Bonding With Dragon Princess

  Everyone except for Ryker and Mashia looked surprised to see a literal dragon with them. However, the ones that recovered first were the children, who dashed towards the dragon princess.

  "Are you really a dragon?" Cassie asked with awe on her face. The literal dragon looked surprised and if Ryker looked closely, even somewhat shy.

  "Yes, I'm a dragon," Mashia answered, ruffling the little girl's hair.

  "Can you transform now?" Fenrir asked, wanting to see the sight of a large dragon.

  "Maybe somewhere more isolated, no need for other people to be scared just because of a dragon's appearance," she declined, giving an excuse so the boy wouldn't persist.

  The children kept asking questions, making the dragon princess feel overwhelmed. Deciding to spare Mashia from the barrage of questions, he lightly coughed.

  "Kids, try not to overwhelm her. She just met you. She can answer your question later, when we make a stop," Ryker told his siblings who let out a disappointed sound but obeyed nevertheless.

  Mouthing a quick "Thank you," Mashia composed herself, making her look regal when she looked like a mess when the children 'attacked' her.

  "You should introduce yourself, first," Era reminded the dragon.

  Blushing, the dragon princess cleared her throat. "My name is Mashia, from the Blue Ocean Dragon Clan. That's all you have to know for now," 

  Everyone nodded before little Ariana decided to hug the dragon girl. Surprised by the baby's action, Mashia was about to say something but it stuck in her mouth. She opened and closed her mouth, the baby girl kept her hug as she tried to hug even tighter.

  "You are so cute!" Removing all her restraint, Mashia returns the hug, making the little girl sequel in delight. 

  "Looks like you found your favorite," Ryker teased the dragon princess, her face turned bright red when she remembered she was not alone and nearly 20 people had seen this side of hers.

  She put down the little girl before looking at the 4 oldest, "We not speaking about this," the threat would have sounded threatening if not for the fact her face was red from embarrassment.

  "Let's get going now. Mashia,  you can ride on that mare, or do you want to stay in the carriage," Ryker asked, the dragon thought for some time.

  "I take the carriage," she finally answered. "I don't have any experience with riding a horse. Maybe I will after I learn how to ride one but not now," 

  The others nodded in understanding. The skill to ride a horse takes time to learn. Getting permission from the others, Mashia entered one of the carriages, where all the boys were. She was slightly disappointed that Ariana was in the other carriage, but still, she was surrounded by adorable children so she was satisfied with the arrangement.

  Meanwhile, the three riders maintained a constant distance as they ordered their stead to walk a steady pass. Finally, Ina took the chance to ask the question.

  "Where did you find her?" Ryker seemed to be in deep thought after hearing the question.

  "It's a long story. We can wait until we camp for the night or you would like to spend the time talking," he answered, the girl giving some thought before saying, "Now, please,"

  He sighed, "Brace yourself. It will be a long story,"

-x-

  By the time he finished telling them the tales, it was already dusk, and the darkness began to gain superiority over the light. His lovers looked at him in shock, the story is both long and impressive.

  "To think you met two dragons, though one of them already died. And how the dragon we traveling is a princess of a fallen clan," Ina said, having expected something surprising but to think even her expectation was not even close to the reality.

  "Yes. And I think she still hurt from the event but she didn't want to be pitied so just treat her like usual while offering her some support," he suggested before he climbed down from Terrablitz.

  The others did the same, the one inside the carriage exited it, taking the time to stretch their legs from being confined inside a small space. 

  "So, where are the tents?" Era asked, clearly ready to help them.

  At her questions, everyone else with the exception of Ryker, Mashia, and Miriam laughed, clearly amused by the question.

  "What's so funny? It's a valid question," the young woman pouted.

  "Normally, yes. But, we have a treasure so we didn't need to care for that," by the time she finished talking, a large mansion appeared out of nowhere, surprising the three newcomers.

  "That's where we are sleeping," Ina said, taking some of the supplies before entering the mansion. The children followed suit, the others apprehensive but decided it was safe to enter.

  When the three entered, the only thing on their mind was awe, mostly of how big the place was. Only Mashia, who has more experience compared to the other two, quickly realized what the place was.

  "Is this a spatial tool?" she asked, Ina nodded at her question. With her background, it's likely she saw different types of spatial tool that is not storage ring.

  "This is beyond impressive," Unlike Ina, who thought the place was amazing, Mashia who had seen some of the more advanced spatial tools nothing in the Blue Ocean Dragon Clan could be compared to the treasure she's currently in.

  "What is this artifact's name?" she asked, looking around the area they are currently in.

  "Hidden Ancient Mansion, something my parents gave me," a male voice answered them, Ryker having already stored the horse somewhere relatively safe.

  "Your parent must be powerful experts," she muttered.

  "Yes, they likely were," he said with melancholy.

  Wondering what he meant by that, she suddenly caught his meaning, "I'm so sorry!" she apologized.

  "It's okay, they had been gone for more than a year now. Currently, I'm taking care of my siblings as I should," he said before leaving, not planning to tell them any more stories.

  After he stopped talking, the atmosphere turned a bit awkward,  as they didn't know what to say to him.

  -x-

  Ryker walked until he reached a door. He opened it, the door came ajar as Ryker entered it before stopping in front of a table. On it was a book, one containing every single information he could find about his parents, which meant the book had no content yet.

  He sighed, more than 8 weeks and he didn't learn a single thing about his parents yet. With how powerful his parents are, what they did defied the norm, surely their names were spread all across the world.

  Unfortunately, it didn't seem so. He just has to look harder, maybe even going to the Central Region of every single Realm if he wants to find any clue.

  "Why do you have to make things so hard for me?"