Quinn climbed atop the tree, its branches still frozen from his attack, using it as a vantage point to scan the clearing for drake nests.
His eyes darted around the area, looking through the tall grass and near the lake-side but he could only find a few earth and fire drake eggs. He sighed, looking down at Nexus, completely at a loss. "So, we have good news and bad news."
Nexus didn't even bother to ask. He just sat in the grass, then waved for him to talk.
"Good news: I found an earth drake egg, and the parents aren't around anymore," Quinn replied, his face unchanged.
Nexus's words were slow; sounding heavy and filled with dread. "And the bad news?"
"No magma eggs. We're probably gonna have to go underground for those."
Quinn's reply left Nexus speechless. He rubbed his face with both hands as he tried to process the information.
"Okay, here's what's gonna happen. You can take my stealth ring and go grab us an egg, while I try and get the drake's body out of the forest without dying," Nexus replied as he stood back to his feet
Based on their situation, this was the best course of action. The rings were currently halfway done, so Quinn would most likely need both to pull this off smoothly. Plus, he didn't want to deal with carrying the drake anyway.
"Deal. Best of luck getting through the forest, 'cause you're gonna need it," Quinn replied as he leapt out of the tree and took the ring from Nexus's finger.
"Same to you. Finding that egg isn't gonna be easy." Nexus stood up and grabbed the storage ring, having to carry it with both hands to even move its now hefty gem cussing out ruby as he hurled it over his shoulders.
"Okay, I'm out." Quinn stretched before he leapt through the trees, and though he wasn't as fast as Nexus, he moved with the grace and finesse only the peak of his kind could achieve.
All this skill, this speed and this efficiency was fueled solely by how badly he just wanted leave this forest, go home and forget this day.
Hearing trees being crushed nearby, he quickly slipped one of the stealth rings on before getting closer to the source of the noise hoping that it could be a Magma Drake throwing a fit.
But instead, he saw two other dragons fighting. A forest wyrm and a stone wyvern—fighting for territory, firing off earth bullets and using thorny vines to rip through skin like paper.
After around two minutes of random attacks, the forest wyrm was able to capture the stone wyvern by creating a prison out of giant thorn bushes laced with poison.
At first, Quinn was about to leave since they weren't the dragons he was looking for, but then he heard a voice coming from the wyrm. "You're far stronger than I expected, but still no match for me."
The wyrm spoke as he commanded the thorn bushes to squeeze the wyvern to death.
Another talking dragon—something was definitely off in this jungle, Quinn thought, as he dashed away from the sight of the battle, not wanting to waste any more time in this weird place .
"Alright, so it looks like intelligent dragons weren't a one-off, and you know what that means—there's a chance Nex might run into one while he's trying to get out of here. Well, can't have that" Quinn eye went sharp as he struck several trees as he leapt by, manifesting glowing snowflake marks surrounded by three circles.
They all exploded in a chain reaction when he was far enough away, creating a giant iceberg that could be seen from the edges of the forest, which also created enough noise to attract the surrounding intelligent creatures looking for a fight.
"Okay, that should keep them off his hair for a second, hopefully," Quinn muttered as he saw a obsidian black drake with red-glowing lines running along his scales like vains bursting through the woods toward the iceberg.
" A magma drake, Jackpot!" Quinn whispered as he followed the trail of broken branches in the direction the drake was coming from, hoping it would lead to its nest and lo and behold, he found a small cave that led underground.
Entering the cave, Quinn saw a row of torches lining the walls. Alright, wonder if this is one of the Balrocks little hidy holes or did the dragons do this Quinn pondered as he slipped through the cave feeling lucky that the mom was no longer nearby.
Not before long, he ran into a nest made out of obsidian and bits of red-hot rock.
He approached the nest, taking notice of the furniture sparsely scattered around the cave, becoming more cautious with every passing second.
Man, I must've hit the twilight zone with this one, he thought as he moved closer to the nest, spotting a small desk with an open book at the far corner of the room.
His cat-like curiosity took over for a second, urging him to take a peek, and he folded without any resistance.
Running over to the desk and flipping through it, he saw writings about dragon evolution, elder dragons, dragonmen, and a creature known as the Progenitor.
Okay, that's an interesting name, he thought, skimming through the notes on the Progenitor.
The notes read: a being formed from the malice of the human heart several thousand years ago. He serves as the origin of all monsters. Though he no longer walks this mortal world, his body has been kept preserved, and its parts have been used in the making of various SSS-grade artifacts and potions. His wing should be the perfect ingredient to help in the creation of the next elder dragon.
Quinn eye's widened, his legs began shaking out of pure unadulterated fear.
He slammed the book shut, then tied the end of his cloak around the book, using it like a bag.
He then rushed over to the drake egg, holding it over his head as he dashed to the cave entrance, thinking to himself that there was no way some lunatic was trying to summon another elder dragon. I need to report this to the guild ASAP.
As he exited the cave, now back in the jungle, he stopped dead in his tracks. The overwhelming feeling of dread caused his hair to stand on end, and sweat rolled down his face like rain on a stormy night.
Right before the cave, he saw an army of humanoids covered in white scales. White fur covered their necks, a pair of dragon wings hung from their backs, and from above their butts sprouted giant tails with tufted fur at the ends.
They were dragonmen.
At the front of the pack was a female dragon leading them into the cave. She was different from the rest—her entire bottom half was a dragon's tail, her eyes were covered by a black cloth, and she had two blue, branch-like horns growing from her forehead.
Quinn panicked. The sheer size of the army terrified him. He ran toward the jungle instantly, leaping through the same trees he had hated to even look at before, without complaining or giving it a second thought.
Luckily for him, the stealth ring was still active, so he wasn't seen by the dragonmen. However, the same dragonwoman at the front of the pack sensed his presence for a second. It wasn't enough to catch him, but it was enough to raise suspicion.
His lungs burned, and his breath grew stronger and faster like an inferno consuming a forest as he desperately tried to find Nexus, using his sharp hearing to catch his footsteps, surveying the area with his feline vision, and even spreading his mana through the forest to try and pick up on his aura.
"Where is he?" he whispered as he moved closer to the edge of the jungle, finally getting a hold of his location when he entered the open field.
Stumbling, his leg got caught on a branch, sending him flying face-first toward the ground and landing conveniently in front of Nexus.
Quinn flung the ring off his finger, causing his form to regain its color. Dropping the magma egg without a care, he then leapt onto Nexus's chest, gripping his shoulders and staring into his eyes, his fear evident in his expression as he screamed, "Nexus, we need to hurry back to the guild before they catch us!"
Nexus grabbed him under the arms, holding him in front of him like a screaming baby. "Hold on, Quinn. Just calm down for a second and explain from the beginning who's after us."
"I believe he's talking about me," a voice echoed from the jungle, flowing with confidence and the force of a hunter.
As Quinn looked to see who spoke, he almost peed his pants. It was the same dragonwoman from earlier, with the same army of dragonmen that dwarfed even the royal army. This time, she carried a spear made from a true dragon's fang, keeping the same curved edge as if it had just been fashioned onto a stick.
"We're so dead," Quinn clasped his hands as he began praying. He was never as dedicated to his religion as Nexus, but today he begged God for a miracle.