Lord blessed by the elves

Chapter 102 Fighting Spirit
In Kruse's view, the dragon's power was beyond the scope of conventional understanding.

That kind of world-destroying power is something that Liontooth Territory, or even the entire Campnor County, can not contend with at present.

Unless he is willing to abandon the territory inherited from his ancestors and migrate with his entire clan, any hasty and excessive defensive preparations will be futile in the face of an absolute power disparity. Instead, they will deplete the territory's already meager resources and cause unnecessary panic.

"Unless I can cultivate to become a Sky Knight... perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope." This thought lingered deep in his mind.

To become a dragon knight who can speak to dragons on equal terms and even subdue them, one must at least reach the peak level of a sky knight.

It was a distant goal, but not entirely hopeless.

Since we can't win and we can't escape, the only option is to pretend that nothing happened, at least on the surface.

He needs to maintain stability and order in his territory, continue to accumulate strength, wait for changes to occur, or wait until he has grown strong enough to face threats.

He wanted to show his father, Reyes, a new Liontooth Territory that had not been crushed by fear but had instead thrived in adversity, before his father returned.

The shadow of the dragon does not have no effect on everyone.

The youngest, Elena, with her girlish sensitivity, quickly noticed the unusual behavior of her two older brothers.

Although her eldest brother, Kruze, appeared calm and handled affairs with remarkable efficiency, she could sense the heavy pressure hidden beneath his composed exterior. Her second brother, Rezal, showed an even more pronounced change.

Since returning, the second brother who used to be a bit carefree and full of youthful spirit has disappeared.

He became taciturn, and every day before dawn, he would climb the highest tower of the castle alone, stand there, and gaze motionless toward the Horner Mountains, often for an entire day until nightfall.

His eyes were no longer bright and confident as before, but filled with some indescribable complex emotions—fear, lingering apprehension, but more than anything, an almost obsessive sense of urgency stimulated by the enormous gap.

Wilstone and his squire, Edin, witnessed all of this, their hearts filled with worry, yet they didn't know how to comfort him.

Finally, Elena couldn't hold back any longer. She found Kruse in his study, handling official business, his delicate face filled with seriousness and confusion.

“Big brother.” She walked to the desk and looked up at Kruze. “Did something happen to you when you went out this time? Second brother… he’s been acting strange. I asked him, but he wouldn’t say anything.” Her tone was filled with concern for her brother and a hint of hurt at not being trusted.

Kruse looked up from the documents, gazed into his sister's clear yet worried eyes, and sighed inwardly.

He put down his pen, walked around the desk, squatted down, and looked Elena in the eye.

He hesitated, wondering whether he should tell his younger sister the horrific truth.

Tell her that they witnessed the power of the legendary dragon, that the world is far more dangerous and vast than she imagined, and that her second brother may have been motivated by that irresistible power, which fueled his obsession with becoming stronger...

A brief silence fell over the study, broken only by the occasional crackling of the candlelight.

Looking into his sister's pure and determined eyes, Kruse knew that some things could not be hidden forever. He took a deep breath and finally made up his mind.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice deep and clear: "Elena, on our trip to provide support in the Hornas Mountains, we... saw a dragon." Elena's small body visibly stiffened, her beautiful eyes widening instantly. The next second, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand to prevent herself from gasping out.

A giant dragon?

Aren't those creatures that only exist in stories?

"Big...Big brother, you're not lying to me, are you?" Her voice trembled with disbelief as it came through her fingers.

Kruze shrugged helplessly, a bitter look on his face: "I also thought I was lying to you. But it's absolutely true. That's why Rezal turned out like this..." He pointed in the direction of the tower, "He guards the tower every day, just in case the dragon appears again, so he can detect it in advance and buy everyone time to escape."

The shock in Elena's eyes slowly faded, replaced by a bewildered fear and awe of the unknown power. She asked softly, as if afraid of disturbing something, "Big brother, how powerful are dragons...? Are they really like the legends say, capable of destroying cities and burning the earth?"

Kruze hesitated for a moment, then decided not to embellish the story. He described it in the most direct way: "It only needs one breath of dragon's breath to wipe our entire Lionfang Territory... off the map."

"Ah!" Elena's face instantly lost all color and turned deathly pale.

Although she was young, she fully understood what the word "erasure" meant.

Castles, farmlands, familiar streets, everyone... will all vanish in those terrifying flames.

Seeing his sister's frightened expression, Kruze felt a pang of sympathy. He stepped forward, knelt down, and gently ruffled her soft chestnut hair, trying to sound relaxed as he comforted her, "Don't be afraid. Look, your second brother watches the sky for us every day, doesn't he? As soon as he spots the dragon's shadow, your eldest brother will take you and run away immediately. We'll make sure Elena doesn't get hurt. We'll run far, far away."

These were meant to be comforting words, but they seemed to touch a chord deep within Elena's heart.

A hint of disappointment, beyond her years, flashed across her young face, but it was quickly replaced by an unprecedented determination.

Instead of rushing into her brother's arms for protection like a typical little girl, she pursed her lips tightly, and a burning flame ignited in her eyes, which had been somewhat bewildered.

She didn't say anything, just nodded vigorously, then turned around and walked out of the study with firm steps.

"Elena? Where are you going?" Kruze asked, somewhat taken aback by her sudden action.

Elena stopped at the doorway without turning around, but her clear and firm voice echoed back, each word seemingly carrying power:

"I'm going back to cultivate. I want to become stronger, strong enough to defeat a dragon." She paused, her voice growing even louder, "To protect my eldest and second brothers!"

After saying that, she left the study without looking back, her small figure carrying a resolute determination.

Kruse stood there, staring in the direction his sister had disappeared. The relieved smile on his face slowly turned into a complex, wistful smile, tinged with both heartache and relief.

He never expected that the shadow of the dragon would not crush the youngest member of the family, but instead arouse such a strong fighting spirit in her.

(End of this chapter)