converging on a single point.

Arthur's mind raced. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. They were meant to talk first, to assess the situation. They didn't even know if Veldora was an enemy or not. But the lances—or maybe the council—had clearly decided that Veldora was too great a threat to be given any chance to act first.

Varay, the ice lance, struck first. A barrage of enormous ice spears materialized in the air, hurtling towards Veldora. Simultaneously, Mica, the gravity lance, caused the very ground beneath their feet to ripple and surge.

Arthur barely had time to grab Kathlyn and Curtis, pulling them back from the epicenter of the assault. His eyes remained fixed on Veldora, waiting to see how the mysterious man would respond to this overwhelming attack.

To Arthur's shock, Veldora didn't move. He stood perfectly still, that same agitating smile playing across his lips as the combined might of Dicathen's strongest warriors bore down upon him.

The collision of powers sent a shockwave through the plaza, shattering windows and sending debris flying in all directions. Arthur raised a barrier of mana to protect himself and his friends, his mind struggling to process what he was witnessing.

As the dust began to settle, Arthur strained to see through the chaos. Had they succeeded? Was Veldora neutralized?

But as the dusts cleared, a single silhouette became visible. Veldora stood exactly where he had been, utterly untouched. The ground around him was cratered and scorched, but in a perfect circle surrounding him, everything remained pristine.

Veldora's eyes met Arthur's, and in that moment, the young prodigy knew with certainty that they had grossly underestimated what they were dealing with. This wasn't just a powerful mage or a dangerous outsider. This was something else entirely.

"Well," Veldora's voice cut through the stunned silence, "I suppose that's a yes, then. Shall we begin for real this time?"

Then, the lance and general Mica emerged from the air in a veil of mists as she swung her massive hammer down. She exerted all her strength and her maximum output of her gravity-deviant magic in that one single strike.

The hammer connected with Veldora's head with a thunderous crack that resounded across the city. The impact sent him hurtling through the air like a destructive meteor, cleaving through buildings and leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

The morning clouds and the veils of dusts and debris cleared as Mica lander on her feet, a victorious smirk on her face.

"Is that it? I'm disappointed Varay," she called out to the ice lance flying above her, who appeared as uneasy as she first came into this fight. Mica clicker her tongue. Varay had once beaten her almost effortlessly in single combat, and seeing the strongest lance showing signs of hesitations against an opponent that she herself had sent flying with a single strike was annoying.

"Listen to Mica, general—" Mica's words were cut off as she felt the shadow of a man behind her.

"Kehehehehe," Veldora's boisterous and barely contained laugh resonated through her ears, plaguing her mind and refusing to leave. "I'd give that one, hmm… six points."

Mica leaped high up into the air to gain distance but Veldora grabbed her ankle effortlessly, annulling all her momentum while staying rooted in place. Then, he slammed the petite dwarf down to the ground. The force was indescribable.

She laid in the destroyed ground, unconscious as blood continuously seeped from her body. The other five lances, who had been providing support with a barrage of long-range attacks, finally revealed themselves as Lance Aya lifted her concealment magic.

Varay, Bairon, and Olfred was different from their previous encounter with Veldora. They came prepared this time. All the lances were equipped for maximum combat performance.

But there was still a dread that pervaded the air.

The assault had all but failed, and now, Arthur realized with a sinking feeling, the battle of inevitable loss was about to start. This was it, there was no turning back. The council might've just sent their strongest warriors into their deaths, and the continent would be left defenseless in the war they knew was coming.