My journey back, was rather uneventful. I managed to leave the Land of Sands, and began my journey back, towards the Obsidian Mountains. I met some Golems on my way. They were not aware of what happened yet, so they simply greeted me, and nothing else. 'Lazar and Harlin will probably tell me, how much trouble I created. It was a rushed decision, but I don't regret it! These type of people deserve death' I thought. My mood was always dropping, whenever I thought about what happened.
'No wonder Nick told me to avoid cities, I would not have to deal with such people, if I didn't visit any city or settlement' I thought. My promise was already broken, I couldn't even keep to that. Although the situations required it, what was broken, has been broken and cannot be reversed. 'I wonder how Crow is doing?' I thought, and sped up towards the Obsidian Mountains.
My journey back, was long. In the meantime, I decided to take inventory, of what I exactly had in my bags. Clean up a little, and figure out what I needed. 'I still have a few days to go, before I arrive in the vicinity of the Obsidian Mountains. Even if I take a break, it will not affect me much anymore' I thought, and dumped everything from my bags and the Storage Feather, onto the ground. There was one bag, I did nothing to. It was the bag, which contained Yellow Dust only. This was my safety card. In case something I couldn't deal with, or run away from, came up.
With all my stuff dumped onto the ground, I started sifting through the items I had. I had loads of crap inside my bags. Weapons I would never use, like some axes, and swords. I still had that Razor's swords, which I didn't intent to throw away. 'I also have the large sword of that guy, I meat in the Great Forest. It's actually made from more than Purified Steel, it has some other metals mixed in, and the quality is not that bad either' I thought. The sword was heavy to me back then. When I lifted it this time, it was not heavy anymore. The weight, was that of about 100 kilograms, which was a lot for a sword anyway. It had no blade, and was quite thick and broad. 'This sword is too light now. I could maybe use it, if it was heavier' I thought, and suddenly got surprised. The sword in my hand, suddenly doubled in weight. 'What the…?".
I soon realised, what it was. "This sword has a Formation!" I exclaimed loudly. "Let's see how heavy it can get then!" I said to myself, and thought about activating the Formation. "Booom!" the tip of the sword, crushed to the ground. "Woah! This is heavy now. I didn't expect such increase" I exclaimed loudly. The sword increased its weight by 5 times. This meant, it could weight 500 kilograms, when the Formation was fully activated. 'This might be useful. A 500 kilogram sword is a nice weight. Besides, I will not throw out stuff with Formation inside' I thought to myself.
I stopped the Formation, and the sword returned to the original weight. I could swing 500 kilograms no problem, but not for long. It was half a tonne, and although I could lift much more, fighting with that weight as my weapon, would not be so simple and easy. I left the sword on the side, together with the saw like swords, and looked through other things. All the necessary survival stuff, I placed in one bag, which would only contain things for my survival. Stuff like food, needless, threads, tinder and so on, I placed in one bag.
The other bag contained Yellow Dust only, therefore I didn't add anything into there. I had couple of weapons. I decided to store them in my Storage Feather, together will all the herbs and medicine making equipment. 'I may sometimes need a sword or two, so I will leave them for now. The axe and other rubbish can go' I thought. I also went through my medicine, and realised I didn't have much left.
'I only have 5 bottles of Vital Liquid left, and 3 bottles of Healing Essence. This is not a lot' I thought. I used a lot of medicine, thanks to the Arena. Not only did I heal up Roland, I also had to use a lot of medicine, to heal my own wound. 'I can't get herbs in the North really, but I don't want to return to the Great Forest again. I will ask Lazar and Harlin about that, when I arrive there' I thought, and packed all the medicine I had left, into the Storage Feather.
Although I had some herbs with me, a lot of them could not be used to make healing medicine. 'Either way, it's time to go now' I thought, and resumed my journey. A few days later, I finally saw the large volcanoes of the Obsidian Mountain. I made my way towards the small volcano, where Olrad was located. When I entered the volcano, a few Lizards were standing inside the passage. One of them exclaimed "Oh, it's you! We heard you went through some commotion at Varent. Go inside, and meet with Harlin, he wants to talk with you". I nodded my head, and said "Thanks", then went inside through the entrance.
The Lizard that spoke to me, was one of the Lizards I met, when I first arrived to Olrad. He was together with Harlin and Lazar back then. Olrad didn't change at all, it looked the same as it used to. I went straight to Lazar's house, and knocked on the door. I couldn't hear Lazar inside, but his daughter was in. She asked through the closed door "Who is it?". I said "It's me, I came to visit your dad". The door opened, and a small Lizard greeted me.
"Daddy is not home, but you can wait inside mister. After all, you are a friend". I nodded and entered the house. She went back to a corner of the room, and played with her toys. "How are you feeling?" I asked her. She said "I'm fine mister. There is no pain anymore, and I can play with my toys. Daddy is also less worried now, but I can't go out of the house". I knew the reason why. 'She is mixed blood, so other Lizards might actually kill her, when she goes out' I thought, and asked "You never went outside?".
She said "No, I was ill back then. Now, daddy said it's not safe for me to go out". 'Hmmmm…' I thought about something, and said "If you want to, you can come with me. I will show you Olrad". She seemed eager, but said "But daddy said not to". I replied "Not alone, you will be with me. I will go get something, and return shortly, alright?".
She nodded her head, while I left towards the market. I proposed that to her, because I kind of saw myself in her. I lost my parents when I was young, and my parents also used to be outside most of the time. I too felt lonely, but at least, I had some friends. Or people I thought were my friends. I returned shortly from the market, and said "If we use this, there should be no problem". She looked at the small bag in my hand, and asked "What is this?". I said "Red paint. If I paint you red, no one will ever say anything, right?". She like the idea of being painted, so she nodded her head. I mixed the red powder with water, and applied the paint onto her. She looked like any small Lizard now. 'I wonder why Lazar never thought of that?' I thought.
"Alright, now you look like everyone else. Let's go". She seemed hesitant, but finally nodded her head, and we went outside. There were small windows in Lazar's house, but she wouldn't see much through them. When she walked out of her house properly, she finally saw the whole Olrad as it was. "Woah, this place is nothing, like I imagined!" she exclaimed. I said "Let's go, I will take you around, just remember to stay by my side at all times". She nodded excitedly, and extended her hand. I was confused, and didn't know what to do. She said "If I hold your hand, I will not get lost, right?". 'Right' I thought, and grabbed her hand.
I had no experience with kids, so I didn't really know what to tell her, and how to behave with her. I decided to just show her around the Olrad, and maybe eat some food. We went around the village, and although other Lizards seemed surprised, that a human was walking with a Lizard child. They didn't do anything really, and simply ignored it. Some might've thought, I was just playing a nanny for this child.
We then went to the tavern, and the familiar Lizard behind the counter, asked me quite surprised "Did you adopt her?". I shook my head, and said "No, I'm just showing her around. She is not from here". She nodded her head, and asked "Would you like something?". I said "Give us some food, and something for a child to drink". She nodded her head, and said "Alright, I will make a few dishes". We sat at the table, and Suly said "This is nice! I would like to do this with daddy too. He is too busy, and usually only sleeps at home". She became a bit sad. 'I know what she is going through' I thought, then said "Your name is Suly, right?". She nodded her head, and said "You remember well". I introduced myself "My name is Nex. From now, we can be friends". She nodded, and said happily "My first friend. Nice to meet you Nex". I smiled, and said "Don't worry, we will tell your daddy about this idea, and maybe he will agree. He would be able to go out with you as well".
She brightened up even more, and asked "Really?". Well I didn't know, but still said "Really. If not, I will visit you. Alright?". She nodded her head, and our food arrived soon after. She tasted everything, and enjoyed the food. We then went back, towards Lazar's house.