67. ..The Little Dragon..
"Thank you. Once Sagana returns, I'll make sure to give them to her," he said.
He nodded in response.
Before anyone else could speak, one of the three men stood up and positioned himself in front of the group to address them.
"My King," he said, addressing Archer.
Archer craned his neck to look at the man standing six feet tall with short brown hair, brown eyes, and long brown horns.
"He's descended from an Earth Dragon," he thought.
"What is it?" Archer asked.
"My name is Jyn, Your Highness. We were warriors from the Dragon Fang Tribe until the Kaigians wiped out our tribe and enslaved the survivors. We originally roamed the northern part of the Kingdom, hunting down beasts and bandits to survive," Jyn explained.
Archer motioned for Jyn to continue.
"Upon Sagana's discovery of us in Adhuma City and revelation of the White Dragon King, we resolved to accompany you, for White Dragons hold a position of royalty among all dragon kind," Jyn finished.
Archer looked at the two men Jyn had pointed at, who were identical twins with dark green hair, green eyes, and horns.
"These two are Gale and Gust," Jyn said, introducing the twin Dragon-kin.
Archer nodded in acknowledgment as Jyn finished speaking.
"Will the White King accept the remnants of our tribe?" Jyn asked, looking at Archer.
Archer gestured towards a nearby chair and said.
"The three of you, please take a seat."
They all sat down before he began to speak.
"Yes, I will accept the three of you if you agree to follow my rules."
Archer said firmly, surprising everyone as he had never established any rules in the Domain before.
Archer decided it was time to do so now.
"First, you must follow the rules and contribute to the community. Additionally, when the time comes, you are expected to defend the Dragon-kin people," he said, looking at each of them in turn.
Everyone agreed and nodded.
"Second, you will not harm any Dragon-kin unless it's in self-defense. You must protect every one of them, as there aren't many of us left," Archer continued.
More nodding followed.
"Thirdly, no one may enter the cottage when I'm not here. People can knock on the door, but they must never enter," he stated firmly.
Everyone was confused by the third rule, but they agreed to the King's rules nonetheless.
Jethro spoke up, "I have told every Dragon-kin that has joined not to go near there unless you're inside the Domain."
Archer nodded before stating his final rule.
"The last rule is that we will never allow ourselves to be stepped on again. Our first target is the Kagia Kingdom."
All the men in the tent agreed with him before Mohamet spoke.
"Your Highness, what are your plans?" he asked.
Archer paused to think before responding.
"My plan is to explore the Aquarian Kingdom and collect even more Dragon-kin. Additionally, I need to level up, so that's another priority for me," he said.
He stood up and turned to Jethro and Mohamet.
"Jethro, keep the Domain running smoothly, and Mohamet, start gathering men to train. As a former general, you will be perfect for the job, if you want it."
Jethro was happy to help, and Mohamet eagerly nodded.
"I'd be happy to train an army for you. Just inform me when you're at the Aquarian capital, and I'll join you, Your Highness."
They all lowered their heads as Archer left the Domain, appearing inside the mountain again, seeing blood patches all over.
Deciding to eat the hearts he had collected so far, he had 17 Bigfoot hearts and 32 human ones, which gave him a total of 4,900 experience points and 49 stat points.
He already ate the hearts and got the experience and stat points.
After an hour of walking, he arrived at the entrance of the tunnel; and summoned his wings.
He jumped into the air and flew towards the caravan.
Archer checked his status as he was flying along and spent 10 points on all stats except for intelligence, which he only upgraded with 5 points.
'Status.'
[Exp: 6700/12000]
[SP: 16 > 65 > 0]
[HP: 2300>2400]
[Mana: 8300>8600]
[Strength: 1500>1600]
[Constitution: 1700>1800]
[Stamina: 1500>1600]
[Charisma: 1750>1850]
[Intelligence: 1300>1350]
Happy with his boosted stats, Archer flapped his wings even harder and shot off towards the road.
However, upon arrival, he found no caravan.
Hovering in the air, Archer looked around and saw tracks leading south. He followed them.
After flying for an hour, he turned around and spotted black smoke rising from where the castle once stood.
Despite the afternoon sun beaming and fluffy clouds floating by, Archer's eyes narrowed as he spotted a caravan in the distance approaching a long wooden bridge that led to the Blackwood Pass.
He stopped about 10 feet away from it.
Archer noticed that the woman standing in front of him looked angry and kept her distance.
"You murderer! How could you kill all those people and act like it was nothing?" she shouted at him.
Taken aback by the woman's accusation, Archer looked at her before replying with venom in his voice.
"They butchered my people. What did you expect me to do?"
His question stumped Sarwana, and she grew even angrier as she barked out.
"You should have killed only the soldiers involved, not everyone in the castle!"
Najee walked towards the two before stopping next to his wife, scowling at Archer.
Feeling frustrated, Archer stared at the woman and spat out.
"I never knew the identity of those who ordered the heinous act of killing, torturing, and crucifying the Dragon-kin people. Their lives held no value to me, and I firmly believe that they deserved a more brutal death for the atrocities they committed against us."
Upon hearing his response, the couple's faces twisted with disgust as Najee also spat out.
"You may look like a child, but you're a devil in disguise, evil."
The couple cursed at Archer.
Watching them with a heavy heart, hoping they would understand his motive, but they seemed to be set in their ways to see it from his point of view.
No longer bothering with them, Archer summoned his wings and took off into the air, leaving them behind.
Soaring above the trees, feeling the wind rush past him as he flew towards Blackwood Pass.
As he flew faster, Archer felt the wind rushing past him.
He looked down to see the world shrinking beneath him.
The trees and rivers became tiny specks in the distance.
Suddenly, he spotted it - the Blackwood Pass.
The jungle was massive, bordering a towering mountain range that stretched from the Leviathan Sea in the east to the Howling Wild Jungle at the center of the Southlands.
He flew closer, Archer could see the dense canopy of trees stretching out before him, their branches reaching toward the sky.
The jungle was alive with the sounds of exotic birds and beasts, their calls echoing through the air.
Feeling a sense of awe and wonder as he flew over the jungle, Archer took in the breathtaking scenery.
Suddenly, he heard a group of beasts howling in the distance.
Intrigued, Archer flew towards the sound, eager to see what type of beast was roaring.
As he drew closer, he could see a group of jungle wolves gathered around a tall tree, their heads thrown back as they let out a series of fierce howls.
Archer landed on a nearby branch, careful not to startle the wolves.
Peering through the green leaves, he saw that they were focused on something high up in a tree branch.
Squinting his eyes, he could just make out the shape of a small beast curled up in a ball.
Feeling a surge of protectiveness towards the little creature, Archer knew that he had to help.
Summoning some water bolts he targeted the four wolves and shot the bolts at them. Catching the beasts off-guard they got struck and dropped to the ground lifeless.
Looking towards the little beast the wolves were trying to get. He quickly dismissed his Draconic features as he approached it.
He tried to grab it, but the little creature quickly bit him.
"Owww!"
Slowly, he tried again, hoping that it wouldn't bite him this time.
The little creature tried to bite again, but Archer saw it coming and moved his hand dodging the bite.
That's when he recognized the tiny creature before him as a fairy dragon as it started hovering in front of him.
Its delicate wings fluttered rapidly as it stared at him.
The dragon's scales were a ruby red color Its iridescent scales shimmered in the sunlight.
When the sunlight danced across them, they sparkled, creating a breathtaking display of light and color.
Despite its diminutive size, Archer knew that fairy dragons were powerful magical beings. Able to wield powerful magic.
It was no bigger than a kitten and could easily fit in the palm of his hand, yet its presence was commanding and captivating.