The first day at royal palace ended and the second came and went with nothing much happening. All Hiro did was learn more about this world and its people. Some things he correctly assessed from observing those around him one of which is that natives of Akarn had dark skin and white hair, the men's hair was short while women didn't have long hair. While some he had to be told like their choice of clothing, light colored cloaks, tunics and robes influenced by their history before the decent of the fragment. Even then Akarn was a desert kingdom and was scorching hot all year round needing such clothing, different from its recent state under the cover of unwavering clouds.

  And regardless of it being citizens of Akarn or some foreigners they all spoke languages he was not familiar with however this was no obstacle to Hiro. Thanks to one of the blessings one acquires upon being acknowledged by a holy sword he could understand and communicate in all languages like it was his mother's tongue, it was also thanks to this blessing he understood what runes translate to. The ability to understand all languages, this he had in common with rune practitioners as they could decifer any language thanks to understanding runes, the language of worlds.

  Of course this wasn't the only thing he learned even the most basic tasks resulted in a new experience. One example was the shower, he found it to be a true marvel, he had never seen one before only familiar with bath tubs. But the most fascinating thing about it was it didn't draw water from some source and didn't have a mechanical heating system working purely on rune technology.

  "So I just turn on these three valves to degrees that suits how I want the water to be?"

  He asked pointing at three of four valves with different runes, heat, cold and pressure with the fourth being water. With these runes a person could manipulate the water conditions for either the bath tub or the shower.

  "That's right sir"

  Confirmed a servant assigned to him during his stay.

  (To think what he said wasn't as restrictive as it sounded, of course I knew even non rune practitioners could use runes but not to this degree.)

  He remembered how he and the old village chief used the gliders to get to the capital. What allowed ordinary people to use runes wasn't anything special, it was a principal similar to magic scrolls in that a person just has to open it to use the magic stored within it even without the power of magic themselves, as a result of its creator having provided all the power for the magic before hand. But runes were superior as a result of not being one time use expendables and like with the shower there was better control. As they continued to show him around he could not help but think of how flexible runes were compared to the magic he knew.

  It was only on the third day after knowing most of this place's common knowledge that Hiro had some time to himself that he could do what he had put on hold, the first being asking B1 for information to understand what the fragment was.

  "What you said last time definitely had me intrigued. I'm ready to listen tell everything you know."

  He requested when he was back in his room with no one else so he could speak with ease.

  "To be clear this is not about that fragment but about fragments in general."

  Hiro nodded, he already expected this and also why he was patient with asking.

  "To begin with it's not a dragon, that's just a form it assumes. And like I previously said they are formed from the remnants of destroyed worlds. Adding to that, they can only be born from worlds that had life, in short a world that has life force. When such a world is still going through its destruction there is a chance of it inheriting a will from a being with the strongest and unyielding will at the time of destruction. Something that doesn't resign itself to fate but persevering to the end."

  "As you can imagine the life force of a world is unique, in that it can remain intact for a time long after the physical destruction of the world thanks to the sheer amount of it. And from what remains of the world combined with life force and the inherited will, a body is created in the form of whatever being the will was from. Fragments are just crippled worlds that gain a will after their end. Which is why calling it a dragon is wrong, it becoming an origin is just it being back to full health. But with a will it can become more than what it was before and by instinct it devours the will less World to become a complete World, a universe with a will. In this case the so called core is most definitely the crystallisation of will and life force."

  "So a core is not a rule among fragments"

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Hiro concluded. All the while thinking how terrifying of an existence fragments were, a world with a will what if it did not take kindly to their existence they would be helpless to protect themselves. Life would depend entirely on its desires.

  "I did think it strange even earth dragons don't have bodies made of nothing but earth. But the dragonic traits of arrogance and pride while believing itself to be a noble existence had me convinced it was a dragon."

  He said while deep in thought, B1's informing made him aware of one other hurdle.

  "I was already suspecting it doesn't have a soul but now you've helped me confirm this."

  He sighed deeply thinking of how troublesome dealing with it had become.

  (Worlds have life force but no souls and this should be true of the fragment if not B1 would have mentioned it. This being the case it doesn't experience death like the rest of us, this has turned out to be more than it making bodies, even without a body it will continue being a threat.)

  "Worlds with life force breed life and life together with the soul create will but once created it is not bound to the two, this is what allows for fragments to exist like many spiritual beings, if both will and life force remain intact it cannot die."

  Hiro looked apprehensive of this fact. B1 saw this and reminded.

  "You have great luck in that regard, both are mostly crystallised to make the core, destroying it should be easier than without a core. What remains of it after will be to feeble and will scatter with no hope for it to recover. You don't have to agonise over this."

  Hiro nodded in silence, in all manner of battles luck could not be dismissed but only fools and those believing themselves to be heaven's chosen would rely on it he believed. The core was not a rule for its existence this he kept to heart.

  ...

  Around the time he was familiarising himself with the land, those around Hiro weren't still. One of which was Aleus, he had yet to tell others about what he now knew. But that would soon change, he planned to discuss with his younger brother before making the final decision. Second prince of Akarn, Aramis, he had a similar build to Aleus but was about half a head shorter. And unlike Aleus and Arisu, he was not on the same rank of master, even with time he wouldn't reach their level like many practitioners across the continent.

  (He may fall short in rune craft but kingdom management even I lose out to him, a shame really, he who is most suited for the throne can't even put it in his sights)

  Thought Aleus waiting as his brother moved to take a seat opposite of him in his study. Just earlier he had requested for them to meet.

  "Aramis I'm glad you came despite the short notice."

  Aramis was not informed of why he was abruptly summoned thus looked anxious. Being called like this was not an everyday occurrence.

  "Elder brother, aren't you supposed to be with our esteemed guest."

  "I should but how can the people relax when I move about showing him the grounds"

  Aramis nodded not saying anything else.

  "Aramis, you know that Hiro wants to slay the dragon right."

  "Yes but I only know as much of it as anyone in the palace."

  "That makes things easy then. What you and everyone else don't know is the dragon is continuously getting stronger as we speak. I believe it should be top priority."

  Aramis listened closely thinking of why he was being told and how Aleus knew this. In moments all was clear to him.

  (To know what everyone else in the court doesn't know, the source can only be sir Hiro. As for why he's telling me it should have to do with this and the only thing that fits is...)

  "Despite his power sir Hiro is unknown and even the ongoing search of his origins has yielded nothing. Obviously we cannot trust him, not completely at very least. Coming here can only mean you want me to help you convince father and the rest about this."

  "That's right"

  "I heard you wanted to take part in the subjugation if what you've just said is true then you've sealed your fate you can't go."

  "Hehehe. It's too early to conclude that."

  Aleus welcomed the challenge, nothing could change his mind at this point he would secretly join the subjugation if he had to.

  "From the looks of it you believe him and I believe you. I'll help you, with both of us vouching for this we'll have an army ready to march before the month's end"

  Aramis said with confidence, considering what they had just been through and would go through he saw this as note worthy.

  "An army is not needed, just the elite before a week's time."

  "Within a week..."

  Aleus stared at his dumbstruck brother while grinning.

  ...

  After his talk with B1 Hiro went outside wanting to experience this world from beyond the palace grounds. He wasn't alone, with him was Nubel, a peak level rune apprentice, one of several palace practitioners forming Aleus's inner circle, also of similar age to the prince. During Hiro's stay at the palace he was responsible for being his guide.

  (To think it changed this much in just days, now there is strange and numerous kinds of food to be seen while passing by.)

  He thought as he passed several food stalls along the busy streets. If he hadn't seen it for himself when he arrived at the capital he wouldn't believe all this activity and food wasn't present just days ago. While he continued to look around he bought two grilled pieces of sand worm meat each the size of a fist. This was one such delicacy of Akarn and unlike the rest of the food it was present even at their desperate times.

  "Sand worm, must say I've never eaten one before, so delicious despite its looks"

  He praised while eating, sand worms looked ugly but their tastiness more than matched their look.

  "If you think this is tasty then you aren't ready for an elder worm thousands of years old, with length reaching over two hundred meters. A shame they've all died out, there isn't even a hundred year old sand worm alive now."

  Regrettably informed Nubel, even he had never seen one only knowing this from tales from his elders.

  (These are from a meter long worm, how old was it?)

  Hiro wondered before wolfing down the last piece and questioned sensing something huge traversing the skies.

  "Are there giant birds too?"

  "I don't know what you mean."