Whichever group it was that made contact with their anomaly had a leader with a good head on their shoulders. Lyonel didn't even come close to knowing all of the people in the village, and the distance between them was significant, so identification would have been tricky anyway. He did feel like they were familiar, but that's the best he could say.

As the party had approached, the wolf had stopped and waited for them. Rather than charging in and attacking, the villagers stopped several meters away. They had their weapons out, but they weren't trying to use them. Even Hector couldn't hear anything from this far, but he could see a woman in the party trying to talk to the man riding the wolf. It didn't seem like he answered at first, but the wolf turned its head back to look at him and suddenly his mouth was moving a thousand kilometers an hour.

Whatever was said, the party from Elstree must have decided to escort the man and beasts back to the eastern gate. Lyonel wasn't an expert at body language, but the villagers seemed relaxed, but also cautious, while the mounted man almost looked relieved. It was a perplexing situation, but Lyonel was starting to get an idea of what was going on. It took them about ten minutes to make it to the gate, and Lyonel was there waiting for them. They had closed the doors, not wanting to let an as yet unidentified person and a couple of strange beasts enter the village without a challenge.

Now that they were closer, Lyonel definitely thought he recognized the party, especially the two hulking golemoids. Looking at the leader, Lyonel took a shot. "Jenny, right?" After she nodded, he continued with a mental high five to himself. "What seems to be going on?"

As Jenny began to explain what they had learned so far, he continued to study the puzzle before him. The man was a human without a class, and that, plus his gear, heavily suggested that he was from the enemy village. The wolf identified as a variant he had never heard of and was almost level twenty, which made it the highest leveled creature he had ever seen, and that included what he had encountered in dungeons. It was also huge, taller than Lyonel himself. The snake-worm creature was an even bigger mystery.

Dragon: Omnisminera Worm (???) level 12

As far as Lyonel knew, a dragon was a species of lizard that could reach several meters in length. However, he thought they had four legs. This creature had no legs, and didn't look much like any lizard he had seen before. It also was labeled as some type of worm, which was most definitely not a type of lizard. The rest of his party was there with him, and he heard a gasp from Gaf. It seemed something here had set the man off.

"What is it Gaf? Do you know who this is?" He sent through their party chat.

Gaf looked over at Lyonel quickly. In his brief gaze, he could sense both shock and confusion.

"I don't know who this person is, but surely you identified the dragon?" Was his reply.

"I did, but I am confused how it can be both a dragon and a worm. Also, is it that important?"

This time Gaf's quick glance held nothing but incredulity. "Seriously? You don't know why this is a big deal?"

When Lyonel gave a small shake of his head, the human looked at the rest of his party members who gave similar dismissive gestures.

"Has your world never heard of dragons?"

It was Samson who answered for the group. "Of course we have." Gaf's shoulders slumped in a small sign of relief, before the furry mage finished his statement. "They are a type of lizard that can grow quite large, some get as big as five meters long. This thing looks nothing like the pictures I've seen, though."

Lyonel realized they had been standing there in seeming silence for a little too long. Most of Jenny's answer had been lost to him, and she was now standing there waiting for his response. It would be too embarrassing to admit that he hadn't been paying attention. He would have to try and figure out what Gaf was talking about while also dealing with whatever was before them.

"You have come to the village of Elstree, how may we be of service?" Lyonel tried to be as diplomatic as possible. He knew it wasn't his strong suit, but there wasn't anyone else here who could do any better. At least no one with the same kind of authority that he had. Lyonel had directed his words in the direction of the human on top of the wolf, but the man was busy staring at the gates beyond them.

Lyonel used the delay to try and figure out what had Gaf so riled up. "Gaf, you clearly know something about dragons that we do not. Please just tell us what the issue is."

Looking toward Jenny, Lyonel silently asked for her help. She seemed annoyed, either at Lyonel because she realized he had ignored her explanation, or at the man on the wolf. Whichever was truly upsetting her, she took it out on the stranger's leg as she banged on it with her leather gloved hand.

Meanwhile, Gaf started what turned out to be a long explanation. "Dragons are powerful Ascended Beings. Almost all new worlds have some kind of legend or mythology based around them."

When the man on the wolf finally spoke, his voice was kind of high, almost whiny. "Were you talking to me?"

It was Lyonel's turn to sigh. "Yes, why have you come here?"

"...Dragons are perhaps the most powerful base species in the Network. They don't have souls like us, but as Ascended Beings they have many benefits that we do not."

The man seemed both upset and scared as he answered, his voice trembling. "I didn't come here, this furry beast dragged me. I think he was going to eat me, but thankfully this noble snake intervened."

This was an interesting answer, but it furthered Lyonel's suspicions. "Where do you come from, and where were you going before this creature caught you?"

"A dragon has no business being in a tutorial. A full-grown dragon would be a match for any green rank adventurer." That made Lyonel's eyes widen, but he tried not to show any other reaction. He wasn't sure exactly how strong that was, but he knew it was way above him.

Now there was a definite look of fear in the man's eyes, but he quickly decided that the people before him were better captors than the dangerous carnivore underneath him.

"I'm from the village Crasmere, we are the village going against you guys in the raid. I was supposed to scout out the area far from the village, looking for hidden resources. Please, I never hurt anyone, instead I was ambushed by this monster. Have mercy."

"I have never heard of a worm dragon before, but they do come in a variety of forms and types. I can't say I am anything like an expert on them, but everyone knows some things."

The wolf actually turned its head at the shaken man's comment, and Lyonel could have sworn he was glowering up at him. "And who is the wolf, and what's with the dragon-worm-snake thing?"

The man's reaction when he heard the word dragon was almost comical. His chin dropped and he stared at the creature wrapped around his waist. At the same time his body tried to go full flight mode and he pushed off the wolf's body with his legs, and his arms dropped to push off of the dragon. When his hands touched the scaled hide, his brain seemed to realize what he was touching and what he was about to do. He pulled them away like he had brushed a burning stove. With his legs pushing him off, his arms recoiling, and the dragon-worm refusing to release him, his body did a rather undignified flop in place. It did nothing for the man but embarrass him.

"This thing is a dragon?" Was all he said.

"Apparently, but let's move past that." From the back channel explanation, Lyonel had grasped that dragons were serious business, but he still didn't really get all the hype. "Can we start with a name? I'm Lyonel."

From there he got the man's life story. Fred had led a rather sorry existence, but it was the most recent portion of his life that was of interest. The enemy village, which now had a name, had indeed started training a lot. The Bodarians truly valued strength, and they were going full steam ahead on making their villagers into warriors. They hadn't thought to give out class stones, thankfully.

All of the villagers had to train and drill each day, but if Fred was anything to go by, they weren't making much progress. They also had four blacksmiths in their village, which was interesting since Elstree only had the one, and all of them had been tasked with making weapons. Leatherworkers were also crafting armor and they were equipping their people as quickly as possible. It seemed that only the 'elites' had true gear yet, but according to Fred that was over a hundred people so far.

The plan, or at least the parts of it that Fred knew, had been to scout out the village and ascertain what kind of opposition they were likely to face. Then, assuming things looked favorable, the Bodarians were going to go through and challenge the opposing team. If they could crush them it would not only bless their invasion, but significantly reduce the defenders strength. Lyonel had managed to put a crimp in that facet of their plan by forcing a draw. It hurt Lyonel to think of it that way, he truly felt like he'd won, but everyone else was convinced it was a tie.

Fred was also impressed by their wall. His own village's was made of wood as well, but it wasn't nearly as tall or built with such thick logs. It was nice to know they were a step above their enemy in that at least. Not to forget the fact that they all had classes as well. The entire time the enemy scout was spilling his guts, the furry wolf-giant and the mini-dragon were just sitting there. Somehow their presence had gotten lost during the interrogation. They made themselves known again by suddenly dumping Fred on the ground.

The dragon simply uncoiled itself and the wolf shivered like a wet dog. Once more Fred's body performed an undignified flop, but this time he ended up on the dirt outside the gate. The dragon repositioned itself so that its body was draped around the wolf's shoulders and its beaked head sat between its ears. Jenny and her party rushed to help Fred up/make sure he didn't run. Lyonel instead studied the two creatures that had brought them their sorry fountain of information.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"So, what about you two? I don't suppose the name Alan means anything to you?" He asked suggestively.

Alan had taken Lyonel aside before they left on their mission to clear dungeons weeks ago, and let him know that he had an animal ally running around the area. He had suggested that there was little chance they would meet, but that he should be on the lookout. That meant they couldn't just assume all beasts were enemies, but if the animal attacked then they were put down. Once he realized that the wolf wasn't really a mount for the stranger, he started to think that maybe this was that mysterious ally. It was a mental stretch, but he couldn't really imagine what else could have been going on. The presence of the worm-thing had also confused him.

At the mention of Alan, the wolf visibly perked up. His eyes lit up and his ears stood at attention. Clearly he recognized that resourceful human. The dragon was more circumspect, but if Lyonel was a betting hamster, he would wager that it knew the name as well. Now the issue was what came next. They didn't seem eager to leave after dropping off their package, but he didn't know how to communicate with them. It seemed like they understood his words okay, or maybe just the single name, but Lyonel had no idea how to talk with them.

Some ignorant people might have been surprised to learn that beast people couldn't talk with animals, but evolutionarily they had little in common. It was more like convergent evolution, but beast people had a soul and real intelligence, where actual beasts did not. Gerry was the one to come up with a possible solution.

"Wasn't that Thadrick dwarf a friend of Alan's? Maybe he knows something."

It wasn't a useless idea, so Lyonel sent a runner. He also had them open the gate. Roger was going to want to talk to Fred, and the two beasts didn't seem aggressive. They might as well get inside and let Jenny's group get back to their mission. He didn't want to show the prisoner the entirety of their town, just on general principles, so they made their way to the boarding house. One of the nice features was a porch in the front, with some chairs and a small table. Lyonel wasn't even going to ask Jessica if the wolf could come inside.

Their landlady did come after after they had been there for a few minutes. She had some specially cut potatoes that she called french fries and a sugary tomato sauce for dipping. The rest of his party quickly started to devour it, and they even offered Fred a few. The dragon was staring at their antics intently, so much so that Gerry noticed and offered it one. When the creature opened its beak, Lyonel saw that it had three sections instead of the expected two. Not only that, but looking inside its mouth, he got a strange feeling in his stomach, like he was looking into an impossibly deep hole

The dragon loved the treat and jumped onto Fred's lap. Lyonel didn't know how heavy the thing was, but it was around two meters in length and much thicker than you might expect. Judging from the enemy scout's face, it seemed like it weighed a lot. For some reason he didn't seem to mind, though, and he helped the worm shovel down handfuls of the fried treats. Jessica didn't notice at first how quickly her cooking was being eaten. She had become entranced by the giant, proud wolf that sat in front of her porch. She was speaking to it like a pet, but not in a childish way. The beast didn't seem to mind and it actually allowed her to rub its fur.

"Oh my, you have the softest fur. What a good boy you are, do you like it when I scratch behind your ears?"

She had to stand on her tiptoes to properly scritch its head, but the wolf bent down to give her better access. It was shortly after that when she finally noticed that the food was gone, and she hurried back inside. Jessica promised to make some more, and to come up with something special for the 'big softy'. Lyonel looked at the wolf again, and didn't see what she must have. The wolf's eyes looked like those of an apex predator, and its possibly soft fur did little to hide the powerful muscles on its torso and legs. The large group sat mostly in silence as they waited for either more food, or the dwarf Thadrick to appear.

"Oi, I hear you have need of me?" Called out the deep voice of Alan's friend as he approached.

Lyonel had seen the man occasionally. They did live in the same house, afterall. However, Lyonel and crew hadn't been around much since the mercenaries had been recruited, and so he only knew a little about him. He had originally met Alan in a dungeon. Thadrick had been a miner in something called an upgradeable dungeon. Lyonel had never experienced one himself, but it changed and grew every time it was completed, before reaching a final form. The two had formed a solid friendship that only deepened when the dwarf had helped Alan to regrow his hand after it had been cut off.

Since coming here to the tutorial, the human and dwarf hadn't been quite as close. Lyonel didn't think there was a change of heart occurring, his human leader was just busier than any man should be. He hadn't had the opportunity to spend time with his friend like he had in the dungeon where they met. Lyonel wasn't sure what was supposed to happen now that the dwarf was here, but they had to wait for Roger to come over to finish pumping Fred for information anyway. They might as well see if Thadrick could get something from the two beasts.

Lyonel filled Thadrick in on the situation. "These two dragged this enemy scout up to our gates. We're not sure who they are, but the wolf, at least, reacted to Alan's name. I'm thinking it might know him somehow, and was wondering if you had any ideas of how to communicate with them?"

"Not likely. Alan never mentioned any lupine friends, and what's with the fat snake?"

Lyonel then had the pleasure of watching both the reaction of the dragon-worm to being called a fat snake, and Thadrick's after he used identify. The dragon hissed and then opened its mouth in a threatening, and yet silent, scream. The dwarf almost fell over.

"A bloody dragon!" After he recovered, Thadrick actually had more to say. "Now that I may have an idea about. In our last quest together, Alan rescued a dragon egg. Perhaps this creature came out of that egg, although the fact that it is only in its worm form is surprising."

The dragon closed its mouth after Thadrick expressed his thought. Then it stared at him, a puzzled and then determined expression on its feature-challenged face. It was an impressive bit of emoting for something with only two eyes and a rather rigid beak. The moment stretched into almost a minute, and then the dwarf suddenly clasped his head.

"What foul trick is this? How are you in my head?"

Gaf was on his feet in an instant, and reached out to try and help him. Thadrick waved him off before looking over at the dragon.

"You really did hatch from the egg?" There was a short pause before he continued. "This is incredible, but I think we'll have to pause while I fill in everyone else."

Samson couldn't hold it in anymore. "Please do, you sound like you've gone crazy."

What they heard next sounded rather fantastical, but Gaf assured them that such things were possible. It seemed that the dragon was in fact the creature that had been in the egg. Alan had rescued it, at least that's what Thadrick said. The dragon, Akilatjin was its name, didn't look happy at that characterization. Whatever had happened, it had hatched a while ago and had been traveling with TS, which was the wolf's name. That wolf had apparently been adopted by Alan as well, and together they had found the enemy scout and brought him to the village after they realized they couldn't question him themselves.

That part wasn't actually that hard to believe. Weird stuff like that was normal around the once mute busboy turned powerful adventurer who conquered his zone. What was crazy was how they were able to figure this out. Somehow, and Lyonel was still fuzzy on the details, the dragon was able to send her thoughts into Thadrick's mind. It was something about a connection between Alan and the dragon, and another between Alan and Thadrick, with some kind of bridging element related to the dwarf and the egg. Lyonel was going to have to ask his mages to try and explain it later since they seemed to be nodding along. Whatever the actual mechanism was, they now had a means of talking with the two animals.

His party got a good laugh in when Fred tried to thank Akilatjin for saving him from the 'bloodthirsty wolf'. It was about that time that Jessica returned with more french fries and a barely grilled steak for said wolf. With the still limited access to protein they had in the village, it was actually quite a gift she was offering. When she heard him denigrate her new furry friend, she demanded an apology. Fred actually turned an impressive shade of purple while refusing, citing the fact that only the dragon had saved him from being eaten.

It was then that Thadrick informed them of what Akilatjin had been sharing with the dwarf. Now the human turned a ghostly white as he realized how wrongly he had judged the situation. To hear the dragon tell it, it wasn't the wolf that wanted to eat him, but the worm herself. TS had been acting to prevent him from being devoured. It took a moment for Fred to process that the being that had been trying to kill him was now sitting in his lap. He shoved her off and she landed on the ground in an undignified heap.

Letting out a rather surprised yelp, a sound Lyonel hadn't realized she could make, Akilatjin immediately turned to face Fred, her mouth opening wide. Lyonel feared he'd have to step in to prevent a murder when the mayor showed up. His timing couldn't have been better as his voice calling out to them caused the dragon to pause just long enough for Fred to scamper behind Hector. When she turned back and saw her target had run away, she closed her mouth again and slithered back up onto TS's head. It was strange to watch as she almost seemed to stick to his fur, not needing to support herself by winding around his legs or body.

"I hear you guys caught a spy. What have you found out?" The mayor asked.

Roger wasn't alone of course. He was the strategic mind of the village during the raid, so he was surrounded by runners and guards. Surrounded might be a strong word. He had the two young runners that were his assistants, and a party of five villagers to act as his protection. Jessica also made her way over to him. She didn't say anything, but as she stood next to him, their hands found each other and their fingers intertwined. Nothing else was said, but it seemed to be enough. Meanwhile, TS took the opportunity to snarf down his steak, and Gerry started sharing the french fries with the dragon on the wolf's head.

The next five minutes was spent with Lyonel sharing what they learned. The ten minutes after that was the mayor asking his own questions of Fred. He didn't learn too much more than they already knew, other than the fact that there were fourteen Bodarian adventurers in the village. It had been fifteen once, but one of them had died while trying to complete a bounty. While this was going on, Thadrick and the two creatures had moved away to have their own conversation. The fries had long run out, otherwise the dragon might have refused. She really seemed to enjoy those things.

One of the runners, Daisuki if Lyonel remembered correctly, was sent to fetch one of the reserve parties who would take over guarding Fred. Once the prisoner was on his way, out into one of the yet unplanted fields around the village, Roger shared what Elstree's scouts had learned. They were only initial reports, so there wasn't a lot of detail, but it gave them a place to start.

The enemy village had been found, and as Fred had told them, the walls were not in the same league as their own. The village inside those walls was not set up as well as Elstree, either. It was smaller, with fewer variations in design and types of buildings. The terrain was different as well. Where Elstree was surrounded by grass, the village of Crasmere was surrounded by a rather arid land. The immediate area was an oasis of lush foliage and natural springs, but outside of that, the terrain was almost desertlike.

The two biggest pieces of information they had received were where each portal on their side came out, giving them a better idea of attack routes, and the fact that the enemy was on the move. Their counterparts must have been waiting for the sunrise as well, because some of the closer scouts had noticed a host of villagers march out of the gates. There were around a hundred well equipped villagers at the front, which should be the 'elites' of the settlement. There were also around the same number of people behind them. Those were armed with makeshift weaponry, similar to what Elstree's people had used when they first started their own training.

They hadn't been marching for the closest portal, but instead one that was several hundred meters away from the village walls. Roger's scouts hadn't actually found the portal that matched the one before their gate yet, so there was a decent chance it came out rather far from Elstree. That would explain why they were going to the slightly more distant portal. That one linked to a portal on the west side of Elstree that was a similar distance away. A second scout had returned from that group, letting them know that the host had paused their march after they noticed the Elstree scouts around their portals.

It seemed like the Bodarians had bet it all on their villagers being able to overwhelm the people of Elstree. The army was likely almost all of their effective troops, and they were going to march on their enemy as soon as possible. Seeing well armed opponents pop through their portals must have given them some concerns. Roger had wanted to disguise their people's strength as much as possible, but he and Lyonel agreed that their safety came first, so they had made sure their people were prepared for a fight before they stepped through the portals.

Over two hundred villagers was most likely close to half of their opponent's population. If they could somehow capture them they would be most of the way to winning the raid. Lyonel and Roger got down to planning how to make it work. They needed two things to happen. The enemy needed to continue with their plans to attack, and they needed to find some way to prevent them from retreating. Roger had Aya, his other assistant, go fetch Dantelion, and soon he and Lyonel joined the mayor in ironing out a plan.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.