Chapter 24

# Chapter 24: <Repaying a Debt>

Instead, the black dragon slowly crawled into the passage. As Kale watched its retreating back with a look of amazement, a small voice pierced through the rough wind.

"...I was just passing by."

"Tsk."

The black dragon's back twitched at the sound of Kale's tongue clicking, but Kale had no time to pay attention. The wind in the cave intensified and weakened every three hours. It was weakening now, though it would certainly get stronger as he approached the center.

Whoosh, whoosh. "It's terrifying."

The wind was still strong enough to make Kale's steps quite difficult. The old man, who had lived for 150 years, had approached the stone tower despite the fierce wind.

Kale found the old man's lamenting voice annoying. It was far from solemn, more like the voice of someone on the verge of death. It was a style Kale particularly disliked. A food critic would have been better.

He steadied his body, which was being pushed back, and put strength into his legs. As he took another step, the voice came again.

- The power of regeneration is useless. It can only protect me. It can't help with anything. I am a wretch!

Kale ignored the lamenting voice. To him, the ability to protect himself was the most important. What did it matter if he was a wretch? Survival was the key.

Now, just five steps. The center of the wind was not far.

Thud, thud, thud. The sound of the wind hitting the shield grew stronger, like human fists pounding against it.

'It might break.'

Kale thought that at this intensity, the shield might break. It seemed possible that he would be pushed back. At the same time, he realized something.

- Even if the wind cuts through my body like a sharp sword, I did not die.

The ancient power's owner was quite talkative.

Kale immediately crouched and reduced the size of the shield. Thud, thud. The smaller shield had less surface area but was stronger, blocking the more powerful wind.

Kale reached out to the transparent shield, gripping the transparent handle inside it, and moved forward.

One step.

- Regeneration is a cursed power.

Two steps.

- My heart always beat, but I could not run.

Three steps.

- It was because I was afraid of death.

Four steps.

- I was always injured, so I feared pain, and the end of that pain, death, even more.

And the final step.

Kale took the last five steps.

Whoosh.

As if it were raining, Kale entered a space without wind. The eye of the storm. Outside this calm space, numerous winds howled. The voice of the old man, filled with sorrow, echoed.

- I chose to live without my beliefs.

With those words, the old man fell silent.

"Tsk."

Beliefs or not, living came first. The old man had been too talkative. Kale clicked his tongue and sent the shield back to his heart. The silver light that had enveloped him disappeared instantly.

He approached the half-built stone tower and squatted in front of it.

It was an ordinary stone tower, the kind you might find on the top of a mountain, roughly piled up.

Except the stones were all black. Like a man-eating tree, the stones that had endured since ancient times were different from others, just like this wind.

"Ah."

Kale's expression turned sour as he tried to apply his aesthetic sense. He pulled out a glove from his pocket, put it on, and began to gather the stones to complete the tower.

Tap, tap, tap. The stones were placed one by one on top of the tower.

It didn't take long. Taylor had also completed this process very smoothly. Only Cage, who had waited outside, must have been in agony. In this space, one had to enter alone and complete the task.

"Easy."

Kale picked up the last black stone and gently placed it on top of the tower. At that moment,

Boom!

The black stones gradually turned white. Simultaneously, Kale stood up and looked around.

The wind was gradually subsiding.

"...Huh?"

He ignored the clumsy dragon's voice and waited for the wind to completely subside. Then, with his arms crossed, he listened to the old man's voice. He had no choice.

- I tried to fight them. But I didn't know I was a man weak to pain. They were not servants of the gods. I realized this only after they scattered and I was captured alone.

The old man's words touched a nerve with Kale. He remembered the words of the owner of the unbreakable shield.

'They always said they served the gods, but the stuff the dark forest guys gave me was tasteless.'

He had a hunch. A hunch that he had learned something useless.

He felt a strong certainty that he would have to keep what he had just heard to himself for the rest of his life.

Kale's brow furrowed even deeper, and the old man continued. The voice was only heard in Kale's mind, and the dragon, seeing Kale standing still, hesitated.

- I built the stone tower. With the hope that time would turn back. I wanted to be happy. But I destroyed the stone tower.

- I hated my selfish desire for happiness, even though I had been caught while fleeing and abandoning my comrades.

"Hmm."

Kale sighed deeply. What a suffocating man. He couldn't help but speak out of frustration.

"Selfishness is human nature."

The old man's voice paused for a moment.

'Is it over?'

Kale's expression brightened, thinking the old man was about to deliver his final line. But soon, a sobbing voice was heard.

- Sob. My sister also said that. She was a really good sister. The most reliable person I knew. Sob. My sister. Sob!

...He's crying.

"Annoying."

Tap, tap, tap. Kale's shoes tapped the ground nervously. His posture, with one leg crossed, was quite delinquent. But after a long cry, the old man expressed gratitude.

- Man with the familiar power. Your rude attitude reminds me of my brother. I envy that kind of rude, disrespectful attitude.

And finally, the words he had said to Taylor, the words Kale had been waiting for, came out.

- Destroy it. Then you will 'overcome' your limits.

Click. Kale's lips curled up. His foot kicked the stone tower without hesitation.

Thud, clang, thud!

The white stones flew and hit the ground and walls. The dragon, watching, flinched and looked at Kale as if he were a strange creature but soon let out a gasp at the scene.

"Wow."

The destroyed stone tower.

Beneath the tower, a white light floated up. Hum. A shallow vibration echoed through the cave from under Kale's feet. Then, the light poured into Kale.

Kale reached out and grabbed the light. At that moment, zap! The light shot into his heart like an arrow. The arrow of light pierced his heart and spread the light, then disappeared.

"Hmm."

Kale took a deep breath. He immediately lowered his head and peeked inside his shirt. The ornate shield on his chest had disappeared.

Instead, a red heart was drawn there.

Kale immediately felt the vitality within his body.

This vitality would make the shield even stronger. And if he were injured, he would regenerate much faster than an ordinary person.

It was a different kind of power from the supernatural shield, a natural physical strength of a human. How strong must this innate regenerative power be to have been passed down as an ancient power?

Kale unfolded the shield.

"Of course."

Kale's lips curled up. The shield's pattern had changed to a heart, but it was silver, not red. He made the shield disappear and immediately moved on.

"Hey."

His steps were directed at the dragon, which pretended to be unaware and looked up at the ceiling. Kale squatted and stared at the dragon. He asked in a gruff voice, like throwing a stone into a lake.

"Do you want to come with me?"

"...You are very weak, to the point of needing protection. But I don't like humans."

The dragon answered and gradually became transparent, using the transparency spell. Kale snorted.

"Moody."

He himself was a fickle human, but this dragon was no pushover. However, he couldn't ignore the creature that had rushed out to save him.

Kale looked at the cave, now empty of wind and with only white stones remaining, and turned to leave. Of course, he had to crawl out when he left. He stepped out of the cave, stood in the grass field, and returned the vine to its original position, well concealing the cave's entrance.

Before moving on, he turned and spoke. His gaze was directed at the grass-covered ground.

"I can see the grass you're standing on."

Four indents in the grass, as if the dragon were standing on all fours, were visible but soon disappeared. It must have flown away. Kale shook his head.

'In the end, the family has grown.'

A deep sigh escaped his lips. It was clear that the dragon would continue to follow him, invisible. How could someone who knew such a high-level spell as transparency be so careless? He had thought all dragons were smart, but apparently not.

After descending the mountain, Kale met Choe Han, who had been waiting. Choe Han's face was sullen as he looked Kale up and down.

"Did you roll down the mountain?"

Damn.

His hair was disheveled from the wind, and his clothes were in tatters from crawling on the rocks and dirt. Kale firmly told Choe Han,

"Yeah. I rolled."

Choe Han looked at Kale with pity. Kale avoided his gaze.

That night, Kale instructed one of the cats to deliver a letter. A letter made by magic, with handwriting that couldn't be recognized.

"Leave it secretly."

It was a new hope for the priest Cage and the eldest son Taylor.