Above the clouds, dozens of dragons were flying towards a lake at the center of a basin.
“Shui Huan, let’s scout the area first,” Yan Pu the leading crimson dragon talked to Shui Huan the blue dragon.
The two dragons descended after the short conversation, hovering back and forth to secure the location with caution.
“This place should be vessel-free,” said Shui Huan after searching around. Once Yan Pu received the message, it signaled the others and said loudly, “come down and extract the floating rocks from the lake bed.”
Descending from the sky, the other dragons dove down the lake to begin the extraction; meanwhile, Shui Huan and Yan Pu stayed on the surface to look out for them.
As the dragons carried the rocks away, Shui Huan started feeling uncertain about the migration to the sky.
“Yan Pu, are we really going to do this...Is keeping ourselves out the right thing to do?” Shui Huan asked Yan Pu quietly.
“Of course. All the dragons agreed to this decision. Weren’t you there too?” Yan Pu responded.
Both Yan Pu and Shui Huan were Runedragons, species residing on the realm. The Runedragons had been living peacefully in their territory, but wars between Machinas and Eldus had turned the underground vessels into mutated monsters, attacking every living creature on the realm.
The clan remained safe with the collective effort of all dragons. Still, they had decided to build a fort in the sky to isolate themselves from the warfare.
Cang Bi, one of the Runedragons, stood up to oppose the idea and suggested that they should save the other creatures from extinction.
Looking at the hesitant Shui huan, Yan Pu heaved a sigh. “Did you ask because of what Can Bi said?”
“I think he had a point——”
“Whoa! Help——!”
A sharp scream from afar cut in. Exchanging a gaze, the two dragons flew towards the sound source immediately.
The scream came from a fiercely-burning forest surrounded by a large group of Eldus. Whenever there was a minerelf ran out of the forest, the Eldus would capture them and sever their crystalized parts. The whole thing was seemingly designed for the extraction of crystals.
“This is...horrifying…”
Terrified by cruelty, Shui Huan hid behind Yan Pu.
Meanwhile, Yan Pu squinted at the Eldus in disgust and said, “hurry back to the lake and escort the other dragons.”
“Huh? Aren’t we going to save those elves?”
“...What the Eldus did was unacceptable, but we’re not responsible for those elves safety either.”
“But…” Shui Huan eventually compromised with Yan Pu. “Alright, let’s go back.”
Just when the two dragons were about to spread their wings, Yan Pu pulled Shui Huan away while hardening its scale. Next second, the tough scale armor blocked an ambush attack to save Yan Pu unharmed.
“Alien Eldus, what was that about? Please explain yourself,” Yan Pu said, scowling at Enlil the woman standing nearby.
The sweet smile on her face and her lean body constituted a great contrast to her despicable ambush earlier. She paced slowly as she replied in a soft voice, “because you disturbed me.”
Yan Pu didn’t drop its guard despite Enlil’s innocent voice. It continued while staring at her, “we the Runedragons have no intention to step in your plan. Let us go and we’ll forgive your ambush.
“Forgive?”
Enlil laughed out loud as if she had heard a hilarious joke. After a while, she pointed at Yan Pu to declare, “you have two choices, surrender or die.”
A swarm of Eldus revealed themselves from hiding right after her words; All of them casted magic in order to trap Yan Pu and Shui Huan. The enchantments they summoned continuously gathered an immense amount of elements, turning the energy into dangerous thunder.
“Humph. What a naive act. This little trick can’t hurt us!”
Trapped, Yan Pu showed no fear to the threat at all. It signalled Shui Huan with a gaze, and the two of them conjured elemental power together.
As fire element and water element fused into their scales respectively, the scales bulked to form a protective shell wrapping them up.
“Let’s see who’s stronger then. Die!” Enlil struck the shell with an apocalyptic thunder strike as she shouted.
Just like what Yan Pu had said, there was not even a scratch on the shell. It even shone brighter after absorbing the energy. Meanwhile, a slit was opened on the shell, which allowed Yan Pu to speak to Enlil, “we the Runedragons shield ourselves with elements. By fusing elements into our scales, we have the toughest shield able to fend off all attacks.”
“Haha, impressive. You won this time, but…”
The smile on Enlil disappeared, oozing a violent vibe to intimidate Shui Huan. “Your shield will collapse soon,” said Enlil.
Enlil waved at the other Eldus as a signal of retreat. When they had left, Yan Pu and Shui Huan disarmed.
“These Eldus are too dangerous…” Shui Huan’s voice was trembling as it hadn’t recovered from the horror.
“You’re right…”
Pausing for a moment, Yan Pu said determinedly, “we gotta move to the sky as soon as possible.”