O Oásis...

A week and two days had passed, and they were already halfway to their destination and in the meantime, there was a closer relationship between Mikael and Drake and a better knowledge of the merchants. The first one, which he asked for initial information, was called Balthazar.

He was a grumpy, middle-aged but serious gentleman and was the manager of the exotic animal merchant group. The second was the one who suggested that they prove their strength to be bodyguards, his name was Wonan; he was a retired warrior, no longer in a fighting condition but still exercising good judgment.

Finally, we have what Drake looked at with resentment; he recently joined the group and deals with the treatment of animals, being very aggressive. He didn't seem to care about Drake, as if he wasn't worth his attention and the rest are just sidekicks.

From what Mikael understood, they were going to an annual auction to try to sell the remaining animals and deliver an order for one of the most beautiful and rare beasts: an ice crystal fox, to one of the dukes in the realm. He asked that they take good care of the animal, as it would be a birthday present and a new companion for the Duke's youngest daughter, an ice mage.

In this world, mages always make contracts with at least two beasts, they help them and are fed with mana. For example, if you are low on mana, you can only make 2 companions in life and the maximum companion is only 4 if the mage has more mana than normal.

Walking along the road and entering the neutral arid lands in which people who want to be free live, and which lies between the realms of swords and alchemy, the wagons, with boxed and covered cages, rocked with the bad and dusty road, the sun strong above everyone's heads was suffocating and Michael was in a bad mood and irritated.

Faced with this local climate, his clothes were a little dusty but still intact however, he was always very hygienic and in this new life, he didn't want that to change. Michael was finding it unbearable to be dirty like that, but he had to put up with it.

As for Drake, he was just looking at the sand mounds and desert plants, and suddenly he saw a cloud of dust and Michael heard the sound of paws hitting the ground. Staying alert, they asked Balthazar what the dangers of the desert are, and he said:

"in these arid lands there are often groups of sand lizards, they are boring to deal with because they are made for this environment"

Hearing this, they confirmed and warned everyone that they would have to face an attack. With that statement, everyone was even more annoyed and, a few, afraid.

After walking for a few kilometers, they arrived at an oasis and chose to camp there. As Michael's show of strength could easily deal with almost all the dangers of that place, they decided to let their guard down and only Balthazar and Wonan, who were veterans, were alert among the merchants.

After resting, drinking and eating, they decided to go to sleep, but unfortunately, a few minutes later, a painful scream was heard, waking everyone except Michael and Drake, who were awake. Arriving at the place where the scream was heard, they found Michael fighting two large lizards and a huge dead body of a variant lizard. Many were surprised because variants were extremely rare in this type of animal.

[Michael]

I couldn't stand my sweaty and sandy body any longer, but luckily we found the oasis, which is usually one of the few stops for traders, travelers, merchants and others. After being told that our camp would be here and everything was accommodated, desperate, I took off my clothes and entered the cold waters of the oasis and bathed happily!

So I decided to call Drake, and he looked extremely embarrassed and shy; I ended up laughing, unintentionally, at how funny he looks when he's embarrassed, and he got furious and took off his clothes and jumped in the water trying to catch me, it was fun, and we ended up laughing, at each other at the end and, seeing his appearance already clean, no dirt at all, I had to admit that he was quite handsome: beautiful red hair, light brown eyes and his pale, slightly pink skin.

It was very different from when I first met him. Before, he was malnourished and ugly, but now, his health has revived as he was eating properly. The merchants, on the other hand, didn't even look at us, indifferently, as if they didn't care, they just stayed talking while they ate meat and drank the water they took from the well near the oasis.