Young Writers Society

Mammon POV

Why? Saliad was a good person. At least I thought he was, so why would he kill a family of catkins? And then to brag about it.

Something was not revealed, I could feel that much. I wasn’t a prophetic individual like Galswell, but I could certainly figure out when something was being hidden.

Her fury was genuine. I never felt an aura that strong before, and during that final clash, their aura crashed against each other’s.

Frankly, if I didn’t know better, I’d assume that they had known each other for most of their lives. Saliad fought with a viciousness that I’d only ever heard of him using against dragons.

His power was odd. Besides, that girl was a dragon slayer, and not just any dragon, but an arcane dragon. Yet something was odd about that aspect. It seemed far stronger than the 3 that Saliad used.

“You asked to see me?”

“Yes, Dallel, I want to know everything you know about Rose.”

“Not much, I know her and Sir Royce seem to be decent friends. I also know that she used to be a slave by technicality to Dalla Rogers.”

“Slave by technicality?”

“Yes, essentially, she was never treated like a slave, but the collar stayed on so she wouldn’t be enslaved. Jalad told me about it.”

“Interesting. Did you know that she slew a dragon?”

“Not until that fight.”

“Do you know why she was stronger than Saliad?”

“No, the terrifying part is that she was on par before using the aspect.”

“Any theories?”

“None, but Jalad has a theory, but he keeps saying that it was impossible.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, it seems he isn’t telling me in case it is wrong.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll return to my duties.”

Then Dallel stopped for a second before turning back.

“Also, could you let the smiths know that making Rose wear armor that is explicit is a good way to die?”

“Hah, it seems that’s the only thing they had in her size.”

“Yes, at least they also gave her a cloak.”

“Yes, they are good people.”

“Let’s hope so. If the armor they make for her is explicit, Jalad is fully prepared to kill them.”

I sighed.

“Please don’t murder the best smiths in the nation.”

_

After a few days, I went in to get the armor made for me. In the few days, I had to stop Jalad and Dallel from murdering the smiths.

I went into the shop with Jalad behind me and saw the elf and dwarf looking happy.

“We finished the gear.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, try it on, it’s already in the room.”

I went into the changing room and tried on the gear. It was decently open, but it was perfectly suited to my fighting style. I could tell it was heavily enchanted with magic conductivity. I could easily enhance it with arcane and the sword was beautiful.

It had an aura of its own and had a lot of power echoing through its core. It was all S+ rank, better than Saliad’s armor and sword. It was also a lot thicker.

I stepped out in it.

“Thanks, it fits perfectly.”

Jalad had an angry look. At first, I was confused, until I realized that it looked thin and revealing.

“Her entire stomach is exposed, and it looks like that armor will break in the wind. What’s the big idea?”

I knew I needed to intervene.

“First of all, catkin fight better when they can feel the air. And second, try to break this.”

I took off a shoulder pad and tossed it to Jalad.

“Wait!”

The elf tried to grab it, but it landed in Jalad’s hand. His eyes widened and he dropped it. When it landed, the ground cracked. The heck?

“What?”

“Why was that so heavy?”

“That’s why we didn’t want you to throw it. It’s made of Grammite.”

“Grammite?!”

Jalad looked shocked and looked at me. I was confused.

“What’s Grammite?”

The Dwarf answered as he struggled to pick up the shoulder pad,

“The densest material in the world. Also, the sturdiest.”

I grabbed it from him and put it back on my shoulder.

“Is the whole armor made from that?”

“Yes, and a bit of leather.”

“How can she even hold that?”

“We don’t know, but she picked up some while asking for some armor, so we realized she was strong enough.”

“I see.”

“Would you mind if I test it’s durability?”

“Not at all, Rose. What are you going to do?”

I pulled out my claws and slash the armor. It got scratched up but regenerates.

“Nice, it’s pretty durable.”

“Y-you actually managed to scratch it!”

“Is that hard?”

“YES!”

All three confirmed at once.

“Well, I think I’m prepared for the dungeon run.”

“Should be with that.”

I thanked the smiths and decided to go before Dallel and Jalad came up with a reason for me to stay.

Despite them knowing I was far stronger than both combined, they still saw me as someone to protect.

_

I left the gates and began walking away. Adventurers and guards waved at me as I left.

After I was far enough away from the city that they wouldn’t see me, I shifted back into a dragon. The armor was surprisingly shift applicable, so it still reinforced my scales. I flew to the dungeon and hunted for food on the way there.

When I saw it from the sky, I shifted back into my catkin form and saw the gear was still perfectly intact.

I walked into the village and entered the inn.

“Pardon me, but do you have any information to share about the dungeon?”

“Well, girly, it certainly isn’t a safe place for a kid like you.”

“I have a request to conquer it and I would rather info before entering it.”

My proclamation caused the entire inn to laugh at me.

“Oh, please, we aren't idiots, girly. A small fry li- WOAH!”

I flashed my guild card. It confirmed that I was a B rank.

“I’m sorry, we seem to have judged you by appearance, but that dungeon is for S candidates, not A.”

Upon his apparent proclamation I was a B rank, the inn grew quiet.

“They decided to escalate the difficulty of my challenge as I have the required strength, I just have only been with the guild for 2 weeks.”

“B in two weeks?”

The man was shocked and checked my registration date. He gave me my card and told me basically what the king told me.

“So, is there any knowledge of what mythic is in there?”

“Nope, none at all. Sorry, girly. If I knew I’d tell you.”

“All right, would I be able to stay for a night before entering the dungeon?”

“Sure.”

I gave him the coin and then relaxed in my room. I fell asleep quickly.

_

I woke up in the middle of the night to scurrying voices.

“She’s a B rank, she could kill us.”

“Please, I doubt she got it legitimately. She probably seduced the guildmaster of wherever she started.”

“Still.”

“Come on, even if she is a B, if we enslave her, we could sell her for a lot of money.”

“What do you mean?”

“A beautiful girl like that will definitely tickle some noble's fancy.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“You have 2 seconds to leave my room before death.”

“Restrain her, she’s aw-”

_

The next morning, I went to the counter and handed the owner some extra money.

“What’s this for, Girly?”

“Two things, better locks, and however much it takes to clean potential slavers' guts out of carpet.

I left as the entire inn looked at me in shock.

_

I went to the entrance of the dungeon and saw a guard.

“Pardon me, kid, but we are waiting for Rose Hood. You can’t come in until she made her attempt.”

“So, I can’t enter until I attempt it?”

“What?”

“I’m Rose Hood.”

…

The guard asked for my card and showed moderate surprise before returning it and letting me into the dungeon.

I saw quite a few goblins running around, when they saw me, they fled immediately.

“Humanoids are oblivious, but creatures know exactly what I am.”

I walked cleanly down, making a meal of some ogres and serpents.

As the dungeon expanded, I removed my shift, fully prepared for whatever mythic lied at the end.

As I entered the final room, I was shocked.