Sued

Lady Muriel was just starting to recover. When she heard what Carrie said to Abel, she couldn't help but to call out.

"Believe in us, captain! Bring us with you!" she shouted.

"Yeah, don't go alone! That's too dangerous!" Lady Marianne said as well.

Jenny agreed, too, "We elves are naturally inferior to the dragons, captain! If that pseudo-dragon sees you, it's going to be very difficult to make an escape!"

Lady Muriel was even trying to keep Carrie still by hugging her, "Jenny's right. If we're going to die, we'll die together!"

Oops. That didn't sound right. After realizing that everyone was staring at her, Lady Muriel quickly hid behind Carrie's back.

Carrie said after shaking her head, "I am the captain here, and I have made my decision. Listen to me, team. Since I'm giving you a direct order to stay here, make sure you listen to Bennett's instructions when I'm not here. Jenny, make sure you help Bennett when he needs you."

Abel raised his hand, "I think I should be the one to scout."

Carrie almost spoke out without giving any second thoughts, "No, Bennett! This is something that the elves have to deal with themselves!"

That was not worded very well. For a moment there, Carrie thought that she was alone with Abel. Now that she's phrased herself like this, Jenny was starting to raise her brow. Luckily, the other three elven ladies didn't seem to notice.

Abel didn't agree with the team leader's decision, "You've seen how fast Black Wind is, Carrie. Even if the pseudo-dragon sees me, I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to make a safe escape."

Unlike Carrie, Abel was very confident in what he's saying. It was really easy for him to do the scouting. He just needed to get on top of White Cloud's back. It was fast and safe. He just had to make sure that no one else in the team saw him doing this.

Since she never knew how skilled Abel actually was, Carrie couldn't help but re-confirm, "Bennett, are you sure that you can guarantee your own safety?"

"Yes, yes," Abel smiled, "I wouldn't joke about sacrificing myself, would I?"

Still, Carrie felt like she couldn't just let Abel be. After looking at him and Black Wind, she took out a scroll from her portal bag.

"Here," Carrie passed the scroll to Abel, "One day. If you don't come back in a day, I'll look for you myself."

Abel took the scroll. He was very familiar with it. It was a top-level "instantaneous movement" scroll. Apart from wizards of intermediate level or above, no one could perform an "instantaneous movement" spell without this scroll.

That just showed how powerful wizards were. Druids protected themselves by summoning creatures. Priest fought with curses and an army of skeletons. Wizards were very different from these classes. Instead of creating a barrier of summoned beings to protect themselves, they used their speed to draw their distance from danger.

Abel didn't decline. After placing the scroll in his portal bracelet, he's now had two "instantaneous scrolls" in his arsenal. Until he became an intermediate wizard, they were going to be his secret escape tool.

Abel smiled at the five elven ladies. After recovering his five crows and the poisonous ivy underground, he got on top of Black Wind and disappeared. He didn't even let the others try to persuade him to stay.

Lady Jenny felt like she had to ask, "So captain, was Bennett fine after hearing that dragon's roar?"

Carrie said as she looked towards the direction that Abel left, "Yes. Actually, his mount was the same."

"What?" Jenny gasped in a voice that only Carrie could hear, "Just who is he?"

Carrie said plainly, "You'll know eventually. Maybe now, maybe twenty years later, but you'll know."

As soon as Abel left team Lawland, he contacted White Cloud to make a landing towards him. Instead of using "instantaneous movement" to let Black Wind get on top of it, he told it to jump on after climbing on top of a tree. Since it was the first time he was facing a pseudo-dragon, he had to make sure that he was fully prepared.

Speaking of which, White Cloud should be fleeing away right now since sky sparrows were supposed to be very timid, but Abel's already fed it many soul potions. White Cloud was a brave bird. Since it needed much more soul potions than Black Wind did, it also had much more potential to strengthen itself towards the next level.

Abel said to White Cloud and Black Wind through the soul chain, "Once I'm done with this, my main goal will be to find more soul potions for you guys."

White Cloud and Black Wind were very pleased to know that. Still, right now, Abel's priority was on doing the scouting. He was up in the sky right now, and his eyes were looking down for anything that could look like a pseudo-dragon.

White Cloud was flying 500 meters off the ground. Abel could see the ground very clearly from here. It's also very safe for him, in case he was attacked.

From what he could see, the region was already starting to look a lot different than usual. There was a short hill and some valleys that were splitting the forest apart. That was still the same as usual, but there were no living beings to be seen.

Abel could also see Lila Valley from where he was at. That was supposed to be the destination of team Lawland. They were supposed to take two to three days to get there, but if he wanted to, White Cloud could get there in two hours.

At the crossing area where the Lila Valley's edge was at, and there was a pond to be seen. Abel could see the only living thing that was there. It was a two-foot dragon.

The two-foot dragon looked very much the same as a giant dragon. Actually, it was a miniature replica of a giant dragon. It was only (only, yeah) four meters long. As the only feature that was different from a giant dragon, it had two legs instead of four. Other than that, it was the same. Its claws were like eagles, its scales like lizards and there were thorns growing out of its tails.

According to the myths, two-foot dragons got their genes from giant dragons and the griffins. Depending on the type of giant dragons that they inherited from, they would possess various types of elemental ability. Apart from that, they had sharp claws and teeth that allowed them to attack their enemies.

While studying the appearance of the two-foot dragon, Abel saw that it was suddenly raising its head. He then felt the power of the Will that was spreading in all directions. Nothing menacing could be sensed from it. Instead, it was repeatedly trying to send the same message.

"Help. Real dragon." the message stated. Abel could see that the two-foot dragon was pleading for help. It was not intelligent enough to speak in full sentences, but it was certainly mature enough to develop low-tier intelligence.

"Real dragons" was what the dragons referred to the giant dragons as. Obviously, giant dragons did not consider pseudo-dragons as their own kind. They only acknowledged other giant dragons as the "real dragons," which was not the way that most other species classified dragons.

For the two-foot dragon to call for help from a real dragon, there must be a real concern. Abel was getting worried. Was a giant dragon nearby?

After telling White Cloud to go up to a higher altitude, Abel took a more careful look in all directions. Since there weren't a lot of trees in this area, he could see the area below very clearly. That being said, he couldn't find any living thing other than the two-foot dragon.

Could it be? After thinking about it, Abel realized one possibility that he hadn't thought of. Since he's absorbed a dragon's crystal before, maybe the pseudo-dragon had misidentified him.

Abel couldn't take too many risks. If he was confronting the two-foot dragon, he had to make sure that he knew what was going on. Why was the two-foot dragon risking to call for help? Not all giant dragons treated pseudo-dragons kindly. If the giant dragon happened to be easily aggravated, it might just kill the pseudo-dragon for trying to talk to it.