Roland Ignatius was on his desk, his hands in his temples.
So much had happened in the last few days that it even made him wonder how the world could be so crazy.
Recently a crater was found a few days of distance from the city, it was surrounded by an archipelago.
Many guilds were curious and wary, not at all liking the idea of a new place appearing out of thin air, as it could be a new version of a gate.
That alone was a problem, even if he didn't mention the public curiosity and the news channels that tried to go there when the guilds said it was off limits.
Just after a conference with the other guilds, it was decided to let Roland's second son, Duncan, the best mage in the country, take a look in the place.
But there was a storm on the day he was supposed to go and more than half a day has passed and no news of him.
He was worried for his son, but also worried for his great-nephew, who recently had awakened a tricky class and needed assistance to fulfill the requirements.
So when his phone started to ring and he read his son's name on it, he quickly answered.
"Duncan!" He called out "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where are you? Why didn't you answer my calls?"
{Father} His son said on the other side {Breath}
And so he did, he stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
{Good} Duncan said {Now, to answer your questions, yes, I'm alright, no, I'm not hurt, well, more or less, I got hit in the face a few minutes ago, but overall no injuries, I'm in the archipelago right now and I didn't answer because I passed out and because I've got distracted while looking around}
Relief took over, practically making Rolandelt in his chair.
Duncan was fine, possibly with a bruise on his face, but alive and well.
This was good news.
"What have you discovered until now?" Roland asked, calmer.
There was a pause, the type of pause he knew very well.
"Duncan" He called seriously "What have you discovered?"
Another pause, but he soon got an answer.
{A way to help Johann?}
___
Duncan was convinced to go out of the room and get to the living room and eat.
He might have been persuaded by the fire breathing dragon in front of him.
No.
Plasma.
The plasma breathing dragon in front of him.
Stella had made a resume about the species as she prepared something for them to eat in the kitchen.
"No need to be so stiff" The girl said "He doesn't bit"
He doubted that.
It might look like it does not have teeth, but he saw them appear after the girl threw a fish for it
It had retractable teeth.
Another thing he had never seen in a dragon.
It was so strange, seeing a creature so similar to the dragons he's used to, but so foreigner at the same time.
He must have stared too much, since the dragon narrowed its eyes on him.
He avoided its eyes.
But Stella threw another fish at the giant lizard, hitting it in the face, startling it and making it growl at the girl.
"Stop scaring the new guy" The girl scolded it.
It huffed, rolling its eyes as it took the fish and ate.
Stella had the same reaction, huffing and rolling her eyes as she took a piece of the meat from the place she brought from the kitchen.
"Sorry about him" She said "The arrays around the Edge lessened a bit and now we are exposed to the outside world, so he's a bit on… edge, no intentional joke, I swear Mel!"
The dragon growled, but stayed where it was.
"But yeah" She continued "Most are excited about the it, but some like Mel and Marble are not as happy"
Well, Duncan wasn't happy.
This place was a place that raised dragons, and apparently it once had arrays that hid the place, but more importantly.
Who was 'most' and 'some'?
He knew Melchior was a dragon, so he assumed Marble might be as well, if the name was a hint, but the 'most' and 'some' might not be.
"I'm kind of curious" He said "Is there anyone else around here? Like, other them…"
His eyes fell on the dragon sprawled on the floor.
He really wanted the girl to say that yes, there were other people, she was not alone in a place full of dragons.
But things couldn't be more frustrating.
"Nope" She said "Just me and the dragons, but soon there'll be more people coming here! I mean, I do need people to come and buy things, I have a ranck to ran"
Duncan stopped for a moment, his worry for the girl being replaced by confusion.
"You sell things?" He asked.
"Yeah!" She said happily "Armors made of scales, saddles, Monstrous Nightmare gel, Death song amber, Changewing acid, Speed Stinger venom, Fireworm Firecomb and Firecomb gel, Gronckle iron and anything dragon related, but mainly dragons, apart of my personal ones, you can buy any dragon on the Dragon Edge"
He frozen in place.
He heard everything, but had a hard time believing.
Like, a person selling dragons? What type of scam is that?
His suspicion must be written in his face since the girl gave him a smile.
"What about I show you around the Edge?" She asked.
He hesitated with the offer, curious about the archipelago and nervous at the possibility of meeting a Dragon.
But the hesitation didn't last long.
"It would be wonderful"
He was sent here to investigate, and since this girl seems to know what she's doing, he might be safe.
But he wouldn't let his guard down.
So they finished their food (he had never tasted yak meat, but he might have a new favorite) and went out of the cabin to look around.
Or that was the plan.
The first thing he saw when the girl opened the door was the giant head of a dragon, and, judging by the eye, it must be the one on the window.
That made the girl sigh in exasperation.
"You will follow us" The girl said "Won't you?"
The answer was a cooing sound that made the ground shake a little.
"I imagined" Was what the girl said "Lets go, we need to leave the ground first"
"Leave… the ground?"
Duncan was confused for a second.
Why would they leave the ground?
But then Melchior left the cabin.
Stella climbed into its saddle, turning to him.
"Hop on" She said "It will be faster if we fly, I can give you a run down on everything as we pass by"
He stared at the saddle and then at the dragon.
It has an expectant expression, a thing he had seen before in other dragons, but it didn't seem to dislike the idea of carrying someone else on its back.
Many dragons hate having anyone else other than their tamer on their back, even their tamer's family, so seeing it eager to let him ride it was strange.
After much hesitation, he did as he was told and climbed into the saddle.
It was surprisingly comfortable, even more than the ones he had been, even though it was a little awkward, as dragons would be big enough for people to have a distance from each other.
"Hold on tight" She said "Mel like to go fast"
That was his only warning before he was nearly yanked from the saddle, which he barely had any time to hold on.
He was still recovering when the Crimson Goregutter started flying and he saw it in its full glory.
It was a magnificent creature that would make many dragons envious.
It quickly joined them in the sky and they took their way.
But then he was looking at the island from above.
It was beautiful, really, the sea was close, there was a field where sheep and yaks ate peacefully, a few cabins here and there, lots of plants.
He would say it was the perfect for retirement if it wasn't for the raptor-looking lizards running around.
"What are those?" He asked.
"Speed Stingers" Said the girl "They help me keep the live stocks and dragons in line, as sheepdogs do"
He saw a group of these Speed Stingers running after a few sheeps, surrounding them and herding them back to the group.
It was a strange and interesting sight.
But then he remembered something.
"Didn't you say that you sell Speed Stinger venom?" He asked.
"Yes!" She seemed excited "Speed Stingers have a venom in their tails that completely paralyzed the body, making it rigid like a statue, they sting their prey and wait for the venom to do the rest, the effect can last a few hours or a few days, it depends on the person"
They flew above the fields, and one of the Speed Stingers, a big one with a red crest and a metal collar with a big gem on it, saw them, growling in their direction.
"Good afternoon Sunny!" The girl yeled "Keep the good work!"
It let out a loud roar to them, its tail moving like a dog tails as the girl chuckled.
"This group is one of my personal ones" She said "Speed Stingers might not have the ability to spit fire, but it's because all this power is used to make them faster and stronger, their scaled is tough enough to repel lances, arrow and fire, so they are quite the manence of the Edge even if they can be drama queens sometimes"
So basically a raptor scorpion.
What a creature to use as a sheepdog.
"There is the Forge!"
They have changed Islands and now they flew above a large cabin, it had a drawing of a hamner, a sword and an ax.
"This is the Forge" The girl said "It's also the armory, here you can by weapons made with Gronckle Iron or armors made of scales"
They flew over another cabin, as big as the forge.
"The Store" Sbe introduced "Here you can buy anything that was made out of the dragons, like Monstrous Nightmare gel or Speed Stinger venom"
And then they continued on their way, Stella stopping from time to time to introduce other parts of that island, then heading to the others to show what they have.
It was like that he learned more about some species that lived in the archipelago.
He discovered what a Monstrous Nightmare looked like and that it produced an extremely flammable gel.
He learned that Death Song is a dragon that uses its voice to trick other dragons and trap them in the amber it produces inside its body.
He shuddered when he discovered that Changewing acid can melt even dragon fire proof metal (And wow, it exists! She showed him a cage used to put injured or sick dragons in isolation or mischievous dragons for time out and made Melchior blast at the thing, didn't even scratch) even underwater.
He even saw from a distance the Snow Wraith Island, he felt chill just by flying near it, and only heard a bit about the Razorwhip Island, where female Razorwhip stayed with their cubs and all male were forbidden, especially the male of the species.
He was curious about the utilities of Fireworm Firecomb and Firecomb gel after Stella told him their functionality.
He might get some for the alchemists of the guild.
And he was fascinated by how the Gronckle Iron was made after they stopped to let him take a better look at the armory on their way back to her cabin after the tour on the surface of the archipelago.
"It's so light!" He said as he picked a battle ax.
"And more resistant them normal iron" The girl said "An Gronckle Iron sword can break a normal sword in two, and ading Death Song amber can make it a good sealing material that can even stop lava, I need to ask the Fireworms to help me forge anything out of it though"
It was unbelievable, and he would think she was messing with him if she didn't show up with a bow of lava made of the combination.
He even tried to pore some mana in the weapon he was holding out of pure curiosity and was so surprised with how it was so smooth and easy that he nearly didn't notice that it made the ax even lighter.
What astonished him more was the receipt!
3 parts of Limestone, 2 parts of Sandstone, 1 part of iron ore and 1 part of hardened Gronckle lava.
The components to make the Gronckle Iron were stupidly mundane even if you count the hardened Gronckle lava!
Anyone with a Gronckle could make it, and that was literally the easier part!
Not to mention they were extremely docile.
("Isn't it bad for you to tell me the receipt?" He asked as he patted the Crimson Goregutter sprawled in the grass (he had to admit, she was growing on him).
"Look around" She said "Will there be anyone in the world that can beat me in quantity?"
He stopped to think and yeah, he saw the production site, there's no way anyone can beat her in that.)
This island was practically a national treasure if he just counted the Gronckle Iron.
A material made of cheap components that is more compatible and accepting with mana than mithril itself, was easier to deal with and that only cost beast cores?
That was the dream of every blacksmith in the world, dwarfs would be invading this place if they discovered that, and the price didn't even matter, it might as well be for free if all she's asking for is beast cores.
Even his father might come to make a deal for these materials and dragons.
That made him pause.
He quickly took his phone and looked at the time.
It was already 16:40, and he found many missed call from his father.
"Erm… Stella?" He called "I think I'll need some space"
He pointed to his phone and she immediately nodded, taking Melchior with her as he sat on the ground and leaned on the side of the sleeping Crimson Goregutter neck.
As she followed them all over the archipelago, he got used to her and had the chance to learn more about the species.
Crimson Goregutters were the definition of a gentle giant and a bodyguard.
She was a sweet giant rock-eating thing that became a mess every time anything happened to anyone, be it Melchior stepping on a splinter or Duncan being hit in the face by a Terrible Terror run amok, but would growl at any dragon that played a bit too rough close to him.
He would honestly love it if Johann could have a Crimson Goregutter for a tamed dragon.
His cousin, Johann Ignatius, was a dragon tamer that would start the academy soon, but, because of his stupid father, he still didn't have a dragon of his own.
Duncan's father had been looking for a dragon for him, but, again, Johann's father was making things difficult.
The cheating bastard.
But if he brought Johan here, Duncan might as well convince him to get a Crimson Goregutter.
He would be at ease that way.
He looked for his father's number and called, it didn't take long for someone to pick up.
{Duncan!} He called out {Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where are you? Why didn't you answer my calls?}
He resisted the urge to chuckle, he must have give his father a few more gray hairs.
"Father" Duncan said "Breath"
He heard his father do exactly as he said, atoo and breath.
"Good" He said "Now, to answer your questions, yes, I'm alright, no, I'm not hurt, well, more or less, I got hit in the face a few minutes ago, but overall no injuries, I'm in the archipelago right now and I didn't answer because I passed out and because I've got distracted while looking around"
That must have calmed him down a bit, as he could hear the sight that he knew his father would not notice that he let out.
But then it came, the question.
{What have you discovered until now?} Roland asked, calmer.
He paused.
He discovered so much it was all incredible, but how to say that the archipelago was full of dragons in a way that wouldn't make his father's heart stop?
{Duncan} He heard his father say seriously {What have you discovered?}
Another pause, but he soon found the right words.
"A way to help Johann?"