When the dragon withdrew the threatening air it was releasing, Rowan felt like he could finally breathe again.

  “Gasp….gasp.” Rowans body greedily took in the air that it had been missing just a few moments ago.

  The arrival of the dragon bought fear and confusion to Rowan's heart. This was the first time he met a talking monster. After all, the other two dragons he met attacked first and disregarded everything else.

  Both dragons had wanted to kill him as soon as they caught sight of him, but the one in front of him wanted to speak.

  It was certainly a new experience. It felt both strange and wondrous at the same time.

  Rowan noticed another thing now that the tension in the air had lessened. There was a change in the camp, or more specifically in its defenses. Rowan had been too caught up with the arrival of a potential enemy that he hadn't noticed the change.

  The Barrier of Thorns was gone.

  When the dragon had landed, it had tried to find a good spot to land, but there was simply not enough room for the apex monster. Several target hills were destroyed under its weight and the parts of the barrier would have been destroyed to accommodate the size of the dragon.

  For Rowan, the Barrier of Thorns had been the only protection for the mother Tree. Now that it was gone, he didn't know what defenses the mother Tree had left.

  However for Rowan, there was a more pressing issue at the moment.

  The dragon right in front of him demanded all his attention.

  “Speak human. Are you mute or incapable of speech?” A deep voice rumbled out. However the strangest thing Rowan noticed was while the dragon's throat moved, the mouth nevered opened.

  How strange.

  As much as Rowan wanted to ask how the dragon was speaking without opening its mouth, he knew now wasn't the time. The words spoken just now had allowed Rowan to focus on the question on hand instead of the million that was whirling in his brain.

  “.... There are no more elves. I have been living here for a few years already,” Rowan answered after gathering his thoughts.

  “What happened to those stubborn long ears? There's no way they would abandon their land and give it over to a human.”

  Did the dragon really not know? After a moment of thinking, Rowan decided to give an honest answer. “A dragon wiped them out.”

  Apparently that was not the answer the dragon expected nor wanted to hear.

  “WHICH SPINELESS LIMPING WORM DARED TO INTRUDE ON MY TERRITORY?” The dragon's eyes sudden;y turned red and lifted his head to roar. A torrent of flames was launched into the sky.

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  The sudden change caught Rowan completely unprepared. The pressure that was released returned with force. It felt as if his insides were being crushed. If Rowan felt like he was being crushed by a mountain when the dragon had arrived, this felt as if a volcano was on top of him and was already spewing lava full force.

  “ANSWER ME! WHO HAS THE AUDACITY TO WREAK HAVOC ON MY TERRITORY?” The dragon’s head snapped back to the ground with its full focus on Rowan.

  As much as Rowan wanted to answer, the pressure was simply too much. His body had once again frozen in fear, only this time due to the dragon's anger. Only with great effort did he manage to eke out an answer. Had he not spoken, Rowan was sure

  “....b-b-lack….d-d-dra-g-gon.”

  The pressure disappears once again as if it never happened. This time Rowan collapsed to the floor. Had the dragon continued its anger any longer, he would have fainted.

  Meanwhile the dragon tilted its head and spoke in confusion. “A black dragon? There should be none left. Did a new one hatch without my knowledge? Or did a mutation occur? I must look more into this,” After speaking more to himself than Rowan, the dragon returned its attention back to him. “ Human are you sure it was a black dragon that destroyed the elves?”

  “Yes, I was there. The black dragon attacked the elves and my grandpa. He was killed by the black dragon's attack,” Rowan said resolutely even as he tried to recollect himself.

  The dragon stared at Rowan for a few seconds as if to verify the truth of his words. “If another dragon attacked you and wiped out the elves, how did you survive?”

  “One of the elves survived and brought me here after the black dragon attacked me.”

  “What happened to the elf?”

  “...He died not long after,” admitting this truth hurt Rowan more than he cared to admit.

  SIlence ensued as the dragon digested all the information. Rowan waited for the dragons decision. The dragon hadn't even reacted when he said his grandpa was killed, which angered him, but Rowan didn't dare to show it. In the presence of the dragon, he was like a mousse to a cat. The dragon did not need to care about the suffering Rowan went through since they were different species.

  Suddenly the dragon eyes began to glow red with mana. What was the dragon doing now? As curious as Rowan was he didnt dare interrupt.

  The brief glow ended quickly and when the dragon seemed to make up its mind, it looked at Rowan once again. “Hmph this black runt you mentioned is the first time I've seen it. I would need to look more into this. You on the other hand are quite interesting.”

  “M-Me?”

  “Yes, you human hatchling. While you humans reproduce like mice, I have yet to see one quite as unique as you.”

  Rowan blinked. “What do you mean by unique?”

  “I meant this.”

  The dragon, seeing Rowan's confusion, lowered its head and let out a snort. For the dragon, it was simply releasing air.

  For Rowan? It was as if he was being hit by a violent gust of wind. Caught completely off guard by the dragon's action, he was sent flying to the opposite end of the camp.

  Thud!

  Rowan crashed into the ground after briefly soaring in the air.

  “See? You couldn't even defend yourself against my breath, but you should have been able to. It is as if someone is using an inferno spell to torch their prey when one could simply use a fireball.”

  Rowan didn't know a lot about magic, but he had heard of inferno. It wa a fire magic spell that was used to wipe out entire armies.

  The dragon words sound completely unbelievable to Rowan. While he believed he did have a large amount of mana, he didn't think it would be that much.

  “ Not convinced? Shall we try a different approach?” This time the dragon raised its right claw into the air.

  However before the dragon could carry out whatever action it had planned, roots burst out of the ground.