Chapter 325: Getting Away (1/2)
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Unnamed
Age: 0
Race: Lesser Emerald Dragon
Class: Lesser Emerald Dragon
Title: Summoned Creature
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[Emerald? Like the gemstone? What the hell?]
Mike had been so focused on getting his party members to safety, he'd barely noticed the oddity till now. Or rather, he'd been purposely ignoring it in favor of other things.
”...Hey Morris...have you ever heard of an Emerald Dragon?”
The bard looked at him blankly. ”As in the gemstone? I don't think so. As far as I'm aware, True Dragons are classified according to an individual element. There are a few rare varieties based on composite elements, and I think there are some legends of ones said to embody Light, Dark, and even Time and Space, but not gemstones. Are you sure it's not some variety of...pseudo-dragon or maybe an unusual kind of wyvern?”
Even Mike could tell that his friend was grasping to find an explanation.
[Did I invent a new species? I thought that was supposed to be incredibly difficult given the nature of Conjuration and Creation magic.]
”Well it's class and race are both Lesser Emerald Dragon, so I don't think so…”
The group, with the exclusion of Lily who was still looking at her potion vial in a concerning manner, turned to stare at the green scaled dragon with curiosity. At first glance it was similar to Red in shape. However, something about it seemed more graceful, elegant even.
The biggest difference was the coloration, but rather than a simple palette swap from red to green this dragon appeared to be clad in luminous sheets of the purest green which easily reflected the light of the setting sun.
[Its scales seem to have an almost crystalline quality. Maybe that's the reason for its species?]
”Doesn't it appear kind of...feminine?” Sera asked quietly. ”Like how Audra would appear when she finally grows up.”
Once again the group turned to regard the dragon, who was still impassively watching them with a patience that belied its extremely young age.
”Now that you mention it...yeah, I can see it.” Mike muttered. He sent a quick mental message to the creature, questioning it about its identity. The telepathic voice that replied definitely had a feminine quality that he'd learned to recognize among his other familiars and summoned monsters.
The contents, however, contained only pleasant befuddlement. Apparently, the dragon was unaware of any such concepts and was merely enjoying exploring the world in which she found herself.
”Yep, definitely a she. Also much more laid back than Red. I think she and Reber would get along famously.”
”Aha! I knew it!” Sera exclaimed. ”I could tell by her elegant demeanor.” She glanced around at the other members of the party. ”You know what this means, right?”
They all stared at her quizzically until Audra, who'd seen fit to poke her head out of Mike's pocket and looked around, made a small chirping noise when she noticed the larger dragon. The two reptilian creatures watched one another for a few seconds before the tiny Wyrm flew over to her bigger, but much younger, relative and landed on the Emerald Dragon's head.
Turning in place a few times, Audra gave a large yawn and then settled down into a crevice between two scales, quickly falling asleep.
After recovering from the momentary burst of cuteness, Sera coughed. ”Ahem...As I was saying, it means we need to have another naming competition for her. I can already think of a few.”
Despite feeling slightly betrayed at his familiar's sudden abandonment, Mike noted that the energy of the conversation was flowing in the wrong direction, and he decided to intervene. ”No time for that. We can take care of that decision later. For now, let's concentrate on getting away from this position.”
He turned to the dragon. ”Keep yourself out of sight for now. There are some forests to the north of here where you can hunt, just don't go too far or else you might run into the elves. I'll let you know when we need you again.”
Making sure to recover Audra, who complained about losing her new perch, Mike watched as the dragon flew off. He felt a bit uneasy about letting the summoned equivalent of a newborn wander freely in the wilderness, but he figured that there shouldn't be much that could legitimately threaten her in this area.
[I'm actually more concerned about the damage she could do to anyone she gets into a fight with...]
They set off at a rapid pace, crossing the grassy terrain with a sort of loping jog used by experienced adventurers to best take advantage of System enhanced Endurance. This proved somewhat difficult for William, who required a steady stream of energizing Life Magic in order to maintain the pace.
After a few hours of effort, Mike decided that they'd traveled far enough away to avoid detection, and selected one of the many small stands of trees that littered this section of the Riverlands before telling the rest of the party to take a break.
While he was mentally planning how he would go about setting up this hideout, Sera asked, ”Are we there already? The ocean still looks pretty far away.”
Before Mike had a chance to speak up, Morris answered for him. ”That's a bit of an optical illusion. The coastline in this area is well known for its sheer cliffs that can be deceptively close when travelling overland. You should have seen some of it when coming into Gildusi.”
”I suppose…” she muttered quietly while looking towards the horizon. ”Still, I can barely see any hint of water.”
”There's another kilometer or so before we really start hitting civilization again.” Mike added thoughtfully while beginning to inject his mana into the ground. ”Any closer and we would risk possible discovery by the locals.”
[The ground in this area is mostly composed of a relatively thin layer of soil on top of solid rock. Seems a bit strange based on what little I remember about geology, but I guess this is a fantasy world. Maybe they have magical erosion resistant soil or something.]
It didn't take much effort to carve out a few small rooms and a staircase lined with soil that had been hardened to a rock-like consistency. Once the entrance was in place, he used Life Magic to cause the surrounding brush and plant life to grow over it, disguising it from casual observers.
”That should do it for the time being.” He announced before descending the staircase and into the somewhat cramped space. As an afterthought, he conjured a small globe of light for the others to see.