Chương 72: Can You Make It Spicy?

Argaon moved first. The dragon's enormous body blocked the valley. Blue mana patterns lit between his scales. Rings of light spread across the water, and mist began to circle along them. Pebbles trembled on the ground. White crystals clinging to the bank dropped one after another. Riphiel nearly screamed.

"You cannot let that hit you!" Kichan charged with the wake-up rod raised. Argaon's magic surged up in a pillar of water. The pillar came at Kichan like a massive wall. The water spun with a cutting edge, wrapped around several layers of blue mana lines. Kichan frowned as he watched it approach. He saw the grain inside the water—where the mana gathered, where it turned, and where it was bound. It resembled the mana circuits he had struck in the palace, only much rougher and far older.

Kichan hit one of those bindings with the tip of the wake-up rod. Boom. The pillar burst apart halfway up. Spray covered the valley. Kichan's clothes were soaked. Pain pulsed along the inside of his wrist, and the gold on the rod dimmed for a moment. Kichan gritted his teeth.

"Ah. My hand." Argaon's blue eyes narrowed.

"How did you do that?" Kichan did not answer. A second magic circle rose from the ground. Stone and water moved together, shoving sideways beneath Kichan's feet. Just before he slipped, Kichan drove the wake-up rod into the ground. Gold spread outward. The lines of the magic circle went dark. In exchange, pain climbed all the way to Kichan's elbow. He let out a short breath. Argaon growled low.

"A man without mana, severing mana." After that, it was neither technique nor magic. Whenever Argaon raised the water, Kichan struck its grain. Spray exploded each time a blue line broke, and Kichan skidded across the wet stones. Gold scattered whenever the wake-up rod met dragon scales, but the dragon's tail was faster. The tail smashed the rock wall beside Kichan. Stone dust and the raw smell of water burst together.

Riphiel tried to step forward, but the saber-toothed tiger caught her by the back of her collar and dragged her away. Once, the end of the tail merely brushed past Kichan's side. That alone sent him flying. Kichan rolled across wet stone. Gravel dug into his back, and for a moment he could not breathe. The golden outline of wings behind him grew faint. Riphiel shouted.

"Kichan!" He forced himself back to his feet. Argaon tried to pin him with a forepaw. Kichan slipped underneath and struck the top of the foot with his wake-up rod. The grain between the scales was harder to see now. His arm was numb, dulling his senses. Argaon's forepaw lifted slightly. Kichan escaped through the opening and went for the tip of the dragon's snout. The rod grazed between the scales, and a thin line of blood ran from Argaon's nose. Riphiel's mouth fell open.

"A dragon has a nosebleed…" At the same moment, the tip of Argaon's tail swept past Kichan's face. Kichan dodged, but not completely. The skin around one eye immediately began to swell. He squinted through it.

"Ah. My eye." Argaon looked at his nosebleed. Kichan touched his swelling eye. Both paused. Then they charged again at exactly the same time. Riphiel spoke in a voice almost empty of hope.

"This is not a duel. This is a complete dogfight." The saber-toothed tiger had retreated far away. Valkyrie hovered indecisively near the water with the scale shield and small spear. Dust kept watching for any piece of dragon scale that might fall. Kichan noticed even in the middle of the fight.

"Dust. Stay put." Dust froze its legs. Argaon laughed low.

"You see even that in the middle of a battle?"

"Dust is family."

"You are a strange human."

"You're a strange dragon." They collided again. The wake-up rod struck the scales beneath Argaon's jaw. The force failed to penetrate, and the shock only rang through Kichan's wrist. He gritted his teeth and pulled back. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. He was panting. So was the dragon. The nosebleed had not stopped, and faint golden marks remained on several scales. They were too shallow to call wounds, but irritation and interest mingled on Argaon's face.

A long while later, both of them ran out of strength. Argaon lowered himself near the cliff to catch his breath. His nose had stopped bleeding, but his wounded pride had not. Kichan sat down on a rock and pressed one hand over his swollen eye. His wrist still tingled, and almost all the gold had faded from the wake-up rod. For a moment, there was silence. Only the valley water made a sound. Then Argaon spoke.

"Human." Kichan answered without moving his hand from his eye.

"What?" Argaon asked with complete seriousness.

"Can you also make spicy food?" Riphiel went still. So did Kichan.

"Spicy food?" Argaon raised his head.

"The black seeds you put on the fish were not bad. But I sensed that a sharper flavor must exist." Kichan stopped pressing his swollen eye.

"Spicy? You want spicy?" He looked around.

"I don't have the ingredients." Argaon pointed his chin toward the upper valley.

"There is a herb with red leaves. Beasts avoid it, but some old ones chew it from time to time." Kichan stood immediately.

"Where?" Riphiel spoke quietly.

"You were fighting a moment ago."

"That was that." Argaon laughed. Even the water seemed to laugh with him. They caught more fish. At a flick of Argaon's chin, the current bent toward the shallows. Kichan and Valkyrie drove the fish together. Riphiel resigned herself to carving branches into skewers. Dust gathered scales. This time, Kichan let it. The red herb Argaon showed them was hot. When Kichan chewed the tip of a leaf, his tongue tingled. It was not quite a chili pepper, but it had enough heat. Kichan grinned.

"This'll work." He boiled water with fish bones and meat, garlic-flavored root, salt, pepper, and the red herb. Valkyrie controlled the water. The saber-toothed tiger sniffed the air. Riphiel sat with a spoon in hand, caught between anticipation and fear. The problem was the bowl. When Kichan looked at his little pot, Argaon tilted his head.

"Will that not be too small?" Argaon brought something like a gigantic stone bowl from deeper in the valley. It was too large to reasonably be called a bowl. It was the size of a small bathtub. Kichan studied it for a moment.

"Nice." Riphiel spoke softly.

"I have learned far too much in a single day." The spicy fish stew boiled. Its smell filled the valley. Fish came first, followed by garlic-flavored root, then the sharp scent of the red herb. Finding it awkward to eat in his dragon body, Argaon shrank back into something resembling a human. Kichan ladled out the broth with one eye swollen purple. The two looked at each other. Then ate at the same time. A brief silence followed. Argaon laughed low. Kichan laughed too.

"Spicy."

"Good." Riphiel took one spoonful with the very tip of her spoon and began to cry. Even then, she did not put it down. The saber-toothed tiger received some fish, Dust took a piece of flesh, and Valkyrie went boing at the rim of the bowl. Everyone crowded around the enormous stone bowl. The dragon with the nosebleed, the human with the swollen eye, and the elf whose standards had collapsed all kept eating. After another mouthful of broth, Argaon spoke.

"Human. What did you say your name was?" Kichan pressed his swollen eye.

"Kichan." Argaon nodded.

"Kichan. You may continue cooking in my valley." Kichan answered at once.

"Do I get materials too?" Argaon smiled.

"Try beating them out of me." Kichan looked at the wake-up rod. Riphiel froze in place with her spoon raised.

"Please do not fight during meals."