by Virlyce
“Mm. Well, they ran away to this place to escape from Grimmy, right? That’s like Grimmy’s prey escaping from him,” Vur said and picked up a squirming fish with his armored toes. He brought it closer to his face, still held by his foot, and sniffed it before wrinkling his nose and tossing it back into the river. “As Grimmy’s nephew, I have to conquer them for him. Dragons’ code of honor.”
Tafel’s expression darkened. “There’s something wrong with that code.”
“It can’t be wrong—Grimmy made it,” Vur said and shook his head. Around them, there were trees with thick leaves that blotted out the sun, leaving a layer of dark-green foliage over the ground. Ferns sprouted nearby, and the buzzing of insects droned on and on.
“You know … Grimmy isn’t exactly the epitome of justice,” Tafel said and batted away a mosquito from her face with her barrier. She could put on the helmet that was flat against her back like a hood, but she thought it made her look silly, so she didn’t. “Don’t tell him I said that though. He’s even scarier than your mom at times.”
Vur tilted his head. Was that really the case? Grimmy was always laughing or joking around. Then again, Vur didn’t think Sera was scary either. “But it has to be right because everyone agrees with it. If it was wrong, Mom or Dad would’ve said something—well, Mom would. Dad wouldn’t do anything that disagreed with Mom.”
Tafel exhaled and shook her head. “Let’s forget about your family for now,” she said. “We’re on an adventure. We should enjoy it.”
“Isn’t this like wandering through my backyard though?” Vur asked. No monsters—disregarding the crocodiles—had approached them despite the fact Vur had two huge bags of food on his back. Tafel wasn’t sure whether that was a benefit or detriment of traveling together with Vur.
“I knew we should’ve asked the fishmen for directions,” Tafel said and bit her lower lip. Why did she listen to Vur when he insisted on following his nose?
“Why?”
“So we could know where we’re going instead of wandering around aimlessly?” Tafel asked back. After traveling with an experienced team of SSS-ranked adventurers, partying with Vur was frustrating at times. It was even more frustrating that his logic was sound no matter how absurd she thought it was.
“I thought adventuring was about the journey, not the end result,” Vur said, echoing back Tafel’s words from earlier that morning. “Besides, I’m not wandering around aimlessly. I’m following the river. Where there’s water, there’s civilization.”
“That’s different!”
“How?”
Tafel sighed and hung her head. “You know what, never mind,” she said and resumed practicing with her tail. It was useful for cutting through the plants blocking her way.
After a while of walking in silence, Vur stopped moving and turned his head to the side.
“What is it?” Tafel asked, following his gaze. She couldn’t see beyond the trees and undergrowth.
Vur’s brow furrowed. “Let’s go that way,” he said and pointed past her. He touched his chest. “I feel something from Stella’s birthflower.”
Tafel nodded. At last, a journey with a set destination. She just wished she had her sword. They had requested weapons from the fishmen, but the leviathan’s teeth were hollow and unfit for creating anything other than arrows and spears—weapons neither she nor Vur were comfortable with using. What weapon was Vur comfortable with anyway? Blue mages should be using sabers, but he used a dagger like a rogue instead; to be fair, he fought more like a druid who morphed into different beasts—the dagger wasn’t necessary. In the future, she’d definitely get him a proper saber. Now that she thought about it, were there even any adventurers’ guilds in this new land?
The jungle became gloomier as Vur and Tafel traveled deeper in. The lighting and ambient noises hadn’t changed, yet an oppressive atmosphere hung over their heads. Tafel furrowed her brow and waved her hand in front of her face, summoning a ball of flames. Although she had trained as a spellblade for the past decade, that didn’t change the fact her roots were those of a black mage. The fire lightened her surroundings but did nothing to remove the sense of unease sneaking up her back. She bit her lip. “Do you feel that?”
“It’s very comfortable,” Vur said and nodded. A purple web of light pulsed continuously underneath his armor, lighting up along the outlines of his rose tattoo, including its roots. He hummed as he traversed through the jungle, the barrier provided by his armor removing all undergrowth in his way. “We’re getting closer.”
Tafel furrowed her brow. She missed the feeling of her sword on her back. At least there was no way she’d suffer too badly with Vur around—unless Vur decided to turn on her. Which he wouldn’t. Right? She pursed her lips as she followed in his footsteps, going deeper and deeper into the jungle. Her head turned constantly as she took in the sights, looking for anything unique to this new land. Because of that, she bumped into Vur’s barrier and yelped when he suddenly stopped. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she held her nose. There was nothing around.
“We’re here,” Vur said and tilted his head. The purple light coming off of him shone even brighter than before, illuminating the ground. A few runes inscribed on nearby trees flashed in time with the purple light. “I think it’s a fairy’s illusion magic.”
“I’ve seen something like this before,” Tafel said as she approached a tree. The rune reminded her of the one Lindyss had her help setup before Vur was awakened in the humans’ capital—not that she knew what they did. But she did know breaking them would ruin whatever spell was in place. A layer of blue scales formed over her hand as she activated her armor, and she punched the tree trunk, rendering the rune incomprehensible. She moved on to the other runes in the vicinity. Once the fourth one was destroyed, the air shimmered as a massive boulder appeared in the center of the formation of runes. On the side of the boulder, there was an archway with a pitch-black path. Tafel urged her fireball inside, lighting up a ramp leading down. She smiled. “Now this is more like an adventure. Can I lead the way?”
Vur nodded, and Tafel exhaled. If Vur had led the way, all sense of excitement would be gone. The path was straightforward, continuing in a line until it plateaued at the bottom of the ramp, leading to an underground clearing covered in sleeping bags. Snores permeated the room.
“Who!?”
Tafel jumped when a voice shouted at her from the side of the room.
“Intruder alert! Wake up!”
The snores were replaced by groans as the sleeping bags on the ground stirred. Vur caught up to Tafel and stood by her side, watching the group of people climb to their feet. His chest had stopped pulsing, maintaining a constant purple glow instead. “The thing’s deeper in.”
“Let’s not pretend like no one’s here, okay?” Tafel asked. “Once we negotiate, we can continue searching. Those are the guidelines of an adventurer.”
“So it was two foolish adventurers,” a voice said from behind the crowd. A man pushed through to the front, wielding a sword made of light-blue metal with one hand. “I don’t know how you managed to break through our barrier, but….” The man’s brow furrowed once he caught a glimpse of Tafel. “What are you?”
“She has horns?”
“The heck? Is she a human?”
“Does that matter? I bet she’d sell well.”
Tafel frowned. “I guess there aren’t any demons on this continent, huh?” She glared at the man with the sword. “Are you the leader?”
“Little girl, do you know what this is?” the man asked and flourished his sword.
“It’s a sword,” Vur said, speaking before Tafel could.
The man frowned. “Yes. It’s a sword,” he said. “But do you notice anything special about it?”
Vur glanced at Tafel. She shrugged.
The man’s eye twitched. “It’s made of mithril!”
“…”
“… And so?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow.
The man exha
led as a vein bulged from his forehead. He pointed at a crest on the sword’s hilt. It was an engraving of two crossed hammers. “How about this? Do you recognize it?”
“Nope,” Vur said. “And I’ve read a lot of books.”
“It’s the symbol of the dwarves! The dwarves! We’re a group armed by the dwarves!” the man shouted. He lowered his voice as he narrowed his eyes. “But I bet you don’t know what that means either. We’re going to kidnap you and turn you over to the dwarves in exchange for more weapons. Now, do you want to surrender peacefully or should I teach you two a lesson?”
Tafel pointed at the man as her hands glowed red. “Conflagration.” A rose made of flames blossomed in the air in front of the man’s face before exploding outwards, burning the leader and knocking over the nearby men. Tafel snorted as the men screamed, rolling around on the floor and slapping themselves to put out the flames.
“What happened to negotiations?” Vur asked. His barrier had shielded him from the explosion—not that he would’ve needed it anyways.
“What do you mean?” Tafel asked with a smile that reminded Vur of Lindyss’. “This is negotiating.”
“T-that’s not the power of a D-ranked adventurer,” the leader said as he applied an ointment to his burnt flesh. The skin and flesh wriggled, forming a pink surface on the wound. “Are you the guild’s quality checkers?”
“None of your business,” Tafel said and placed her hands on her hips. The men withdrew, pressing themselves against the walls of the room. Their actions left a sour taste in her mouth. This scene was all too familiar to her. Thankfully, there were no women or children this time. “Let’s go, Vur. They’re not going to bother us”—she glared at the leader—“right?”
“R-right,” the leader said and lowered his head, pressing his forehead against the ground.
Vur walked over and picked up the mithril sword, causing the man to tremble. Vur swung the sword a few times before biting the tip. It cracked. “Too soft,” Vur said and dropped the weapon. If it was stronger, he would’ve gifted it to Tafel since she liked equipment so much.
Tafel rolled her eyes at Vur’s actions before proceeding through the clearing, the men creating a path for her. She stopped in front of a purple archway at the end of the room with runes inscribed on its surface. There was no door or passage, only a rock surface beneath it. She glanced at the leader, who was watching her from afar. “What is this?”
“It’s a fairy queen’s gate,” the leader said. “If you insert enough mana into it, the passage appears. It can take up to fifty mana potions before it opens.” He scratched his nose. “It’s a common commission for low-ranked adventurers. It’s the best place for slavers like us to find prey. Not only do we reach our quota, but we also get free mana potions.”
“Makes sense,” Vur said with a nod. He approached the archway and tilted his head to inspect the runes. He rubbed his chin, copying Charon’s favorite reading pose, as he read aloud, “Property of Erin. Touch this and I’ll kill you.” Vur scratched his head before poking the archway. Nothing happened. He shrugged at Tafel who was staring at him with a blank face. She sighed.
“You can read fairy runes?” the leader asked, eyes widening.
“He’s noisy, isn’t he?” Vur asked Tafel before frowning at the leader. The leader shut his mouth and sat on the ground. Vur touched the archway again and poured his mana into it, lighting it up. The rocky surface distorted and disappeared, revealing a pool of purple liquid on the other end. In the center of the pool, a green lily pad was floating on the surface.
Vur entered the room and squatted by the purple water’s edge. The liquid seemed to recede as he approached, avoiding the glow coming off his body. He tilted his head and took a step forward, but the pool surged backwards and avoided his foot. What exactly did the birthflower want?
“H-hey,” the leader said. “That’s poisonous.” Maybe the horned girl would kill him if he didn’t warn them ahead of time. “Only fairies can drink it.”
Tafel frowned at Vur. “You’re thinking about drinking it, aren’t you?” she asked and sighed. “Do you want some help?”
“I got it,” Vur said as he held his arms out to the side. A breeze rushed through the opening and into the room, circling the pool. The wind spun faster and faster, creating a suction force which lifted all the liquid off the ground and funneled it towards Vur’s open mouth. Stella’s birthflower had prevented him from being poisoned during the assassination attempts on his life—he didn’t believe it’d fail him now.
The hunters’ leader watched with a pale face as the pool was consumed by Vur. The only side effect was a slightly bloated stomach. How was his luck so bad? He had chosen to gamble one more time before the guild sweepers came to investigate, but he ran into these two monsters. What were they? A-ranked? S-ranked?
4
Lindyss’ brow furrowed as she looked around the cave. It was empty, devoid of life. Even moss didn’t grow along the ground near the puddles of water which had accumulated due to the snow. She hated the cold. It was so … lifeless. But she had to be here since Grimmy and Leila had decided to stop on the outskirts of the frostlands for the night before visiting Leila’s parents.
“What’s wrong?” Grimmy asked, nudging Lindyss with his claw, nearly knocking her over.
“Nothing,” Lindyss said as she fixed her hair. “I miss my skeletons. I feel so lost without them providing me information.”
“We can make more here,” Grimmy said with a grin. Leila smacked his snout. “What? It’s not like we have to kill people. We can just resurrect the already dead.”
“My parents already have … preconceived notions about you due to certain circumstances,” Leila said. “And I have to admit, most of them are probably true. But my parents don’t need to know that.”
“What?” Grimmy asked, blinking his eyes. “What have you been telling them about me? I’m practically an angel.”
“Wait a minute. You told me you saw Leila’s family before,” Lindyss said.
“Yeah, I roughly saw what they looked like through a miniature projection she created,” Grimmy said with a nod. “That counts, right?”
Lindyss rolled her eyes while Leila snorted. The silver dragon sat on her haunches and straightened her back. “You’ve bullied the dwarves before, haven’t you?”
“Bullied the what?” Grimmy asked, tilting his head to the side.
Leila tilted her head to match Grimmy’s. “You really didn’t?”
“I’ve never bullied anyone in my life; why would I bully these dwarves?” Grimmy asked. “What the heck is a dwarves anyways?”
Leila fell silent. Her brow furrowed. “How many dragons have been named Grimmoldesser in the central continent?”
“Just me,” Grimmy said, puffing his chest out. “You’re being cryptic, dear. Just say what’s on your mind instead of interrogating me like this.”
“Alright,” Leila said and sighed. “There’s a certain race on this continent that really hates a dragon named Grimmoldesser because he chased them away a few millennia ago. My mother tried talking to them when they arrived, but they declared all dragons as evil, citing your name.”
Grimmy scratched his head and furrowed his brow. “You know … I destroyed the whole southern continent when I was younger,” he said and raised an eyebrow while speaking slowly. “It’s possible one race survived?”
“Wait,” Lindyss said, holding up her hand before Leila could say anything. “What was that about destroying a continent?”
Grimmy averted his gaze while Leila cleared her throat. “Anyways, my parents are holy dragons. We’re all about peace and tranquility and vegetarianism—in other words, everything you’re not. Try to behave, alright?”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Lindyss said, holding up both her hands this time. She frowned at Grimmy. “You didn’t answer my question.” She glanced at Leila. “And you. What the heck were you thinking when you decided to have Grimmy as your mate if you knew your parents wo
uldn’t approve?”
“Grimmy pursued me and won my heart,” Leila said with a nod. Her eyes twinkled as she met Grimmy’s gaze. “Besides, it’s not up to my parents to decide who my mate is. Dragons don’t work that way.”
“…Then why are you bringing him to see your parents?” Lindyss asked as her expression fell. If a family of dragons had a problem with Grimmy, she didn’t want to be in the middle of that conflict.
Leila blinked. “To make them stop nagging me about having grandchildren.”
“…”
“It’s a legitimate concern,” Leila said and snorted.
“And you think this will go well with them?” Lindyss asked, expression blank.
“Hey,” Grimmy said and flicked Lindyss’ forehead. “You make it sound like there’s something wrong with me. I’m all about peace, tranquility, and…. What was the last one? Some kind of farming religion?”
“Vegetarianism,” Leila said and nuzzled Grimmy’s neck with her snout. “We don’t hunt to eat. We absorb mana from the moonlight instead.”
“That sounds terrible,” Grimmy said, eyes widening. “Why would you ever do that to yourself?” His brow furrowed. “Wait. Don’t you like eating meat?”
Leila shrugged. “I’m pretty sure my parents will be disappointed enough. One more infraction can’t hurt.” She glanced at Lindyss. “I don’t see why you’re so concerned though. You’re just Grimmy’s plus-one.”
“You and Grimmy both don’t know what that means!” Lindyss sighed and hung her head. “Why am I friends with you? I don’t understand.”
“Because you love me,” Grimmy said with a laugh. “Besides, who doesn’t want to be my friend? And you really worry too much. Does it sound like I’m worried about meeting Leila’s parents?”
“You’re a dragon,” Lindyss said. “I’m squishy. What am I supposed to do if you brawl with her family?”
Grimmy snorted. “What do you take me for? I can be the perfect gentleman when I have to,” he said and stuck his chest out while raising his chin. “I conquered Leila’s heart, didn’t I?”