SCCP CH 04

Chapter 4 – The First Disaster

After leaving the lord’s castle, Kranol first stopped by an herb shop.
For someone like him, herbs to suppress his madness were always essential.

The herbalist, seeing the huge bundle of herbs Kranol wanted to buy, widened his eyes.

“Are you nuts?! Calmflower, Relaxroot, even Bloom of Peace… You’re trying to buy out my whole shop?”

“Isn’t selling more good for business? What’s the problem?”

“You always ignore mixing ratios or dosage and just eat them raw! Are you even okay?”

Kranol didn’t answer. He just handed over a pouch of money.
That was why his expenses were always so high—95% of his income went toward herbs.

‘This time I get it. Madness is my biggest weakness.’

The Golden Elixir saved him for now, but eventually, his madness would worsen again.
And if he lost control like last time, he could end up killing indiscriminately.

Kranol hated losing control over himself.

‘Luckily, no one saw me.’

Even today, he turned three mercenaries into a pile of meat.
Fortunately, it happened in a deserted area, so no witnesses.
Though maybe that’s why they dared to ambush him.

‘Anyway, I’ll have to go on a long trip.’

He had made a deal with the lord of Birshi—to purify the decayed western zone,
An A-rank quest that was even harder than defeating a decayed dragon.

So the lord promised not only the Sky Boots but also one more thing of Kranol’s choosing.

‘He’s a shady guy, but we made a Star Oath.’

A Star Oath: a binding promise under the protection of the region’s guardian star.
Breaking it would bring divine punishment—like being struck by lightning or burning alive.

So at least, Kranol didn’t have to worry about being tricked.

‘That lord must really want the trade route open.’

Originally, Kranol planned to hunt the dragon to suppress his madness,
but things got complicated with unexpected events.

‘The Swirling Cavern… That dungeon also has a decayed dragon.’

It was a two-birds-one-stone journey—he’d get the lord’s reward
and an item to help control his madness.

‘But I can’t go to the Swirling Cavern unprepared.’

He went around the shops in Birshi, buying travel essentials: dried food, water flasks, a lantern, blankets…

And by the end, his money pouch was completely empty.

‘Yep. I need more money to survive sanely.’

Keeping his madness in check required a lot of funds.
Even though he took on dangerous missions, he still ran into money problems quickly.

‘Now I just need one more thing… a companion?’

Dungeons weren’t something people tackled alone.
Teams were standard, with roles like defense, scouting, healing, trap removal, etc.

For weak monster nests, solo runs were fine.
But not for dungeons.

“Hmm.”

Kranol didn’t usually work with others.
Even mercenaries stayed away from him—because of his bad reputation as the “Mad Dog” and his weak appearance.

‘Not like I have money to hire anyone anyway.’

But that made the answer simple.

He looked toward the air and spoke.

“You. Come travel with me.”

“Kyaaaang?”

“…Huh. You were behind me.”

Why hire someone when he already had one?

A top-tier companion that followed him everywhere.

***

Kranol left the edge of the territory.
Since it was a quiet area, the baby dragon dropped its invisibility and followed him.
It curiously looked around, still unfamiliar with the world.

“Kraaaang.”

Kranol found himself a bit interested in the little one.

The Golden Emperor Dragon—a species of which only two exist in the world.
This was the child of the vlume 1 final boss.

“Hmm.”

Just by appearance, it was adorable.
Small and soft like a kitten, with chubby belly scales (which it strongly denied).
Its four tiny horns and twitchy tail made it look like a plush toy.

‘Doesn’t look threatening at all…’

But he couldn’t be fooled by looks.
This creature would one day grow into a monster that embodied catastrophe.
Even the black-gold dragon in volume 1 nearly destroyed a continent.

‘Though thanks to that, I unlocked my hidden trait.’

Hidden Trait: Disaster Affinity.

The skill that turned Kranol into a cheat character.

It only unlocked when you faced and dominated a massive disaster directly.

‘In the original story, Kranol awakened it after walking into a volcano in a madness fit.
Half his body burned, but he controlled the volcanic activity with his madness.’

It was basically a suicidal task.

In fact, even Kranol almost died from it in the original.

So now, of course, he had no plans to try.

But this baby dragon accidentally triggered the condition…
Just by bumping into his stomach.

‘That means its potential for destruction is insane.’

And thanks to the dragon, he even got to drink a Golden Elixir,
which gave him the Heavenly Martial Body trait—strengthening his weak physique.

‘Truly a lucky charm in dragon form.’

Still, Kranol remained cautious.
He never trusted anyone easily, not even this baby beast.

‘Does it really obey me?’

He decided to test it.

“I’m bored. Time to kill myself.”

“Kyaaaaaang!!!”

The dragon immediately panicked and flew in, grabbing his collar,
banging its head on his chest, and crying loudly.

Kranol was startled—it was just a joke.

He had a hard time calming the baby down.

“Okay, okay, I won’t die. Stop crying.”

“Kyaaaang!”

Only after many reassurances did the dragon finally stop sobbing.
And then, it suddenly spread its wings and zoomed around happily.

“Kyaaaa!”

‘Seriously…’

Kranol was dumbfounded.

Laughing one moment, crying the next… What a weird little thing.

‘We barely just met. Why’s it so happy I’m alive?’

Still, it was an odd creature.
But at least Kranol didn’t need to worry about betrayal.

As a travel companion, it was a pass.

But one thing still bugged him…

This dragon should be in its parents’ nest.
So why was it dying alone, infected with corpse sickness?

“Why were you alone?”

“Kyaaaang!”

The baby flailed its feet and chirped, trying hard to explain.

Kranol nodded seriously.

“What are you even saying.”

He had no clue.

The two couldn’t communicate at all.

‘Maybe it got kicked out because of its sickness.’

Corpse sickness was a hated disease, especially among dragons.

It made the skin rot and resemble the undead—disgraceful to proud dragonkind.
And it was contagious.

Some dragons even ate their own young if they were infected.

So Kranol understood.

The baby was probably abandoned by its parents.

That explained why it clung to him—he saved its life.

“Hmm.”

What would happen if Kranol died, too?

The baby feared being alone again.
It believed no one else would accept it.

“You’re a handful.”

“Kyaaaang!”

Kranol tried to pet it, but the dragon raised its paw defensively,
as if to say, “Don’t treat me like a pet!”

Moments ago it was crying and begging him not to die,
yet now it was all proud and huffy.

‘Still a dragon after all, huh.’

Kranol thought, then pulled out some dried jerky from his bag.

“Hungry?”

“Kyah!”

The baby drooled and sparkled its eyes.

It must’ve been starving during its illness.

Kranol tossed the jerky.

“Here. Your food. Eat.”

The baby pounced and munched on it with its tiny teeth.

Watching it eat like that made Kranol chuckle.

“Kryaaaang.”

He reached out his hand. This time, the dragon didn’t resist.
Kranol gently patted it.

“Oh.”

It felt nicer than expected—soft and warm golden scales.

The dragon purred, stretching its back.

“You really are like a fat baby kitten.”

“Kryaang?!”

The baby roared in protest, completely offended.

And so the two bickered as they traveled together.

It brought food and was a bit of a hassle sometimes,
but Kranol didn’t feel as lonely anymore.

‘The past three months adapting to this world were really tough.’

Since his possession, his speech and personality have changed.
He had never slept well and always had dark circles.

His constant headaches made him irritable.

‘But with this little one around… things feel a bit better.’

Watching it trail behind him soothed his mind.

He understood now why people kept pets.

There were surprising benefits.

So Kranol decided to see if he could get more from this lucky dragon.

“You got anything else in that subspace besides the Golden Elixir?”

“Kya!”

The baby dragon shook its head side to side.
It seemed like there weren’t any more valuable items in its subspace.

Kranol looked a bit disappointed.

But then—

[You have formed a bond with “Abandoned Baby Dragon.”]
[Your hidden trait “Disaster Affinity” has activated in response to this disaster.]
[You can now copy the disaster’s exclusive skill.]

‘Ah, finally. I remember now.’
Kranol nodded with satisfaction.

Giving away his precious jerky wasn’t for nothing after all.

This baby dragon would become the first disaster to grow alongside him.