5 The one i have been following (1/2)

”Alright, looks like we are almost ready to go... What's wrong...?”

Marceus was packing his baggage to go through Ria's wind scar and start the mission with his usual upbeat attitude. He wasn't in the room when Lilith mentioned what the outcome of this journey would be so he was the only one not feeling the pressure in the atmosphere.

”Did you guys eat a rotten food or something? What's up with those faces...?”

He seemed confused so Daren tried to clear it up as vaguely as possible.

”The thing is... Lilith told us that this mission would be kinda important...”

”Really...? Is this baby dragon that big of a deal? Oh! Maybe this could mean our first step on establishing a friendship with the dragon race! Our goal to reach world peace might be finally starting to become a reality!!”

This guy really likes to dream on, is what Daren was thinking. If Lilith was right, this mission would be the one where Marceus would choose his definitive partner. Daren was both excited and afraid. If he was the chosen one he would probably have to spent the rest of his life helping this guy fulfill his child-like dream. Or so he thought but then he realized, isn't he already doing that? What exactly would change if he did got chosen?

”Hey Marceus... ”

”No talk now! I wanna start this mission as soon as possible! I always wanted to become friends with a dragon!! Let's go!”

And so he entered the wind-scar leaving the room. The other candidates looked at Daren with tense expressions. Some looked with a little pity others with slight jealousy, but most were just curious about the outcome.

”Daren don't worry.”

The ”metal man” from before, Terry, one of Daren's closest friends among the candidates, came to talk to him.

”Even if someone gets chosen, i doubt much will change overall. We all will just keep helping this lunatic complete his goal and continue helping people that need our aid. It will be fine. Just do wht you usually do.”

”... Yeah, thanks Terry.”

Ria signed to Daren that it was time to go as her scar was starting to close and opening a second one required a ton of strength from her.

”See you guys later.”

Daren, Ria, Gustav and Auren entered the scar and were teleported to the other side. Daren saw Marceus running towards the village close-by like a kid who just got called by his parents to eat dinner. The idea of befriending dragons really got him fired-up.

Daren was about to start moving in the same direction when he heard Gustav talking.

”Why are you here miss?”

Daren turned around and to his surprise Lilith had followed then through the scar.

”Lilith!? What are you doing?”

”I'm so sorry, i just couldn't help myself... I need to see if my prediction is true...”

Her prediction. Does she wanna see the chosen partner that badly...? She was the strongest candidate after all, maybe she wants to make sure someone reliable is fulfilling the role the she failed to do? As Daren was thinking about this he heard Marceus calling.

”Guys hurry up!! World peace! World peace!!”

As always, Marceus was a master in removing the tensity of a situation. Ria called out to Lilith.

”Lilith be sure not to put yourself in danger ok?”

”Yeah... I know.”

As they started to move Daren came closer to Gustav and asked a question with a low voice.

”Hey, is this fine? Has she recovered from that time?”

”She said it should be fine as long as she doesn't see blood or anything like that. For just a recovery mission it should not be a major problem... I hope.”

Daren was not a fan of this situation. Lilith was always nice to everyone around her during her time taking care of the mansion and the candidates. She was basically like a beloved sister to everyone. If something happened to her the mood of the mansion may never be the same. He let out a few words to express his frustration.

”let's just get this over with... ”

As the group reached the village they were received by the leader and directed to one of the houses where they exchanged information.

”You are just like the rumors said. I didn't expect you to come so quickly!”

The leader of the village was a man named Balden. He looked to be above thirty-five with his blond beard and shaved head. He probably doesn't know about Ria's teleportation ability. Marceus told Ria to never open a scar directly into the destination place, he doesn't want possible enemies to find out about her and try to capture her ability while she goes on her ”vacations”.

”We have our ways! Now, let's revise the objective!”

And so the discussion started. It was just like Marceus said before. Apparently one of the villagers was dumb enough to try to steal a dragon egg and lucky enough to succeed. The dragons, smelling their kid's scent would often come here to attack looking for it but the defense of the village would always manage to scare them away. But as each day passes the defenses kept getting weaker and weaker. Daren asked a question in the middle of the explanation.

”What would someone gain from stealing a dragon egg?”

”It could be anything. Maybe someone hates this place and wants the dragons to destroy it. Or maybe they're trying to raise the child so that they can have a servant dragon when it grows up. Or it could be trying to sell it to the black market. Whatever the reason is, he is putting innocents in danger so he must be stopped.”

Marceus said all that like he has been in this type of situation before. Daren keeps forgetting about Marceus's favorite line ”I already heard all the stories!”. More and more he started to believe that there might not be anything in this world that could surprise this guy.

”What time do the dragons usually attack?”

”They will be here at sunrise. The creatures use the night to recharge their fire-breath and then come to unleash it on the village without mercy. We tried to hire mages to cast a defensive barrier but we are starting to run out of money.”

Daren and the rest of the group raised their eyebrows. They looked at each other as if saying ”You guys don't think...?” to which Marceus gave a look saying ”Maybe...”.

”Can we have a few words with this mage?”

”He is not here right now. He only shows up to ask for his payment and then leaves us with a barrier to protect ourselves. At first the barriers would hold on for a whole week but it seems that casting so much power is draining him and now it only takes three days to make it break. We tried to hire other mages but we could not cover their prices.”

”Marceus... Do you think...”

”We don't have enough information to assume anything... Let's just focus on the now. We will be leaving towards the lair of the dragons soon. Everyone get ready.”

Balden was shocked when he heard that.

”The lair of the dragons!? Why would you do such a thing? Can't you just defeat the dragons right here?”

”The dragons are not in the wrong sir. I'm not gonna punish them for the mistakes a thief caused. Can the village's barrier hold for one more night?”

”... Yes... But no more... We don't have enough resources to ask for another barrier...”

”I see... Don't worry, our group will solve everything! There is nothing to fear.”