Kidnapped Dragons

her words, Yeorum rubbed the cigarette bud and turned the fire off.

“Right.
I thought that might be what was on your mind.”

He already knew what she was thinking about but teaching her how to fight was a different problem.
Whatever the case, she had a definite goal and in order to enjoy this Amusement and become stronger, she had to learn how to fight. 

“That’s why I’m telling you to do it with me.
You won’t be able to learn it from any other human.”

When Yu Jitae broke his silence, Yeorum gave a frown.

“What?”

“I heard you lost.
To the kids under Professor Ha Yoon.”

“I didn’t though?”

“Then, did you win?”

“No? I just, just…”

Thinking back on something, she frowned as if she was about to cry but then suddenly vented her anger.

“No! More importantly, did you hear my words with your asshole? I clearly told you that I can’t learn to fight from a human!”

“…”

“Or what, do you have a secret to your birth or something.
Are you actually a dragon?’

“Well, I’m not.”

She stood up with anger.

“And yet what’s with this teaching and stuff? You can’t! As long as you’re a human, you can’t teach me! Fuck, even after I say all this shit about my situation…!”

Her breaths were rough and she appeared to be really angry.
It might be because she thought she was being ignored. 

However, the Regressor wasn’t saying everything without a plan either.
He thought this was the time to show it.

“Did you think I was saying that without knowing your circumstances.”

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Yu Jitae closed his eyes.

He closed his eyes and thought back on the starting words of the blessing.
Then, his heart which always imitated the heart of a human, began to resonate louder and louder.

Thump.

In an instant, waves of mana fluctuated across the silent parking lot and expanded.

Thump.

The frown on Yeorum’s face slowly disappeared.

Thump.

A heartbeat different to a human’s continued with its unique rhythm.

Thump.

And soon Yeorum’s eyes widened into circles.

Thump–.

“…How did you do that? That’s…”

Yeorum couldn’t continue her words due to astonishment.

“If you’ve seen it, let’s go back.
It’s too late now.”

“What was that? How did you do it?”

“Just think of it as me having the right to teach you at least.”

“No, but what was that?!”

When he stood up, Yeorum hurriedly blocked him from the front.
There was excitement and astonishment in her eyes.

Just then, Yu Jitae’s heart had beated with the same sound, at the same rhythm and the same quality as a red dragon’s ‘dragon heart’.

“Tell me! Were you a dragon!?”

Yu Jitae shook his head.
He was a human.

There were lots of stories behind it, but it wasn’t a topic he wanted to chat about with her.

“It’s late today so let’s start from tomorrow.”

***

Around the time a dragon born from the red race was able to polymorph, they would learn a mixed martial art from their parents.

In a distant past, where dragons had yet to create magic.

There was a tribe living in an enormous forest called the Ancient Forest, that fought with and survived against fierce monsters that were several times larger than themselves.
It was their combat-focused martial art.

[Karl-Gullakwa Stand-up Martial Art]

“…Where did you hear that from? You’re not even a dragon.”

Inside an alternate dimension for training purposes, resembling a vast grassland, Yeorum stood still as she glared at Yu Jitae with skeptical eyes.

“Is that correct?”

“…It is.
And when the first Amusement comes to an end, we get tested on that.
In front of all the dotards of our race, we need to use that martial art to defeat someone, for our Amusement to be recognised as a good one.”

Being acknowledged by their race was extremely important for a dragon.
Thus, mastering the martial art to a decent level was the goal of her Amusement, while simultaneously being her last sense of identity as a red dragon that had to be held onto.

“So, how is it.
Are you doing fine?”

“…No.”

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“What’s the issue.”

“…Just, everything from the start.”

When a slightly more detailed conversation began, Yeorum who was embarrassed about her achievement, heaved out a deep sigh.

“By start, you mean the way you get your heart to beat.
Right?”

“…”

She slowly nodded her head.

“My dragon heart doesn’t even beat properly yet.
I could force it to beat if I wanted to, but…”

It was as he had expected.

It most likely was around 1 year into her life of imprisonment that the Red Dragon was able to pass the first hurdle into Karl-Gullakwa Stand-up Martial Art.
In other words, it would take her half a year from now at the very least even if things went the way it did. 

“You didn’t learn it from your parents?”

“…Every individual has its own rhythm and the dragon heart doesn’t resonate if we don’t match that rhythm.
So mine’s different from my mum or dad’s.
It should be really easy once you get the hang of it, but I haven’t found my own rhythm yet.”

Is that so.

Yu Jitae thought back on the fifth iteration.

The Dragon continued her own training session even after being detained in the underground labyrinth.
Back then, she was always full of dissatisfaction and although she would act obscenely or violently at times, the dragon never stopped training.

And everything that Yu Jitae would be teaching from now was what he had learned watching the Red Dragon of the fifth iteration.

“Hold my hand.”

When Yu Jitae reached forward with his hand, Yeorum awkwardly extended hers but the doubt remained in her gaze.

“Close your eyes.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“Just close it.
Sync with my consciousness and emotion, and just do what I tell you to.”

“…Hmm, can I just not do it? You are kinda suspicious.”

Seeing that she was hesitant about grabbing his hand, he reached his own hand further out and held onto her small hand.
Unlike the normal hand of a young girl, hers was coarse with calluses. 

“…It should be pointless though.
Like I said, even if you imitate the resonance of a dragon heart, every individual has their own rhythm, okay?”

But when Yeorum continued babbling on, Yu Jitae irritatedly opened his mouth.

“I got it so shut your mouth and close your eyes.”

“Aye okayy ♥”

She tried to move on from the grumbles with a cute act but the look of distrust was still on her face and murmured, “But…”

The discontentment and doubt remained in her gaze but Yeorum nonetheless closed her eyes. 

“How many times do I have to say it’s not that easy…”

Yeorum complained till the very end.

And after around 10 hours, when the sky of the alternate dimension was about to be coloured in orange,

Thump–.

“What the fuck…”

At last, Yeorum’s dragon heart began resonantly beating itself.