You could at least read it, Nil grumbled. I might not have the best opinion of the Academy, but the tome they gave you is an actual treasure. Well… potentially is a treasure, if you’d bother to check. Would not put it past them to give you a tome of blank paper for you to fill in as a hunter. It’s been known to happen.

Maybe in a while, Dallion replied, as he continued along the trail through the forest.

The conversation with the items in Canopa had provided him with quite a bit of useful information. Most of the time had been spent in Dallion answering questions about the world. The dryads—some of which had spent real-life centuries in the small village—were fascinated by everything. All the events of Nerosal, the involvement of the Star, and even his journey to the Glass Mounts were followed with such interest one might have thought they were long-lost secrets of the universe. In many ways, the guardians were like children, despite being ages old. It was through them that Dallion learned the true nature of the village.

Apparently, in the past Canopa used to be a real village, like many others in the area. Originally created by explorers who ventured east in search of treasures, it made a living by selling furs and fine quality lumber to merchant organizations. All that changed during the Wars of Succession. With the counties fighting amongst each other, there was little interest in small villages, especially such that didn’t produce ores. As a result, the Canopa became isolated for quite some time. A few years ago, that changed when the Academy of Magic sent a small group of mages into the area to do research.

Initially, their involvement was minimal. The mages helped the village expand and took care of most underlying needs. In exchange, they built a few structures where they could focus on their research. As the months went by, more and more members of the Academy arrived. For the most part, they were apprentices who seemed to be there to study. Yet, the permanent residents would also increase. Gradually, the mages became far more numerous than the locals, at which point a new arrangement was made. The locals were given a choice: stay and take care of the livestock, or move to a town in the empire with the generous support of the Academy. To no surprise, most of the villagers preferred a better life for themselves and their families and left. Those that remained were currently pretty much acting as serfs, taking care of the food and keeping the place clean, while a mage had become the official “village chief.”

On a much more pragmatic aspect, the dryad guardians had shared that the local mages were fully aware of the cracklings. That was not all; one of the main purposes of the Academy’s presence was to seek out and research interesting local flora and fauna found in the area. The reason the village chief had readily given Dallion a bestiary—assuming it was one—was because it was her property. According to one particularly chatty wooden bracelet, the village had caught several crackling specimens for study, including one less than three days ago. While there was no way of confirming it, the bracelet was adamant she had overheard it mentioned that the source of the cracklings was due northeast, where a research expedition had been.

Can we pass through Canopa on our way back? the bowl asked in Dallion’s realm. It was nice chatting with others.

Do you want to stay there? Dallion asked.

No… the guardian went silent for a moment. I like it with you. Just being among so many others of my race felt nice.

It felt like home, the armadil shield elaborated. Almost like home. Hundreds of people to talk to. There’s even a chance of meeting an actual acquaintance.

Dallion could understand how they meant. When Veil and Gloria had done their surprise visit, he had felt quite happy, as if he were no longer alone. It must have been thousands of times more intense for banished races to experience the same. Aspan was a perfect example. Dallion could tell he longed for others like him, to the point that he made a point never to discuss the subject. On a few select occasions, he had let slip that he’d had conversation with otherworlders from his original city. Sadly, they had drifted apart long before he had risen to become the leader of his race in this world.

What about you, Vih? Dallion asked. Want to stay?

No, the armadil shield was adamant. The past is no longer my place. The future is more interesting. Especially with someone like you.

A strange compliment that made Dallion smile.

I’ll try to pass by on the way back, he said. No promises, though.

With that, the discussion was over, and the bothersome trip through the forest continued. Already it had been hours since Dallion started, and he was no closer to reaching his destination. That was the annoying thing about mages—they were what Dallion was in the realms: capable of flight. The trip of the research group might as well have taken a few hours, but at Dallion’s pace, days were more likely. All he had was a rough direction and Gleam to keep a lookout in the skies. Thankfully, that proved to be enough. By nightfall, the whip blade had spotted another small flock of avians. The creatures were flying aimlessly in search of anything that would satisfy their hunger. Dallion considered capturing a few, but ultimately decided against it. He already had one prisoner in his realm.

The fight was quick and effortless. To Gleam’s delight, she was the one doing all the killing. Just hearing her comments made Dallion glad that he had met her the way he had. If he had come across the shardfly in the wilderness, it was more likely than not that she would have sliced him to ribbons the moment she set eyes on him.

Once the coast was clear, another performance took place in Dallion’s realm. Building on Gleam’s observations, Harp had created another copy of the real-world environment and once again released the imprisoned crackling. This time the creature proved to be more cautious, although it still went in the expected direction. By all indications, Dallion was getting closer.

As night fell, he decided to take a pause. While no rest was required, the night predators were becoming more annoying. This far east, animals weren’t used to seeing people as dominant, so they tended to attack even when it was obvious they'd lose. Dallion found that the best solution was for him to spend the night very high up in a tree, at least until he reached another of the mountains. It was at that point that he opened the tome that Eleria had given him. Of course, before that, he had scanned it with his kaleidervisto, just in case.

Words glowed on the pages in a bright green light.

Neat trick, Onda said. Can I get some stuff like this?

Sure. I’ll get on it right away, Dallion replied, not in the least bit serious.

The bestiary was the first proper book Dallion had seen since arriving in this world. While there had been numerous scrolls and even tomes in his ring library, their structure ranged between outright medieval to early Earth Renaissance. This started with an elaborate contents section dividing the creatures in categories and ended in a series of appendices, which included a large section of the authors and researchers who composed the book.

The joys of academia, Dallion thought.

It was expected that the book wouldn’t contain any common animals such as sheep, wolves, rabbits, and the like. However, Dallion was surprised to see that it didn’t contain a crackling section either. What it did contain was an enormous selection of magic and magical creatures. Most notably, it also had dragons.

Is this the entry level bestiary? Dallion asked as he flipped to the dragon section.

Everything’s possible, Nil replied. As a rule, the Academy doesn’t believe in “entry level” anything. Mages are expected to know everything, which makes them be so full of themselves.

With a mere two pages per creature, Dallion had his doubts. Then again, it was too much to expect that he’d be given a full encyclopedia, just like that.

According to the bestiary, there were a total of seventeen known dragons in the world, throughout all of history. Six were said to have been killed millennia ago, nine were classified as missing, and two were believed to have been spotted. It was no surprise that one of those two was suspected to be “east of Wetie province.”

That’s an interesting coincidence, Dallion thought.

Details were scarce, with a large part of the pages being filled with an art depiction of the creature, a miniature map depicting its suspected location, and several squares resembling QR codes, most likely meaning something to people with actual magic.

It’s unlikely to be a coincidence, Nil said. Something must have caused the dragon to die. Doesn’t have to be an attack. There are illnesses that do that as well.

Illnesses that affect dragons?

In the wilderness, everything is possible. There’ve been cases of plagues emerging and destroying cities.

It says its name is Armalion.

Sounds made up. Probably some classification or other. You can ask it when you meet it.

It has some pretty nasty abilities.

In truth, all dragons had quite impressive abilities. From what Dallion could see, line and point attacks were a must, combined with spark attacks for good measure. The funny thing was that apart from the dragon’s ability to fly, the rest had nothing to do with what he imagined. Dragons in this world didn’t breathe fire, nor—if the bestiary was to be believed—attack with claws, teeth, or tail. If anything, they were more like Lux—an embodiment of energy that fought in quite unconventional ways. In this particular case, the dragon was closer to an illusion factory, capable of creating lifelike illusions on a scary level. Just as Gleam was able to make a dull object cut enemies, the dragon could turn a mountain into a volcano capable of burning everyone affected by the illusion. What was more, there was speculation that it could also invade the realms of its attackers with swarms of echoes. No wonder such creatures were considered dangerous. Even if these were all the abilities they had, defeating or capturing them would involve armies of awakened.

Having second thoughts? Vihrogon asked.

No. Dallion closed the book. This had turned out way more difficult than he initially thought, but even so, he was going to see it through. He had achieved too much to quit now. Gleam, you’ll be able to handle the illusions, right?

Depends, the shardfly didn’t sound as sure as usual. If I were my proper level, maybe. Against a proper dragon…

Do your best. Dallion put the tome in his backpack, then positioned himself somewhat more comfortably on the branch. Keep watch for the night. He closed his eyes.

Sleep was brief and fast. Slightly over five hours later, the sun already peeked from beyond the horizon, making the start of the day. It didn’t take much for Dallion to wake up. The real-life sleep had done him quite a lot of good. Slowly stretching, he stood up and looked around. Clusters of rocky mountains were visible in several directions, yet Dallion had a pretty good idea where to go. It was possible for him to send Lux to scout a bit, but being so close to the dragon shadow’s resting place, he preferred not to.

Strapping on his armor, Dallion leapt to the next tree. Several hours later, it was obvious he was on the right track. One of the nearby mountains stood out like a sore thumb, surrounded by a large number of fallen trees. The key element was that the trees hadn’t fallen because someone had knocked them down, but they had uprooted themselves, finding the terrain too loose to hold them. And as Dallion knew, there was only one type of creature that could make rocks and soil lose their grip.

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Armalion,” he said out loud. “Time to see what you got.”