Touch of Fate

------------------------

Unnamed

Age: 0

Race: Lesser Emerald Dragon

Class: Lesser Emerald Dragon

Title: Summoned Creature

------------------------

[Emerald? Like the gemstone? What the hell?]

Mike had been so focused on getting his party members to safety, he'd barely noticed the oddity till now. Or rather, he'd been purposely ignoring it in favor of other things.

"...Hey Morris...have you ever heard of an Emerald Dragon?"

The bard looked at him blankly. "As in the gemstone? I don't think so. As far as I'm aware, True Dragons are classified according to an individual element. There are a few rare varieties based on composite elements, and I think there are some legends of ones said to embody Light, Dark, and even Time and Space, but not gemstones. Are you sure it's not some variety of...pseudo-dragon or maybe an unusual kind of wyvern?"

Even Mike could tell that his friend was grasping to find an explanation.

[Did I invent a new species? I thought that was supposed to be incredibly difficult given the nature of Conjuration and Creation magic.]

"Well it's class and race are both Lesser Emerald Dragon, so I don't think so…"

The group, with the exclusion of Lily who was still looking at her potion vial in a concerning manner, turned to stare at the green scaled dragon with curiosity. At first glance it was similar to Red in shape. However, something about it seemed more graceful, elegant even.

The biggest difference was the coloration, but rather than a simple palette swap from red to green this dragon appeared to be clad in luminous sheets of the purest green which easily reflected the light of the setting sun.

[Its scales seem to have an almost crystalline quality. Maybe that's the reason for its species?]

"Doesn't it appear kind of...feminine?" Sera asked quietly. "Like how Audra would appear when she finally grows up."

Once again the group turned to regard the dragon, who was still impassively watching them with a patience that belied its extremely young age.

"Now that you mention it...yeah, I can see it." Mike muttered. He sent a quick mental message to the creature, questioning it about its identity. The telepathic voice that replied definitely had a feminine quality that he'd learned to recognize among his other familiars and summoned monsters.

The contents, however, contained only pleasant befuddlement. Apparently, the dragon was unaware of any such concepts and was merely enjoying exploring the world in which she found herself.

"Yep, definitely a she. Also much more laid back than Red. I think she and Reber would get along famously."

"Aha! I knew it!" Sera exclaimed. "I could tell by her elegant demeanor." She glanced around at the other members of the party. "You know what this means, right?"

They all stared at her quizzically until Audra, who'd seen fit to poke her head out of Mike's pocket and looked around, made a small chirping noise when she noticed the larger dragon. The two reptilian creatures watched one another for a few seconds before the tiny Wyrm flew over to her bigger, but much younger, relative and landed on the Emerald Dragon's head.

Turning in place a few times, Audra gave a large yawn and then settled down into a crevice between two scales, quickly falling asleep.

After recovering from the momentary burst of cuteness, Sera coughed. "Ahem...As I was saying, it means we need to have another naming competition for her. I can already think of a few."

Despite feeling slightly betrayed at his familiar's sudden abandonment, Mike noted that the energy of the conversation was flowing in the wrong direction, and he decided to intervene. "No time for that. We can take care of that decision later. For now, let's concentrate on getting away from this position."

He turned to the dragon. "Keep yourself out of sight for now. There are some forests to the north of here where you can hunt, just don't go too far or else you might run into the elves. I'll let you know when we need you again."

Making sure to recover Audra, who complained about losing her new perch, Mike watched as the dragon flew off. He felt a bit uneasy about letting the summoned equivalent of a newborn wander freely in the wilderness, but he figured that there shouldn't be much that could legitimately threaten her in this area.

[I'm actually more concerned about the damage she could do to anyone she gets into a fight with...]

They set off at a rapid pace, crossing the grassy terrain with a sort of loping jog used by experienced adventurers to best take advantage of System enhanced Endurance. This proved somewhat difficult for William, who required a steady stream of energizing Life Magic in order to maintain the pace.

After a few hours of effort, Mike decided that they'd traveled far enough away to avoid detection, and selected one of the many small stands of trees that littered this section of the Riverlands before telling the rest of the party to take a break.

While he was mentally planning how he would go about setting up this hideout, Sera asked, "Are we there already? The ocean still looks pretty far away."

Before Mike had a chance to speak up, Morris answered for him. "That's a bit of an optical illusion. The coastline in this area is well known for its sheer cliffs that can be deceptively close when travelling overland. You should have seen some of it when coming into Gildusi."

"I suppose…" she muttered quietly while looking towards the horizon. "Still, I can barely see any hint of water."

"There's another kilometer or so before we really start hitting civilization again." Mike added thoughtfully while beginning to inject his mana into the ground. "Any closer and we would risk possible discovery by the locals."

[The ground in this area is mostly composed of a relatively thin layer of soil on top of solid rock. Seems a bit strange based on what little I remember about geology, but I guess this is a fantasy world. Maybe they have magical erosion resistant soil or something.]

It didn't take much effort to carve out a few small rooms and a staircase lined with soil that had been hardened to a rock-like consistency. Once the entrance was in place, he used Life Magic to cause the surrounding brush and plant life to grow over it, disguising it from casual observers.

"That should do it for the time being." He announced before descending the staircase and into the somewhat cramped space. As an afterthought, he conjured a small globe of light for the others to see.

At the bottom of the stairs the full extent of the hideout was visible, consisting of a single main chamber with two small side chambers extending off from it.

"Homey." Sera commented dryly once they had a chance to look things over.

"I'll be making some amenities next." He shot back defensively. "In the meantime, I figured the rest of you would prefer to spend your time in the demi-realm."

Thoughts elsewhere, he quickly stuck the magic key into a nearby wall and summoned the portal.

Obviously setting aside her complaints, she asked. "So we're calling it a day then?"

"Yeah, I'll take the first pair of delvers to the dungeon tomorrow."

"Wait, we are still doing that?"

"Of course. The situation has changed a bit, but that doesn't mean we can afford to let this opportunity pass. We'll play it safe and escape at the first sign of trouble, but we still need to enhance everyone's combat ability as our first priority." He replied with a confident grin.

She grumbled for a few seconds, and then finally nodded. "I can't really argue with that. If you are that concerned about someone attacking us, we definitely need to work on improving our strength."

"Because we'd be operating within our own version of the dungeon, there would be little chance of them interfering with us while delving. Thus, so long as we are careful while entering or exiting, the actual dungeon would be relatively safe." Morris added thoughtfully before laughing. "That's something I never thought I'd say. A dungeon, safe."

"That's settled then." Mike announced, wanting to move things along. "Why don't you all head inside and rest up for now? By the time you wake up tomorrow, I'll have this place looking downright luxurious."

One by one, the rest of the party filtered into the portal until only Tal and him were left. She paused at the doorway and glanced at him, as if wanting to say something.

"What is it?"

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly in the ancient elven language.

"Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?"

She stepped over to him, taking a moment to study his face. Despite her usual emotionless mask, he could somewhat sense that she was worried. "Back at the city, once you finished reading that note, you had a really frightening expression."

"Ah...that. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." He replied gently while rubbing the back of his head.

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

For a moment he almost said no, but decided that it might be better to get it off his chest. With a wave of his hand, he created a pair of chairs made of soil hardened into rock. "It's a bit of a story, so why don't we have a seat first. Sorry it's not too comfortable for now. I'll work on making some better furnishings soon."

She sat without another word, and looked at him expectantly.

Sighing, he started speaking. "After we met, but before we became a group, I took a request with another party of adventurers. Although it was only for a few days, traveling with them and seeing new and interesting things with them was pretty fun. At the time, I thought I could call them friends. But…"

He paused for a second trying to find the right words. Tal continued to listen silently, not even a small hint of emotion in her expression.

"But, when we were heading back to the city, we were ambushed by a Tier 4 vampire."

There was a sharp intake of breath, but she made no comment.

"I was...so much weaker than I am now. So weak in fact, that I was helpless to prevent him from beating me into the ground and killing one of the adventurers I was traveling with...I know it might sound a bit arrogant, but being that powerless was mortifying. Not only were those adventurers getting caught up in that mess because of me, but I didn't even have the ability to protect them from the consequences."

He stopped again, staring at the wall of the hideout and finding himself wishing that there was a fireplace or window. Something to distract his gaze.

"Anyway, I managed to activate a Limit Break that somehow temporarily pushed me into a similar realm of power by hijacking parts of the System, something that shouldn't have been possible. There's a lot about that I still don't understand, and I fear that I never will, but with that power I was able to defeat him and save the adventurers."

After a few seconds of silence, Tal asked. "Are you afraid that something similar will happen now, and that this time the skill will not activate to save you and those you care about?"

"Nothing so defined as that. I'm practically a different person now. I don't need to rely on that unknown ability to protect my friends anymore...Still, when I read that note, I have to admit that I was worried. What if they were merely biding their time, waiting for me to let my guard down before striking again?"

He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "In hindsight that seems unlikely, but it nonetheless showed me that I haven't gotten over it yet."

He sighed again, leaning forward and massaging his face with his hands. After spending weeks getting used to the calming effects of his enhanced Willpower, it was shocking to get hit by that sudden surge of anxiety. In retrospect, he might have overreacted.

Maybe escaping like this would spook them into taking action. Commit to a hostile action they weren't originally planning on.

[Did I make another mistake?]

As he was still bent over, elbows resting on his knees, he felt a pair of arms encircle his head and shoulders, Tal's quiet voice whispering in his ears. "It will be alright."

For a moment, he let himself be soothed, relaxing into the embrace and simply enjoying a moment of peace. Unfortunately, he soon became aware of another more primal emotion arising from the proximity, so he tapped her arm to let her know he was fine.

"Thanks, I needed that." He replied once she'd stepped back.

The barest hint of a smile touched her eyes. "Your welcome. Do not work too hard tonight. There will be plenty of time to deal with your worries tomorrow."

Mike watched her vanish into the portal and felt a bit sad to see her go.

[...Do I have a thing for older women?]