On the other side, the battle had started once again. Thanks to the sniper’s position, it was possible to hold back the enemy, but there were spots where the enemy snipers had a clear view of Drung Kingdom’s soldiers. From time to time, a few snipers were shot. Their blood flowed on the ground in the dimly lit cave, until it finally completed the ancient formation.

A red light covered the cavern when the formation was completed. Long cracks appeared on the floor, scaring the shit out of everyone. They got up from the ground and ran towards the passage, which took them to the foot of the mountain, their base.  Soon after, they saw the cavern crumble and fall to the ground, at the center of the battlefield.

At the same time, the top of the mountain crumbled, leaving a perfect, circular tunnel in the middle of the mountain, with a diameter of two hundred and fifty meters. A red pillar of light shot towards the sky, covering the world in a strange red light. Some people shouted that the world was ending, while others were standing silently. Many soldiers died on both sides from the falling mass of earth and stone.

The same kind of light reached the sky on Elena’s side too. “Shit, this is visible from far away. People will definitely come here. We should leave as soon as possible,” she shouted, jumping onto Dred’s back. As the light started dimming, Dred noticed a strange object in the middle of the air. Looking around, he noticed that both Acton and Vince were looking out of their heads.

“Don’t follow us,” he said as he appeared in front of them and headbutted both of them. They fell to the ground, out cold.

“You didn’t kill them, did you?” Elena asked with a chuckle.

“Of course not, I just knocked them out. Let’s get that thing!” he roared as he turned around and jumped over the huge hole after a running a few meters. As they flew over the hole, both of them looked down, only to see dust and debris covered ground of the other planet. They even managed to spot one of the camps.

“Gotcha!” Elena said as she gripped the object in midair. Dred landed on the other side and got back to Audrey and Jake.

Elena stored the small item in her storage ring. “Are we ready to go?” Audrey asked, slowly sinking into Dred’s shadow.

“Not really, but thanks to this sudden change, we will have to leave now. Jake, can you store at least one of the monsters we caught?” Elena asked, checking their surroundings with her Sense.

“Maye two thirds of it… If only we had the time to cut them into pieces,” he replied, shaking his head.

“Damn it, we are surrounded. A strong group is coming from the city and a group of three is coming from the capital city, I think,” Elena cursed.

“What? How could anyone come here from the capital so quickly?” Audrey asked with wide opened eyes.

“I think that they were on the way and made a detour after seeing this red pillar of light,” Elena clicked her tongue. Sighing loudly, she grabbed the back of Acton’s ghillie suit as she said, “It’s best if we go to the other planet, though I really don’t want to. This must be fate. I found this hole and now I have to enter it.”

“Do you like holes?” Jake asked with a smirk on his face as he patted her right thigh and picked up Vince.

“Aren’t you funny?” she grumbled, ‘gently’ kicking his left side. “It’s good that Dred is so tall. I can kick you from his back real easy!”

“Ouch! I was just joking…” Jake mumbled as he jumped down the huge hole, Dred behind him.

When they got through, Elena used Earth Magic to create a protruding cliff from the side of the mountain. They had to repeat this a few times until they reached the ground in one piece. The sky was still orange colored, though most of the red light dissolved. Looking around, they saw that both sides were occupied with clearing the debris and reorganizing their forces.

Considering that Acton’s kingdom seemed to have friendly intentions, they moved towards the Drung Kingdom rather than the Sliton Empire, which was unknown to them. “We will turn into their puppets this way. I bet that they will keep pestering us with rewards to join their side in the war,” Audrey remarked when they stopped in the middle of a huge desert. Her red hair fluttered in the strong wind and she couldn’t help but shut her eyes when sand grains reached her eyes.

“This place is no good. With this kind of wind, there might be a sandstorm nearby. We could rely on our senses, but this planet might have more dangerous sandstorms than what we know. Also, they can’t pester us if they can’t find us,” Elena said with a chuckle, winking at Audrey.

“That’s true,” she nodded her head as she chuckled.

“So? Where do you plan to go?” Jake asked, tilting his head to the side.

“I don’t know, ask Dred,” Elena replied, pointing at Dred’s nose, which moved non-stop.

“He is quite cute when he is sniffing,” Audrey mumbled. “Haha, he makes me remember to stuffed animals!” Of course, Dred didn’t appreciate her remark, but let it slide this time. Mostly.

Turning around, he looked at the rising sun behind them before saying, “We will go towards the West. Run because you won’t enter my shadow!”

“What?!” she stood in place with wide opened mouth upon seeing Dred speeding off. Sighing loudly, Jake shook his head, “You’ve done it now. Let’s go or we will be left behind.”

“But… uww I’m sorry,” she mumbled, biting her lower lips.

After leaving the desert, they arrived at a dark forest, filled with withering trees. The ground was dark brown, the sky was covered by thick, depressing, gray clouds. The trees had no leaves and were full of tiny holes. The occasional roars of some strange beasts made anyone think twice about entering the dead forest, but Dred didn’t mind it even in the slightest.

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“Where are we going?” Elena raised a brow as she leaned forward to rest her body on Dred’s back.

“Hey, you will drag Acton on the ground this way,” Dred alerted her.

“Do we even need him? I suppose Vince can help us in worldly matters too, and he is the only one who speaks our language,” she grumbled, finding it a chore to carry him any longer.

“Don’t be so lazy, he might be helpful in the future. We can tell him that there was an explosion on the other side and that we saved him,” he rebuked her with a chuckle. “I should use my Wyvern form. We are too slow this way,” he mumbled.

“You are really evil. You traveled in this form just to make Audrey and Jake run after us. But at least you didn’t use your full speed. Hmm, they will catch up with us soon. Let’s see what that item was,” Elena said as she pulled out the strange object from her storage ring.

A key with a red crystal in its head appeared in her right hand. She rotated it to look at it closely, but it didn’t feel any different than a normal key. “What is this good for? I wonder,” she muttered, her hand on her chin.

Audrey and Jake arrived in the next moment, panting heavily. After taking a short rest, they too looked at the key but found nothing strange. “Well, there is only one option left… Inspect!”

Name: First Ring of Calamity

Rarity: Legendary

Durability: N/A

Effects: #?-@-##@?>#?@

Description

This is the first piece of the ring of calamity from a set of eight. This ring is usable only once, just like the other pieces. It’s the legacy of a king who had immense knowledge and control over space and nature. These eight rings were his last creations, along with a formation that connected his home planet, ‘Dink’ to another planet which was renamed to ‘Dunk’ under his rule. There are seven more rings hidden within each gateway.

When the formation is filled to the brim with blood, the gateway will open and the planets will be connected once again. Each ring has a different effect when Mana is channeled through them. See the effect above. When you collect every ring, they will merge into a single one, which will be the true legacy of the late king, called ‘Hector’.

“... Thanks, but I can’t see its effect! But at least now I have some idea about what this is. Should we check its effects?” Elena cursed and then asked with a smirk.

“It would disappear that way… and I don’t think that we want to know anytime soon,” Audrey remarked with a frown on her face.

“Haha, I know, I was just joking,” Elena laughed upon hearing Audrey’s words. Placing her hand on her chin, she made a thoughtful face for a few seconds. Raising her head, she said, “But there are eight of them and there are eight elements everyone knows of too. In our tables, Fire is listed first under the Elemental Magic, which makes me think that the rest of the rings are all related to an element. Could you try using the spirits? We might find out something.”

Closing her eyes, Audrey focused on the fire elements. A translucent Fire Spirit appeared in front of her. It covered her head, increasing her control over the fire element. They had to build the elements into their bodies to reach maximum control and their fusion was related to this.

“There is nothing strange about this ring, though it does attract fire elements. It could help us in training,” she concluded as she opened her eyes.

“That’s a good thing too. But now we should visit the place of each kingdom. Some of them might have information related to this…” Elena sighed loudly upon realizing that she would have to visit the capital of a few kingdoms on this planet too.

“Or you could just ignore this ring too?” Jake remarked, tilting his head to the side.

“Only an idiot would ignore something that has ‘legendary’ besides its rarity attribute,” she replied, puffing out her big chest.

“I’m not an idiot… I just… never mind,” Jake mumbled to himself in a barely audible voice.

“Get on my back,” Dred said as he transformed into his Wyvern form.

“Could this be… will we fly?!” Audrey exclaimed, her eyes glimmering from the happiness she felt. Elena crawled up on his back, onto his neck.

“The view is the best from here. Your body won’t cover my sight this way and your lower body is too wide,” Elena explained herself, seeing Dred looking at her.

“Whatever. Come closer and let me carry you,” Dred said with a chuckle, raising his front paws.

“Huh? What do you mean? You are big enough to carry us so… let us up, please?” Audrey pleaded, her cheeks puffed out.

“But I’m a cute pet. I can’t let so many people sit on my back, can I? My spine might snap under the weight. Hold onto my legs instead,” he replied. In fact, he wasn’t even bothered by Audrey’s words and he got used to the fact that even outsiders thought that he was just a pet. But he had fun seeing their reactions, so he always screwed up their plans…

“Haah? Are you telling me that I’m fat? Just so you know, I worked out every day to keep my body in shape. I’m-”

“Audrey, I don’t think that he had anything of the sort in mind,” Elena interrupted her with a chuckle. “Who knew that you had such a side? Are you sensitive when it comes to your weight? Let Jake hold those melons for you, you will be lighter,” she said with a smirk on her face, breaking into a fit of laughter.

Audrey was left with her mouth opened wide when she heard her ‘insulting’ words, “Such insults! You damned monster… I’ll remember this!” hearing her words, Elena laughed even harder. Turning to her right, Audrey looked at Jake, “What are you looking at? You won’t touch my breasts.”

“Eh? I was just-”

“Shut up. You didn’t even help me out,” Audrey humphed as she hugged Dred’s left leg, waiting for him to fly off. While looking at a random rock on the ground, she thought, What am I doing? It’s all Jake’s fault. He must have done something with me at the lake…

Scratching the back of his head, Jake hugged Dred’s other leg. Leaning to the side, Elena whispered into Jake’s left ear, “Be a bit pushier. She is thick headed. Corner her and she will fall like a sand castle.”

“That’s easy for you to say…” he shook his head.

“You know, it’s nice to see you getting ready, but Acton and Vince are still here. So we will have to wait,” Dred interrupted the trio, seeing that he was completely ignored and used as a mount.

“I know, but I didn’t plan to get off of your back,” Elena said as she patted his neck. “Your scales feel hard and rough to the touch,” she mumbled as she started drawing circles on his scales. Seeing that she was engorged and amused by her ‘toy’, Dred didn’t bother her.

It actually feels good on my neck, he thought as a shudder ran through his body. Audrey and Jake stepped back in an awkward way.

Seeing that Acton and Vince weren’t moving, Audrey sprinkled water on their faces. Both of them sat up, trying to catch their breath.

“You didn’t have to pour a waterfall on their faces…” Jake remarked with a chuckle.

“W-Where are we? Ugh, my head hurts,” Acton grunted as he sat up, holding his forehead. As his memories rushed through his head, he looked for a black panther with wide opened eyes. “Where is Dred?” he said, though nobody understood anything other than Dred.

Vince looked around before asking, “Did Dred really hit us earlier? Where is he and why did he do it?” Since Dred was behind him when he turned around… “AAAH What… huh?” Vince shouted, his face pale. But seeing that the huge Wyvern wasn’t moving, he closed his mouth. “This silent reaction… Dred?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Showing his huge teeth, Dred replied with a grin, “I was found out.”

*tap*

*tap*

But at that time, footsteps resounded in the forest, alerting the group...