In the meantime, Rayce was swinging his sword and training in the estate grounds, after much persuasion from Airi. He had recovered his strength and the information about new spells had begun to form inside his head. Airi diligently explained the spells and he was slowly growing as a 9th circle mage. Meanwhile, his sword skills were unfortunately still subpar. He still wasn't able to exert the same power he had experienced inside the dungeon. Airi continuously berated him and the training suggestions put forward by her were increasingly getting harder.

Four days had passed, since he arrived from the forest with Floryn, but there was still no news about Ashryn. He frustration kept on growing and he found himself increasingly making mistakes in his training regimen. Airi would first scold him and then correct him. She could feel his frustration so she offered words of comfort in between. Even the servants could feel their Master's mood and a gloomy atmosphere hung in the mansion.

The only bright spark was Floryn. She had completely captivated the residents of the estate and her bubbly personality raised the happiness of the people she met. She quickly adjusted to the city life and was even asking questions to the servants about things she didn't understand. The servants looked at her lovingly and explained everything. If they knew she was a dragon, they would be cowering in fear. The stark contrast between their personalities when she was in different forms made Rayce laugh. Revati, after learning that she was a dragon flew into researcher mode and dragged her away to the laboratory and didn't come out for the whole day. Since then, they had become good friends.

As I continued swinging my sword, I felt a presence approaching and looked behind to see Elias. He was silently standing there with a person wearing a vulture mask.

"Master, this is Sarien from the information agency."

"Hello, Sir Rayce," he bowed in greeting.

I took the towel a servant nearby handed to me and nodded at him.

"Have you found anything?" I asked expectantly, wiping the sweat off my face.

"Yes, here are the documents related to Lady Ashryn's identity. And, we have also learned that she was recently seen in the city of Krufu," he replied, handing me a bunch of documents.

"Krufu? Where is that?" I asked him, having never heard of it.

(Master, it's a city near the Khunaro desert.)

"It is a city at the edge of the Khunaro desert," Sarien replied immediately.

"Khunaro desert? Why is she there?" I asked incredulously. The question was directed at myself rather than him.

No wonder I couldn't find her. I had been constantly trying to use a search spell but her location evaded me. Now, the distance certainly explained the failure of the spell. I sighed in relief, knowing that she was at least okay.

"I'm sorry. We haven't been able to figure that out yet. But we have found evidence that she didn't go willingly to the city with the accompanying elves. Either they persuaded, or threatened her with something," he continued.

"What?"

I grew angry. The anger was also directed at me for not being strong enough for her to confide in me. Eventually, I made up my mind to follow her.

"How long will it take to reach Krufu?" I asked Elias.

"If you go by the road, it would take at least seven days to reach the city. We'd have to go through the Kingdom of Ebria."

"I see."

It looked like time was of the utmost importance. After thanking Sarien, I bade him farewell and informed Elias to compensate him handsomely.

As I was contemplating about what to do, Floryn appeared from somewhere.

"I can take you," she said.

"You can?"

"Yes, I have some work to do in that desert as well," she replied smiling.

"Don't tell me....." A thought began to form in my head.

"Yeah, my mother lives there." She said.

After my thoughts became a reality, I sighed.

"Alright. In that case, I'll accept. It'd be a great help to me."

As we were talking, Revati also appeared from somewhere.

"I wish I could've helped. Ashryn has become a dear friend to me as well," she said.

"That's alright. I'll save her and bring her back safely," I assured her.

"I'm building an airship that'd help you in the future but as of now only the engine has been made," She said.

"W-What? I-I see. An airship, huh?"

"That's alright. You can take your time. Floryn will help me out this time."

It looked like Revati had been preparing for the upcoming invasion. I promised myself to try harder to meet her expectations. We went back inside the mansion.

As I sat down in my study and went over the papers that were left behind by the information agency, I was shocked. I didn't even think in my wildest dreams that Ashryn would be royalty. It detailed her banishment and as I kept on reading, I grew even angrier. Back of my mind, the Bilenfil family increasingly began to feel like the culprit but that was just a hunch.

The next morning, we set out. I teleported us near the lake inside the Frithrin forest and Floryn transformed back into a dragon. It would have been quite the shock if she had transformed inside the city, so we planned to come here and start from the Frithrin forest towards Krufu.

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I applied invisibility magic to her and reluctantly got on top of her. With a cheer, she started flying.

"How do you like it? It has been a while for me to fly like this."

"Y-Yeah, it's great," I replied, my voice almost drowned out by the blasts of wind that hit my face.

"Ahaha. Good!"

She increased her speed even further and Rayce's scream could be heard trailing the flying dragon.

Soon, we were able to see small villages and large cities as we passed through Ebria. The cities were quite large reminiscent of the capital of the Kingdom of Quizen, Glaecia. Large magic towers rose up into the sky with the ground dotted with smaller houses. I remembered the rumours about a possible invasion by the Kosoto empire and wondered if they were equipped to handle it. When the thought of Ashryn surfaced in my minds, I pushed all other worries aside. It can wait.

Before long, we could see a vast desert in the distance. As we came closer, I could see a run down city where the buildings had not been cared for but inhabited by a large number of people.

(Master, that's Krufu.)

"Alright, we can get down here," I told Floryn.

She slowly descended to the edge of the city. I got down and she transformed back to her human form. I removed the invisibility and we proceeded towards the city. She used magic to make the clothes appear when she was in her human form, so I was really grateful for that.

"By the way, I had been meaning to ask you, what is that voice I hear inside of you?"

"Y-You can hear that voice," I asked shocked.

(Master, dragon magic is half divine magic. Nothing is hidden from them.)

(I-I see.)

"She is kind of a support to me and helps me out with things."

"I see. So, kind of like Otien. But, I've never heard of something like that exist before."

"Ahahha, well she is unique."

(Thank you, Master!)

"You're weird."

"Ahaha."

We soon reached the towering gates made of stones, that led to the city. Many black banners hung on the walls depicting a shriveled tree in red as the symbol. I could see large people with countless scars on their bodies standing guard without any dress codes. I looked around and I could see lines of adventurers waiting to get into the city. As our turn came, one guard came up to us and extended his hand.

"It will be 60 gold for both of you."

I was confused for a moment but figuring that it'd be better if we stay unnoticed, I provided the amount to the guard and we were let inside. From the corner of my eye, I could see the guard smiling and pocketing the money.

The city wasn't any different from how we had seen it from above. The roads were filled with people and merchants trying to sell their wares. The buildings were worn down and looked like a storm had passed through the city. Adventurers and mercenaries were going about their businesses without paying heed to one another. They looked to be doing well and were dressed fashionably. It looked like the adventurer business was in full bloom in this city. I looked at Floryn and she was observing the people intently.

Tearing my eyes away from the busy streets of the city, I quickly opened the map and initiated the spell that would pinpoint Ashryn's location. As the spell began to take effect, the map showed me her location. It looked like she was in the middle of the desert. I informed Floryn and we proceeded along the road that led towards the desert.

As we made our way towards the desert, we saw many instances of violences erupting everywhere. Drunk people fighting and adventurers brawling in the market.

"It seems the humans are the same," I heard Floryn mutter.

We soon reached the end of the road and the vast desert lay in front of us without any roads leading in. As I quickened my pace followed by Floryn, we could see many adventurers with parties starting their journey. Pretty soon, we reached a large sand dune and once we climbed up, we could see the vast desert filled with sand and shrivelled trees that filled the horizon. We could also see a few sandstorms happening in the distance.

We didn't encounter any monsters, though I had a doubt that was because of Floryn. They could probably sense danger so not even one appeared before us. I did see a couple of wyverns in the distance screaming and flying away faster than the wind. I concentrated back on the map.

Suddenly, the air in front of us began to vibrate. I stepped back in alarm and looked at Floryn. She seemed calm. Gradually, we could see a rift form.

"Ah, that's probably my mother," she said, looking at the rift.

"What?"

"She must have already felt my presence and wants us to come directly to her."

"I-I see."

Guided by Floryn, I quickly entered the rift with apprehension.

As we came out of the other side, I saw that we were standing in a large hall adorned with gigantic statues of people and dragons with regal appearances.

"Oh, those are our ancestors," Floryn explained.

"I-I see."

A woman was sitting on a throne at the end of the hall. She was fair skinned and looked to be in her mid thirties and was a beauty, with silver hair delicately falling over her face.

"Mother!!!" Floryn shouted and ran up to her. I followed.

"You little....." She said and hit Floryn with a stick that appeared out of nowhere.

"Ow, ow, ow. I-I'm sorry. I didn't look at the time."

"Even then, who sleeps for 10,000 years? Are you a sloth or a dragon?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm awake now," she replied with tears in her eyes.

"By the way, who is that person. Is he human?" She asked.

"Yes. He's is the one who awakened me."

"Fascinating," she said, coming closer and staring at me.

"Ahaha."

"It's the first time I have seen a human completely resist dragon fear. How fascinating!"

"Hmm, you....you have a different air around you. Are you truly human?"

"Yes, I am. Hello, I'm Rayce."

"Hmm, at least you have manners. They call me Fleur, the blue dragon."

I nodded and smiled at her. After staring at me for a while, she spoke.

"You're not from this world are you? I cannot feel the same structure as the humans of this world inside you."

"Ahaha."

I was silent for a moment and then eventually spoke.

"Yes, I'm not."

"What?" Floryn asked surprised. The shock was evident on her face.

"You have a long way to go to recognise people, daughter."

"T-Then, where is he from?"

Both of their eyes turned to me.

(Master, it's better not to lie. Dragons can determine the truth and I fear we cannot beat her at this time with your subpar sword skills.)

I felt the sarcasm in Airi's voice. Even I felt that. She looked much stronger than anyone I had met before. Eventually, I told them about myself.

Floryn was shocked. Fleur kept nodding as I continued the story.

"S-So, a God sent you? I didn't know they existed," Floryn asked.

"There are many mysteries in the world we cannot fathom, Floryn. Even our divine power, we do not know where it comes from."

"Ahaha, umm, she said she was a manager. I guess you can call her God."

"Hmm, I don't know about what calamity she was talking about but I do know that soon a disaster of immeasurable proportion will descend upon this world."

"Are you talking about the black creatures, the Krigus?"

"That name. I haven't heard it for so long." She muttered, her eyes becoming unfocused.

"You know about them?" She asked, looking back at me.

Then I told them about Revati.

"Ah, I see. Certainly, she'd know," Fleur said.

"Our lineage has the longest history due to our lifespan and the creatures have been recorded in our texts coming every million years to kill the people of this world. Even after all this time, we haven't been able to figure out why they come or their exact goal," She continued.

"I see. Weren't you able to fight them?"

"No, unfortunately, there is something or someone, much stronger than us, manipulating those creatures. No matter, how many you kill, they just keep on coming until they complete their goal. We initially tried to fight them but due to the large number of losses we encountered, we had to give up."

"I see."

"Our ancestors created a city inside Thieca and blocked it with ancient magic. So, it was impossible for them to enter. We could only watch in regret as they ran over this world killing everyone."

"Hmm.."

"I even have this staff that belongs to the elves. It has recorded their history and how they came to this world and their struggles with those creatures."

She took out a jade colored staff carved with intricate designs.

"I see."

"This might not be here longer, though," She said, indicating the staff.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

'There are some elves who have entered this place and are coming straight here."

As the thought of Ashryn came back to me, I quickly summoned the map and looked for Ashryn. The small dot indicating her, steadily grew closer.