" It could be the labyrinth distorting it , birds do use the magnetic field to navigate the world , the ground doesn't seem very safe with the Mazes down here , make a priority to investigate the cause of this distortion and find out if the dragon riders has some goal other than survive and investigate these other dragon riders "
Argus confirmed the order " Would you like to have your late lunch now ? " " Sure and also keep an eye on the sky and watch out for any Mazes maybe see if you can find any Mazes that can sustain fly for a long time and distance "
' And I need to find that immortal or at least someone as old as them maybe older if preferable ' Lily thought . She sat on a chair to have her lunch while the leaders of each settlement heard the news .
" Everyone else is busy fighting the maze so you'll have to make do with me " A man walks to his dragon and takes flight flying over to the next island ' I should be more of a help in cooperation '
As the dragon flew at high speed another dragon rider was flying bearing news " We have some more news " Volos sensed his kin and turned around allowing Hugo to grab the paper the rider was bearing and read it .
"A large quantity of the previously reported medicine has been tested and surely works" Hugo wondered what was the payment as he reads "The girl sends a doctor who is gathering parts and liquids out of our body as payment with tools that can even cut through dragon scales but minimizes the damage to keep the promise that they will heal"
' The problem is how much are they taking out ? Dragon scales are very good material to create armor but they said the girl was new and couldn't be after maybe she is after something else only she is aware of likely due to the progress of their inventions ' Hugo arrives at the settlement and eventually finds Larna .
" I'm glad you came here I could use some help for negotiating with these kinds of people " Larna said and Hugo recounted the destructive demonstration " Our new neighbor is a lot of trouble on her own "
Hugo watched Scyan obtaining samples and putting them inside a bag " That bag has some strange properties it seems to be able to hold more than it looks like " Hugo looked at the bag which seemed to consume light the more try to look into it.
' There are a lot of those things he used to store the blood and parts he extracted ' he turned to the tools ' Such amazing craftsmanship from these tools maybe we can obtain more weapons from them perhaps against the invading Mazes '
" We should try our best to appease them a lot of outcast groups are pushed to the labyrinth for a reason ours was befriending the dragons but her reason may be her power " Hugo told Larna .
" I am aware but you know the kind of person they are , that doctor won't hesitate to skin a person alive to properly administer medicine , that man can harm precisely and didn't hesitate to execute her orders and the one behind is said to be like death "
" That's a lot of tall claims can you be sure that girl is death ? " Hugo said with a little doubt " With all the capabilities and the massive island which gives the dragons a sense of dread as well as her man I think it's safe believe that to be the case " " I guess it's possible but is there a reason we don't know about her ? "
" We refrained from asking " Larna said still mad about the brutal demonstration " Is it your unwillingness too ? " " Yes I do not want to learn about her with what she has done "
" Then can I perhaps ask ? " Larna looks at Hasst who is listening waiting for his answer " I just got some word from Valley she said you can visit her and have dinner but you have to be far from her if you want "
" If I want ? ... does that mean I can refuse that arrangement ? " Hasst waited and learned " She can meet in another way but there is a time limit for it " " Time limit ? " Hugo asked confused about why there was a time limit for having dinner .
" It's a lot but if you drag for too long your protection will melt " Hugo took Hasst's word of caution for granted " Then I will go " " Alright just wait until then " Hasst said .
Lily finishes her meal " I will have the glass container prepared " " Also have my other outfits prepared too " Argus brings a wardrobe filled with different kinds of clothes for Lily to choose from .
" I wonder what the man will talk about when he gets here " " What time will you have this meeting on dinner " " The usual since I had a late lunch push my dinner schedule forward " Scyan finishes the gathering of samples and places his bag .
" I'm done boss " Scyan said ' Good both of you come back " " Wait " Hugo walked to them to ask " May I stay in your settlement before our meeting ? " ... " She said yes " Hasst and Scyan went into the drone and Hugo flew with them . But as they get closer Hugo and Volos start to shake uncontrollably .
" Hugo is going to visit the island ? " Yok asked surprised " Yes he wants to fill the role I couldn't do because of how unnecessary demonstration she showed " Larna mentioned . Yok understood what she meant and too Larna Lily didn't just seem like a capable figure .
But also an ignorant one " Oh , it looks like this is another factor that Larna was mad about " "Instant decomposition is a factor that is present in the labyrinth , the Labyrinth's passive digestion causes this instant decomposition"
"It only happens to anything alive the will of the corpse is a factor" ' Then again it won't be a problem to explain this since I have the excuse of Hasst's older daughter being shot the same way and still being able to stay alive ' Lily put aside her supposed destructive and dangerous demonstration .
' but will they be okay ? The man and his dragon ? ' she hears Yok's conversation with Karma " but Hugo and Volos might have a hard time " " Why is that ? " " I heard about what the pair are like they have better senses than most of us so they can get a sense of how strong the enemy is "
Larna didn't need to hear that since she always fights along with Hugo during battles they always won and Hugo would tell her to retreat when stronger enemies came " So they would both be able to tell how dangerous that girl is " Larna was curious about Yok's concern .
" So ? " " They'll be able to tell how dangerous she is " ' That's true however Hugo can also tell beyond just the danger ' " he'll be fine he can cope with this , Volos trusts Hugo enough so they'll at least be able to fare well against the pressure that girl gives unless she decides to give them more " Lily looks at the other screen thinking about it .
' No, they said that he can tell danger and has greater instincts which is why he is paired with his dragon who is similar too ' " Mistress you're clothes are ready " " Good I should bring up a few missions for Hugo to accept to improve our relationship and use the synthesizer for our food please "
" What should we offer ? " " You can check the memories of Yok for that it'll be a good conversation starter on how we were able to imitate their food culture and maybe we should get photos of their clothes and their tribe's clothing they seem barbaric but the culture is fascinating "
Argus data on the dragon riders to see what kind of food they eat and what kind of clothes they wear while accessing the facilities to start creating the food . Hugo and Volos arrived on the outer land shaking " Are you two alright ? " Scyan asked .
" Yes , it's just that your master is truly as dangerous as Larna has described " Hugo said " How fascinating you can tell even from this far ? " Scyan was excited to find out more about how they do it and Hasst grabbed him .
" Come on you psycho , Boss wants you to take care of the data you find she'll probably ask you to do something about it later " Hugo looks at the center island which was protected by an elevated hard and solid wall as well as the invisible wall he learned about .
' She must be in there and what are those constructs ' Volos makes a low growl to not alert Lily to Hugo " Don't worry boy she won't hurt us " ' If she does plan to I have no idea how we could even survive '
Volos senses Hugo's worry nudging him to calm him down " Don't worry I'll go in as soon as we are down " " Hey you , Boss is going to give you a few things " Hugo followed Hasst into a building and saw a suit " What's this ? "
" A very protective gear you'll be wearing when you talk to the boss and try lifting this " Hasst held a tank which Hugo grabbed and felt the great weight on it .
" You'll be carrying that on your back usually these things to prepare a direct meeting with the boss is too expensive so she doesn't arrange it very much but you get to have it since she is sort of desperate "
Hugo knew that this was the same kind of desperation that came from the first dragon rider settlement that entered the labyrinth " I'll make sure it is worthwhile " Hugo followed the arrangement to have a direct conversation with Lily .
When it was time to talk a glass container was moved into the center island . Hugo watched the beautiful forest that appeared strange plants gave him a feeling of seeing something foreign but he was already used to it .
His focus was on the ecological nightmare that the glass container was taking him to " Hello Hugo" the translator translated Lily's words " You must be the girl they call death ? " Hugo could tell how dangerous she was her body wasn't as simple as she made it look like .
" I hope you will like the dinner I made " Hugo looked down at the prepared food that he was given and opened it " This is " " You're food right ? I had to collect that through the memories I got from Yok "
" This isn't naturally made is it " ' I heard he has better senses but to tell by this much ' " You can tell ? " " Yes is this one of your capabilities ? " " It is a valuable invention of one of my subordinates "
Hugo could sense some life beneath them wondering what they were " So you wanted to speak with me " Lily ate her food and Hugo nodded while eating his " I wanted to gather more knowledge about you "
" Then ask away but for every satisfactory answer you give I will answer your questions with much valuable information " " Do you know what words the enemies said to send you here ? " " Unfortunately not , I was asleep and woke up here , why ? Did you have those words ? "
" Yes we do , according to our stories our ancestors were forced here when our enemies allowed the labyrinth into our world and used the words "we offer you Labyrinth an offering for your blessing . The dragons , their riders and their land" which caused all of us people and our land to come here and anything associated to us "
" And why would they think that the blessing of the labyrinth is good ? " " We don't know much about that at all " Lily sighed eating her food " So that means I have to give you some answers "
" How dangerous can you be ? " " Never thought about that but let's see if you were to drop a single drop of my blood you can expect catastrophic results " Hugo was surprised to hear that " Will you continue your next question ? "
" How do you make that medicine then ? " " One of my subordinates can make plenty of space and using that space we gather enough liquids to dilute a drop of my blood there are still plenty . But causing them to spill will also be catastrophic because of the dosage "
Lily drinks some wine " Now it's my turn , how do you eat food if the labyrinth digests anything that dies immediately " Hugo recalled the fact that Lily got memories from Yok which he recognized as the one assigned to watching Lily .
" It is possible for that passive digestion to be countered by having a greater will repel it , this is why Larna didn't like how you nearly killed Yok for demonstration , as for the stronger will that protects us we have the ancestral dragons with us , they each have a great will which can resist the Mazes corruption "
Lily was interested in this " So would you say that I have the same ability ? " Hugo looks at the food in front of them , even though he knows they are artificially made the end product still qualifies it as a natural food .
" I think you do , even though you're food doesn't seem naturally made it is still natural food it's like that group of outcasts that settled on making highly processed food that doesn't get digested which we assume prevents the Labyrinth from digesting it because it is so unnatural , many of us can also prevent the passive digestion except the range is small "
" Two satisfactory answers from you and one from me ask away " " Do you happen to know a territory that you want to recover " Lily turned her eyes towards Hugo " Oh is that an offer for help ? " " Yes I have already seen how capable you are and there is no doubt that you would want to recover them "
" Is this because you are so smart ? " " I have been told I can see the future moreover I have counted the housing some of them are empty which means you probably have some associates outside because that's what usually happens to the new outcast that enters the labyrinth "
Lily smiled seeing a capable man " You are impressive it's a good thing you took this opportunity " " I have always been the one to make negotiations proceed smoothly " " Alright then Hugo I'll accept your offer to help ask as much questions you like but you will answer mine "
" Then what territory do you want to recover first " " Argus pull out the facilities that Hasst went through please " Argus opens screens which amazes Lily " Hmm there's a close one here "
Hugo looked at the map seeing the island they are on at the center with his home at the northwest and another distant island down to the south " What island is this ? " " It should be my food supplier it's very far to the south "
" This will be hard " " Oh don't worry I only need someone to deliver something to that location " Hugo was confused by what needed to be delivered " What will I deliver ? " " A person that has abilities that can shorten distance "
Hugo wonders how that was possible " How do they attain such ability ? " " Through me of course " Hugo is surprised to learn that Lily is the cause of this but considering that her body is poison he wonders how much she can change .
" You can have a diluted sample of my blood although you will only gain great strength getting to specifically desired powers takes some time and more diluted samples , because if you rush you might lose consciousness and maybe die but this varies between persons "
Hugo sensed the unfamiliar feeling knowing that some of the residents are capable of such a feat " I will have to refuse that offer " " Then let me ask how are their stars and a sun and moon in here "
Hugo looked up remembering what other information he had been gathering " The things that make our sky are the much older outcasts that managed to run far from the labyrinth "
" But why a sun and moon ? " " They say it is their way of keeping the labyrinth from going even higher we have had a few descenders talk about it however most of our tribes don't know such confidential information "
" Because of the risk right ? " " Yes " Lily recalls the extent of the magnetic field distortion wondering if the Labyrinth's influence extends even further " No information about the descenders ? "
" They insist that we fly to the sky on our own and inform us of the higher sky being devoid of air to breathe because the labyrinth uses intense gravity to capture all the air "
' That must be why Hasst is much slower I barely noticed it , although he hasn't asked me anything yet probably still thinking of a question ' " Tell me about that ancestral dragons " " It's gonna be a long story "
" We have a lot of time for that you might be able to say it to me as a bedtime story , Argus " Hugo was surprised to see that Lily was serious about going to sleep and lying in bed with a blanket .
" Then starting it would be from our world , it is unlike this world it has air everywhere no matter how far you fly out there is some air to breathe but the most important thing is the dragons " Lily watched a screen which was translating Hugo's thoughts to a visible image .
" They woke up at our land and communicated with us leaving their offspring to our care " She watched a giant eye communicate with a lone human .
" We learned how to understand the dragons and they became our family when we took care of them and later their offsprings too , more ancestral dragons came to the land to protect us and ask for our help in caring their offsprings after flying out of the stars from which they had hatched "
Eventually , she sees darkness " Until our enemies came , they didn't like the dragons and summoned the will of the labyrinth and forced us to this world along with the ancestral dragons we never knew who they were and according to our very old history the ancestral dragons were the landmass that covered the world's core "
She sees an image of a group of people and a bright sphere wrapped by dragons which are slowly fading " We believed that maybe the blessing was meant to be used so that they can use the world's core for themselves but our science isn't advance enough to imagine it "
" So are these ancestral dragons asleep in your settlements ? " " No that won't be possible according to our sources it's hibernation rather than sleep " " Hmm that's so " " Yes " Hugo watched Lily get up " You weren't going to sleep " " I would but I just finished eating "
" Do you have more questions to ask ? " " Yes I am amazed by how much you know " " It's my position as one of the superior figures that decide these things , My ancestors had to investigate a lot on how to escape the Labyrinth " " That much I understand and when you say escape you mean the sky right ? "
" Yes we plan to awaken the ancestral dragon to take us to the skies " " That's very interesting " a screen appears beside Lily " So is that why the Labyrinth is in such a hurry to kill the ancestral dragon ? " " Yes " Hugo didn't understand what the map was as they could never fly high enough to map it .
" Your world alone is interesting but is this the last ancestral dragon ? " " The body is the last one at least " " What do you mean ? " Lily was curious because she could see the progression rate .
" The ancestral dragons have very great abilities to carry not just several masses on their bodies but also souls it does burden the body but this way they can simultaneously fly without getting mentally tired "
Lily became interested in this ability comparing it to how dolphins sleep " But the problem is you are losing right ? " " Yes " " And you also need to feed the dragon's body " " That's right "
" Then I'll help you " Lily shows a map of the dragon riders that shows islands all lining up in a line at her island's northwest , here circular islands and a distant land by the south .
" We already discussed getting my food supplier over here , I might proceed for the others but it looks like food isn't just the only problem right ? " Hugo was glad how well this talk was " There are several mazes who are corrupting parts of the only ancestral dragon "
" Like what ? " " Her wings are being trapped in the waters which is hard to reach and there is an egg which she is trying to protect even though it's not going to hatch but they insist on protecting it "
' so that should be this giant island that doesn't line up but how long should it usually take for an egg to hatch ' " All of your people live in these islands other than the egg , these lined up islands should make the back of the ancestral dragon right ? "
" Yes " " Huh you're world is very interesting , it'll be a shame to watch you lose it all so I'll give you some of my subordinates they'll follow you to this island " " Is it fine if I'm the only one going ? " " Sure you only need to deliver one person anyways "
' What kind of person would I be delivering ? Considering that she wants this place she calls her food supplier there have to be many things in this land to bring I can't imagine the time and resources needed to move this island ' " Can I ask the specific ability when you say they can shorten distances right ? "
" Yes but I think it'll be hard to explain it to someone who doesn't have a proper understanding of the sciences I know " " It's fine , I'll try my best " " Then just know that she can control land although now that you said that your only way to go to the sky is your land , I would like to make sure I don't bump into your last hope and destroy it in the worst case scenario "
A map appears in front of Hugo " If it's this far down south I doubt you would bump into our dragon moreover I don't sense the body from here " " Perfect then you'll be taking Terra tomorrow I'll prepare a place for you to stay for the night but you still have plenty of time I'd even say you're hour isn't up yet "
" So we can still strengthen our knowledge of each other ? " " Yes you've answered plenty but I know this trick , you try to satisfy me as much as you can and you are already aware of the criteria of the quality of information you provide , you told me about your world and this "
Argus compiles the information presenting it to Lily " You have given me plenty of information , both valuable and confidential , the descenders who advise your people to come up on your own I am interested in the skies but that doesn't mean much to me "
Hugo became wary as Lily started taking hold of their conversation " You wished to go to the skies to escape the Labyrinth but I don't think it is a very good idea , I understand that but I don't like the way these descenders do things " Hugo senses Lily's caution the source coming from her experience .
" They sound a lot like the people in my world they would give standards for a position of power but that position has more responsibility than it looks , so be careful with those descenders Hugo "
Lily looks up at the stars and sun " Cause those distant stars and planets are probably the predecessors of the current descenders " Hugo wonders how Lily knows this and asked " Why do you assume that ? "
Lily looked at Hugo and smiled Hugo suddenly started to see more than just a little girl he thought was dangerous . The pressure started to rise and he started to shake looking at her .
" Even though I'm practically poison and my poison creates change which is what I use , you already know my poison can be used to enhance the strength of a person making a small space bigger inside and Terra who can move land there's no reason for one of them to see beyond their sight "
" So you have that kind of ability ? " Lily smiled looking at Hugo shaking in fear from her decision to show more of herself " Yes and you'll have to get used to it " Lily took a seat and the pressure that Hugo felt disappeared .
" Looks like you have helped me connect a few other information I acquired on my own you are still allowed to ask me more especially that question you have been thinking "
Hugo opens his mouth and lets the microphone record it and translates it to Lily ' Many outcasts that arrive in our world are always hesitant about bringing back their past so this is a rare opportunity ' the translator sounded " Do you know why people sent you to this world ? "
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