Well, normally, this would be the point where I say that all’s well that ends well, but that’s not true. This is the point where I say I learned something far beyond what I normally considered possible in life…

~Gato

#

There was only a few seconds of eerie silence, before the surrounding area disintegrated, revealing the bandit camp that it was beforehand. The tents were in their proper place, the remains of the bandits were intact, and the treasure that the bandits stole from M’thr’ln was presumably still within the camp. All in all, the fight was remarkably sweet, without any trouble from the demonic forces that might have lingered on.

“Okay, then,” Gato said, putting a hand to his chin. “If I was a bandit who stole a dragon’s treasure, where would I put it?”

“True, that’s a very good question to ask,” M’thr’ln said. He turned his head to face where the remains of the bandits were, before he sighed. “I wouldn’t wish for this fate on anyone, even if they were bandits.”

What’s he talking about? Gato thought, even as he walked over to the dragon. “Hey, M’thr’ln?”

“Yes?”

“What sort of fate would you wish on bandits?”

“That’s honestly a good question,” M’thr’ln answered, turning to look Gato in the eye. “I would wish that they could repent, first and foremost, before they died at all. It’s not easy, I’ll be honest, but I would hope that the people whose only livelihood is thieving can turn over a new leaf and make new occupations for themselves.”

Gato paused in mid-step and blinked. “That’s… surprisingly moralistic,” he said. “I mean, all things considered—”

“I’m aware, Gato,” M’thr’ln said, returning his gaze to the remains of the bandits. “Normally, dragons don’t consider the humans or related races as anything important. However, I serve a higher purpose, one that allows me to understand all life has value. Humans, elves, dwarves, dragons, even the members of the goblinoid races have value.”

Gato gaped as he heard that. A dragon that views the goblinoid races as having value? That’s a new one, even with my powers… maybe I need some clarity?

“Hmm?” M’thr’ln turned to look at Gato again. “Is there something wrong?”

“Oh, no, nothing overtly wrong,” Gato said, shaking his head. “I mean, well… how do I say this?”

“Well, start from the beginning,” M’thr’ln said, nodding to Gato. “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. What are you worried about?”

“Well…” Gato paused in mid-sentence. “I think it’s best to say that I’ve yet to see a dragon like yourself until today. I mean, a dragon of your caliber is something hard to come by, all things considered.”

M’thr’ln nodded again, before he looked over to a random tent. “Well, let’s start looking for my treasure, shall we? I don’t know how come I lost the whole lot of it in the first place, but I won’t repeat that experience at all.”

Just like that? Gato thought. “Are you sure that’s right?” he asked out loud. “I mean, shouldn’t we bury the dead? It’s the least we can do for them, given how they were murdered rather recently… I think.”

[For correctly discerning the reasonable time of death that these bandits perished at, you’ve gained +2 Luck.]

Gato looked at his new notification again, before he sighed irritably. “Sorry, this is just giving me a headache,” he said as he closed the box. “How am I supposed to deal with this level of headache, exactly?”

“Well, you have a point,” M’thr’ln answered. “We’ll be courteous to the dead, regardless of their walks in life, to make sure that they can rest easy.” He then walked over to the nearest group of bandits, before he began digging holes in the dirt near the skeletal remains. “Care to help me with putting the bones in the ground?” he asked Gato.

“Oh, right,” Gato said, walking over to grab the still-connected bones and put them in each individual grave. As he did the rote tasks of burying the dead where they belonged, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander all over the place. Who could have murdered these bandits, and why were they murdered? It doesn’t make sense. He gave off a sigh as he buried the last of the bandits. I hope that whoever did this rots in the deepest portion of Hell for this act. It’s just not right.

“Gato, do you mind if I pray for their souls in the afterlife?” M’thr’ln asked him.

Gato shook his head. “Go ahead,” he said, walking over to the nearest tent. “In the meantime, I think I’d better look for the treasure that was stolen from you.”

As the dragon did what he said he was going to do, Gato opened the tent flap and walked on in the tent, only to do a double-take right away. Is this all the food they had stolen from various merchant caravans? This is a metric ton of food! He walked out of the tent, moving to open the next tent in a left-based circular motion compared to just at random. Let’s see where the treasure could be located…

After a little while of searching the tents, he could safely say that the majority of the treasure was not anywhere in the tents that he looked in by now. Most of those tents were for the grunts of the bandits… he thought. How likely is it that the rest of the bandit camp will be filled to the brim with M’thr’ln’s treasure? He scoffed at that thought. Well, I’ll think of something else.

He then took a look at the remaining three tents, the first of them being the obvious tent for the leader. Well, while I’m here, I’d better look in this tent. Who knows what sort of secrets the boss was hiding? He opened the flap to the tent, before his jaw slacked open. What in the name of the Divine?! I thought this was the boss’s tent! How did I find all the treasure here?!

Indeed, all the treasure was placed here, instead of scattered throughout the camp. Oddly enough, in spite of this looking fit for the bandit leader, there was not a bed for the leader of the camp. It was as if he did not want to sleep near the treasure for some reason.

Well, I’ll be… Gato thought, moving over to another tent and checking its contents. Now, this looks more like a tent for the boss. What do I do now? I think I should look for who sponsored this bandit camp… supposing anyone did that.

He walked into the tent, looking at the desk the boss had next to his bed. This doesn’t look like something a bandit boss would have, he thought. A real bed and a desk? That looks more in line with someone who lives in a house.

As he headed over to the desk, he saw that there was an open letter on top of the mahogany wooden piece of furniture. He gave it a brief glance, before he saw that there was an insignia embroidered on the bottom of the parchment. This is new… he thought, looking at the letter as a whole. Who wrote this letter, and why are they giving such an important clue to their identity in the first place?

He then began to read the contents of the letter.

To Tobias, leader of the Drake Claws,

What were you thinking, robbing a dragon in its own cave? Your orders were to only rob the farmsteads in the area of Alfheimwood. Now we have the possibility of the dragon extracting revenge against us, and it’s all your fault. Next time, steer clear of robbing dragons, and, for the love of all the deities of the world, don’t get yourself eaten by dragons from here on out!

Now, onto more pertinent business, I need you to return to the base within the next month and report of what has happened in the region of Alfheimwood. Leave nothing out of your report, if you value your life and the lives of your crew, or do you want me to replace you with a more competent group of bandits that will carry out the task? The choice is yours.

Do not disappoint me again, Tobias,

Duke Antonio Elric

Gato nearly dropped the letter in shock. This is bad… he thought. How am I supposed to handle this? A duke wants to start a financial empire of his own, one that will rival the crown of the land?! Why is he doing this? What’s his end game? He put the letter in his shirt pocket, before he thought of something. Wait, how am I supposed to carry all the treasure back to M’thr’ln’s cave? And how do I make sure that the letter doesn’t get lost, too?

[Simple. Activate your Inventory menu.]

“Inventory?” Gato asked, before he leaped backwards, seeing the menu in question appear in front of his face. “Whoa!”

Gato’s inventory menu, to be fair, was perfectly blank. He pulled the letter out from his shirt pocket, before he thought, Do I just poke the item into an empty slot in the Inventory? I might as well try that out. He poked the first empty slot in his inventory, before he saw that the letter went into the slot in question. Well, that worked…

He walked out of the tent, in time for M’thr’ln to finish praying, before he asked, “Did you know that your treasure is in the tent to the right of me?”

“No, I didn’t,” M’thr’ln answered. “How do we get the treasure out of here and back to my cave?”

“With your permission, I’ll put the treasure in my inventory menu, then walk with you back to your cave,” Gato said.

“Go ahead,” M’thr’ln answered. “Let’s get this over with.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Let’s get going.”

#

Half an hour later, the Onmyoudou Hunter walked into the remains of the camp, looking around the whole camp. Well, this is strange, he thought. Where did the skeletons go? I would have thought they would be still out in the open? He sighed. Well, time to track down the boy who has caught my attention. Where could he have gone? Did he ever come by here?

He quickly brought up another talisman of his, before he heard bushes shuffling in the area behind him. “Who’s there?!” he demanded.

“Easy, brother, it’s me,” a younger man said, arriving to where the Onmyoudouu Hunter stood. “Remember, you wanted me to meet you here.”

The Onmyoudou Hunter blinked a few times as he turned to face his brother. Wearing a wide straw hat that was bent down over his eyes, the younger man carried a pair of curved swords on his belt, which was a larger belt than anything the realm of Terra had any right to having. In fact, said belt was made out of a variety of cloth that had yet to be discovered, at least according to the natives of Terra. All things considered, his younger brother’s clothes were made of the same material, and worn in a folded over pattern around his body. His footwear consisted of socks and clogs.

“Okay, yeah, you got that right,” the older of the two said. “Now, what are we supposed to do here? Our target has yet to show up again, and we’re not sure where he calls home, either. We can’t track him down that easily…”

“I’m aware, brother,” the younger one said. He walked over to a random tent and opened the flap. “Wow, that’s a lot of food that they stored here. What reason would they need the food for?”

“Why would we care? We’re not from around here, after all, baby brother,” the Onmyoudou Hunter said, walking over to the younger man. “Why not just take some of their food if you’re hungry?”

“True, but where’s the fun in that?” the younger brother asked. “Besides, refraining from assassinating people is hard work on its own, and I have to make a game of stealing food from someone while they’re alive, not dead.”

The Onmyoudou Hunter sighed, shaking his head. “Only you, my assassin of a baby brother, only you,” he muttered.

“What was that?” the Onmyoudou Assassin asked his big brother.

“It’s nothing, forget it,” the Hunter answered. “In any case, what do we do about tracking our quarry, exactly?”

“That’s a good question,” the Assassin said. “Do you know what he looks like?”

The Hunter nodded, before he pulled a stick away from the bundle of firewood. “I’ll draw him for you,” he said, making a rough sketch for his brother to get an idea about. “His hair is somewhat literally a dirty blond mop, and his eyes are a divine shade of blue—”

“Big brother, stop right there,” the Assassin said as he held up a hand. “Are you sure you’re not gay?”

Wait, what?! “Baby brother, where in the name of the Jade Emperor did you get that idea from?!” the Hunter demanded, flustered from the accusation.

“I’m honestly concerned,” the Assassin answered, lowering his hand. “After all, you never brought a girl home to be your wife, nor did you ever show interest in the fairer sex like that.”

“If you must know,” the Hunter growled, “our father promised to disown me if I brought a girl home to be my wife, and I still don’t know why! For the matter of interest in the fairer sex, that’s simply rubbish! There’s no such thing as fair sex to begin with!”

The Assassin dropped his head momentarily, before he raised it back up instantaneously. “Brother, did nobody ever tell you that girls are the fairer sex in question?!” he practically roared.

Wait, they are? Why hasn’t anyone told me that before? The Hunter thought, before he replaced his talisman to back where it belonged. “Okay, so, what are we supposed to do now?” he asked.

“Find your target, big brother,” the Assassin answered. “In this case, we need to discuss what sort of traps we can use against him to begin with. How do you propose we trap him immediately?”

The Hunter nodded, before he asked, “May I please finish my description of the target?”

“Sure, go ahead, big brother.”

“Thank you.”

“Just make sure not to look like you’re gay next time, please,” the Assassin said.

Sarcastic bastard… “Okay, remember when I said that his eyes are a divine shade of blue?” the Hunter asked. Upon getting a nod from his baby brother, he continued, “Well, the eyes are a shade of blue that cannot be replicated by normal breeding alone, and belong on divine entities like the Jade Emperor or the Buddha. That’s what I meant.”

“Okay, that makes more sense now,” the Assassin said. “Because his eyes are that shade of blue, he’s got the attention of the divine on him, right?”

“Sure seems that way,” the Hunter said, nodding. “Now, what do we do to keep this from blowing up in our faces? I mean, he’s got a lot of divine attention on him right now, if I’m sure this is supposed to be the case.”

“No idea,” the Assassin said, shaking his head. “Well, no time like the present to find a way to capture this boy and steal his body parts, brother. Now, where do we go to capture him?”

The Hunter put a hand to his chin. “I honestly don’t know,” he said, shaking his head a few seconds later. “I think we need to find out where he’ll be going to in the next few days or so. It won’t do anyone any good if we don’t have a good grasp on where he’s going when.”

“Yeah, you have a point,” the Assassin said. “Now, where is the nearest town from here, again?”

“It’s west along the main road,” the Hunter answered, pointing in the general direction of west. “What’s your idea for this trap?” he asked.

“Simply put, big brother,” the Assassin answered, “we need to capture him when he goes into town tomorrow. Barring any accidental problems, we’ll be ready for him then.”

“And how do you propose we get to him in town with all those witnesses?” the Hunter asked.

“That’s what the Space Warper talismans are for,” the Assassin answered, holding up a slip of paper with a special insignia on it. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing here, big brother.”

“I hope so, baby brother,” the Hunter said. He walked over to the center of camp, before he returned the stick to the firewood stockpile. “Okay, we have a plan… now, then, how do we get him alone with us like that?”

“I’m getting to that, big brother,” the Assassin said, turning to look at the Hunter. “You see, the boy’s bound to be headed into town on his own every so often, especially since he’s something of a typical boy in this realm… or so I think.”

“Wait a second,” the Hunter muttered. “You mean to tell me you haven’t done any research on him yet?!”

“Nope,” the Assassin said, popping the ‘p’ in his statement. “What was I supposed to do while running from the soldiers from earlier? Besides which, there’s no way that I can do all that research on my own, and you know it.”

“Okay, fine, I get it already…” the Hunter groaned. “All right, we’re going to do more research on our target, then. Are you ready for this?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, big brother,” the Assassin said. “Of course, I don’t think our traps will do much in the way of good, here…”

“What makes you say that?” the Hunter asked, pulling out a talisman again. “I mean, I didn’t lay a single trap out for him…” A look suddenly crossed his face. “Oh, wait, I did earlier. I forgot that part.”

“Now you see what I mean?” the Assassin asked. “Whatever the trap was, you failed to take into account that there’s a way to break out of it in as simple a way as possible. You need to keep that in mind.”

“Easy for you to say,” the Hunter groused. “What sort of trap’s going to work on him at this rate? I doubt it’s going to be the stupid rope trap at all.”

“Why does it sound like you fell for that trap?” the Assassin asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “I mean, really, big brother, it sounds like you fell for such a trap.”

“Let’s just say that I’m tired of the traps that the bandits left out for anyone sneaking around, and that’s it,” the Hunter said. “It’s not worth talking about at all.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” the Assassin said. “I’m just worried for you now.”

“And I appreciate it, baby brother,” the Hunter told him. “Now, what say you to going into town to researching the locale a lot better?”

“Gimme a bit, big brother, before anything can happen,” the Assassin answered. “I still wish to figure out what’s going to happen in the near future.”

“Oh, right, you specialized in assassination and divination at the academy,” the Hunter said, shaking his head. “Let’s see what we can do with the divination side of things, then, shall we?”

“On it,” the Assassin said, looking for a chair and some form of table to use for his divination process. “Oh, look, the bandits had a desk and chair in the middle of this tent.”

“That’s a good find, baby brother,” the Hunter said with a smile.

“Thank you,” the Assassin said, before he pulled out a set of fortune telling instruments. Sitting down, he said, “Let’s commence with the fortune telling immediately.” Shaking the fortune telling instrument, he said, “The trigrams get it right. The trigrams get it wrong.”

“You really need to work on your chant…”

#

Okay, let’s see here, Delaz, son of Alexander thought, even as he fed the pigs on the farm. I wonder what Abby’s deal is? I mean, it’s not like she’s running away from home, is she? He sighed. This is becoming more and more problematic… I can feel it.

“Excuse me, Delaz, is there anything I can do to help you?” the girl he was thinking of asked him from behind.

“Eh? No, not right off the bat,” Delaz answered, shaking his head as he turned to face her. “I’m just about done with this part of the chores list, so there’s no need to worry about helping feed pigs here.”

“I see,” Abby said, lowering her head to avert her eyes from his. “Still…”

“Still, what?” Delaz asked.

Abby turned to look at the manger in the stable. “I’m just worried that I won’t be able to help out around here, if that even makes sense.”

Delaz nodded, then realized that she didn’t see him do that. “Not to worry, Abby. It makes sense to me.”

“I’m glad,” Abby said, looking at Delaz out of the corner of her right eye. “Now, what sort of task do you think Gato’s supposed to do when he returns to the farm? Anything?”

“I hope not,” Delaz answered. “He’s been overworked as it stands. I just hope that he gets to take a break.”

Abby nodded, before she walked over to get the pitchfork. “Do you think that cows need fresh hay for their food?” she asked.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Delaz answered, even as he finished spreading the last of the slop to the pigs. “I’ll be right with you on that task, though.”

“Thank you,” Abby said, looking at Delaz momentarily and flashing him a smile. “I’m glad you want what’s best for me as well.”

Okay, what’s going on, exactly? I doubt that I’ve met Abby before, but why does she seem to know about Gato and the family more than she should? She’s not exactly a local, I can tell that much.

“Delaz?” Abby broke through his musing.

“Oh, sorry, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“I was just wondering if I’m holding the pitchfork correctly,” Abby said, attempting to use the pitchfork for the manger.

“Oh, no, you’re not,” Delaz answered, walking over to the girl and the pitchfork. “You see, you’re supposed to hold it like this,” he emphasized what he was taught about how to use a pitchfork. “Next, you’re supposed to spear the hay with the pitchfork like this,” he said as he moved the pitchfork to get said hay. “Finally, you’re supposed to lift the hay and dump it into the manger like so,” he finished while doing as he said. “You see?”

Abby nodded. “Yes, I understand now,” she said, retrieving the pitchfork. “Now, if I might be so bold, I would like to know how much hay we need to put into the manger in this stable.”

“Well, there’s more than one manger,” Delaz said. “There’s this one, and then there’s… one... over… there…”

Suddenly, he felt a chill go down his spine, making him grow numb from the chill that happened. What the… what’s going on with me? It’s as if my big brother instincts are going into overdrive, but why? No, more like… how come they’re going into overdrive?

“Delaz?” Abby asked him. “Are you all right?”

This is bad… the only way my big brother instincts would ever go off like this is if Gato were to be in deep trouble with someone… something that’s utterly impossible, right? I mean, Gato’s not someone that would get in trouble with anyone, not that I know him like that. This is becoming a case of —

“Delaz? Could you please answer me now?”

“Huh?” Delaz gasped out. He looked at Abby again. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, are you all right? You were staring off into space on me.”

“I was? Oops…”

“I’m worried for you, Delaz,” Abby said. “It’s not right that you freeze up like that, understood?” She grabbed the pitchfork from Delaz’s hands, making sure to hold it properly this time. “Now, where’s the other manger?”

Delaz shook his head of its stupor. “The other three mangers are in separate parts of the stable, Abby,” he said. “Trust me, there’s more than two mangers in this stable, and we have the animals required to put them to good use.”

Especially since the meat we need to make comes from our own animals, more often than not, he added mentally. Then again, this is not the time to share that bit of information… no, not one bit.

“I see what you mean,” Abby said. “Care to show me where the mangers are?”

“Certainly, Abby, right this way,” Delaz said, before he led her to where the mangers were located.

On the way over there, though, he couldn’t help but think further about the sudden chill he experienced. What’s wrong with me lately? I don’t know where that chill came from, but it sure wasn’t anything I’d want to experience ever again… so why did I experience it to begin with? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, right?

On top of that, there’s the fact that I feel especially worried for Gato of all things. What could have caused that to rise up within me? I don’t know… I don’t know how to find out, either. What am I supposed to do? Look for Gato while he’s going to get scale material for actual scale armor? That’s a complete breach of trust on my part to even do that to him. What am I supposed to do with myself?

With a sigh, Delaz banished those thoughts from his mind. He had work to do for his parents and the farm. This wasn’t the place to lollygag over the absurdities of what could possibly happen over his family’s wellbeing, even if it might be well-warranted, somehow. He needed to get back to work. No time for idle thoughts here.

He continued to walk over to the nearest manger in the stable, before a stray thought hit him like a sucker punch straight to the gut. What if someone wants Gato for some nefarious purpose that we don’t know about? This is a nightmare waiting to unfold!

“Delaz? Are you all right?” Abby asked, putting the pitchfork to the ground. “I hope you’re not sick or something…”

“No, no, I’m perfectly fine,” Delaz answered, shaking his head. “I just had some stray thoughts hitting me by now.”

“Some stray thoughts?”

“Yeah, stray thoughts, Abby. Nothing overly serious is going on.”

“I hope you’re right…” Abby said, before she picked up the pitchfork again. “C’mon, we need to get to work. The hay won’t put itself into the mangers at all.”

“True, true,” Delaz said. He looked around for the nearest of the remaining mangers. “Ah, there it is,” he said. “There’s manger number two, Abby.”

“Thank you so much,” Abby said, giving a brief and short bow. “I’m really… urk!” She moved back upright. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me then.”

Eh? What’s she even talking about? “It’s quite all right,” Delaz said. “Now, let’s get back to it, shall we?”

“Yes, indeed,” Abby said, before she began putting hay into the manger she was next to.

Now, what’s supposed to be the case with Abby, exactly? I mean, why is it that she’s here at this farm? I don’t think this makes any sense, so why…? Delaz shook his head. I’ll figure it out when I’m literally capable of doing so, to be fair, no sooner. Now, what exactly do I need to do in regards to Gato? I don’t know if he has the money needed to get metal pieces for scale mail, since nobody ever said that he was going to the blacksmith’s shop in town. With that said, where could Gato even be, and how come nobody ever told him how to get the scale pieces for a new suit of armor? This is really getting on my nerves now… I want to look out for Gato, but whatever is happening here, I don’t think it will allow me to help him in any way whatsoever… this sucks. How does this make sense?

On top of that, how do we manage to get Gato from falling into some sort of debt that is not payable? That’s not good for the family farm… ever. In order for the farm to make any kind of income, we need him away from debt of any sort. In fact… would it have killed the rest of us to teach Gato how to read, write, and count? I hope not… but I’m not liking the picture this paints. I need to keep my head on straight… this sucks.

Where could he have gone? I mean, I don’t know, and nobody in the house does, it seems. Not even Count Conrad of Lavendash has a clue. What exactly caused this to happen in the first place? I hope we can find an answer to that question sooner than later. I hope Gato didn’t run away from home while using this as pretext to do so… that’s about as good as lightning striking a person dead. Why am I even thinking along these lines to begin with?

I need to get back to work. Abby still doesn’t know where the mangers are in the stable, and I need to make sure that she can find them. I hope this work opportunity helps her out, all things considered.

With that, Delaz continued working on the chores he could. He didn’t know then, but Gato was going to be targeted… by mages.

#

Okay, this trip better be worth it, the Onmyoudou Assassin thought. After all, it’s not often that Big Brother Wan can find anything about a source of cultivation resources in a human body. How are we supposed to handle the different governing bodies in this world that would try to find us guilty? He smirked as he thought this over. HA! That’s rich, us being found guilty of being strong. That’s not how the world works, not one little bit. The strong rule over the weak, devouring the idiots who seek to change things for those who are too weak to do anything on their own. Stupid bastards… now, on the honor of the Akuma family, I, Akuma Tsu, will capture the boy and force him to give up his body parts to use as medicine. After all —

“Hey, Tsu, what’s going on in your head right now?” Akuma Wan, the one called the Onmyoudou Hunter, asked his little brother.

“Urk!!” Tsu lost the smirk and stood ramrod still. “Sorry, just had some random thoughts enter my head. Won’t happen again.”

Wan sighed. “Well, let’s hope that sticks with you,” he said. “For that matter, we need to be careful. We don’t belong anywhere in this world, but it’s only for a short time that we’ll be here, so to speak, since we’re hunting down our target for cultivation purposes.”

Tsu nodded, before he slacked his body. “Indeed, big brother,” he said. “Now, how are we supposed to work out a plan to capture this target? I mean, it should be obvious that this lout knows not what he’s carrying, so should we enlighten him or something?”

Wan put a hand to his chin. “I think that idea has merit,” he said. “Of course, we need to find the target for this to work, and we need to make sure that he doesn’t die before we extract everything.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Big Brother Wan. Now, how are we supposed to find him, exactly? We know he lives in the area around this forest, where the idiot bandits were located, but where is his home here?” Tsu asked.

“We’ll find that out in a while, I’m sure,” Wan said. “In any case, we need to get out of this bandit camp and stay away from here for the time being.” He walked westward, toward Alfheimwood, before stopping a few yards away. “Tsu? Are you coming, or aren’t you?”

“Right behind you!” Tsu exclaimed, before running to his brother. Upon catching up, he said, “Okay, back on track, Big Brother Wan.”

As the two of them walked over to Alfheimwood, Wan looked around himself. “Hey, Tsu, what’s the name of the occupation for people who cut trees down for others to buy and use?”

What’s Big Brother Wan thinking this time? “I’m pretty sure the name of the occupation is Lumberjack,” Tsu said, giving Wan a sidelong glance to his right. “Why do you ask?”

“Because, the next time we go somewhere off of our world, I want to disguise myself as a lumberjack,” Wan said, shrugging. “I don’t know if there’s a reason for not doing it, but I figured I’d say that.”

Eh? “I’m pretty sure your muscles won’t allow you to pass off as a lumberjack,” Tsu said, returning his gaze to in front of him. “After all, there’s no way that anyone outside of our realm knows about the secrets of cultivation, and your lack of bulging muscles is proof enough that the lumberjacks of any world will laugh you off as a huge fraud. Why bother?”

“Because I don’t want to be confused for a priest ever again, Tsu,” Wan answered his little brother.

“You were confused for a priest?” Tsu asked. “That’s a new one. There’s nothing about you that says you’re a priestly man.”

“You’d think that, but the bandits were stupid enough to think I was a priest serving their version of Spirit Beasts, the Divine Spirits of Nature,” Wan said.

Oh, shit… my brother’s about to pout again, isn’t he? Why now of all times? “Big Brother Wan, this is not the time to worry about the opinions of dead men,” Tsu said. “In fact, take this moment to consider yourself lucky, please. You won’t have to worry about being mistaken for a priest ever again.”

“I sure hope not,” Wan said. “Now, what’s the plan for capturing the boy who has the rich resources within him?”

“Now that’s the million gold Catty question, Big Brother Wan,” Tsu said. “Of course, we need to make sure that the idiots who think this is a bad plan die for their transgressions. In any case, we still need to work on said plan, so they’ll die either way one looks at this issue here.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Tsu,” Wan said, slapping his baby brother on the back.

“Ack!!” Tsu stumbled in front of himself, but righted himself with practiced ease. “Not cool, Big Brother Wan.”

“At least you righted yourself without falling to the ground,” Wan chuckled.

True, but this shouldn’t have happened…

“Aw, don’t be like that, baby brother. Here, let me help you with a little project I know you’re working on, okay?”

“What little project are you even referring to?” Tsu practically demanded. “If it has to do with your new target—”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Wan denied immediately. “Don’t you want to capture a bride for our family line to continue properly?”

This brought Tsu up short. Oh, so that’s where his line of thought went. What made me not realize that?

“Baby brother?”

“Oh, right, you want to help me find a bride. Why do you think I can’t do that on my own?”

“Because you have ridiculously high standards in women that need to be broken?” Wan asked.

“What… gods dammit! Big Brother Wan, why do you think I have high standards for women?!”

“Because you’ve yet to do anything with a woman in your life?”

Tsu growled under his breath. “For the love of the Jade Emperor of Heaven, Big Brother Wan, I’m not the sort of person who would randomly grab just any woman off the street without knowing her potential for learning the family art. Now, could you please leave me alone on this topic and focus more on your target?”

“Oh, right, I understand,” Wan said, before he looked over to his right. “Now, what sort of traps are we going to use on the boy, anyway? We need to find out where he’ll be in the near future, trap him in that area, and then erase him from the records in this world. You know what I mean?”

“All too well, Big Brother Wan, all too well,” Tsu said. “It’s the sort of thing that we need to do for targets from this point onward. Of course, how we end up doing this will require a good bit of forethought, all told. Let’s just make sure that we can do what we have to do. It won’t do any good if the idiots who we hunt and kill in the future somehow find ways around our measures of taking what’s ours.”

“True, but we also need to figure out what traps we need to put him through,” Wan said, as if talking about the weather. Knowing him, he probably meant it like that. “How do we trap the kid, and what traps are we going to use on him?”

“You said that last part twice, you know,” Tsu chided his brother. What’s with my brother? I hope he’s legitimately not gay… that would really suck. Nothing alive would be able to help out if that was really the case…

“I did? Oops… sorry about that.”

“No matter… let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

“Yes, Tsu, let’s,” Wan said, running on ahead of his baby brother.

“H-hey! Wait for me, Big Brother Wan! You’re not supposed to run that far ahead!” Tsu reinforced his legs with his energy, before he ran to catch up with his brother. Upon catching up with Wan, he bopped him upside the back of the head. “What traps are you thinking of using against this kid, anyway?” he asked Wan, who had stopped to cradle his head in pain. “Be realistic with me, please, Big Brother Wan.”

“Ow…” Wan groaned. “Okay, let me think on that for a bit, Tsu.”

“You have five minutes, Big Brother Wan.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Too bad. You need to think harder and faster at the same time. Now get to thinking,” Tsu admonished his brother.

As Wan worked on what traps would be needed for this plan, Tsu looked around for any sign of telling the time in the immediate area. He sighed for a bit, before he thought of something. Why do I get the feeling that this particular trip will be all for naught at this point in time? I mean, really, I don’t even get it. How are we supposed to handle this mess if it becomes more than we can handle at this particular time? This is just going to be a right pain in the arse at this rate… I hate this so much.

As for Big Brother Wan, I hope he doesn’t come up with something stupid, like using a rope trap that won’t amount to anything… after all, who in their right mind would fall for something like that? Nobody, that’s the right answer.

“I got an idea!” Wan exclaimed.

“What is it?”

“Use the nearby tournament to lure the boy out!”

“A nearby tournament? I never heard of this before…” Tsu mused for a bit. “Where is this tournament going to be held, and when?”

“Two weeks from yesterday, and outside of Alfheimwood,” Wan answered.

“That’ll work.”

#

“Ah-CHOO!” Gato, just as he and M’thr’ln arrived at the latter’s cave, sneezed all of a sudden. “What’s with these sneeze attacks that keep on happening?”

“Maybe someone’s talking about you behind your back?” M’thr’ln asked.

“Huh?” Gato turned to face the Platinum Dragon. “What sort of superstitious idea is that supposed to be?”

“It’s happened to me more times than I’d like to admit, so it’s not really superstition,” M’thr’ln answered. “Besides, most dragons can communicate through the mind more often than not, so we can tell if someone’s talking about us behind our backs that way.”

“But… but that goes against everything the Divine Spirits of Nature decreed!” Gato protested. “Magic and mind communication are strictly forbidden by them!”

“What are you talking about?” M’thr’ln asked. “Those fakes are ruining everything in the realm!”

“The Divine Spirits… are fakes?” Gato gasped in horror. What is even going on with M’thr’ln? Why is he saying that? It’s not true at all… is it?

“I wish I were joking, Gato, but I’m not,” M’thr’ln said, shaking his head. “Now, why don’t we go into my cave, so I can tell you a true story?”

Gato raised a finger to forestall the story, but then paused. Well, in for a copper, out for a gold. “Okay, fine, let’s go into the cave,” he relented.

“Thank you, Gato,” M’thr’ln said.

As the two of them walked into the cave, Gato opened his Inventory menu as a way of putting the treasure where it belonged, but noticed that M’thr’ln shook his head at that. What’s going on…?

“Wait until after I finish my story, please,” M’thr’ln said. “Otherwise, this will be too short a time gap before you have to go home, and I won’t have my scales shed yet.” As he said that, he scratched at his skin, depositing scales from his body.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Gato said, bowing his head to the dragon.

“I’m not one who should be worshiped, Gato,” M’thr’ln said. “The one who deserves worship is Lord AO, a great being who resides outside of time and space.”

“Is this in relation to the story you have to tell me?” Gato asked.

M’thr’ln nodded. “There was once a time when the world was made exclusively of ocean,” he said, “and the light of the sun was nowhere to be found. Lord AO was responsible for the world we live in, and he created the sun in the sky. He was responsible for creating the orb of fire beyond the sky, as well as the suns of many other worlds out there in all reality. After letting the world rotate to get the sun for a full day, Lord AO willed the atmosphere into existence, followed by the land coming out of the ocean. He filled the land and the ocean with plant and animal life, but was stumped about the lives of sapient and sentient creatures. That was when he created the spirits you know as Divine Spirits of Nature, as a prototype species to help test the creation process of the world here.”

“Something happened between then and now, though, right?” Gato asked, leaning into the story being told.

“Yes, that is correct,” M’thr’ln answered, even as he continued scratching off his scales. “The Divine Spirits of Nature rebelled against him, proving that he had to go back to the drawing board. They nearly would have killed him were it not for his honor guard of the Angelic Hosts.”

“Hold on… Angelic Hosts?” Gato asked. “What’s the story there?”

“The Angelic Hosts are a group of beings that Lord AO created before anyone else in existence,” M’thr’ln answered, a slight smile on his face. “The Angelic Hosts help people out under the direct orders of Lord AO, but come into opposition with his second creation. If anything, the Angels are one of the most overworked set of servants that can exist. Then again… I’m rambling. Lord AO was injured, and forced to rest in Heaven, where he still is to this very day. He answers the prayers of the devoted, those who he helped will into existence, but the lying so-called Divine Spirits of Nature are corrupting all he had done to benefit themselves. Please, Gato, don’t worship them if you can avoid it from here on out… do you understand?”

Gato nodded, barely able to keep his mind from fraying. “I’ll avoid it as best as I can, M’thr’ln,” he said. “Still, how many species did AO make for Terra?”

“He made well over a trillion species of plants and animals, and he made all the sapient and sentient peoples alive,” M’thr’ln answered. “Of course, the liars want to claim credit proper, which means that anyone who wants to know the truth won’t get it at all… I hope that you’ll take my warning to heart, Gato, for your sake.”

“I understand,” Gato said, nodding. Especially since I don’t want to be cursed to live in Hell for all eternity… that would suck greatly, and I wouldn’t see AO ever. I want to see if this story is even true, though, to make sure that I don’t go somewhere wrong. He sighed at that thought. I wonder how many realms AO made before the Divine Spirits fought against him?

“Still, let’s get to the point of this story,” M’thr’ln said. “After those liars were made, we Dragons were created, but without the chromatic elements to us. We were all taught the truth behind what was being done for this world, as well as the worlds beyond time and space outside of Heaven. We were all to make sure that nobody would corrupt us, because there was a great enemy of all life that sought to destroy all Lord AO made. He nearly succeeded once, when the Nature Spirits had rebelled, but his plans were foiled near-completely. I pray that the plans won’t be reignited ever again, to make things worse. All life would crumble into the finest of dust should that ever take place.”

Gato was about to open his mouth again, but paused, a memory entering his mind unbidden.

***

“Do you not think they’re telling a lie, though?” a fifth survivor, wearing a hooded cloak that obscured their face and form, asked. “If the Divine Spirits are as magnanimous as you say they are, then they would not want us to die like this.”

Gato looked at the hooded survivor with a raised eyebrow. “What are you speaking about? I’m sure you know that they have a time and a place for everything—”

“Shut the hell up!” the fifth survivor yelled, punching Gato with a right hook that knocked him flat to the ground. “The Divine Spirits are liars! I know the truth behind their lies, that is for damn sure!”

***

Maybe that’s what the person in my dream the night before last was talking about, he thought. How was I supposed to know something like this would happen?

“Gato?” M’thr’ln asked. “Are you all right? You’re staring into space.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, just thinking of something I remembered,” Gato answered. “How soon will you be done with the scales? I hope that you don’t need to take too much longer. I have a bit of a deadline here.”

“It will only be a few moments more, Gato,” M’thr’ln said. Finally, he stopped the scratching, a pile of scales lying on the ground around him. “There, that should work.”

Gato blinked rapidly for three seconds. “Wow…” he said, walking over to the scales to pick one up. “Analyze.”

[Donated Platinum Dragon Scales: These scales were freely donated by a Platinum Dragon, thus allowing the bearer of armor made with these scales to use a large portion of the power locked away within them. If they had been stolen from a dead dragon, then the power access would be minimalistic at best.

Properties: Draconic Stat Increase, Draconic Vitality Booster Shot]

What the… this is beyond insane! What’s with my luck in regards to this incredible find?!

“Do you have a sack to carry the scales in?” M’thr’ln asked. “I mean, in case you need to show whoever the scales personally.”

Gato shook his head, but then he thought of something. “I think there was a sack with the treasure that I helped you reclaim,” he said. “I’ll have to check…” He then opened his Inventory, seeing to it that the treasure within was mostly outside of bags of stuff. “Hmm... no, it doesn’t look like it so far… oh, wait. I think I see something here.”

“Care to pull it out?” M’thr’ln asked. “I think I need to see what you’ve got in there.”

“I’ll pull it out right now,” Gato said, before he did as he said he’d do.

Indeed, there was a sack in his inventory, which was filled to the brim with coins and various other materials that had been collected within M’thr’ln’s cave. It was a larger than standard burlap sack, one that had to be a minimum of ten feet wide at its widest, and over three times that in length. In fact, because of the amount of volume that was supposed to fit within the bag, it seemed more than likely to fit everything.

“Well, time to empty the bag and the inventory of your treasure,” Gato said. “Do you need me to help you out with emptying the bag?”

“No, no, I’ll be fine with it as it is,” M’thr’ln said, grabbing the bag in one clawed hand. “I’ll only be a little bit. If you could wait for me outside the cave, I’ll give you the bag back, full of my scales.”

“I still need to empty the inventory of your treasure, though,” Gato said. “I mean, don’t want to walk off with it, to be perfectly honest.”

“Oh, right, go ahead and do that first,” M’thr’ln said.

Gato did as he said he would do, before he walked out of the cave. When he got to the mouth of the cave, he looked up to the sky. It was nearly the beginning portion of the afternoon, maybe a bit after that. Maybe I need to consider my life choices a bit… he thought as he began to dip his head in prayer. Before he could say anything, though…

“Gato, done,” M’thr’ln said from behind him. “I added something extra for you alone on top of the scales.”

Gato turned to face M’thr’ln and nodded. “I hope that this won’t get you in trouble,” he said.

“Naw, it won’t.”

“Okay… well, later.”