"Dorian." He held out his hand, introducing himself. He hadn't bothered using his full name, Dorian Wright, for any of his previous introductions, so he wouldn't start now.
"Mira." The woman replied, taking his hand and shaking it. Dorian couldn't sense any ill intent from her either. Instead, she looked at him curiously, her eyes glowing faintly with jade light.
–
Species: Wise Jade Dragon (Humanoid Form)
Class – King Class (Early)
Maximum Energy Level: 497,221
–
'Another Dragon… though she's a bit weaker than the other one. Still much stronger than me. Wow.' He'd met his first two Dragons on the same day.
BOOOOM
Another shockwave rang out from above, shaking the damaged wooden rafters of the restaurant.
"Ugh. Damn it, Aiden." The beautiful woman swore as she jumped upward, towards the hole in the roof. Her movements were graceful and delicate, a thing of beauty.
"Sorry. Let's talk after we stop them." She looked at him apologetically as she sailed onto the roof.
Dorian looked around at the badly damaged restaurant before shrugging. He jumped up and joined her.
Two blurred figures could be seen about a hundred meters down the street, jumping and leaping at each other. Everytime they collided, they would destroy anything in their immediate vicinity, sending stone and timber into the air.
By this point, most of the bystanders had fled. In the distance, Dorian could make out several armored warriors, the City Guard of this city, staring at the scene of battle at a loss.
Dorian couldn't blame them. A fight of this scale wasn't something a small city like this could handle. He didn't even think there were any Lord Class Wizards here at all, not even the local City Lord.
The difference between the Grandmaster Class and the Lord Class was enormous.
'Hyperion Beam. Activate!' Dorian began to draw energy from his surroundings, his eyes calm as he watched the ongoing fight. A small ball of black energy began to condense, just off of his right hand.
"AIDEN! Stop fighting! It's not needed!" Her voice held thunder in it as she yelled loudly. She turned and stared at Dorian as he activated his Hyperion Beam Ability, surprise in her eyes.
BOOOOM
Several more seconds passed as the two continued to spar. Leader's eyes were cold as he threw out blow after blow, showing off his hand to hand combat skill.
Aiden, the Golden Flame Dragon, responded in kind, unleashing blow after blow. Every punch he shot out carried a tremendous amount of force, so much so that Leader chose to dodge and avoid them while counteracting with punches of his own.
Their movements and blows were far too strong for the surroundings to contain. A full third of the visible street had been torn up by them.
'How rude…' Dorian mentally thought, staring at the destruction.
'Do you know how much it cost to pave a road? On earth, it's like a million dollars a mile, and that isn't even considering the damage you two are doing to the rest of the city.' He felt mildly displeased. It might be normal for them to disregard the affairs of normal mortals, but he couldn't help but feel a small gripe in his heart.
'Black Flames. Activate!' The small ball of energy that was constantly increasing was now covered in writhing draconic Black Flames.
"AIDEN, I SAID STOP!" Mira's voice contained a hint of fury as she stamped her foot. An Aura began to form around her, one that carried with it a calm, peaceful feeling, the opposite of her tone.
"Listen to the girl, lizard. Don't get cocky or you might die." Leader's voice contained a hint of mockery as he blasted backwards away from the golden-scaled humanoid. He grinned as he spoke, his feet stamping twice as he landed down on the paved stone street, the impact putting small cracks in the ground.
"Do you think I couldn't destroy you if I wanted to? You are merely an insect to me. The only reason you're still alive is because I've held back." Arrogance and irritation rolled of Aiden's voice as he spat out a response, his golden eyes flashing with real anger.
"HAH!" Leader barked out a laugh,
"Is that right?" Leader clasped his hands together, his eyes turning serious. The colorful Aura that surrounded him began to intensify.
"Summoning Magic: Ruler's Bow."
An aged wooden bow appeared in Leader's hands.
Aiden's eyes flashed with fury. Immediately, the golden Aura around him began to intensify, growing stronger and stronger.
WHOOSH
Just as the two were about to re-engage, a bar of black light shot across the street, melting the air between the two. Black Flames shot off this bar of light, splintering through the pair and forcibly splitting the two fighters apart.
"That's enough, Leader." Dorian called out, his voice calm and authoritative.
"As you command, Great Lord." Leader leapt backwards, the rainbow Aura that surround him slackening. The bow he'd summoned vanished as if it had never been here.
"Dragonfire?" Aiden's eyes widened as he looked at the Black Flames, and then at Dorian in shock. The golden light surrounding him faded in intensity.
"Thank you! Aiden, knock it off! We're here to talk!" Mira leapt up into the air, landing down on the ground next to Aiden in a hurry. She put her hands on her chest, glaring at him.
"Alright, alright." Aiden held his hands up, shrugging nonchalantly.
Around them, faint screams and whimpers echoed out as people that had been injured in the fray called for help. More than a dozen shops and homes had been partially destroyed, and much of the stone pavement was devastated. The entire area had been forced into a ruin.
'Do you all not care for the common people at all? I guess they are Dragons, after all.' Dorian's mouth twisted slightly as he saw all of this.
"Fine, let's talk." Aiden waved at Dorian.
"Hold on." Dorian held his hand up. He then walked over to one of the partially destroyed homes, where he heard cries for help.
It was the original linen shop that Leader had been smacked into.
"Arrrgh! Help me, please!" A woman's cries echoed faintly from the smashed wooden storefront.
Without hesitation, Dorian stepped forward and began tossing aside pieces of wood.
Even in his Human form, he still had an incredibly robust physique thanks to his Soul Spell Matrix. Moving aside large chunks of wood that weighed hundreds of pounds was easy.
It took him just a few seconds to uncover the source of the voice. A middle-aged woman who had been pinned under a broken wooden pillar. She looked up at Dorian with eyes full of gratefulness as she thanked him profusely. She was bleeding lightly from a small wound on the forehead, but apart from that seemed to be in good health.
Dorian helped her out, making sure she was alright.
Off to the side, he could make out armored warriors creeping in and civilians rushing to help those that had been injured or look over homes that had been damaged.
He turned to face the golden-eyed man.
"Help me clear out all the damage you two caused first. Then we will talk."
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Miraculously, no one had died as a result of the spar between Leader and Aiden. Several shops and homes were damaged, including the street, but among the bystanders, there were only minor injuries, a few broken bones, and random bruises.
Dorian had helped rescue everyone, as had Leader, faithfully following him. Mira went off and helped move aside some of the rubble, while Aiden watched coldly for a minute before joining in after Mira glared at him.
Dorian had also settled everything with the guards. He was a relatively wealthy man, now, and directly paid for the damages. Leader was his subordinate, for now, and he held at least some responsibility.
He also wanted to avoid any confrontations with these strange Dragons and simply settled it out of hand.
The ruler of the city, a Grandmaster Class Wizard known as Ponto, had gratefully accepted the funds, with a stern promise and threat from Dorian to spend it correctly.
Soon, they relocated, this time to a spot outside the city. The city they'd just left was located in the middle of a huge forest, not too far from the World Bridge to Lansc.
Right now, they were standing in a small clearing, in between a large collection of dark green trees. The sounds of the forest life spread out around them, teeming.
"So what is it? Why do you wish to talk to us?" Dorian touched his Spatial Ring lightly, making sure it was there. He readied himself to draw upon the Artifacts he'd gained at a moment's notice, ready for anything. Leader stood next to him, leaning against a small tree.
The Wise Jade Dragon Mira stepped forward, looking directly at Dorian. The other Dragon, Aiden, stood several meters behind her, his arms crossed as he glared at Leader.
"Would you mind if just us two talked, Dorian?" She gestured with her hands at Aiden and Leader.
Dorian glanced at them and then shrugged, nodding.
Mira withdrew what looked like a small, upside down grey bowl. Some type of Magic Artifact. She tapped the top of the bowl lightly.
WHOOSH
A warm grey light spread from the bowl, slowly expanding out in a circular shape. This light moved and expanded, enveloping Dorian and Mira, as well as everything within a couple meters of them.
The sounds of the forest, the slight breeze that was blowing, the animals and bugs moving about, faded away. The Artifact seemed to create some type of giant bubble that blocked out sound. When the light covered him, he didn't feel anything strange. Merely, all other sound vanished.
"Sorry for the trouble, this is a rather private matter that I would like leaked to as few people as possible." Mira gave him an apologetic smile.
Dorian simply stared at her, his head tilted slightly in confusion.
"Alright. Well, you have me here. I don't think I know you, at all, or have any relation to you." He held his hands to the side,
"What can I do for you?" He said, nodding politely.
Mira took his words and nodded back,
"You don't know me. However, you and I, we are connected in Fate." Mira began, staring at him intently. She hesitated for a moment, looking as if she was about to make an important decision,
"Have you ever heard the name 'Lady Ausra' before?"
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
"So, Arial. What exactly were you doing out here, all alone?" Helena asked, looking at the petite fox girl with a warm smile.
"Well, I wanted to get a look at the Ascension Ruins and the giant turtle that carries them. The Blazing King's public report says that it should be appearing any day now." Arial's voice came out almost in a sing-song fashion as she responded, smiling back.
They were both sitting on the ground in Helena's tent. The tent was large, several meters wide. A comfortable fur carpet covered the ground, while several glowing magic Ice Rocks lined the sides, keeping it cool. A set of chairs and a table rested in the middle of the tent, ones both of them were sitting at.
"Oh? I have a friend that wants to do something similar. A worthy reason to be here. You might want to be a bit more careful next time, however, maybe join a team that is intent on exploring it." Helena replied back, picking up a small wine glass from the table in front of her. It was a perfect replica of the wine glass Highlord Marcus used.
She took a small sip from it, relishing the taste. She tried to relish the taste, anyway. She didn't actually like wine and thought it tasted gross. The Highlord liked it, however, so there had to be something to it.
"Hahaha, Helena, you're not wrong!"
After picking up Arial, Helena had made the elective decision to not inform the fox girl that they were hunting for her. There was no need to explain their purpose, it was much more simple to just keep her here with an excuse.
Luckily, she hadn't actually needed to say anything at all. Arial had decided to stay with their camp on her own, instead of continuing on to the Tomo Oasis City on her own. While they were still a few dozen miles from it, those miles were relatively short and safe.
"I also had a friend who wanted to do the same." The normally sing-song voice of the fox girl seemed to catch as she spoke, a hint of regret, and what Helena thought was self-hatred, present.
"I'm sure you'll find him or her." Helena automatically moved to comfort her, picking up on it.
Just as she was about to continue, an odd, wavering sound echoed in the air, alongside a few shouts.
KYEEAAAAA
WHOOSH
"Careful!"
"We have incoming!"
Helena jumped up, her eyes flashing,
"They're here."
"Wait here, Arial!" Her voice was rough as she dashed out of the tent, a powerful Aura rippling off her in waves.
Leaving Arial alone, her hands resting on the table at the center of Helena's tent.
A flash of light appeared in her eyes as she looked out the flap where Helena had just run. She snapped her fingers lightly.
Immediately, a small dagger made of pure light appeared, glowing dimly.
"I'll wait… for now." Arial whispered quietly,
"I'll wait."
.
Author's Note: We got some really cool fan art today! ?
Arial – https://i.imgur.com/u0jE6kd.jpg
Helena – https://i.imgur.com/QP99mwN.jpg
Big thanks to the artist, Rei Chei!
And another drawing, by Termy
Helena – https://i.imgur.com/cLnj9fz.jpg
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