Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner-Chapter 606: Local celebrity

Noah hit the ground hard enough to feel it in his bones. Every part of his body screamed protest, ribs aching from impacts he couldn’t quite remember taking, his right shoulder throbbing where the dragon’s tail had clipped him during the fall. Blood ran down his face from a cut above his eyebrow, and when he tried to move, his muscles responded with the kind of reluctance that came from being pushed way past their limits.

The world around him was burning.

Trees that had somehow survived the initial exchange were now consumed by flames that spread with unnatural hunger. The ground itself was scorched black, stone melted in places where the dragon’s fire had touched. Smoke filled the air thick enough to make breathing difficult, and the heat was intense even from a distance.

Noah forced himself to sit up, every movement sending fresh waves of pain through his body. He could see the dragon maybe thirty feet away, its massive form sprawled across the ruined landscape.

The creature was injured. Badly. One wing hung at an angle that suggested broken bones, black blood seeping from wounds that covered its scaled hide. Its breathing was labored, visible in the way its chest expanded and contracted with obvious effort.

But it was recovering.

Noah watched with growing alarm as the dragon’s chest began glowing. Not the bright red-orange of the magma bomb, but something deeper. A pulsing crimson light that emanated from inside its body, spreading outward through its scales in patterns that looked almost like circuitry.

’Molten Core,’ Noah realized, recognition hitting him like ice water. ’Of course. Red death dragons have it. Nyx has it.’

The ability was legendary among dragon-type beasts. A last-resort healing factor combined with a berserker state that turned already dangerous creatures into walking apocalypses. The dragon would heal its injuries at accelerated rates while simultaneously entering a combat mode that amplified all its abilities. Strength, speed, fire output, everything would spike beyond normal parameters.

Nyx had used it once during a particularly brutal fight against a three-horn Harbinger, and Noah had watched his dragon tear through defenses that should have held. The power increase was absurd, the healing factor even more so.

And now this dragon was activating it.

The glow intensified, spreading across the creature’s entire body. Wounds began closing visibly, scales knitting back together, the broken wing straightening as bone realigned itself.

A system notification appeared in Noah’s vision.

[QUEST COMPLETE: SURVIVE THE RED DEATH]

[REWARD: TAMING OPPORTUNITY GRANTED]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO BOND WITH CONQUEST DRAGON?]

[WARNING: BONDING MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE MOLTEN CORE ACTIVATION FINISHES]

[TIME REMAINING: 47 SECONDS]

Noah stared at the prompt, his exhausted brain trying to process what it was asking.

’Bond with it,’ he thought, looking at the dragon. ’Right now. Before it finishes healing and goes into berserker mode.’

He forced his body to move, every step sending protests through damaged muscles. The dragon’s eyes tracked him as he approached, intelligence clear in its gaze despite the pain it was obviously experiencing.

Noah stopped maybe five feet from the creature’s head, close enough to see individual scales, close enough to feel the heat radiating from its body as Molten Core continued building.

[TIME REMAINING: 31 SECONDS]

[PLACE HAND ON DRAGON TO INITIATE BOND]

Noah extended his hand slowly, giving the dragon time to react if it wanted to reject this. His palm came to rest on the creature’s snout, feeling scales that were hot enough to burn normal skin but just uncomfortable against his enhanced durability.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then purple void energy erupted from Noah’s hand.

The energy flowed across the dragon’s body in patterns that looked almost alive, spreading from the point of contact outward. The creature’s eyes went wide, its body going rigid, but it didn’t pull away. The void energy mixed with the red glow of Molten Core, creating patterns of purple and crimson that danced across scales.

[BONDING PROCESS INITIATED]

[SYNCHRONIZING HOST AND DRAGON ESSENCE]

[COMPATIBILITY: 97%]

[PROCESSING...]

The energy intensified, becoming visible as actual light rather than just a shimmer. Noah felt something fundamental shift inside his chest, like a new connection being forged at a level deeper than physical.

[BOND ESTABLISHED]

[CONQUEST DRAGON SUCCESSFULLY BONDED]

[MOLTEN CORE ABILITY RECOGNIZED]

[DRAGON STABILIZING]

The red glow began fading, Molten Core deactivating as the bonding process overrode the emergency healing state. The dragon’s breathing steadied, became less labored. Its injuries were still healing but at a more controlled rate now, the accelerated berserker mode no longer necessary.

[BONDED CREATURE REQUIRES DESIGNATION]

[PLEASE ASSIGN NAME]

Noah looked at the dragon, at this massive creature that had nearly killed him, that had fought with a ferocity that reminded him so much of Nyx.

"Ares," he said quietly. "Your name is Ares."

[NAME ACCEPTED: ARES]

[PLEASE ASSIGN CALL PHRASE]

"Flame," Noah replied, the word feeling right somehow.

[CALL PHRASE ACCEPTED: FLAME]

[BONDING COMPLETE]

[ARES ADDED TO BONDED CREATURES]

The purple energy faded slowly, sinking into the dragon’s scales until it disappeared completely. Ares lifted his head slightly, looking at Noah with eyes that carried recognition now. Understanding. The bond had created something between them, a connection that went both ways.

Noah pulled his hand back and looked around at the destruction they’d caused. The forest was ruined for maybe half a mile in every direction. Trees reduced to charcoal. Ground scorched and melted. Craters from impacts that had hit with enough force to pulverize stone.

’The dragon knights will be here soon,’ Noah thought, his mind shifting to more immediate concerns. ’They saw us fall. They’re probably making their way down the mountain right now. And if they find me standing here with a red death dragon that’s suddenly calm and cooperative, they’re going to have questions I can’t answer.’

He looked at Ares.

"You need to leave," Noah said, hoping the bond allowed for some kind of understanding. "Fly away. Hide. I’ll come find you later, but right now you need to not be here when the knights arrive."

The dragon made a low rumbling sound, something between a growl and a question.

"Trust me," Noah continued. "Just go. I’ll call for you when it’s safe."

Ares stared at him for a long moment, then pushed himself upright with visible effort. His wings spread, testing their functionality. The broken one was healed enough to support flight, though the movement looked stiff.

With a final glance at Noah, the dragon launched itself skyward. The downdraft from his wings sent ash and debris swirling, and then he was airborne, climbing into the smoke-filled sky. Within seconds, he’d disappeared into the darkness.

Noah stood there alone in the burning forest, covered in blood and ash, his body aching from a dozen impacts. He found a relatively clear patch of ground and sat down heavily, too exhausted to do anything else.

That’s where the dragon knights found him maybe five minutes later.

Noah heard them before he saw them, boots crunching through charred undergrowth, voices calling out. Then they emerged from the smoke, six of them instead of seven, their armor scorched and their expressions carrying a mix of concern and disbelief.

Egor led them, his hammer still manifested in his hand, his eyes scanning the destruction before finally settling on Noah.

"Burt?" Roland called out, moving forward quickly. "Kid, are you alive?"

"Mostly," Noah replied, his voice coming out rougher than he’d intended.

They surrounded him immediately, hands checking for injuries, voices overlapping with questions.

"What happened?"

"Where’s the dragon?"

"How are you even conscious?"

Noah looked up at them, at their concerned faces, and realized he needed to play this very carefully.

"I don’t know what happened," he said, and the confusion in his voice wasn’t entirely fake. "We fell. Hit the ground. Everything’s kind of blurry after that. The dragon was there, and then it wasn’t. I think it flew away?"

"You think it flew away?" Marcus repeated, staring at him like he’d grown a second head. "Kid, do you have any idea what we just witnessed?"

Noah blinked. "You saw?"

"We were making our way down," Davos said, crouching to Noah’s level. "Heard the explosions, the thunder, the dragon roaring. Thought you were dead for sure."

’They didn’t see the actual fight,’ Noah realized. ’Just heard it from a distance. Good.’

"The dragon must have been really angry," Noah said weakly. "I just tried to stay alive."

"Stay alive?" Marcus laughed, the sound slightly unhinged. "Kid, you’re the first person I’ve ever heard of who survived a direct encounter with a red death dragon without being a dragon knight. And you’re sitting here like you just had a rough day at work."

"I feel like I got stepped on by a horse," Noah admitted, which wasn’t even a lie.

Brom, the tank, extended a hand and pulled Noah to his feet with surprising gentleness. "You’re tougher than you look, boy. Your father would be proud."

The comment hung in the air for a moment, the other knights shifting uncomfortably at the mention of Burt’s father.

"Actually," Roland said slowly, his expression thoughtful, "what you did tonight puts your father’s one moment of fear into perspective. Running from a dragon doesn’t seem so cowardly when we’ve all just witnessed how terrifying they actually are."

The others murmured agreement, their earlier contempt for Burt’s family apparently reconsidered in light of recent events.

Noah noticed something then. A gap in their formation. Someone missing.

"Where’s..." he started, then stopped, counting again. "There were seven of you."

The mood shifted immediately. The knights exchanged glances, their earlier excitement fading into something somber.

"The dragon got him," Egor said quietly, speaking for the first time since they’d arrived. "When we were still on the ridge. Gareth tried to heal one of us mid-combat, and the dragon’s tail caught him. He was gone before he hit the ground."

Noah felt his chest tighten. Gareth. The healer. The one who’d been kind, who’d spoken gently when others had been harsh.

"I’m sorry," Noah said, the words feeling inadequate.

"He died doing his job," Roland said, though his voice carried grief beneath the professional tone. "Keeping the rest of us alive. That’s what healers do."

They stood in heavy silence for a moment, six knights and one exhausted teenager, surrounded by destruction and loss.

"Come on," Marcus finally said, his usual energy returning slightly. "Let’s get back to town. We need to report this, and I need about seven drinks."

They started walking, making their way through the ruined forest. Noah moved with them, his body protesting every step, while the knights talked around him.

"You know what this means, right?" Marcus was saying, his voice carrying excitement again. "Burt here fought off a red death dragon. Solo. That’s the kind of story that gets told for years."

"Nobody’s going to believe it," Davos countered.

"We’re witnesses! Six dragon knights saying the same thing. They’ll have to believe it."

"The kid’s a hero," Roland declared. "That’s what he is. Tomorrow at the tavern, everyone’s going to want to hear this story. And I swear on my honor, nobody’s going to mock you or your family again, Burt. Not while I’m around to hear it."

The others voiced agreement, their earlier disdain for the coward’s son completely reversed. Noah listened to them talk, feeling surreal about the whole situation. Yesterday he’d been the lowest person in the kingdom’s social hierarchy. Now he was apparently a hero.

Egor remained at the back of the group, silent, his hammer dismissed back into energy. Noah glanced back once and found the captain watching him with an expression that was impossible to read.

Because Egor had seen more than the others. Noah and the dragon had fallen off the mountain, fought on the ground below. The other knights had only heard the battle from a distance, but Egor had been close enough during parts of it to see details.

He’d seen Noah demonstrate strength that shouldn’t be possible for a tavern boy. Speed that exceeded normal human capability. At one point, flying through the air using energy that looked nothing like standard magic. And that strange power, the red and white energy that reminded Egor of something he’d encountered before during the war.

Dark chi. The technique King Arthur’s people had used.

Egor’s mind worked through the implications as they walked. Burt was supposed to be nobody. The coward’s son, a kid with no prospects, no training, no abilities. Yet tonight he’d demonstrated capabilities that would make trained soldiers look weak.

What was he?

Who was he really?

And why was he pretending to be a simple tavern worker?

Egor kept these questions to himself, watching the boy limp along with the other knights, accepting their praise and camaraderie without revealing anything that might answer those questions.

The walk back took over an hour, all of them exhausted and grieving. When they finally reached the outskirts of town, the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hints of dawn.

"Your house is up that path, right?" Marcus asked, pointing.

"Yeah," Noah confirmed.

"Get some rest, kid. You’ve earned it. We’ll see you later."

They parted ways, the knights heading toward their barracks while Noah climbed the hill toward his family’s small home. He moved quietly despite his exhaustion, circling around to the back.

He was filthy. Covered in blood, ash, dirt, and who knew what else. His clothes were torn, his face battered. If his mother or Gertrude saw him like this, there would be questions he couldn’t answer.

The window to his room was still unlatched from when he’d climbed out the night before. He pulled himself through with considerable effort, every muscle protesting, and collapsed onto his bed.

He stripped off his ruined clothes, hiding them under the bed to deal with later. Found the spare nightshirt. Lay down and felt his enhanced regeneration finally kick into full gear now that he wasn’t fighting for his life.

The cuts and bruises began healing rapidly, tissue knitting back together, bones that had been cracked realigning themselves. Within minutes, the worst of the damage was repaired. Within an hour, he’d be completely healed.

But for now, he just needed sleep.

His eyes closed, exhaustion pulling him under like a tide.

***

"Big brother Burt! Big brother Burt, wake up!"

Noah jerked awake to find Gertrude bouncing on the end of his bed, her energy level completely incompatible with whatever ungodly hour it was.

"The sun’s up!" she announced cheerfully. "Mother says you need to fetch water before breakfast!"

Noah groaned, his body feeling significantly better than it had any right to after last night. His enhanced regeneration had worked overtime while he slept, erasing the evidence of dragon combat.

"Can’t the water wait?" he mumbled.

"Mother says no! Come on, lazy bones!"

Gertrude bounced off the bed and ran from the room, her laughter echoing down the hallway. Noah lay there for another moment, then forced himself upright.

His reflection in the small mirror showed no bruising, no cuts, nothing to suggest he’d fought a dragon a few hours ago. Just a normal teenage face that happened to belong to someone who wasn’t from this timeline.

He changed into clean clothes, grabbed the water buckets, and headed outside. The morning air was cool, refreshing after the heat and smoke of the previous night. The walk to the stream was peaceful, just him and the early birds starting their daily routines.

He reached the bank and knelt down to fill the first bucket. The water was clear and cold, exactly like it had been yesterday morning when his biggest concern was pretending to be a normal person named Burt.

"Oh! It’s him!"

Noah looked up to find three girls approaching from further up the stream, all of them maybe sixteen or seventeen, carrying their own buckets. They stopped when they saw him, then immediately started whispering to each other behind their hands while staring at him directly.

One of them giggled. The others joined in.

Noah blinked, confused. This wasn’t the first time he’d gotten attention from girls. In his timeline, he was the guy with three girlfriends and a friends-with-benefits situation that somehow worked. But that was Noah Eclipse, SSS-rank soldier, faction leader, dragon tamer.

Burt was supposed to be the coward’s son. The social pariah. Not someone who made girls giggle.

’Unless something’s changed,’ Noah realized.

The girls approached, their giggles subsiding into nervous smiles.

"Good morning, Burt," the tallest one said, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Morning," Noah replied cautiously.

"We heard about last night," another girl added quickly, the words tumbling out. "About the dragon. Is it true? Did you really fight one?"

’Oh,’ Noah thought. ’That’s what this is about.’

"I mostly just tried not to die," he said honestly.

More giggling. The third girl, who had red hair tied in a braid, stepped closer.

"That’s so brave though! Fighting a dragon! We were all so scared when we heard it was near the mountain."

Noah finished filling his first bucket and stood, moving to fill the second. The girls followed, maintaining their distance but clearly not ready to leave yet.

"Can I help you with something?" Noah asked, genuinely curious about why they were still here.

"Actually," the tall one said, exchanging glances with her friends, "could you help us with our buckets? The water’s heavy and you’re so strong and..."

She trailed off, her blush deepening.

Noah almost laughed. This was absurd. But they seemed genuine in their request, so he nodded.

"Sure. Let me finish mine first."

He filled his second bucket, then helped each of the girls fill theirs. When they were full, he lifted all three onto their heads in turn, the motion requiring careful balance but nothing his enhanced strength couldn’t handle easily.

"Thank you!" they said in overlapping voices, their giggles returning.

"You’re welcome."

They left together, casting glances back at him while whispering amongst themselves. Noah watched them go, shook his head, and grabbed his own buckets.

The walk back to the house gave him time to think. About Ares, hidden somewhere in the wilderness. About the quest that still had no clear objective beyond "Extinguish the Flames." About Ego, who would eventually become the Last Dragon Knight standing alone in a dead kingdom.

And about the strange irony that in two completely different lives, separated by who knew how much time, Noah’s first dragon had been a red death.

He reached the house to find his mother already cooking breakfast, Gertrude setting the table with more enthusiasm than accuracy.

"There you are," his mother said, smiling when she saw him. "I was starting to think you’d fallen in the stream."

"Just took my time," Noah replied, setting the buckets down.

They ate together, simple porridge again but somehow it tasted better this morning. Maybe because Noah had barely slept and his body was demanding calories. Or maybe because this quiet family moment felt precious in ways he hadn’t expected.

His mother talked about her work at the castle, the laundry that needed doing, Lady Constance’s particular requirements. Gertrude complained about her chores, the garden that needed weeding, the spinning that made her fingers hurt.

Noah listened and smiled and felt something warm in his chest that had nothing to do with the food.

’This is nice,’ he thought. ’Just... normal. No dragons, no Harbingers, no world-ending threats. Just a family having breakfast.’

Eventually, his mother stood and gathered her things.

"Ready to go?" she asked Noah. "I’ll drop you at the tavern on my way to the castle."

They left together, Gertrude waving from the doorway. The walk into town followed the same path as yesterday, but the atmosphere was different.

People were talking. Noah could hear conversations starting and stopping as they passed, could see people pointing specifically at him rather than his mother.

"...is that the boy?"

"...fought a dragon, they say..."

"...coward’s son? Doesn’t look like a coward to me..."

"...dragon knights themselves vouched for him..."

His mother walked beside him, clearly confused by the sudden attention but saying nothing. When they reached the tavern, she paused at the entrance.

"Master Grayson," she said when the owner appeared, her voice carrying that formal politeness she used with his employer, "thank you again for giving Burt this opportunity. He’s been working very hard."

Grayson’s expression was completely different from yesterday. The contempt was gone, replaced by something approaching friendliness.

"Your boy’s been excellent," he said, and Noah had to suppress his surprise. "Hard worker, polite to customers, shows up on time. We’re lucky to have him."

His mother’s face lit up with genuine joy. "That’s wonderful to hear. Thank you, sir."

She squeezed Noah’s shoulder once, then left for the castle, her step lighter than it had been in days.

The moment she was gone, Grayson grabbed Noah’s arm and pulled him aside, his friendliness intensifying.

"Burt, my boy, I heard about last night. The whole town’s heard! You fought a dragon! A red dragon! The dragon knights are telling everyone who’ll listen!"

Noah blinked. "It’s not that big a deal, I just—"

"Not that big a deal? Kid, you’re a hero! The talk of the kingdom! Do you know what this means for my tavern?" Grayson’s eyes were practically shining with avarice disguised as enthusiasm. "Everyone’s going to want to meet you, hear your story, buy you drinks!"

Before Noah could respond, the tavern door opened and customers started flowing in. Not the usual morning trickle, but an actual crowd. Men, women, even some children, all of them looking around until they spotted Noah.

"There he is!"

"That’s the boy!"

"Burt! Tell us about the dragon!"

They surrounded him immediately, voices overlapping, hands patting his shoulders, everyone wanting to be close to the local celebrity.

"Is it true you fought it solo?"

"Did you really survive the fall from the mountain?"

"What did it look like up close?"

"Were you scared?"

Noah found himself being pulled to a table, people buying him breakfast he didn’t need, asking questions faster than he could answer them. The tavern filled beyond capacity, standing room only, everyone wanting to be part of the story.

Master Grayson served drinks with a smile that suggested he was calculating profit margins in real time.

The day passed with the attention Noah hadn’t asked for and didn’t particularly want. But he played along, answered questions vaguely, let people believe what they wanted to believe. It was easier than explaining the truth.

By closing time, Noah was exhausted in completely different ways than he’d been after fighting the dragon. Social exhaustion. The kind that came from being "on" for hours straight, maintaining a persona, never quite relaxing.

He was cleaning tables when one of the dragon knights appeared in the doorway. Not Egor. Marcus, the young enthusiastic one, grinning like he had a secret.

"Burt! There you are! Come on, we’re celebrating!"

"Celebrating what?" Noah asked warily.

"Last night! The hunt! Gareth’s memory! Everything! The whole crew’s at the Red Lantern District. You’re coming."

"I’m seventeen," Noah said, seizing on the obvious excuse. "I’m too young for... that."

"Nonsense!" Marcus grabbed his arm. "You fought a dragon! You’re practically a man now! Besides, we’re not asking. Come on!"

Marcus practically dragged Noah out of the tavern, his enthusiasm overriding any protests. They walked through the evening streets toward the district with the red lanterns, the area Noah had seen yesterday during his exploration.

Music drifted from the buildings, laughter and conversation mixing together. Marcus led him to a particular establishment, larger than the others, its entrance flanked by women in revealing clothing who called out greetings.

Inside was chaos. Dragon knights mixed with regular knights, all of them drinking and talking loudly. Women moved between tables, refilling drinks and accepting tips. The atmosphere was celebratory in ways that felt forced, like everyone was trying very hard to forget about Gareth.

A cheer went up when Noah entered.

"THE DRAGON FIGHTER!"

"BURT!"

"Get this boy a drink!"

They pulled him to a table where Roland, Davos, and Brom sat with drinks already in hand. Marcus pushed Noah into a chair and immediately a cup appeared in front of him.

"To Burt!" Roland declared, raising his own cup. "Who proved that courage isn’t about bloodline! It’s about what you do when death is staring you in the face!"

Everyone drank. Noah sipped cautiously from his cup, tasting ale that was stronger than he’d expected.

"You know," Davos said, leaning forward with slightly unfocused eyes that suggested this wasn’t his first drink, "we’ve been talking. Me and the boys. And we want to ask you something."

The table went quiet. The other knights were watching now, even conversations at nearby tables dying down.

"What?" Noah asked.

Roland set his cup down with exaggerated care. "Burt. You’ve got potential. Real potential. You survived something that would kill most trained soldiers. You’ve got courage, you’ve got strength we didn’t know about. So we want to know..."

He paused dramatically.

"Would you like to become a knight?"

Brom nodded enthusiastically. "A dragon knight, specifically. Join our ranks. Train with us. Hunt with us."

"You’d be the youngest in the kingdom," Marcus added. "But also probably the most qualified given that you’ve already survived a dragon encounter."

They were all looking at him now, waiting for his answer, their faces showing genuine hope that he’d say yes.

Noah sat there, ale cup in hand, surrounded by drunk knights in a brothel, being offered a position that Burt would have killed for.

And all he could think about was how none of this was real, how he was supposed to be somewhere else, how he needed to figure out what "Extinguish the Flames" meant before this entire timeline collapsed around him.

But he smiled anyway.

"Let me think about it," Noah said.

The knights cheered like he’d said yes.