Mapped out

It's been two days since Michael had killed Wardes, yet he'd only now discovered a small village after trekking through the dark forests of Albion. He didn't know whether it was because of the ongoing civil war, or because Albion was always like this, but the presence of monsters was far higher than anything he experienced in Tristain.

Wild Dragon's would swoop down from nearby mountain tops and steal deer, goblins, orcs, and anything else they were interested in devouring in... Obviously, this also included Michael. Fortunately, these dragons were nowhere near as powerful as those from other universes.

They weren't able to cast magic, they didn't have scales completely immune to damage, they weren't all that intelligent, and their fire breathes were barely even worth their name. If you compared their puny flame breathes to a dragon from, say, Dungeon and Dragon's, you'd be amazed that the two creatures possessed the same names.

Michael doubted that these dragons would even be able to harm a baby dragon from DND. The difference was just too vast. So, despite Michael not possessing a suitable weapon, he was easily able to dispatch the couple of dragons that attempted to harm him.

After cutting the throat of the third one, the rest hadn't dared approach him again. Though, this might partially be because he'd butchered their cousin's corpses near where he thought their nests were. He couldn't fit entire dragon corpses into his inventory, so he'd had to cut them into 'bite-sized chunks' to store them. He'd heard many stories of 'Dragon Steaks', so he was eager to try it out, not to mention that Dragonhide and bones were said to be good for armour and weapons... Though, he was unsure if they applied to this world.

He had enough hide to make some armour, but he'd have a proper tailor do that. The dragon corpses he had were around the size of an average car, meaning he had enough materials for a couple of projects at least.

During his travels, he tried cooking up some Dragon steaks and Dragon hearts and found that both were quite delicious... Unfortunately, eating Dragon hearts didn't seem to confer any special abilities, so besides being very nutritious, they were essentially just luxury meat.

Anyway, the small village he encountered was quite different from the previous ones he visited. The farms were separated from the homes and few stores by large walls, and he could see a single man standing atop a hastily made-looking watchtower.

The man finally seems to notice him and points his bow, "Oi! Stop there! Who're you? And what're you doing out alone!?"

...

"Is there a curfew or something?" Michael jokingly asks, but is surprised when the man nods.

"You didn't know!? Dragons have been hunting in the area! It isn't safe outside right now!" he shouts.

"Dragons? I killed three on the way here if that's what you mean-" Michael starts but the man shouts in shock.

"YOU KILL DRAGONS!? YOU... YOU MUST LEAVE! IF THE ARMY HEARS OF THIS THEN YOU'LL BE EXECUTED ON THE SPOT!" he exclaims, only further surprising Michael.

"What!? Why would killing those pests get me executed!?" Michael asks, wondering why everything he does ends up in him getting his head chopped...

"Dragons are captured and tamed for use by the Dragon Knights! Killing them severely weakens Albion! So Dragon hunting was outlawed hundreds of years ago! You must leave! Or you'll bring destruction down upon our village!"

...

Michael lets out an indignant huff and runs a hand through his hair, "Can I at least buy some supplies? I'll toss you some gold so, just throw some shit down... Deal?"

The man chews his lip in thought momentarily before nodding. "You have to pay first though! I won't trust an outlaw, even a well-meaning one!"

Michael shrugs and tosses up two gold coins which the man barely catches, if the guy tried to fuck with him then he'd just climb into the village and get some payback. It wasn't like his reputation could get any worse, was it?

Around ten minutes pass and the man reappears again and tosses a rucksack filled to the brim with travel supplies. Hard biscuits, bread, and a small number of smoked meats that'll last quite a while. Most importantly, there was also a map present which seemed to display the whole of Albion... Though it was a little lacking in details, it still noted every major city and village, which would help his search tremendously.

Michael gets the name of the village, Lochenter, from the guard, allowing him to locate his position in the South Eastern side of the continent. In fact, he was only a couple miles away from the Eastern side of the floating continent, which meant that if he really wanted to he could just jump off and try to swim back to the mainland with his Slithereen Strokes ability. He'd probably have to devise a parachute, but it was an option at least.

Michael had a vague idea on how to go about the search... He'd simply search every village until he found Tiffania... As far as he could remember, people regarded her as a fairy due to her kind actions, beauty, and hermit-like lifestyle... All he needed to do was ask around to find out if he was on the right path.

"Oi! Have you heard the rumour of that fairy going around the country? My mother is sick and I'm searching for the fairy to help her!" Michael asks the guard who'd been trying to ignore him after passing over the rucksack.

The man shakes his head and denies hearing such a rumour, allowing Michael to scratch Lochenter from his list. The next village in question was a day or so north of here, and was called 'Noibla'... Very creative...

Michael gives one last sarcastic wave to the guardsman as he begins his trek to the next village.