Master of Myths

Once every dwarf was eliminated Ellis came to the vehicle YuJu was in with her blade marred and her face a little sour

"What exactly are these Dreneonates?"

Wanting to get her mind off the massacre she asked, looking at the cat-sized dragons who were burping left and right

"These little beasts are semi-dragons, they are super rare to get, each one costs a fortune around here, if you find someone willing to part with them that is"

"Then how come there are so many? And why did we kill all those…"

There were over three dozen alive and over a two hundred them dead in the cages

Instead of answering her he gave a question of his own while fiddling around with the weird cranks and crystals acting as the operating system of the machine

"Where can you find rare creatures in massive groups"

It took her a couple of seconds to think but she couldn't come up with a place in mind, after all other than earth everything else was new...

"Earth? I mean, a new world opening up?"

"Indeed, these little ones are from a nearby world that's been opened up for less than a month, that place was filled with only Dreneonates since everything else was killed by them in their bid for power, even the resources needed to unleash their true strength was expanded by them until none could hope to become stronger"

"..."

No matter how she looked at it these cute tiny baby dragons looked nothing like mad annihilators

"Sadly not everyone knew of their value and they saw them as easy hunting targets which resulted in their world being wiped clean, only some races with a little culture of ores knew how to tap into these guys real power, these dwarfs for example"

"But why did we kill them then?"

That question became even more prominent after knowing all this

"Didn't I just tell you their world has been open for less than a month? Double exp for killing its occupants"

Bling!

Light filled the crowded space and the machine started moving again, he had successfully got it working

"Get some sleep while I drive to the mines, from there you will get little time to rest some you should make the best of what you have now"

Though many more question bothered her, like why did he kill all these precious beasts when he could farm somewhere else, but those questions could wait, her slumber could not

"Awu?"

"You sleep as well little one"

"Wu~"

She nudged against his thighs before drowsily taking her spot next to Ellis and quickly falling asleep

While the two visited the land of dreams he set the trajectory to the big mines that would be his next stop and left it to bulldozer it's way through the land as he took his time to get a few of the kegs from the corner and start pouring the foamy liquid into the Dreneonate's bowls, these guys needed to stay drunk else he would be facing the might of a couple dozen beasts whos level jus reached the triple digits

"Its amusing to think you'd be on our side now"

Gazing at the funny looking ones he reminisced of the past, times when these guys were already transformed into their horrible true forms by the giant dwarfs who managed to not only get them all strengthened but also tame the stubborn beasts

"You were such a nuisance to deal with"

The land was ravaged war following the dwarf's declaration of rule, little to no creatures remained in small groups and only the factions survived, even Hortus didn't manage to get through the event unscathed

Among the many casualties during that time was half of the human race's elites, they were so weak at that time the only thing to be done was hide and pray the flying disaster passed them

"Hehe, it was so ironic what happened back then"

One of the members of the weak human race was exactly the person to slice the commander's head off with a single attack, the very same chief who he killed just now, history repeated itself once more only at a much earlier date

"You'll be the bastion of humanity this time, serve us well for all those lives you took"

He wasn't one of the vanguards of humanity anymore but he wouldn't abandon his race just like that, even if he used them and sacrificed them as he willed he still believed they held great potential

"Hic!"

One of the mini dragons burped, spewing fire in doing so and almost burning is face if he hadn't moved away quickly enough

"...I'll remember you"

For ruining his moment he took the little burper's shape to memory, there will be hell when its training came

…..

It felt like a while before the machine stopped moving, the disappearance of constant bumping caused the two sleepers to stir awake, looking around confused until they found their master carrying the cages out

"Get up you two and go fetch those cages and kegs, we're getting off"

Ellis hurried to get up and put a few kegs on her back and roll the others out while Anput cutely yawned while commanding sand to move all the cages out at once

Outside there was no more forest for a few miles and only rocks around here, it seemed they skipped quite the distance in their sleep

"We are getting off here?"

Spotting nothing in the place but cold hard rocks she wondered why they were leaving the comfort of the vehicle

"Master"

Hearing no response she turned to the side to see no one in her vicinity, only a trail of sand leading down a hole

"What are you waiting for? Come on down"

His voice echoed from the darkness, since he was down there she could only shrug and jump to follow

It was a long silent slide with only a soft crashing sound before she saw light again, it came so suddenly that she was blinded and couldn't see the cages, crashing into them harshly

"Ugh, why leave the..cages…"

The sight left her in awed silence, her mouth unable to close just like the hound who was still staring admirably at the place

A grotto lit by stones and glowing flowers with a small river running through it as well as the waterfall in the distance crashing down on the ground to produce a satisfying harmonious sound that fit the swaying field of colourful flowers around it, it was a place untouched by man or beast, a place of solitude

"What...is this place"

"It's just a natural mine that has no visitors, the place was a wasteland before that no one visited so it had enough decades to grow abundant with vegetation"

"It's so beautiful, like a painting out of one's imagination"

Anput nodded in agreement but he didn't think so, this was only normal compared to the miracle gardens he saw at Hortus

"We're going to leave Anput here with the Dreneonates and head out to our destination alone"

"Were leaving Anput?"

"Not for long, the place we are going to she can't enter, this is the safest place I could think for the meantime so there should be no problem, now, let's relocate the little beasts somewhere far away from the ores, wouldn't want them suddenly snapping out of their drunken spree now would we"

Ellis started moving the kegs next to the waterfall once again while the sad Anput used her sand to move the cages over there as well, trying not to contaminate the water or hurt the flowers while she was at it, the sight was too beautiful to be turned into a desert

"Affuu!"

One of the earthy looking Dreneonates sneezed because of the sand causing the sound to echo through the cave loudly, but this went ignored by them except for Ellis who replied 'bless you' in a small voice

Shake...Shake….

"...."

"...."

"...."

"....."

Someone wanted to give the little guy some attention though and started making his way to them slowly

Whether it was YuJu, Ellis, Anput, or the guilty little beast everyone looked toward the far end of the cave where the ground was shaking, indicating the approach of something probably big and heavy, but most importantly, troublesome