[Furthermore, once the beasts find out that physical attacks aren't effective on you, it won't take long for them to call for reinforcements. The shell is incapable of defending against mental attacks.]
By now, Adam had already collapsed on the ground. His aimless open eyes were staring at the sky and at once, he noticed a slight paleness in the darkness looming over him.
'Endevil, I'm taking a nap. Wake me up is any threat approach.'
Lying on the carpet of tender grass, Adam swiftly nodded off.
***
In the meantime, inside the outer section of the Prime Celestial Preserve.
-Hey, I just saw a weirdo in armour lurking around the grassland.
-Wait a minute, a mortal in silver and dull-golden armour?
-Exactly! Did you saw it too?
-Duh!
-What do you think it is? A spy from the empires?
-More like a pervert. He was peeking at the forest from behind a tree the whole time. I really had an urge to dash out of the premise and tear it to shreds.
-I guess we will have to report this incident to Elder Dragon Bulwark.
Advancing at an incredible speed, an Ice-Spitting Salamander and a Mythril Tusker shared their observations and theories. But in the end, they decided not to act recklessly and throw away the wardenship in the process.
Within about three hours, they reached the border of the core area of the preserve. Slowing down their steps, they were about to raise their voice and respectfully register their presence in front of their supreme master when a few figures caught their attention through their peripheral vision.
-Why are you all here?
Staring at the recently elected guardians of the outer section, the tusker probed. He was surprised to see all the fellow officials gathered without prior notice.
-Wait a minute. Are you both here to complain about a goofy character roaming around the preserve?
The salamander was astonished.
-How do you...
At once, its brows shot up after realising something.
-Fall in line, fellas. We are all here to report that clown in armour.
The sixty beasts quickly detailed their observations. After noticing that they are all indeed talking about the same character, many questions popped up in their hearts.
A spy?
A rogue knight?
A thief trying his luck?
An arrogant brat?
A nincompoop?
The sheer number of hypotheses produced by those sixty beasts almost drove them insane when a domineering figure entered. Each footstep of the beast had an intimidating aura embedded in it.
At once, the crowd bowed with reverence and spoke in unison.
-Greetings to Elder Dragon Bulwark.
The golden-scaled entity nodded and gestured them to rise.
-What is it? Are you all here to surrender your custodianship of the respective areas? So be it then.
The beasts went pale when Elder Bulwark's voice resonated in the air. The Flame Lynx immediately stepped forward and clarified the intention of their visit.
-Elder, you mistook us. We are here to report a bizarre incident. An armoured person has been scouting the outer section of the preserve from the other side of the grassland. Like a spy, that individual exploits the shade of the trees and it is utterly discomforting. We all have encountered the same situation but we didn't dare to act recklessly. Thus we came here to seek your advice.
The beast conveyed the entire situation in a single breath, without breaking the fluency. Though it was slightly disrespectful to detail the entire incident without permission, the beast gambled on its luck after perceiving the elder's annoyed demeanour.
Contrary to the expectations, the dragon didn't roar at the rulebreaker. It instead asked.
-Where was this thing last seen?
The Adamantine Turtle took a step forward and conveyed that the individual is currently nearby his area. It added that the armoured mortal was taking a nap when it was departing to here.
The dragon was silent for a minute and then turned around to stare at the gazebo nearby the mansion. The snow-white figure of an old man sitting inside it gave a soft nod while sipping some tea.
Turning back to face the crowd, the dragon declared.
-All guardians, return to your stations and be on alert. Enter the grassland if necessary. If you sense something amiss or abnormal, feel free to use intimidation. If someone barges in, capture them and extract information after planting Ask-Worms. In the meantime, I'll go and take care of that low-life.
The face of the crowd lit up after receiving permission to use intimidation. It was previously sealed away due to their childish behaviour.
Never in its wildest thoughts did the dragon expected these newbies to play 'who produces the most oppressing killing intent?' shortly after they came to power a few decades ago.
And after nine years of suffocation, they're being released to the wild to play.
At once, they thanked Elder Dragon Bulwark for his generosity. Their figures flashed and disappeared from the spot.
-I wonder who that brainless silly freak is?
After sufficiently describing this unknown individual with words repulsive even to a swine and absent in the dictionary of the church-going upright man, the dragon stretched its limbs and yawned out loud before flapping the wings. The airborne figure turned to a streak of light and dashed in the direction.
***
"ACHOO! ACHOO!! ACHOO!!!"
Sneezing wildly, Adam was thrown out of his tranquillity. The multiple sessions of unending waves of discomfort had wrapped his being like an envelope. Endevil confirmed that nothing had infiltrated the armour and while saying this, Adam had already sneezed a couple of time.
'Whoever is thinking of me, please stop!'
The earthling wanted to scream out loud but his mouth was busy exhaling jets of air.
Fortunately, his prayers were taken into consideration. Almost ten seconds later, the torturing sensation vanished. Yet the berserker was feeling overwhelmingly tired and disorienting as he lied in the laps of nature.
With no strength to support himself, Adam was about to drift off into slumber when an intimidating aura weighed down on him.
'What?'
Though protected by the armour, the murderous intent still made him apprehensive.
[Adam, the guardian beasts of the outer section had decided to release their pressure. I think they are planning on intimidating you.]
'Oh, is that so? Thank you, I guess.'
As the air around him turned viscid, the earthling channelled the mana through his body. Yet, he could barely raise his torso from the ground.
Slowly yet steadily, Adam began to crawl away from the vicinity. The mana was being drained at an alarming rate and had already touched the bottom line.
Roar!
The violent boom that pinned Adam to the ground had an exaggerated amount of might embedded in it. It was so deafening that he can perceive hear his ringing as an aftereffect.
Bam!
Just as Adam was wondering what caused the bellow, a massive limb descended down onto the earthling's back, absolutely immobilising him.
[Adam, your opponent is a familiar figure.]
The sturdiness of the armour was unfathomably enormous. But that doesn't mean the one inside was all safe and secure.
Pressed into the soil by about almost a metre, Adam was stunned when Endevil spoke so.
'Who?', asked the searching with a tone of annoyance and curiosity.
[Little Bu.]
'...Sage's pet?'
[Yup.]
Adam fell silent for a few seconds before putting forward a question.
'Suggest a way to escape from the dragon's pressure.'
The master's request was greeted with a brief pause after which words emerged in his head.
[Though Draconic race isn't a mainstream community in the civilised world, they possess strength far surpassing even the Saint Lazarus we met. Their immunity to the five elements and unparalleled agility is simply mind-boggling. If not for the armour, you might have died at least a thousand times over.
In a nutshell, there's no escape from a dragon's grasp once the grip tightens.]
Despair was yet to envelop Adam when the Elder Dragon Bulwark saw the unbelievable sight. It was speechless for a few seconds.
I wonder how long can this armour endure?
The surprised countenance was immediately replaced by a vicious grin. The force weighing down on Adam was multiplied by twenty times. A network of cracks spread all over the ground and the topsoil began to destabilise.
Yet, the stranger remained unscathed.
Bulwark was pleasantly surprised to witness an opponent worthy of enduring his pressure. At once, the foot rose abruptly only to produce an earth-shattering swipe at the puny undefeatable foreigner.
Crack~
The violence hiding in the gale uprooted the surrounding trees and altered the topography. A bundle of dust rose up into the air, obscuring the visibility.
Witnessing this, the guardian beasts could help but admire the existence of the ancient dragon!
But, as soon as the cloud settled, their faces darkened.
What the...
The expected defeat of the outsider was nowhere in the sight and the elder dragon was intently staring at the pit before him. At the middle of the crater lie an armour painted in silver and dull-golden colours.
Its exterior, pristine as a freshly forged weapon!