Following Ethan's directions, Darbi took from the bag what appeared to be a rolled-up piece of paper no bigger than an ant. As soon as he pulled it out, however, it became almost two meters tall. It was such an unexpected event that Darbi staggered from the sudden increase in weight of the paper. Ethan hadn't lied at all: that bag was truly magical!
"That bag is really awesome..." Haku thought with admiration. He had no idea what spell it used to change the size of objects, but he could easily see its potential. With it, it would have been possible to transport large quantities of food or materials without having to worry about space and weight. Magic was truly an incredible thing.
Ethan took the map and opened it. Initially it was just a sheet with various figures drawn on it, but after a few moments these figures colored and rose, becoming three-dimensional. Under the amazed eyes of the young dragons, several dozen tiny cities, villages, forests and mountains rose above the sheet, but they seemed made of light rather than matter, as if they were images reflected in a mirror of water; when Tikka tried to brush against one, her paw passed through it without even feeling contact with anything.
"So this is a map?" Haku asked. "Are these all places that actually exist?"
"Exactly. Sven worked his magic on this map, so all the places we visited were absorbed into this sheet in minute detail, with no possibility for error" Ethan explained.
Haku smiled satisfied: that too was a very precious object! An item capable of always revealing where they were would have made travel much easier. It was certainly better than exploring a new area each time, exposing themselves to the risks and dangers present there. "What are these places?" he asked.
"They are every place we've visited since our journey began. Here is our home base, the city of Figtor. It's in the Jurao Kingdom" Ethan pointed to a large cluster of houses far to the north.
Haku noticed that near that city there was a sort of black line, outlining a large piece of land, much bigger than the city itself. "Does this line indicate the Jurao Kingdom?"
"Yes, your excellency. Everything inside the border defined here is part of the Jurao Kingdom" Ethan explained, then he pointed to two other areas marked by lines on either side of what was the kingdom. "Here, west of the Jurao Kingdom, is another human nation, the Tash Kingdom, which is its ally. To the east, instead, we have the Baudonia Cities Alliance; it isn't a real nation, but a union of various tribes and city-states of beastmen that has recently formed to counter the expansion of the Jurao Kingdom"
Haku narrowed his eyes. So his mother was right, newcomers often had conflicts with each other. Maybe he could use that to his advantage; he clearly didn't expect to be able to ally himself with either side, but perhaps he could still find a way to profit from their enmity. "And what about the northern and southern borders of this nation?"
"To the north there is just a large desert, called the Yuthia Desert, which is almost unknown. As you can see there are many unmarked areas, because no one has ever mapped them" Ethan answered. Indeed, there were large white spaces all over the map, as if a piece of the world had been taken away. "To the south, instead, there is the Karbraland Great Forest. The goal of our trip was precisely to map this territory as much as possible, since it is still little known in the Jurao Kingdom. These" and he pointed to small clusters of houses scattered throughout the forest, "are all the tribes and villages of ogres and fairies that we have come across"
"Ogres and fairies? Didn't you say that no one had ever been to these places?"
"I said no one had ever mapped them. Ogres and fairies are very secretive races, and they don't like strangers very much. That's why the guild gave us this assignment, they wanted us to get a clearer picture of the situation in the forest. They sent me because they know I'm a good diplomat, even if unfortunately those three idiots who escorted me often created problems. Unfortunately we got a little carried away and we went a little too far south despite the warnings"
"Warnings?"
"All the fairies and ogres we met advised us not to go too far south where there were the high mountains. They said none of them had ever returned from there. Now I know why"
Haku nodded. Certainly some explorers had discovered the valley before, but due to his mother devouring the poor passers that place must have acquired a bad reputation, which had kept the other newcomers away. So, to recap, the valley they were in at the moment was located far to the south, at least from the point of view of Ethan's starting point, so so far he knew what lay north; continuing northwards, therefore, he would first have found the forest, then the human realms, and then the desert. "Ogres and fairies… I've never heard of them. Are they strong?"
Ethan shrugged. "It depends. Most of the fairies that we met were no higher than level iron, although there were some level gold among them. However, we only encountered the lower classes, not the elites, so it's possible there are stronger ones. The ogres were slightly more powerful, but only a few went beyond the level silver. One of the chieftains we met, however, reached the level diamond"
Haku didn't like that. From what he understood a level silver newcomer could already easily defeat him or his siblings, at least now that they were still young. If there were even stronger newcomers nearby, then he and his family took serious risks to encounter formidable enemies soon after leaving the valley. They had to avoid them.
He looked back at the map, and he noticed something strange: although all the area further south of the forest was considered 'unexplored', after a long stretch the map resumed coloring and new territories were shown. "If no one has ever passed this valley, how do you know what lies further south?" he askef.
"I didn't say that no one has ever been further south, just that no one has ever explored this area. However, many people have simply bypassed it"
"What do you mean?"
"That there are many known lands and kingdoms to the south, but to get there people take a different route, which instead of crossing this valley goes around it. Generally if a person from the Jurao Kingdom, where I'm from, wants to go south, they take a route that goes through at least three other countries and then passes through the mountains far west from here. That's why there are still many holes in all the maps of the world, despite all the great nations are already known: some places, despite being in the center of the continent, haven't yet been explored due to their excessive danger or because they have a bad reputation. It is one of the reasons why the work of an explorer is still so profitable"
"So, what there is down south?"
"Following a straight line, there is the Alkansa Triumvirate. Is a coalition of three nations of orcs, trolls and goblins. However there is a large unexplored area here too" Ethan said pointing to the map. Haku actually noticed that the territory classified as 'unknown' was definitely too big to include only the valley where they lived; there had to be something else in between.
"Umph. So on one side we have ogres and fairies, on the other side the unknown. For all I know, there could very well be something worse" Haku thought. "You have really no idea what's there at all? Maybe you've heard some stories?"
Ethan thought about it for a moment, then he answered: "I don't know much about it, but some ogres have told me that certain legends of their ancestors say that beyond the valley are more of their tribes. Incidentally, they must be the tribes they got from originated the same ogres I tell you about. According to them, their ancestors came up the forest from the south in search of new lands to conquer, and settled in the north where they came into conflict with the faeries. They were led by fierce chieftains far more powerful of the current ones, and they almost won the war; however suddenly the passage between the two sides of the forest was closed by the unexpected appearance of something that made the soldiers disappear. In the end the ogres, not seeing their comrades return nor seeing new reinforcements arrive, decided to sign an armistice with the fairies and they settle in the northern part of the forest, forming the tribes that exist today"
Haku immediately understood how those legends were born: obviously the mysterious being who had blocked the passage of the ogres was Neytiri. When his mother had settled in the valley centuries earlier she must have imposed her rule without any restrictions: everyone who passed through her territory must have been systematically devoured. Eventually the ogres of the original tribes must have either surrendered and retreated south, or else they had led an army and been defeated by the dragon. Those who, on the other hand, had already passed the valley, unable to go back, had settled in the north.
This was the true power of the dragons. They were so strong and powerful that they could change the fate of entire civilizations without even realizing it. They were really the ultimate beings, the pinnacle of the food chain.
However Haku was dissatisfied with the answer. Since he liked very accurate information, that uncertainty bothered him a bit. Even though Ethan had given him a small idea, he couldn't be sure if there were still ogres to the south or if something else had settled over the centuries. From his point of view, the north wasn't safe, and the south even less so. "I have one last question" he said. "Can that bag also avoid the deterioration of the food?"
"Well, it can carry it, but it doesn't stop it from decomposing. To keep food fresh you have to use this" Ethan had Darbi pull out an object: it was a light-blue globe that seemed to pulsate. "We call this a 'refrigerator'. Thanks to a spell it keeps the temperature of the bag low enough to keep the food for years"
"Years? Is it possible?" Haku exclaimed.
"Of course. Frozen food doesn't deteriorate, or rather, it does so much more slowly. So with a refrigerator we solve the problem. It's not a difficult item to create, any mages even of level bronze can do it" Ethan explained. "The magic that powers it deteriorates over time, but it takes very long. The refrigerator has an average life of about three years, but if you have several with you and light a new one when the others have gone out, then you can avoid the food decomposition for decades"
Decades! Haku was beaming. If he had owned a large number of those refrigerators and one of those bags, he could have stored all the food he wanted! His and his siblings' survival would have been much easier. His eyes sparkled as he thought about it. "Can you make some more?"
Ethan shook his head. "I'm not a mage, I told you. I just know how to turn it on and off" he replied, and then he moved his finger making an 'X' over the object, which lost some of its color and stopped pulsing. "Now it's off. To turn it back on just have to do the same"
Haku was a little disappointed that the man didn't know how to make refrigerators, but he had imagined it after all; he too remembered well that Ethan wasn't a mage. He got to his feet. "Good. I'm satisfied. Come with me, then; as promised, I'll accompany you out of the valley"
Ethan was over the moon. "Thank you! Thank you, your excellency!"
"Guys, give me his things. From here on I'll go alone" Haku said.
The other dragons didn't take his decision well. "Are you sure?" Darbi asked, who well remembered how dangerous humans were.
Haku nodded. "Yes. He can't hurt me now that he's unarmed. Going all together will only make us stand out more" he replied. "You can use your time more efficiently. Darbi, take our sisters to hunt something else. They did well on their first try, but they need some practice"
This made everyone agree. His sisters were happy that they could be more autonomous and Darbi trusted Haku. So, after taking Ethan's items, the dragon and the human walked towards the exit of the valley.
"Come on, lead the way" Haku said as they continued on.
Ethan was a little surprised. "Uh... you don't know where...?"
"I'm your guard, not your guide! You and your companions entered the valley, so you know how to get out, don't you?" Haku answered angrily. "Come on, walk. I'm beside you"
Ethan didn't dare to object.