"Your birth ultimately depends on Scott's power, and the power of life is like magic...... In a sense, you're also a human being. ”

Keller Brian had told him so.

The half-elf wasn't wrong. The human life force gave him a different kind of warmth like the magic power of a dragon, and allowed him to be born—but before that, he should have died.

Before Alan could pick up the inconspicuous dragon egg, and before it could be handed over to Scott, it should have been frozen into a lump of ice, cut off from life, with no chance of being hatched.

How did he hold out until the day when he was able to draw enough strength to break out of his shell - did the group of adventurers happen to find Bingmang's lair or were sent to him by some kind of power...... He never thought about it.

Does it feel irrelevant, or is it instinctive fear?

Indeed, he did not dare to look back at the truth that was hidden in the darkness. He allowed them to be drowned in the sea of souls, pretending they didn't exist.

Dragons don't have all the memories of their ancestors at birth, and their power is too large and powerful to easily destroy a newborn soul. It takes him a long time to accept and integrate...... But in fact, he didn't.

He closed the door. He refuses to listen to the voices that will always echo in the depths of his soul, and only rushes to find something when he needs it.

What has accumulated over thousands of years is a vast and endless ocean...... And his memory of just a dozen years belongs to mankind, fragile as a bubble on the tip of the waves, which will burst and disappear in the blink of an eye.

He was afraid that he would lose those memories. He always stubbornly insisted that he was a dragon, but deep down, he might have preferred that he was just an ordinary human.

But if he is already a pawn from the start, he must at least figure out his position, otherwise he will lose even more completely when the end comes...... He would have lost everything he was trying so hard to protect.

He closed his eyes and sank into the depths of his consciousness.

It's his own battle...... There are still people waiting for him, and he will not fail.

.

With the same uneasiness, Naria kept walking around, and Ed crouched by the lake to count the fish.

The water in the lake is very clear. The fish came and went, as if they were swimming in mid-air, but Ed counted them, and his heart was still beating in a mess, and he couldn't calm down at all.

He thought Naria was the same, for she stopped a moment and sat down beside him.

“...... Do you think we're a little bit out of control?" she said suddenly, a rare hint of frustration on her tense face, "It's ridiculous to the point of being self-conscious—if anyone was really watching this, they would probably think so...... We are like a bunch of tiny bugs, crashing headlong into a net that I don't know how big it is, and we can't even see how many threads are stumbling under our feet, but we want to destroy the whole net......"

Ed turned to look at her, a little surprised. Honestly, he'd thought about it more than once, but Narya rarely said anything like that...... No, he didn't remember her saying it.

But it's inevitable...... He was used to her strength, as if he never knew what it meant to give up, but he forgot that she was actually an ordinary human girl, with no divine blood or strong talent.

"Are you going to give up?" he asked softly, remembering that she had asked him the same question a few years ago in the snow-covered ruins of the Far Northern Light.

And he knew he would get a different answer.

Sure enough, Naria gave him a roll of the eye without hesitation: "How is it possible!"

Ed laughed: "That's all it can be, it's ridiculous...... Originally, it wasn't meant to be shown to anyone. ”

“...... Thank you. Naria raised her hand in annoyance and gave him a slap, "That sounds so comforting!"

The dark clouds in her eyes lifted, and the smile on her lips kept Ed from taking his eyes off.

It seems like it's been a long, long time since they've been alone like this.

Ed stared down at the water in a panic - no, not alone, Iss was still in the water!

His heart was beating so fast that he couldn't even count the fish, until Narya screamed in surprise and jerked his arm, and he realized that the little silver fish in the water, who were not afraid of people, suddenly scurried around as if they were frightened by something, and some even jumped out of the water, as if trying to escape from this peaceful lake.

However, the surface of the lake was distinctly undisturbed—except for the ripples caused by the startling fish, which spread out in circles.

Humans are nowhere near as sharp as animals. But when the fish began to jump desperately to shore, Ed finally felt the indescribable intimidation.

Shivers spread from the depths of the soul to the fingertips. The fear that seemed as if the sky shattered and fell on his head, as if his whole heart was being held tightly by a cold hand, and that there was nowhere to escape, he had had - when the ice dragon first landed on Kriesburg, and with a roar of rage, the whole castle was instantly turned on its back, and there was chaos.

That's Long Wei. And at this moment, although he couldn't hear a sound, the invisible coercion was so strong that he couldn't control it and wanted to kneel on his knees.

Naria grabbed his hand, her face pale. But the next moment she stood up and didn't hesitate to jump into the lake - even if she was still shaking.

Ed hurriedly grabbed her: "He said let's wait...... Give him a little time, and he'll be fine. ”

He believed that if there was any real danger, Iss would not allow them to come with him—he might need company, but not necessarily help.

Naria bit her bottom lip and stared at the lake, but she didn't try to jump into it again.

Ed breathed a sigh of relief. However, it was not long before a small sound came up from the bottom of the lake at an increasing speed.

There was nothing terrible about the water breaking out, but the calm surface of the lake suddenly sank down strangely, as if it were about to turn into a huge whirlpool, but before the current could begin to spin, it was instantly frozen into ice.

Ed stayed for a moment before crouching down and poking the cold, hard surface of the lake in disbelief - it literally turned into a lump of ice completely.

Naria looked down at him. They exchanged a horrified look, and then turned to the surface of the lake at the same time.

Another voice sounded faintly. It was a sound they were more familiar with—the sound of the frozen Vinez River thawing every early spring.

The ice broke open almost instantly. The huge fissure spread all the way to their feet, as if it was about to split along with the rocks on the shore.

The ground shook, and the entire mountain seemed to tremble.

They unconsciously clasped each other's hands tightly and did not take a step back.

.