We're only here to acquire some money to buy food, though.
(Well, this could last for weeks, so we won't need to worry about money.)
True. We don't even know if dragons are common around here.
(Take it.)
"Fine."
I took one of the papers displayed on the board. "We'd like to take this request, please."
The man glanced at it, looking slightly shocked. His expression changed. "Are you sure?"
He looked uncertain.
"Yes," I answered.
"Bring it to that desk. There's a handler there," he said, pointing.
We quickly made our way to the desk he indicated.
"We'd like to take this request."
The handler glanced at me. "Are you both sure?"
"Yep," I answered.
He studied us for a moment, uncertain, before opening his logbook.
"Name?" he asked.
"Jinwoo and Shizuka."
After noting both names, he nodded and stamped the paper.
"Alright, it's yours. Bring proof when it's done."
We made our way out of the building.
"Should we ask some locals?" I asked.
"I think I should use my ability first. If I don't find anything, then we can ask around."
"Alright."
She activated her ability, scanning the village and its people, looking for anyone who might know about the request, whether they were thinking about it or talking about it.
[This power doesn't read memories or past thoughts, just what's on their mind right now.]
"I couldn't find anything," she muttered.
"Guess we'll just have to ask the locals then," I said, scratching my hair.
We moved through the village, speaking with a few locals. The answers were consistent: Dragons were an incredibly rare sight in these parts. However, a dragon had been spotted in the western part of the village just days ago, though it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"Should we give it a shot?" I asked.
"Yeah, lol. We already took the request."
We headed west, passing the village's outskirts and soon finding ourselves at the edge of a vast forest. It only took us about two hours to reach the forest's edge.
"Use your ability again," I ordered.
She quickly closed her eyes, focusing as she extended her ability as far as she could, searching for any signs or movement that could indicate the dragon's presence.
"I sensed it. Follow me," she commanded.
We pushed deeper into the forest, the minutes stretching on for an hour and a half. The target hadn't moved at all. Finally, we spotted it, a massive dragon, fast asleep.
"What the... This is easy money," I muttered, watching the dragon's massive form rise and fall in deep slumber. One solid hit to the vitals while it slept, and we'd be set.
Then she lifted her hand.
A deep, resonant hum filled the cavern as a swirling brown surge of energy erupted from her fingertips, like the earth itself had been compressed into a single, devastating blast. It tore through the dragon's body in an instant, not with fire or force, but with something far worse: decay.
The beast didn't even wake. Its scales blackened, its flesh withered, and its bones crumbled inward like rotten timber. In seconds, the once-mighty dragon was little more than a collapsing mound of dust, its last breath escaping as a dry whisper.
I stumbled back, my voice barely above a rasp. "What the hell was that?"
She flexed her fingers, the last traces of brown energy flickering away. "Efficient."
"Wait, what about the head...?" I muttered, staring at the pile of crumbling dust where the dragon's skull should've been.
She didn't even glance at me. "I could just..."
Her fingers flicked upward, and the same brown surge rippled through the air, but this time, in reverse. The scattered remains shuddered, then reassembled, bones snapping back into place, scales stitching together, muscle reforming like wet clay. Within seconds, the dragon lay whole again, its chest rising in slow, steady breaths.
But its eyes stayed shut.
"It's... still unconscious?" I whispered, stepping closer. The body was intact, but something felt wrong. The dragon didn't stir. No growl, no twitch, just an empty, puppet-like shell.
She brushed her hands together. "The dragon's soul is in me. I swallowed the dragon's soul, meaning I can use the dragon whenever I want." Her fingers twitched, and the dragon's claw jerked unnaturally.
"Meaning I have a stock of army inside me."
A white, chilling aura erupted from her body, swirling like arctic mist around her form. The temperature plummeted instantly - our breath visible in the suddenly frigid air, frost crackling across the ground beneath our feet.
She smirked, her eyes gleaming with something ancient and hungry.
My mouth fell open. "How... how powerful ARE you!?" I stammered, stumbling back a step. The words came out half-choked, my voice barely functioning through the shock.
"I wouldn't be a servant of your father if I weren't this powerful."
Her voice echoed unnaturally, layered with something deeper. The words hung in the air, sharp as ice, as the Arctic aura around her thickened. The forest groaned under the sudden weight of cold, branches snapping under layers of frost.
And then, her eyes glowed.
A deep, unnatural light pulsed within them, like twin moons piercing through a blizzard. Before I could react, a massive shadow loomed behind her.
I whirled around, and froze.
A white dragon, easily three times the size of the one she'd just obliterated, stood poised at her back. Its breath rolled out in thunderous gusts, each exhale turning the air to mist. But worst of all were its eyes, locked onto me with predatory stillness, gleaming with the same eerie light as hers.
She hadn't just absorbed a soul.
She commanded them.
My voice failed me. The cold wasn't just in the air anymore, it was in my bones.
She stepped closer. One finger hooked under my chin, forcing my gaze up to meet hers.
"You've treated me badly since the beginning." Her voice was a blade pressed to my throat. "I suppose now you know your place."
Fear locked my joints. My breath came shallow, I couldn't move, couldn't blink. Behind her, the white dragon's muzzle hovered, its nostrils flaring as it tasted my terror.
A slow smile curled her lips.
"The dragon's head?" She flicked her wrist. The decapitated skull slammed into the dirt at my feet, frost crackling across its hollow eyes. "Ours."