CH 11

Wuuth was number one on the leaderboard, had an adult dragon as a contracted beast, and had never lost a match. Before taking the field, Ning Chu had thought about many possible scenarios for this matchup. With the golden finger of the game, he was quite confident of the outcome, and he had spent 30 purple gold coins on himself, so he had to win no matter what.

But… Ning Chu could never have imagined that Wuuth would simply admit defeat.

Why? He hadn’t shown any intention until the battle was about to begin.

Ning Chu was puzzled as he extinguished the flame in his hand and stood blankly with his round shield.

The crowd outside the arena had exploded, and those who had expected to see a great battle were quite upset.

“No way! Wuuth would be afraid of a newcomer?”

“Can you have some brains?” Someone immediately retorted, “Who’s Wuuth afraid of? He must have been in a hurry to leave! That’s why he simply admitted defeat!”

“They don’t know each other, do they… Are they really not going to fight? I’ve been looking forward to it all night.”

Wuuth didn’t care what kind of decision he had just made, he looked at Ning Chu and watched him stand still and look around.

Originally Wuuth was unsure, since the word “Ning” alone wasn’t proof of anything. But when Ning Chu released his fire magic, the flames burning in his hands were all too familiar to Wuuth.

This was the Scarlet Flame Dragon’s fire.

In the eyes of others, fire magic was the same, there was no difference, but Wuuth could accurately smell the Scarlet Flame Dragon’s scent from it. If he didn’t know that the Scarlet Flame Dragon couldn’t turn into human form, Wuuth would almost think that it was him.

So was this person ‘Ning’?

Wuuth wasn’t sure what method Ning Chu had used to be able to use the fire magic belonging to the Scarlet Flame Dragon, and he still had a slight concern. But who else could it be but him? The last time the Scarlet Flame Dragon spoke of a strange human, he mentioned the exact same word “Ning”, and now he had the Scarlet Flame Dragon’s fire.

Anything out of the ordinary seemed to make sense when it came to ‘Ning’, who always had a strange power.

In a trance, Wuuth seemed to see a blue “Ning” on his head, gradually overlapping with the memory of the man who always clumsily reached out to try to hug him.

Ning Chu waited for a moment and asked a staff member who was also confused by the situation, “I’ve won, right? Can I leave the stage now?”

The staff member hesitantly nodded, “Yes… Right?”

Ning Chu turned around and walked away, not bothering to think about why Wuuth had conceded outright, the point was that he had won the match. He was anxious to see what the odds were and how much money he could earn.

Meanwhile, Wuuth watched from afar as the masked man across the room turned his head and said something to the staff, then turned around and left. He couldn’t help but lift his foot and follow him, not paying attention to the still noisy crowd around him.

He went to the inner room, but was stopped by Donald, “Sorry, this is a private place.”

Wuuth asked, “Where’s the man who just went in?”

“You mean the ‘Ning’ you were fighting tonight?” Donald pointed in the other direction, “He left.”

Wuuth looked behind Donald, and the door and window of the room there were closed tightly, isolating all sight. There was still a lingering element of fire magic in the air, going elsewhere through here, and Wuuth didn’t insist as he skirted the backstage and continued his search elsewhere in the arena.

He made his way to the taming arena, where the increasingly faint aura ceased.

At that moment there was a sound not far away, and Wuuth followed it further in to see a teenager crouched in front of a tall metal cage, taking raw meat out of a barrel on the side. He was wearing a first-year school uniform, his hair was dark and fine, and he was smiling sideways, talking to the magical beast in the cage.

There was something familiar about this man’s face… Wuuth carefully recalled in his mind. It was this man who tried to feed walnuts to his Dwarf Dragon last time.

Ning Chu, in front of the cage, couldn’t hide his excitement, and lowered his voice to say to the Cloud-Winged Dragon inside, “When I pick a good time, I will come to take you away.”

The Cloud-Winged Dragon’s injuries weren’t fully healed yet, so it was best to wait a while before letting it out.

The 30 purple gold coins that he bet tonight had doubled 40 times! The odds were even higher than the first time he fought in the arena.

Ning Chu couldn’t wait for such a good thing to happen a few more times, so he could pay off the commission in one go today, buy the Cloud-Winged Dragon, and buy a lot of stuff for the little dragon cubs on Dragon Island.

Fifth Cub’s dragon crystals were also bought, and Third Cub… 

During the time Third Cub was with him, Ning Chu bought rabbit meat for him twice from the mall, but the rest of the time he had to sneak some canteen food and meat to feed him, which Third Cub didn’t like much and told Ning Chu he wasn’t hungry.

Unlike ordinary dragons, rare dragons had a stronger body and could indeed go for longer periods without eating. But Ning Chu still felt guilty and blamed himself for being so poor.

Now it was much better, he counted the balance in the game, and decided to buy meat for Third Cub every day for the next week.

The Cloud-Winged Dragon bowed its head and silently gnawed on the meat. It finished two pieces of raw meat and shrank into a corner to lick its paws.

The hay in the cage had been replaced with a full board, and the Cloud-Winged Dragon did prefer its current environment, as it recovered more and more quickly and began to grow new feathers on the ends of its wings.

Ning Chu bought a health drug, he turned off the game, and seemed to feel a stare from the entrance of the taming ground. There was no one there, so Ning Chu didn’t care, tossed the medicine to the Cloud-Winged Dragon, and got up to leave.

Only after he left did Wuuth emerge from the shadows.

He didn’t follow Ning Chu again, but came to the iron cage. He had just noticed something, and now he came to see that in the cage was indeed a dragon.

The dragon had been seriously injured, but was already recovering, and Ning Chu was feeding it.

When the Cloud-Winged Dragon saw Wuuth, it came forward with its head hanging low and lowered its back in an absolutely submissive posture.

Wuuth’s pupils turned red, his right hand went through the iron cage to touch the forehead of the Cloud-Winged Dragon, reading the memories from its mind. It came here after being badly injured by a human, and was almost dead… Then he ran into the Scarlet Flame Dragon.

The Scarlet Flame Dragon was with a human. It was the human who had just left.

… 

Wuuth withdrew his hand, a trace of chagrin flashed in his eyes. He had already met Ning Chu once before, and the two had been so close to each other. However, not only did he not recognize him, he also passed directly by Ning Chu and left.

Ning Chu must not have recognized him either… He became a student at the Human Academy and was no longer the little black dragon he once was.

Wuuth’s heart was inexplicably upset, and he told the Cloud-Winged Dragon to stay here for the time being and turned around to leave Crow Market.

Ning Chu returned to the dormitory when Bowen wasn’t there, he picked up Third Cub and said excitedly, “San San, I’ve made money!”

Third Cub didn’t have much idea about earning money, he only knew that Ning Chu was happy, so he was happy too. He climbed onto Ning Chu’s shoulder and rubbed his cheek with his horn.

Ning Chu pulled out the box under the bed again and took the dragon egg in his hands, “Little Five will hatch soon. Daddy misses you so much.”

As soon as he said that, a small sound came from inside the egg, as if the little dragon cub inside was touching the egg shell.

Ning Chu didn’t notice this movement, but because Bowen may come back at any time, he didn’t dare to take out the dragon egg for too long, and quickly put down the egg back in the box, hiding it in its original position.

It wasn’t long before Bowen pushed the door open and came in.

With a look of disbelief and shock, he grabbed Ning Chu’s shoulder, “Hugh, did you hear? Today Wuuth fought against the newcomer, and he actually…” Bowen covered his heart, “He admitted defeat…”

Third Cub, who was under the covers, pricked up his ears. Wuuth was back?

“Why…” Bowen didn’t have his glasses on, his vision drifted without focus, “I’d rather he couldn’t beat him than to admit defeat…”

Ning Chu, one of the parties involved, didn’t know what to say, dryly comforting Bowen, “I think he must have… He must have his own reasons…”

Instead of being comforted by these words, Bowen’s expression became more distorted and he sounded indignant, “Do you know what those people said? They’re saying that Wuuth and Ning are having an affair! That’s why he deliberately conceded to let him win!”

Ning Chu, “…”

Bowen took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, “Forget it, I’ll pretend nothing happened today, I’ve lost my memory…”

He left in a trance, washed himself up and went to bed. After the lights were turned off and the dormitory was completely quiet, Third Cub quietly peeked his head out from under the covers.

It turned out that Ning Chu had said he was going to fight with someone at night, so it turned out to be Wuuth. After he came back, he only said that he had won, and Ning Chu would’ve mentioned it if he had recognized Wuuth.

Ning Chu was sleeping at this time, and Third Cub hesitated to wake him up now and tell him that Wuuth was the little black dragon.

He opened his mouth and gently bit Ning Chu’s collar when he suddenly heard a dragon roar in the distance.

The Dwarf Dragon’s dragon roar was faint and long, with the meaning of a call.

It was Wuuth.

Third Cub let go of the collar in his mouth, and he went to the window to look, spreading his wings and flying away silently. He came to a corner at the edge of the Academy and saw Wuuth and the Dwarf Dragon beside him.

Wuuth was sitting on a flight of steps, his eyes downcast, unknown what he was thinking, and he didn’t look surprised to see Third Cub in his juvenile form.

Third Cub dropped down in front of him and guessed: [You recognized Ning?]

Wuuth gave a “hmm”, “He has your fire on him.”

Third Cub knew this, and guessed it was because of the contract he had made with Ning Chu a few days before.

He told them about the contract, and Wuuth’s face was expressionless, “What contract, the master pet contract?”

Third Cub sat crouched on the ground: [Maybe… I don’t know.]

He had never been someone’s contracted pet before, so he didn’t know what it was like.

Wuuth didn’t say much, and pressed the matter down for the time being, asking about Enigma Forest. Third Cub’s gaze was slightly cold at the mention of this.

He told Wuuth the original story of what happened in Enigma Forest that day, and added, [I suspect that Little Five’s death is also related to them.]

Since Little Five’s accident, people have been searching around for traces of magic dragons, they didn’t care about other dragon groups, only targeted magic dragons, trying to lure them out by various means.

Wuuth bowed his head and twisted a branch in his hand, “Okay, I got it.”

With the forest destroyed there was nowhere to go, so the dragons would certainly harass the surrounding residents, then when chaos came, he would never intervene, this was what the humans asked for. He raised his eyes and suddenly said, “So, you were at the school with him all this time?”

Wuuth’s “he” referred to Ning Chu, so Third Cub nodded, [Don’t worry, I wasn’t found out… Before you left that day, I mentioned it to you, but you didn’t believe me.] He wagged his tail, [‘Ning’ is still the same as before, he hasn’t changed at all.]

Wuuth was silent, and Third Cub tried to ask, [Did you not tell him who you are?]

“No,” Wuuth paused, “Did you tell him?”

Seeing Third Cub shake his head, Wuuth’s stiff spine relaxed, “Don’t tell him yet, just pretend you don’t know where I am.”

He wasn’t ready for it, especially if they had met before.

And he wasn’t sure… whether Ning Chu would reject him in human form.

Third Cub was a bit puzzled, but it had the good sense not to ask more questions, [Okay. By the way,] he remembered another more important thing, slightly excited, [Little Five was resurrected!]

Wuuth sprang to his feet, “Really? Where is she?”

[Beside ‘Ning’,] Third Cub tilted his head, but the position was awkward, so he flew to the top of the dwarf dragon’s head, [She’s still a dragon egg, but I’m certain that it’s her. It was ‘Ning’ who resurrected her.]

Wuuth paced in place, his low voice soft, “How is she?”

[In a week or so, she will hatch from her egg,] Third Cub wagged his dragon tail, [Ning has dragon crystals, and he’s taking good care of Little Five.]

Wuuth was a little relieved, but didn’t forget to urge, “Protect her from the humans.”

Third Cub responded, while asking, [Do you want to see her? Ning is sleeping, he lives with a human, but that human isn’t very smart,] Third Cub suggested, [I’ll show you, you won’t be discovered.]

Wuuth hesitated for a moment and finally agreed, “Okay.”

He’ll just go to have a look, and then leave.

Wuuth let the Dwarf Dragon go back on its own, and he turned into his juvenile form about the same size as Third Cub and followed him through the night.

The two young dragon cubs flew a little way to the third window of the dormitory building. Third Cub went in first, and Wuuth stopped at the window to survey the surroundings, his gaze tinged with scrutiny.

This was where Ning Chu lived.

The room was clean and tidy, but it looked rather simple, and the bathroom didn’t even have a door. The little black dragon was about to fly in to look for the dragon egg when a familiar figure got out of bed and looked over toward the window.

Ning Chu suddenly woke up in the middle of the night from a dream, he turned over and habitually reached out to touch the pillow side, but felt nothing. He lifted the covers and sat up, calling out in a low voice, “San San?”

When the dragon didn’t answer him, Ning Chu leaned over the bed again and looked at the place where the dragon egg was kept, but there was no sign of Third Cub. Since Third Cub had followed him to the school, he had never left him. Ning Chu felt strange and worried, so he was ready to look elsewhere.

He had just woken up and gotten out of bed when he saw Third Cub flying in from the balcony.

There was another small black dragon cub crouching quietly in the window, its familiar appearance in the moonlight was the same as the one from his memory.

Ning Chu was stunned for a moment, he didn’t even have time to put on his shoes, as he ran over and hugged the little black dragon tightly, “Cubbie!”