We are in a Dragon's nest!
My eyes widened in surprise as alarm becomes apparent on my face, mirroring the anxiety that Laurance displayed in spite of his usual nonchalance.
Therese clutched her hand near her chest, the other summoning her bow to her hand, almost ready to attack if the need for it arises, although I don't think that the three of us will be enough to take down a dragon at our current levels. It's just an obvious fact, especially for us who know games that uses Dragons and the like to portray immense power and influence such as games like Dungeons and Dragons.
Looking towards the direction of the giant nest that served as a home to said dragon, I found it to be in deep slumber, growling ever so slightly as a sign of its breathing. This allowed me a room to finally let out a breath I've been holding on for dear life ever since we found out we were in a dangerous place like this. Therese and Laurance will begin to look around while I do so.
"Oh Therese, these don't look like crystals to me. Are these eggs?" Laurance asked out of nowhere, his voice though low in volume, echoed within the enclosed space of our surroundings and we all looked towards his direction to gaze at what he was talking about. He stands in front of a bunch of glowing blobs on the floor far from the dragon nestled in the center of the room. His remarks made our own eyes widen in our profound curiosity.
"Yes, these don't look like crystals to me too." Therese responds as she carefully approaches him to probably have a closer look at the blobs he was looking at. She puts her hand closer to the items we presumed to be eggs, then she gently pressed a finger to its surface still basking in effulgence. "Eh? The interface says that it's called Spring Green Hemaedonite."
"Spring... Green? Must be from the color of its light." I said without moving my eyes away from the dragon in front of me, afraid that if I do so, it will wake up and devour the three of us whole. As much as I'm curious about what a dragon's belly will look like, I don't want to face the possible consequences of a player death in this game.
Laurance felt the opposite however, as he began to lift one egg from the ground using both arms, smiling as he provided a remark for what he was doing. "It will be rude to take this mother dragon's eggs, but we're already here so we might as well, right?"
Therese was the first to shot him down even when I wanted to do so too. She gives him a look of disappointment on her face, making Laurance appear panicked in return. "Are you really willing to rob this poor mother dragon of her kids? Plus, we're not even sure if this is the crystal we are looking for."
We all sighed in defeat, incapable of making a decision about the matter dangling on a weighing scale. We took a few more moments of pause to analyze our situation, but both Laurance and Therese raised such important pointers even I as the third man of the party can't say anything that will imply my allegiance to either of my new found friends.
Then, I found the perfect solution to our problem.
"Therese, Laurance!" I called out their attention, pounding my fist against my open palm as a gesture that implied my excitement about what I had just come up as a resolution to this quandary. "I have an idea."
Laurance crossed both arms over his chest and smiled. "Shoot."
"We can either bring this thing back to town and have an NPC appraise it for us, preferably a blacksmith, or we can just leave it here and fetch someone who can identify this Spring Green.. thing. If we take it, we'll just have to bring it back should our assumptions be right. Either of those is better than us staying here being unable to make a decision, yes?" I shot back soon after, making an expression that I know exactly what I'm saying when the truth is that I simply want to make a good appearance to them since they've already made a very good impression on me yesterday. I want to show them that I'm capable of making decisions for the betterment of our group too. "Though I'd personally feel better leaving that behind, in case this dragon wakes up to see one of her kids gone"
Therese puts a hand below her chin as if in thought. "That's true... Okay, I think you made a very good point, Aron."
Laurance followed suit, giving us a thumbs-up just before vocalizing his agreement. "Yep! Looks like that's what we're gonna do now eh? Let me just put this back here then we can go." He said, letting us watch him fastidiously put down the egg, if it was even an egg, to the ground exactly where he had found it moments ago. "Oh, let's go."
With that note, our group once again set out to town, hoping that by the time we get there, we will be able to find someone who can help evaluate the strange item we had found today.
•◦⚜◦•
Back in town, the three of us immediately traveled to the market district of the Starting City. There, we began to ask the NPCs around for clues as to anyone that probably knows anything about dragons, or even crystals at that, and two vendors we've talked to had pointed us to a shop near the edge of the district, occupied by what they called is a connoisseur when it comes to precious gems and the like.
Using this information and Laurance' brilliant sense of direction that got us going in circles for nearly an hour, we finally made it to our destination. The shop was sandwiched between a bookstore and another made for magic scrolls and everything that is in between. It appears to be small from the outside, its signage a simple depiction of a round glowing item I can only assume is a jewel. The entrance contained only one door, so compared to the two shops next to it, it seems to be rather plain as opposed to what I believed it would look like.
There was a short flight of stairs before the porch leading to its door, and the three of us made our way one by one because we won't fit if we all go in at once. I was the last one to go.
The inside of the shop wasn't anything fancy either. It has wooden walls, the floor seems to be made from bamboo wood. The ceiling is tall, and the room doesn't look very spacious, because things are tossed all over the place too. This doesn't look like a professional's place at all.
"Oh my, visitors? It's been a while."
A voice caught all of our attention as we frantically tried to find its source, only to find it to come from above us, followed by the sound of gentle footsteps that descended the compact staircase just next to the counter also filled with books and other oddities I didn't pay much attention to.
What we found appear from beyond our line of vision was an old woman, her silver hair tied above her head in a bun. She has eyes as green as a jewel, and a smile is forming on her cracked lips. Moreover, she holds a wooden stick to support her fragile stature, but her other hand seems to be resting behind her bent over figure.
Therese was the first one to notice her presence when she came from above, and thus was also the first person among the three of is to acknowledge the old woman before us with a bow of her head. "Good afternoon. We're sorry for barging into your shop without so much as a notice beforehand."
The old woman hummed in response, twisting the heel of her foot around and begins to walk towards a set of chairs around a table across the room. With a flick of her hand, the items that were once on top of it disappears as if done by magic, and in its place were teacups used for noble visits; that much I know despite our obvious social standing.
"It's quite alright. There's simply not a lot of customers who go here in the shop anymore." She replies in her voice displaying her age. "Why don't you all join me for some tea while we discuss the subject of your visit?"
With only so much as a glance at each other, Therese, Laurance and I were happy to oblige. We approached the table and each took our seats beside one another, with me sitting next to the old woman and Laurance next to Therese and I.
"Before anything else, I want you to introduce yourselves to me as I will to you. My name is Glenda, I am a simple shopkeeper of a place for items of the old times, the years I've spent traveling Arkadia as an adventurer just like all of you." She said, reaching out a hand to her own cup of tea to be able to drink after her initial statement. "I settled down on this town with my husband after a while, but as you can see... old age hasn't pardoned me yet, even when it took my spouse a long time ago."
Letting the old woman finish her statement, each of us three begins to introduce ourselves to her as well, but we made sure to tell the names of our characters instead, because we were afraid the game won't register our true names. After that, she insisted we call her by her name, Old Glenda, and she shall call us by our names as well.
Old Glenda was once a traveler as she spoke of earlier, and in her travels she has acquired many treasures that hunters of her time were unable to find. Eventually, people began to talk and they all wanted to get her out of the game. It was around the same time she met her spouse, Johnny who was a jewelry smith and an adventurer who found solace in digging up caves for crystals and gems he used to make his products.
When they grew tired of the rumors and badmouthing about Old Glenda, they settled down here in the Starting City and made a shop for all of Johnny's hard work. They never had their own children, but their love filled their shop, especially with stories and memories of their time together as adventurers.
Once in their life, the two of them ventured into the wild after a customer required a precious gem for their jewelry of choice. The material it requires to be made was only found in Taunborough Cavern, but the moment they arrived there... they were met with a dragon protecting her nest from intruders. She was injured and the couple patched her up, a gesture of kindness that allowed them to earn the dragon's trust.
It then granted them one of its precious treasures, globules of glowing matter that appeared to them as eggs, but at a closer look were the most beautiful thing they have ever laid their eyes on. It was the Spring Green Hemaedonite.
Eventually, the town knew about their adventure and wanted to kill the dragon to earn all the remaining treasures within the cave, but they all perished, their souls nowhere to be found. Old Glenda and Johnny never saw the dragon again until the man passed away of natural causes, but she believes that it's still guarding that place and will wake up at the sight of anyone attempting to defile its cove.
"So it was a crystal all along..." Laurance murmured, his face showing signs of being in deep thought. "Good thing we never took any of those to town. I'm sure the dragon will be very mad to know we stole one of its eggs."
"The Dragon will give no kindness to those that give it none. The Spring Green Hemaedonite is an exquisite material for forging an excellent weapon, however without the blessings of the Dragon, it will be futile to try to take it from the cave." Old Glenda stated with no pause. Her sentence was a declaration of her refusal to agree with our purpose of visit.
"I guess we'll have to find something else for upgrades, huh?" I mumbled, depressed but somehow I understood why we can't obtain the material we need for this type of weapon. I was about to sigh and stand up from my seat, when Old Glenda puts her cane before my chest to prevent me from doing so. My eyes become widely open as I gazed at her and searched her face for answers.
"Do not interrupt me" She said in a low tone, smiling as soon as I sat back to my chair. "... The dragon will be unwilling to provide strangers its help, however, should a friend intervene instead, I'm sure it will prove fruitful to your group."
"A friend?" Laurance asked, slightly tilting his head backwards as he sipped his drink as well.
"Yes. Take me with you to the Taunborough Cavern." Old Glenda replied, her smile widening in the process.