The Green Dragon Utillignum led his charges through the rough and rocky mountain terrain. Dark clouds were visible far to the west, rolling over the foothills towards the Pancal mountains. The scattered trees that lay in their path parted of their own accord as Utillignum approached, providing clear and straight passage through the mountaintop. One of the dragon's charges sent the dragon another mental message. Always questions with this one, thought Utillignum.

"Utillignum, what will we be hunting?" The strange walking pile of dirt that had wormed his way into his mother's good graces shambled behind, head swaying erratically. It was understandable why Lutumocus had taken a liking to him, though. The walking dirt is something of a work of art himself, although he didn't quite fit the requirements to be taken into her horde.

The dragon rumbled its reply, not bothering to look back as it continued its trek. "Mother said I was to level you quickly as a reward, so I'll use this as practice for when I have my own children and need to strengthen their souls. You'll be trained in the style of a dragon."

Behind the walking dirt, its humans followed with proper reverence for dragon-kind. Silent and in awe of draconic majesty. The dirty effigy sent a burst of mana towards its humans, and the dignified silence of the mountaintops was broken by their chatter of reply.

The male human spoke first. "Level four human, level eighteen swordsman."

Next was the mousey human. She seemed to have a particular respect and fear for dragons, which Utillignum appreciated. "I'm, um, level five human, and level fifteen fighter. I gained a lot of levels in the dungeon."

A burst of mana also came from mother's new sword, now being held by the female human, but Utillignum didn't catch it. As soon as the replies completed, the walking dirt again sent a message to its humans. The Green Dragon was seriously considering investing some effort into learning how to intercept and decode mind mana messages. Hearing only one side of a conversation was annoying, but Utillignum wouldn't lower himself by asking to be let in on it.

Instead, he would surmise what it had asked based on replies. This time, the female spoke first. "No, humans can't evolve until level twenty in our race. The loss in stats you would suffer from not spending those levels on a class means almost nobody does it."

So the dirty little man had questioned why the humans hadn't prioritized their racial levels. A reasonable question, but the ignorance of that reply angered Utillignum, even though it was not directed at him. "Foolishness!" He couldn't help but bellow. Of course, a noble dragon couldn't just give advice to a lower lifeform without first being begged for his help.

"Utillignum, explain."

That would suffice. "Humans are shortsighted. They see only the quick and easy gain from shaping their soul, but disregard the foundation. These humans with an intricately detailed but weak soul are like trying to craft a deadly sword out of softwood. No matter how careful you are in your design, if the material is not strong enough for the task then the result will be worthless."

The muddy man, as usual, had another question. "Do you recommend only leveling species and never class?"

"Of course not! That would be akin to having the strongest material to craft with, but leaving it as an unrefined lump. Both extremes are foolish." A large clump of trees bent to the side to allow the group passage. "The correct ratio depends on the individual, and what you desire out of life. What you need to accomplish your goals."

"What are your goals?"

An interesting question, and one which the dragon had struggled with for some time. Utillignum let out a sigh that sounded like a tree falling. "I've come of age, so I need to leave soon and establish my own home. And I'll need to create my own horde. I think instead of artwork like my mother, I'll collect things of healing for the body and mind. I'd like to make a place where those who are worthy can come, from all around the world, to find the best of healing. Even the royalty of the Sapient and Abraxian societies will come to me in their times of need." The Green Dragon smiled and gazed into the sky, lost in his imagination.

"I'm surprised," commented the male human. "I didn't expect dragons to be so compassionate. From what I've heard in stories, I wouldn't expect a dragon to open a hospital."

"Make no mistake, human. I will kill and destroy to collect the finest tools of healing if I must. What I seek is the prestige of being the greatest healer, not necessarily the act of healing itself. Do you understand?" Of course, Utillignum did in fact enjoy helping others, but he would never openly admit it. Such selflessness was unbecoming. It was more healthy to focus on a greedy goal that would allow him to help people incidentally.

"Yeah, I get it." The male human crossed his arms and looked with an eyebrow raised towards Utillignum. The Green Dragon had a feeling that human had realized more than intended. Even if the human told others that the dragon Utillignum is selfless, he could just deny it, though. There was probably no need to eat him.

The dirt man sent another question. "Would you like me to supply you injured lifeforms for you to heal? I know of methods to efficiently convert uninjured lifeforms into injured lifeforms so that you can heal them. I can supply large volumes of damaged beasts in exchange for rewards."

What a disturbing thought. A hospital that made its own victims in order to justify its own existence. "No, I don't think we'll be making any deal of that sort." Utillignum paused for a moment in thought. Injured animals would be useful in experimenting with newly acquired tools or training underlings in healing techniques. "Actually, I might have use for such a service in the future. That will have to wait until I've established my new home, though."

This time the dirty man did not reply, and the group continued through the forest.

The three rainbow robed assassins stood on the lip of a massive crater to the east of Geltheas. Torrential rain fell from the sky, slowly filling the shallow pit with water. The pink-haired and chocolate skinned girl lowered herself into a squat to look down into the pit. Reaching to the side, she picked up a rock and chucked it into the slowly forming pond in the center, sending up a splash of water. "This is where the house was supposed to be, right bonehead?"

"Don't, tsssss, call me that." The tall, pale man looked around the area, squinting through the rain. His vibrant robe was soaked through, streams of water flowing down the human bones he had sewn to it. He lifted a thin arm to point to a particularly deep section of the crater, off-center from the rest. "That part, tssssss, is square. Structure there was destroyed?"

The oldest of the three tapped the side of his head in thought, his other hand holding his elbow. "This crater appears to be the result of some powerful attack. That matches reports of the sounds of a powerful explosion east of town on the day of the invasion. But even an attack that could do all this wouldn't have been able to destroy all evidence of a basement that's even lower than the impact crater. No, the reason that the home of Cithlar is missing is likely not a direct result of whatever made this pit."

"Maybe the house just walked away." The pink-haired girl chucked another rock into the waters below.

"That's, tsssss... actually possible." The bonehead let in a wheezing gasp. "Cithlar was a skilled engineer." He seemed genuinely shocked that his associate had given a good idea.

"Flight would be more likely, but certainly moving houses are not unheard of." The older assassin slowly floated into the air. He hovered over the pit and above the square foundation pit, looking around the area for any further clues. "Oh my, it seems Pumare was on to something. I see some indents in the ground near the pit, and..." The older man trailed off as he flew towards the woods outside the crater edge. "The path continues. We have a trail to follow."

The older man floated back to the ground, landing beside his associates. "Let's go."

Pumare jumped up to protest. "Can't we wait in town until this storm passes? I'm soaked! And I wouldn't mind getting some coffee and something sweet to eat."

"No, we can't, tsssss, allow the trail to grow cold."

"What about me growing cold? Why's some trail more important than your friend? Besides, how fast can a house run anyway?"

"Friend?" The thin man had a complicated expression on his face.

"Enough. We're leaving now. You can have all the sweets you want when we execute the construct."

"Fine." Pumare crossed her arms and pouted. "But you're paying."

The trio pushed through the storm, following the trail of gouges in the into the woods.

"Here we are!" Utillignum announced as the group neared a long crack in the mountain. The split was deep, and the afternoon sun couldn't light its full depth. Even Mud's superior runic vision could not see the bottom. Considering the lack of other notable nearby topography, Mud assumed that this pit contained their quarry.

Mud sent a mental message to their draconic guide. "Utillignum, what will we be hunting within this crevice?"

"Basilisks," the dragon replied quickly.

The scarred human reacted with uncharacteristic shock. "Basilisks!? Are you trying to kill us?"

Novus reacted with much more expected shock, as that appeared to be her default reaction to any new information. "Cob's right, there's no way we can take on a Basilisk nest."

Both humans appeared to have a considerable fear of Basilisks. Mud decided to check its Almanac to find out why.

Mud had to admit that this was considerably beyond its risk threshold. "Utillignum, this is unacceptably dangerous. We will find something else to hunt."

"If you can not handle risk, you should not have asked a dragon for training. You have only your own foolishness to blame. I have said I will train you as a dragon, and I do not go back on my word!" Before Mud could argue further, Utillignum grabbed the entire group and threw them into the crevice. As they fell, the dragon's rumbling voice echoed down behind them. "If you attempt to flee before slaying the Basilisks within these caves, I will eat you for attempting to make me a liar. Overcome this trial, and become mighty."