Explosive Growth or Death? (IV)

"I like it," Agnis replied. "You remind me of Tempest."

"Tempest?"

"My cat that Zero is taking care of."

"I see. You must know each other in real life."

"Yes, I've known him since the convention."

"Nice. I'm glad the game has created new boundaries between fellow people from across cities."

"By the way, Zero, you have grown up a lot." Agnis was circling him. Now Zero was the same height as Agnis; he still had a couple more inches to go before he was his average height.

"Dragon Growth spurt."

"Nice. I'm surprised you grew so fast. It is almost like it was yesterday since you were a young pup. I do miss those days."

"I don't." Zero flatly stated. Those were the times of hardship and horror. Being a pup was not something he ever thoroughly enjoyed.

"It's alright. They are other small dragons running around. I'll go play with a few of them."

"I suggest you leave them alone. Their partners might not like it."

"You think so?"

"Possibly, you're taking away their bonding time." Was it a hint of jealousy in his voice? No, that couldn't be it.

"Hmm, your right. I'll consider that."

M2 chuckled as he watched both Zero and Agnis. "Is that a hint of jealously I'm hearing from you?" He eyed Zero with a mischievous grin.

"What are you talking about? I'm just saving a person's life from evil clutches."

"I highly doubt that."

"I'm telling you the truth. All pups must stay away from her." Zero could not stress enough how serious he was with what he had stated. Even still, he felt as if M2 did not believe him at all.

"What shall we do next?" M2 asked. His tail wagged side-to-side in happiness.

"Hunting, of course. We got two months left before we reach the city. I think leaving the city to level up should be useful, don't you think?"

"True. Then let's go."

"I'm coming with you guys."

"Sure, more the merrier, I guess."

"Hey, isn't that Zeraph?" Agnis pointed out in front of them.

Zeraph was moving back and forth, helping construction with the Lunar Rabbit.

"We should invite him too."

"He seems a bit busy, though."

"Zeraph? Who's he?"

"A close friend of ours. He likes to disappear on us quite a bit. He's really strong, especially his sword skill."

"Oh? That's interesting to know."

"Zeraph!" Agnis waves toward him.

Zeraph stopped and turned towards them. His frown turned into a smile, and he waved. "Hey, guys, how has it been?"

"Nothing much; you been busy yourself?" Zero taps his hands against Zeraph.

"Yea, I have been helping with constructing the private home I paid to build."

"Wait, this is your home?" I stopped and stared in awe. The building in front of me was almost like a mansion. "Where did you get the money to build something so big? It looks like it cost a fortune."

"It sure did." Zeraph handed the clipboard that he was holding to a Lunar Rabbit. "At the rate, it's going; it should be finished in a week or two."

"You got to let us come by when it's complete," Agnis replied.

"I'll have a welcome party ready when it's finished. Though there probably won't be any furniture in it. I didn't have enough for that."

"I thought you would," said Zero.

"Nah, I need to gather some more funds for that. But, at least I will have a bed to sleep on. By

the way, Zero, you've grown."

"Dragon growth spurt."

"Not bad. I'm guessing you grew in your dragon form as well?"

"Yep."

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Zeraph patted my shoulders.

"Aren't you supposed to be, you know, taking care of students? I thought you wouldn't be on today."

"Nah, I have to play this game too, you know. It's a requirement."

"Really?"

"Yea, that was part of the contract."

"Are you guys talking about the Yami Hikari contract for players?" M2 asked. He jumped in on the conversation.

"Something like that."

"That's pretty cool," M2 spoke elatedly. "How is it, like, do you get any benefits?"

Zero stared, wondering what Zeraph would say. He knew that Zeraph was also under strict observation, and he could not spill out anything about the Academy they were in. He was worried that one wrong word could cause possible death to Zeraph, even though he felt like Zeraph was not the type to spill easily.

"Nope. Not at all. Just a regular player that needs to give a daily report. Nothing more, nothing less."

"That sucks. I thought they would be something more." M2 sighed. "Well, I wasn't fast enough to hit 150 to get the spot."

Now that he thought about it, both Agnis and Zeraph were selected by the Yami Hikari company. He was unlucky enough not to make it through. "Wait, Agnis, weren't you also selected as a play

tester for the Yami Hikari company?"

"Yea, though there isn't much to it. As Zeraph said, I need to send in reports to the company. The money gets dropped weekly, so it isn't much of a big deal."

"Lucky," Zero grumbled. He wished he was also selected, but his time was over. All he could do now was to find a different path in making money, getting out of the crazy Psychic Academy with his friends, and finding his elusive brother.

"We should go and hunt now," M2 spoke.

"Come with us, Zeraph. It's a lot more fun having more people." Agnis replied cheerfully.

"Sure, why not. The Lunar Rabbits will finish the project without my help anyways."

"It's decided. Where shall we go?"

"Wander around for a while, I guess. There isn't anything that I could think of that near here."

"Lead the way, Zero."

Zero nodded. They all went towards the boat that led back down into the forest.

#####

<Russ>

How many days has it been trekking through this wretched forest? Russ wiped the sweat off his face. He was riding on a brown war horse that the king had given him. Five thousand soldiers followed behind him drudgingly.

Every single one of them was sweating from the hot, humid air. They had fought countless monsters through the forest. The soldiers had grown considerably in their level, but their movement was slow. It was not easy fighting the monster and advancing forwards, especially with the large group he led.

"Sir, It's been over two and half months. So far, we have not seen a single sighting of the flying library. Are you sure we are going the correct way?" A Captain of the Royal guards came up next to him, riding on a black horse.

"We are. The Intel suggested that there have been reports of the city appearing and heading towards the City of Elements."

"But, sir, that was a month ago. We have no other signs that they are going the same way. They could have changed directions."

Russ glared at him, shutting the Captain up. An evil aura emitted out of Russ's body, making the Captain and the horse uncomfortable.

"Captain!" A young scout approaches them in a hurry. The horse stopped in front of them, panting.

"What's wrong?"

"We have a small village on site. There have been reports that a large black and gold dragon appeared around the surrounding area."

"Really?"

"Not only that, but they were also other smaller dragons with companions walking beside the larger lizard."

"What they are more?" The Captain was stunned by the report.

"I expected they would be more," Russ spoke with indifference.

"You knew?"

"Yes. What else did you learn?"

"From the villager's report, the gold and the black dragon is supposedly as tall as a two-story building. Not only that the smaller dragons are as big as a horse."

"T-t-two-story building?" Exclaimed the Captain, distraught. "He's even bigger than before. How is this possible? How are we supposed to slay a dragon? No one has ever killed a dragon for two thousand years."

Russ ignored the Captain. "How many of the smaller ones?"

"Um, they said that they were eight."

"Eight? There is more?" The Captain was shocked.

"Eight...I see." Russ patted his horse's neck. "Calm down; it's not something to worry about. We have five thousand troops behind us. What can nine dragons do to us?"

The Captain slowly returned to his regular persona when he realized what Russ had said. "I'm sorry, sir. It just astounded me how quickly they are multiplying."

"It's fine. What are the colors that you have seen?"

"Red, Gold, Black, White, Silver, Blue, Bronze, and Green."

"Did you get any information on their abilities?"

"No sir, nothing." The messenger shook his head. "Though I did hear that the Bronze dragon supposedly had a beautiful voice. One could say that it could even rival an angel's voice."

"Preposterous." The Captain shook his head in denial. "Dragon's singing? What next? Leprechauns appearing and humanoid cats?"

"I believe that there are Leprechauns, sir."

"Believe what you want," The Captain shook his head in disdain. "They are all just myths."

"When was the last time the dragons were sighted?"

"Three days ago."

"Three days!" Captain turned towards Russ, excited. "Sir, that means we're are definitely on their trail. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up finding them soon."

"That would be something worth looking forward to." Russ's lips curled into a sinister curl. His revenge was near; it was only a matter of time before he would crush the so-called pest that lived in the Royal Library. He could feel his reward calling when he returned with the head of the black and gold dragon.

Delighted, he spurred his horse forward. "Move out. We need to pick up our pace or be left behind. Then, ifThen, if they are only three days ahead, we can close our distance between them."

"Yes, sir!" Captain yelled in excitement.