Days have passed since the twins' disappearance. Their names on the Acquaintance list had also been missing, meaning that they unfriended the others.
The trio was sitting on the grassy field by the city. The buildings made of gray bricks, stones, and wood looked so joyous, especially in the market where vendors would call their customers.
"I didn't mean for it to happen," Elliot sighed.
"It's not your fault," Lance said and smiled comfortingly.
"What do we do now?" Connor pouted.
Lance stood from the grass, "Let's go on a mission. Let's take a harder one this time. Comet anyone?"
Connor stood, offering his hand at Elliot. "Let's go?"
Elliot smiled, "Yeah."
–
"I'm sorry but there are no Comet quests at the moment," Glitch said. The three sighed and shook their heads in disappointment.
"Let us take a Meteor then," Lance mumbled. "The hardest one."
Glitch looked around and leaned in, "How about hunting for dragons?"
"That should be a Conquest, what in the hell are you talking about?" Lance whispered back.
Elliot and Connor leaned in, with Elliot speaking, "You both know you're not actually whispering right?"
"So, what is it about dragons?" Connor grinned.
"Glitch said he had a dragon hunt as a mission for us," Lance said. "It seems suspicious though."
Glitch shook his head, "This is actually a secret quest, reserved for guild master Frederick. But it would seem like he's busy. Will you get his approval?"
"That's easy," Lance said. "Leave it to me."
"No," Frederick said. "I'll settle that after I come back from this quest. You shall not touch that quest. Never ever."
Lance scoffed, "I'm almost as strong as you. Why can't I take this?"
"Because you don't have the proper team," Luck snickered. "Fred, Sun, and I will handle that after Fred and I return. Our quest is about sirens. I hope I can talk to one."
"Does he not know what sirens do?" Connor whispered to Elliot to which the latter shrugged.
Sirens would use their voice and music to drag men down the water and feast on them. It was every boatman's nightmare.
Luck narrowed his eyes at the two, "I know every beast in the continent if you must know. My Bard skills have been maximized, so magic sh*t with music doesn't work with me."
Frederick excused himself and went on his quest with Luck. When they left, the three looked at each other and made an agreement. They got back to Glitch and smiled at him.
"Frederick said it's okay," Lance said.
Glitch narrowed his eyes, "Are you sure?"
Elliot nodded, "He definitely agreed. He even said good luck to us."
"Now, it's even more suspicious," Glitch said. "The master doesn't really greet or say things like that."
"Err," Elliot gulped. "T-That's because he likes me. He likes me so much, he greets me and says things like 'thank you', or 'good luck'."
"Just give us the quest," Lance pleaded. "I'll even sign the waiver."
"Fine, whatever," Glitch finally gave in.
Before they could go, Ed came over. "Hello, Elliot."
He knows my name. Elliot thought.
"Hello," Elliot greeted back.
"I heard you're going on a mission," Ed said and smiled.
"I was just going to say good luck," Ed grinned. "I hope you guys would kill it."
"Thanks," was all Elliot said before they left.
"What's his deal?" Lance pursed his lips. "He was fidgeting uncontrollably like he wants to say something."
Elliot looked back at the guild house and Ed wasn't at the doorway anymore.
"I don't know, Lance," Elliot said. "I don't know."
–
The journey to their quest took two days.
[ Water Dragon's Rampage
Reward: 2,000 gold
Creator Reward: Random Item
// The water dragon of the Seven Tears Falls had destroyed a village nearby. The dragon had been corrupted by an unknown type of magic, rendering it impossible to tame. Kill the dragon. ]
There was another Creator Reward. This made Elliot happy. If it's an item and not just an ingredient, he was sure it'll be of use to him.
Or will be useful for his teammates at least.
"We're here," Lance said after they felt the strong aura coming from the raging river nearby. "I can solo it but let's defeat it together."
"Obviously," Elliot rolled his eyes.
They stalked towards the river, up the stream towards the large waterfalls. There were 7 cascading falls, each about 5 meters tall.
"This is beautiful," Connor whispered. They were hiding behind a bush, looking for the dragon that they could feel.
"But where's the beast?" Elliot asked.
His question was answered when a rage of bubbles erupted by the river. The river was wide and the bubbles occupied two-thirds of it.
"That dragon must be massive," Lance gulped.
The bubbles stopped for a couple of seconds that made the three stood in confusion.
"What hap– holy cow!"
Elliot could only curse after the dragon burst out of the water. It wasn't as big as they initially thought. Dragons would usually measure up to the size of a 2 story building but the dragon was only the size of a bus.
"It's huge!" Connor gasped. "But smaller than I expected."
'Beast detected.'
<< Gray Dragon Emperor >>
Level 52
"Gray Emperor?" Connor asked."Didn't the report said it was a water dragon?"
Elliot was speechless after the dragon spread its wings. His mouth was agape and his eyes sparkled. He was bouncing in excitement and his mouth formed a wide grin.
"He's a royal!" he cheered. "Lance, what do we do now? Should we kill it? How do we kill it?"
Lance leaped from the bush and into the river bed. "Hope!"
"What?" Elliot and Connor asked at the same time.
The dragon glanced at Lance. Its eyes widened before diving into the boy.
"Hasty As–"
"Stop!" Lance yelled and opened his arms. "Hope, how are you?"
The dragon rubbed its head onto Lance's chest, purring as it did.
"Lance? You're a dragon tamer?" Elliot asked.
"No," Lance sighed and scrunched his face, "I… I kind of hatched this dragon."
"What?!" both Elliot and Connor gasped.
"You hatched a dragon?" Elliot asked.
"The Adventurer I told you about," Lance started. "He kind of gave me an egg. He only said I should focus my magic on the egg since we have the same affinities. I was basically incubating it. A few weeks later, it hatched. And then I realized it was a dragon. Hope got enormous after a week, so I made him a home in the forest. The next morning he was gone."
"How are you sure this dragon was your dragon?" Elliot raised the question.
"You need to have more faith in people," Lance smiled. "And also because I was the one that hatched him. My aura travels through his body. I'm basically his mother."
"How can you be so sure?" Connor narrowed his eyes. You're rubbing the side of that dragon now but it could eat you when you let your guard down."
When Hope, the dragon, showed no threat or any signs of attacking, Elliot and Connor got closer.
"Are you sure that this is safe?" Elliot asked.
"Of course!" Lance said. "Hope is the most gentle and loving dragon in the world. He couldn't hurt anything. Not even a fly!"
"But the quest…" Elliot trailed off.
Lance was rubbing Hope's snout when she shivered. Her face scrunched as if she was in pain.
Lance inspected Hope's body and the smile on his face vanished.
There was a wound on Hope's back.
The ground shook and the calm flowing water rattled. There was an ominous aura coming, but no one knows where it was.
"Oh," Elliot muttered. "That's the dragon. Now it all makes sense."
"I'm scared," Connor muttered. "I have never felt this before."
"Another Cannibal," Lance said. "This time, it's a dragon. It's not on Carnal Breakthrough but no dragon is weak, so be prepared. It must've drunk Hope's blood while chasing him."
"But where is–"
Elliot was cut off by the waterfalls collapsing. The part of the mountain was now hollow with all the land falling down the newly formed cave.
The shaking stopped before the mountain was torn apart by a large dragon. Its scales were blue and its size was only slightly bigger than a castle.
'Beast detected.'
<< Water Dragon Emperor >>
Level 89