SSS Rank Sword Mage: Awakening Starts with Weakest Mana Affinity

The Dragon halted my movements, its gaze fixed on the opened vortex portal

The two figures had finally breached the clearing.

Turning my head, to my surprise, I saw Lord Zedd—how did he get here?—and the woman beside him, Morgana, with a massive log of wood on her back. Both came ready and prepared to face this Dragon. The Dragon, in turn, took a relaxed posture, settling its wings.

"Interesting..." the dragon said, amused by what was before him.

Meanwhile, a frantic thought echoed in my mind: Please save me!

I couldn't help but question the peculiar sight: Why the heck is that woman carrying that long log of wood on her back? What was she planning to do, beat the Dragon with a log?

As they finally arrived, Morgana pulled out a potion-looking bottle from underneath her attire. Her outfit was striking, perfectly suited for combat: she wore practical, dark-plated armor over a white tunic with a tree emblem. A heavy, golden brown shaped log was strapped to her back, making for an imposing silhouette as she walked just a distance away from me.

She gave one to Lord Zedd, who immediately gulped it down without question, while also poured into the mouth of Anna, who was still unconscious.

Lord Zedd's eyes glowed purple, and that aura around him gave a purple hue those healers used it before.

Morgana then changed her stance towards a more attacking posture; she was low, coiled in a combat stance that spoke of lethal, disciplined grace. Her face was set like she was about to kill anything that stood in her way; the visible eye burned with a focused, almost golden intensity.

But it was the phantom at her back that stole the breath. A colossal serpent-type looking Dragon, forged of raw aura, crackling Abyssal Energy, reared up like a crest. Its scales were waves of rippling blue light, crowned by a faint, square symbol of arcane power on its head. This was no mere illusion; it was a summoned will, an extension of her own destructive intent, wrapping around her like a protective, yet utterly terrifying, guardian. The blade she gripped, which had a dull silver sheen, was ready to cleave the Dragon, but this Dragon still wasn't shaken.

In the blink of an eye, I lost trace of her. I couldn't see her anymore. But then she appeared right in front of the Dragon, as she immediately snatched me back, pulling me away from going any further. Finally, I was back with Morad and Anna. She had rescued me before I could even process what had happened.

As she turned to me, removing her hood and making her face more visible, her frame very well resembled a true elf. She immediately started checking me for scratches and marks, like a frantic mother who had just started the job. "Good, you're still alive. Hmmm, although you got some injuries here and there."

She breathed in disappointment. "Now how am I going to have to pay your dad now, tch, for your injuries?" She genuinely looked pissed at the fact she would need to pay now that I was injured. My face was perplexed; was that what she was supposed to be worried about?

She smirked, then said, "Open your mouth," as she moved her hands to open them without my permission, even before I could react. She poured the contents of the potion into my mouth. It had no taste.

I coughed. "What's that? Why are you giving me that?"

As she said, "It's to help you resist that Dragon's hypnosis magic. It took out the half scout regiment with that power, so I had to go get them. They cost a lot." Sigh, she was a weird one, worrying more about prices and cost than the actual situation. "Nice Mana Beast," she said, nodding toward Morad.

I replied, "Thank you." I swallowed hard.

As she raised two fingers and said, "How many fingers am I showing?"

I responded, "Two."

"Good. Stay that way," she said, happy with my response. "Good, stay that way. You aren't under his hypnosis, or that would have rendered the drug useless."

"Humm, but the girl, Anna," I pointed out. Anna had been behaving strangely, as if under hypnosis.

Lord Zedd replied, "Say no more." As Lord Zedd cast a spell, wind-like restraining air circled her, almost like they tied her down.

"What? Why do that?" I asked, confused why Lord Zedd was restraining Anna.

Lord Zedd replied, "Focus on yourself, not others."

He's right. I may not like royals, but he is right there.

Morgana cracked her neck, the faintest grin tugging at her lips. "I hear you've been going around calling me a bodyguard."

"Ahh, no! No! Not at all!" How the heck did she know that?

"Better hope I die here, kid, because if I do survive, babysitting you will be very fun."

I did not like the way she said that, and the grin on her face. Was I screwed?

Now reduced to a mere spectator about to witness them go toe-to-toe against that monstrosity made my brain run wild.

The Dragon shifted, its coils rippling like an ocean tide. Its jaw opened, and a sound poured out—not a roar, but laughter. High, broken, mocking.

"Food protecting food! How wonderful! At least one of the food is sure to taste nice."

The words clawed at my bones. A voice. This Dragon sure knew how to make me shiver to my core.

My throat went dry. "How are you guys going to defeat the Dragon?" I said from behind them.

Morgana didn't flinch. "That's no Dragon." She spat the word like venom. "That's a psychopath."

As the Dragon replied, "Psychopath, so that's what they call it now… Children… children always taste sweetest… is it a crime to like a tender meal?" It chuckled.

"Bagu, the Spider-tailed Dragon. You have been on many families' prayers in Aetherhall, hiding here close to Manyblood," Morgana chuckled, mocking its longevity. "How foolish! For many years you've been in hiding, and all those families will finally get justice. It all will be answered today. I, Morgana Redwood, will make it happen!"

Lord Zedd cut her off. "No, Morgana. We only paid you to find him. If not anything, I will be the one to kill this vile bastard." This was definitely a surprise. Lord Zedd's fists were clenched; he appeared to have taken this more personally.

"That voice," the Dragon said, its tone changing slightly. "I've heard that voice before." It stuck out its long tongue, sampling the air before retracting it back into its mouth.

"Ohhhhh, well now," it said with the calmest of calm. "Seems I have had a bite before. A familiar food is before me, that has never happened before."

The Dragon sniffed the air. "Is that little Zedd, come to have his revenge? Hahahaha! Still want to spill my blood after all this years "little mouse"?"

Lord Zedd's voice was cold, edged with twenty years of hatred. "Twenty long hard years I have waited to see your disgusting face. And yet again, you are out here scaring children.

"But looks like the twenty years was enough for you not to panic and run away from the sight of me, unlike last time, little mouse." Lord Zedd stared him down, gritting his teeth. This was a man filled with one thing alone: revenge.

"Grandfather made a mistake by training you to be a dragon. To him, you were a dragon, but to me, I see only a filthy snake, only consumed by greed."

"That old man! Hahahaha! Oh, what was the last thing he said before I crushed his skull?"

Zedd's eyes flashed. "Shut your mouth, Beast."

"So you don't even want to call my name?" The Dragon chuckled. "Hahahaha, little Zedd."

Morgana added, her tone utterly calm, "fortunately for you, the whole of Aetherhall wants you dead." She pulled out a sword, its blade gleaming. "And I expect to be paid in full."

Then she commanded, "Come forth, Lady Zuchin."

In front of her stood the nightmare made solid—her summoning: her champion, a creature not of flesh, but of mineral malice. A gigantic head and neck of jagged, obsidian crystal reared beside her—the chilling profile of a Wyvern, its structure defined by lethal, angular geometry. Its scales were segments of cold, unformed ice stone, catching the light in sharp, blue and purple facets. Its visible eye was a deep, hypnotic void, a purple jewel that seemed to absorb all warmth and light, lending a terrifying, alien sentience to the crystallized beast. This creature, lacking the forelegs of a true dragon but possessing every ounce of its menace, was her shadow, her protector. She was the mistress of the Elf, standing ready in the desolate calm after the storm.

Yet, after all this, Bagu still looked unaffected, carrying more of a disappointed tone toward Morgana's summoning.

Bagu scoffed. "Zuchin? You're a slave to the Elf now?"

Zuchin replied, her voice firm and echoing, "I, Zuchin, am a slave to no one. She is my companion. And we will destroy you, Bagu."

"Pitiful! A captive bird thinking flying is a sickness! My race reduced to submissive servants! How the strong have fallen!" Bagu's voice boomed.

"You know why we were punished," Zuchin replied, "because of dragons like you and your shallow ego and pride!"

"Watch your tongue, or I will rip it out of that primitive form you call a body. That weak-minded ruler, the Rainbow Sun! Is to blame for what our race has become!"

"You watch your tongue, Bagu," Zuchin replied.

"Or what? It makes us a sub-servant again?" Bagu mocked. "I am the Horizon! I shall become King of the Dragonkin! Both False and True Dragons shall unite under my rule! Join me, Zuchin! We are far more powerful than being mere servants!"

Zuchin's was resolute. "This was exactly what got us in trouble in the first place—playing god where you don't belong."

"I shall restore back my race to its peak! It's a pity I would need to purge my race of waste. You truly are a False Dragon—mana-less, deficient, pinprick crap!"

"Don't give me that crap," Morgana said flatly.

Bagu roared, and sonic waves scattered, heading directly toward us. But nothing happened. The sound dissipated harmlessly.

The Dragon chuckled. "I see you came prepared. Twenty years, and you thought I wouldn't come prepared?"

Lord Zedd took his stance, his form radiating a dangerous purple hue. "After all those people you've killed, you think we would come here unprepared? You must be absolutely stupid."

Morgana did as well. Zuchin also stood ready, her crystalline body shimmering. The battle was imminent.

"So you two think you're enough to take on a True Dragon? You're too confident, Zedd. I'm not the same Dragon as last time," Bagu hissed. "I have evolved even further."

Bagu then lifted his wings, creating a massive gust of air that pushed everything away. His massive head now locked onto the three figures standing against him: Zedd, Morgana, and Zuchin.

Bagu roared, his voice laced with malice. "Three versus one! A fitting sacrifice!"