Chapter 20 – The Whayven Hunt
After what felt like an eternity, Ashton was the first to stir.
His eyes fluttered open slowly, the heaviness of exhaustion pressing down on him like a boulder. He rubbed his temple with a groan, forcing himself upright despite the ache spreading through his body.
"Damn… what happened? My head is killing me…" he muttered under his breath.
Blinking away the haze, Ashton quickly glanced around.
His soldiers were sprawled about the camp in awkward positions, groaning as they too began to wake.
Dino was lying flat on his back, clutching his head, while Syph sat up, wincing as if a hammer had struck her skull.
"Is there any casualties?" Ashton asked in a low but firm tone, scanning each of them carefully.
Syph rose to her feet, though her steps were unsteady. She swept her sharp eyes over the group before turning back to Ashton.
"No, Your Majesty," she replied with a respectful bow of her head. "Everyone seems to have survived."
A small wave of relief washed over Ashton.
He let out a quiet sigh, but his expression quickly returned to its usual calm composure.
Within moments, the camp stirred to life.
Soldiers straightened their armor, gathered their scattered belongings, and shook off the remnants of last night's pain.
They were battered and drained, yet their morale hadn't faltered.
Meanwhile, Kyen-Seen had already taken to the dragon's corpse with a group of soldiers, moving with an unnerving cheerfulness.
His long fingers worked with surprising precision as he taught them how to skin the massive beast.
"Ye mustn't tear so rough, lad," Kyen-Seen chided one of the younger soldiers, who tugged at a strip of scaled flesh.
"Treat it gentle, like ye be strokin' a fine lass' hair. Else ye ruin it, and then what good be it, hm?"
The soldier flushed at his words, but did as instructed, carefully sliding the blade under the thick scales.
By the time the sun had climbed higher into the sky, they had managed to peel away the dragon's hide, removing even the bone-like shells that gleamed faintly in the light.
The men placed the precious materials into large bags, and Ashton watched quietly, already considering how they could be reforged into weapons and armor.
Those would serve them well for the battles to come.
As the work finished, Ashton himself oversaw the cooking of the dragon's meat.
He crouched near the fire, his hands steady as he seasoned thick slabs of the crimson flesh, letting the aroma spread through the camp.
Kyen-Seen, humming one of his strange tunes, joined in as if he were a veteran cook, flipping the cuts of meat over the flames.
Soon, the entire camp was filled with the mouthwatering scent.
The soldiers, still weakened from their ordeal, couldn't resist gathering around.
When Ashton finally carved off the first pieces and handed them out, they ate with ravenous hunger.
The moment the meat touched their tongues, silence fell.
It was as if the world itself had stopped moving.
The taste was unlike anything they had ever known—rich, tender, carrying a strange energy that made their bodies feel light, almost as if they were floating through the heavens.
"This…" one soldier gasped between bites, "this is… like flying up to the stars…"
They devoured every piece.
In less than an hour, the once-mighty dragon had been reduced to bones, and the men lay sprawled about the camp once again—this time not from pain, but from overindulgence.
They looked like fish washed ashore, gasping with full bellies, too satisfied to move.
Ashton chuckled softly at the sight, shaking his head.
"Now that I think about it…" he murmured, turning his gaze toward Kyen-Seen.
The man was sitting cross-legged, picking his teeth with a sliver of bone.
His expression was unusually serious when Ashton asked,
"Hey, Kyen-Seen. Have the gods always been in this world?"
For once, Kyen-Seen didn't smile. His jaw tightened, and a shadow passed over his face.
"Nay," he said at last, his voice low and laced with anger. "I heard tell o' a star that once crashed into this world.
And wallah, from that star they came—those bastards. Crawlin' down like roaches, claimin' dominion."
The bitterness in his tone was unmistakable.
Ashton nodded slowly, his thoughts racing.
"So… this was before Attila, the Giant God, destroyed them. Before they abandoned their machine bodies.
Before they fled, only to resurface in the Mesopotamian Age of Gods. In short… they're not restricted yet."
He clenched his fists.
"Damn those aliens…"
The firelight flickered against Ashton's sharp features, casting a faint glow over his solemn expression.
After a while, he stood up, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He turned toward his soldiers, who were finally regaining the strength to rise.
His expression softened, a warm smile curving his lips.
"Now," Ashton said clearly, his voice carrying across the camp.
"Let's go hunt some magical beasts and tame them. Then, we return to the village."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the soldiers answered in unison, their eyes bright with renewed determination.
Ashton raised his arm and pointed toward the forest.
"You will tame whiyven beasts. You are strong now. Go—show me your strength."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The soldiers dashed into the woods, their laughter echoing faintly between the trees.
Ashton and Kyen-Seen followed at a slower pace, walking side by side.
"Hey, Kyen-Seen," Ashton asked after a moment. "How strong am I now?"
Kyen-Seen tilted his head, giving Ashton a sidelong glance. A mischievous grin tugged at his lips.
"Why d'ye ask, weak man?" he said mockingly.
Ashton scoffed, annoyed. "Don't act foolish."
Kyen-Seen burst out laughing, his laughter echoing through the forest.
"Ha! A jest, lad, a jest. Worry not, ye've grown strong indeed." His grin faded into something sharper, more calculating.
"If ye fight serious, I reckon I'd need t' use eighty percent o' my power t' bring ye down. Good for ye, hm?"
Ashton froze.
"…So not even a hundred percent, huh. Damn. He's broken. He's outright broken."
His mind wandered briefly.
I wonder… why didn't he become a Heroic Spirit?
Or maybe he did, and they just haven't summoned him yet. Perhaps in some future FGO game. But shame… by then, I'll already be dead.
"I see," Ashton said simply, his voice betraying none of his thoughts.
They walked deeper into the forest, and soon the shadows of the trees gave way to a clearing.
There, standing proudly amidst the tall grass, was a whayven.
Its body was massive, covered in gleaming white-silver scales that shimmered beneath the sunlight. Its wings stretched outward like banners of light, and its very presence exuded majesty.
Both Ashton and Kyen-Seen stopped in their tracks.
"Go," Kyen-Seen said, his tone strangely serious. "That be yer prize. Go try an' tame it."
Ashton nodded firmly. His steps carried him forward, closer and closer to the radiant beast.
Damn… so beautiful… he thought, his heart pounding.
The whayven's eyes snapped open. Blood-red irises glared at him with a gaze sharp enough to pierce his soul.
"This must be the whayven king," Ashton whispered to himself.
Slowly, he raised his hand in a gesture of peace.
"I mean no harm," he said calmly. "I was merely passing by… and I thought, perhaps, you could become my companion."
For a moment, silence.
Then the air itself trembled as a crushing presence descended upon Ashton's body.
It was heavy, suffocating, the raw authority of a beast born as a god.
But Ashton was no longer the same man as before. He bore the blood of a dragon within him.
He was a half-dragon now—and to him, that presence was no more threatening than the bark of a dog.
"The fuck…" Ashton muttered under his breath. "I was being peaceful, but you really want me to take you by force, huh?"
He released his own aura.
The ground shook. The air vibrated with invisible pressure.
The whayven staggered back instinctively, its wings twitching, its blood-red eyes suddenly widening with fear.
(Note: Dragons are considered gods in this era. Their blood carries the weight of divinity itself. That was why the whayven trembled before Ashton, whose veins now pulsed with dragon blood.)
Ashton smirked.
"No. You're mine."
He stepped forward, reaching out his hand. The whayven lowered its head, trembling, before letting him pat its scaled snout.
A bond was forged.
"Now it's time to go home," Ashton murmured with a wide grin. "And while we're at it… Aura farming."
His grin stretched wider, sharp and terrifying in the firelit glow of his eyes.
Kyen-Seen, standing nearby with his arms folded, shuddered.
"Damn…" he muttered to himself. "Look at that grin. Terrifyin', it be. Truly terrifyin'."
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