Ray leaned against the rocky outcrop. He finally felt some sense of safety. His safety was based on the fact that a dragonkin woman had saved them.

“So, do you think we’re safe now?” Miu asked hesitantly.

“I have no idea. I can’t identify shit on a lot of people. It seems that individuals outside of the elf clan have some sort of blocking power. Layla seems nice enough but technically we’re prisoners between a rock and fire now” Ray responded.

Miu padded over and lay down next to him. They both knew their discussion would lead nowhere. They couldn’t exactly do much.

“Wake me if something changes. I need a break” Ray said.

It wasn’t long before Ray was asleep. He felt like he hadn’t slept in weeks. While in this world, Ray had not had a single dream. This nap was no different. Ray would fall asleep, and then in what seemed like no passing time, would wake up. It took Layla over 2 hours to return. When she was nearly upon them, Miu woke Ray up.

Ray sat up right as Layla was walking back through her firewall. She was dragging something behind her. Ray peered over and noticed that it was the corpse of Teddy, or at least the pickings that remained after the rats were through with it. Layla dropped the corpse and started panting.

“Hrr.. Strength ain’t my strong point ya kin? I assume this guy was with you?” Layla motioned at Teddy.

Ray was frowning. “Yeah, he was with us. Basically took the Rat King by himself, even though I apparently got the last hit”.

“Well that’s sad. Teddy was a good human, though stubborn. At least the rest of the rats have scattered without a leader. It’ll be hard hunting in here awhile but things will gradually get better” Layla said.

This took Ray aback. He thought that Teddy was a hermit who was hated by all of the races. “You knew him?”

“Sure did…. He helps my people from time to time”

Miu suddenly hissed towards the top of the hill. “Master, we’re surrounded. There must be at least 20 of them at the top of the cliff”

“What’s with yer cat? Sure I can’t eat it?” Layla said.

“Are we prisoners? Why is there an ambush at the top of the hill?”

Layla started giggling in a fit. “They ain’t ambushing ya. They be scared of you. Those are the last of my people. We’re refugees trying to find somewhere to call home. Well not technically the last of us… but…. They be the last of the free.”

So many questions jumped to Rays mind but before he could even ask a single one, Layla put up her hand. “Relax human. You’re questions will be answered. Let’s join the camp and enjoy a nice bowl of fifleah soup yah? Yer cat can come too, though, keep her close. Dragons like to eat cats” she said with a big grin on her face.

Ray and Miu both hesitated. If they went up to the camp, there would be no escaping. On the other hand, if they didn’t go, there was almost no chance they would survive the next few nights. The woods were clearly more dangerous now with thousands of rats scattered throughout.

After a short discussion, they agreed to join the rest of the dragonkin atop the hill. It would be a 20 minute walk to get there as they needed to find a climbing point that wasn’t too steep. Ray grabbed Teddy’s body. He wanted to give him a proper burial, well at least the half of him that Layla had managed to grab.

As they searched for an easy path upward, Ray couldn’t hold his questions any longer.

“So, if I’m speaking dragonkin, do all humans speak this language?” Ray asked

“Nah, most of ya’s speak some language called Labin… Lacin…”

“Latin?” Ray butted in.

“Yah. That’s the one! It’s pretty similar to our language, uses the same letter sequences but we can’t seem to just directly understand each other. Good thing for the system shop, before it appeared, we often warred over stupid shit” Layla explained.

“You think you could get me some language skills for the major languages? I can’t access the shop to buy them myself?”

Layla stopped moving, surprise showing on her face. “Why not just buy em yourself?” Layla was pondering… “Don’t tell me. Teddy found another off-worlder. You’re an off-worlder ain’t yah?”

For a second, Ray considered lying. He really didn’t want to go right back to being a criminal but then thought better of it. He couldn’t hide from an identify. If Layla had any suspicions, she would probably kill him on the spot.

“Yeah, I’m an off-worlder but I’m outcast. The system won’t let me use the shop”

Layla’s jaw swung open. She was bewildered by his response. After realising that what Ray said was indeed true, her eyes flowed into the back of her head.

“So… do you want the full list of 15 races? It’ll cost you 1,500 coins per one. Otherwise, I can just give you the main ones going down the list”.

“Just go down the list please, give me 7 of em. That’s all I can really afford right now. Give me both dragonkin and human as well. I know I’m speaking the language but I have no idea if I can write, or even read it. I’m just speaking the language from my world to be honest”.

After a second, 7 translucent orbs appeared in Layla’s hands. She handed them to Ray. Ray transferred his Arkus coins to Layla and the began swallowing the orbs one by one.

[New Skill Unlocked: Human Communication (Common - Passive) – Speak and Read the language of the Humans]

[New Skill Unlocked: Dragonkin Communication (Common - Passive) – Speak and Read the language of the Dragonkin]

[New Skill Unlocked: Demonic Communication (Common - Passive) – Speak and Read the language of the Demon Realm]

[New Skill Unlocked: Goblin Communication (Common - Passive) – Speak and Read the language of the Goblins]

[New Skill Unlocked: Dwarfish Communication (Common - Passive) – Speak and Read the language of the Dwarves]

[New Skill Unlocked: Waedric Communication (Common - Passive) – Speak and Read the language of the Waedra]

[New Skill Unlocked: Spirit Communication (Common - Passive) – Speak and Read the language of the Spirits]

Every time Ray swallowed, he felt like he was choking, followed by a rush of knowledge hitting his mind. It was a surreal experience. Once Ray had come back to reality, he realised that Layla was watching him with interest, it made him feel awkward.

“Ye ok matey? You ain’t supposed to swallow them all at once.” Layla said.

Ray smiled “What do you mean, of course I’m going to gain all those skills immediately”

“Nay, ye don’t get it. If you absorb too many skills, ye’ll suffer skill high and be poisoned to death. The system don’t want people just buying everything in the store and immediately gaining power. Yer only supposed to take maybe one every 3 or so days” Layla responded.

Ray laughed “seems I don’t need to worry about that. I can’t even buy from the store anyway”.

They approached a shallow area of the cliff edge and climbed to the top. Ray was becoming extremely nervous. Even though Layla seemed nice enough, could he really trust someone he had just met. She did save his life but that didn’t mean she was pure of heart of anything.

After a small amount of time, they reached the top of the hill. It was then that Miu made her decision. She dashed off into the bushes. “Master, I’ll stay close but away from the camp. I don’t like this. If I’m out, at least I may have some way to help.”

“No worries, makes sense to me”

Layla didn’t even seem to care about Miu. She obviously thought Miu was some kind of common cat, like a pet. She simply turned towards the camp and beckoned Ray to follow. By the time they reached the camp, night had begun to fall.

As they entered the camp, Layla turned to them “Welcome to the last bastion of the dragonkin! Please be friendly and respectful” She sat down by one of the 3 campfires and gestured for them to follow.

As Ray looked over the camp, he noticed that there were no more then 20 Dragonkin in the camp. Most of the lizard like people seemed to be either the elderly or the young. Aside from Layla, there was not a single one who seemed to be in their middle-aged years. Of course, Ray couldn’t be sure of this, as he knew absolutely nothing of the race, but he felt that his instinct wasn’t wrong.

Ray poked a stick into the fire. He was perplexed. “This may be rude of me but how come there are so few of you. The dark elves are numerous. Just what is really happening in this world?”

It took Layla a bit of time to respond. She was clearly shaken by past events. “Yer not being rude. We are a proud race. That pride cost us everything. For the last hundred years, our race was the front line against the System. We thought the idea of something that wants to take our freedoms, something so powerful it can alter the laws of nature… Well, we thought that the other races would band together. They just didn’t”.

Layla turned to look at him, tears in her eyes. “After 100 years of fighting, our people were becoming fewer in number. We were weary. It was then that we were betrayed from the inside. Most of the elders voted to simply let the system win, to allow it free reign. The people surrendered… their hearts taken, they turned on the rest of us that resisted. We escaped with about 100 of us. We are less than 20 now. We are looking for a place to call home in the last few years before the system takes everything”.

Ray could see the resigned look on her face. He knew she would fight, she was still fighting but it was hallow, empty. She was resigned that her people would die. Before he could say anything, even a word of comfort, she continued speaking.

“With the Dragonkin out of the way, the System has started attacking the other races. Right now, the Waedra are hard pressed on the front. The Dark Elves have lost 3 cities, the High Elves are gone, they readily accepted the System, thinking it to be a bastion of power instead of what it really is. We saw it with our own eyes, how it corrupts you and steals your life force. The System is a parasite, an incredibly strong parasite. The only reason it gives us this power is so that it can take more later”. She shook her head, tears visibly rolling down her cheeks.

“Surely there has to be a way to stop it”.

“There is. If we fought together and rejected the System, it would actually be reasonably easy to defeat. Yet with so much bloodshed, the other intelligent races still won’t help each other. Just look at Finrial village. We sent envoys to them for over 50 years and not once did they bother to even respond. They thought because they were so far away it wasn’t a concern to them. Now the System has its claws here too. Finrial village has but a few months before it falls. The rebellions have already started”.

Ray studied the fire for a bit. Thinking. “Miu, you can come back, it’s safe in here. Is there any way we can help these people?”

“I doubt we can help them directly”

Ray turned to Layla as other Dragonkin began sitting around the same fire. “So why haven’t you started a new village in the back lines. Doesn’t it make sense to build up a last bastion of hope?”

One of the elderly spoke then. “Nay… Boyo, you don’t understand. We can only found cities on spheres of power. This is a natural law of this world. Without a sphere of power, we can do no more then create a few hovels in the dirt before some disaster wipes us off the map”.

“Wait…. You can’t just build wherever you want? What’s with that? Our world had sprawling metropolis cities with giant metal and concrete structures, why can’t you do the same here?”

“Haven’t ye felt it yet? This planet we are on is alive. It attempts to strike a balance between intelligence and nature. The only way it can do that is by creating spheres of existence. Places where magical properties can override the natural law. Otherwise, we’re no better then nomads” the elderly Dragonkin said.

Layla moved over and lay down. She clearly didn’t want to talk anymore.

“Laddy, come this way. I’ll answer yer questions, I’m sure you have a lot of them. Let’s let her rest some, it’s been a hard trek for her”.