I quickly return to the others and guide Lizzy past the swamp area as we continue south. The snake is the last mana beast marked on the map within the kingdom. However, there are some marked in the northern part of the Free Union that I plan to visit.

If I can cross the border, which may or may not be easy, then I plan to hit those in the north on my way to Illium. That should be more than enough for me to consider my promise to Great Mother Wolf fulfilled. I will still help other beasts in the future, but it will be as I encounter them.

Or adopt them as seems to be the case a lot of the time, not that that is my intention. It just seems to keep happening and at this rate I may as well open my own zoo. Not that I really mind surrounding myself with a bunch of cute animals.

If nothing else they are a useful shield against certain women who cause me headaches. Maybe if I can manage to find a cute little fire based animal it could calm down Ruby. That is probably just wishful thinking on my part, but it would certainly make my life easier.

That night we make it out of the forest before making camp in the plains. By my best guess we will reach the border of the kingdom before lunchtime tomorrow. Then it will depend on how hard it is to cross the border with the Free Union.

As far as I know the Free Union has open borders and it was only the king who locked them down. Now that the king is dead the border should be open once more, at least that is the hope. If I can just cross the border without having to deal with anything that would be perfect.

Of course, just because I am thinking about it the opposite is likely to happen. Either way I will find out tomorrow, no need to worry about it today. For now I simply enjoy my dinner and spend some time playing with Ekard and the cub.

After breakfast we mount up and move out heading south, towards the border. Leaving Lizzy to keep an eye out I enter meditation to check out the condition of my body. I have been feeling better day by day and as I check my body I find that I am mostly healed.

A few more days at most and I will be back at one hundred percent, finally. However, as I inspect my body, I find a strange chemical residue in my circulatory system. After a while I figure out that it is residue from the drake's adrenaline, which shouldn't be possible.

When I return to my normal form everything from the shapeshift should disappear. The fact that residue was left behind just further proves that the drake form is more powerful than my normal form. Luckily, the residue is something I can remove given some time, no permanent damage.

Just as I am starting to work on cleaning the residue I am interrupted as I feel Lizzy stop moving. When I open my eyes I see why she stopped, a dozen human riders are heading towards us. They are not wearing the uniform of the kingdom, so they must be from the Free Union.

Looks like my hope of crossing the border easily was truly in vain, as usual. The riders stop about fifty feet away from us, except for one who rides closer. Judging from the marking on his uniform I am guessing he is the commanding officer.

Lorsen says "Greetings! I am Captain Lorsen of the Free Union border guard. Are you Lord Ash?"

"I am, but how do you know that?"

Lorsen says "You match the descriptions I have heard. You may not realize how famous you are, there are many stories going around about you!"

Lizzy says "What kind of stories?"

Lorsen jumps and says "She talks?!"

"Yes, don't mind her, she loves to startle people."

Lorsen says "Ah, yes, well. Anyway, the first story I heard was about you saving a bunch of our citizens from becoming slaves."

"Oh, yeah. That feels like it was forever ago."

Lorsen says "The Free Union is a land of merchants, and many of those merchants visit Illium. Each time they come back they bring new stories about you. Although, the latest story is probably the most popular."

"Latest story? It has been weeks since I was in Illium."

Lorsen says "Well, from what I heard you crushed Guildmaster Pine. This has made you a hero since Pine was universally hated in the Free Union."

"Oh, sounds like Pol succeeded then."

Lorsen says "Don't know who that is, but the stories are saying you are the one who destroyed Pine."

"Pol works for me, he handles all the merchant stuff."

Lorsen says "Then I'm sure our merchants know of him then."

"Anyway, any problem with me entering the Free Union?"

Lorsen says "No! Of course not, you are an honored guest!"

"I'm not here to visit any of the cities, I'm basically taking the scenic route to Illium."

Lorsen says "Oh, that is a little disappointing, but if that is your plan, it is fine. Are you looking for something specific, if so I may be able to help?"

"I am looking to visit these five points."

After looking at the map Lorsen says "Well, that figures."

"What? Do you know about them?"

Lorsen says "Yes, I do. They are the five most dangerous areas in the north of the Free Union."

"Sounds about right."

Lorsen says "Unfortunately, I cannot guide you there. My duty is to stay and patrol the border."

"That's fine. I actually don't need a guide, and you would only slow us down."

Lorsen says "In that case, I wish you luck. Here let me see the map for a second."

"Okay."

Lorsen says "These are all military bases and outposts. Should you need any help, visit any of these and they will help."

"Thank you."

Lorsen says "It is my honor to be of any assistance I can!"

With that Lorsen gives me a bow and then leads his men away to continue their patrol. They are acting more like they are out here to help people who are lost rather than protect the border. It would seem that what I heard about the Free Union having an open border is true.

Once they have passed I show Lizzy the map so she knows where we are going. Then as she resumes moving I go back to meditating and trying to remove the residue. The residue isn't hard to deal with, just time consuming, and there is a lot of it.

After an hour of working on it I have Lizzy stop and we all have some lunch. Then when we continue on I go back to removing the residue a little at a time. By the time we stop to make camp for the night I figure I have removed about one tenth of the residue.