“Man, this barely felt like a vacation at all. If I see those goddamn lava crabs again, I’m turning them into crab rangoon.” Ryder burped and hung the empty container over his shoulder.

  “You chose to help that little demoness, so no complaining.” Purple smiled smugly. “As for me, even though it got quite boring toward the end, I’d say it’s been the best time I’ve had since I left that prison of mine. You’ll be happy to know I won’t be craving a feast until the end of the month.”

  “Woohoo.” The rider celebrated monotonously.

  The dragon cackled.

  Minutes later, the gang arrived at the shop and saw Estria talking to a hulking man in front of the counter. When the demon noticed them, she gestured for them to come in. Brown was the only one who stayed outside as she was carrying all their luggages in her dragon form.

  “I hereby introduce you all to my master - Phastus Eisen! Master, this is Ryder and his dragons!” Estria stepped forward with a cheery smile. She also took the opportunity to grab the container from Ryder’s hand.

  The hulking man turned and studied them. He had pale skin and features that were no different from a normal Earthling. His height was about 2 meters tall, which was still slightly shorter than Purple. The gang’s attention involuntarily gravitated toward the man’s right arm, which was a golden mechanical prosthetic much like Estria’s legs.

  “Thank you for helping my daughter out while I was away, Ryder.” Phastus nodded before his glance shifted to Purple. “I thank you for not killing her, Demise.”

  “Now I see why the little one knows my story.” Purple narrowed his eyes.

  The hulking man remained silent.

  “You’re welcomed, Phastus. It’s only natural that a Goddess’s warrior extends a helping hand to those who need it.” Ryder smirked and raised his hand.

  Phastus shook it with a faint smile. “That they do indeed, Ryder.”

  “When you’re done shaking hands, please direct your attention to the counter.” Estria waved her hand to the back gracefully.

  The rider brushed past the two blacksmiths and gawked at the four items sitting on the counter. The one on the left was a large, black leather strap with a silver eight-pointed star embedded on it. Sitting next to it were four neatly folded scarfs with repeating, colorful patterns. Lastly, there was a straight piece of pink metal, about the length of a palm, which the majority of it was wrapped in leather.

  “The Camptosium you delivered to me over the past two weeks added up to the price of a magic sword. I did my best to strike a balance between the quality and quantity of the items. Take a look!”

  “A…collar?” Ryder picked up the strap.

  “Choker. It’s meant for Green!”

  Green widened his eyes and tilted his head.

  “I remember you mentioned Green was supposed to be learning spells that will help him become humanoid. Dragons have innate talent in magic, but often only with the element they have a natural affinity with. So, this choker, which will change in size according to its wearer, will give him an easier time casting spells outside of his affinity as well as increasing its effectiveness.”

  “Hmph, so a crutch.” Purple snorted.

  “I prefer to see it as training wheels.” Ryder rolled his eyes, squatted down, and put the choker on Green.

  Green let out a happy growl and used his vines to gently tug the choker and feel the star.

  The rider patted the green dragon and stood up. “So this choker is basically like a wand, right? I’ve met my fair share of mages, but I’ve never seen any of them use this before.”

  “Because it’s harder to concentrate on where you want your spells to land. This type of ‘wand’ is often meant for spells where the effect is applied primarily on the caster, thus freeing their hands to wield other weapons. Unless they’re a spellsword or someone without opposable thumbs, stick wands are usually preferred.”

  “Interesting. I didn’t know wands could take on so many different forms before coming here.”

  “Trust me when I say wands can get so much weirder. Like, there’s a wand that-”

  Purple cleared his throat, interrupting the demon. She scowled at him while the rider sighed. The dragon picked up the scarf and questioned, “So, what do these pitiful looking scarfs do?”

  “If you think they look pitiful, then don’t take it.” The demon snapped at him and snatched it back. She then turned to Ryder and explained,“These scarfs alter other people’s perception of your appearance, not just vision, but for all senses. However, your body shape will always remain the same. So, for example, if Green uses the scarf, people can still tell he’s a dragon when he tries to disguise himself as a humanoid being. To use it, you put it around your neck and pour mana into it while imagining how you want to look.”

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  “Will it still work if it’s torn?” The rider gently stretched the scarf, testing its durability.

  “No, which is why I made it so that, if you inject mana into it when it’s damaged, it’ll automatically regenerate any missing part.”

  “Even when only a tiny piece of it remains?”

  “No, it won’t regenerate if it’s that badly damaged. I tried to make it work, but you still need 30% of it intact to grow it back.”

  “I see. Well, I can already tell this will come in very handy in the future. Although, I have to say, it’s kind of weird that you, a blacksmith, made this.”

  “Which is why you don’t see it on display.” The edges of her mouth curved upward awkwardly. “It was supposed to be a mechanical gadget, but then I thought it would work better if the ‘gadget’ itself is a part of the disguise. Master said we couldn’t sell it, so I decided to keep it for the day when I can travel the world with my own legs. If you ever see another person outside of this city wearing this exact scarf, come and say hello.” She winked.

  “I will keep that in mind~” He stuffed the scarfs into his backpack.

  “This last one is special.” Estria picked up metal wrapped in leather. "Wanna take a guess at what it is?"

  Ryder grabbed the item and traced his finger over the metal before looking at one of the ends. Then, he grinned. "I'll do it outside, then?"

  She bowed slightly and gestured at the door leading to the workshop. The dragons went around the building while the humanoids walked through to reach the back of the building. The human raised his arm high with the item in hand, channel mana into it, and caused the item to extend outward on each end as a blue glow brushed past the runes etched on it. A second later, the metal curved inward as a blue holographic string connected both ends.

  "You weren't carrying any bow or projectile weapons, so I thought this might suit you nicely. What do you think?"

  "It's amazing! I've always engaged in close-quarter battles, but there were times when I wish I could take out enemies from a distance, so this is perfect!" The rider's and Green's eyes were sparkling with amazement as he examined the bow. "Although, this is Camptosium, right? Did you make this in a single morning??"

  The demon laughed. "Of course not, silly! Still, I'm honored that you thought I could. This is made quite a long time ago by my master. It's-"

  "-a commissioned work, but the client passed unexpectedly. Is this your idea of independence? Giving the Dragon Rider something I made?" Phastus interjected with a raised eyebrow and a faint smirk.

  "Jerk." She elbowed him. "It's been gathering dust, anyway."

  "Oh? Why is that?" Ryder asked.

  "Because it's expensive and hard to use. Give it a try. You'll see what I mean."

  He nodded, aimed the bow at the sky, and pulled the string as he visualized a wooden arrow. There were sparks, but nothing was manifested. He tried again, this time pushing the string toward the bow, his finger barely touching the leather strap, before pulling it back. Flickers of purple bolt could be seen, but nothing that resembled an actual arrow.

  "Pretty hard, right?"

  A grimace flashed across the rider's face as the bolt dissolved int the air. "It doesn't feel intuitive."

  "Unlike a magic sword, you can't just envelop it with magic and expect it to work. When mana flowed from your hand into the bow, your other hand needs to guide the flow and shape the arrow you imagine with precision. It's a little like clay-molding. Even if you can visualize it perfectly in your mind, it takes practise to get used to the sensation of forming an arrow and shooting it."

  "Clay-molding, huh?" His fingers tapped against each other before drawing the string again, but much slower this time. The blue glow clumped together at the arrow rest while more of it traveled to both ends of the weapon and gathered at the nocking point. As he pulled, the tip and tail of the arrow formed before a line was extended toward each other to form a brown shaft. When he found himself unable to pull the string back any further, a wooden arrow had been fully manifested. Upon releasing the serving, the mana discharged occurred, and the arrow was sent flying into the air.

  Estria clapped while Green cheered, though Ryder looked a little embarrassed. "I doubt that arrow can penetrate anything before splintering."

  "Practise makes perfect, Ryder. I believe you can master it." She gave him a little finger up.

  He returned with a thumbs up, realized his mistake, and changed it to his little finger as well.

  "So, are you happy with my selections?" When the arrow zipped back down, she grabbed it without looking.

  He blinked. “Oh, uhm, yeah! These are pretty good! I’ve no doubt they’ll be helpful in the future. Oh, and thank you for the bow too, Mr. Phastus.” The bow was retracted and clipped to his belt hoop with vines.

  The hulking man nodded silently.

  “I’m glad you liked it!” With a dazzling smile, the demon gave him a tight hug. “I hope we’ll meet again soon, Ryder. Thank you, truly, for everything. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”

  “I’m happy I was able to help. And, I hope we’ll meet again soon too, Estria.” He patted her back as her tail swished energetically and her horns hummed with purple light. Suddenly, he recalled something. “Oh, there’s one more thing I almost forgot. Green?” He took out his smartphone, unwrapped the protective vines with magic, and opened the camera app.

  The green dragon nodded and grabbed the phone with his vine.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a device that can capture a moment in time and preserve it forever. Kind of like a portrait, but instantaneous.”

  “That sounds incredible! You should’ve shown it to me before, Ryder. Now I can’t study it until our reunion.” Estria pouted.

  “Let’s get this over with before my patience thins.” Purple then dragged Ryder out of the shop by his bag.

  “We’ll do it in front of the shop so it’ll look more scenic! You should join us too, Mr. Phastus!” He slapped Purple’s hands off when they arrived at the entrance.

  “Let’s go, Master!” The demon held her adopted father’s hand and stepped forward.

  Once all of them were outside, Green, who was standing to the left of Ryder, extended his vines forward until all the subjects showed up on the screen. Brown and Purple remained stationary next to Green, while the two blacksmiths stood to the right of the rider.

  On her own volition, Estria held Ryder’s hand as they smirked as brightly as the sun.

“3”

“2”

“1”

“Smile!”