The Untold Story of Tiberias
Plague Curse
“Will mom be fine if I go leave you alone?” ask Nick again.
Calada smiled motherly. Although it has been thousands of years old, but the form of the dragon man still looks so young. He is not at all aging and looks the same age as Nick. Only the pointed ears and the pair of dragon horns on his head distinguish Calada from ordinary humans.
The dragon rubbed his adopted son's head gently. “Before you came, I was alone. Previously I decided to start cultivating and overtake my people who had already been in the light dimension. But since I found you, I decided to stay until you were capable enough to live alone.
“Now is the time for you to go on your own adventure, Nick. The world is so vast, and your life would be in vain if it were only spent in this worn-out place. Go where your heart leads. I'll wait for you back if you miss me. But if you are happy with your people, then I can go to the light dimension calmly,” Calada assured Nick.
The young man nodded slowly. She hugged her mother warmly and then she turned away. Nick doesn't have anyone he can talk to other than Calada. Therefore his journey towards the nearest human village was so quiet and desolate. Turpin, his sword was neatly sheathed on his back. Nick also wore a set of battle armor that he plastered himself during his life with the dragon.His long silver hair he tied back so as not to interfere with the journey.
Nick travels through the monster forest to reach the shallow cave where he was discovered by Calada. A white lily flower he put in an old navel in the cave.it is where Nick's birth mother was buried. Calada buried the body of Queen Celestia.
Nick placed the white lily on his mother's grave and knelt down and placed the Turpin next to him.
“Mother, I may not have many memories of you. But your affection has always been with me until I have survived until now. My adoptive mother, Calada, has taken good care of me, so that I can become strong enough to live independently.
“Now, Calada has let me go to see our world, Mother. Human world. I promise to find out our origins, and why we're here. The ones who have made my mother suffer, until I die, I will seek them out and avenge this.
“Therefore, please bless my journey, Mother. You were the one who gave birth to me in the world, you were the one who protected me until I lost my life. For the sake of it, I will fight to keep you calm in the world there.” Nick prayed in a soft whisper.
After finishing the simple ritual, he again grabbed his sword and continued along the arid field. Nick follows Calada's direction to the nearest human village, which is about five days' drive from there.
Along the way, Nick hunts monsters and eats their flesh to survive. The wild was no longer frightening to the young man. Instead it was the monsters who did not dare to approach him due to Nick's intimidating aura.
On the fifth day, he finally reached a human settlement across a dry river. The river was steep and deep, almost forming a ravine because there was no water flowing through it. There is no bridge in the river, so Nick was forced to climb the edge of the cliff.
The settlement was so poor and poor. Semi-permanent houses of straw and weathered wood that look worn and almost collapsed. The people in the village looked so grim, skinny, seedy and had no life force at all. Even on the streets he saw some people rolled weakly with bodies full of scabs.
Nick's arrival in the village invited the attention of the residents. A stranger with armor and a huge sword suddenly appeared from behind the river, the border where the monsters lived. The men ran to avoid Nick. Those who are still healthy immediately enter the house and close the door tightly. While the one who is rubbed in pain can only groan while crawling away.
Nick took the initiative to approach one of the middle-aged men whose legs were covered in festering boils. His whole body was giving off an unpleasant smell. But Nick was not too bothered by the smell as the blood of the monsters was far more foul than any scent.
“Excuse me, may I ask? What happened to this village?” ask Nick while kneeling near the man.
The man groaned in fear while covering his head. The man even broke into tears of trembling as he saw Nick kneeling nearby.
“Do not be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to ask what happened in this place? Why are you living so hard?”
“Curse ... This land is already cursed … . The greedy King casts darkness on this land. We ... everyone ... The inhabitants of this land are already cursed,” the man rapal while still trembling in fear.
“Cursed?” mumbled Nick while sweeping his eyes.
Nick finally understood what was happening. The plague was exactly the same as the one he had read in Calada's library book. The dry river indicates a drought and causes famine. All the great disasters have struck this village and left everyone alive to suffer.
“Who is your king? Why could he carry this terrible curse and make his people suffer?” press Nick with boiling blood. I don't know why this situation made him so angry. Nick doesn't know those people at all. But their suffering seemed to move something inside Nick. Maybe his conscience.
“Ra, king .. ,” the man's sentence was interrupted. Suddenly, he coughed and drew a lot of blood from his mouth.
Nick immediately grabbed the man's body and tried to lay him in a safe position until Nick's entire body was also exposed to splashes of blood. The man continued to cough and shortly thereafter, the man died.
