Sworn Brothers

The gold baby dragon looked at Ryan in shock and utter bewilderment. Out of everything that it was expecting to hear from Ryan, what he said was not one of them!

“What…?”

“I know that you are already strong.” Ryan said and gestured at his surroundings. “I do not think that a lot of baby dragons will leave their home to start anew, so that means that you have the spirit in you already. However, if you stick with me… we’ll be able to accelerate your power and strength, so you can fly back to your home and shove it in those other people’s faces in record’s time!”

“You… can you really do such a thing?” the gold baby dragon asked incredulously. “You’re not just saying that so I’ll spare you, right?”

“Nope. Behold and feast your eyes on Kobolds empowered!” Ryan gestured at the five Kobolds behind him who had been present the whole time.

The baby dragon's attention was originally all in Ryan, so it failed to notice the five Kobolds. Now that he got a good look at them, his eyes widened.

“Y-you managed to empower the Kobolds on your own? This is… this a feat that not many dragons can do. I have only heard about it in legends!” The gold baby dragon’s eyes looked in awe at the tall Kobolds.

“Indeed.” Ryan said with a grin and so jerked a thumb at himself. “So fear not! As long as you stay with me, I will make your dream come true!”

The baby dragon stared at Ryan and became shocked.

It was a dragon who didn't get to grow up in a loving family, surrounded by others who did not believe in him… But the human in front of him?

‘This human said that I was strong. Nobody has ever told me that before. And… and he even made Kobolds grow stronger! Compared to him and the others, I really am not strong. But if he can make the Kobolds strong… he can make me strong too?’

“So what do you say?” Ryan asked and offered his hand. “Do you want to become partners with me? It’s a little early to say something like this, but the two of us have similar experiences. The two of us can become like brothers.”

“I… If I don’t like you later, I will ask my Kobolds to make you leave,” the baby dragon said. Behind the baby dragon though, his tail was wagging fast like a little dog, which it failed to hide.

‘Brother? I never had a brother before!’

“Sounds fair.” Ryan chuckled and didn’t mention the dragon’s tail. Instead, he gave a grin. “I’ll just have to make sure that we get along really well so that doesn’t happen.”

‘He is really confident. Even more confident than some dragons I’ve met.’ The baby dragon thought.

“Okay. You are free to do as you like.” The baby dragon stepped forward towards him, and the other Kobolds immediately cleared out a path leading to Ryan. He then raised his paw and took Ryan’s hand.

It was a firm handshake—it was so tight that Ryan’s hand could have broken from the strength of the baby dragon. However, instead of taking back its hand, he merely grinned and endured the pain.

Behind him, the Grimoire spun circles in the air and muttered to itself.

'Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. He said he wanted a dragon, and this one just ran away from home. They’re not supposed to drop out from the skies like this. And he didn’t even have to use Grimoire Points to use Instill Loyalty. He just talked with the dragon and it worked. Normally, he should.be dead already, but he survived at all odds.”

‘You’ll get creases on your page if you keep that up, Builder.’ Ryan thought, communicating with the book using his thoughts.

'I want to smack you so hard!' the Grimoire declared.

‘The only smacking I want is lip smacking with Joan,’ Ryan replied with a grin before he turned to the baby dragon. “Now that we’re partners, brothers, I want to congratulate you.”

“Thank you, Ryan… but how will you make the Kobolds stronger?” the baby dragon asked. “Will you use your strength and change them into bigger kobolds now?”

Even though the baby dragon could not comprehend how a mere human was able to transform the Kobolds into their next stage of evolution, the proof of his power was in fact present in the creatures.

“Hasty one huh?” Ryan laughed. “I understand. I will help you with that right now. I told you that we’ll accelerate things and so we do that!”

‘But first, where are my Grimoire Points, Builder?’ Ryan thought. ‘I know that he’s not exactly my subordinate, but something as incredible as this will grow my kingdom, so I should get points for it, right?’

'…. I don’t want to give it. This feels too contrived.'

‘Haha, you have to.’

“Very well. You have earned 100,000 Grimoire Points.” The Grimoire declared.

Joan, who had been watching the exchange between Ryan and the baby dragon, nearly fell down in shock when the Grimoire announced the points that Ryan earned.

“How many Kobolds do you have under you?” Ryan asked.

“I have 3000 Kobolds with me.”

‘Oh, that’s not really enough to cover everyone, but I think I can still work with that.’

“I will make some of your Kobolds stronger… but I will leave the rest of the strengthening to you. I want you to become strong, and I think you want to do it on your own too, right?”

“You really think that I can do what you did to the other Kobolds?” The baby dragon asked doubtfully.

“Of course. If you plan to become the strongest dragon, then you should be able to do something like this, right?” Ryan grinned.

“I suppose…” the baby dragon agreed and nodded his head elegantly.

“Then it is settled. Let us gather the Kobolds for strengthening,” Ryan said.

With a single glance from Chrysus, the Kobolds scrambled to gather in the hallway. They lined up in a state of bewilderment, their expressions quickly transforming into astonishment as their eyes fell upon the two humans and the five larger Kobolds.

With only a quick glance from Chrysus, the Kobolds hastily called for everyone to gather in the hallway. They lined up despite their confusion and became especially surprised when they saw the two humans and the five bigger Kobolds.