As Draco gently stroked Eleni's hair, she stretched out her hand and mao grasp his warm, smooth palm.

  This small tact seemed to have a calming effect, soothing her from the grips of the nightmare that had disturbed her sleep.

  "Ssshhh, it's alright. Your Onii- is here," Draco whispered soothingly, his voice low and steady.

  He remained perfectly still, watg over her as she slowly drifted bato a more peaceful slumber.

  After some time, Eleni's grip gradually loosened, allowing Draco to carefully slip his hand away.

  He then took a moment to survey the rest of his family - Michalis, Dimitra, Nikoos, Vasiliki, Vasileios, and Cir.

  Each of their faces bore the faint traces of dried tears, a heartbreaking sight that tugged at Draco's own weary heart.

  As the eldest sibling, he wished he could do more to ease their sorrows, but for now, he could only watch over them and hope they would find the strength to move forward, despite the tremendous hardship they now faced.

  As Draco looked up at the sky through the gaping hole the one-eyed bck dragon had created, he could tell it was the early m hours.

  Shafts of golden light were just beginning to peek over the horizon, casting a warm glow across the devastated town.

  Draco surveyed the se more closely, noting that the molten rock left by the dragon's rampage was starting to cool and harden.

  ‘It must be around 6 AM now,’ he mused.

  ‘The others should rest a while longer before I wake them,’ he thought.

  With a bit of time to himself, Draco began seriously formuting a pn for the day ahead.

  ‘Alright, the first order of business is to search the remaining houses and gather anything useful that could sustain us for the hree to four years,’ he thought.

  Food, water, tools, clothing - every scrap would be vital in the days to e.

  ‘ is transportation, we will need a vehicle, rge enough to carry all of us along with our supplies, and horses or oxen to pull it. If it's the tter, I should search the farms first,’ Draco sidered.

  Draco suddenly paused, furrowing his brow. There was a major problem, the monsters.

  ‘Hopefully only a few weak monsters remain iown,’ he hoped.

  But that line of thought sparked a memory from when he had veo the surface during the night.

  "There were no monsters at all around our farm. Just the battle boars he town," he muttered.

  ‘Why is that?’ Draco racked his brain, trying to recall any relevaails.

  Then it hit him - in the inal story, there was a vilge protected from monsters due to the presence of the bck dragon's scales.

  ‘Could that be the case here as well?’ he wondered.

  Draco sidered the implications of that possibility.

  This provided them with the option of staying put and training in a monster ied area, without fear of being attacked.

  But he also sidered that the overwhelming presence of the bck dragon's pht be difficult for him to handle.

  It could trigger the ability that he couldn’t trol.

  “No, I must trol myself,” he firmly muttered.

  ‘Get used to its power. I am a dragon as well, I may even learn to emute that pressure,’ he thought.

  ‘Everything hinges on if my assumption is true. If it's is, perhaps we move the scales with us as prote while travelling to another secure pce,’ he thought.

  Another question of whether he could find a map loomed within Draind.

  If he could, they might be able to plot a course directly to Orario when it was time.

  If not, they would have te their path - by following any main road to the settlement wheime came.

  Draco took a deep breath, steeling himself for the day ahead.

  There was much work to be done, but he felt cautiously optimistibsp;

  …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

  3 Hours Later

  The m sun peeked through the dim cavern, signaling the start of a new day.

  Draediately began preparing a hearty breakfast for his family.

  The aroma of freshly cooked food soon wafted through the underground haven, rousing the others from their slumber.

  One by ohe sleepy-eyed inhabitants of the cavern emerged, drawn to the tantalizing st.

  Vasiliki, the you of the group, was the st to join them, her eyes still heavy with the remnants of sleep.

  Draco could see the trepidatioched on her face, the memory of the previous day's harrowis still fresh in her mind.

  As they gathered around the makeshift table, Draco cleared his throat, ready to share his pns for the day.

  "First, I will be going to the surface alone." he announced, his voice steady and resolute.

  Vasiliki opened her mouth, struggling to find the words.

  "Draii, why?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The fear in her eyes alpable.

  Draet her gaze, his expression softening.

  "I know how you all feel, but this is necessary for our survival," he replied.

  He could see the mixed reas on the faces of his family members, ranging from to relut uanding.

  Sensing their unease, Draco decided to provide a more detailed expnation.

  After expining, his family members heir expressions gradually shifting from uainty to uanding.

  Draew that they might not fully prehend the reasoning behind his decision, but he was fident that they would trust his judgment.

  "If my theory is true, it will be easier in gathering supplies along with various other things" Draco expined.

  He then briefly outlined his other pns, keeping the expnations cise and straightforward.

  With a final nod, Draco rose from the ground and made his way towards the surface, his mind focused oask.

  As he emerged from the cavern, he carefully surveyed his surroundings, alert for any signs of danger.

  ‘It doesn't seem like there are any monsters around, I should probably start searg’ Draco thought.

  He closed his eyes and tried to recall the aura of the one-eyed bck dragon, the memory of its overwhelming preseill etched in his mind.

  Draco soo a surge of various flig emotions c through him, but he quickly reined in his emotions, determio maintain a clear and rational approabsp;

  It didn't take long before he sensed something familiar, a strong trace of the dragon's essenbsp;

  Draediately followed the source, his gaze ing to rest on two scales lying amidst the remnants of the piic site.

  It was where he and his whole family st dined, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on distrag thoughts.

  Kneeling down, Draco examihe scale closely.

  The ridges at the edges indicated that they had once been a part of a full scale.

  It looked very old and faded, definitely a loose scale from a past flict.

  Draind raced, he couldn’t help smiling as he thought of various uses for the scale.

  ‘Did it e from an old wound during Albert's era, or did it e loose from a fight with the Zeus and Hera Familia?’ he wondered briefly.

  Ultimately, the specifics mattered little; what mattered was that he had found aremely valuable item.

  Even the shavings of the scale could earn them a rge amount of Valis or could be used to craft ons, armor, and other things.

  Draco carefully picked the scales up, then tried searg for more. Sadly there weren’t anymore.

  He then pted testing its deterrent capabilities but decided against it, opting to return to the cavern and begin the phase of his pn.