The entire centre of the city was ruined and crushed.

Not only had they been fighting a giant monster but a dragon had started to unravel.

Cale recalled how Raon had destroyed a mountain in Birth of a Hero while entirely uneducated and just four years old. That much more informed six years old dragon had the power to blow up a kingdom. That his presumed death had been the trigger for that gave Cale the burden that he would have to have a long, grown-up talk with the reptilian first grader when all this calmed down.

Because Raon's lifespan was, on estimate, ten times what his would be.

Choi Han's lifespan was the same.

The one younger than him and the one much older than him would both out live him by nine times.

By that point, when he died of old age, he would be senile with no hair or teeth, while they would still be in the appearance of children. Choi Han would still look just seventeen. Raon would, at most, be the size of a carriage.

Perhaps because he was delirious with hunger, Cale felt tears in his eyes as he cradled an imaginary version of that baby dragon he had taken out from the cell.

Choi Han glanced at him with a worried frown before clearing his throat and pointing at the monster. "It always returns to that spot, as if there is a 'root' or 'anchor'. There is the possibility that the 'power source' is there. Of course, it likely has some kind of core inside it. The 'eel' did." He was referring to the orb that had come out from the dead monster in the other world.

"That thing, huh?" Cale replied. "That did not have that sort of power…but then, that was in another world and I was in someone else's body. This monster is a lot more powerful than the artifacts I have."

Nodding, Choi Han turned his eyes to the monster. His aura was many times as dense and stagnant. It prickled the air. The Wind Elementals were afraid of it but they came to help him anyway. He closed his eyes for just a moment before opening them again and drawing his sword. "I managed to land several hits before I passed out. This time, I'll carve it."

Feeling chills all over his body, Cale leant against the ruin next to him and nodded once. "I can't support you this time." He said. "And even if I eat that thing, I will probably faint immediately."

Choi Han nodded again and launched himself without further ado.

They were running against the clock. They had used the Elementals to communicate to everyone else on the field, asking them to draw back. For just ten minutes. That was the length of time they estimated that Choi Han could fight at his fully strength, without holding anything back 'for later'. It was extremely dangerous to fight like that. Usually, fighting like that meant one had accepted that it was 'over' and was just going to go down swinging. Alberu, Roslyn, Milia, everyone, really, would definitely jump in after those ten minutes were up to protect Choi Han.

Cale was worried about two things.

The first was that Choi Han would not be able to dig out the core or wound the monster enough.

The second was that he would have to eat the monster whole or in some disgusting way.

It was very hard to bite into a raw slab of meat, no matter how hungry one was. He had eaten raw monster meat before and it could be said to be either extremely disgusting or extremely delicious, but no matter what it's flavour, it was still raw meat. He had eaten grasses, weeds, bugs, stale bread, expired canned goods, anything. He had been living a life unlike that of Cale Henituse for tens of years in a world that was destroyed once. Sure, they had rebuilt it, that society, but no one had had the luxury of large scale farming or animal husbandry so, in the end, they had harvested the monster carcases to eat them.

They had identified many of the poisonous monsters by trial-and-error at the cost of many lives.

Swallowing, Cale focused on the battle before him.

The battle that took place in those ten minutes was harsher, more brutal, and more devastating that anything that had happened in the first five volumes of Birth of a Hero to include Raon blowing up a mountain.

Cale opened his eyes and moved.

The Wind Elementals pooled together and supported him, carrying him effortlessly.

Choi Han could not hear their words but he did understand the signals they had agreed upon. He fell back and let out a roar. It was not just a cry from his lungs. All of his remaining aura compressed into his sword and he swung it with all his remaining physical strength at the wound he had been carving into the monster. Cale met those black eyes as Choi Han fell out of the sky and was caught by more Elementals. In his place, Cale burrowed right into the monster. The Elementals let out shrieks and moans as it apparently hurt them to hit the monster's body.

Inside the monster was a disgusting void of meat, organs, bones and blood. The monster was wheezing and he felt how very alive it was. At the same time, it did not feel like an animal or a person.

Whatever happened and however he ate it he was not conscious of.

He blacked out.

He thought he could feel something moving around him, inside him, but what it was his overloaded brain could not identify.

What he was aware of was waking up laying in someone's arms. His blurry vision took it the sky, the rubble, the top of Choi Han's head, and then the face and head of another person. A dark skinned man with helplessly worried eyes. Cale frowned as he felt that something very unsavoury had played out while his consciousness had lapsed and he put a hand to that handsome face instinctively. "Nope. Wrong genre." He muttered.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Alberu demanded, seizing his hand and pushing it down against his chest. "Are you really trying to drive me crazy?! Eh? Stop it!" He was shouting and tears ran down his cheeks. "It's not a victory if you die before you get there! The victors are the ones who survive, damn it!"

Shocked that he was screaming like that, Cale blinked a few times.

He shifted his eyes to Choi Han.

Choi Han was exhausted. There was blood at his mouth and he was shaking. Rosalyn was supporting him again. He had not been in great shape to start with but he had really gone all out and his body wasn't responding properly. He was still smiling and his expression read as 'I finally saved one'.

Swallowing, Cale felt tears on his own face. "Sorry." He said. "I'm sorry."

They all stared at him but then Rosalyn and Alberu smiled.

Alberu stood up still holding him. "I need to feed you more." He said, likely unknowingly. "You don't even weigh as much as a child."

Frowning, Cale did not think that was the problem. He ate a lot of food. He was still extremely thin and he knew he had lost more mass. That was not limited to his muscles. He did not say that, though. He let them take him back to the only whole building left.

Choi Han was able to walk as long as Rosalyn helped him take each step. He sat in a chair rather than lay down so that he did not choke on the blood in his throat.

Cale also wanted to sit up but there was no other chair so he ended up laying on an extremely uncomfortable counter. "Ugh." He could not help the noise that came out as his bones poked against the hard surface. "Anyone complains about a little fat and I'll sick a ten thousand year old starving priestess on them."

Alberu, who was the closest and actually heard this, frowned and looked at him with deep concern. "Cale," He asked. "Did you hit your head?"

– There, you see!

The Cobblestone said, smugly.

"Oh, shut up." Cale retorted to both of them. "I won't die. But I'm not in great shape. It could take three months for me to fully recover." He just said it straight. "My body is about at its limits."

– You exceeded your limits several times, Cale.

The Thief put in tiredly.

– If you need to fight, you'll have to eat something else.

Will he eat something else?

What? What's he gonna eat next?! I'm excited!

Not one of us, I hope!

I still don't really mind, if its Cale!

Sighing, Cale rubbed his head. "I know that but it's not like there are monsters and ancient powers conveniently available just because I'm able to eat them."

– There's something nearby you can eat!

The Glutton said, more cheerfully.

– It's not a living thing

Yes, there is, there is!

Oh, well, it's probably not as tasty as me, though

Oh will you stop, you're sick!

– It's not as good as my sword.

The shy Dominating Aura unusually spoke up.

– But I guess it would make a good meal.

"A sword…no, a spear…" Cale blinked and put a hand out, reaching out toward Alberu absently.

Choi Han's face drew in and he reached out quickly.

Rosalyn moved and got between them, moving Alberu further back. "I don't think Alberu would like it if you 'ate' his spear, Cale." She said. For a moment, her expression was tense and she blinked as she stared stonily at the ground. "And I'm extremely worried right now. You revived like that for one thing, but that…well, I understand that there was a specific process involved. But, who are you even talking to? Honestly, you…kind of look crazy right now."

He was crazy.

Cale realised it as soon as she said it. He had gone crazy and he was living in a different version of reality from them. As it sank in, he blinked at Rosalyn and then looked blankly at the floor. Between all the powers he had absorbed and the wind elementals and four to six dragons talking in his head at any given time, he was crazy. Even just on his own, there were at least three gods actively involved in his life and trying hard to manipulate him for their own purposes. He could be said to have died at least once. Realistically, he 'should' have died several times. That was all because of the gods, who could not directly involve themselves in 'reality'. They needed a conduit, a serf, a fucking dogsbody. He was not even anchored to the world like they were.

He looked at Choi Han. Someone 'like him'. It was that sense of 'like me' that had made him trust Choi Han even while being afraid of him.

He immediately felt that it was wrong to put that burden onto him and he shifted his eyes away.

Choi Han did not pull his hands back and his expression was accepting. "If you are crazy," He said. "Then I am too. I went crazy in the Forest of Darkness. There was a silence that drove me insane. So, I talked to myself. So that I did not forget. That I am Choi Han. So that I did not forget how to speak. It's normal to go crazy after something 'like that'."

He was referring to suddenly ending up in another world. Or rather, being made aware that other worlds even existed. The awareness of that possibility gave a depth of despair and a level of hope that was beyond human endurance.

It was fun to read about it in a book.

Experiencing it was a whole lot different.

It was more similar to being born. They could all control their own deaths even if that was not the happiest or most honourable thing.

But no one could control being born.

That was why 'life' was stronger than 'death'.

It was also why people worshiped 'death' much more than 'birth'.

There were a hundred rituals for death for every one ritual for birth.

There was a soft hiss.

"It is the truth that I do have a spear, well, 'weapon' wrought from power." Alberu replied. "It is a weapon that can talk to me in my head. It does not seem to be a living creature but it is aware of itself and what it can do." He had a tense expression. "I would like to keep it since it is something that has the ability to fight 'that power'. I'm also curious on how someone would even 'eat' it, though."

Choi Han coughed and wiped his mouth with his gloved hand.

Frowning at him, Cale thought about what he was going to say. It seemed like a burden to explain the depressing details. He did not feel great, either. His back, hips, shoulders, and legs hurt. Enough that he wiggled and ended up sitting up. He folded up his bony legs and rubbed his neck with a bony hand. He was no longer emaciated and he could tell that all of his organs were working at optimal performance. It was only because he had really come two steps beyond death that he was still in such a condition.

"About that," He started but he did not get the chance to finish.

There was a banging noise and a black blob appeared. Blue eyes were open very wide. The black scales had nicks and cuts and there was a tiny chip in one satin horn. Tears gushed out of those eyes. Raon flapped his wings and smacked his paws together, making noises, and then withered down onto the floor of the room covering his face and sobbing.

Cale was the first one to him.

He sat on the floor and pulled the rather large reptile into his arms. His normally cool skin was a bit warm and he was trembling. He had over exerted himself. Shutting his eyes, Cale ran a hand over his head and down his back. He came away with blood on his hand. "Tsk. Tsk." He did not have his dimensional pouch so he did not have any potions but one appeared in front of his face. Rosalyn had a small smile and deeply worried eyes. Making Roan drink the potion took a little effort but eventually he was fully healed.

By that time, Eruhaben was in the doorway with the other three dragons. Milla was holding an orb so that The Lord could also be 'present'. They all looked relieved and happy.

Eruhaben let out a sigh and moved to a chair to sit and covered his eyes with a hand. "I'm listening." He said. "Start explaining."

Pursing his lips, feeling very much like the grandson about to be scolded, Cale looked down at Raon. He was mostly on the floor but he had his paws latched onto his shirt. Resting a hand on his head, liking to pat his scales, Cale nodded once.

It was time to address it, he thought.

The things he had been looking away from.

"Hm." He licked his lips. "Then, I'll start from the worst half." He said, with an exhausted sigh. "I am a transmigrator who inhabited Cale Henituse's body one day before I met Choi Han. My original name was Kim Rok Su and I was thirty six. I was the leader of a unit which worked for an organization. That organization was tasked with odd jobs, you could say." He frowned. "Primarily, to kill monsters and rescue civilians. Monsters like that one just now. These creatures came from some other place one day and around two thirds of that world's population died. In one week. Not just from being eaten, but from lack of food and medical care and the general destruction of something that large suddenly appearing in a city." He shrugged. "When I crossed over to this world, I had a little information about it. That is all that I had. I have not lived hundreds of years. I had no amazing powers. I thought that I was just myself in another person's body. I had to make the best of it and I intended to. Because Cale Henituse is wealthy." He looked down at the dragon in his hands. "I did not realise one thing. One important ability that I have. The only power that is relevant to this current situation. I…can eat just about anything."

"Eat." A hooded figure had come from outside and tucked herself up in a corner, behind Eruhaben's chair. "We only don't eat when we are dead, Cale."

Smiling at Mary, Cale lowered his eyes back to Raon. "I will eat even when I am dead." He said. "As long as there is any power left in this body, it will automatically eat the nearest power to it. Not 'people' but rather 'living things'. For instance," He licked his lips again. "Ancient powers."

Raon looked up at him sharply. "In the cave that time and at the coast…" He swallowed. "And even when you threw money!" He looked quite shocked. "It made your body unbalanced."

"It did." Cale nodded. "Eating an unbalanced diet is not good for your body. The same rules apply." He took a deep breath as he understood it yet again. The tightrope he was walking. The real fate awaiting him if he screwed up even a little. "To date, 'I', as Cale Henituse, have eaten eleven powers, two artefacts, and a monster. That includes my Recorder Ability." He frowned critically. "The more you eat, the more you need to eat. It's a strange phenomenon. These abilities take energy from something. Each one needs something different, you could say, but they are not like mana. It's not anywhere near like that. What is powering these abilities," He lifted his hand. "Is my body."

Choi Han frowned.

Alberu shut his eyes and turned his head away slightly.

"That's counterproductive." Millia muttered. "Your body is weak so you take in powers and these powers make your body stronger but then subsequently…eat away at your body?"

Pursing his lips, Cain shrugged. "I just loose mass." He replied. "It's not cancer. I'm not sick. In fact, I'm not even hurt. My body is perfectly healthy." He put a hand on his chest proudly. "Just you try to find one thing wrong with this body!"

Eruhaben shook his head. "You poor bastard." He muttered, putting his fingers over his eyes again.

The mage in the room was alarmed. "But, you can't do that if you are dead!" She said. "I get what you are saying and that's not good at all! I'm deeply horrified. But that is when you are alive. Even eating when you are unconscious makes some kind of sense. But…after dying there is no metabolism, no person. That's what death is." She put a hand to her throat and her frown showed that she was nervous as she continued. "Cale, that…sounds very similar to a Lich."

It spanned through the room.

Raon shuddered and mana pooled around him.

The wind elementals were frightened of this and became even noisier than usual.

Stroking his back, Cale smiled at him. "I'm not a Lich. Lich's…are a relatable existence to me. I can understand being so frightened and desperate that they keep on trying to 'stay'." He said it plainly. "It doesn't offend me if vampire drinks human blood. I don't care if that guy ate an elemental, either. I've even eaten cardboard to survive. Eating is also natural." He looked over at the mage. "First, I cannot eat 'mana', either. From my understanding, Magi 'eat' mana, or gather it in their bodies, and then use it as a nutrient. Well, you run out if you use it, so we can think of it as a consumable rather than a consistent. Second, while I was 'not alive' I guess you could say I was not really 'dead', either." He pursed his lips. "I don't know, since I was not aware of it. But, well, the body is a container, yes? I, Kim Rok Su, now Cale Henituse, am a soul that inhabits this body. Death is when that 'person' is forced out, either because the body collapses or is broken. Right?" He nodded. "I don't like that. I don't like death. I've never liked it, from way back. It's just something I try to avoid as much as I can. I don't like pain, either." He pouted and scowled. "But, well, it's not entirely inside my control."

He hated admitting that more than anything.

"Yes, that's the case for everyone." Eruhaben commented. "But, you have spoken to Death." He blinked. "As I understand it, both you, and you, Choi Han, have spoken 'directly' to 'that'."

Choi Han nodded once. "Yes. I traded my extended lifespan so that I could go to Kim Rok Su in 'that world'." He admitted it readily. "So I will only live about as long as Raon. I don't want to live on by myself anyway." He smiled at the young dragon.

Raon blinked and looked up at him in shock.

"I did no such thing." Cale replied, blandly. "I just woke up like that. Kim Rok Su that I was did not make any such choice." He sighed. "But, as I am now, I decided this is fine. That Cale, he's living happily. It was his deal and I just picked up the slack." He gestured that side. "Well, the point is that I am in this body. But I am not alone."

"Huh?" Rosalyn blinked at him.

"I have eleven different powers in here with me." Cale pursed his lips. "So, the body was not 'empty' was it?" He folded his arms. "A body that is 'not empty' cannot be 'dead'. It cannot 'rot', either. It is just 'not alive'." He patted Raon's head gently. "Most of these powers, these abilities, are passive. They will not activate on their own. I have to make it happen and I pay a significant price. There are two exceptions." He held up two fingers. "The Restoration power that I have, Vitality of the Heart, maintains the 'state I am in' but it cannot protect or repair my plate. However, there is something else that I have. A regeneration power that will, like a parasite, do everything it can to sustain the body." He flexed his hands. "Giving me as much vitality and blood as it could until all the wounds healed and my plate fused back together…and then it disappeared altogether."

Choi Han lifted his eyes and looked over the ceiling. "It's the Crown." He said, softly. "You said you thought you knew what you 'ate'. You ate the Crown. The creatures in this world with the greatest powers, the greatest healing powers, are dragons. The Crown gave you all the vitality and dragon's blood that it had accumulated in the last…" His lips pressed together and he frowned. "God!"

It was hard to imagine just how much power they were talking about.

Eruhaben nodded slowly. "I see." He said. "So that horrible thing is no more."

Looking down at Raon, Cale nodded once. "Hm. That and the Wind's Top's Whip. It's also gone. I absorbed that artifact…" He frowned. "No, I absorbed the power in it and it just disappeared. What I took from Wind Island." He glanced over Eruhaben. "The owner lived there. Her family…was there."

The Ancient dragon understood him immediate and shut his eyes. "That poor girl." He muttered. "And she also…"

"She stole the cup." Cale smiled. "Luckily, the cup was in a dimensional pouch or I would have probably absorbed that first. That cup is to human 'power' what the crown was to dragon's blood." He took a breath and let it out softly. "Ah, of course, that does not make me a Dragon Catcher. I can't hurt dragons." He patted Raon's head again. "Nor is my lifespan different."

Raon snuffled and his eyebrow muscles quivered. "You cannot do that again, Cale." He said, in a gravelly voice. "Do not use that power, ever!"

Feeling the weight of that order, Cale shook his head slowly. "If Raon is in danger, I would use it." He said. "If it is about saving this world from those monsters, I would do it again. I saw that once." He looked to the side. "I don't need to repeat that. Raon, I'm human. No matter how many powers I have, no matter if I fight or not, I am going to die someday. I will get old and feeble and I won't be able to eat anymore. And then, I don't know what will happen after that." He looked at the baby dragon who was hiding his face. "But, aside from those two situations, I won't use it. I'm too afraid to."

The round head whipped up and the tail swished to and frow. The plump, chubby cheeks wiggled in a forced grin. Dragons were so very smart. Even this six year old was aware of these things. He had been through a lot, after all. Yet, he was still a kid and he did not want to face it. He did not want to think about that inevitable parting that would come before he had even reached his teens. Even though he was trembling and tears were leaking out, he was trying his hardest to smile. "I will be watching you, human!" He said, his voice only a little strained. His paws were still trembling and pressed together at his chest. His nostrils flared as he forced himself not to cry.

Cale wiped the tears and snot from his face.

It was not like a bit more was going to damage his clothes any further.

Out of everything, he supposed the most amazing thing, was that he was even still wearing clothes.

"Um, Human…" Raon fiddled his paws together and his wings drooped. "I don't think I have enough. I may need some gold coins. I…I warned you that I would destroy everything! It was not quite everything but it was a lot!" He took out his piggy bank while shaking.

Frowning at him, Cale felt the tension snap and let out a sigh. "Put that away." He muttered. "As long as you did not blow up any mountains we'll figure it out."