Dylan's 'bodyguards' were as scary as their names indicated.

Baby Benson (or Bruiser) was a bald man of about six feet and four inches tall. He was dressed in a tuxedo and a fedora, and tattoos covered his skull and hands, with a build like a bear if the bear worked out daily. It was a miracle that his massive limbs and disproportionately large hands and feet fit in the clothing he picked. He was currently messing with his left glove, both of which were made of black leather.

As for Alice the Butcher, she was an intimidating figure, lean and powerful. A pair of black catlike ears poked above her short hair, and long claws were visible on the tips of her fingers. She wore a gray half-tanktop and brown shorts, and her slitted yellow eyes were looking around constantly, assessing the potential threats of everyone. Incidentally, she completely ignored Dylan.

Charles walked up to the nervous young scholar, patting him on the shoulder. "Sorry for the scary looks, Dylan. We didn't want to bring any weapons into the Forest, so we hired some of the best unarmed fighters in Barabar." Dylan nodded anxiously. "And you're sure they're not going to - you know, attack Noah on sight? Because I don't see that going well, and I-" The guildmaster cut him off. "If they attack Noah, it'll be because he's all right with them doing it. Not to mention, he already said he won't kill anyone, so that's a good thing. At the moment, speed is of the essence, so we need to get moving."

The young man checked out the four robed and hooded figures approaching them. Teleporting was normally an expensive method of traveling (though there were rumors Careolis had developed a device that could do it), but when it came to doing anything involving Noah Cosmic, it was almost criminal to charge. If anything, everyone fell over themselves trying to help. If through their assistance a weakness was found, then they would receive at least a partial amount of credit. No one brought up the fact that if they were paid, it would count as being associated with the guild, and Noah had been quite clear on that.

Preparing the spell, the four archmages raised their arms, and a blue circle of runic spellcasting appeared on the ground. Teleporting was a difficult process because it involved moving people through space. Dylan didn't really understand all of the knowledge behind it but he knew it was impressive.

Stepping in the circle, the three people turned to face Charles. As they did, the guildmaster shouted at them through the distorting air. "Remember, don't annoy him! We still don't know how powerful he is!" Dylan nodded, and his Barabar attendants, unfortunately, did not.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Quite suddenly, they were there. Dylan's jaw dropped.

He'd never been outside of Xylphys and this was one heck of a change. Miles of trees to their backs and a massive mountain range in front of them, snowy crags thousands of feet up. The grass was as green as green could be, and the stunning blue sky was peppered with gently white clouds. "This... this is amazing." he stammered. His associates chuckled. "I take it you've never been outside?" Alice said, her quiet and husky voice tinged with amusement. The young man shook his head in wonder. "I wish I had been sooner. This is-"

"Hey, guys! I thought you'd never show up!"

All of the blood drained from Dylan's face at that dreaded voice. Baby and Alice raised their hands, ready to fight, and Noah stepped out of thin air in front of them. He grinned widely. "Hey, so before you went into my forest, I wanted to give you a polite warning. Hey, Alice, Bruiser, how ya doing, guys? Haven't seen you in ages!"

The Barabar warriors raised their hands higher, Baby clenching his fists tightly and the Butcher's claws flexed. Noah laughed. "Ah, I love you guys. Anyway, the warning!" He clapped his hands.

Dylan's mouth slowly fell open as the mountain range shook, a portion of it rising into the air. He thought Noah was using his abilities, but as he looked closer, he realized that it had legs. A triangular head with glowing red eyes and a maw of stone teeth. A back covered in spikes, that looked like mountain tops from this far away. A clubbed tail that could crush Xylphys in one hit. The side of the entire mountain range was a monster!

"Earth dragon," Noah said cheerfully. "Comprised of an animation core at the center of however many rocks it can find over its lifetime. At this age, they have an unparalleled defense and a crushing amount of power. They're widely considered to be unbeatable at this stage." The dragon roared, and Dylan's ears popped as the ground shook. It was the loudest thing he'd ever heard. His bodyguards could only stare in shock.

"Anyway, I wanted to demonstrate with an earth dragon for a very good reason. They don't have any blood, and I didn't want poor Dylan getting traumatized. But I digress. I have an unusual way of dealing with problems. They just disappear for me! In this case, as you can imagine, I have a problem-" he placed his index fingers together.

The dragon froze midstep, one town-sized foot hanging midair. It tried to roar again, but all that came out was an earth-shattering whimper.

"-and now it's gone!" He pulled his fingers apart.

With an enormous tearing sound, the dragon ripped in half from the center of its forehead down to the end of its tail. The body began sloughing apart, boulders and chunks of rock crashing into the ground, and Noah smiled again. It didn't come anywhere near his eyes. "Don't become a problem, got it?"

He disappeared.