Chapter 24: Soaring sky
Year 121 of Nortus
"Hey mister, don't you think that you are going too soft on me?"
Clang! Clang! Swoosh! Clang
"Nah, you are doing fine. I am all out my techniques"
Clang! Swoosh! Clang!
"Can I take a break?"
"Well, I am gonna wait here"
I have to say that her movements are quite faster than I used to as a drake lord. This human body is quite easier to maneuver but some movements just need more power to perform it, especially the ramming thrust. That movement requires whole body mass in order to achieve maximum destructive power.
I don't want to shape shift during fights since there might be some eyes witnessing things they shouldn't. Shape shifting during fights gives me a huge advantage in terms of changing body mass, center of mass, dodging and most importantly unpredictable.
"Let's do one more round" she stands up
"One, two..." I dash forward with murderous intent
Surprisingly, she manages to evade that. I change the direction of my spear to her head. She ducks and tries to ram her head to my belly. I take my footing and bounce backward.
And my knee touches her chin. She is knocked out.
I have to drag her back home once again from this training ground.
****
"Don't you think you went too hard on Alira,
"At least she is way better than those newbies I had trained with so far, right?"
"Anyway, next week, there will be some newcomers from the fort. Here is the list. Remember, do not come back to this guild with another bloody gruesome corpse. Some people here got scarred by the last time you brought five corpses with their arms inside their mouths" she clenches her hand.
"Can't promise that but I am looking forward to testing those newbies."
I whistle out a folk song
[
Come out and kill me now
Do not break your own vow
There can be only one out
In the arena of Naguma
]
Naguma was my hometown when I was a drake. That place was notorious for elitism. The one who flies can be a noble and the one who doesn't can be only a slave. Ground drakes are known for strength, they can wear the heaviest armor without breaking a sweat and can wield a weapon as heavy as 3 times themselves. I was once one of those who can wield a masterpiece halberd as heavy as 5 drakes combined with one hand.
I wonder if Naguma still exists after all these centuries
****
The wind seems to be stronger today. Looks like it wants to cut someone alive but yet it is not cutting anything. Alira is still not awake yet. All my damned lives hadn't been to the sky once before, right? But today, it feels like it. A jester only knew how to entertain people, a dwarven hunter only knew how to track his prey and a ground drake lord only knew how to fight.
Flying seems to be like a fantasy heh? I did use my body in bird form to fly but it doesn't feel like it. The feeling of admiring the sky is just something that someone who can't fly gets a chance to fly. I lost that feeling since when?
The time that I became like this or is it the time that I died?
Not once but three at the same time.
I wonder if I should let Alira know the feeling of the sky or not? Perhaps, I should tame a wyvern in a certain drake's territory. The one which is close to this human village should be Ashima.
Even though I was not a lord near Ashima, I heard from rumors that Ashima is the harshest village of all drake's villages. Since it has borders with the Wolfskin Orc tribe, this village Nakiel and elven village Carilen. Near the Wolfskin tribe is the notorious war-hungry Black Fang tribe. Orcs are pretty much scattered on this Rethanal continent but they always find a way to get a meeting once every ten years. That meeting is a way to settle disputes among orcs for over 300 years. I read this information while in this local library. If orcs don't find a way to settle the power struggle, well the surrounding races would get a lot of troubles too.
"Mister, how long have I been passed out?"
"Few minutes?"
"What happened during that?"
"Can you take care of few newcomers?"
"Is it because you make people scared of you?"
"No"
"Then explain the amount of retirement trends these recent years?"
"It is because they are not mentally trained"
"Isn't that you are the reason?"
"No"
"Even tho that receptionist told me?"
"...No..."
"Why is that hesitation?"
"Anyway, have you gotten anything new from that alchemist I introduced to you back then?"
"Since then, nothing"
"I knew that you are not good with those magical cauldrons"
"Speaking of now, can you get off me?"
"Fine" she releases me
"And stop distracting me from the other topic, tell me why?"
"Fine, she is an unreliable source of news so do not trust everything she says"
"Including the five corpses incident?"
"Eh… "
"Including pig butchering someone alive at the gallows publicly?"
"Let's talk about other topics, okay?"
"Including the head spike dance at the tavern?"
"I was wrong while doing those"
"Good, now promise me not to do those things?"
"Why?"
"I care for people's mental health here" she frowns
"Fine, I promise not to do those things publicly" I raise my left pinky finger
"Good, I can't stop you doing that privately"
"Anyway, I am thinking about going for a flight. Wanna go to Ashima?"
"For what?"
"Riding a wyvern"
"Aren't they rumored to be very hot for humans?"
"Those are lies, trust me. Their skin is just cool as lake in autumn"
"Have you ever ridden them before?"
"Few times"
"I trust you"
****
We are on the road to Ashima for two reasons: one is to ride a wyvern and two is to sell these crates of fresh fishes. To be fair, I have to rush or these crates will spoil in one or two more days. Fortunately, the only way to extend their freshness is to be buried in ice that was made by those magicians.
"Alira, do you see anything unnatural?"
"No, but the last trip was kind of too gruesome. They expected to capture be as a hostage but things went sour for them"
"Yeah..."
"Anyway, once we are at the gate, what is your plan?"
"Show them the goods and go through?"
"Are you sure about it,
"Yes."
"Battle junkies will never change huh?"
"Stop saying nonsense."
"Doubt that was nonsense"
****
The camping seems peaceful. I am taking on a full guard shift. Alira is sleeping peacefully near the campfire.
Sharpening dagger, maintaining gun and carving some stakes.
I hear something strange but it won't be a threat since I lay snares.
Swoosh! Thack!
One is triggered
Well, I hope it is a rabbit or something to eat.
****
As expected, a small animal, a hog cub. This should be edible for the next meal but this one is too small to be eaten. So I release it back
I am going back to the camp and continue my watch.
****
"Mister, did you catch anything?" She yawns
"Small hog, not worth to eat" I smother the fire
"Just pack up and go to Ashima quickly" She stands up and packs the tent
"Alright hop on" I tie the gear
****
I whip the goats and look at the road.
It is just a plain rocky road.
Until
"Stop! We need to check your goods, merchant" A drake guard point at me
"Alright, it is just fish as your lord demanded" I raise both hands
"Suspicious weapons. What are those?" Another point at my gears
"Jagged dagger, staff, spear and a gun" I smile
"Nothing destructive huh? The last time, we had to kill a terrorist who brought an explosive device. It was a human so we have to check every human merchant and traveller"
"This crate reeks out smoke. What in those?" a drake guard stomp his spear
"Ice, keeping the fish fresh" I still hold my hands in air
"Hand over all
"Okay, all of them in this bag. Be careful, they are fragile and very expensive"
"We have fire immunity and we are the best item keepers around"
"You may pass. Duels are allowed but no cheating"
"Yaddy yah. I got it"
"They allow fighting in this village?" Alira whispers to me
"Yes, but I recommend not to do it" I whisper to her
****
"Fish seems fresh. Three crates, a bar of gold." A drake clerk writes on his paper
"Seems unfair, They are the earliest crates from the port and we rushed our way here"
"Fine, add a bar of silver to the deal"
"Deal."
I shake his hand.
They unload our goods.
To be fair, they use gold and silver for exchanging goods with other races. Mythril is very hard to melt by normal means so it is mostly worthless to others. Some dwarves accept it because they are either master blacksmith or a lunatic metal collector. Each mythril bar comes with a strange color pattern so that is why, mythril collecting is a very expensive hobby for a dwarf.