Charcoal and Toothless

by seafury

History does not repeat, but they whisper its lessons. Through triumphs and tragedies, they sang their symphony. In treacherous world of war and hate, two dragons braved the world. Through songs of history, they sang their own song. Perhaps it would end well this time. (Book/Franchise AU; Lycanwing Hiccup x Female Toothless)

23. Lycanwing - Betrayal (3)

Chapter Number: 23 / 32
Book Number: 1 (Lycanwing)

Summary:
History does not repeat, but they whisper its lessons. Through triumphs and tragedies, they sang their symphony. In treacherous world of war and hate, two dragons braved the world. Through songs of history, they sang their own song. Perhaps it would end well this time.

Major Pairing:
- Hiccup (Lycanwing Night Fury) x Toothless (Female Night Fury)

Notices:
- AU and OOC book and franchise characters.
- Contains some movie/show canon aspects.
- Book HTTYD aspects and characters.
- Female Toothless.

Warnings (each book may have different warnings):
- The warnings below may occur non-consensually (mind control).
- Mentions of depression, addiction and suicide.
- Possible character death and incapacitation.
- Mentions of sexual degeneracy.

"What is this?" - Normal Speech
'What is this?' - Thought
"What is this?" - Telepathy / Reading / Flashback (Depends on context)
"What is this?" - Dragonese (Dragon speaking)
"What is this?" - Voiceover

---

Lycanwing - Betrayal (3)

---

Hiccup spent the whole day forging his new draconic outfit.

After getting moults from Toothless, Gryphon and his dragon form, the boy quickly went to work. Using everything he learned so far, including his dragon knowledge, Hiccup made the best draconic armour he ever created.

Because of his prior experience, it only took him a day to get them done. It was a stark contrast compared to the time it took to make his first draconic armour. This left him exhausted for the day, but he thought it was very much worth it.

When Hiccup came back home with his new draconic armour, instead of trying them out, he simply collapsed on the bed. The armour was left in his backpack next to it. The boy was too tired to do anything else. He fell asleep the moment he hit the pillow.

When he woke up, it was very early in the morning. The sky was still dark and it was very quiet. Remembering yesterday, Hiccup quickly got up from the bed. He reached for his backpack and changed his clothing.

Everything went smoothly. It fit right on his body. After that was done, Hiccup turned to face the mirror at his wardrobe.

Unlike the previous one, his draconic outfit looked more like reinforced leather armour instead of oversized cold weather jacket. They were black dragon leather, which was left without dye or colouration. Those were made from Night Fury scales.

However, parts of them were dark-tan leather coloured. His chest and shoulder leather armour were white; dark-tan leather corset with belts wrapped around his belly, which were attached to his waist-guard and shoulder pad.

The waist-guard was a large, thick leather belt with assortments of things. There were large waist bags, draconic dagger, lasso rope and different pouches strapped on the leather belt. His sword was even strapped on his waist-guard.

Additionally, there were four leather tassets connected at the front and back. It was intended to protect his upper leg against strikes coming from that side. They were more flexible than they looked.

The waist-guard extended down to his thigh, but mostly thicker at his rear. Given the short fur edge at the top, it was done to cushion his rear. That would be useful when he fell on his bum, and to prevent chafing when riding something.

The pants he wore were black dragon leather; his boots were dark-tan in colour and there were some furs at the shoe collars. Both knees were padded, but the left side looked thicker than the other.

The black dragon leather shoulder pad were wrapped around his back and neck over the armour. They were thick with leather, and the edges had short furs to hide its thickness. It was there to cushion his shoulders when carrying something for long period of time.

The shoulder pads were connected to the corset through two black leathers at the front, and one at the back. The two connecting leathers also doubled as small pockets.

The best part were his gauntlets. While mostly leather, the upper part were thick with black dragon scales. They looked somewhat rough, as if there were more protection there. The leather gloves were thin and separate from the gauntlets, allowing him to take them off when needed.

Overall, Hiccup was very much satisfied. The protection and comfort were significant compared to the previous one. He grabbed his new mechanical sling from the backpack and strapped them onto his left gauntlet.

'The zinc mineral bonded perfectly with the dragon scales.' Hiccup thought as he stretched in front of the mirror. He had no difficulty moving around with it. 'This is much better already. I actually feel protected, instead of just clothes that can resize on its own. I just need to make some adjustments on the internal equipment.'

Suddenly, Hiccup felt something. It was the feeling of dread he was familiar with. There was a deviant dragon somewhere not far from him. Considering he was in his house, it must be inside the village!

The boy rushed to load his stuff into his new armour. When that was done, he rushed down the stairs. Reaching the living room, he noted his father's room was wide open. It meant he was outside. Hiccup reached for the entrance door and opened them.

Revealing a very angry Monstrous Nightmare.

"GOOD MORNING, HUMAN!" The dragon roared, before sending a stream of fire towards him.

Hiccup quickly slammed the door close. The liquid fire splashed onto the door. Fire leaked through the cracks on the doorway. The boy held the door back, making sure that the fire did not harm him.

After the fire ended, Hiccup braced himself. That was a normal dragon. The deviant was most likely intermingled with regular ones. He must find his father as fast as possible.

Hiccup peeked out from the door. The dragon had left. Deciding it was safe to go, the boy went out from the house and took off running deeper into the village.

There were dragons fighting Vikings all over the place. Viking screams and dragon roars filled the air. He was used to the environment. He had been raiding villages for five years as Charcoal.

This time, however, he was a human. A deviant dragon hunter.

This time, there was a deviant in the village.

'The deviant is somewhere amongst the normal dragons.' Hiccup mentally noted. He glanced at some dragons grabbing food from the storehouse. They were Terrible Terrors, but based on the colouration, they were not native in Barbaric Archipelago. 'This is deviant incursion disguised as dragon raid!'

BOOM!

There was an explosion around the corner. Hiccup rushed to check what it was. A Gronckle had blasted a white bearded Viking. The man was screaming while putting the fire out from his beard. "ARGGGHHH!" After putting it out, he noticed that Hiccup was nearby. "Morning!"

Hiccup was more focused on the Gronckle. The boulder dragon was projecting the feeling of wrongness he was familiar with. "Ack!" The boy shouted. "That's a deviant!"

"What?" Ack the Viking turned to see the dragon. It looked like a regular Gronckle. However, that was when he noticed another pair of eyes in its jaws. "Thor's beard!"

Just as it lunged to the white bearded Viking, Hiccup rushed and pulled out his sword. The Brimstone light itself on fire with red-black flame. He moved and sliced the head of the deviant Gronckle.

Red and green blood sprouted from the wound. The deviant Gronckle collapsed on the ground; it was dead on the spot. Ack could only stare at the dead deviant dragon.

"Ack!" Hiccup shouted, getting his attention back. "Tell the others! This is a deviant incursion!"

The white bearded Viking grabbed his axe from the ground. "Aye!" He shouted back, before running off elsewhere. "DEVIANTS! DEVIANTS IN THE VILLAGE!"

The fighting Vikings heard the shout. They paid more attention to what exactly they were fighting against. One Viking took note of a Terrible Terror he bashed out from a house. It was bigger than normal, and there was that faint feeling of wrongness. "DEVIANTS!"

A female Viking nearby kicked a Deadly Nadder, before slamming its head with a frying pan she was holding. "Ow! You rotten-eel!" The dragon roared.

The human heard the shouting. Looking around, she noticed that most of the dragons looked normal, while some looked a bit strange. She also noticed Hiccup running down the street. "Hiccup!" She shouted. "Where's the chief?!"

"Looking!" Hiccup shouted back as he rushed to the plaza.

At the plaza, there were fightings everywhere. The boy looked around the place; his father was nowhere in sight. He rushed to the forge and entered through the back door. Just as he barged into the place, a large flame went right across the doorway.

Hiccup quickly closed the door shut. He holstered his sword, before heading deeper into the forge. He noticed that Gobber was already there, hammering weapon for the Vikings.

The blacksmith noticed the boy. "Ah! Nice of you to join the party!" He greeted him. "I thought you'd been carried off!"

"I'm more worried about my dad." Hiccup went into his room at the forge. He grabbed some of his equipment and loaded them into his pocket. "I just killed a deviant not far from here."

"Hoist the torch!"

Gobber ignored the shout from the outside. "Deviants?"

Hiccup walked out from the place. "Yes. This is a deviant incursion!" The boy rambled. "I need to find my dad. I can't find him anywhere!"

BOOM!

There was an explosion not far from them. The boy looked out the window to check. The only thing he saw were Astrid and others; they were busy putting out fire on a house. Everyone else were running around the place. "This looks really bad!"

"Aye!" Gobber agreed. He placed a bola onto the table at the forge window. A bola were two metallic spheres with a rope holding them together. A Viking outside grabbed the bola and throw them to a Deadly Nadder close by. It went around the dragon, restraining it.

Hiccup was about to leave when Gobber stopped him. "Hold on there." The blacksmith halted him. "You man the fort. I'll go look for him."

"But Gobber-"

"Nay. No buts." Gobber had already swapped his prosthetic with an axe. "He'll be coming here, and I want ye to be ready for him."

The blacksmith ran out from the place. He went out through the back door. Gobber stopped right on the doorway. He turned around and gave Hiccup a pointed look. "Stay. Put. There." He paused, before continued speaking. "You know what I mean."

Hiccup was frustrated. The forge could not be left unattended. Moving to get things done, he grabbed a dull sword on the table. He reached for the stone grinder and went to sharpen it.

Before he could do that, the boy heard something coming out from the garage. Hiccup would never heard it, had it not for his draconic instincts carrying over. The boy grabbed the closest thing he could reach, which was a frying pan from used weapons pile, before heading to the garage.

Instead of dragons sneaking about, Hiccup found five certain Vikings. They were Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Most had their weapons out. His eyes widened upon seeing them. "You again! What are you doing? You're not allowed here!"

Given the looks, they were trying to break the draconic cannon he was building. Tuffnut was holding the metal cylinder storing raw mana on his arms - not that they knew what it was. Snotlout was holding his hammer. "Oh, we're meant to be here." He sneered.

Others went to attack him. The male twin moved to smash the cylinder onto the ground. Realising what they were doing, Hiccup jumped out through the window. He got out right when the cylinder collided with the ground.

KABOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

The explosion rocked the whole village. The forge blew up into smithereens. The shockwave knocked Vikings to the ground. Dragons saw the massive, green second sun from the forge, and quickly fled the place.

Green fog spread all over the place. Those who were close enough were struck by the green shimmering fog. The Vikings seemed to be unaffected. However, the dragons were roaring in pain.

Their body was burning inside out as green flame began to burn them. The Vikings watched as dragons flailed about on the ground, before finally went limp. They were dead on the spot.

Hiccup stared with wide eyed expression. He shakily stood from the ground as he saw dragons burning inside out.

The brawny boy knew what happened. The canisters were filled with highly concentrated raw mana. When Tuffnut destroyed one, it exploded and became green dusts.

While not immediately deadly, a whole fog would cause mana poisoning. Hiccup had the first-hand witness of watching them happen. He watched as dragons burned around them. Checking himself, he realised that he was actually fine.

His draconic outfit protected him from the element.

It was when he heard people coughing. The green shimmering fog were quick to reach the ground, contaminating the place with mana particles. The Vikings were affected from the fog.

Hiccup found it strange, since humans were not meant to be affected. Regardless, he shouted an order. "Get out from the fog!"

The Vikings quickly moved out from the fog. Thankfully, it did not linger for long, as the wind picked up and dissipated them. The burned dragons revealed to have turned into black, dry remains.

The boy turned to look at the remains of the forge. Everything was gone, save for the draconic cannon. It looked untouched. The other metal canisters were also intact.

The five young Vikings were slowly recovering from the ground. They did not look so good.

"Whoa..." Tuffnut whispered as he slowly got up from the ground. "That was..."

"Awesome." Ruffnut finished that sentence.

Hiccup clenched his fists. He rushed to Snotlout Jogernson, before grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

The burly boy was still dazed and confused. "I- what?"

"You come to the forge, break my things, and nearly killed all of us!" Hiccup shouted at Snotlout, who was still dazed from earlier experience. He threw him away, before glaring at Tuffnut. "What are you fuckheads doing in the forge?!"

BOOOOOMMM!

Three was an explosion in another part of the village. It reminded Hiccup that the battle was not yet over. There were also Vikings watching them. Hiccup turned to leave the place. "Agnar, Gunnar, move them to the Great Hall! I'll look for my father."

The two Vikings watching straightened themselves. "Y- Yes, sir!"

Moving to the centre of the plaza, Hiccup focused on his senses. There was a massive congregation of deviants at the far side of the village. He sensed over a hundred surrounding that place. 'What were they doing there?!'

Hiccup was about to run when he noticed something. One of the dead dragon, which was deviant, had something under its horn. The boy pushed the horn to check. It had the familiar symbol of sword and dragon head. "Northern Alliance."

The boy realised the deviant incursion was a distraction. Whatever they were looking for, they had found their target. Hiccup was unprepared to face such many deviants all by himself. He need to think of something.

'I guess this is it.' Hiccup decided, before connecting his mind to his Valstrax companion. "Gryphon, are you there?"

"Up above and out of sight." Gryphon quickly reported. "Your father is fighting against a very powerful deviant. Other deviants are keeping the Vikings out from the fight."

The boy cursed his luck. Rushing back to the forge, he went to check the metal canisters. One of them had a large hole; it was the one that Tuffnut decided to smash. The others were thankfully still intact.

"Gryphon, I want you to keep track of the situation." The boy ordered as he grabbed a full canister. Hiccup pulled out his sword and carefully pushed the tip into the crystal at the top. The green glow began to turn black-red with dracophage. "Tell me where I can get to my father the fastest."

"Okay!"

---

At the corner of the village, Stoick was battling against a large titan wing Deadly Nadder. They were surrounded by many different large deviant dragons; they were keeping the Vikings out from area. Gobber the Belch was leading the others trying to get their chief out of there.

Stoick grunted as the large tail slammed onto his shield. He blocked two other tail whips from the Nadder, before preparing his sword. At the third whip, the man thrust his sword from the side of his shield.

BANG!

That did nothing but destroyed his sword. Stoick gritted his teeth as he dropped the broken sword handle. The deviant had been destroying his weapons; they were not suited to fight against deviants. He never expected to fight against massive deviant incursion.

It was the worst case scenario.

The deviant Deadly Nadder readied its spikes, before slamming them onto the shield. This time, it destroyed the shield. Stoick simply retreated as he glared at the deviant.

"Stoick!" Gobber shouted, before throwing his shield over to the chief. However, a deviant Deadly Nadder caught it and flew away. "Magni's tits! Get back here!"

"Stoick, Stoick, Stoick..."

The chief turned back to face the deviant Deadly Nadder. It was circling him, observing its prey. The deviant had just spoke. "How do you like my guests?"

It was then Stoick realised who the deviant was. "Ascal?"

"Oh yes. We were sent to take you." The deviant Deadly Nadder, known as Ascal, seemed to smirk. "You're going to love our prison. We made them specifically for you."

From the corner of his eyes, Stoick noticed a large metal canister being thrown at the deviant dragon. It struck Ascal the deviant Deadly Nadder-

KABOOOOOOMMMM!

It exploded into massive black-red mists, which spread all over the place. Pained and outraged roars were heard across the sky; every deviant dragon caught within the mist were suddenly melting like molten metal.

Stoick felt weak from the fog. He coughed as he collapsed on the ground. The man felt someone picking him up to their back. "Come on. Don't move too much."

"GRAAAAAAAEEE!" Ascal the deviant Deadly Nadder let out a pained, horrifying roar. The black-red mists were melting him down to his scales. He did not know what it was, but he must do something about it. The deviant crawled to the nearest melting deviant.

Meanwhile, Vikings saw someone familiar carrying their chief. Hiccup carried his father on his back, rushing to get him out of there. The boy saw Gobber gesturing him to come. "Hiccup! Here!"

The boy rushed to where he was. Gobber and some other Vikings guided him to somewhere behind a house. There were wounded, children and elderly hiding there. Hiccup carefully placed his father, who were coughing from the effect of the fog. "There we go. Careful now."

They were some distance away from the black-red mists. Stoick tried to reach his hand. "Hiccup..."

Hiccup ignored him. He moved away to check the Vikings. "Spitelout, what's the situation?"

The adult Jorgenson straightened himself. "It's a deviant incursion." He answered. "Stoick thinks it's Northern Alliance."

"It is Northern Alliance. I saw the mark." The boy replied as he looked around the corner. The dracophage mists were dissipating. Most of the deviants were obviously dead; the rest were still around. "We need to move them to safety. Don't leave the group; move in pair of three if you have to. Secure the path to the Great Hall!"

"GROOOOOOOOEEEEEAAAAAAA!"

The Vikings flinched upon hearing that. It was the most horrifying dragon roar they had ever heard. "Form square!" Hiccup shouted. "Civilian inside!"

"Form square!" Spitelout shouted as well. Vikings scrambled to take the formation. The children and elderly rushed to follow, while some Vikings carried the wounded. "Don't leave anyone behind!"

BOOOOOOMMM!

An enormous dragon crashed through the housing sector, sending woods, rocks and assortments of furnitures all over the place. They moved to cover themselves from the fragments. Once everything calmed down, they looked up to see what it was.

Towering above them was an enormous amalgamation of dragons. It was Ascal the deviant. Instead of something unique, the dragon had turned into some sort of overgrown scaled centipede with a dragon head. It had too many large legs and small wings, which were crushing buildings underneath.

The fire around the place revealed something horrifying. The body was composed of many different dragons; Monstrous Nightmares, Gronckles, Deadly Nadders and many others were there. The heads, limbs and scales were clearly seen from the light.

It was the most terrifying thing they had ever seen.

When the creature moved to roar, the dragon heads on its body did that as well, creating echoes of horrifying shrieks. "GROOOOOOOOEEEEEAAAAAA!"

"Thor's hairy ball-sack!" Gobber cursed at the sight of it.

"We need to go! Now!" Spitelout shouted. He was terrified. "Move!"

The amalgamation deviant dragon reared back, before breathing down a powerful fire breath at the group. Hiccup pulled out his sword and cast a spell through it. Pointing at the fire, the redirect spell formed a barrier, deflecting them to the side. The fire harmlessly dissipated around them.

Seeing this, the oversized centipede intensified its flame. Hiccup buckled under pressure. Still concentrating, he slightly tilted his sword, before casting another spell. The tip of Brimstone sword shimmered blue. Then-

BOOOOOMMM!

Powerful streak of blue light came out from the sword and struck the massive deviant. The kinetic shot spell collided with the head. It did not pierce its scales, but that stopped the fire breath. The deviant reared in pain. "GREEEEAAAAAA!"

Hiccup ended the spells. He turned to face the frozen Vikings. "Move!"

That snapped the Vikings out of their shock. They did not need to be told twice. Spitelout rushed to lead them out from there. "Let's go! Let's go!" He roared. "Move it!"

When the Vikings vacated themselves, the deviant dragon hunter turned to face his opponent. Ascal the massive amalgamation deviant dragon was recovering from the impact. It turned to face the offender. "GROOOOOAAAA!"

Hiccup remained defiant. "Gryphon, how big is this dragon?"

"About 100 meters long and 30 meters wide." The observing Valstrax reported. "This thing is massive! His body is stretched all the way down a cliff and it can move fast. Every heads have moving eyes; there's no blind spot anywhere. It looks like a dragon centipede!"

"I don't see any weak spot from below."

"There are weak spots from above. The legs are the most protected, but the hip joints looks fragile." Gryphon gave additional report. "The top side of the body looks softer than the rest."

Hiccup prepared his sword. The Brimstone brightened its fire. "Looks like I'm going over the top then."

"GROOOAAA!" The centipede dragon roared once more, before charging in to strike the boy down below.

---

While the fight was going on, two Light Furies were watching from the tall cliff rocks at Berk. They watched the village burning down as Hiccup fought the deviant amalgamation creature. The two detectives were watching the whole thing unfold.

"Hrr..." Mathew the red-eyed Light Fury hummed. He was sitting on his hindlegs. "Deviant incursion. I thought we've gotten rid of them two years ago."

"I'm more concerned about the lack of response from Furious' dragons." Avisha muttered. He narrowed his eyes. "Something is wrong. There's no patrol around the island."

"Collaborator?"

"Most likely raid organiser."

"No one reported this yet."

"Most likely a general."

Mathew paused at that. "Furious?"

"He's clean." Avisha muttered. "Collaborator most likely a spy."

"General in charge of security?"

"1st, 5th and 10th Red Rage Dragon Army generals." The red-eyed Light Fury answered. He was focused on the fight. "Prime suspect is 1st and 5th. They're in charge of patrol and report."

"Hrr..." Avisha contemplated the options. "10 scales on 1st."

"20 scales on 5th." Mathew stood from the ground. "Let's report this incursion."

---

The fight against centipede deviant was surprisingly easier than he thought.

While it could move very fast around the place, it was easier to deal with once Hiccup was on top of it. He used sticky spell on his feet to run up the legs that tried to crush him. The deviant had no way of throwing him off after that.

The only problem was keeping balance while dodging heads that breathed fire at him. Some of the heads and claws could stretch out, forming some sort of violent scaly tentacles. They were thankfully easy to take out; a slice with his sword was no problem.

Eventually, Hiccup reached the top of one of its larger legs. The joints at its hips were exposed. It was the weak spot. The boy jumped down to the vulnerable part. He cast a spell; solid blue light appeared on his sword, extending its reach. Hiccup raised his sword and struck the joints.

That did the trick. One of the legs snapped off from the body, causing the amalgamation centipede to fall. "GROOOOAAAAA!"

Hiccup gracefully landed on the ground below. The severed leg crashed to the ground behind him, followed by the deviant centipede. He looked up to see acid green blood pouring out from the wound. "Gryphon, I got one."

"Okay, uh..." Gryphon sounded hesitant. They watched as the wound closed itself into a stump. It was slowly regenerating a new leg. "I think that's why it was exposed. It can regenerate its legs."

The boy despaired at that. "Of course, that would be too easy." He lamented, before pondering a way to kill the thing. "We need more dracophage. Do you see anything glowing at the destroyed forge?"

"I see a glowing green canister."

"Good." Hiccup looked around, before realising that he was at the plaza. The deviant centipede was still on the ground. It was busy focusing on regrowing its missing limb. There was no one else there. The Great Hall was closed shut. "Gryphon, watch me."

"Got it."

The boy rushed to the destroyed forge. He found the canister filled with raw mana and performed the same procedure as before. Hiccup carefully stabbed the crystal with his sword, turning the green raw mana into black-red dragophage.

"Dad, the limb!"

Hiccup glanced to see what it was. There were deviant dragons growing out from the severed limb. They looked more like horrifying bipedal monsters than actual dragons. It was difficult to make sense of those things, since they looked like moulting bipedal dragons out of horror stories.

The creatures were snarling and roaring at him. "GRAAAA!"

One of the monsters came charging at him. Hiccup let go of his sword and pulled out his knife. He ducked under its swipe, moved around and pierced his dagger right from its back. It shrieked as it died on the spot. Pulling out his dagger, Hiccup saw more creatures approaching.

The boy pointed his dagger at them. The tip began to shimmer. The metal began to glow hot as blue orb appeared from the tip-

BOOOOOMM!

It shot to the crowd of deviant monsters and exploded, showing the place with green blood and viscera. The kinetic shot spell killed everything there, but more creatures were slowly growing out from the limb. The blade of his dagger was glowing hot from excessive mana he channelled.

Hiccup dropped his dagger and went for the canister. It had finished the corruption process. "Why are their blood green anyway?" He wondered as he pulled out his sword from the canister. "Deviant bloods rarely full green like that."

"I think they're not dragons anymore. They've lost their sentience." Gryphon offered her theory. "They're creatures of perverse mana, powered by their ever-hungry mutated mana circuits to consume everything they see."

"I'll have to kill them then." Hiccup holstered his sword. He grabbed the dracophage canister, before remembering that his cannon was there. While there was no projectile yet, it was powerful enough to destroy many things with just propellant alone.

That gave him an idea.

'Let's hope this works.' Hiccup thought as he rushed to the cannon. The breech was still open. The boy loaded the dracophage canister into the cannon, before pushing the lever. That closed the breech.

"GRAO!"

Hiccup moved right before a creature swiped at him from behind. He grabbed its neck, before throwing it away. The boy pulled out his sword and sliced its head clean. Looking around, he realised he was surrounded.

There were deviant creatures running at him.

"Well then." Hiccup mused as he readied his long sword. He needed to clear them out before he could safely use the cannon. Just before he charged in, however, the grip of the sword suddenly extended itself. It went all the way to eight foot long.

That confused the boy. "What?"

"GRA!" The nearest creature leaped at him. Hiccup used the now-sword-glaive Brimstone to shove the creature away from him. Adjusting his stance, he swung his glaive, slicing its torso in two.

Hiccup spun his glaive around and began attacking the deviant creatures. He sliced the one in front of him; knocked away another with the back side; stabbed the one behind him; and sliced three deviant creatures with the glaive.

The boy moved to strike more deviant creatures. He ducked under a leaping one, before slicing the other that followed. He rushed out to strike more deviants. "Gryphon, how's the big ugly looking?"

"Half way to regeneration." Gryphon answered. "It's not doing anything while regenerating."

Hiccup cast ironwire spell with his sword-glaive. A pair of blue wires extended outward from both ends. He spun the glaive around, lashing them out like whips. The group of deviants were caught and sliced into two. He noted more creatures slowly coming out from the severed limb.

That was fine, however. Hiccup was buying himself some time. The boy rushed back to the cannon. He dropped his sword-glaive, released the clutch at the control, then manually steered it to aim at the massive deviant centipede dragon.

The massive deviant was at point blank range. It was impossible to miss. With this knowledge, Hiccup engaged the clutch to lock it in place, before pulling the trigger lever.

Instead of firing, the cannon began to spool up, as if charging something within. Hiccup scowled at that. "Come on! Fire!"

"Dad?" Gryphon sounded hesitant. "The regeneration is almost done."

"GROOOOAAAA!" Ascal the deviant centipede dragon let out a triumphant roar. It was trying to get up from the ground, but the regenerated leg was not strong enough.

'Time to move!' Hiccup alarmingly thought as he ran away from the place. Loading up grappling hook to his mechanical sling, he shot the rooftop of the Mead Hall, which was somewhat far from him.

It flew with rope connected to his gauntlet. After embedding itself at the wall, the roller in his gauntlet clicked and pulled him to the Mead Hall.

However, Hiccup did not expect how strong it would be. His gauntlet immediately pulled him there. "Whoa! Wait!"

Crash!

Hiccup broke through the rooftop of the Mead Hall. He collided with a support beam, before falling down and crashing onto the wooden tables below. The boy hit the table on his back. It did not break under the weight, but introduced Hiccup to all sorts of pain. "Ow..."

Regardless, it was a good thing that Hiccup was there, because the cannon fired right after he crashed.

There was a bright, blinding red light as the cannon fired its propellant. The power was so incredible; it created massive shock wave as it fired, blowing everything around it. The deviant creatures around the cannon were disintegrated from that alone.

The fired propellant turned into a beam of pure concentrated dracophage, piercing straight through the deviant centipede's head, chest and back. Ascal did not even have the time to roar. For a good ten seconds, the blinding beam of dracophage streaked through the skies.

Then, came the explosion.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

---

The Great Hall fell silent when the ground shook under them. They could feel the explosion through the wooden barricaded stone double doors. The Vikings baited their breath as they waited for everything to calm down.

Eventually, it did. It sounded like it was over. They did not hear any noise or roar from the outside. Spitelout, along with Gobber and other capable Vikings, moved closer to the barricaded door. They stayed quiet to hear anything behind the door.

Knock! Knock!

Everyone jumped when they heard the knocking. They also heard a voice from the other side. "Dad? Spitelout? Gobber? It's clear. The deviants are dead."

They felt relief upon hearing that. However, the blacksmith was sceptical. "What's something that only Hiccup knows?"

"Gobber, if you don't open this right now, I'll shove a mead barrel so far up your arse, you'll be puking mead!" Hiccup shouted from the other side. "And you're going to like it!"

Vikings stared at the man with strange look. Gobber simply shrugged. "Yup. That's him."

The Vikings began removing the barricades. After taking off the large wooden logs, they pulled the double door to allow him in. The morning light flowed into the Great Hall.

Hiccup was standing in front of the doorway. He looked injured. The boy was using his sword-spear to help him stand. Gobber quickly moved to help him. "Careful now."

While the boy was led inside, some Vikings walked out from the Great Hall. It was bright and quiet. Spitelout led the group outside. Upon reaching the stairs, they gaped at what they were seeing.

Most of the village was destroyed. While the fires were gone, most of the houses were gone. There were debris all over the place. Some buildings were largely intact; others need reparation before they could be used again.

There were all sorts of dead bodies, limbs, blood and viscera around the place. Those were the deviant dragons, as well as weird bipedal deviant creature that looked like dragons, but not. It would take some time to clean those out.

However, the most horrifying part was something near where the forge was supposed to be. There was the enormous deviant centipede dragon there. Considering the giant visceral trench that went across the front and back, that thing was obviously dead.

Few metres in front of the dead amalgamation was a large cannon. Given the appearance, it must be one of Hiccup's personal project. Gobber had told him about the project before. This meant the draconic cannon had worked.

"By the great Odin and all of Nine Realms." Another Viking whispered at the sight of it. "Hiccup killed this thing?"

"Aye." Spitelout whispered. "He did."

---

After the Vikings confirmed that everything was clear, they slowly went out to check on the village. Despite all the green bloods and remains, as well as almost everything destroyed, the island was finally safe once more.

"That was a right messy kill."

Stoick the Vast was standing at the remains of the forge. The chief was accompanied by Spitelout, who were inspecting the dead amalgamation. There were Vikings carrying rocks and debris out from the area.

It took them few hours to search for survivor. After realising that they had no casualties, the Vikings went to clean up the place.

It was also when Stoick recovered from the poison. Under his command, they decided to dispose the bodies first. They did not want the bodies to rot and spread all sorts of horrible smell and disease.

The second-in-command was staring at the wound, which was basically a visceral trench at that point. "I can't believe Ascal actually came back from the dead." He commented. "He caused so much destruction in just one day."

"We were unprepared." Stoick muttered.

Barbaric Archipelago was supposed to be safe from deviants; most of that chaos were concentrated within northern parts of Greater Archipelago at the north. However, the first deviant incursion years ago proved them otherwise.

He could not exactly blame them on the region. The neighbouring villages almost never encountered deviant dragons in their entire existence. They could survive from dragon attacks as long they did not 'escalate' their equipment.

Hairy Hooligan tribe was specifically targetted because they had histories with dragons. This was a fact acknowledged by his ancestors, all the way to Grimbeard the Ghastly. It was partially the reason how Wilderwest Empire had gotten their legitimacy.

"He's definitely dead this time." Spitelout remarked, before turning to face the chief. "Part of his body is at the cliff. We can push it to the sea and let the current take the body."

Stoick crossed his arms. "Last time we saw him as human, we dumped the dagger in Atlantic ocean."

"The man's dead with a body this time." The second-in-command shrugged. "I doubt he'll come out from this."

The chief exhaled his breath. "I hope you're right."

---

Meanwhile, Hiccup was at Gothi's place.

After everyone got out from the Great Hall, the injured and wounded were moved there for treatment. Hiccup was the first in line; he injured himself when he crashed into the Mead Hall that time.

After he was sufficiently treated, Hiccup decided to help Gothi treat Vikings with mana-related issues - not that anyone knew what it was. The boy was curious to understand the exposure of raw mana and dracophage.

"Hmm..."

Despite years of changes, Gothi's place was still the same. There were all sorts of herbs on the tables, a small bed for injured Vikings to be tended, and other medicinal things. In addition to that, Hiccup was there to help the elder.

"Careful..." Hiccup warned as he inspected the next patient. It was Gobber the Belch. The man was feeling weak; his prosthetics were on the table next to them. The boy was on a chair, inspecting the stump on his arm. "... do you feel this part?"

"I can barely feel it." Gobber admitted. He briefly glanced at Gothi, who was busy making something with mortar and pestle. "Feelin' weak and a bit of headache."

"Hmm..." The boy was deep in thought. He could feel what was happening with the body. Gobber did not have dracophage corroding his mana. Instead, there were concentrated raw mana. The blacksmith most likely gotten them when salvaging the forge.

Raw mana was poisonous. It was what killed half of dragon population over five million years ago. While most had adapted through evolutionary process, concentrated raw mana was still lethal.

It would take prolonged dracophage exposure to actually kill normal humans and dragons. In case of deviants, however, the corrosive mana would break down their body until they were dead. It was a painful death; a fitting end for dragons who took pleasure in pain and suffering.

Regardless, raw mana also affects humans. While they did not burn like what happened to dragons, it did make them sick. It was how human body respond to dragon equivalent of Mana Poisoning.

"... but why did you not burn up?" Hiccup mumbled as he inspected the skin, which looked slightly red. "And why the red skin?"

Gobber overheard it. "What was that, lad?"

"Just wondering about how this happens." The boy responded as he let the arm go. He moved to check the leg stump, which had redness on the skin. "The released energy is poisonous to everyone. Dragons were burned into dust. Humans become sick..."

Gothi finally approached them, before offering the blacksmith a wooden bowl. Gobber carefully took a sip. He grimaced at its bitter taste, before gulping them down. When that was done, the elder took the bowl back, before writing something on the dusty floor.

Hiccup glanced at her writing. Gothi theorised that the body had energy, and it responded to foreign energy like how they respond to poison. The body was trying to purge the foreign energy.

The boy thought that was a sound theory. "But it already shifted some of the energy." Hiccup realised the solution. "It doesn't have anything to replace them with. That's why he was sick."

Gothi nodded her head, pleased that Hiccup understood what she conveyed. Gobber, however, was confused. "Did ye found what happened?"

"It's the green mist. You're poisoned by its dust at the forge." Hiccup answered the question. He stood from the chair, before grabbing the leg prosthetic. "The cure is food. I recommend drinking more water to flush out the poison."

"Huh. I guess brooms could clean them out." Gobber held out his leg stump. "How do I know it work?"

"If you start peeing and shitting green, then you know it works." Hiccup answered as he sat on the chair. "Keep doing that until they're not green anymore."

"Does mead work?"

"Anything that makes you pee a lot." Hiccup clarified as he began to work. He held the leg prosthetic into place, while Gobber worked on attaching them.

The elder had moved on to do something else. That left Gobber and Hiccup alone.

"Hmm..." Gobber began strapping the leg prosthetic, before starting a conversation. "How's yer sword?"

"It's a sword that can turn into a glaive." Hiccup explained as he tapped the holstered sword in his belt. "It went back to a sword just couple hours ago. I don't know how."

"You don't know?"

"It's an ancient draconic weapon. I'm still trying to figure out how it works." The boy admitted. He decided to change the topic. "What about you? How was it outside?"

"Lots of things happened outside." Gobber remembered what he heard so far. "You're the talk of the village."

"When was I not the talk of the village?" The boy was sarcastic.

"Not really a bad talk this time. Ye killed Ascal the deviant."

Hiccup paused at that. "Ascal?" He was incredulous. "That was him?"

"Aye."

"I thought my dad threw the dagger into the Atlantic ocean."

"He didn't go that far into the ocean to get rid of 'em." Gobber clarified what he knew. "I reckon he didn't want to get swept into the sea."

"Gobber, it's not Atlantic ocean until you can't see the islands." Hiccup was frustrated. "Northern Alliance got dragons. They definitely have sea dragons, but they can't go that far into the ocean."

"Eh." The blacksmith shrugged. "We tried our best."

Hiccup exhaled his breath, before letting go of the leg prosthetic. "If only my dad listened to me." He lamented. "This could have been avoided."

"Well, it runs in the family." Gobber shrugged.

"And when he does, it's always with this... disappointment scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." The boy was sarcastic. He moved to grab the arm prosthetic. "It got worse after I got bigger. Did you know it was the twins that destroyed the forge?"

"I heard the Vikings telling me that."

"I told my dad about it. He just stand there and didn't do anything about it!" Hiccup expressed his frustration. "He thinks others should get away with it just because I'm bigger."

The blacksmith blinked at that. "Now you're thinking about this all wrong." He remarked. "It's not so much what you look like. It's what inside that he can't stand."

Hiccup did not respond. He knew what Gobber was talking about.

It was obvious what he could do at that point. Hiccup was a lot of things; alchemist, inventor, deviant dragon hunter, linguist, and many others. Ignoring the fact he was a dragon, the boy knew that he was quickly outgrowing his village.

Barbaric Archipelago was his home; Berk was his cradle.

Gobber took the silence as confusion. "Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not." He explained what he understood. "There's lots of things out there. Ye could try going out to explore."

That made the boy pause. "Are you saying they want me to get out of the village?"

"I'm not saying ye should leave the village." The blacksmith clarified. "I'm saying you should visit other places, like Prussia, India or China. I'm sure yer always welcome in the village."

"And who's going to inherit the village when I'm gone?" Hiccup retorted as he began attaching the prosthetic arm. "Snotlout Jorgenson? He'll burn down the whole village!"

Gobber shrugged. "Not the first time it happened."

"Like Hel I'm letting that happen!" The boy exclaimed. He began wrapping the ropes on the prosthetic to the arm. "Snotlout's been tormenting me for years. They always took things from me, and nobody cared! I'm not going to let them have the only thing I've put a lot of effort in my life."

The two Vikings fell silent. Hiccup focused on attaching the arm prosthetic. The blacksmith did not know what to say. "... I say ye think about it, and then talk to your father." Gobber gave his advice. "It's a big choice, lad."

Hiccup let go of the arm, before standing up from the chair. He let out a sigh as he grabbed the hook attachment. "... I know." He replied, before handing it over. "I guess I'll try talking to him."

Gobber attached the hook as the boy went to the door. He opened them and allowed the blacksmith to leave. Once that was done, Hiccup looked around to check. There were more Vikings to tend, and they had formed a small queue.

The boy looked at the Viking at the front. "Come in. You're next."

---

"YOU WHAT?!"

Later that evening, Hiccup was at the cove. The boy was resting near the pond, staring at the angry mother dragon next to him. Gryphon was also there; she was carrying their hatchlings in her bags. The Valstrax in particular was at distance from them.

Hiccup was trying to calm the black dragoness. "Toothless, calm down-"

"You used concentrated dracophage in the middle of deviant incursion, and you told me to calm down?!" Toothless expressed her outrage. "It's a miracle that you're still alive!"

"I don't really have a choice!"

"You do! You could've summon us both and we'll help blasting them off from the sky!" The mother dragon verbally retaliated. "It's a well known fact that normal dragons hate deviants! Vikings wouldn't bat an eye if dragons started doing that in the middle of a raid!"

It was something that Hiccup should have come up with. Stoick knew about the existence of Toothless. The reasoning was sound. It would not surprise them if Vikings accepted it, had he actually done that.

"Okay, you're right." Hiccup admitted his fault. "I'm sorry. I was thinking as a hunter and not a dragon."

Toothless simply huffed at that. She took a deep breath, calming herself. "You said the deviants burned and melted like lava when struck by the fog?"

"Yeah." The boy nodded. "I don't know why it does that."

"That's just how it works." The mother dragon sat on her hindlegs. "Dracophage is a form of corrosive mana. They disrupts mana circuit stability. They can do a lot of creepy stuff if you're not careful."

Hiccup understood. "It melts deviants into pile of flesh."

"That's the most common outcome for deviants." Toothless patiently explained. She was uncomfortable with the topic. "The second most common is dissolving from inside out."

"What about Ascal the deviant?" The boy questioned. "He turns into a giant centipede monster."

"... I can't say for sure. I wasn't there to do the autopsy." The mother dragon slowly responded. She was deep in thought. "But from your memory, I think he got the rare outcome. Runaway mutation."

Hiccup did not know what it was. "Runaway mutation?"

"It's when a major mutation triggered another major mutation, creating this endless cycle of mutation." Toothless shuddered at the mental image. "Usually, you'd die after few cycles. But in case of that thing, the mutation kept going until... well..."

The mother dragon fell silent. However, she had already made the implication. Ascal would keep on mutating until someone put him out of his misery. That was horrifying to know.

"In any case." Toothless took a deep breath. "Dracophage is mainly used for military spells and crystals. It should never be used in its rawest form."

"Military spells and crystals?"

"Things primarily used for war." The mother dragon elaborated, before continuing. "They use them to destabilise crystals and anything with perverted mana circuit."

Hiccup was even more confused. "Perverted mana circuit?"

"Deviants." Toothless clarified. "Other than corrosion, dracophage mana is antagonistic to perversion. That's why dragon element is strong against them."

The boy thought that was interesting. "Why?"

"Because their mana contains corrupted parts of human mana. They keep their perverted mana circuit stable." The mother dragon patiently explained. "All I know is that they use human flesh to keep themselves stable. The greener the blood, the more unstable they are."

"Wait." The boy was confused. "How does that work?"

"I don't know. I'm a crystallographer, not arcanologist." Toothless expressed her frustration. "This is something specific to homo sapiens. You have to ask an expert to know more."

Hiccup thought that was interesting. It was possible that present humans developed some sort of defence mechanism against deviants from kidnapping them.

Mana perversion had existed for over a million years. Considering the greed of dragons, homo genera would have gone extinct, had it not for sapien to evolve some mechanism against it. However, that made him wonder.

What was that mechanism, exactly?

"... I'm a lot more concerned about the lack of response from Furious." Toothless expressed her concern. "The deviant incursion at Berk has been the talk everywhere. Agatha told me when he came to visit."

Hiccup was surprised. "Really?"

"It's the first large-scale deviant incursion in Barbaric Archipelago for a very long time." The mother dragon elaborated. "They said they saw a huge beam of red light all the way to Dragon Island. Dragons went to check them out, only to find Berk village there. They said Greater Alpha Furious is investigating, but no one knows what he's doing."

"That was... my cannon."

Toothless was confused. "Cannon?"

"I've been facing enormous deviant dragon from time to time. I've decided to make something that could help us kill something like that." Hiccup explained the context. "It's a cannon made with fossils, crystals and shed dragon parts, like scales. I used a piece of Alatreon horn as the main component."

"A draconic cannon." Toothless realised where it was going. "Did you use raw mana to power them?"

"It consumes raw mana as the propeller." The boy explained, before asking. "How did you know?"

"My father has something similar. They're pretty old." The mother dragon explained. "They used Amethyst Scales instead of raw mana. It's more efficient."

"I guess he can add dracophage as alternative propellant." Hiccup scratched the back of his neck. "What killed that deviant was draconic cannon loaded with dracophage."

Toothless narrowed her eyes. "It takes dracophage?"

"It's not supposed to. I haven't even made the projectile." The boy expressed his confusion. "Firing the propellant alone can make a crater. I thought I'd wound the thing. I never thought it'd blast them to kingdom come."

Toothless simply stared with wide-eyed expression. "... can I check your memory?"

"Yes."

The mother dragon reached through their bond and connected with his mind. She checked his memory of the event and cross-referenced them with different memories in his mind. Hiccup waited for her to finish. When that was done, Toothless pulled out from his mind.

"The way you make them reminds me of pre-war technology." Toothless commented. "They're more ancient than what my father has."

"Pre-war?"

"Before the Great Dragon War." The mother dragon clarified. "It's a war that followed shortly after the Oppressive War. Dragons would forge cannons like that to protect their home."

Hiccup blinked. "I didn't even know that."

"It's not widely known to surface dragons, or most dragons in Hidden World. The technology was largely lost to everyone." Toothless explained what she knew. "What we do know is how temperamental they could be. Excavation dragons are warned against touching them when digging in ancient pre-war sites."

"I guess I'll be more careful with it."

"You better be." The mother dragon retorted. She took a deep breath, before exhaling them. "Anyway... I found where I killed the Lycanwings."

"That's great!" The boy was happy to hear that. He walked into the open cave, which had his alchemy equipment. "Let me grab my things before we go."

---

"Either we finish them, or they'll finish us!"

Stoick was standing at the middle end of the Mead Hall. There were Vikings surrounding him. The chief was speaking to them.

"If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home!" Stoick spoke to the crowd. "This is our best chance! One more search, before the ice sets in."

"Those ships never came back." One of the Vikings in the crowd called out.

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard!" The chief retorted. "Now, who's with me?"

The Vikings looked uncomfortable. "Today's not good for me..."

"I've gotta do my axe returns." Another one hesitantly spoke.

"The new warship isn't done yet!"

Stoick exhaled his breath. "Alright." He decided. "Those who stay will look after Hiccup."

"He can handle his own."

"... and his works." Stoick finished the sentence.

Everyone instantly raised their hands. "To the ships!" One female Viking exclaimed.

"I'm with you, Stoick!" Spitelout shouted.

"That's more like it." The chief dryly muttered, amused by the sight.

The Vikings began walking away. Stoick simply watched as everyone prepared themselves. Gobber was the last one remained. He was busy doing something to the barrel of mead at the corner of the room. "Gobber." Stoick called out. "How are you doing?"

"Eh?" The blacksmith turned around. He was wearing a pair of shoes and gloves. "All good. 'just need to drink water."

"Good." The chief nodded. "I need you to stay and train the new recruits."

"Oh, perfect." Gobber shrugged. He sounded sarcastic. The man raised his tankard prosthetic. "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover my stall."

The thought of Hiccup dampened Stoick's mood. The blacksmith continued speaking. "Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself." He shrugged his shoulders. "We still need to rebuild the forge."

The chief looked away. "What am I going to do with him, Gobber?" He asked. He sounded a bit desperate.

The blacksmith frowned a bit. He looked around and noticed that the Mead Hall was empty. It was safe to converse about it.

Gobber focused back to the man in front of him. Stoick looked conflicted. The blacksmith thought for some time, before speaking. "Tell him everything."

"No." Stoick stared at his best friend with deadpan expression. "I'm serious."

"So am I."

"He's not ready." The chief whispered.

"Oh, you don't know that." Gobber retorted.

"I do know that, actually."

"No, you don't."

"No, actually. I do."

"No, you don't!" Gobber exclaimed at him.

"Listen. You know what he's like." Stoick started. "The day he was born, he has always been different. If he knew what he was, the moment he gets out there, he will die."

"And whose fault was that?" the blacksmith questioned. "Ya told me yer dad did it to you when you were five."

"Because he's different." Stoick firmly spoke. He straightened himself. "He'd never be able to grow up here. He doesn't have any human in him."

"Of course he can. He's a deviant hunter!" Gobber was incredulous. "What were ye trying to do, Stoick?"

The chief scratched his head. He looked sad and exasperated. "I don't want him to know." He admitted. "If he found out, he'll throw everything he learned thus far."

"That's not going to happen."

"It will happen at some point."

"Then either ye tell him, or he'll learn 'em on his own." The blacksmith retaliated. "Ye'd only distance him if ye didn't tell him. Talk to him. He'll understand if yer being honest with him."

Stoick mulled over what Gobber had told him. The chief stroked his beard. "... Alright." He decided.

"Glad that sorted out then!" Gobber happily spoke.

"Not yet." Stoick interrupted him. "I want him to train other to fight against deviants."

The blacksmith raised his brows. "And after that?"

"After I return, I will tell him everything."

"Alright." Gobber thought that was fair. It was their assurance against potential deviant dragons. "I'll hold your words on that."

---

Amber remembered the first time she was caught.

It was when she was about 2-year-old. She just reached her fledgling age, and it was her hatchday. Her parents were celebrating them; happy that their only hatchling had reached her old age. They had a gift for her prepared for the event.

The gifts were meant for later, but Amber was too curious. One thing led to another, she sneaked through her parent's roost and checked the gift. It was a large tuna fish; something Amber really liked.

However, her parents caught and punished her. The gift was taken away from her.

Instead of deterrence, Amber was encouraged to not get caught.

The second time she was caught was by her best friend; Toothless. It was how she met her the first time. There was a festival where Arch Alpha Wodensfang was expected to attend.

While he was giving a speech, Amber went into the restricted section. She sneaked through the guards, before finally meeting the young black dragon. They sneaked out together to eat mushroom snacks.

It was how they became best friends together. Toothless disliked authority in general, which was ironic, considering who her father was. The cheerful yet undaunted Night Fury enjoyed her company.

That feeling was mutual.

The Night Fury had a long rebellious streak. There was not an inch that she had not explored involving her father's studies. It was what inspired her to become a crystallographer. She had a knack of breaking into places.

Amber was that friend who tagged along for the adventure. It was how she learned about her likeness to psychology. The white dragoness remembered all sorts of trouble they caused, only for her to talk their way out of it.

That did not always work, but that 50 percent chance was often worth it.

When they grew up, the black dragoness had moved on from that phase. Toothless continued her education and earned a degree in Crystallography. She spent her time working as freelance crystallographer for roaming flocks. She even had plans to earn higher degrees.

Occasionally, she would overcharge nobles associated with her father. It was how Amber learned how petty Toothless could be.

Amber took different direction in her studies. She found interest in all sorts of lovemaking. She continued her studies in psychology and became a professional mind healer. She volunteered at International Veteran Rehabilitation to help war veterans adjust to Hidden World lives.

Despite this difference in profession, they remained close as friends.

When Toothless' mother died, Amber was the one who helped her back up. They went to live together at the same roost. They hunt together and fish together. Occasionally, one had to leave when opportunity called their life.

Just like how Toothless left because she found Charcoal.

Amber wondered if it would be the last time she was caught. When the arch alpha captured her, they stripped her of crystals in her mana pool. Then, she was thrown into an empty room with iron door. It was where they left her with her thoughts.

That was not to say she did not try to escape. Amber tried to melt the door, but it was strong enough to endure her flame. Then, she melted the frame, which was made of stone. That surprisingly worked, and she did almost escape.

She was caught near the exit, mainly because it was closed, and she was surrounded.

Her next attempts were always close. From melting the wall; faking injury and knocking out the food delivery dragon; to fumbling Logic Crystals; poisoning mana stored within crystals and caused catastrophic failure - something she never thought possible before; and forging guard dragon's mana signature.

The guard dragons learned from every attempt, making things more difficult the more she tried to escape. It reached the point where guards were even afraid of feeding her, causing her to starve.

While she was always close to escape, it was just that - close. The more Amber failed, the more frustrated she got.

In the end, she finally gave up. Amber cursed herself for biting more than she could chew. The Light Fury simply collapsed in her room, resorting to wait until they wiped her mind.

CREAK!

Suddenly, the iron door slid open, revealing several quadruped grey guard dragons. "Elisabeth Amber?"

Amber slowly stood from the ground. "Are you releasing me?"

"Arch Alpha Wodensfang wants to see you." The guard dragon at the front said, before moving aside. "Don't try anything funny."

"Hrr..." The Light Fury was amused. She slowly walked out from the place. Dragon guards had her flanked on every side. Once they were ready, the guards began to move, pushing Amber along with them.

---

Amber was moved into a massive food place. There were long stones acting as tables, and there was a counter at far corner in the room. Interestingly, the food place was empty, except for the certain large Night Fury at a table, and an unknown dragon behind the counter.

She still remembered what happened back then.

The Light Fury was led to stand in opposite side of the Night Fury. The dragon guards had moved to cover the doors and counter. Amber sat on the ground, before slowly looking up to the arch alpha dragon. "... hi."

"Hello." Wodensfang seemed to smile at her. "I hope you don't mind speaking here. It's lunch time."

"I don't mind."

The ancient Night Fury relaxed. "Would you like to eat as well?"

Amber nodded, almost desperate. "Yes, please."

Wodensfang glanced back to the unknown dragon at the counter. They noticed his stare, before heading through a doorway behind the counter.

Few minutes later, they went out carrying two stone plates with large food on them. Amber watched as they went around the counter and placed the food on their table.

It was then Amber could make sense what she was seeing. The quadruped dragon was green, almost tree leaf-like. They had yellow wing pattern that made them look like leaves. Their 'horns' were more of a moving appendage, like Fury nubs, except their ears were just below them. Even their back spikes looked like wooden sticks.

The green dragon used some sort of plant tendrils to carry the stone plates. Once everything was in place, the tendrils were retracted into their body. The dragon was nothing like what Amber had seen before. They must have come from somewhere deep in Hidden World.

Wodensfang was pleased with the food. They were massive, cooked and chopped steak. The meat was still hot, and it smelled great. "Chef, you have done it again!" He praised, prodding the cooked meat with his claw. "Very tender. This feels right."

The green dragon looked pleased with themselves. "I took your advice to heart." They spoke with feminine voice, hinting her gender. "Everyone loved them. I hope you do too."

"I definitely will." The arch alpha dragon remarked, before gulping one with his tongue. The heat did not really affect his mouth. Regardless, he was happy with the taste. "You have done well. Keep it up."

"Yes, arch alpha." The chef bowed to him, before walking back to the counter.

Amber did not know how to eat them. Her meal was cut much smaller compared to the black dragon in front of her. Copying the arch alpha, she used her tongue to pick up a piece of steak. The Light Fury carefully ate one.

She widened her eyes when the steak almost melted in her tongue, introducing her to all sorts of flavour. Once she gulped them down, the white dragon went to eat the rest.

It was how the next hour went on. The two dragons ate in silence. Occasionally, Wodensfang requested more food and drink. It was also Amber's first time tasting what humans called mead. Regardless, Amber was content to have them eat in silence.

Eventually, they finished their lunch. Wodensfang exhaled his breath. "Harr..." He looked satisfied with the food. "There is no love sincerer than the love of food."

Amber looked down at her empty plate. The arch alpha stared at her. "So!" He called, getting her attention. "I heard you've been giving the guards a hard time."

"I don't like the place." The Light Fury shrugged her wings. She hid her surprise from the dragon in front of her. Amber did not expect him to be bold and friendly.

"Nobody likes being caged. That's just how dragons are." Wodensfang commented. "How's Toothless? I haven't seen her in a while."

"She's doing well." Amber gave her answer. She noted that the chef was arriving to their table.

The green dragon moved to take the empty plates away. While that was happening, the arch alpha continued to ask. "Is she happy at the surface?"

"She's..." The Light Fury did not know what to say. She had to be careful. "... happy. Her life is more exciting than mine."

"I heard she became mates together with a Night Fury." Wodensfang seemed rather relaxed. "Charcoal. That's his name. The brave general that did what he could."

Amber remained silent. The black dragon continued speaking. "I heard he started the idea of Remembrance Day." Wodensfang remarked, before focusing on the white dragon. "What does it look like?"

"It's both celebration and funeral for fallen dragon soldiers." The white dragon seemed to relax. "They want them to be remembered."

"That sounds like honourable thing to do." Wodensfang nodded approvingly. "A general that honours their soldiers. We don't see that often."

Amber was curious. "Isn't that common for your generals?"

"You can know a general from how they treat their soldiers." The arch alpha remarked, resting his forelegs on the table. "He treated them like his own sons and daughters. No wonder they admired him. He's a good dragon."

Amber remained silent. Wodensfang exhaled his breath. "... Toothless made good judgment in his character." He reminisced, saddened. "I wish she wasn't so credulous about it. I wonder how she behaves around her friends."

There was a pause. The Light Fury realised that was a question. "She can be hateful sometimes." Amber told the tale. "I remember the time when she moved a large fishpond. She did it to spite a male dragon trying to court her."

"Must be quite a sight." The arch alpha commented.

Amber ignored him. "But..." She was remembering her time together with her best friend. "She's also very lonely."

Wodensfang paid attention. The Light Fury continued speaking. "She knows how to socialise and enjoy herself. She knows how to make friends." Amber explained what she knew of her. "She has this look of longing until she met Charcoal. I don't know why she feels lonely when she has a loving family."

The arch alpha dragon softened his expression. "Sometimes, the best-looking family is the worst kind." Wodensfang admitted. There was a hint of shame in his voice. "Did she tell you about us?"

The Light Fury shook her head. "No."

"As you probably know, in the span of my life, I have four hatchlings." Wodensfang began his tale. "Merciless is the eldest. Then, there were Horror and Luna. Toothless is the youngest."

Amber paid attention, having heard of them before. The arch alpha dragon continued speaking. "We're not the best family, but we did our best with what we know." Wodensfang told the tale. "And sometimes, doing our best is not enough. And I take full responsibility for that."

The Light Fury was curious. "What happened?" She softly asked.

"Whatever happened, happened." The arch alpha dragon gave a non-answer. "But, in respect of my daughter, you should ask her if she's willing. You should hear what she said."

"She always avoided talking about it." Amber pointed out.

"Then give her time to open herself." Wodensfang advised. "Be patient, even if it takes a thousand years. She only accept those that respects her privacy."

"Oh." The Light Fury looked down at the empty table. "... thank you for telling me."

"It was no problem."

The two dragons fell silent. It was rather awkward for them both. Wodensfang was staring at her with soft expression, while Amber was apprehensive about what to do next.

Given that the arch alpha himself was present, she could not make any attempt to escape.

Regardless, Amber wanted to know. She looked up to the arch alpha dragon in front of her. "Why did you invite me here?"

Wodensfang raised his brows. "Is it wrong to talk?"

"Well, I'm your prisoner." Amber pointed out. "You caught me sneaking into this place."

"And we were impressed." The arch alpha dragon finished that sentence. He leaned close to the white dragon. "For someone with clean and clear background, you seem to know a lot about infiltration."

"W- Well, I like to watch alpha dragons." The Light Fury confessed. She was hesitant. "They're usually high in security. I just learned how to do it."

"Watching alpha dragons..." Wodensfang pondered what she meant, before euphemism caught on him. "Ah. A pervert."

"Krk..." Amber almost snorted.

"Not the worst dragon I've seen or heard of." The arch alpha dragon continued speaking. "But that's not why you're here."

The Light Fury felt dread. "Why am I here?"

"You are here because I'm offering you a job." Wodensfang changed his resting position. He moved back and leaned to the side. "You have talents. It would be a waste not to nurture them."

"I've been nurturing them just fine." Amber retorted. There was mirth in her eyes. "Some of your dragons can tell you that."

"Hrr..." The arch alpha dragon hummed in amusement. "Would you like to hear my offer?"

The Light Fury pondered that idea. There was a chance that she would be thrown back into her room, should she refuse. It was best to hear them first. "What's the job?"

"The job is simple. We station you around Charcoal and Toothless, and your job is to protect them." Wodensfang explained his offer. "Should you accept, we would accommodate you with Super Dragon Project."

Amber blinked at that. "Super dragon project?"

"Something to make you powerful." The arch alpha dragon answered. "Perhaps on par with my soldiers."

The Light Fury thought that was a tempting offer. "What if I refuse?"

"Should you refuse, we will wipe your mind about everything involving this place." Wodensfang further answered. "You will be released and kicked out to the surface. Toothless would be informed, and you are barred from entering Caldera for three months."

Amber felt somewhat relieved. The other choice was the same one that Toothless told her. However, she wanted to know more about the intent. "Why are you making this offer?"

There was a pause. The arch alpha dragon took his time to answer. "... as you probably know by now, something is wrong with Charcoal." Wodensfang explained the context. "When you were caught, Toothless was questioned, and we were alerted of the situation."

The Light Fury widened her eyes. Wodensfang straightened himself. "We did our investigation, and we came to a conclusion." He further explained. "We have a traitor. Who they are, we cannot say. We are still investigating this."

'Furious.' Amber thought, realising the significance.

The arch alpha guessed her first thought. "We have investigated the obvious suspects. They were all innocent." He continued speaking. Wodensfang was still relaxed, despite the seriousness of the situation. "While we are doing our work, we need someone to aid them. This is where you come in."

"And what would happen after that?" The Light Fury questioned.

"You would be bound to Toothless." Wodensfang answered. "That's who you will answer to."

Amber realised that was the consequence. She would be bound to her best friend. "What about my job? My family?"

"It would be up for Toothless to decide."

The Light Fury thought that as much. "Then... I will have to refuse."

Silence. The two dragons stared at each other. If Wodensfang was surprised, he did not show them. The arch alpha dragon simply tilted his head. "Why?"

"Toothless would hate me for accepting." Amber explained her decision. "You're asking me to be her servant. She hates servant, especially one against their will. I don't like them either."

"Hrr..." Wodensfang simply hummed. For some reason, the Light Fury felt like she just passed a secret test. The arch alpha dragon responded. "Let's alter the deal then. You will not be bound to anyone. Would you accept?"

"... no. I don't." Amber gave her final answer.

"But you will not be bound." The arch alpha dragon pointed out. "That invalidates your argument."

"Toothless doesn't like associating herself with you. She told me to reject any offer you made." The Light Fury gave him a wry smile. "She left you when she was young. I think I can trust her judgment."

"Harr..." Wodensfang exhaled his breath, before relaxing himself. "Even after all those years, my past sins still haunt me." He lamented. The arch alpha dragon looked back at the white dragon. "Very well. We will wipe your mind and release you."

The Light Fury looked visibly relieved. "Thank you."

The arch alpha dragon looked back to the counter. "Chef." He called out. "Could you get us a pile of boiled cod fishes?"

"Give me a minute!" The green dragon, who peeked through the doorway, gave her answer. "Do you want them big or small?"

"Small, please."

"Alright." The chef went back inside. "Coming right up!"

While waiting for that, Wodensfang turned to face one of the guard dragons. They moved to check on the arch alpha. "Yes, sir?"

"Tell Professor Hubert to prepare the Super Dragon Project." Wodensfang gave his order. "We have a Light Fury as subject."

"Yes, sir."

"W- Wait. No." Amber called out, stopping them. She was confused and afraid. "I said no. I refused the offer."

"Miss Amber." The arch alpha dragon spoke. It was the first time he called her name. "I know where you are going to go after this."

The black dragon stared at the white one. Wodensfang continued speaking. "You're going to fly to Barbaric Archipelago and help Toothless however you can." He gave his prediction. "You care too much to leave her alone."

"But-"

The arch alpha dragon continued speaking. "They are trying to solve their problems. Problems, which they are unprepared to solve." Wodensfang hardened his expression. "You will die."

"I..." Amber was nervous. She straightened herself. "I think it's worth protecting my friend."

"And I don't want to hold a funeral." Wodensfang retaliated. He relaxed upon saying that. "As you can see, we want to help them. We just disagree on how."

"Then you lied when you said you'll wipe my memory." The Light Fury narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, we will wipe your memory." The arch alpha dragon smiled at that. "What you don't know, they can speculate. For all you know, you were caught in an experiment by accident."

The two dragons fell silent once more. Wodensfang gestured the guard dragon to leave, which they did. Just as they left, the green dragon chef arrived with two stone plates of cod fish piles. Having just came out from the boiler, they were smoking hot.

"Here you go." The chef placed them on the table. "Boiled small cod fishes."

"Thank you, chef." Wodensfang expressed gratitude.

The green dragon chef bowed, before walking away to the counter. The arch alpha dragon stared at the white dragon opposite of him. "I've already lost a son and a daughter." He explained. "I don't want to lose another. I know you understand."

Amber simply stared at her pile of boiled cod fish. She would be going through that experiment, after all. Even if she would not remember them. Realising that there was no other choice, the Light Fury moved to eat her food.

Just before she did, the dragoness noticed something right next to the plate. It was a familiar-looking crystal plate. That was the same Book Stone crystal she used to store a copy of Mimir's information. Amber widened her eyes, before looking back to the arch alpha.

Wodensfang was busy eating his fish. Not wanting to interrupt, Amber quietly pulled the Book Stone crystal into her mana pool. After it vanished with bluish-white flame, the white dragoness went to eat her food.

... they were really good food.

---

Toothless were flying at moderate altitude in the sky. Hiccup was sitting on her neck. Gryphon was following behind; the Night Fury hatchlings were secured in her pockets. They were heading down to a large forest clearing.

There was something in the middle of the clearing. It had the clue to understand what happened with Hiccup.

The two dragons landed close to it. Hiccup slid down from her neck. Gryphon raised her wings a bit, allowing the hatchlings to see. The boy went to look at what was at the centre. He grimaced upon seeing them.

It was the remains of what appeared to be a living being. There were only bones and decaying scales. Interesting enough, however, the bone structures were unusual.

They looked like what remains of humans with skulls, spines, ribs and other bone parts. However, in addition to that, there were wing and tail skeletons attached.

Looking at the other remains, that one was similar. However, one of them had arm bones fused with wing bones. Hiccup pulled out his certain book, before comparing them with the images. "... they were Lycanwings."

Toothless inspected the remains. "I didn't look that close after I killed them." She noticed that there were other skeletons as well. "Those looks fully human, but that one look like a human skull with a dragon snout."

Gryphon frowned at the sight. "I wonder how something like Lycanwing exists."

Hiccup crouched over the skull and pulled out his knife. "The most preserved sample is in the head." He stabbed the skull, which quickly went through. He wedged his knife, before moving them like a saw, creating a hole.

Once that was done, Hiccup pulled out a small latched wooden canister from his pouch, popped them open, and placed the skull piece into it. "That's the bone. Let's see what's inside." He remarked, before peering into the skull. The boy paused for a moment, staring at something. "... that's new."

Toothless and Gryphon leaned to check. "What is it?"

The two female dragons and the boy stared at the hole. There was a bright white-purple, grape-like crystal inside the skull. Hiccup frowned as he poked the thing with his knife. It was the size of his thumb. "Strange..."

"I know natural crystals comes from dead dragons." Toothless hesitated. "But... they're supposed to form in few centuries."

Hiccup used his knife to pull the crystal out. "This might be a special one then." He inspected them, before putting them inside his wooden canister. "Maybe a coincidence, but..."

The boy moved to a different corpse. He caved the head skull open, revealing similar crystal inside. That one was bigger than before. Hiccup pulled the crystal out with his knife, carefully placing them on the ground. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Hiccup hovered his hand over the crystal. He pulsed his mana, and the crystal pulsed back its own. There was no other reaction, but that was enough for him to know. "This is the disease."

Toothless was alarmed. "The disease?"

"Yes. Lycanwing is not a normal disease. It's mana-bacterium. This is a big clump of it." The boy answered. He was fascinated by the white-purple crystal. "Bacteria is first observed by a Dutch microscopist in 1676. They're tiny creatures around us that we can't see. At least not without microscope."

"I didn't know there's such thing as mana bacteria." Toothless commented.

"I have an alchemy book dedicated to crystals. It's written by the same author as the dragon book." Hiccup remarked, carefully inspecting the grape-like crystal. "It described mana affecting diseases. They always crystallise like this."

The mother dragon was deep in thought. "Is it different compared to normal bacteria?"

"I don't know. The book only cover diseases that affects mana." The boy admitted, glancing at her. "There are non-mana diseases and affliction that affects mana. It's easier to think of them as some sort of hybrid."

"Harr..." The adult black dragoness exhaled her breath. "I better read that book one day."

"I second that." Gryphon commented.

Toothless glanced at her. "I thought you already know that."

"Yeah, well..." The Valstrax hesitated. "I like reading books. Human books. I just can't touch them because of my claws."

While they were talking, Hiccup continued his work. He put the crystal into the same canister. The boy went to gather more crystals. "One day, I'll write a book about my discoveries." He decided, getting their attention. "What are the chances that someone already discovered this?"

"None. They would have taught us in school if we did." Toothless gave her answer, before pointing something out. "Nobody has ever observed Lycanwing disease before. There's no living patient."

"So far." Hiccup quickly pointed out.

"So far." The mother dragon nodded. "You're the first one I've met."

"If only we have a mana expert that could help us understand this." The boy was sarcastic. He searched around for more intact skulls. Finding none, he closed the canister shut and locked the latch. "... maybe I shouldn't complain. This is my chance to learn something new."

"Hey." Toothless softened her expression. "We've done our best with what we have."

"I know. I should've known better." Hiccup mumbled as he switched canister with an empty one. "... right. Bone samples."

"Well, well, well..."

The two dragons and the boy quickly turned to face potential adversary. They were two familiar Light Furies standing not far from them. Hiccup recognised them. "Mathew? Avisha?"

Toothless sharply stared at him. "You knew them?"

"They're Arbitrators. Detectives of Longfin Empire." Hiccup answered, not looking away from the Light Furies. "I met them when they were investigating missing ancient egg."

"You were very convincing the last time we talked." Mathew grunted as he approached. "We will not make that mistake again."

Toothless, Hiccup and Gryphon were ready to fight. Avisha stomped on the yellow-eyed Light Fury's tail, stopping him. "No need to scare the kids." He decided. "We already know everything."

The boy was confused. "You do?"

"It's not hard to guess what happened." The red-eyed Light Fury nodded, before letting go of the tail. "A Haddock Night Fury, not knowing who he is, affected by Lycanwing, under False Mind by Furious himself. Everything here just confirmed what we suspected."

Toothless narrowed her eyes. False Mind was defined as fake mind inside a real one. That aptly described Hiccup's situation. "Are you going to report this to my father?"

"The Valstrax egg was supposed to reach the Imperial Egg Storage." Avisha answered. He sounded amused. "It hatched and imprinted itself to Charcoal here. The case is closed, but we had to make that report."

The black dragoness felt somewhat relieved. It meant nothing would be done. It was just bureaucracy. "Can you help us reach Caldera?"

"Long time ago, you told us not to interfere with your life." The red-eyed Light Fury pointed out.

"This is an emergency." Toothless further explained. "Merciless would arrest us if we try to cross the border."

"Unless your father ordered us, we can't help you." Avisha responded. His red eyes seemed to bore the female black dragon. "We are detectives, not smugglers. We don't have authority over Merciless if he wanted to make an arrest."

The mother dragon was about to retort when she remembered something. "Have you heard about the deviant incursion at Berk?"

"We do." The red eyed Light Fury nodded. "We have reported them to Greater Alpha Furious."

"Did he decide to do anything?"

Avisha glanced at his partner. "We overheard him summoning a dragon for meeting."

"Are you reporting the incursion to my father?" Toothless further questioned.

"Every deviant incursion recorded are to be reported directly to Arch Alpha Wodensfang." The red-eyed Light Fury seemed to avoid the question. "It is Greater Alpha duty to make that report."

"Fine. Can you send this to my father?" The mother dragon requested as she tapped the ground. A large dull greenish crystal plate appeared with dark purple flame. It was a Stone Book crystal. "Highest priority."

Avisha carefully approached them. He moved to grab the stone book crystal. "What's the content?"

"It's a summary of the last three years of my life after the Battle of Lava-Lout Island." Toothless answered his question. "I'm supposed to give this to my father myself when I get to Caldera, but I can't because of this situation. He needs to know what's going on here."

"I will deliver your message as soon as possible." The red-eyed Light Fury answered. He tapped on the crystal plate, and it disappeared in red flame. "Is there anything else?"

"We think Furious is trying to keep everything quiet." The mother dragon informed. "We don't know what he's planning. We're not taking any chances. Make sure it reaches my father."

Avisha straightened himself. "I will personally ensure its delivery."

"Good." Toothless nodded. "Now go."

The red-eyed Light Fury bowed at her, before walking away from the place. His partner followed behind. After some distance, the two dragons took off into the air, leaving the place.

After they left, Hiccup prepared his empty canister. "Now, I can get bone sample."

Suddenly, one of the hatchlings spoke from Gryphon's pocket. "Dad?"

The boy looked up. "Yes, Hamish?"

"Can you tell us what part is human or dragon?" The small hatchling questioned. "I'm confused."

"Alright." Hiccup shrugged. "Get down from your sister."

All at once, the hatchlings jumped off and began crowding around the boy. "I want to know too!" Helena exclaimed. "What are those bones?"

"Oooh!" Amelia was checking the rotting Lycanwing corpse. "Is that a worm?"

"One by one." The boy called out. "Kids, please!"

"Hrr…" Toothless was pleased to see that. Their hatchlings were asking about anatomy. Despite their situation, she was glad that there was some time spent with the hatchlings. At least there was nothing too harmful this time.

---

Hiccup came back to Berk later that night. The boy had spent the whole day teaching his hatchlings about how bodies worked, like how their wings and legs move. While not really useful for now, he thought it was best to indulge their curiosity.

After returning to Berk, he went straight into Haddock house. His father Stoick the Vast was sitting on the fireplace, staring at the fire. The boy thought that it was his chance. It was time to speak to him about his situation.

"Dad." Hiccup started, getting his attention. "Uh... I have to talk to you, dad."

Stoick turned around on his seat. "I need to speak with you too, son."

"I think I have Lycanwing that turn me into a dragon."

"I think it's time for you to teach how to fight deviants."

Hiccup and Stoick had spoken simultaneously. The message had completely gone over their head. "What?"

"You go first." Stoick gestured.

"No, no." Hiccup replied, gesturing to him. "You go first."

"Alright." Stoick nodded. He softened his expression. "You'll be training others to fight deviants. You start in the morning."

Hiccup stared at his father with surprised expression. "What?! Uh, man I should've gone first." He nearly cursed himself. He thought his father was going to tell him something important. "Uh, 'cause I have something very extra sure would make you panic."

Stoick grabbed an axe and handed it over to Hiccup. "You'll need this."

Hiccup held the large axe. The boy looked back to his father. "Really?"

Stoick chuckled. "Come on. What else do you need?"

"Rephrase: Dad, I don't want to teach how to hunt." Hiccup replied, somewhat pleading. He did not even know where to start teaching!

"Yes, you do." The chief insisted, before pausing. "... think of it as your training. If you successfully trained one, I have something to give you."

That raised his curiosity. Hiccup calmed down as he wondered. "What are you giving me?"

Stoick dramatically paused. "... Your ancestor's books."

"My ancestor's..." The boy stopped himself. He realised what he meant. "... there's more?"

"Our tribe has lived for over 2000 years." The father explained to his son. "For many generations, we Haddocks have been the chief of the tribe. No other family line has ever become the chief. There is a reason for that."

Hiccup had heard of that story before. He placed the axe away. "Because Hiccup the First is our ancestor."

"Yes. The Legend of Haddock." Stoick softly spoke to him. "A long time ago, there was peace between humans and dragons together. The peace started with our tribe."

Stoick dramatically paused, before continued speaking. "But then, something happened. Dragons did not like our peace. After a hundred years of peace, it was broken. They killed the very first chief that founded our tribe."

"It's Hiccup the First." The boy spoke up, before continuing. "Dad, look-"

"But it was not the only time it happened! Hiccup the Second brought peace among humans and dragons again!" The chief interrupted him. "This time, the situation is different. In different parts of the world, others learned about dragons. They see them as mere animals."

"And there was peace, and then there was betrayal, and then there was the war." Hiccup further interrupted. He did not want to waste his time. "Dad, look-"

"Hiccup." Stoick sharply interrupted. "I'm not finished!"

The boy was frustrated, but kept his mouth shut. He gestured his father to continue. Stoick straightened himself, before continued speaking. "Every Hiccup before you had brought peace. Every Hiccup before you befriended a Night Fury. Hiccup the First had a dragon named Wodensfang. Hiccup the Second had a dragon named Furious. They all died trying to keep that peace."

That legitimately surprised the boy. While he was aware of them, he never saw the connection. Given his father had noticed, Hiccup realised the seriousness of the situation.

Stoick continued speaking. "When the elder came to me and told me to name you Hiccup, I thought it was a mistake." He confessed. "But when you befriended Toothless, I thought that was the end of it."

There was a long pause. The father exhaled his breath. "When you killed the deviant Monstrous Nightmare two years ago, I thought it was a fluke." He admitted. "You have two capable friends with you. Alex was there to help."

Hiccup was incredulous, but did not interrupt. Stoick continued speaking. "When you killed that monstrous creature this morning, I couldn't deny myself anymore." He confessed. "I'm just delaying what was meant to happen."

"Dad..." The boy softly whispered. "I wasn't looking for trouble."

"I know, but trouble likes to find you." Stoick retorted. He took a deep breath, before speaking his mind. "Would you like to know a secret?"

The boy leaned forward. He was morbidly curious to know where it was going. The father leaned closer to whisper. "I had a dragon friend." He whispered. "She was a Night Fury."

Hiccup was shocked to learn that. "What?"

"It was a long time ago." Stoick continued whispering. "I found her in a net, just like how you found Toothless."

There was a long pause. The boy was still in shock. He was processing what his father just said. Hiccup never thought Stoick the Vast could befriend a dragon, let alone a Night Fury. "What happened to her?"

Stoick shuddered his breath. He steeled himself. "She was taken by another dragon." He answered the question. "Not all dragons like their kind befriending humans."

Hiccup remained silent. The chief turned around. He went to grab something from his back. "There are more I want to tell you." He spoke while searching for something. "But! I don't have time to search my stuff. For now, these will do."

The boy stared as his father showed him the thing. It was a large thick book and an oval-shaped object. Hiccup carefully picked them up, before inspecting them. The oval-shaped object was a blue crystal, and they had small leather strap on them.

Hiccup recognised the crystal. "A Kinship Stone."

"My old stone." Stoick softly added, getting his attention. "Wear them. Show them to your dragon. You'll be surprised."

The boy already knew what it could do. He slowly strapped the Kinship Stone on his gauntlet. Once it was secured, Hiccup gave a bright smile. "Thanks, dad."

The father simply nodded. Hiccup moved on to check the book. It was written in a very old Greek; Mana: Principles, Techniques and Tools. It was authored by Hiccup the First. The boy was surprised to see them.

The boy looked up to his father. "How did you find this book?"

"It was left to me by my father, which he inherited from my grandfather." The father answered the question. He looked sombre. "We couldn't read them. The language is too old for us to learn."

Hiccup was more focused on the book. "... this book is older than the Roman Empire." He whispered, realising its significance. "It might be well over two thousand years old."

The book itself looked like it had been made with dragonsmithing technique; something he never thought was possible.

The hard cover was made of red dragon scales, and the paper was incredibly sturdy. There were round golden scales embroidered at the cover, which had intricate carving of a dog.

The dragon-scaled book looked like it could last for eternity. Given its quality, it was possible that the book might be the only one of its kind.

Opening the book, everything was written in old Greek. The first page explained the basic concepts of Life-Force. It was nothing that Hiccup did not already know, but considering how thick the book was, he would need to check other sections later.

The chief stood from the chair. "Remember dragon training." Stoick informed him as he picked up his own axe near the fireplace. "Teach them. Get them ready. I'll be back."

The man began walking out from the house. He opened the door. Before he left, Stoick looked back to his son. "... probably." He softly spoke, before closing the door behind him, leaving Hiccup alone inside the house.

---

Author Note

Because Mana is basically magic in different words, when things did go wrong, the damage usually depends on how much mana was involved. In this case, it went really wrong. They were lucky it didn't cause any serious incident.

Now, initially, this chapter was rather simple. The attack happened, Hiccup got to punch someone, there was some talks, and the rest is history. However, I realised that some segments in some (future) chapters looks a bit out-of-nowhere.

As such, I made some last minute changes to connect them. I hope you like it.

---

End Note

Thank you for reading my story. Thank you for leaving reviews and comments.