"Miss Sara, I have been wondering for a little while, but I have never seen a magical beast like Splyce before, is he a Megalania? I have heard that an adult megalania is a lvl.4 magical beast, no wonder he is so strong."- Said Rosalind while looking at Splyce walking next to them.
"Splyce? Ah, he looks like a Megalania because he is in disguise, but he is a dragon."
"A dragon?"- Rosalind replied in shock.
"Yes, Splyce is still a juvenile dragon, he is not yet able to talk to humans or to polymorph completely."
"But I heard only members of the Mendel Ducal family are allowed to tame dragons, are you perhaps a Mendel?"
"That is not entirely correct, the Ducal family for generations has had secondary branches and vassal families, sometimes individuals outside of the main family are allowed to tame dragons, specially in these last few years there have been more exceptions."
"I see, Is that because of the tragedy from 5 years ago?"
"What do you know about the tragedy?"- Sara asked in a somewhat menacing tone.
"The rumors say that five years ago, when the young duchess turned 10 years old, the Duchy was attacked by a horde of monsters that no one had ever seen before. The Duke and his Dragon knights were able to repel the attack, but for some reason everyone involved in the battle passed away shortly after. After the Duke passed away, the young duchess was officially named Duchess, but due to the grief, she secluded herself in her palace, apparently she never comes out."
"So that is what the people outside of the Duchy know? Good."- Sara's tone carried a faint sense of anger.
"Yes, it is as you said, after the tragedy, the Dukedom's forces became severely weakened. For 400 years, the Mendel Duchy has had the responsibility of protecting the kingdom from the hordes of magical beasts coming from the Central mountain range; our ancestors stole dragon eggs from the dragons living in the mountains and bonded with them, becoming the first ever Dragon tamers. But now, in order to regain their strength, the Dukedom decided to allow some trustworthy outsiders to tame dragons."
"And you are one of those outsiders?"
"Precisely little doe, the Double Helix Company has an alliance with the Dukedom, my job is securing alliances and talent acquisition; well I also take care of intel gathering and assassinations."- Sara explained in a whimsical tone while looking at Rosalind straight in the eye.
"Hehe, I see you are very talented Miss Sara."- Rosalind replied with a nervous smile.
"So, then what is it you need me to do?"
"I need your runecraft, you are one of the very few mages in the continent who is currently developing rune technology."
"Really? are there really that few? I mean, I know runecraft isn't that common but it shouldn't be that little."
"Tell me, what attribute were you born with?"
"I don't have an attribute."
"Exactly, you may not know this because you have lived in one place your whole life, but mana users without an attribute are often discriminated, and those with an attribute spend their whole lives honing their attribute, while those without an attribute are usually unable to make a living and quit."
"But why are they discriminated?"
"It's simple, the most common use for mages is in the battlefield, and mages without an attribute have less firepower; raising a mage takes a lot of time and resources, most people wouldn't bother investing on mages with low potential, that is why non-attribute combat magic is severely lacking, It is so bad that in the Mage's continental ranking, there are less than five non-attribute mages in the top one hundred."
"I see, so why are you so interested in Runecraft?"
"Because I believe it has the most potential, and I have the resources to make it happen, the only piece that I was missing was you."
"I understand, I will do everything I can to repay the favor."- Rosalind replied with an expression full of vigor.
"I believe in you little doe."-Sara reassured Rosalind with a warm smile while placing a hand on her shoulder.
Sara and Rosalind continued walking at a quick pace, until..
"Ack, ouch"- Rosalind tripped and fell forward.
"Are you all right little doe?"- Sara turned around and helped Rosalind back on her feet.
"Yes, I am just a little tired, I haven't been able to sleep well lately, and I haven't had anything to eat."
"Seriously, those bastards deserved a slower death."- Sara replied with an angry voice.
"Don't worry, I always come prepared."
Sara grabbed a brown colored bar from her backpack, and handed it to Rosalind, it was chocolate.
"Here, eat this, you are in no shape to travel like this, you need some rest first."
"Are you sure we can stop here?"
"It will be fine, we will just stop for a moment, trust me okay?"- Sara said and sat down next to Rosalind, both their backs resting againts a tree.
"Ok, I trust you."- Rosaling replied and started eating the chocolate.
"Hmm this is really good, I have never tasted something so sweet before."
"I know right? It is one of our company's best sellers, it is high quality so wealthy people are going crazy over it."
"Yes, even though I was not born poor, my Dad still had some of his frugal habits from when he used to live in the slums, so he only bought me candy on some special occasions."
"Sounds like Franklin is a really good Dad."
"Yes, he is, what about you Miss Sara, what are your parents like?"
Rosalind asked Sara as to follow the flow of the conversation, but then she realized, what kind of parents would allow their teenager daughter to roam around and expose herself to such dangers? the answer seemed obvious, she either ran way from home, or she didn't have any parents anymore, but it was too late, she had already asked.
"Umm I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry into.."- Sara interrupted her.
"My Dad... Is really strong, he is very funny too, he has a massive ego though, he always acts as if he is the main character in a fairytale."
"And my Mom, she is very cool and sophisticated, she may seem distant to other people, but when she looks at me and my Dad, her face seems like that of a young girl brimming with joy."
Sara answered, her words a combination of nostalgia, happiness, and a hint of sadness and longing. Rosalind understood that there was something hidden between her words, so decided to change the topic.
"It sounds like they are wonderful people, by the way, it seems like the sun will rise soon, maybe we should start moving again before.. Uh?"
Rosalind was stopped mid sentence, she suddenly fell asleep, her head resting now over Sara's shoulder.
"Don't worry little doe, I will take care of the rest, just take a long nap."
"Murder, we will need to pick up the pace, find me the shortest and safest route, Splyce, carry my backpack."
"Leave it to me"- Murder exclaimed proudly, while Splyce picked up Sara's backpack with it's mouth.
"We need to hurry out of here, or we might not be able to avoid a fight, let's go."
Sara carried the sleeping Rosalind on her back, and started running at a much faster pace than they were walking before, Murder flying ahead, and Splyce following closely behind, the sun had started to rise.
Back in the garrison where the bandit hideout was, by the time the first sun rays bathed the ground, some figures appeared from the woods, mounted on beasts of their own, it was the Baron's reinforcements.