The Accidental Cultivator

In the shadows above the royal treasury roof…

A cloaked figure crouched like a proud alley cat surveying its kingdom. Muscles tight, breath measured, his gloved fingers traced the tiles beneath.

"Tonight, destiny smiles on the legend… the one, the only, Ravinder the Phantom Toe," he whispered with theatrical flair. "Thirty-seven successful robberies. Nine escaped treasuries. Four princesses swooned. And this—this glorious palace—shall be my final masterpiece."

He adjusted the scarf around his neck, flipped once mid-air, and silently landed on the cool marble floor of the treasury lobby.

A faint click.

He smiled. "Too easy."

But then… the room pulsed.

A faint orange glow flickered from the depths of the corridor.

Ravinder blinked. "What the—"

FWOOSH!

A sound like a volcano sneezing erupted.

A wave of heat blasted through the corridor, incinerating everything in its path.

One second Ravinder was standing—smug, composed, victorious. The next, he was nothing more than a pair of smoking boots and two lonely, twitching legs still standing like confused survivors.

In the lobby, just meters away

"DID—DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Aryan screamed, diving behind a collapsed shelf.

'What in the hells just happened?!'

System: "Welp. That's one less thief in the world. I warned you this was a terrible idea, but nooo. 'Let's loot the treasury,' you said. 'It'll be fun,' you said. Look what fun got us—flambéed thief and a dragon that looks like it skipped breakfast."

Roshni's eyes widened. "Was that a… fire dragon?"

"I'm gonna go with YES!" Aryan shrieked.

From the corridor, a massive claw crushed through a column like it was made of chalk. The beast emerged—a terrifying blend of lizard and furnace, with crimson scales glowing like molten rock and eyes that looked like they judged your entire bloodline.

Taarask, the sealed beast of Vaikunth Dham's treasury, had awoken. A Chakra 2, Stage 7 dragon-blooded hybrid, breathing rage and fire—and it was not happy about intruders.

System: "Correction. This is not a fire dragon. This is a house-arsonist lizard with wings who woke up on the wrong side of a century."

Taarask's mouth crackled open again, light building in its throat.

"MOVE!" Roshni shouted, grabbing Aryan's sleeve.

They sprinted just as another torrent of flame obliterated the lobby.

"No!" Roshni gasped. "That was a First Chakra Stage 4 manual!"

Bookshelves exploded. Pillars melted. The intricate tapestries of the royal vault curled up like burnt leaves.

Inside the inner treasury

The duo tumbled behind a golden pedestal, coughing from the smoke. Aryan peeked over, eyes wide.

The dragon was tearing through history itself—destroying ancient scrolls, scriptures, and manuals like a pyromaniac librarian.

'There goes everything we came for.'

System: "Just saying… Grandpa Ganpat better be hearing this through karma. Because this is peak 'bad idea' energy."

Roshni peeked out. "He's wrecking everything! Those shelves had manuals older than our ancestors!"

A sudden quake rocked the chamber—Taarask slammed its tail, causing the walls to crack and statues to tumble.

System: "Well, you wanted power. Congratulations. Now you're getting fired up."

"Now's not the time for puns!" Aryan hissed.

System: "No, no. Now's the perfect time to question all my life decisions. Why did I get bound to a six-year-old with a looting addiction?! Why am I burning alive in a gold-plated oven?! I want a vacation!"

Another AOE fireblast rippled out—a dome of flame engulfed half the treasury.

Aryan tackled Roshni behind a ruined pillar. The flames licked the walls around them. Dust and smoke curled in every direction.

"How do we get out?!" Aryan yelled.

Roshni looked up. "The hallway's blocked. But maybe—if we slide through the rear passage—it connects to the ventilation tunnels. But we'll have to move fast. That lizard's got a flame thrower and zero chill."

As they ran

Taarask roared and spewed another firewave. A flying slab of burning stone missed Aryan's head by inches.

System: "Did you dodge that, or did luck just slap fire in the face for you?!"

'I don't even know anymore!' Aryan thought, ducking beneath falling debris.

They slipped through a half-broken gap in the stone wall and into a service tunnel behind the archive shelf.

A moment of silence.

Only the crackling behind them and Taarask's guttural growls remained.

Both of them, covered in ash and sweat, sat panting.

Aryan whispered, "That was… too close."

Roshni nodded, her braid slightly singed. "I think my eyebrows are gone."

System: "And so is our target. And the backup target. And the entire treasury. And probably our future. I just want to say—if you ever write a biography, don't forget to title it: 'How to Burn a Kingdom 101'."

Smoke curled up through the air shafts. Flames consumed every corner of the once-mighty treasury. Manuals turned to ash. Gold melted. Even the dragon's own containment seal had turned to magma.

The legacy of Vaikunth Dham's knowledge was… toast.

As Aryan crawled out the final stone passage, coughing and bruised, the System gave one last huff.

System: "You know, kid… I think your luck's starting to run out."