Chapter 60

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Chapter 60: Bad Thing

In the clear blue sky, a few small dots broke through the clouds in the distance, leaving long white trails behind them. A child looking up at the sky danced around, following the black shadows above. His quick-eyed mother grabbed his collar and moved him away from the busy road.

"Mom, it’s a dragon!" The child cheered and pointed excitedly at the sky.

"Yes, it’s a dragon and dragon riders," the mother said with a smile, lifting the eager child up as he waved vigorously at the sky.

The residents in the southeast corner were already used to dragon groups flying across the sky, so what used to cause panic was now met with calmness. The shadow of a dragon swept across the sky over the town and outskirts, often just seen as small black dots similar to birds, occasionally revealing their massive wings, long necks, and tails. The giant beast that was said to breathe fire and destroy cities was actually just about the size of a cow, carrying soldiers on its back, never attacking humans or animals.

Some started to think of them as flying horses. Eventually, most people became quite relaxed, with the daily training of dragon riders becoming a regular sight. An old farmer outside the city looked at the flying dragons overhead and muttered while tapping his pipe, "It’s seven o’clock now."

Only the children continued to be amazed and curious. In their horse-riding war games, they added the role of dragon riders and argued fiercely over who would play that role. "I will become a real dragon rider one day!" complained the child who had lost the role again in a game of rock-paper-scissors. Since archers, craftsmen, Druids, and other courses that had never appeared before were being introduced, the future career choices were sure to include dragon riders.

However, this time, the small dots in the sky were not just dragons.

Tasha flapped her wings, riding the air currents to propel herself higher into the sky. Adjusting her balance, she flew towards the flying dragon behind her.

Folding her large wings close to her back to minimize air resistance, Tasha dove like a bullet. Her metal-booted foot struck the neck of the flying dragon, kicking the creature several times her size away. Despite their size difference, their strengths were quite similar. Another flying dragon quickly took the fallen one’s place, as Tasha’s fist hit its chest and its tail with barbs swiped at Tasha’s back. Her leather armor tore easily, revealing white skin, with the sharp tail only leaving a scratch.

Tasha grabbed the tail and tossed the flying dragon into the clouds by flapping her wings.

The fierce wind in the high sky tore at everything, but Tasha’s skin, protected by the Dragon Knight’s armor and Craftsman Dwarf’s goggles, remained unharmed. Her strengthened bones could handle high-speed flights, her skin became flexible, and she grew a nictitating membrane to see clearly in the fast wind without blinking.

Tasha and the dragon were fighting like eagles in mid-air. Fighting in the sky was similar to fighting in water, with attacks coming from all directions. The battle between flying creatures was chaotic in the sky. Falling in the air was fast and there was no buoyancy like water. Dodging and attacking were instinctive.

"Instinct" was like intuitive judgment in battle, where the brain quickly processed information for actions like punching, kicking, or dodging. Tasha fought without overthinking, her body reacting from learned tactics and instinctual skills.

She was fully engaged in the battle.

Tasha learned to fight by putting all her energy into it, as her Amazon teacher and Paladin opponent once told her. She focused all her strength and mind on the battle, setting aside calculations and strategies.

This feeling was exhilarating and relaxing.

Tasha found herself enjoying the battle, liking the effort of preparation paying off effortlessly and the immersive moments. Experiencing growth in battle was more satisfying than just gaining points in a game.

With the last flying dragon kicked out and the dragon group scattered, Tasha released her commands and let them retreat.

Tasha got her dragon attribute directly from a giant dragon. She can learn and grow, unlike pseudo dragons who are not very smart creatures. It’s not surprising that she is winning now. In fact, if they weren’t forcefully ordered to attack by the dungeon master, these pseudo dragons wouldn’t have the courage to attack beings higher in the bloodline hierarchy, just like how dogs wouldn’t attack a tiger.

As for practicing with the giant dragon… that gentleman dragon has merged with a dragon soul and basically became an independent smart being. He is so arrogant that he doesn’t care about anyone except Tasha and Douglas. You can practice speaking in the language eight hundred times in front of a computer, but you won’t be bothered by your foreign language teacher anytime and anywhere, right?

The flying dragon group dispersed, circling down to return to the dungeon to rest. Tasha, on the other hand, stayed here, flapping her wings to bring herself above the clouds.

"Aren’t you feeling hot standing here?" Victor asked, bored.

"I’m fine," Tasha casually replied.

There’s no need to stay here, but not every action needs to be necessary. Except for those afraid of heights, flying is probably a dream in the hearts of all humans.

Tasha’s bones are strong and light. She’s not sure if her bones are hollow like a bird’s. After practicing over and over, she became adept at flying like a natural winged creature. Tasha could sense the direction of the flowing wind, riding it to minimize the effort needed. She could fly as well as a bird, but always felt it was not enough.

Tasha remembered that dream of being a giant dragon, just like back then, she faintly sensed a slight discomfort, as if sensing an impending storm on a sultry summer evening.

Where is the storm coming from? Is there a clear ceiling in this sky? Tasha didn’t know, flying to this height was already her limit, any higher and she would freeze and fall.

Look down.

Tasha understood the dragon’s pride at this spot, at least part of it: when you belong to the sky and own the sky, when you can soar above the clouds, with all living beings beneath your feet, you easily develop ambitions of dominance.

The weather was clear, thin clouds moved with the wind, under Tasha’s feet, like cotton fibers being continuously stretched. She looked through the gaps in the clouds at the land, where many things were happening simultaneously.

The road connecting Ribe Lake with the southeast corner became lively day by day, the large carriage that appeared every few weeks turned into several small carriages coming and going daily. As the time for the carriages to arrive approached, people with bundles waited here, as if waiting for passengers from a long-distance bus. Lower-class people with quality products opened a channel at Ribe Lake, some products were durable with good reputation, while others were delicate and needed constant updates, business opportunities were plentiful in frequent trading. Middle-class merchants came seeking profits, the position of agents was in high demand.

Goods from the southeast corner crowded into the market at Ribe Lake, with well-known trademarks. Although the progress of the magic factory was still slow, the human original assembly line ran smoothly at the southeast corner. Lathes and other machinery were dismantled and brought back here to be studied and improved upon, the factory’s scale at the southeast corner continued to expand, just enough to absorb the unemployed labor force here.

Those who had been unemployed due to the withering curse and blockade completed the task of rebuilding the forest, and then joined the factory. It was interesting, with the help of the enemy, Tasha successfully changed the industrial structure of the southeast corner. Farmers, woodcutters, hunters and other professions were forced to unbind themselves from the fields and forests, becoming workers and soldiers. Their transformation was faster than the recovery of the land, only a small portion of residents returned to their old occupations after the land recovered. The Druid selected the best seeds, higher-yielding varieties of crops were being cultivated, soon, a much smaller agricultural population than before would be able to produce enough food to sustain the southeast corner.

The blockade in the southeast corner was in name only, the border looked more like a customs checkpoint than a watchtower. The initial punitive expeditions did not gather many troops, in order to monopolize the benefits, the governor concealed the news well, so people only heard fragments of it. They heard there were a few battles in the southeast corner, heard that there were Hybrids there, but since there were so many goods coming from there, these were probably just rumors.

Most people are very forgetful about things that do not concern them, people are indifferent to distant places, showing a certain wisdom of small-town folk, seizing favorable conditions regardless. Along the road between Ribe Lake and the southeast corner, many small shops popped up, industries such as eateries, lodging, and car repair thrived. The managers on the human side turned a blind eye to this, while dungeons issued documents.

It started as commercial exchanges, later, a restless soldier from the north sneaked into one of the carriages. He stole a pass, but didn’t expect that the pass made by the Craftsman Dwarf had special anti-theft measures, as soon as he arrived, he was caught. This sentinel named Dennis cried, saying he just wanted to see how his distant relatives were doing.

"My cousin is here," he said. "I don’t know what’s going on now, nothing was said above, I just watched so many people coming and going… I thought there was nothing wrong, so I came to see."

Dennis got in touch with his cousin, as well as his cousin’s wife and their meeting for the first time niece. The sentry held the niece who was just learning to talk, crying and laughing, saying he had been having a nightmare for a year, where his cousin’s family died because he took part in the blockade. His cousin’s wife tapped his head scolding him for being a jinx, the niece clapping and laughing cluelessly, not understanding anything, only knowing to cheer for her grandma.

The cousin hurriedly paid fines and bail, considering that the laws were not very clear in the north, that money was basically just a formality. Dennis returned to the north with his newly obtained permit and the rules on how to obtain it. After he safely returned, more and more soldiers and civilians from the southeast who had old connections started coming to visit.

Middle-class merchants acted as agents, the contact Douglas made with lower-class individuals did not result in them losing their jobs again. About half of them started working in the southeast, as business contacts, advertisers, spies, and so on. Tasha did not expect these people without business knowledge to be the main merchants (of course, there were some who were unexpectedly talented in business). They were the stepping stones to the north, their performance as stepping stones was a long process of selection.

Those who were cunning and dishonest lost their qualification, those who understood the situation got work. Smart people had their ways, and even brute fools had their uses, there was no one who was completely useless – useless people wouldn’t come here risking, and even if they did, they couldn’t stay. For the dungeon, recruiting available talents by offering goods was quite cost-effective, those who lost their qualifications due to various misdeeds would soon realize how much they had lost.

Turning his gaze to the forest, Angaso Forest and Druid were thriving.

In Druid’s third year, under the protection of the Guardian, the forest slowly recovered. They planned the most suitable tree species, located the river, and Angaso Forest gradually regained its vitality from the ruins. In the third spring, the father who had switched from a tree-seeker to a forest ranger discovered a migrating wolf pack, his excited shout frightened the sentinels of the wolves. The beasts stared at him warily, but eventually chose to let him go, recognizing the forest scent on him.

"First comes the forest, then come the herbivores," he explained happily. "When the wolf pack arrives, the forest will be on its way to recovery."

With green trees and a variety of animals, Druids who developed into Beast Speakers finally found their place. They talked to birds, traveled with deer, and danced with wolves. Tasha was very skeptical about whether these Druids forming bonds with spirit beasts were useful. Their care for spirit beast companions was like Douglas’s handling of dragons, true to the battlefield, they might as well roll up their sleeves than let the spirit beast companions get hurt.

The most common magic users in the forest are the Arborists, followed by the Beast Speakers, with only a few Shape-shifters. The Druids who can transform into animals do not need seeds for their spells, nor do they have to make a contract with spirit beasts, but what they have to do is even more difficult than the first two. They observe birds and beasts for a long time, living and eating together with them until they can successfully transform into animals. This causes them to look a bit strange when they are not in animal form, such as some people liking to rub against tree trunks, and some people enjoying eating grass while lying on the ground.

"This is not the most difficult part," Oak Elder once said, "You must understand the creatures you want to become, understand their hearts while holding onto your own soul. Many Shape-shifters will never be able to turn back, they will think they are the animal they transformed into, and then disappear into the forest, only wild, and no longer rational."

As the forest started to recover, Oak Elder moved back to the forest. The current Oak Elder is taller than any other tree, with a huge canopy higher than the entire forest. He grew so fast, but started to occasionally fall into a deep sleep, not because of any injury but because "the time is near." The ordinary Oak Guardians kept the Heart of Nature for centuries, which was beyond his abilities. The arrival of the Druids slowed down his decline, but it wouldn’t stop the march of time.

It wasn’t long before his leaves would fall and return to the roots.

Tasha looked into the distance, her eyes sharper than a hawk’s. She saw tiny fruits hanging on the oak tree, a string of lilac-colored fruits one after another, translucent, the size of a thumb, shaped like teardrops. They swayed slightly in the wind, shimmering with a faint glow.

What is that?

At first, Tasha thought this was the same phenomenon as bamboo flowering, but she quickly realized that the fruits came from vines on the oak tree. Through the eyes of other covenanters, Tasha saw these fruits in various corners of the forest, hidden and beautiful, quietly falling onto a certain branch.

"Fairy Lamp?" Victor exclaimed.

"What?" Tasha asked.

"A kind of useless magic plant," Victor said, "it used to show up where fairies were often seen, growing fast and dying quickly, there were everywhere before."

They used to be everywhere, but now they’re long gone.

Fairy Lamp, along with many other races of plants and animals, disappeared in the past few centuries. It wasn’t the first nor the last, had no special benefits or harms, no one paid much attention to it. What caused it to appear? Was it the water? The soil? Or something else? Neither the Druid nor Victor could explain it.

Later on, after ruling out all possible explanations, Tasha and Victor finally agreed that since it neither did good nor harm, they might as well let it grow.

"I don’t sense any magical creatures here," Tasha said.

"Who knows," Victor said, "it might not be related to fairies, just that they tend to grow where fairies appear."

There was a hint of subtle nostalgia in his tone, a rare sight for Victor.

"Do you have any connection with the Fairy Lamp?" Tasha asked.

"What? No!" Victor immediately denied, speaking too absolute that triggered the effects of a contract, he had to add, "Well, just a minor thing, it’s of no use to you anyway."

The more he spoke, the more curious Tasha became. She poked the pages of the book and said, "Go on?"

"There was a wandering music band, unlucky to be involved in a palace conflict. The only surviving band leader was accused of deceiving the king and was punished by being blinded. Ten years later, this wandering musician returned to the palace, seeking a challenge with those who framed him. Despite his improved skills after years of practice, the ones who framed him had become the king’s favorites. The king didn’t listen to the musician’s explanations and ordered to cut off his hands," Victor dryly said.

"And then?" Tasha was captivated by the story.

"A month later, he returned with a pentatonic harp – an instrument that requires five musicians to play together. He removed his cloak and played the harp with his ten hands. The music was so enchanting that even music-loving fairies were drawn in," Victor said, "That’s the end of my story."

"What role did you play in this?" Tasha asked, "Did you give him five extra hands?"

"Yes, I gave him five extra hands, and he gave me his soul," Victor maliciously smiled, "He was a foolish one. I thought he would demand revenge, but all he asked for was a final performance. After that performance, I took his soul. The taste of it…"

The contract that forbade lying made him pause once again.

"Fine, I didn’t eat it," Victor said, "Demons do snack on souls, but it’s wasteful. We offer the souls of creatures from the Primary Material Plane to the Abyss as sacrifices, to gain favor from the Abyss. That’s how demons use souls."

"Did you sacrifice his soul to the Abyss?" Tasha asked persistently.

"…No." Victor reluctantly said, then quickly explained, "The Abyss prefers souls with ambition. What would I gain by offering the soul of a weak wandering musician to the Abyss?"

The great demon placed the soul of the wandering musician into his earthly treasure chamber.

It was a magnificent city filled with runes, exquisite treasures in every corner. Thieves couldn’t steal a single coin from it, and even death couldn’t claim a soul. The wandering musician, now with two hands and bright eyes, found a ghostly piano in the storage. He cheered and played songs for the demon for years – time was endless here.

"You even prepared a piano for him." Tasha looked at Victor as if meeting him for the first time.

"I didn’t! There’s more than just one ghost there!" Victor argued with fear.

"Have you helped other musicians for free?" Tasha exclaimed.

Victor shuddered at her words throughout the book, and strongly argued, "What do you mean by free? What do you mean by help? This is a fair exchange!"

The wandering musician, blinded and handless, exchanged his soul for one last piece, to redeem his band’s name; the mermaid princess traded her soul for thirty years with her lover in the water, her voice sweet and moving; the unsuccessful composer traded his soul for wealth for a decade, unsociable but talented… The demons roamed freely in the castle’s property, artists born centuries apart became instant friends, their enthusiastic praises drove the demon away in disgust ("It’s nauseating! I’m leaving!"), music drifted out of the castle, attracting fairies and spirits. They lingered outside the castle, and violet lanterns started to bloom.

"Shut up." Victor said sternly.

"I haven’t said anything yet," Tasha said objectively.

"Then just keep it up," Victor said stiffly, "…what’s with that expression on your face?"

"I’m just smiling," Tasha widened her smile on her face.

It’s like the character of the demon and the previous impression have subtly changed. Tasha couldn’t help but show a loving expression, feeling like she was watching a cheetah summoned to protest by meowing.

"No! Don’t look at me with those eyes!" the pages of the Book of Dungeons ruffled, "This is a great insult to a demon!"

"So, you’re the type who gets shy from compliments," Tasha said.

Victor looked like he was about to pass out from anger.

"Okay, no more jokes," Tasha caressed the pages of the book, "I just realized, we might actually agree on some things. Even though you’re still not a good person, but I kinda like you now."

The Book of Dungeons flattened for about three seconds, then the spine stood up with a brush, and only heard Victor say with affectation, "No, thank you."

Tasha thought for a while, then remembered they had a similar conversation before, even though it was someone else talking. She couldn’t help but smile and said, "You really hold a grudge, don’t you."

"Of course," Victor proudly said, looking like he had recovered, "I am a big demon, not your little dog."

Tasha gently patted his head and said, "Don’t always pick on her."

"I pick on all fools," Victor said.

Tasha smiled and said, "When Marion comes back, you won’t call her that anymore."