Cameraman Never Dies-Chapter 64: Dear dairy, I beseech you, please write yourself

Judge, a three-year-old dragon who could barely see over his own snout, sat beside a desk on a chair that was definitely not built with dragon tails in mind, not that he had tails in his human form.

He had lived for three years and had recorded various experiences, but most was just his daily life. He’d been giving messages to Clio with the stories, and now he had a good grasp on how recording worked.

If he was recording while wearing his mask, he would be invisible to anyone and everyone. He was more like a spirit, passing through walls as easily as getting embarrassed in front of your crush.

He had lived for three years and not once was he given the chance nor taught how to transform into his dragon form. But he had seen his sister do it once, she had been taught how to transform when she turned nine.

He’d been given his own room when he turned three— because apparently, dragons believe in tough love and early mortgages. Sleeping alone was now his nightly challenge, aside from figuring out how to brush his teeth without setting the bathroom on fire, because dragons still breathed fire even in base form.

Dragons grew up faster than a rumor on the internet, but weren’t exactly known for their brains. Fortunately, Judge had the good sense (or sheer luck) to pick "enhanced cognition" at the otherworldly buffet of essential life skills.

He was hailed as a prodigy after some guy brought in by his grand father announced he had ether since birth— he was not sure how that was special, but he just took it as he had won the baby lottery.

From then on, the compliments flowed like free samples at a supermarket. It was all "Oh, look at Judge, he can recite the alphabet backward!" and "Did you hear? He knows how to tie his own shoelaces!" Not that the shoes that he wore had laces, but the compliment was appreciated.

Recently, he’d learned that dragons were considered a myth in the world. They roamed around disguised as wyverns— a sort of budget-friendly dragon with fewer limbs. "So we’re pretending to be the knock-off version of ourselves? Great plan, guys," Judge thought sarcastically. It was like a celebrity going incognito by dressing as a cardboard cutout of themselves.

He didn’t know why dragons were playing hide-and-seek with the world. When he asked his mother, she gave him the classic parental brush-off: "You’ll understand when you’re older."

Fantastic. A cliffhanger. The only thing he hated more than cliffhangers were sly old foxes, greedy suck-ups who acted friendly just to mooch off his success, and Vine— not the app (rest in peace) but the drink that killed him... and his Dad... also his Mom. Speaking of which, the image of Seo Jun’s face popped into his mind like an unwanted popup ad.

Snapping out of his daze faster than you could say "dragon sneeze" (which, by the way, is a leading cause of forest fires), he refocused on the task at hand. He glanced at his diary— the one he’d been forced to write in since turning three, because nothing says ’happy birthday’ like mandatory journaling.

To keep his thoughts private, he’d been writing exclusively in English— a language as foreign to dragons as modesty was to peacocks.

He had only seen English in the diary of the researcher who researched ’nothing’— something that involved nothing. No ethercraft principle using nothing. Why did all of the explanation make the principle feel like nothing important... oh wait.

He couldn’t remember his mother tongue, but English was just hanging out in his brain like an old roommate who never left. He examined the diary’s cover, custom-made just for him because regular diaries apparently couldn’t handle the sheer magnitude of his thoughts.

The diary spanned from October 18, his birthday, to October 17 of the next year. Today was the last day he’d use it— time flies when you’re a prodigious dragon with existential questions.

Unlocking the book (because privacy is paramount when you’re recording the secrets of dragon kind), he turned to the first page. The title read "Judge Drakonis," which sounded way cooler than he felt.

Underneath was the date range: "18 October 2008 ~ 17 October 2009 — Aetus Nova." Aetus Nova, or AN, was the current era— not that he’d been taught that yet. He knew the previous era was called Custos Aetas, which he suspected was Latin for "We ran out of cool era names."

Putting aside any further distractions— like pondering why dragon society was so obsessed with secrecy and uncomfortable chairs— he picked up his fountain pen. Sure, there was a dip pen available, but who was he, a 19th-century calligrapher?

He flipped to the last page and began jotting down his daily experiences, starting with how he had accidentally cast a fire magic in his room while experimenting with principles and setting the expensive curtain on fire, again.

Good thing that they were filthy rich. And also the fact that the whole household was fireproof because... well, dragons and inflammable material aren’t exactly a fit match.

Dear Diary,

Today the whole house was highly active, everyone was busy preparing for tomorrow. It is my birthday, dragons mostly manifest ether at the age of four or earlier. the ones who manifested ether at the age of four would show something basic with the ether, since it was difficult to grasp a principle without experimenting beforehand, most just put up a simple show.

Children who master ether before they turn four, show off what they have learned. Which is funny considering that dragons do so little in terms of learning a new principle. If they just put in a little more effort, they could be immensely stronger than we currently are.

I decided to show a move that my Mother did when she was fighting the Tenebris guy.

Hell’s Mercy is a principle that my grandpa invented. He is also a person who is actively trying to get more dragons into learning principles. He is my role model to get stronger, he said that Dad was as strong as him, But I haven’t seen both of them use ether other than teleporting.

Grandpa said that I should start studying from Melina once I turn four, which is exiting for me since I like her kind personality.

News came in two days ago that her father had died, but she just said "Oh, Okay" nonchalantly and brushed it off. I am only hearing about it today. I am curious about her history with her father, would it be rude to ask her about it? Maybe I will wait a while before asking.

The judge looked at what he had just written. Yes, that was long enough, he had only emphasized what he had previously noted. There was no reason to recount today’s events since none were noteworthy. However, he felt compelled to add something he included at the bottom of every page.

I will come to get you, Clio

He always wrote that to remind and motivate him to attain godhood. He had yet to search the whole library to get clues on how to achieve it, partly because he could only access it a few months after he had turned two. And the other reason was because it was so damn big.

He folded the book, and a parchment flew out. It was a paper in which he had written how each letter of the English alphabet should be pronounced, just on case he forgot that language too. He was too lazy to create a dictionary with meanings.

He took the paper and put it inside the diary before locking it by the belt that was around the book. He then put the keys in his Studio. The book was not entirely un-openable without the keys, but dragons were good at keeping their distance from other’s privacy.

Judge bent back on his chair and stretched both of his hands high. He let out a loud yawn and turned off the ether lamp that was on his table. Blue Moonlight penetrated the otherwise dark room.

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He separated the red curtains and opened the glass window. Watching the blue moon, it was his favorite thing to do, since the moon always made him feel like he was watching Clio. There was a blue moon behind her when they first met.

After a long while he turned back and headed towards the bed. He did not close the window, since his mother had told him that the windows had protection runes on them, and leaving them open or closed won’t matter.

Runes were used in rituals to call the spirits or other lower entities, but they were incredibly useful if used in the right way. He heard from Melina that it was his mother who had set up the runes on every window, she said it took a whole month to be completed with the efforts of many other helpers.

His consciousness slowly faded as soon as he hit the bed. Tomorrow was a big day for him, and he had spent his entire day in the training ground and the library, he wanted a much needed rest. He let the soft cushion pull him into his dreams.