3 First encounter - 2

"Lessovondris, what is that?"

The voice of a youthful girl came from under the full-helmet. She was clad in full plate armour with a crystal-tipped sceptre in one of her hands.

With her azure eyes, she glared through the lowered visor at the direction where she had felt a sudden increase in arcane power density.

As to answer her question, a deep voice carrying great wisdom echoed in her head.

<Hou… Even a human like you felt it. That itself tells us just how dense the arcane power is. That power should belong to a person in the Sage class level or higher, yet that person is letting his powers leak… Is he trying to announce to the world his location?>

That voice belonged to the blue scaled frost dragon the girl was riding upon.

They were performing a reconnaissance mission, flying over the forest which acted as a divider between the Great Kingdom of Alragos and its rebels.

A civil war had started several years ago due to a massive coup d'etat, but neither side won. In the end, the war came to a standstill with the country split in half and the rebels gradually losing support from the citizens.

"Let's head over to the source of that power. Even though this might be a trap set up by the enemies, we must check the source with our own eyes before reporting to the higher-ups."

<...>

The dragon nodded in agreement to his partner's suggestion as he flapped his wings faster, effectively raising his speed.

"Lessovondris, what do you think about our chances of getting into a conflict against whoever is out there?"

<It should be low. Our intelligence says there are no sage class mages in either the rebel forces or Alragos. It could be someone who has taken a neutral stance in this war… Or perhaps someone completely unrelated, and is simply passing through the forest.>

"Okay. But in case a fight breaks out, we must retreat. Even our combined strength only amounts to that of a Paladin class mage. We are no match against something that powerful."

<Mmm.>

Lessovondris growled lightly and a strong wind barrier appeared in front of them.

Dragons possess a much higher affinity for magic than humans, and as such, activating a simple barrier spell with a circular magic formation was as easy as breathing. A human would need to recite an incantation to cast the same spell.

As they were closing in, something strange happened.

<Hmm—?>

Lessovondris quickly slowed down as he spread out his wings further.

"What's wrong?"

<The dense arcane power is spreading away from us, in a single direction. Could it be… there are two sources and one of them is moving away?>

"There's two?? Then maintain a safe distance from the second source while flying towards the first one. I'll decide what actions to take after we see the source."

Lessovondris lowered his altitude just enough to keep from hitting the tree line.

The girl raised her sceptre and pointed downwards, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

And for just a short instant—

They spotted a boy in an unknown attire lying on the ground.

The girl widened her eyes in surprise.

What the boy was wearing could be a type of armour and yet it seemed unpractical at a glance. None of his body was covered by anything that seemed to be metal, making it seem peculiar for an armour.

As far as she knew, metal is always used for armour and they are shiny and lustrous, but the red material covering was far from being glossy. If that material really isn't metal, even an arrow shot from a long distance could pierce him with relative ease.

And he was the reason why the surrounding density of arcane power shot up.

"Ugh."

She groaned as she nearly forgot to cast the magic.

Quickly pointing her sceptre at the boy, the transparent crystal at its tip glowed red.

It was a Grade 2 helophorite crystal, which could store and amplify the strength of arcane powers.

The lower the crystal grade, the less powerful it is with the lowest being Grade 0.

A chantless analyzing type spell was activated.

It's a common spell which could be used by any type of arcane power.

Normally, it is used to identify items ranging from simple pebbles to War Relics. Of course, if a low-level analyzing spell is used, there might not be any effect at all.

The simple magic required only an instant to cast. And the results that slowly appeared in the girl's mind was something she had only heard in rumours.

"He's unconscious and… A-a mage of light?! What's a person possessing light arcane power doing here??"

<What…? Light arcane power? We must recover him!>

Lessovondris quickly turned back and landed violently in front of the boy, slightly shaking the ground.

As the dragon stretched out its front claws to take hold of the boy, the girl suddenly yelled.

"Stop—!!"

Surprised at the sudden shriek, Lessovondris flinched and turned his neck to look at the girl.

<...?>

"A light magic user has direct connections with the God of Light. We cannot treat him roughly."

<...Fine.>

With that, she jumped off the dragon saddle.

<Hurry up. I can feel two other presences looking directly at us. They had hidden themselves quite well. I can't grasp their position at all.>

The girl knelt down beside the boy and lightly waved her hand in front of his face. Seeing his chest rise up and down steadily, she confirmed that his life was not in danger.

However, it was odd for him to be free from any injury when his armour seemed to be missing at several locations.

-He's unconscious and… Half-naked…? Did he have a fight with the other two?

Correction, the seemingly missing pieces of armour was enough for the girl to assume he is half-naked.

She slid her hands under the boy and with all her strength—

"Ughh!?"

And attempted to lift him up.

But he was only raised off the ground for an inch before being placed down again.

-W-why is he this heavy?? I've carried injured soldiers in full armour before but this is… Guh!

It was like trying to lift a horse.

Filled with determination, she wasn't willing to give up and decided to try again…

And again…

<...>

"L-lessovondris… S-stop looking and... help me..."

Her breathing had become ragged by the time she gave up.

<Didn't you say we need to handle him with care?>

"W-who cares about the rules if we can't even… retrieve him."

<Hmph. Breaking the rules and yet you call yourself a Dragon Knight… When we get back, I want to eat some ice cubes.>

"Okay… I got it, I'll give you lots to chew on, so please don't let anyone else know how we brought him back."

Lessovondris raised his front claws and grabbed the boy.

It was at that moment, he felt a large amount of killing intent coming from the two hidden people.

And one of them was quickly approaching.

<What!?>

Although slightly later than the dragon, the girl also noticed something was coming.

"W-we need to go!!"