Chapter 2: Foe Fighting

Jon was shocked when he turned to shoot the dragon, "It is only a baby!"

He had thought it was a full-grown dragon.

Heartened by the turn of events, he mustered his energy and shot it at the beast, but the baby dragon managed to dodge the small green ball.

Undaunted, Jon shot a series of balls at the baby dragon and one of them hit it.

"Score!" Jon gleefully shouted as the baby dragon prepared to blow fire from its mouth. He spoke too soon.

The fire singed the tips of his spiky hair while he ducked.

"Oh well," he comforted himself. "It could pass as an ombre look."

Jon then combined a few energy balls to form a large one and aimed it at the beast. The baby dragon took it head-on with a torrent of flames.

While the energy ball dissipated, the baby dragon pounced on Jon.

Jon quickly retrieved his side pocket dagger to defend himself against the baby dragon's sharp and nimble claws.

However, the dulled dagger had no effect on the baby dragon's thick red scales.

Knowing that hand-to-hand combat was not his forte, Jon channeled his energy into the dagger.

The green glowing dagger managed to graze the dragon after a few slashes.

At this point, Jon's energy was quickly depleting. He needed to end the fight soon.

He shoved the baby dragon off his body and stabbed his dagger at its chest.

The beast took a few steps backward and checked its wound.

Enraged, its entire body blazed with fire. Where he stood, Jon felt the heat emitted from the dragon's body.

He shot a few energy balls at the dragon but they dissipated when they came close to it.

The baby dragon then charged toward him.

Jon had no time to lose. If he could not confidently defeat the dragon, he needed to find a way to escape.

He instinctively used the technique his father taught him although he had not mastered it.

The next moment, a green glowing circumscribed star appeared on the forest floor—at the spot right beneath the baby dragon. The dragon could not move past it.

"It worked," Jon beamed to himself. "I need to seize this chance!"

Since he had managed to trap the beast, he had bought himself some time to run away and recharge.

The best outcome for him was flying so far away that his scent could no longer be detected.

Seeing that the intruder was making an escape, the baby dragon tried its best to destroy the force field by repeatedly ramming against it.

However, the harder it tried, the stronger the force field became. In desperation, the baby dragon shot a torrent of flames at the shield.

To its dismay, the flames it shot bounced back. The baby dragon now helplessly circled within the force field to dodge the flames.

In the process of striking the force field and dodging the flames shot at it, the baby dragon sustained a few major injuries. It now screeched in pain and fear.

After a few moments, the force field completely disappeared.

Traumatized by what had happened, the baby dragon turned its tail and hurriedly flew away.

"Phew, that was a close one," Jon plonked himself on the forest floor and caught his breath after he heard the yelping noises behind him.

When a few minutes have passed, he checked if all the herbs he needed were in his backpack.

"I am still missing a few," Jon lamented as he looked at the dusky sky.

"I need to make the most of my time. I do not have much of it left," Jon reminded himself as he made his way home.

Before the fight, Jon had been foraging for rare herbs—one of which had been dragon scales.

To err on the side of caution, he had decided to take the ones that had been shed although they were less fresh.

He had known there was a dragon's cave at the edge of the forest and the dragons were usually out in the day to hunt for food.

Thinking that there had been no other creature there, he had entered the dark dragon's cave. Little had he known that the baby dragon had been sleeping in its nest.

He had unwittingly woken the baby up when he had tripped over it while collecting the scales.

Even though the baby dragon had dropped a few scales during the fight, they were too small to be of use.

However, after he had gone back to check the forest clearing, he realized that one of its horns had broken off. That would be very useful for making a power-focusing pill.

Jon immediately picked it up and kept it in his backpack.

As Jon recalled what had happened, he cannot help but laugh at himself.

"That is another story I can tell Mel," he smirked.

On his way back to Ren, his hometown, Jon kept a lookout for the remaining herbs he needed.

As he trudged through the forest, he also kept his eyes peeled for animal tracks.

If he saw any large footprints or claws, he would take a different route to avoid needing to confront any beasts.

He did not want to waste precious time fighting them instead of collecting herbs.

Even if Jon did not need to forage for herbs, he would still have visited the forest. He loved exploring new places and discovering new things.

"What is this?" Jon stared at the rainbow-colored spots on top of a rock. He stooped to the ground to take a closer look.

He smelt a mix of chocolate and metal. The next moment, his stomach grumbled. He just remembered that he did not take his lunch.

"I guess there is no harm for me to bring it home," he casually thought to himself as he reached for the rock. Just then, the rock disappeared and appeared 10 steps away.

"Interesting," Jon furrowed his brows. "I never knew that rocks could move."

Afraid that it would disappear, Jon cast a net he that stored in his backpack over it.

"Got it!" Jon grinned to himself, knowing that he made another discovery. "I guess all is not lost today."

Every so often during his trips to the forest, he would find a new plant species.

When he did that, he brought it home to study it.

Jon found it surprising that no one else visited this forest. Although it was not a full-fledged magical forest, it contained a few magical features and treasures.

Then again, most of his friends in school would be having fun instead of foraging for herbs and fighting beasts.

The grown-ups would be working in the day and would need to go home in the evening to be with their families.

He cannot help but feel proud of himself even though no one else seemed to recognize this talent of his.

He was now near the opening of the forest and could see the sunset. From a distance, the streetlights in his town turned on one by one.

"I cannot wait to go home," Jon heaved a sigh of relief. "I hope my father is still bearing up."