Affinity:Chaos

Grey was startled when he heard the question the Dragon asked. He had never expected that the Dragon would be willing to make a deal with him. He even suggested he could offer something that would keep the Dragon alive a little longer but the Dragon doesn't seem to have any interest in temporary solutions, rather, it wanted a permanent one.

Grey remained silent, and after a while he moved his head slightly, "What's the deal about?"

He wanted to know if it's something within his capabilities before agreeing. What if it was something about sneaking into a Dragon tribe? With his current strength, the only thing that awaited him was death. This was something he was certain of, so he didn't want to take such risks. He preferred that the Dragon told him what the mission was first before he agrees to whatever deal the Dragon asked.

'Are you willing to take my offspring and bring it up?' The Dragon transmitted her voice, at the moment, she was finding it harder to speak in the human tongue, so he opted to transmit her voice.

"Oh…" Grey never expected such a request from the Dragon. It was literally giving him the go-ahead to take her baby. Most Dragons wouldn't want a human to have custody of their children, but this one doesn't seem to have a choice.

'I have something precious, I might be dying, but I'm a Dragon, after all.' She said with a proud pose.

Grey saw the elegance of the Dragon and nodded. To be honest, he never thought a chance would come where he would get one of the legendary Beasts. Having the baby Dragon had already made this journey worthwhile, even if there was no chance he couldn't break through.

He didn't show the excitement out, but internally, his blood was boiling.

"If I agree to take care of your offspring, this is a big if, what's in it for me?" Grey asked. He didn't want the Dragon to think that he felt privileged to train a Dragon, therefore, asking for a reward would make the Dragon know he wasn't one of those people who took Dragons as supreme beings.

'Like I said, I have a special treasure I can pass onto you, and a Dragon technique, however, I'm not sure you can learn it since it requires one to have Dragon scales.'

The Dragon was in the middle of speaking when Grey's body glowed with bluish light as scales appeared on his body. He awakened his water domain thanks to something from Dragons, and it seemed to be from a Water Dragon.

The Dragon was taken aback when she saw the scales on Grey's body.

'I stand corrected, you do have the facilities to learn this technique.' She said after seeing Grey.

Grey motioned for the Dragon to continue.

'Does this mean you accept the deal?' The Dragon asked.

Grey thought about it and nodded, "All I have to do is train your offspring, correct?"

'Yes.'

"Revenge?"

'You don't have to. There's no point in having revenge against him.'

"What if the opportunity arises in the future?"

'Then do what you must.'

Grey nodded, even though he wasn't obligated to take revenge for the Dragon, as long as he was going to take care of her offspring, then he was going to make sure if the opportunity arose, he would take revenge for her.

"Pass on the technique to me and some memories I can pass on to your offspring."

Grey had read about Dragons being able to pass on their memories to the next generation or someone of their choice. He didn't doubt it in any bit since it was something he read from a book at his father's house.

The Dragon didn't argue and moved her large claw in Grey's direction. Grey didn't move since he wasn't afraid of being attacked by the Dragon.

She placed the tip of her claw on Grey's forehead and a bright light passed through her claw into Grey's head.

Grey's eyes shone brilliantly and he couldn't help but shiver from the influx of information into his head. It was almost as if he was living through the life of the Dragon. From the Dragon she had the offspring for to her tribe, he saw it all and even how to get into the tribes. It was a strange experience. This was the first time he was experiencing something like.

After a while his eyes dimmed. He had not only learnt about the life of the Dragon, but he had also learned a few techniques from the dragon tribe. Each Dragon tribe had a special technique, and according to the hierarchy, there was a Dragon tribe at the top that had a technique that could make Dragons take the form of humans. It was said to be passed down from the Dragon God and only those worthy of it could learn it. Regrettably, this Dragon's tribe didn't have such technique with them.

Grey found out the name of the Dragon and also the name of the Tribe Leader's son who attacked her. Her name was Melmera, while the name of the Tribe Leader's son was Sirevius.

After taking in so much information, Melmera looked at Grey and said.

'I have two elements, and I can give you the essence of one of them. Which would you prefer?'

"What are the elements?"

'Water and… the darkness element.'

Melmera's reply was within Grey's expectations. He knew the dark color on the horn of the Dragon signified it had either the darkness or space element. He wouldn't mind taking the essence of either since it would mean the chance of awakening either of the domains. He didn't really care which one he awakened, as long as he awakened a new one, he was satisfied.

Grey didn't think twice as he said, "The darkness element."

'You also have the darkness element?' Melmera knew Grey had the water element, and she could sense a vast amount of earth, space, fire and lightning element around him. This meant he had five elements, having the darkness element meant that he had six elements.

The senses of Dragons were very sharp, so she was sure of what she sensed.

Grey nodded, there was no point in hiding from her. Since he would be taking care of her offspring, he needed to come off as someone she could trust.

"I'm curious about something." He spoke up.

Melmera looked at Grey curiously.

He didn't mince his words as he asked, "Why do you trust me? You've just been betrayed by one of your kinsmen, why do you think a greedy human like me would not take advantage of your predicament?"

'I'm just placing my hopes in you. I can't say I'm certain you will hold your end of the deal, but I believe you would at least want to have a Dragon. We are at the top of the Magical Beasts' world, no human would pass up the opportunity to have a Dragon as a loyal companion.' Melmera explained.

Grey couldn't help but applaud her statement. In all honesty, she was right. There was no human that could pass up the opportunity of having a Dragon. Even the top powerhouses wanted Dragons, but only a few have them, especially one of such pure bloodline.

Most of the Dragons used as steads are those with impure bloodlines, they have all the features of a Dragon, but they lack the essence of Dragons. In truth, Dragons like Melmera who had such high bloodlines are what are regarded as true Dragons, the rest can be called Dragons, but they know they're not on the same level as these true Dragons.

Grey was impressed with Melmera's thought process.

"There's another thing, I can't wait until it hatches…" Grey explained his purpose of coming to this forest and the responsibility that was on his shoulders.

Melmera didn't complain, rather she looked at the egg before saying.

'I have a way to quicken the process, but it means I will die after it hatches.'

Melmera's voice was calm, it was as if she wasn't afraid of death. As long as her offspring could live, she was okay with dying. This was something Grey believed all parents had. Well, there are a few who aren't afraid of sacrificing their children to save their lives, but he knew the majority of them didn't want anything to happen to their children.

"Alright, go ahead with the process. Is there a way you can pass on some memories to it before you hatch it?" Grey wanted the Dragon to know a few things about its life after it hatches.

Melmera didn't have any issues with that, as a matter of fact, she had already done that. She only transmitted the information of her making a deal with Grey to the Dragon.

Grey watched as Melmera started the process, and as he looked at the egg, he couldn't help but recall how Void, a cat, seemingly came out of an egg.