Novels2Search
Ophidian Aspect
Chapter 5 Part 5

Chapter 5 Part 5

Part 5

Opening her eyes, Yami sat up on Drake’s shoulders. She had spent the night in one of her usual positions, wrapped firmly around his neck as she rested on his shoulders. A smile floated across Yami’s face as she watched Drake. He was deep in sleep, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. However, as she watched Drake, a small shuffling next to him brought feelings of jealousy as she looked further.

The small Lamia they had picked up from the village seemed to have taken a liking to him, for one reason or another. So, as the night went on, she had taken the opportunity to slowly get closer to him in her sleep, even going so far as to slowly coil around him, like he was nothing more than a safety blanket to her.

“Auuughh!” Yami let out a muffled cry as she flew up in disgust. This was the one thing she hated most. Therion, as a burly, and almost frightening Satyr, was little more than a servant at first. He had grown to be a friend, and one that had understood the relationship between Drake and herself. But this little… girl, had completely broken those rules within moments of speaking to him.

Drake was hers. From the moment she was born, he was in her life, and she wouldn’t let anyone take that away from her, certainly not some snake they picked up on the wayside.

The funny thing was, Yami had even contemplated speaking to her. It seemed that Drake had completely forgotten, given their contract and his ability to link to others, that she had her own ability to speak without his help at all. She had even reached out in frustration, more because of Drake’s behavior than anything else, and listened in closely to Drake’s feelings and thoughts. And what she felt and heard surprised her.

This little girl, Ella. For some reason, in Drake’s mind she was viewed as something worth protecting, even though he just met her. He also felt deep anger at the humans who were responsible for what happened to the village, to the extent that he would kill those if he found them.

“He’s too good of a person…” She murmured to herself.

“He is our master, however.”

Turning around quickly, her eyes widened as she saw Therion sitting to the side, only smiling in a sarcastic manner.

“You, how long have you been watching me?” She demanded.

Therion paused for a moment, as if he was considering his answer.

“Does it really matter?” He said with a snide smile.

“Hmph.” She pouted for a moment, as Therion seemed to be taunting her. “Now you choose to act like that.”

He laughed lightly to himself, and bowed slightly to Yami, a teasing look in his eyes.

“Well, it wouldn’t do for master to think less of me. And, it works better for the both of us if there is a clear line of command. Master is master after all.” He ended abruptly, only gazing at Yami with a smile.

“Yea, yea…” Yami could only shake her head and sigh. True, they had grown closer, and Therion was certainly someone she could talk to without reservations… but she received absolutely no respect from the Satyr. Really, it was all a result of one of Drake’s requests. Treat him as a friend. She had done just that, but she lost all chance for a proper relationship with him at the same time.

“So what do you think of the snake?” Yami looked over the Ella with a heated gaze. She was still happily wrapped around Drake, with her tail fully around his waist as he slept. The little harlot.

“Hmm? Her?” Therion only gazed momentarily at the pair. “It doesn’t matter all that much to me, as long as she doesn’t interfere with Master assisting me in my revenge.” He smiled and then began to chuckle to himself. “I imagine at that time, you might actually be left babysitting her, how amusing.”

“Shut up.” Yami snapped. “Hopefully, Drake will be able to find somewhere to leave her. The sooner she is gone the better.” She looked meaningfully at the pair as they slept, and spun herself into even more of a frenzy.

“Wake them up. I’m going to up and see if I can manage to track one of the snakes that were stolen from the village.” She flew up high, searching for the path they were on the night before. Rubbing her hair in frustration, she muttered, “I’m not good at this kind of stuff…” Hearing a short whistle, she turned to Therion and saw him pointing to a small, discrete path out of the forest. Yami nodded, and quickly flew out in that direction.

Chuckling to himself, Therion watched as Yami slowly disappeared into the forest path. “Heh, well I suppose I should wake up master. I’ll get an earful from the little imp if I don’t separate those two before she gets back.” He said as he slowly made his way on his feet.

*****

“Master… master, wake up.”

“Hmmm…?” Drake slowly opened his eyes, only to meet Therion’s intense gaze over him.

“T-Therion, uh, morning.” Drake stammered in surprise.

Really though, does he have to do that? Scared the crap of out me. Drake couldn’t help but think. Waking up to something out of a horror movie didn’t exactly inspire the warm, fuzzy feeling he was hoping to have.

“Good morning, master.” Therion replied. Just as Yami said before, he adopted the more reserved tone he used with Drake.

Drake groaned as he attempted to wake up and move, and was quickly met with resistance.

“What the…”

WHAT!?

Drake was met with utter shock as he stared down at the young Lamia wrapped around him. Her entire tail had completely wrapped around his torso and waist, with her head resting neatly on his chest. The real problem however, was that he could barely get his balance to even stand up in the first place. Regardless of his strength, Ella’s body was quite long, making her reach around 400 pounds. This left him in the awkward position of being barely able to move, let alone without waking the young girl.

As Drake looked around for a moment, he noticed the distinct lack of a certain imp that he normally woke up to. She normally took great pleasure in waking him up herself, and given his position, he could imagine what had happened. He laughed nervously before turning to Therion with a pleading expression.

“Therion… where’s Yami?” He said with a sense of foreboding.

“The little imp is currently out to test if she can track the other members of the little snake’s species. She seemed quite unsure of herself, and I’m sure she didn’t want to disappoint you.” Therion replied in a rather official manner.

It took Drake a moment to process what he had heard when a single thought hit him.

Well, shit. This is bad.

Yami had been close to him from day one. She especially seemed to be territorial towards those that she thought was a threat to that, and her waking up to see something like this… If he wanted them to be on good terms, this certainly wasn’t the way to start out. Dammit.

Turning to the small Lamia, he gently prodded Ella. The longer they stayed like this, the worse the result would be when Yami returned.

“Mmmnnn… still sleepy…” Her small voice responded from his chest. She then began to tighten grip on Drake, which left him grunting in pain as she squeezed down.

“A-ah… Ella, wake up.” He managed to stammer. This girl was actually causing him to lose his breath… What kind of strength does her tail have?!

He decided to just shake her. If he stayed like this much longer, it might actually be dangerous.

“Uhhhnnn… huh?” Her violet eyes suddenly lit up, and she stared deeply into Drake’s eyes.

“A-ahh.” She stammered. “S-s-sorry!” She quickly unwrapped her body as quickly as she could from around Drake.

“It’s fine.” Drake managed a response, as he finally got a deep breathe in. This girl could easily be deadly if he wasn’t careful. If he wasn’t in his new body, he might have actually suffocated under her grip.

After he got out from under her grip, he quickly got to his feet, leaving the young girl looking down at the ground in shame Interestingly, even though she wouldn’t look at him, he noticed that she couldn’t help but stay close to him.

“When do you expect Yami to be back?” Drake was quick to change the subject, asking Therion. The sheer strength of Ella surprised him. If he didn’t want to hurt her with magic, he really didn’t have a way to stop her. She really was just too strong.

Therion had stood off to the side as Drake and Ella struggled with each other. It was a testament to his character that he didn’t break a smile during the whole ordeal, as Drake was sure it looked ridiculous.

“Hm, I expect that she will return as soon as she manages to locate another Lamia member. Such a race should be quite rare, given the… signal they put out.”

Therion frowned as he looked down at Ella.

“She’s not the same Therion, it’s fine.” Drake said seeing his expression.

The meaning of the look he gave Ella was obvious. If Drake wasn’t here, there’s no doubt Ella would have been killed within moments. It simply wasn’t in his nature to leave potential threats alive. With even just her current strength as a monster, she was a threat to Therion. For some reason, Drake could tell at a glance.

Of course, in an actual battle it wouldn’t be close. Ella was likely hidden away exactly because she couldn’t fight, or simply because she was too young. Either way, Therion had the experience and the power to overpower her. That was simply for now, though. Drake could tell that the young Lamia had the potential to become much, much more powerful.

Both he and Therion were able to tell, which was why Therion was so hostile.

Therion simply smiled in response to Drake, and answered. “Of course, master.”

Frowning, Drake turned out towards the forest and focused on his bond with Yami.

[Morning. Did you find anything?] Drake asked tentatively.

It was quiet for a moment before she finally responded.

[Good morning, Drake.] She said softly.

Yami continued. [Tracking a specific species when I don’t know the mana signature is extremely difficult. I’ve been able to pick up on something, but honestly Drake, I’m not sure if it’s a Lamia or not. It should be on the path Therion sent me on. It leads out to a wide grassy field, and starts to turn towards the city.]

Drake thought to himself for a moment, before looking to his side with a questioning expression. “You did send her in the right direction, right Therion?”

He merely chuckled before confirming the question. “I wouldn’t mislead her, master. It’s important that we find the group of humans. For both of our purposes.”

Drake couldn’t help but shake his head. Heh… he’s probably thinking of questioning them, or just flat out tracking them back to their main camp if they have one. What he has in mind probably entails killing almost the entire group, not that I really have an issue with it. After what I saw at the village, someone needs to pay.

[Drake, you there?] Yami cut in, wondering why he hadn’t responded.

[Right, right. Sorry, I was asking Therion a question. That should be the right path, and if you’re able to pick up anything, it’s the best shot we have for actually locating them. Fly back here, and we’ll get started. I need you here, after all.]

[Right. Be back soon!] She responded cheerfully.

“Uhn… Mister?” A small voice sounded out night to Drake.

He looked down at the small Lamia who seemed determined to look away from him.

“You alright, Ella?”

“Sorry for this morning. When I went to go to sleep, I was just all curled up in my tail… but then I started to get cold, and the horned man looked scary so…” Her sentence slowly tapered off in embarrassment.

Drake couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. It reminded him very much of someone who simply couldn’t say what they wanted to do out of a sense of self-restraint. Moreover, Lamia, at least to his understanding, was an entirely female species. The simple fact that he was the first male she really spent any amount of time with probably influenced the more guarded part of her personality.

“It’s fine, just… try not to make it a habit. The Imp you saw yesterday doesn’t really appreciate the company.” Drake attempted to joke a bit.

“Unn, I’ll be more careful but… if we are traveling quickly again, could you carry me? You’re too fast, mister.” She looked up again, the violet shimmer in her eyes hitting Drake again.

He grimaced, before scratching the back of his head. Yami really wasn’t gonna like this but they did need to travel fast…

Stolen story; please report.

“Sure, but you’ll need to hold on.”

“No problem.” Ella smiled.

“Draaakeee! I’m back!”

Suddenly hitting him from behind, Yami wrapped herself around Drake’s neck as she spun around. She then kissed the edge of his nose teasingly before landing on his shoulder.

“Miss me?” She taunted.

“You know it.” Drake smirked before ruffling her hair.

“Hey, we’re gonna travel quick, so hop on. Ella is gonna ride on my back like yesterday too.”

[And try not to make that big of a deal about it. She’s a nice girl. You should at least try to treat her well.]

Drake finished talking through their link. Definitely one advantage was his ability to talk in private like this.

Seeing the look on Drake’s face, Yami struggled with herself for a moment before hugging his neck. She then quickly flitted up to his head and looked forward.

[Fine. Let’s go. I won’t complain.]

 [Thanks.]

“Ella, jump on.” Drake said.

“Un.” Grabbing onto Drake’s shoulders, she quickly wrapped her tail around his torso like before, giving her a solid base. “I’m ready.” She whispered.

“Therion, lead us out on the path you showed Yami. She can take it from there once we’re out of the forest.” Drake said.

With Therion leading the way, they soon made it through the desolate, dead region of the forest that seemed to surround the entire area around the destroyed Lamia’s village. Once they left the dead region of forest, they were able to move faster than ever, as they found a worn path that looked through as if something had cut a swath through the forest. It wasn’t long after that they reached the wide, open plains-like area that Yami had mentioned earlier. Just as they did, Drake began to feel a strange rumbling on his back.

Wait… is that what I thought it was?

Smirking to himself, he looked up to Ella mischievously. It had been quite a while since he had eaten anything, and it seems like Ella was even worse off than he was.

“Hey Ella, when was the last time you were able to eat?” Drake looked at the young girl’s face and asked with a teasing tone.

“O-oh.. um…” She quickly buried her face into Drake’s back. The mission that Drake was on seemed important, so she didn’t want to interfere anymore than she had to…

“It’s been a few days…” She murmured into Drake’s shoulder. “There was no time to hide any food away, and I was too scared to go out.”

So that’s how it was. Drake thought to himself.

Of course, she wouldn’t have had much to eat since her village was attacked. From the looks of it, they had been completely surprised, and she was just a young girl. He had some serious doubts that she would have been able to hunt for anything even if she hadn’t stayed hidden.

Nodding his head, he knocked Yami forward off of his head and onto his snout, asking her a question.

[Out of curiosity, when was the last time you had something to eat Yami? Because I think now is a good time to track something down.]

Drake couldn’t help but crack a smile. Personally, he hadn’t eaten anything since the small piece of meat Yami had saved for him from the Doppelganger. So, he was feeling a bit hungry as well.

[Hm? Well, I’ve been able to snack a bit here and there, but I could eat. What do you have in mind?] She asked.

[Just surprise me.] Drake said.

He could spread his mana out like before, and catch something fairly easily. After all, from what he learned at the village, his new ability allowed him to locate anything his mana touched. That took time however, and Yami’s ability was much better suited at finding something nearby, given that she could search out others and identify them based on their mana signature.

Flying off of his shoulder, she gave a short wink in response before she began to glow with the red runes she so often used for tracking. And so, within moments she locked onto something nearby. Motioning Drake over, she quickly began to fly off along the edge of the forest.

[I think I found something you’ll like. It seems to be an offshoot of one of the creatures from your world.] She mentioned with a hint of pleasure.

Really?

Drake could only think of a few off the top of his head. And they were typically those that had been “corrupted” by some influence. Ironically, it was a bit similar to what had happened to Therion, although he doubted that Therion would have any problems with eating a creature that had been corrupted.

As Yami approached the creature she had targeted, she slowed down considerably and slowly lowered down onto Drake’s shoulder.

[It’s right up ahead. It’s demonic in nature, but I think it’s called a… boar?] Truthfully, Yami couldn’t help but laugh to herself a bit. In part, when she had located this creature among those who were closest, she had chosen this creature because she had overheard Drake’s thoughts as he thought about his days as a human.

To her, it was extremely strange hearing his thoughts as he pondered his days walking through cities and forests without a hint of danger. And, it seemed to her that the one of the foods he seemed to miss quite a bit was a strange creature called a pig. From what little she knew, she could tell that the boar was similar to the creature Drake missed, so she was quite pleased with herself.

Drake eyes widened in surprise as Yami mentioned what the creature was.

Seriously? So I get to have some pork?

Drake unconsciously lipped his licks in hunger, his snake-like tongue licking the side of his mouth as he let out a low, growling hiss, which sounded remarkably similar to that of alligator.

Sinking into the cold presence of his hunter state, Drake’s eyes narrowed dangerously as his presence disappeared entirely. After having learned how to control it from Yami, Drake could recognize that she was completely right. He sunk into this whenever he starting thinking of food, although it was much stronger now that he knew how it felt.

“U-uh, mister?” Ella called out to Drake in a somewhat fearful tone.

Widening his eyes in surprise, he quickly turned to the Lamia on his back.

“Sorry Ella, I forgot you aren’t used to how I fight.” He slowly lowered his back to the ground, and allowed Ella to slowly uncurl herself from around his waist. Turning to her, he said, “Now listen, I’m gonna get us some food real quick, so just stay here and be good. I’ll be right back.”

“Alright.” Ella responded as she stared at Drake.

Drake’s demeanor went through a range of emotions before he finally settled on pure glee. Letting out a wave of mana, he slowly let it spread over the entire area, making sure it didn’t get too close to Ella. His mana empowered Yami and Therion greatly, but against those who didn’t have his unique type, it seemed to drain them by the second.

As it spread across the area, he felt what Yami had located. It was a semi-large mana source, roughly 8 feet in length. He hadn’t expected it to be so large, although, given the “corruption” normally given to such creatures, they were normally two to three times their normal size.

Lowering himself to the ground, he quickly tracked the signature to its source. It was only 60 feet or so away from the others, but that should be enough to keep Ella safe. If she got hurt because of something stupid he did, he doubt he’d be able to forgive himself.

Peeking over a small bramble of bushes, he finally spotted it. It was quite large, and it’s mana signature was spot on given the size he expected. Although, when he spotted it he couldn’t help but stifle a small cackle. He recognized this particular species exactly.

It was a large, red boar with black spikes splitting through its body at seemingly random intervals with a long, black mane covering its back. It also had a faint, arcane fire that burned over the creature constantly, making it a type of boar-like demon than any real species of pig. In short, the damn thing was a Helboar. They were well known in one of the popular MMO’s back in the old days, and were a popular source of grinding in various quests.

Time for a little bit of fun. Drake thought as he stalked the boar.

For a long time now, Drake had the ability to focus his mana into small crystals. Normally, he would just fire them off, giving him a great ability to kill things at a distance, but this was opposite the nature of a Draconian. And given such a perfect target, he couldn’t help but experiment a bit.

He began to focus his mana around his hands, and channeling them into the edge of his fingers. All he really needed to do was just create a small gauntlet over his hand, and he would have the perfect catalyst to drain an opponent’s mana while fighting them.

As he watched the boar ruffle through the ground in search of food, he completed it. It was a small bracer complete with a crystalline glove that extended into spikes that covered his claws with mana. He continued to stare down the demonic creature as he soon extended this little toy to his other arm.

Grinning in devilish delight, Drake leaped forward into the boar, crashing into it and pinning it against a nearby tree.

It screamed in agony, the mana crystals of Drake’s new gauntlet digging into its side and draining its strength as it thrashed against him. The area Drake struck at was slowly fading of all color, changing from the creature’s trademark red, into an almost dead, brown color.

As Drake began to dig into the creature, he felt a small wave of mana begin to build in his hand, and he leaped back in surprise.

“What the hell?” Drake yelled in surprise to himself.

It had taken a moment, but as he had attacked the boar, a small wisp of flame shot out of its body, and had aimed straight at him. It didn’t extend more than a foot away from the boar, and quickly dissipated, but it undeniably had used magic against him.

“Come on, you didn’t have that before.” He muttered in annoyance.

The Helboar that he always knew of was no more than a simple boar with demonic influence. It didn’t have any form of magic.

Free from Drake’s control, the boar turned to him, it’s eyes burning red with fury. It charged him almost immediately, its tusks aimed straight for his chest.

Drake moved out of the way of the attack, almost as if he was in a daze. It was simply too slow. He had expected a bit more of a challenge, and now he was undeniably disappointed.

“Not to mention it’s just stupid.” Drake grumbled.

The stupid pig just charged straight ahead as Drake dashed to the side. It barely avoided slamming its snout against a nearby tree, and it had to slowly turn around to even have the chance to attack him again.

Maybe it’s my mana doing it. He thought haphazardly. It made sense after all. The entire region had been swamped in his mana after he used it to track down the boar, and it was likely impairing its movement quite a bit. Maybe even the defensive flame it had used against him was affected, if the boar had breathed any of it in, which it undoubtedly had.

He sighed and shook his head. “Whatever, time to eat.” He said with a bloodthirsty grin.

Dashing to the side of the boar again, he charged at its side, thrusting his arm deep inside the muscle of the boar. It screamed out in agony, and Drake began to feel the buildup of mana as it tried to gather that flame-like defense from before.

“Oh no you don’t.” He muttered. Taking the crystal from his gauntlet, he ordered the mana to expand out.

As he focused his mana, the crystal gauntlet created numerous spikes, spearing the Helboar from the inside out in almost all directions. This left the Helboar gravely injured, as it effectively left a giant void in the meat and bone of the creature.

Leaping back in delight, Drake watched as the Boar’s eyes glazed over and it slumped to the ground. It whined in pain, as Drake opened his palm and shot one last crystal spike through the skull of the boar.

Satisfied, Drake slowly extended his arm as he took a look at his new experiment. In his opinion, the crystal gauntlet worked like a charm. It enhanced his claws that had dulled slightly since his advancement to a Lord, and given the natural enhanced mana that came with being a Lord, such tricks suited him immensely.

Now Drake understood what he had been missing. He had left himself open to counter attacks if someone was capable of getting too close. If someone was capable of blocking his crystal blasts, much like Gwyn was with her barrier, what else was he left with? The amount of mana it took to control and concentrate a solid wave of aura to try to attack someone was truly frightening, and was only suited to attacking when he was able to convert a vast amount of the natural mana in the air to his own. He understood that much as he sealed the Draconian in his memories and gained the knowledge of what had happened against Gwyn.

If he needed to use such an ability, it would likely have vast consequences on any others around him, including the environment. He had tried to shy away from letting too much of his mana interact with others. He still remembered how badly it changed the small area that he first formed his half-core with the mana crystals. It resulted in nothing but black brambles of thorns, and other strange changes to the environment. If he didn’t plan to stay in such an area, he would stay well away from making such changes. It simply made him too easy to track.

Breathing in deeply, he took the ambient mana in the area and slowly began to draw it back into himself. As long as he was careful, it wouldn’t do too much damage. And, given how widespread the mana was, he could often feel a sizable increase in the amount of mana he put out in the first place due to the corruption of the surrounding mana.

“Yami, Therion, I’m all finished. Bring Ella over!” Drake yelled out towards the others.

The first to reach him was Yami, who quickly wrapped herself around his neck in glee.

“Wowww, it’s been such a long time since I’ve had something like this.” Yami’s eyes sparkled in anticipation. She had expected it to be large, but this surpassed her expectations,

Then, just as expected, Therion walked out with Ella right beside him.

Ella’s eyes seemed to sparkle just as much as Yami’s when she saw the body of the boar.

“What, first time you’ve seen one?” Drake chuckled a bit.

She shook her head vigorously, the end of her tail tapping the ground as she did.

“Nuh uh, I’ve seen some similar stuff but, it’s so… big. Do we get to eat it all?” She asked in anticipation, her eyes wide in excitement. Clearly, the girl was hiding her hunger a lot more than Drake realized.

Drake laughed as he turned to the corpse. Grabbing onto the meat, he ripped out a piece fairly easily. Taking a small chunk, he gifted it to Yami, who happily began to munch down on it.

“Well, get to eating. Here, catch.” He threw over the piece, which she happily wolfed down, then looked back at the boar, eager for more.

Drake couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, get some yourself. You too Therion.” He motioned the Satyr over. It looked as if he was waiting for permission to eat, likely some chain of command thing he seemed so stubborn about.

Therion smiled graciously. “Of course, master.”

And so, they ate, with Yami stealing a small mouthful here and there from Drake with an impish delight in her laugh, and Ella wolfing down as much as her small body would allow her to. Honestly, just where did she put it all? As for Drake and Therion, they ate leisurely and took the time to relax.

Drake looked longingly at the Helboar. This was one of the first species that really reminded him of some of his favorite foods. He had already retrieved the core and had swallowed it at a moment’s notice, but to no real effect. Now, if he could only somehow save some of the meat for later…

Then, his eyes suddenly widened as he thought of a plan. Drake smirked before tearing off a large strip of meat, and bunched it up into a large ball as best he could.

Oh ho ho, this is gonna be great.

Yami and Ella were still happily tearing into the boar, and didn’t notice him, but Therion looked at him strangely as he continued to mold the meat into a large ball.

“Um… master? What are you-”

Drake brought his finger up to his lips. “Sshhh, this is a bit of extra for later.”

Focusing on the small ball of meat, Drake slowly let out his aura around it. It took him roughly half a minute, but soon he had completely surrounded the ball of meat in a layer of crystal.

This is by far the best way to save food. Drake chuckled to himself before looking over to the two girls. They were completely in their own world as they chewed through the boar.

Crouching over by Therion, he asked for a favor. “Could you keep this on you Therion? I have my hands full with those two.” He held his hand out in front of his mouth in a pleading gesture.

Therion merely nodded in response, taking the small crystal full of meat. “No need to ask, master.”

“Thanks.” Drake replied.

After the girls finished their meal, Drake decided it was time to get back to tracking the group. They had come quite a long way from the village, and Drake was sure that he was able to sprint much faster than any cart with some cages could ever attempt. It wouldn’t be much longer before he believed they could catch up.

Backtracking to the area where Therion was able to track them out to the plains, Drake quickly nudged Yami on his shoulders.

[Think you can feel the signal from here] Drake asked.

[It’s faint, but I think I can.]

 Yami flew off Drake’s shoulders as she began to track the signal she felt earlier. High in the air, she slowly turned until she felt herself lock onto the strange feeling she felt before.

[I think I have it.]

Flying back down, she landed neatly on Drake’s head.

[It’s still towards the edge of the city. It has been moving a bit, but very slowly.]

That fits in with the cages that Ella thought she heard.

Drake hoped for the best. If they were wrong, he would likely have to take pretty drastic measures to actually find them.

A sudden slap aimed at his own forehead awoke Drake from his own thoughts.

“Get down, now!” Yami whispered urgently. “Suppress your presence, quick!”

“Huh, why should I?” Drake asked in an annoyed manner. “I’ll deal with whatever comes our way. It’s easier.” After the disappointment from the Helboar, it would be nice to have an actual fight. Besides, suppressing himself was uncomfortable, and all it did was made him feel other’s presence more. Under something like the powerful pressure at the destroyed village, it was like walking out into a blizzard without a coat. It simply didn’t make any sense to him. It was best to simply let his signal blare out towards others, and only suppress himself if he felt danger even despite that.

“Ahhh! Idiot!” She yelled in frustration, and flew behind his back, close to Ella.

Just as soon as Yami finished talking, Drake finally felt what she was sensing. Unlike Yami however, he didn’t feel the pressure of an enemy but heard the powerful waves of air as the air pressure changed around him.

Then, as suddenly as he felt it, a giant monster plunged down to the ground from the sky, and began to roar out in a terribly powerful scream. As it did, all the others could do was cover their ears in pain as the roar echoed out into the distance, but to Drake, a single order echoed out into the distance.

“Ormir! Come on out! I know you’re around here!”

What landed and yelled out the curious name was obvious to Drake the moment he got a good look at it. At first glance, it looked incredibly similar to the Wyvern’s he was used to seeing in fantasy. Two scaly legs, leathery wings and a sinewy tail made the rather typical look. However, for some reason the end of its tail was suspiciously pointed, giving it an almost hook-like shape. Furthermore, it was undeniably smaller than he expected it to be. It was probably only 20 feet in length.

He looked to the Wyvern, and couldn’t help but contain an evil smile.

I wonder just how strong it is.