Adalwolf sits in his chair atop the guard tower, cursing himself for making the fifth and highest floor his office. The view in front of him is great, what with its massive windows and an enchanting view of the sea and port. Unfortunately, the sun is currently setting, meaning that its glare is directly focused on him. That would be almost as much of an annoyance as having to deal with the situation before him.

“So let me get this straight, Lin here,” he points towards a little tigress girl as she sits on Valen’s lap,” found out about a kidnapping from a child in an alley. She followed the boy until he showed her where his kidnapped mother was. From there, she decided that it would be best to infiltrate the building on her own…….instead of informing the guards,” he asks, squinting at Lin.

Lin shifts on Valen’s lap “Diva came with me, so it was ok,” she quips, smiling cutely at the wolfman.

“Indeed,” Diva answers from Valen’s right,” she was completely safe with me around,” she nods adamantly, complete confidence in her ability as a guard.

Adalwolf sighs as he scratches the fur on his head, turning his head left, away from the sun's glare. Unfortunately, his mood does not brighten at all since he is faced with a regal Gang, back resting on the wall; his hand covering his mouth as he attempts to suppress a laugh.

“Ughnhhhhh,” Adalwolf groan’s, putting his head in the palm of his clawed hand.

“And if Lin here is to be believed,” he starts,” is that a 5-year-old girl single-handedly took out over a hundred guards, freed the prisoner, and destroyed their base of operations,” he says, eyes squinting at the little girl, a cheeky smile on her face.

“Yup,” Lin nods in acknowledgment,” I even left the Leader for Diva so she can test out her new sword.”

Adalwulf slowly rubs tears from his eyes, cursing internally at the sun's glare and the painful situation he is forced in. Before he can ask another question, Valen interrupts with a smile.

“From what I learned from Lin is that the women were bleeding into a basin of crystals, apparently turning them red. Can you elaborate on what was happening?” Valen asks the wolfman.

Blinking the tears away, he turns to Valen.” As you know, monster crystals are used for enchanting, with stronger crystals allowing for more powerful enchants. But stronger crystals can normally only be gotten from powerful and deadly beasts,” he pauses, thinking over his next words, head facing towards the desk, limiting light exposure to his eyes.” Unfortunately, there is a thing called blood crystals. These crystals are soaked in fresh, mana enriched blood of an elf.”

“Only an elf?” Valen asks.

Adalwolf nods slowly.” Bloodroot, an illegal drug, when mixed with certain ingredients, turns into a purple liquid color. If consumed by an elf, their mana is quickly forced from their bodies and concentrated into their blood.”

“So,” Valen interrupts,” A health potion that extracts mana from a person's body to increase healing would be fatal. That’s why you told me not to give her a healing potion.”

“Correct,” Adalfwolf answers, smiling at the young man's quick understanding of the situation.

“Now if this Bloodroot extract or whatever its called were to touch a crystal, what would happen?”

Moving his clawed hand over his eyes, he squints at the man, trying to understand what he’s getting at.”Well, that would cause the crystals to become unstable, causing an explo--shit!” he yells, realizing the situation.

“Fucking hell, the council is going to have my ass for this,” he exclaims frustratingly.

Sitting back into his seat, Adalwulf sighs loudly, his eyes looking at the ceiling.” Amazonian,” he says, eyes still focusing on the sealing. “You killed off the leader of an organization that has been killing my people for apparent ages, considering the number of crystals we found,” he says, lowering his head towards the Amazonian,” Give me your mercenary card so I may give you a reward,” he exclaims with one eye shut, the other squinting.

Diva merely leans her head in confusion,” I do not have a card.” she answers back.

“What?” Adalwolf blurts out,” Did you not start your pilgrimage half a year ago?” he asks confused.

“No, I…...entered the wrong departing ship….and found myself on the wrong continent,” Diva answers with a neutral expression, only Valen noticing the slightly reddened cheeks of the Amazonian.

Waving exasperatingly at the confusing individuals to recently make port, he points at Diva.” Tell my secretary below this floor to give you a form which will wave the fee for a new mercenary card.”

Diva quickly glares angrily at wolfkin “I do not need your pity.” she seethes.

Before the situation can get out of control, Valen interrupts.

“Diva, It is Adalwolf’s job to stop criminals. He is offering you an apology in compensation for having someone like yourself be forced into a fight against such a weakling. He merely feels shame and hopes for your forgiveness,” Valen explains, Gang almost choking from laughter in the shaded corner of the room.

“I see,” Diva answers slowly, her anger abating quickly.”Then I accept your apology,” she nods towards the wolfman's confused expression.

“Please…..just leave,” he answers, rubbing the temples of his head.

“I defeated a lot of villains, too,” Lin quips from her seat” Shouldn't I get some kind of pri--Mhmmmmmmm,” Valen quickly covers Lin’s mouth as he gets off the seat, carrying Lin outside the office.

As soon as the four leave the room, Valen lets go of Lin’s mouth, wiping the drool away on his pants.”I deserve a reward,” Lin says, pouting as she follows Valen down the stairs.

“And you will.” Valen answers,

”You and I are going shopping tomorrow morning,” he exclaims to the tigress.

“Really!, Yaaaayyyyy,” she squeals with a bright smile.

“Well then,” Gang interrupts, an amused smile on his lips,” I will be going to the mercenary guild,” he turns to Diva, “ would you like to go with me and get your card made?” he asks the Amazonian.

Diva merely nods after getting a nod from her employer.

“Why can’t we go shopping right now,” Lin asks as they exit the building, heading towards their ship.

“Because the sun is almost gone and David still needs to give me the cut of the profits,” he explains to her.

Nodding, Lin grabs Valens hand, tightly holding it as the two head towards the docks. “Lin…..I feel like I am forgetting something,” Valen says aloud, trying to remember what.

_______________________________________________________________________

On the other side of the city, far from the docks, a dwarf looks around warily.

“Where the fuck am I!” David yells angrily, the tall wooden buildings making it difficult for him to find his way.

“Fucking stupid cities with their lack of organization and signs,” he growls frustratingly.

___________________________________

The beast-kin freeze in fear as they stare at the massive face of a predator, its teeth causing the torchlight to dance menacingly off its bloody surface.

Garren quickly grabs his hammer, taking a stance, mana flows through his body, intertwining his muscles, eyes glowing with power.

The ground rumbles as the massive predator approaches, a ghastly sight meets Garren’s eyes.

A dragon, but a terribly deformed one. It's left fore and back legs are completely missing as stone legs connect to the dragons stumps. Half the dragons ribs are visible from the stomach while the face and body have a lot of missing scales. The left eye is completely gray, clearly having lost its sight.

The dragon takes another step closer, Garren taking a step back as he notices only one wing, the other a stump.

“You have impressive control over your internal mana,” the voice exclaims, coming from the walls,” but I am a Dragon of the earth, and you all are in my domain,” the dragon exclaims confidently, the voice coming from the stone with unprecedented hidden power.

The dragons deformed face smiles as his one eye gaze into Garren's soul. “Do not worry,” the dragon starts,” I will allow you all to leave my home peacefully,” he exclaims.”

Though stricken with fear, Garren gulps, the sound relatively noticeable from the overarching silence.”Why,” he asks, arms shaking with fear.

The Dragons mouth opens in an amused smile, which only looks more deadly has blood drips from his teeth.

“Most people will either attack or run at the mere sight of me,” the ground vibrates with sound,” but you speak.” The dragon laughs, the sound menacing and powerful.” It has been over ten thousand years since I have spoken with a mortal, so I will amuse you and answer your question.”

The massive dragon lifts his head up, mana slowly lighting the stalagmites on the top of the cave, allowing his fully damaged self to become visible; including a long slender tail with many missing scales.” You bear……..and you monkey,” the dragon voices through the stone,” have the smell of a newborn on your furs…….and children should never have to grow up without their parents,” the dragon exclaims, a hint of sadness in his voice.” So I am giving you a chance to preserve your lives.”

Silence emanates as Garren swallows the dragon's words.

Taking a deep breath he releases the hold on his mana. Fighting his instincts, he lowers his hammer to the ground, takes a step forward, and falls on one knee. The other beast-kin gasp in surprise, but Garren gives them no mind.

“I am Garren, leader of this expedition. Great dragon, we entered your domain in challenge of the orcs that have raided and attempted to enslave my people. I ask for forgiveness and hope that we could come to some kind of an arrangement.”

The dragon eyes the kneeling bear-kin critically, listening closely to his frantic heartbeats, noticing no lie in his words.

“What is it that you want, and what do you offer.”

Without missing a beat, Garren lifts his head towards the dragon.

“My kind wishes to use your cavern...your home...as a means to travel towards the ocean. In exchange, we will bring you food from the beasts and animals we hunt as well as other objects that you may wish for.”

The dragon's eye starts to gaze at the other beast-kin…..sensing fear…..and hope.

“Ten thousand years ago, I fought against others of my kind, and in doing so, found myself drastically wounded. I hid from my pursuers underground, where I have slept to recover….until a few months ago, when those pathetic orcs found me, awakening me from my slumber.”

His tail swished with glee “I slaughtered them….continuously, filling my belly with meat, slowly calming me down.” the dragon swishes his tail as he contemplates.

“Food will indeed let me recover faster from my wounds…..but it will still take a very long time. What I truly need is the core of another dragon; his crystal would allow me to quickly replenish my body. At that point, I will no longer need this mountain,” the dragon exclaims excitedly; the idea of taking to the skies again quickly improving his mood.

“Then a trade,” Wukong interrupts, taking the same kneeling stance as Garren,” We plan to clear out those orcs and build a prospering port. If we ever find a dragon crystal, we will use our newfound wealth to retrieve it and hand it over to you.”

The dragon pauses, his senses probing the new individual.

“Honesty…..is something all dragons respect greatly,” The voice rumbles slowly,” and for that, you have earned my respect.”

The dragon’s eye starts to glow stronger as an entire wall slowly caves away. A tunnel opens up, a strong breeze entering the dragon's domain.

“I….Aurelion, molder of earth, breaker of metals, accept your proposal, beast-kin,” he promptly raises his head, mouth opens widely and releases a dragon's roar. A sound shockwave extends in all directions, letting the world know a deal has been struck, as is the dragons way.

Garren and Wukong slowly stand up, their bodies shaken from both fear and exhilaration.

“Now then, that passage will lead you towards a hidden outcrop where the orcs have no vision of. I suggest attacking during the night, as they will not be expecting it.” Aurelion explains, the sound coming from him significantly less imposing.

Nodding slowly, Garren and Wukong turn to travel through the new passage.

“One other thing Garren,” Aurelion calls out. “ I believe this one is yours?” he asks, mana dispersing from his body, turning a large stone next to the entrance of the cavern into sand.

As soon as the stone disappears, a small squeal can be heard from beside it.

Looking towards the sound, Garren finds Leona, struggling to get up from the slipping sand.