After travelling for two days the plains gradually turned into rolling hills, this slowed down the group as they became wary of the possibility of an ambush just over the next hill, Mars as usual brought up the rear along with 78 and chatted while they walked but suddenly he looked to the front. 78 was about to ask what he had found when she suddenly felt his hand on top of her head before he said"Be a good girl and wait here for a few minutes, I"ll be right back"
"Okay"
Mars then called out to Allen
"Allen you guys better make camp here, I have found something troublesome up ahead"
Allen signalled for the rest of the hunters to stop before he turned to Mars again and asked
"Do you need our help?"
"No... You"ll just be a burden"
Allen gave a wry smile before he put down his backpack
"If you say so benefactor Mars then we will stay here"
Mars gave a nod and lifted off the ground as he activated [Half awaken] while muttering
"How did you guys even managed to pa.s.s through here in the first place..?"
Flying up to about 200 meters height he clearly saw it, among the rolling hills some 300 meter long asian dragon laid, it looked at Mars with vigilance. Mars flew closer to the asain dragon while holding his broadsword tightly in one hand while he raised the other to show he didn"t mean it any harm. Soon he landed some 10 meters away from its eye and stabbed his sword down into the ground before he spoke
"h.e.l.lo there"
"..."
The dragon kept silent for a few moments as it looked at Mars before a deep voice suddenly sounded out that slightly shock Mars" core
"Child, why do you hide your horns"
Mars gave a smile before he transformed showing his horns to the dragon that still lay and looked at him
"That"s better, now we can have a talk between dragons, where do your dragon parents hail from?"
"She is currently on an island close to Salen raising a young one"
"Salen..."
The dragon looked lost in thought for a moment before it spoke
"That"s a long ways away, what are you doing here then living G.o.d? Are you here for me?"
Mars gave a sigh before he shook his head
"No, to tell the truth I had a disagreement with the new administrator of Alfan, thus he threw me here"
The dragon gave a slow nod before it spoke again
"I have heard of the new administrator and not good things, well never mind that, to get back to Salen you need to cross three continents"
Mars gave a deep nod
"... I see, thank you for informing me"
"It"s nothing, wisdom is meant to be shared, now about the mortals you have following you... There is one that has an particular sent, one of all three main races"
Mars gave a nod as he sat down on the hillside
"Yes she"s rather interesting, I found her in some ruins west of here, what was it called again..? Oh right Kerbal"
The dragon closed its eyes for a moment before it spoke
"I see, so Kerbal is in ruins now... Do you have any other news?"
"Hmm... Well the mortals have set up an outpost east of here and will probably start cultivating this land"
"I see... Well I suppose I have slept for long enough... Time to get going I guess"
Mars gave a nod before the asian dragon began floating and suddenly flew up into the sky, its blue scales glistened in the sun, Mars looked up after it but didn"t follow as its voice sounded out one last time
"I wish you good luck on your journey young one"
Mars gave a slight smile and undid his transformation, pulled his sword out of the ground and flew back to the group of hunters that stood frozen looking up into the sky, as soon as he landed 78 ran up to him and asked
"Hey Mars what"s a living G.o.d?"
Mars gave a smile as he realized that the group was able to hear what the dragon had said, then he patted her on the head and said
"I"ll explain it to you some other time"
"... Okay Mars"
78 looked a little disappointed but a smile gradually returned to her face as Mars petted her head before eventually, she clung to Mars with a happy smile on her face, Mars looked over at Allen and saw he was still dazed and gave a sigh before he called out to him
"Allen"
Allen woke up from his daze and looked over at Mars with a weird expression on his face before he asked
"Mars... Are you a dragon?"
Mars gave a wry smile before he simply said
"Only half"
"...I see, that explains a lot"
Looking at Allen that fell into thought again Mars gave a sigh before he asked
"Should we set up camp here for the night?"
"Oh... Yeah let"s do that, I doubt my squad will be able to pull themselves out of their daze today so let"s just hunker down"
Mars gave a nod
"Got it"
Allen then spent a few minutes walking around waking the members of his squad from their dazes before they gradually began building camp amongst the hills
The next morning the group left for the outpost, the hunters" shock was still there but they had a better time focusing after having rested for the night as Mars volunteered to stand guard all night. Mars walked with 78 and chatted with her as the outpost became visible in the distance. The outpost itself was protected by wooden walls as the group entered the outpost Mars looked around at the buildings and saw that they were mostly wooden buildings with a central building that was larger than the rest, it also had a second story unlike the rest of the buildings, Allen saw Mars looking at the central building and explained
"That"s the guild building, the second story is the outpost manger"s home I have heard he lives there with his daughter"
"I see... Where are we going now?"
"To the guild, we need to sell our materials and book some beds on the next s.h.i.+p so we can get back to Heden"
"I see, well I"ll follow you to the guild"
Allen gave a nod and led the way, 78 pulled Mars" hand and asked him
"Hey Mars what"s a guild?"
"Hmm... Well it"s the place that employs the hunters and mercs and gives them missions and buys various materials that the hunters and mercs gather from the outside"
"I see..."
Mars gave a smile and walked along with 78 towards the guild, soon they arrived Mars gathered as many eyes as 78 did, both were because of their outfits Mars were still dressed in furs and 78 still wore the lovely dress made of the vibrant red carpet from Kerbal
"I should make some money and buy some proper clothes as soon as we arrive on Heden... I could sell some magic beast cores now that I can"t use them to level up..."
As Mars thought Allen and his squad reported their findings to the receptionist, they also told how Mars had saved them in the jungle and whispered that they had seen a dragon in the hills just outside the outpost, soon a receptionist walked over to Mars and 78 but right before she spoke the loud voice of a young woman was heard
"My what a beautiful dress!"
Mars looked over and saw a young woman about 15 years old that had just spoken, her eyes were locked on 78"s dress, she quickly walked over before she spoke in a commanding tone
"Sell me that dress, I"ll buy it for a good price"
Mars gave a slight frown but didn"t speak, this was clearly the daughter of the outpost manger that he had just heard off, 78 looked at the young woman and spoke
"I"m not selling!"
"Then you must tell me where you brought it from"
"...Not telling!"
"Why you! I gave you a command!"
Mars gave a slight smile, clearly 78 was more than capable of handling the young woman and so he spoke out to the receptionist
"You need me for something?"
"Yeah if it"s not too much trouble I need you to verify Allen"s story, please come with me"
"Sure, lead the way, come on 78"
"Okay Mars, I don"t have time to chat with you"
"Humph, I don"t have time to talk with such a rude woman like you either!"
Mars followed after the receptionist and soon he was finished verifying the story and received a minor reward, when he stepped out of the room he found the young woman from before, this time she stood with a few guards and pointed at 78 before she spoke
"She"s the one that was rude to me!"
Mars gave a sigh as the guards walked over before he spoke
"Touching her is equal to touching me and I don"t like being touched by strangers"