We turned off the path about midday and stepped into the trees. I followed Kingston as he led me to a spot with low-level beasts so I could train.
We walked for another thirty minutes before we came up to a swamp where I spotted toads the size of house cats, snakes with wings, and dragonflies that looked like a cross between a dragonfly and a dragon.
"Holy hell, what are these things?" I asked Kingston
"The giant toads are called phantom toads and have warts full of acid on their backs. When attacked, the warts will rupture and spray acid. The winged snakes are flying snakes, and dragonfly creatures are pixie dragons. The pixie dragons are harmless by themselves, but during the breeding season, they create huge swarms and have been known to burn down villages. There should be some gremlins and ogres around here too. All these creatures are level 1, the gremlins are level 2, and the ogres are level 3. "
A plume of smoke rose out of the hilt of the whip as I grabbed hold of it. Scorpius materialized on my shoulder, rubbing her pincers together with glee.
"It's about time; I have been itching for a good fight!"
"I know nothing about using a whip; what should I do, Scorpius?" I asked as I looked around for my first target.
"Don't worry about that doll face; I will guide you through it as you wield my whip. Just try to copy the images I send to your mind, and you shall do splendidly."
I nodded to let her know I understood, then zeroed in on a winged snake that was making its way toward me.
"You got this, Harlow, and I will be close by just in case you need help." Says Kingston
"Awesome, thanks" with a thumbs up and a smile, I followed every image Scorpius sent to my head.
The whip sliced the snake in half, cutting through it like butter. A white light rose from the snake's remains, then solidified into a sphere the size of my fist.
"Grab that sphere; that is the snake's life energy." Says Kingston, "We call the crystals life orbs; when you pick it up, the life energy will transfer into you. You will need about a hundred of those to level up."
I did as Kingston said and grabbed the orb; as soon as I touched it, the sphere turned back into white energy and disappeared into my hand.
I felt the energy run through me like an adrenaline rush. It healed my aching feet, and my exhaustion and hunger melted away... I could become addicted to this feeling...
With a smile, I tightened my grip on the whip and aimed for phantom toads this time.
One after another, beasts fell, and my energy rose higher and higher. My cute little wyvern, went after the dragonflies, and he absorbed the life orbs. My cute little wyvern grew bigger and bigger with every life orb he drank. By the time we were done, he was about the size of a beagle, and I was amazed at how fast he could grow.
Soon the world grew dark, so we decided to find a better place to camp for the night.
As we searched the forest for a place to camp, we found ourselves surrounded by a pack of giant rats Kingston called scavengers. They were ugly beasts that looked like mangy rats the size of large dogs and had a tail longer than its body.
They made loud, screeching sounds as they zeroed in on us. I pulled my whip from its holder to prepare for their attack.
"Scavengers are level 3 beasts, so be careful. They are fast, have great hearing, and use their tails like a whip." Explains Kingston as he pulls his wand and grimoire from his pouch.
The first rat lunged for me, but with help from Scorpius, I followed the images she sent to my mind. This time the whip did not slice the beast in half, but it made a thick cut along its back, causing the rat to screech in pain.
Kingston made quick work of the rats that went after him; by the time I had killed two, he had already finished the rest.
I was panting when I was done and sweating like a fat man in July.
"You and Smaug can have the energy orbs; you need them more than I do. Let's get you to level 5 before we reach the first town.
"Why level 5?" I asked as I picked up some of the energy orbs.
"Because you must be at least a level 5 to do jobs posted on the quest board. Nobody wants to hire someone for a job they can't do."
"Ah, I see. I understand now... man these things are awesome... I could go days without eating or drinking."
"The buzz will fade away after a few minutes, but it does help during a battle. Let's hurry to find a place to camp, and if we don't find a place soon, we could run into worse beasts than those rats."
After two long days of following the path, I had finally reached level 5, and Smaug was now the size of a labrador. It amazed me to see how fast he grew.
It was late in the evening when we reached the town of Eira.
Eira was a small village made of mostly elven folk, and most looked humanoid, but others looked like animal hybrids of all shapes and sizes. My favorite part of the whole village was that the entire town was built above ground, high up in the trees.
Kingston and I took an elevator to the top, stepping onto a platform. We were so high up in the trees that if one of us fell, we would splat on the ground below.
I was a little weak in the knees as I followed Kingston, who had a picture of his brother, asking every elf if they had seen him. I hope he finds his brother soon...
We soon found ourselves at a small Inn called The Ogre's Lullaby, where we planned to sleep for the night. After filling our bellies with some fantastic food, we headed towards our rooms, where the Innkeeper was nice enough to bring baths full of warm water so we could bathe.
After a must-need bath, I crawled into the bed, sighing from the pure bliss of sleeping on a clean bed and not worrying about what beast would show up at night.
Smaug leaped up onto the bed and curled up at my side. He will soon be way too big to sleep next to me in the bed. I patted him on the head, then quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The following day I met with Kingston downstairs for breakfast.
"So, what are you planning to do now that we have made it to the first town?" Kingston asked.
I gave him a quick rundown about the mission I was given by Damian, then pulled out the map that he had given me to find the first diamond fragment.
"Hmm, I see," Kingston says, rubbing his chin while in deep thought. "From what I understand, you will have to travel to Mount Dead Dragon's Carcass, where the shard is said to be guarded by an earth dragon. You will have to be at level 20 at the lowest and should probably get a team together to fight. Dragons are tough and usually take a team to defeat."
"Oh man, how exactly do I do that? The only person I know so far is you."
"Well, if you would like, I could help you."
"Wow, you would help me?" I asked with a megawatt grin on my face.
Kingston's face flushed a crimson red, and he squirmed in his chair, "Well, yeah...I will help you... hopefully, we can meet new people along the way that can help us, or maybe we can hire someone to help. I guess we will have to wait and see."
"Oh, thank you so much, Kingston! And since you are helping me, I will help you look around for your brother too."
"Now that that is settled let's head to the quest board to make some money and work on leveling up.".
After paying for our meal, we headed towards the quest board, which was located in the center of town.
"Will somebody please help me find my son!" Yelled a man who looked half-elf, half-cat with black and white fur. Everyone who walked by ignored the poor man looking for his child.
I couldn't ignore him, so I approached him and decided to see if I could help.
"Sir, I heard you say you are looking for your son. Would you mind telling me what happened?" I asked
"Oh yes, I can tell you," He says, "We were fishing by the river when a group of bandits came out of nowhere and took him. My son is a hybrid like me, so I'm sure the bandits plan to sell him. Humans will pay large amounts of money for hybrids."
I looked towards Kingston for his opinion. "What do you think, Kingston? Fighting bandits probably won't be easy, but..."
Kingston held up his hand, "Say no more, Harlow. I want to help this man find his son. I can't stand the thought of a living being sold like an animal; it's disgusting."
After learning that the cat man's name was Furgison, he told us everything we needed to know. Once we learned everything we could, Kingston and I headed for the lake where the boy was last seen. As soon as we arrived, Kingston pulled out a wooden toy that belonged to the young boy, then pulled out an old compass. After chanting a locator spell, the compass spun wildly until it finally stopped, pointing in the direction we should go.
The compass led us deep into the forest until we finally found the bandits, who had already made camp for the night. Kingston and I moved in as close as possible to get the group's layout.
There were about seven of them in total, and all of them appeared to be human. Towards the back of the camp was an ox-drawn cart with a large metal cage. Inside the pen was the young cat boy with gray and white fur that we were looking for. Sitting beside him in the cell was a familiar face, the dark elf girl named Kyrah, whom I remember meeting in Aadi.
"So, how are we going to help them?" I asked Kingston
"I have been thinking about that... I thought about using a sleeping spell to knock out all the bandits; what do you think?"
"That should work," I said with a smile.
So, we waited until the sun began to set; Kingston pulled out his wand and Grimoire. Once the spell was finished, a cloud of sand fell over the group of bandits, and within seconds, they all fell into a deep sleep.
"Man, that was awesome!" I told Kingston with a smile. It was cute how his face grew beet red from my compliment.
Kingston and I stepped out of the trees, then hurried to the cage.
"Harlow, is that you?" Kyrah asked as we approached
"Yes, it's me," I replied, pulling off the lock that Smaug melted.
Kyrah flung herself at me, hugging me tight. "Thank you so much for helping me!"
"How did you end up with the bandits?" I asked
"Ah, well... I tried to steal some of their items, but they caught me. I'm so grateful to see you again!" she said, pulling me into another hug.
Kingston helped the little boy out of the cart, "You are Furnand, right?"
The boy nodded
"I'm glad we found you; your father is worried sick," I said to the boy
"My father sent you?"
Kingston nodded, "Yes, he is waiting for us, but it's now very late. We better find a place to camp for the night, and we are deep in troll territory, so let's hurry."
We got as far away from the bandits as possible, then found an excellent place to camp. Once the base was settled, we had all been eating when we heard a rustling in the bushes, and we all turned and waited to see what was going to attack.
I screamed when a familiar furry bandit leaped out of the bushes with a growl, then began clawing and biting at me.
"Oh my goodness, Sly, you stupid raccoon!" Kyrah hurried to grab the raccoon, "Why did you do that? She is the one who saved me, you dummy!"
"How do you two know each other?" asked Kingston
"Oh, well, I forgot to introduce you guys. Kingston, this is Kyrah. I met her in Aadi; she helped me find the Hungry Hound. Kyrah, this is Kingston; I also met him in Aadi; he has helped me a lot and even decided to help me on my mission."
"Oh, so you found out what your mission is. Do you need any help?" she asked.
"Well, actually..." I explained to her what my mission was.
"Oh wow, I can't believe you were sent on a mission to save the queen... I don't know how much I can help, but you can count me in... That is if you will have me?"
"Of course, you can help. The more, the merrier. Defeating these dragons and restoring the diamond is going to be tough." I warned her
"I understand that it's going to be tough, but I will help in any way I can," she said. She looked so determined it would be impossible to tell her no.
"Welcome to the team Kyrah," And just like that, we now had another person willing to help me on my mission.