Fortunately, Benjamin did not even see Old Chad on the way to Daedalusgrad. Sure, he was constantly reminded during the trip of the fact that to even see Old Chad in the distance was quite rare, to say nothing of the kind of close encounter that they ultimately had. He didn't care. For most of the trip that took place in the desert, he elected to act like the windows in the car they were in simply did not exist.

This time, Layla suggested that, instead of riding in greater calangos like last time, they should join a motor caravan. Sure, it might end up taking a longer time due to possible mechanical difficulties, but just as she expected, once they exited Palma Benjamin became a nervous wreck, constantly afraid that Old Chad might just pop out of the ground to finish what he started. So, Benjamin did his best not to look out the window, as if he was afraid that his gaze might call the Sand Leviathan. Of course, his attitude attracted the curiosity of a kid that was traveling in the same car as them.

“Hey mister, why are you looking at the ground like that? Are you afraid of some monster?”

He was almost surprised, but of course, why wouldn't there be a Mutant kid that looked a lot like a big rat? Oh, better not comment on it, it would probably be rude. He should probably answer seriously.

“Hey kid, do you know Old Chad?”

Benjamin put as much gravitas as he could on his question. Like he was asking the kid if he knew about the end of the world. Unfortunately, the kid just puffed his chest.

“Of course! Everyone knows about Old Chad! Dad always tells me to be quiet and be a good boy, or else Old Chad will come and take me away!”

What the hell? Is this kid's father really using Old Chad as some kind of freaking boogeyman? Having personally suffered at the... hands? Whatever, having had a close brush with death because of Old Chad, he kind of understood the use of it... But... Somehow it felt small. You can't treat Old freaking Chad as a children boogeyman.

“Huh, I see. So, kid, are you being a good kid right now?”

Looking around, he saw on a corner of the car a couple of rat-ascended people, with three other kids. Al the kids were playing around, leaving their parents quite disconcerted in trying to keep them quiet. Hey, did they even realize that one of their children is talking to a stranger. Benjamin sighed, did they have any kind of standard for raising children in the Wildlands? Although, looking those children, he kind of understood why the father might be tempted to make use of Old Chad as a boogeyman.

“I, uh, am being quiet!”

He looked somewhat confused. Maybe slightly afraid?

“But I bet your parents told to not talk to strangers, didn't they?” The kid nodded at that. Benjamin was taken over by mock panic. “Oh now! Then you're not being a good boy, are you? Go back to your parents before Old Chad finds us!”

The kid ran back yelling to his parents, then jumped on one of them. Layla was looking at him in a somewhat disapprovingly manner, even though she did have a smirk on her face. He responded her with a face that pretty much said: “What?”

“You know, I can't really approve of you bullying young kids, even if you're really scared of Old Chad right now. Well, he is a scary thing, I'll give you that.”

Hah, Benjamin laughed inside. Look who's acting all tough now. Even though she was pretty much bawling her eyes out after they almost got killed. Still, Benjamin is not going to be the stupid guy that says something so insensitive to a woman. Nope. He's smarter than that.

“Bullying? Please, it's called “education”. It's their elders' duty to scare the hell out of them when the situation presents itself. Look, I did get the kid to go back to his parents, right? And, you know, you of all people, should know how legitimate my fear of Old Chad is. Like, what the hell is up with that thing?”

Now that he thought about it. That is a very legitimate question that he didn't ask before. How come, something as huge and as threatening as Old Chad can exist?

“Hmm, that's somewhat simple, yet hard to answer. Simple answer is, you know how every Mutant, like me, has ascended through the influence of one of the Pools of Reorigination, right?” Benjamin nodded, he recalled that from the first conversation the two of them had, back in Destroia. “Except, not everything that touches the Pools becomes a Mutant, you know? The vast majority perishes and becomes a part of the Pools, some become beings like me or that kid. Then, a very small amount becomes what we call Dragons.”

Huh? What the hell? What's up with giving something such a fantasy-like name?

“Dragons? Isn't naming things in such a way a bit ridiculous?”

But of course, Layla didn't seem to think that way. She looked dead serious. Wait, when she says Dragons, does that mean... Old Chad is...?

“Not at all. Do you think calling Old Chad a Dragon is ridiculous in any way?” Benjamin shook his head. If anything, Dragon might just not give him enough justice. “The Countess has told me, when I asked her about it. The mythological dragon is like a meta-predator, you know? A predator made of predators, to become the ultimate predator. These Dragons are like that, Old Chad, for example. They are pretty much embodied forces of nature.”

Wait, wait, too much important stuff being casually dropped in just this one conversation. Wait, where should he start? So the Pools of Reorigination that most Mutants worship also make things like Old Chad? How come there is even a semblance of civilization in the Wildlands? No wait, why are they even called Wildlands again if there are cities like Palma in it? No, keep it on track. Layla has spoken with the Countess before?

“Stop there... Uh... Let me organize my thoughts for just a moment. There's a mountain of questions I have to ask you right now...”

“Sure, go right ahead.”

Benjamin almost rolled his eyes, how was she able to say it with a straight face... Well, she was looking serious, but still. Whatever. He should just get on with his questions.

“So, considering what you just told me... The Pools of Reorigination also cause these... Dragons to appear, right? And apparently that huge monster that almost killed us on our way to Palma is one of these Dragons.” She nodded to both of these affirmations. “So, how the hell is there anything resembling a city in the Wildlands? How come this place is not overflowing with gigantic, invincible monsters?”

Layla took some time to think about it. Huh, was the answer actually something complicated.

“You see. Not all Dragons are the same, and none of them, especially right after they first ascend, is in any way comparable to what Old Chad currently is.”

“How so?”

“I told you about how the Countess is immortal, in that she doesn't age, right?” She did say that, does that mean? “As far as anyone knows, every Dragon is immortal in the same way, as no Dragon has ever died of old age. Old Chad is centuries old. Dragons are creatures devoid of reason, but not of intelligence. While perhaps not as flexible as regular Mutants like me, a Dragon not only learns as it lives, but it also adapts in order to shore up any weaknesses it might have. It's not that nobody has ever tried to take down Old Chad, it's that he is the one Dragon that survived every hunt attempted against him. Monster is indeed a great description of him, it wouldn't be ridiculous to say that he is the single apex predator of this planet. He truly has no predators that can threaten him. Good thing he doesn't seem willing to leave the desert.”

And here was Benjamin, thinking that perhaps there was no way that he could have any more fear or respect for that being. Old Chad was a survivor, huh. The ultimate survivor perhaps, after all...

“So the reason the Wildlands aren't overrun by Dragons is that everyone hunts them down whenever one appears?”

Surprisingly, Layla shook her head, smiling at him like he had just fallen for a trick question.

“Not everyone. What do you think Dragons are? Even when they are young, Dragons are deadly creatures that would easily kill people like you or me. Most of the Dragons were hunted down by the Countess. After all, nobody has more experience than she does when it comes down to hunting them.”

She looked full of pride as she said that. Now that Benjamin thought about it, she did say she was born in Entoma, the country governed by the Countess. Which means the Countess was like a queen to her or something.

“Huh, that's pretty impressive.” No, wait! How could she have... “And you said she told you something? You had a talk with your country's ruler? How? Are actually some kind of lower nobility or something?”

Layla looked slightly confused by that question, as if she wasn't completely sure about what he was asking. So she didn't directly answer the question.

“Is that weird? Pretty much everyone has had a chance to speak with her at least once in their lives. I mean, she's even easier to meet with compared to Duke Prelestia, and you saw how that didn't take that much work, right?”

Huh, that was incomprehensible to him. He was the son of nobility, pretty high nobility at that. Yet he still felt like the Emperor would treat him as low as he might anyone else. To say that the Imperial family was distant was a huge understatement. Sure, technically, the Emperor did sometimes hold public audiences, but those were not exactly conversations, and every once in a while people were executed for wasting the Emperor's time and attention with something that he considered stupid. Benjamin couldn't imagine having a normal conversation with one of the Emperor's children, let alone the Emperor himself.

“Huh, it's pretty weird to me.”

It's not even that he considered his Emperor better because of that. He just couldn't imagine a leader just sitting down for a chat with someone. To say nothing of the, for example, problem of possible assassination attempts and such. When he mentioned that to Layla she looked at him like he was crazy.

“Are you out of your mind? Try to kill the Countess?” What now, was she going to talk about what an awesome person she is and how nobody could ever have a reason to try and kill her? “She hunts Dragons. Not only that, she has some crazy strong people really loyal to her. I won't say nobody ever tried to attack her. After that's usually how people lose their position of power around these parts: Duels or war. Still, it's really rare, since it mostly ends up with the attacker dead.”

It was an interesting conversation, but at that moment, something much more important came up for Benjamin as he glanced at the outside of the vehicle: They weren't in the desert anymore. Sure, it was just pretty much grass as far as the eye could see, but the important part was this.

“Oh, oh, we are out of the desert aren't we? Does that mean that here we don't get to be attacked by Old Chad?”

He really couldn't hide his excitement and happiness due to this simple fact.

“Yep, welcome to the Great Grasslands. It should still take a few hours until we reach Daedalusgrad. It will definitely be night be then. There's nothing particular exciting to see in my opinion, but since you've just been looking at the floor this whole time... Go ahead and look at grass and a few trees to your hearts content.”

“Heh, you say that as if watching sand is any fun.”

She shrugged.

“Beats looking at the floor in my opinion.”

To be fair, either was pretty interesting and definitely new scenery to him. He could look at that open, non-walled scenery for hours quite honestly. He just didn't like it when he had the feeling that a huge, building sized monster could burst up from the ground and kill him.