Ben suddenly heard a voice in his head as he stood on the podium while waiting for his reward. He doesn't know who's voice this was and tried to speak back.

'Who are you?' He asked the voice in his head.

'If you want to know who I am, then come to where I am.' The voice responded.

'Why should I believe someone I barely know and won't reveal their name?' Ben questioned.

'You are very cautious and quite the thinker, unlike your father, Escanor.' The voice said.

Ben was surprised that someone knew Escanor. He never met Escanor despite possessing his power. Furthermore, this person said that Escanor was his father, something he never even considered.

The only one that would call a dragon was a Dragon Slayer. The other possibility was another dragon. But dragons haven't been seen on Earthland in the last 400 years, so there shouldn't be any dragons now.

The only possibility left was a Dragon Slayer. But Ben wondered if he could trust this person or not. Still, this person knew about Escanor, so he might have important information that he was looking for.

'Where are you?' Ben asked. He decided this person could be trusted, but he was going to be cautious.

'In the mountains north of your current position. I'm inside a cave, near a lake in the center of the mountains.' The voice said.

'I'll go there after this.' Ben replied.

The voice vanished and Ben continued the award ceremony. It was finished after a half hour and Ben got a reward of 15 million jewels. First place got 20 million jewels while 3rd place got 10 million.

After obtaining 15 million jewels, Ben went to meet the girls. He walked into the VIP room where they watched the race with Joseph's family. The girls hugged him happily when he walked in and congratulated him for being runner up.

They engaged in small talk before Ben told them to stay with Joseph's family today. He told them that he had business to take care of alone and it might take a few hours. They knew it was important, so they agreed.

"I will give you some money to spend. But you need to stay with them and never walk off on your own!" Ben instructed the girls.

"We understand. We'll stay with them until you return." Wendy replied.

"Don't worry. I'll take them with me to explore the capital, so they don't get bored. Also, you can keep the money, I will buy them everything they want." Joseph's wife, Lisa, said while happily hugging the girls.

Lisa really liked Wendy, because she always wanted a daughter. But she only had Arthur and not a daughter. So she wanted to pamper Wendy like she was her daughter. She also liked cats, so meeting 2 talking cats was exciting.

Ben accepted her offer and left the room. He got in his car and drove away from the capital. He headed towards the mountains north of the capital.

He walked to the center area to find the lake. It took a hour for him to get there because the ground was rough. Then he searched for the cave and finally found a cave with a rather small entrance.

"Is this the place?" Ben questioned out loud.

'It is, come on in. But be careful of the slippery ground.' He heard the voice again.

Ben entered the cave which was made of extremely wet rock. Ben ignited his feet to vaporize the liquid on the ground. It worked and prevented him from slipping on the wet floor.

Ben walked deeper into the narrow cave. After walking for a few minutes, he felt a presence deep in the cave. Ben prepared to grab his revolver and was ready to fight just in case.

A few minutes later, he reached the deepest part of the cave. It was a large room illuminated by lacrima crystals. Then in the center of this large room was a giant skeleton. Ben could guess who's skeleton this was.

"A dragon's skeleton?" Ben asked out loud.

'That's right. This is what remains of me, Son of Escanor.' The voice said.

"What remains of you? Are you this dragon? But you should be dead right? Your body is a skeleton, after all." Ben said.

'Indeed, I died 5 years ago. But I have a way to keep my soul alive. That's why I can only communicate with you through telepathy.' The voice explained.

"Wait! 5 years? I thought the dragons disappeared 400 years ago?" Ben asked with a confused expression on his face.

'No, we didn't disappear 400 years ago. Although the cause of our disappearance existed 400 years ago.'

"What is it?"

'The cause is an individual. Someone that people now refer to as the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia.'

Ben was surprised to hear this. He looked Acnologia up in some books. But he didn't know a whole lot about Acnologia, except that he was very strong.

'My name is Smog, the Heat Dragon. I am one of the last dragons that lived until this age. Although it can be said I'm dead now.' Smog introduced himself.

He then explained to Ben that he was born around 700 years ago when the dragons ruled this world. He's an admirer of the Sun Dragon Escanor.

Smog told him that Escanor was one of the ancient dragon gods that lived more than 2000 years ago. This is something Ben didn't know, so he was interested to hear this.

Smog then asked Ben how he obtained Escanor's power. So Ben told him the story he heard from A.I Chip. Smog then asked how Ben can live more than 400 years as a human. But Ben responded that he time traveled briefly.

'So you were sent forward 400 years in time along with the other Dragon Slayers. Hmm, was it to save you from Acnologia's dragon hunt?' Smog said.

"Dragon Hunt? What is that?" Ben asked.

'Well, it's just a name I came up with to describe what Acnologia did. He hunted and killed dragons over the last 400 years.' Smog said.

Smog then briefly shared Acnologia's story with Ben. Acnologia was a human that became a Dragon Slayer. Then he hunted dragons and killed them.

By killing dragons and bathing in their blood, Acnologia received an unimaginable power. He could assume the form of a dragon because of the overuse of his Dragon Slayer magic.

Acnologia killed a lot of dragons. No one knew the exact number of dragons he killed. He was very strong and dangerous, so the remaining dragons like Smog went into hiding. Then Acnologia obtained the title of Dragon King, and he continued searching for dragons.

'His targets aren't just dragons, but Dragon Slayers like you. So you need to be careful.' Smog warned Ben.

"He is that dangerous, huh? Alright, thanks for the reminder Fossil Dragon." Ben said.

'I am a Heat Dragon.' Smog tried to correct him.

"But you're a fossil now, so I'm not wrong, am I?" Ben didn't want to lose, causing Smog to sweat drop.

'Whatever. Anyway, the reason I called you here wasn't just to talk about Acnologia. I feel Escanor's power coming from you, so it piqued my interest. But I feel something wrong with your body and I know exactly what it is, the Dragon Seed.'

"Yeah, this is something that troubled me until now. Unlike other Dragon Slayers who have their dragon parents inhabiting their bodies, I don't have one inhabiting mine because Escanor died not long after giving me his power."

'Then, what if I help you?'

Smog suddenly offered to help Ben, so he acquired a serious expression.

"I'm listening."