Armipotent

Li Na was standing next to Tang Shaoyang who had been sitting cross-legged for half an hour. Moon was with her, not she complained that she had nothing to do for half an hour, but she was wondering what he was doing now.

'Does he use [Mana Perception] now? But why?' The man was truly hard to read. She really could not tell what he was thinking. The girl stopped thinking and rested on Moon's smooth fur instead. She was waiting for him.

Of course, Tang Shaoyang was not activating [Mana Perception]. He was mulling over a name for the Chimera. Not only that, he was in a dilemma about that name too. Three heads, three minds, and three voices, should I name them one by one?

—No! Even though we have three heads and look abnormal from the other beasts, we are one and we are part of the Beast too. Just one name for us is sufficient, Master.

'You are a beast!?' Tang Shaoyang asked in a surprised tone. He thought Chimera would be one of the Monster Races.

—Yes, we are. Unfortunately, the beast does not take us as one of them but one, the Dragon. Only the Dragon acknowledges us as a beast race.

The Chimera replied in a rather saddened tone. He could tell that by hearing they talked.

'How so? No! How do you know this?' Did the Chimera meet a dragon before he died? He was now curious about Chimera's past life.

—Our parents told us so. The other races said we are a cursed creature, but we are not. We are an Ancient Beast that almost goes extinct but survived. The Dragon knew our existence since the olden time so they know we are not a cursed creature. Alas, no one believed us, and because of our weird shape and destructive power, the intelligent races started to call us a cursed creature instead.

Tang Shaoyang could feel how wronged the Chimera was from how they said that out.

—For some reason, they start to hunt us, the Chimeras non-stop. My father died protecting me and my mother after an army of humans and elves worked together to hunt us. I have been hiding with my mother since that day.

—Just like my parents said, the Beast did not acknowledge us. No beasts allowed us to hide within their territory. Most of the time, Mother will tolerate and leave because we are afraid of being hunted. But sometimes Mother killed the lord of the territory so we could hide for a few days.

—Human, Demon, Elf, Dwarf, and everyone hunts us at sight. We can't have a peaceful day and we can't stay at one place for too long or they will come for us. We can't have our territory because of this.

The Chimera continued with their story, how they had been living as the Chimera.

'You should not kill the human or the other races? Maybe you and your family will be safe.' Tang Shaoyang commented. If the Chimera was this smart, they should know how to stop the people hunting them too.

—We are never hunting humans or elf, they come to our territory by themselves and take something that doesn't belong to them. Moreover, they are food to us, we need to eat too.

The problem with the Chimera was their shape. The beasts did not acknowledge them, but at least the beast did not try to kill them. The Chimeras were different so the beasts would not make any contact with them.

The intelligent races such as humans and elven took the Chimeras as a cursed creature because of their shape. So when they found the Chimeras' location, they would hunt them down.

—But maybe we are cursed…

'Huh, that's what they want, they want you to think you are cursed while you are, in fact, just an ancient strong beast. They hunt you down because they fear you, not because you are cursed,' Tang Shaoyang could not help but console the Chimera.

The young male voice and how sad they were while telling their past was quite touching.

—No, you haven't heard it yet. Once, my mother and I met a Dragon. Her name is Feera, she is a Green Dragon, not the strongest dragon species but strong enough to push back our pursuer.

—Dragon is one of the ancient beasts, so she knew that we are in fact not cursed. After hearing our circumstances, she let us live in her territory…

When the Chimera was talking about Feera, they were excited and happy. But when they reached the last part, their mood turned a hundred and eighty degrees.

—We thought we had found life, not under constant threat and danger. Alas, it did not last long. A big human empire and an elven kingdom came to Feera. They demanded us from her.

'Did she give you and your mother to them?' He asked as the Chimera suddenly stopped halfway.

—No, Feera is kind, a rare case for a Dragon, my mother said. She did not give us to the human and elven. She fought for us and we fought with her.

The story was surprising to Tang Shaoyang. Why would an empire fight a dragon to get Chimera? They could just leave the Chimera under the dragon, it was not like the Chimera could threaten the empire. It was only a pair of mother and son, what they could do to a big empire?

'Did Feera tell you why the empire and the elven kingdom wanted you and your mother?' It does not make sense for Tang Shaoyang. He had met a Dragon, wiping out several cities of humans should not be an issue for a Dragon.

—Yes, they said we were a symbol of misfortune and a disaster. We should be killed before the calamity falls on their land. We are the Devil's symbol that will bring a curse to their land.

At this point, Tang Shaoyang felt something off. If it was to this extreme, this might be related to a religion with a strong belief. The one who drove the empire to attack the dragon was this religion. However, he was not sure since he was unclear of Chimera's world.

—Feera protected us from the empire, we fought them together. Feera was so strong that drove the empire and the elven kingdom's army to the brink of destruction.

—However, that was it, the empire revealed its trump card. They had two White Dragons on their side. While Feera was strong, she was fairly exhausted from battling continuously. She died after killing one of the White Dragons… Sobs… Sobs

All of sudden, the Chimera started to cry. It pulled Tang Shaoyang off from the immersion. He was so immersed in the story and started to imagine when his empire became big like the empire in the story. He was not expecting the beast would cry.

The Chimera must really love Feera the Green Dragon to make him teared up. The image of Chimera being a fearful creature had vanished from Tang Shaoyang's mind at this moment. He only felt pity for the creature. Just because he was born different, he had to suffer.

—My mother…

The Chimera wanted to continue, but he felt this was enough for now, 'No, it's okay, you don't have to tell me to the end.' He was quite flustered because he did not know how to calm the crying Chimera.

—N-no, it's fine. My story is almost over. After Feera died, my mother told me to run while she fought the last White Dragon. My mother was so strong, she killed the last weakened White Dragon before she died from her injuries too.

—I tried to escape. Before the battle, Feera and my mother told me to not avenge them if they died in the battle. They wanted me to have a normal life?

The Chimera put a questioning tone at the end of his words. The young Chimera did not know what it meant to have a normal life.

—But I can't escape the empire, they quickly found me and killed me too. There was a guy, they called him Holy Swordsman and an elf, Wind Ranger. Those two killed me.

The Chimera abruptly stopped, it was the end. They were telling him how they died and what they had experienced before.

'So what do you want now? Do you want to avenge Feera and your mother?' While they were at it, Tang Shaoyang asked what they wanted from him. He did not hear the answer after some time.

—While I want to avenge Feera and my mother, I want to follow their last wish for me. Maybe they would be happy if I listened to them. So I want to have a normal Chimera life instead?

Again, the adolescent Chimera just did not know how Chimera normally lived. They were just confused with their own request.

'That's kinda hard because I can't teach you how Chimera normally lives. I am not Chimera as you can see, I am a human…' he paused when he mentioned the last part.

After some time, Tang Shaoyang asked the Chimera a sensitive question, 'Don't you hate me? I am also a human you know.'

He was expecting a cold or even furious reply from the young Chimera. However, he received an unexpected reply from the young Chimera.

—We don't hate you, it's more like dislike since you are one of them. We hate the empire, We hate the elven kingdom, and We hate the White Dragon who killed Feera and my mother. If we hate, we will not agree to be your contracted spirit.