[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]

"Sir Azure! We are almost there, Our Dragon clan's stronghold is within the Green Dragon mountain range… hah…"

Retracting the 'Lightning Cloud Longsword' and looking ahead as I heard the voice of the panting 'team leader', I felt slightly disappointed as I saw the peculiar mountain range that was covered in green right ahead of us, it seemed like our small trip was going to come to an end.

[Level: 117]

'What a shame…'

Looking at my current status and observing my level and my EP bar, I was somewhat dissatisfied with the limited levels I managed to obtain due to the short time we spent on the road, but there was no point in being greedy considering that my main target was to reach our destination in order to obtain information.

On the other hand, the eyes of the two half-dragons were shining with delight. After all, even though they seemed to be quite resilient and the trip didn't last long as well, running constantly at top speed while avoiding the Corrupted that were strangely bent on specifically attacking them was more than enough to exhaust them both mentally and physically, not to mention that they had already gone through a similar chase on the way to my landing spot.

"Mhm."

Dismissing my thoughts and suppressing my urge to give them a pat for the amount of effort they poured just to become my 'guides', I nodded before taking a few steps forward.

Fortunately, as soon as we stepped foot between the green mountains, the Corrupted seemed to be naturally repelled by something as they stopped following us.

"Huh… hah… I thought I was a goner for a second there, those gray-skinned crazies are really increasing in both numbers and strength recently, we really wouldn't have been able to make it back without sir Azure's help… heh…"

As the half-dragon pair stopped to catch their breath, I took the chance to observe the peculiar green mountains.

'This is quite abnormal…'

The reason behind the mountains' color was indeed according to my earlier expectations, they were wholly covered in bright green grass!

Though there were indeed such phenomena back on earth where vegetation grew on mountains, it was impossible to find a whole mountain range wholly covered in it, the land it rose from included.

'Hmmm…'

What made it more mystical was the fact that as soon as I grabbed a handful of grass out of the base of the mountain that were standing to its side to check it out, a new batch immediately grew in its place as if it was refusing to leave a spot empty!

"Oh, it seems that even sir Azure seems to be fascinated by the Green Dragon mountain range's natural property! It's said it was created due to the influence of one of our great ancestors!"

Seeing that I was checking the grass, the younger half-dragon seemed to be excited to tell me what he knew, which in turn made me more interested in this matter.

The only dragon that came to mind which would be capable of creating such an environment just due to his influence was naturally the Green Dragon who I recently met with its gift, but that was exactly why it didn't make sense.

Were all dragons capable of spatial travel just like their 'Ancestor'? And even if they were able to, Why would the Green Dragon who seemed to have an inseparable tie with the nature domain even reside here? or was this just a story that the Dragon Clan made up to show the greatness of their bloodline?

Regardless, the persisting 'magical' effect was indeed too fascinating to be a result of a normal natural phenomenon, and the two half-dragons did indeed have the Green Dragon's bloodline within them, so there should be at least some truth to their story.

"I do sense a sense of familiarity for some reason, but there is no need to overthink things at the moment, I would be grateful if you immediately guide me to our destination after you rest for a bit."

"Of course!"

While I could sense that we were very close to a big gathering of living beings which should be the stronghold we were headed to, I still needed the two 'guides' help to introduce me to their 'elder' in order to easily obtain information as well as finish the quest's second objective so I simply said some nonsense to follow up on my 'mysterious identity' and continued waiting with my eyes closed…

`~~`~~`~~`

After resting for less than 5 minutes, the two half-dragons led me through a few mountains before we finally reached the Dragon Clan's Stronghold!

Surprisingly, the stronghold that I expected to be some sort of brick fortress city actually turned out to be completely different, it was almost more suitable to call it a flourishing forest instead!

Even though it was situated in a spot of land that was closed by mountains from all directions, the whole place seemed like a city made of trees, the houses and buildings were also built into huge trees, it was more similar to the city of the elves mentioned in fantasy stories.

Still, after taking a few more looks at the whole place, it seemed like it indeed deserved its name as a stronghold. After all, the trees that stood guard over the whole spot of land only served to furthermore strengthen the defenses brought by the cover of mountains, no wonder it didn't fall even though the whole domain seemed to be full of Corrupted…

"Kane! You actually managed to come back! Come on in and go get checked for injuries. Must have been hard on you to go on this mission to check nothing but a sca-"

As soon as we came close to the small gate that was made on the foot of one of the surrounding trees, the spear holding half-dragon that seemed to be one of the guards waved towards the 'team leader' as he let out some words, only for his mouth to freeze as his eyes landed on me...