"Max, I know that you are a hybrid. No! You are a dragon!" Jake spoke and Max instantly choked on his own saliva.
"Wait, what the fuck?!" Jim shouted as he shot out of his seat. He began glancing between Jake and Max, stunned at what he just heard.
"The hell? Jake, what has gotten into you?" Max asked as he also shot out of bed while nervously staring at Jake. "Did that Lenny guy hit you on your head too hard or what?
First you accuse me of being a hybrid a few weeks ago, and now you are calling me a mythical creature? Mehn, that’s absurd."
"Wh... what makes you say that?" Jim asked as he stared at Jake, who casually sat down on the chair Jim sat on a few moments ago, then pointed at Max’s bed.
Max and Jim then cautiously sat down, the usual fun demeanor from Jake now wiped clean off his face as he leaned closer. His eyes held a rare seriousness, locking onto Max as though he wanted to strip away every lie.
"Jim, do you know why the association was originally founded? You said it yourself, you’ve been here for six months and we just came in two weeks ago." Jake asked, his gaze never leaving Max.
"Uhm... according to what I was told, we are here to hunt beasts and keep any rogue hybrids in check." Jim shrugged, only to see Jake shake his head slowly.
"One thing I’m good at aside from combat is my information gathering. I may look dumb, but I’m quite the smart fellow, and I dig deep, make research before I make any move. Which is why I know that Zach’s dad won’t be able to do anything against me, but can harm you, Max." Jake said, pointing forward with calm certainty, though the dragon didn’t seem to care.
"And for my earlier question, you’re mostly right, Jim. But the main reason the association was founded was to hunt demons."
"De... demons?!" Jim blurted out in pure horror, his body trembling hard, but Max remained unfazed.
’How does he know all these?’ Max thought with furrowed brows, his heartbeat quickening even though he kept a blank face.
"Now Max, during the assessment, you battled against Hunter Ben. According to you, you’re a human, but your speed, strength, and that shockwave clap had me doubt you were a hybrid.
Then the humiliation Zach faced. When I thought about it, it felt too similar to hypnotism. Now unless you are a magician or wizard, it’s not possible. Which made me a hundred percent sure you were a hybrid."
"Yeah. And you confronted me about that." Max interrupted with a deep frown on his face, his tone sharp.
"And yet you refused to accept the truth. Come back to a day before during the battle. I saw a glimpse of something. A glimpse of flames slamming into Lenny as he was about to finish me off." Jake added, his words slow and heavy, his eyes boring into Max as though he was trying to peer into his very soul.
’He saw that? Crap!’ Max gulped loudly, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.
Jim didn’t interrupt, his lips tightly sealed as he listened closely to the theories Jake was currently spouting, the tension in the room so thick it made his palms damp.
"I thought maybe I hit my head too hard so I was hallucinating. But what I wasn’t though was the roar you let out.
Tell me, how is it physically possible for a human to roar like that? Right then and there, I was more than a hundred percent sure you were a hybrid." Jake continued, caressing his chin in thought.
"Okay?" Max muttered with furrowed brows. "If you now guessed I was a hybrid, what’s bringing up the fact that I’m a dragon? That is so terribly confusing."
"Let me take you back a little again to our assessment when the A ranked hunter— Elijah came in. Did you remember what he said?" Jake asked as he stared closer, and Max just crossed his arms, his patience thinning but his curiosity unwilling to let go.
"What did he say?" Jim asked as he was now fascinated by the theories, his curiosity burning brighter with every word.
"He told Hunter Ben to take things seriously against Max because he is the one they feared." Jake replied firmly.
"They? Who is they?" Jim asked, confusion and suspense painted clearly on his face.
"You remember when I said the association was founded primarily against demons?" Jake asked, and Jim nodded slowly. "Well, turns out that the demons fear and hate the dragons.
Then I decided to research about Max using the association’s database, but all information on him has been sealed.
Every single detail. But you know what isn’t? Outside information. So I kept digging and digging, pulling at every thread I could find, and that’s when I found out that Max came from the slums."
"Huh?" Jim muttered with a raised eyebrow, clearly surprised.
"Being from there, he had no contact with a higher-tiered city, so there’s no way anybody could have brought him in.
To be a hybrid, one needs to have an immense backing, powerful sponsors or wealthy families to cover up the transformation, which he doesn’t have.
And that’s why, piecing all that together, plus Elijah’s words, then the roar which I went to research on—and I found out no hybrid can make that sound, this is why I say Max is a dragon. Now I want you to deny all these." The Hunter said as he leaned back into his seat, his expression calm but his eyes burning with certainty. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ n0velfire.net
"Oh boy! You’re in a fix now, what are you going to do?" Pix asked worriedly inside Max’s mind. "Elijah said not to tell anybody who you really are but..."
Max’s palms met each other in a loud clap, the sound echoing in the quiet room as a smirk formed across his face. He leaned closer, his posture relaxed but his gaze sharp.
"I got to hand it to you, you really dug deep. You don’t look smart one bit but your brains function hard. Well, since you decided to spend a lot of time researching about me, let me reward your efforts." Max said, the corner of his lips curling up in amusement as he leaned forward. His eyes shifted, glowing faintly as the color flashed yellow like molten gold.
"Indeed, I’m a dragon. I’m a mythical specie the demons are afraid of! They are so afraid of my powers, they want to eliminate me. They fear what I can become."
Jim gasped, his mouth falling open as the weight of Max’s words hit him. He could feel the truth in them, could feel the unnatural aura that seemed to radiate from the dragon’s presence in that moment.
"And now you have added another enemy to your list. The Black Veil Gang— The gang Zach’s father controls." Jake said gravely, causing Max to lean back into the bed with a raised brow.
"Huh?" Max muttered, blinking in confusion, though the seriousness in Jake’s tone told him this wasn’t just some joke or bluff.