29: 29.
Double Horn 29: 29.
Double Horn “Rafael, Rafael…”
It seed as if Rafael’s soul had been burned to ashes by that terrifying temperature, her consciousness still enshrouded in darkness, yet she seed to glimpse a faint light.
She frantically reached for that light, causing it to burst into a gentle radiance.
The next second, confused, she opened her eyes, only to be t suddenly by a white-haired dragon-woman adorned with complex decorations, sitting by the side of the bed and looking at her with a smile.
That was her mother.
“Mom…
Mother…”
It was as if she had returned to her own room within the tribe, a small space overflowing with things she had brought in from outside the tribe, yet a room she always refrained from staying in.
She was the youngest child of her parents, and the most special one at that; the entire tribe had no other red dragon-people, making her always feel different from the other children.
“Ah, Rafael, you seem to have grown…”
The kind dragon-woman touched the tip of her temple, where a glowing red dragon horn radiated energy unique to Rafael, but on the other side, her cheek seed to bear cracks as if scorched by lava, with the wild magic circuits still pulsing, giving her face a sowhat grotesque appearance.
But for now, Rafael seed to have temporarily parted from pain under the soft gaze of her mother.
“But…
but it seems I’ve failed, Mother…
It’s too painful, the other dragon-people, Sister Mier and the others, they didn’t suffer this pain when they ca of age…
Why am I different from the other dragon-people?”
“Ah, you…”
The mother laughed softly and lowered her head, placing her golden dragon horn against Rafael’s newly grown red horn.
Both closed their eyes, yet they could still feel each other’s emotions, feel each other’s warmth—this was the aning behind dragon-people touching horns.
“The souls of dragon-people are scorching, very hot, hot like the Sun.
They always guide dragon-people who can’t find their way ho, and can follow them back to their tribes, becoming a new mber of that tribe.”
“…
Am I…
the sa?”
“Yes, Mother is the sa…
Each of our souls has undertaken a long journey, and Rafael’s soul must be the brightest among them.
Your soul is so outstanding, and you are our child, so don’t be afraid, Rafael, you will definitely beco the most excellent dragon-person…”
Imrsed in that lullaby-like tender voice, Rafael seed to lt into her warm embrace, the surrounding flas continued to burn, yet no longer did she feel the searing heat, only warmth remained.
At this mont, another red dragon horn slowly grew forth within the trust and warm embrace of her mother, just as fiery and beautiful as the one already there.
The pain gradually receded, and Rafael’s consciousness slowly returned to her body; she softly opened her eyes to behold a round and bright Moon.
She numbly gazed at the beautiful sight, with red horns on her forehead, slender and elegant, and her hair, red as flas, spreading out mid-air like a vast sea of roses.
“Sigh…”
Why was there wind?
Why was her hair lifted?
She paused for a second, quickly realizing she was descending.
And even more shocking was that the embrace was not an illusion; she stiffly turned her head to see the impassive Fisher, wrapping his arms around her bare self.
“Fisher…
Fisher?”
“…”
Fisher didn’t reply because he, too, was in a rather sorry state at that mont, his upper-body suit completely burned through, leaving only a few tattered rags draped over his reddened body.
He had rushed to her side with his magic, lowering the terrifying temperature around her, and it hadn’t been long before her horn had finished growing, and then she had fallen, leaving him no choice but to hold on to her.
But it was because of this that Rafael caught a glimpse of so details of his muscular body beneath the tattered clothes…
So that’s how it is…
Humans are this strong too?
Was that embrace just now Fisher’s?
As soon as this thought surfaced, the new, armor-like tough scales she grew layered down like inputting the correct password, returning to their smooth form.
Her slender red tail completely froze, motionless, and then, as if electrocuted, began to tremble a few tis.
“You, you, you!!”
“…What?”
This was a sign of tail-matching.
In front of a tail-matching partner, the tough scales of an adult dragon-man would collapse for them, turning into a compliant and smooth surface.
Only in the presence of a partner most cherished by a dragon-man would those battle-born scales unfold, right?
“Hmm…”
But before the tail-fitting signal completely spread through her body, Rafael’s face flushed slightly as she pressed a dragon claw against Fisher’s face and then began to struggle frantically in his arms.
Throughout this process, despite the growth of such scales, Fisher felt no scraping or stinging sensation at all.
Why is that?
As soon as Fisher contemplated this question, they had already landed on the ground, and the water from the lake, previously suspended in the sky by the Gravity Sky Ring, began to fall like raindrops.
However, it would probably take a very long rain to refill this lake.
Rafael hurriedly jumped off Fisher’s body without even looking his way, covering herself and retreating many steps.
As she distanced herself from Fisher, the scales that had not fully unfolded stood up once more.
But Fisher was completely clueless about what these bodily reactions ant after her coming of age, assuming it was just bodily pain.
“Lord Raphael!”
Raphael turned her head so that Fisher couldn’t see her expression, rely accepting the clothes Mier handed to her and putting them on.
“Lord Raphael, you’ve grown two horns!!” Lar also ran up to her, and was embraced by Raphael.
She wanted to rub against her like before, but frowned, saying, “The scales…
they’re scraping Lar.”
“…You fool!”
Rafael patted her back and set Lar down.
Fasher and the others ca over to congratulate Rafael on reaching adulthood.
“Lord Raphael, you have two horns, no other dragon-man has ever had two horns…”
“It could be that there were so in the ancient Dragon Court, but those are just legends.
Lord Raphael is definitely one of a kind.”
Indeed, since those two horns had grown, Raphael clenched her fist; the previous fatigue and weakness vanished, replaced by seemingly endless strength.
She had completely beco a warrior of the Dragon-man Species!
For so reason, she was still reminded of the embrace she felt when she was on the verge of succumbing to the pain, and the thought of Fisher’s body, barely clothed due to her flas…
Rafael hesitated for a mont, then stepped past her dragon-man partners to search for Fisher’s figure.
This ti, she still wanted to thank him.
The curtain of lake water rained down heavier, crashing down like a storm.
Rafael’s turquoise eyes could only see through the sheet of rain, just catching the sight of that human man drifting farther away, his body bare, carrying his Handcane.
She opened her mouth, uncertain if he could hear her from such a distance, so she remained silent.
“Wow, Lord Raphael, look, the lake water is in the sky…
Fisher’s magic is so powerful!
And Fisher’s skin is red, his clothes are all…”
“Lar!
Watch your mouth, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“Sister Mier, Fasher is scolding again!”
The intended “thank you” was drowned out by the rain and the clamor of her partners, but perhaps it was because the volu of that thank you was only ever within her heart.
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