Short muzzle that by virtue of the beast was of adequate size, filled with razor sharp teeth. Brownish-red fur that matched its vividly fluent yellow eyes. As autumn was in full bloom as the leaves started to fall, the amount of cover it was given would continue to increase. As it was slightly too early, the amount of leaves on the ground caused the creature to stick out in the patch of vibrantly green grass. Standing somewhere around three feet tall, the creature and Jessica paused as they stared at each other.
Very quickly the creature took off as a breeze came by as she felt a similar breeze come and cause her robe to stick to her back. The creature was just a normal fox, even still her back was soaked as the fear of unknown and possible horrors was approaching them. With a face mixed between fear and anger she looked at the boy that had an awkward look on his face, turning around he explained, “I said I could feel something approaching. But at the moment I don’t have the ability to feel the amount of mana it has, so I have no idea what it is or could be…”
As the two moved through the forest, their journey was roughly pleasant. On the way, he grew curious about where they were going. “North.” She was using the sun to pick out the rough direction. With no other question, they continued to move before she started to grow uncomfortable with the silence. To whose benefit it was something she couldn’t answer, “To the southwest is the oldest human kingdom. Once an empire, it has fallen over time. As it currently stands, the humans are weak and just barely getting back to where the humans were when they started off.”
Seeing him look back as she took a breath, she continued, “Back then, humans held the entire south as their own land. It is said, but I haven’t been able to confirm it. It is often said or heavily hinted that human territories went all the way north to Mercury City. This city is often said to be in the middle of the continent, but in reality it is just shy of the center, just a smidgen south. Even though Mercury City is held by Mercury Everblood, who is human. It has and will always be a free city that is open to any and everyone.”
Trying to stay on topic she continued after rearranging her words, “While back then the human’s always said they owned the south, this isn’t exactly accurate. This is one of the two forests that line an aisle in the middle of the south that split nearly the entire central part of the south. This forest is to the east. And is very wide, so wide in fact that since it is part of the human territory it is the major reason why they can bluff and say the entire south. The eastern part of the forest opens up into a rather barren series of wooded patches. And at the end is the eastern coast that is home to the dwarfs.”
Being more brazen, she saw him look back again for her to continue, “The north is said to be split into four sections. Above the human western coast is the goblin kingdom. Unlike the human’s that are very greedy, the north is ruled majority by the animal tribes to the east of the goblin kingdom. They own a large majority of the land to the north. The issue is they aren’t friendly, if one invades their territory you can expect to die a gruesome death. Inside these random invisible boundaries are a number of nomad-like tribes.”
Turning around, he interrupted her for the first time, “Are the animal tribes actual animals or intelligent beasts that use mana? Or are they mindless creatures that use mana and live longer than humans? Or is it possible they are half-human and have appearances like humans with animal characteristics?” He sounded a bit excited as if he heard something fascinating, shooting off a number of questions without waiting for a response.
Maybe seeing her strange questioning gaze, he explained, “In my old world there was a type of fiction known as fantasy. If you could imagine it, there was probably at least one book that told of a story similar to it. It was an amazing escape for an orphan. If there was anything I wish to have more than anything else from that world, it would have been these stories…”
“They’re sort of similar to your stories in many ways. Though I don’t know the definite details of those stories. Many of the things you ask really do have some similarities to the beast people. Similar to goblins, they’re separated by their blood. The stronger the bloodline, the different class of being. Unlike the goblins, beast people have different status. For example, the Royals of the beast people are those that have the ability to transform into human-like appearance.
When a royal is born their blood might not be as powerful, so even if they can transform into people, they tend to have animal characteristics. As for those that aren’t royals, they take in mana to increase their grade and in time grow more intelligent and increase the power of their bloodline. So even if a powerful bloodline loses its Royal status, it isn’t surprising to see them make a comeback. As for lifespan, they have a similar one to humans. And while they’re considered demi-humans. The human is not as in human race but humanoid.”
When she opened her mouth again, she slowly closed it. When the boy looked back, he saw a heavy atmosphere. Maybe seeing him look back a few times she sighed before speaking, “To the east of the animal tribes is the biggest forest on the continent. While it is considered all part of the elven kingdom it is not a secret that because of the nature of elves, it wasn’t difficult for some animal tribes to move in as the size is truly large. And again, the east coast is part of the dwarf territories. As they have and probably will forever own the entire east coast.”
“Is there only one continent?” Maybe trying to change the topic, the boy asked fairly quickly.
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“I don’t know. It is said that many ancient people have theorized there are more than one and many claims of another, but there has yet to be any evidence. In fact, it is unlikely.”
“Why?”
“The reason Mercury City is at the center of most maps is because to the north of the north, the crown of the continent is a mountain range that spans the entire north that cuts off an unknown amount of land, the parts that have been discovered push it just shy of the center, is the Dragon Mountain Range. You asked earlier about increased lifespan. They’re the only creatures with a real increase of lifespan. All other creatures only get an increase in lifespan by increasing their grades.”
“Your people?” He sounded extremely uncertain. “But you still haven’t explained why it is unlikely for there to be another continent.”
“Dragon’s only consider other dragons to be their own kind. Like the dwarves there are offshoots of all races that are different.” Pausing slightly, she looked over with a sigh and explained, “They’re said to be dwarf-like because dwarves are extremely open. It is part of the reason they are king of the arts, outside of their innate dexterity. So the fact that unlike every other race, those rare existences are exceedingly rare in dragons. Simply by nature of what a dragon is.”
Before they could continue, they finally made it to a road. The forest was still kind of thick, but there was a road. Seeing this, she smiled before looking up at the setting sun. With a slight frown, she watched the road before turning back into the forest. With no other choice, the boy followed from behind. Only after she moved a great distance from the road did she find a good place to camp. Once she was finished gathering wood, she started a fire and finally continued after being stared at continuously throughout all her actions…
“Like I said earlier, dragons are the only creatures that live longer than any other. They are born at Grade B. While it might seem unfair, it must be mentioned that dragon’s need to gestate in an egg for a prolonged period of time. Not only will they die if the egg even cracks, the amount of mana to reach Grade B is by no means simple. That is to say that if you gathered a dozen dragon eggs and protected them, it is likely not a single one will hatch in a great number of years.”
With a complicated look, “While it can say that dragons are amazing creatures. Once an egg is produced it is rumored to be immortal, so long as no damage is delivered to the egg that is. Yet that immortal being might never see the light of day. The population of dragon’s is said to be abysmal. So while there are many of those with dragon blood when you look through history. It is likely that these people all came from at most maybe three or four dragons. They are such amazing creatures that if there was another continent they would know. But even when they rarely show themselves, throughout history the question has always been answered with a no.”
For one reason or another, as the boy listened to the fire, he couldn’t help but pick up on the extremely complicated feelings in her voice. Unlike her, he could easily pick up on her emotions as unlike him, she was speaking out loud. Though, he wasn’t in a habit of controlling his emotions. He found it somehow beneath him to lie to her, so he tried to make his emotions as clear as possible unless there was something he didn’t want her to know, but that was never spoken even if it was related.
The camp became rather quiet after she finished talking about dragons. It was only after a period they heard her stomach growl that he spoke to distract her or to quench his curiosity, “You said we are going north. But as far as you have said, does that mean we're going to that Mercury City?”
“No, that is really far from here. There is a special little town on the outskirts of the forest north of here. It is honestly a budding city, however, even without the qualifications. Because of the special nature of the place, it is and probably will forever be called a city. Regardless of how big or small the population is.” Stopping at that point, she watched the boy's face with interest.
The boy wasn’t amused by her inquiries and just sat against a tree across the fire staring at her emotionlessly. After a while under his gaze, she finally looked away as she opened her mouth again, “There is a legend about the city. It involved an unnamed nobleman and a dragon. While it is considered just a fairy tale, the fact remains that the legend holds true even after a hundred years. To this day the town has never been attacked by any force rather it be an intelligent or beast horde.”
As if trying to remember the exact atmosphere of the fire inside the wooden house. Sitting on the same couch, as she lay her head on his lap, he held a vastly larger book than his normal text. Looking down with the gentlest smile as he met her eyes before turning back to the book. Slowly, as his voice had once spoken to her, she spoke the same out loud.
Legend has it that it was made by a water dragon named Veronica. Veronica was an oddity of dragons. Most dragons were dangerous and scarce to the populace. Veronica instead enjoyed the company of intelligent beings. Her domain was known to the populace. It was said that if one had a story they could come to her and if she found it interesting she would grant them one wish if it was in her power.
As one could guess, Green River was her handy work, and yes it was from a wish. The wisher is an unnamed nobleman. He was said to be the child of the local noble. He was very talented with his words. Furthermore, he was also kind, gentle, as well as handsome. Unfortunately or not, like numerous nobles, his marriage was arranged. The bride to be was neither ugly, tyrannical, nor unpleasant. In every way, she was a genuine noble.
It is unfortunate because he had eyes for a childhood friend. Yet, bound by honor, he still married that noble woman. After getting married, they grew apart. Because he felt it was wronging his wife, he no longer went to see her. This continued on until he took over his father's lands. As a fairly large city, it wasn’t famous or special. Instead, as time had gone on, his father had been troubled with a single problem. This problem caused the city to fall back to the status of a town. The local river had started to dry up because of a drought. When he took over, the river didn’t have any water left. His farmlands started to fail. He was at his ropes end, with no solution in sight.
Worse yet was that he found out not too long ago that the woman he first fell in love with had died. One couldn’t say he was heartbroken, still, it was painful to learn. Try as he might, not even his stockpiles could keep the entire land under him stable with food. The drought had gone on for far too long. When he heard of the things the dragon had done for others, he mustered up his courage and went to see her.