PROLOGUE
Aimless:
Bread, wandering through a maze of stone-built houses on top of a pointed hill, each one lined symmetrically from top to bottom–impossible to see from inside, but outside, they all spiralled to the top.
Its never-ending, symmetrical maze had me lost every time I stepped out to find food, but now I know it like the back of my hand.
I tossed bread as I traversed the abandoned estate, looking up at the starry night sky, my footsteps sending echoes through the shallow, cracked walls. For how long this estate has been left to rot, I have no clue, but it has slowly become our home.
"GGRRR"
Arriving at a huge, half-demolished mansion. Bella greeted me beside burning firewood.
"Sorry, Bella, I couldn't find food for you."
"MMGRR–HMPH!" She turned away with not even a second glance. How dare she!
Keeping the bread aside, I ran to embrace her with all my love. "C'mon, bella, you can't do me like that. I'm sorry, there have been no people to eat for a while. I can't exactly go hunting for my own kind, you know. I'd be a wanted man."
She snorted with vigour; she isn't letting up.
Ignoring her huge spikes, I rubbed the back of her ear. "Fine, baby, I will share some bread with you. Mm? Okay? Whose my good girl—aah!"
Before I knew it, she had shoved her face against me and bellowed softly with heavy snorts.
Oi oi, acting tsundere on me like that, you really know a way into a man's heart.
"I'm sorry you have to go hungry," I said while giving her more scratches.
She is a huge dragon with black-and-white striped spikes all over her head. Her love isn't painless, but I love it regardless.
It's the state of things right now. We have been here for about two months, and since then, no one has passed by. Merchants and the like frequently pass here or use it as a resting zone for travel, but none have been seen.
Bella has an appetite for people, as well as some of the things they carry. She devours them but not me; honestly, I can live with that. However, because of their absence, she hasn't eaten in a while, and I'm not sure bread can do it any longer.
We will have to leave here soon.
"MMGGRR"
"Geez, this girl. Okay, let's share."
I cut the bread in half and gave her her share. She took it with a gentle nod. How she manages to never bite my hand off is beyond me.
This bread is pretty nice. I had to travel to the nearest town to steal it. Luckily, with my ability, that wasn't too hard, but I was almost caught today. They are wary of me now, damnit. I will have to come up with new methods to best them.
"Ah?" Before I knew it, my share had vanished. Well, I guess that's it, huh?
"Whoa," A push almost sent me on my back. Bella, what's wrong?
In her mouth was her half; she kept it and gave it to me. How sweet this girl is, even though she's starving. I love her.
"No, bella, we will need your strength soon." I shoved the bread into her mouth as she swallowed, looking down at me with watery eyes.
"Don't look at me like that bella, come here, let's sleep."
She walked over and curled her body around me, pressing her head against me. Best seat in the house. God, where would I be without her?
Probably dead. I found her on my journey to find a life, and we have been tied at the hip since then.
"Goodnight, my love."
That night, I decided we would leave that place.
Finding a Place:
At the break of dusk, we set out to find a new home and a new life. With no home to go back to, this is the only option I have–the only option we have. I'm sure Bella has somewhere she belongs. However, life with her is all I know now.
For me, I cannot even remember my name or when my life started. I just know how to live. Strange.
Using my expertise, we began to make our way through the maze with a shortcut. As we were about to turn a corner, I spotted a carriage of temple knights, two of them, and in the middle was a single carriage. It looked fancy.
Turning to bella i stopped her in her tracks. "look we can't be found by these guys, they're bad news, probably after you. Go hide until they leave."
Bella rolled her eyes and flew into the nearest compound. Damn, for something so big, she's extremely silent when she moves.
Okay, now time to walk out like usual.
Pulling his sword, a knight barked, "You there! Who are you? Name yourself!"
"Ah..haha, I'm just a traveller. I was just making my way through," I said, scratching the back of my head.
He inspected me thoroughly with his eyes. Nothing suspicious here, officer, just a traveller.
"Where is your luggage?"
"Gaa!-well, it got stolen. So I do not have it…" ah i do look weird travelling with nothing but a coat.
"Hmmm", he eyed me warily, not breaking eye contact.
"I will inspect him, just hold on", another knight said, moving to step off the carriage. Damnit, I might just have to confront these guys. Can I win? Not possible, there are too many. I'd have to rely on Bella again, oh no.
Just then, "Leave him be!" a girl's voice came from the central carriage.
"Huh?" a knight asked.
"He is harmless and means no harm as well, so leave him. We cannot waste time."
"Fine then, you can go, boy." The knight sheathed his sword and ordered everyone to restart their journey. "I'm not sure what you're doing here by yourself; this place is extremely dangerous. Leave at once."
I nodded. I had heard that before, from other passersby and merchants. Apparently, this place has been abandoned for millennia and his filled with monsters and curses. Still, I have been here for a year and have encountered nothing. Hmm, strange.
As they trodded along. I peered at the central carriage to see the girl who saved my life. She sat with her back to the carriage front, covered by a cloth. I only saw her hair, a silky brown.
The cloth on the carriage had the Cestaf crest on it, one of the smaller but mightier kingdoms of the central continent.
"Okay bella, let's get a move on." Now that they're out of sight its about time we start moving.
****
For days we travelled, on foot sadly. Bella flying in some places is enough to set a whole town on alert; I don't know why. Since I'm not sure where we can and can't fly, we had to walk for the most part, but we had to be sneaky with it.
"Aahh, it..its an elder!"
"An elder dragon!"
Bella brought unwelcome attention, so we could only ever pass at night or avoid them completely in favour of more dangerous terrain. Thankfully, no monsters came our way. But with no map, we got sidetracked a lot, to the point we had to follow the main paths, but carefully. Avoiding checkpoints and flying when absolutely necessary helped us for the most part, but as we crossed into Neons Republic's borders, we were flagged by officials.
It was an easy escape, or so I thought, but Bella was almost shot down by one of their Gatling guns, a very close call.
We spent the night inside a cave to shield ourselves from the rain; everything looked terrible, no matter how you looked at it.
With my back against the wall, I couldn't see a future.
We ran low on food, and I hadn't eaten anything for days. I was beginning to lose my strength. What am I even doing this for? Why am I travelling? Can't I find a place, work and live my meaningless life? Why?
"MGMGMM", she bellowed softly as she sniffed me. Her eyes widened like she was about to shed a tear.
She is why, she is why I can't just settle anywhere. A heavy sigh escaped my mouth as I fell over. I need to sleep, will think of the rest tomorrow.
Damnit, sleeping on rocks is hard. I can barely feel my neck. I will manage. I need to get food and get a map. Thankfully, there is a town not too far from here. I made my way through the forest, down a small path. On the path i encountered a homeless man resting on a signboard.
"Spare some change.."
"Change would change my life."
The man eyed me then shook his head, "How's a young lad like you looking as ragged as I am, are you sure you aren't a criminal?"
"At this point i might as well be." All I do is steal, and I am going to steal right now.
"At your age i was a fine lad, well put together. All the ladies loved me, I wanted three wives back then, maybe 5," he said, scratching his dirty beard. Filled with dried snot and all sorts, ew.
Girls, when last did I find a girl my age? I do not remember. My Johnson downstairs has been raging more and more each night recently, and it is getting unbearable. The only thing worse than that is my growing starvation. I need food.
"Boy o! Stop grabbing your meat in front of me. I do not offer those services to boys your age, too old," he said, crossing his hands.
"What are you talking about, this man?" Before I knew it, I had activated. What am I supposed to do about this? How does one take care of this? In this situation, ah, I want a girl.
"Down the road, the city of Butwl is ahead. It has one of the finest women on the central continent. A wholeeee lot of em, don't run wild too much, sunny. You'd be kicked out like me."
He said with a jeer.
"Also, make sure they say yes. Don't put yourself on someone."
A city filled with beautiful women, what a score, hehe. Time to go check it out.
"Hehe!!" squealing i left in a jog.
"Boy o, read the sign, will ya, it's here for a reason."
"Huh?? What is it now…" I bent over to read the sign. Funny how I'd completely disregarded it, let's see what it says, hmm.
"The ice elves will invade soon! Adam Empire and Britannica will fall!" Two of the world's powers and the two most powerful kingdoms on the central continent, I don't see anything toppling them.
And ice elves? What's that?
"I tell everyone! The ice, the elves, the north—they will take everyone! That is what Adam conquered the world for.
"Oii hey, where are you going?"
"Sorry, but I do not care. Thank you, bye."
BUTWL:
Surprisingly, there were few guards at the door; getting inside was easy. I wasted no time getting to work. I freshened up, got new clothes and ate. All things I got off other people, of course.
With that out of the way, I headed straight for the brothel. There was no way I'd be picking up girls on the street; I'm homeless. The old man was right, though. The women here are very attractive. I have not seen many girls my age, though. I don't mind older ladies, but I'm not sure if they would want me.
Still i had no money, at least not a lot. I'd have to get lucky at the brothel.
Arriving at the closest one I could find, it was packed. The whole street, filled with people tryna have a good night. My god, my member had activated before I knew it and before I knew it. I was staring at a lady's behind.
"What are you looking at me?" With her scampi skirt, she waved at me.
Yes, come to me. But a man took her by the hand and pulled her away. Is this what it feels like to be powerless?
As the night went on, I kept getting swallowed by the crowd, as it grew. Everytime i left the crowd, sounds of moans and loud banging could be heard from all over.
Before I knew it i had been shoved over, "Go home, kid." A brutish man had knocked me over; he had no lady, probably as lonely as I am.
"I-i think I should leave," I said, dusting myself off the ground.
I might have gotten too excited and lost track of the reason for coming to this city. I am out of my league—
But then, she caught my eye. And I caught hers.
A girl with pink hair, dazzingly green eyes and soft lips stared at me.
She wore a robe, so everything she wore was concealed except her face.
She stared at me intently, then looked away.
She's perfect, she looks my age, too. What is she doing here? Maybe she's searching like me. She had two guards escorting her, both women.
I don't know who they are or who she is. But I think I must talk to her.