Erredis flew around the planet, drawing a wide curve in the sky to join the sunlit side and quickly coming closer to the surface. Sofia felt a surge of heat as the sky turned from black to blue, but the sensation was instantly drowned out by the Dragon’s mana. Before she could reflect on what happened, they touched ground, Erredis stopping almost instantly and landing against the flank of the highest mountain Sofia had ever seen.
Looks like you held out well. The ruffian who took your sister should be somewhere in this mountain range, though that’s not saying much. It won’t take long to find him but we need to stay here a bit, angels coming.
As if on cue, nine beings of light and mana flew in from different directions. They stopped at a respectful distance.
Nine of them… The system is definitely taking her seriously!
I guess the one that’s advanced closer is negotiating with her? They must be talking in each other’s head.
About half a minute later, the angels backed off, leaving Sofia and Erredis alone atop the mountain.
There we go. Can’t even move without these botherers ganging up on an old lady, can you believe that? Anyway, let’s see where I can find a good source of mana.
Erredis’ massive head turned around, she slowly surveilled the horizon. Three spots in the surroundings… No, two. They still left an angel behind… Unbelievable. The system must be turning paranoïd. Anyway, 50% chance, let’s just check the closest one.
The Dragon jumped and landed directly near her destination. It’s underground, let’s see...
What meaning does the closest one have if everything is a single jump away?!
This looks like any other snowy mountain… Do we need to dig?
Erredis stuck her head against the ground, her horns digging deep trenches.
Arh, not a Dragon, that’s a Kleptra’s nest. Better get away from this before it gets angsty, don’t want to deal with that. We’re going again.
Another continental crossing jump later, the duo landed in front of a massive, and inhabited mountain.
The entire mountain was covered in buildings of a strange architectural style with lots of vegetation, paved roads and open courtyards. There seemed to be a number of dueling arenas all over the top half, while the lower half was mostly rural-looking abodes with cultivated fields like there was around Einsen.
Pretty sure we found your sister, kid. Get off, I need to size-down before they freak out too much.
I’m not going to say it, but… I’m pretty sure it’s too late for that.
Sofia still flew off from Erredis’ neck, who only took a second to become the same refined and mature lady Sofia knew her as, it was the form with her horns, but she also had a black tail this time.
Focusing back on the mountain and it’s panicked inhabitants, Sofia was surprised to see it was mostly Orcs. Green skinned, red skinned, tall, short muscular, lean, male and female Orcs, hundreds of them. There were also the odd beige-skinned humanoid here and there as well as a few other races that Sofia couldn’t quite put a name on.
She looked at Erredis, “This Orc city is where a Dragon lives?”
“Seems so,” Erredis answered. She waved her hand, a surge of her mana covering the entire mountain. The panicking people all stopped in their tracks at once. They all returned to their previous occupations as if no giant black Dragon had ever shown up.
“W- What did you just do?”
“Short term memory loss.”
“Do you use that often?”
“Pretty much only for situations like these. I never used that on you, if that’s what you meant to ask.”
“N- no, I wouldn’t dare… Besides, I’m probably immune to that.”
“All is good then, do you want to go first or should I lead the charge?”
Can you not make it sound like this is a war? “I would appreciate it if you lead the way, I’m not too sure I can even fly straight right now…”
“Nervousness before the grand reveal. Alright, I’ll go slow, just follow me. I don’t know why, but the big guy isn’t coming out, so we’ll need to go inside.”
“Inside the mountain?”
“Exactly, but let’s scope things out slowly if you don’t mind, I’m curious about this mountain settlement.”
Sofia followed erredis to the base of the mountain, where a grand stairway started, guarded by four Orcs with halberds, wearing weird purple and orange uniforms. They all identified as warriors of levels just above one hundred.
The largest of the four Orcs blocked the stairs as Erredis walked closer, “Halt! Further in is territory of the great Obsidian Mountain Sect. Unless you have a permit we cannot let you in.”
The Orc put up a tough front but Sofia caught him looking at her and almost taking a step back by reflex. The other Orcs were standing behind, their weapons at the ready… They were all ever-so-slightly turned toward her.
Right, I still look like a freak glowing monster… And the Obsidian mountain sect? People openly announce they take part in shady organizations now? Are we supposed to know what this sect is? This really isn’t the human continent…
As Erredis accepted to take the lead, she naturally would take care of all the talking, “We do not have one. But maybe you can still let us in?” she continued, shaking a small pouch of coins she had produced out of nowhere.
The clinging coins clearly caught the attention of the Orc, but he quickly strengthened his resolve, “You dare try to bribe us? We do not take kindly to such underhanded acts. Leave this place at once!”
Sofia saw Erredis shrug and wave her hand. The four Orc guards stopped, they looked lost for a second.
No way, did she just…
“Wha- Uh- Halt! Further in is territory of the great Obsidian Mountain Sect! Unless you have a permit we cannot let you in.”
“Sir, I am merely looking for this child’s sibling, they have been separated young, we have reasons to believe she is a member of your great sect.”
The Orc’s expression softened slightly but it was right back to completely suspicious as soon as he looked at Sofia again.
“This ‘child’ of yours is certainly special… Perhaps their sibling could indeed have been chosen as a disciple if she bears a similar complexion. Some of our elders do seek out special and talented children to train, but I fear we do not have any weak-looking shiny veined humans among our ranks.”
I get that I look weird, but weak? I guess they cannot see my level. Erredis can hide hers, maybe she’s hiding mine too. I can’t believe none of these four second filter guards would have [Identify].
“You misunderstand, her sibling does not share a similar affliction.”
“Hmm.” The guard looked back at his colleagues, then he addressed Erredis again, “Do you know her Sibling’s name, anything else about their appearance? We might know them, there aren’t too many humans to have joined us through the last few decades.”
“She would probably be about the same size, with similar hair, her name is Saria.”
The guards all brandished their weapons. Their expressions of suspicion and worry had turned to anger.
Spittles flew from the Orc guard leader’s mouth as he raged, “You dare try to impersonate our inner disciple’s lost one! Are you more of the Thundercloud Palace’s spies?! SCRAM before I paint the pavement in your blood!”
If the Scribe tried to write down Sofia’s thoughts at that instant, it would be something along the lines of ‘!!!!!!!!!! ? ?? ?! !!!!! ? !!!!!!!!!’
Erredis rolled her eyes and waved her hand, she smiled at Sofia, “Looks like this chest holds the treasure you’ve been looking for, kid. I’m happy for you.”
I took a bit longer for the Orcs to regain their pace this time. The leader didn’t understand why he was pointing his weapon at strangers, after awkwardly straightening up, he addressed the two invaders again.
“H- H- Halt! Further is in the territory of great Mountain Obsidian Sect! Unless you are a permit we you cannot let in!”
This… Uh… Yeah…
“Oh, my apologies, it seems we came at a bad time. Someone was supposed to let us in. We will be back with them,” Erredis answered before grabbing Sofia’s hand and turning back.
“N- Madame, we go can look them for if you give us the name!” the Orc guard hailed as they walked away.
Erredis waved him off, “Thank you, but worry not for us, we can wait.” She then led Sofia away, peacefully walking along the road, taking a few turns until the guards were far enough.
“You’re really silent, Sofia. How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know. I thought I was ready but…”
“Tssk, don’t worry, You saw how they reacted, I think it’s fair to say Saria thinks you died during the thing. Do you think she could be anything but overjoyed to see you again? What else, they called her an inner disciple. Sounds like a somewhat important title, no? And they were ready to defend her, in a way. That’s all rather good news.”
“I… Yeah, this… It’s reassuring. Thank you, Erredis. I can’t imagine what I would be going through had I tried coming here alone…”
“It probably would not be that bad. Are you ever really alone? I know a big bony guy who’s been looking over you non-stop the entire time you were with me, and something tells me that’s just his usual thing. You can trust him, I think.”
Thank you too, Pareth.
“But enough with the feelings, young girl! We haven’t found your sister yet, so let’s go for phase two of my evil plan: entering the sect illegally. Or legally, I guess? I have these!” Erredis exclaimed, brandishing two rectangular pieces of green gemstone, each with a small leather cord probably used to tie them around a belt or use them as necklaces.
“These are?”
“Guest entry permits.”
“Uh?!”
“Stole them.”
“Wha- Uh, oh? Where? When?”
Erredis winked, and tossed one to Sofia.
Erredis flew around the planet, drawing a wide curve in the sky to join the sunlit side and quickly coming closer to the surface. Sofia felt a surge of heat as the sky turned from black to blue, but the sensation was instantly drowned out by the Dragon’s mana. Before she could reflect on what happened, they touched ground, Erredis stopping almost instantly and landing against the flank of the highest mountain Sofia had ever seen.
Looks like you held out well. The ruffian who took your sister should be somewhere in this mountain range, though that’s not saying much. It won’t take long to find him but we need to stay here a bit, angels coming.
As if on cue, nine beings of light and mana flew in from different directions. They stopped at a respectful distance.
Nine of them… The system is definitely taking her seriously!
I guess the one that’s advanced closer is negotiating with her? They must be talking in each other’s head.
About half a minute later, the angels backed off, leaving Sofia and Erredis alone atop the mountain.
There we go. Can’t even move without these botherers ganging up on an old lady, can you believe that? Anyway, let’s see where I can find a good source of mana.
Erredis’ massive head turned around, she slowly surveilled the horizon. Three spots in the surroundings… No, two. They still left an angel behind… Unbelievable. The system must be turning paranoïd. Anyway, 50% chance, let’s just check the closest one.
The Dragon jumped and landed directly near her destination. It’s underground, let’s see...
What meaning does the closest one have if everything is a single jump away?!
This looks like any other snowy mountain… Do we need to dig?
Erredis stuck her head against the ground, her horns digging deep trenches.
Arh, not a Dragon, that’s a Kleptra’s nest. Better get away from this before it gets angsty, don’t want to deal with that. We’re going again.
Another continental crossing jump later, the duo landed in front of a massive, and inhabited mountain.
The entire mountain was covered in buildings of a strange architectural style with lots of vegetation, paved roads and open courtyards. There seemed to be a number of dueling arenas all over the top half, while the lower half was mostly rural-looking abodes with cultivated fields like there was around Einsen.
Pretty sure we found your sister, kid. Get off, I need to size-down before they freak out too much.
I’m not going to say it, but… I’m pretty sure it’s too late for that.
Sofia still flew off from Erredis’ neck, who only took a second to become the same refined and mature lady Sofia knew her as, it was the form with her horns, but she also had a black tail this time.
Focusing back on the mountain and it’s panicked inhabitants, Sofia was surprised to see it was mostly Orcs. Green skinned, red skinned, tall, short muscular, lean, male and female Orcs, hundreds of them. There were also the odd beige-skinned humanoid here and there as well as a few other races that Sofia couldn’t quite put a name on.
She looked at Erredis, “This Orc city is where a Dragon lives?”
“Seems so,” Erredis answered. She waved her hand, a surge of her mana covering the entire mountain. The panicking people all stopped in their tracks at once. They all returned to their previous occupations as if no giant black Dragon had ever shown up.
“W- What did you just do?”
“Short term memory loss.”
“Do you use that often?”
“Pretty much only for situations like these. I never used that on you, if that’s what you meant to ask.”
“N- no, I wouldn’t dare… Besides, I’m probably immune to that.”
“All is good then, do you want to go first or should I lead the charge?”
Can you not make it sound like this is a war? “I would appreciate it if you lead the way, I’m not too sure I can even fly straight right now…”
“Nervousness before the grand reveal. Alright, I’ll go slow, just follow me. I don’t know why, but the big guy isn’t coming out, so we’ll need to go inside.”
“Inside the mountain?”
“Exactly, but let’s scope things out slowly if you don’t mind, I’m curious about this mountain settlement.”
Sofia followed erredis to the base of the mountain, where a grand stairway started, guarded by four Orcs with halberds, wearing weird purple and orange uniforms. They all identified as warriors of levels just above one hundred.
The largest of the four Orcs blocked the stairs as Erredis walked closer, “Halt! Further in is territory of the great Obsidian Mountain Sect. Unless you have a permit we cannot let you in.”
The Orc put up a tough front but Sofia caught him looking at her and almost taking a step back by reflex. The other Orcs were standing behind, their weapons at the ready… They were all ever-so-slightly turned toward her.
Right, I still look like a freak glowing monster… And the Obsidian mountain sect? People openly announce they take part in shady organizations now? Are we supposed to know what this sect is? This really isn’t the human continent…
As Erredis accepted to take the lead, she naturally would take care of all the talking, “We do not have one. But maybe you can still let us in?” she continued, shaking a small pouch of coins she had produced out of nowhere.
The clinging coins clearly caught the attention of the Orc, but he quickly strengthened his resolve, “You dare try to bribe us? We do not take kindly to such underhanded acts. Leave this place at once!”
Sofia saw Erredis shrug and wave her hand. The four Orc guards stopped, they looked lost for a second.
No way, did she just…
“Wha- Uh- Halt! Further in is territory of the great Obsidian Mountain Sect! Unless you have a permit we cannot let you in.”
“Sir, I am merely looking for this child’s sibling, they have been separated young, we have reasons to believe she is a member of your great sect.”
The Orc’s expression softened slightly but it was right back to completely suspicious as soon as he looked at Sofia again.
“This ‘child’ of yours is certainly special… Perhaps their sibling could indeed have been chosen as a disciple if she bears a similar complexion. Some of our elders do seek out special and talented children to train, but I fear we do not have any weak-looking shiny veined humans among our ranks.”
I get that I look weird, but weak? I guess they cannot see my level. Erredis can hide hers, maybe she’s hiding mine too. I can’t believe none of these four second filter guards would have [Identify].
“You misunderstand, her sibling does not share a similar affliction.”
“Hmm.” The guard looked back at his colleagues, then he addressed Erredis again, “Do you know her Sibling’s name, anything else about their appearance? We might know them, there aren’t too many humans to have joined us through the last few decades.”
“She would probably be about the same size, with similar hair, her name is Saria.”
The guards all brandished their weapons. Their expressions of suspicion and worry had turned to anger.
Spittles flew from the Orc guard leader’s mouth as he raged, “You dare try to impersonate our inner disciple’s lost one! Are you more of the Thundercloud Palace’s spies?! SCRAM before I paint the pavement in your blood!”
If the Scribe tried to write down Sofia’s thoughts at that instant, it would be something along the lines of ‘!!!!!!!!!! ? ?? ?! !!!!! ? !!!!!!!!!’
Erredis rolled her eyes and waved her hand, she smiled at Sofia, “Looks like this chest holds the treasure you’ve been looking for, kid. I’m happy for you.”
I took a bit longer for the Orcs to regain their pace this time. The leader didn’t understand why he was pointing his weapon at strangers, after awkwardly straightening up, he addressed the two invaders again.
“H- H- Halt! Further is in the territory of great Mountain Obsidian Sect! Unless you are a permit we you cannot let in!”
This… Uh… Yeah…
“Oh, my apologies, it seems we came at a bad time. Someone was supposed to let us in. We will be back with them,” Erredis answered before grabbing Sofia’s hand and turning back.
“N- Madame, we go can look them for if you give us the name!” the Orc guard hailed as they walked away.
Erredis waved him off, “Thank you, but worry not for us, we can wait.” She then led Sofia away, peacefully walking along the road, taking a few turns until the guards were far enough.
“You’re really silent, Sofia. How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know. I thought I was ready but…”
“Tssk, don’t worry, You saw how they reacted, I think it’s fair to say Saria thinks you died during the thing. Do you think she could be anything but overjoyed to see you again? What else, they called her an inner disciple. Sounds like a somewhat important title, no? And they were ready to defend her, in a way. That’s all rather good news.”
“I… Yeah, this… It’s reassuring. Thank you, Erredis. I can’t imagine what I would be going through had I tried coming here alone…”
“It probably would not be that bad. Are you ever really alone? I know a big bony guy who’s been looking over you non-stop the entire time you were with me, and something tells me that’s just his usual thing. You can trust him, I think.”
Thank you too, Pareth.
“But enough with the feelings, young girl! We haven’t found your sister yet, so let’s go for phase two of my evil plan: entering the sect illegally. Or legally, I guess? I have these!” Erredis exclaimed, brandishing two rectangular pieces of green gemstone, each with a small leather cord probably used to tie them around a belt or use them as necklaces.
“These are?”
“Guest entry permits.”
“Uh?!”
“Stole them.”
“Wha- Uh, oh? Where? When?”
Erredis winked, and tossed one to Sofia.
