The Moonlight Swordsman

Aizel sat motionlessly on the floor, somewhat apart from his other slaves, since he had nothing better to do with his time.

He hadn't anticipated that the slaves were the contraband being smuggled to the beast kingdom.

Nonetheless, interfering at this time would have been inappropriate. 

He didn't want to cause further difficulties now that a noble family was already involved.

Sekki, these chains are also for the mages. But I can still use my core, as I am kind of special."

[We can easily break out at any time if the problems arrive then, Master]

Yes and alo...

"Let's move now, it's time," Suddenly the door opened, and the chubby fat man ordered.

Getting to their feet, the whole group stood in a line and left the room. Aizel, taking up the rear, moved silently, keenly observing his surroundings.

When they arrived at the dock, a ship of medium size was waiting for them. The crew looked suspiciously like bandits and pirates. 

The chubby man oversaw the slaves as they climbed on the ship one by one. 

The ship sailed away from the coast of the Felgura Kingdom one hour later.

As the ship sailed across the great ocean toward the faraway kingdom of beasts, the moon rose high in the night sky, lighting it with its silvery light. 

Trapped within the confines of a cage, slaves were huddled together on the ship. 

Aizel counted twenty-five or thirty bandits among the crew. From what he could see, the plump guy was in charge of this crew of sailors.

The chubby guy was yelling orders and keeping a tight rein on the crew, while Aizel watched.

[It will take a long time; should we practice till then, Master?]

Yes, in a dream loop. Let's start first with exploring the imagination capabilities at Grade III, and after that, the arcane magic circuit."

Aizel curled up in a fetal position in one corner of the cage and let himself fall into a deep sleep. 

In his mind, he and Sekki began a dream loop, exploring the depths of Grade III mental core imagination. 

In this dream loop, he spent a decade perfecting his skills, practicing in countless different situations while meticulously noting achievements at the Grade III level.

Aizel then moved on to practicing magic circuits and tried again and again to replicate the complex designs. 

However, each endeavor ended in failure or became entangled in complex configurations.

The challenge lay in the intricate dance of managing mana and navigating the lines of the magic circuit.

For Aizel, each day followed the same dull pattern.

He would rouse himself only to grab a meal and make a brief trip to the ship's bathroom.

Unrelenting training within the dream loop took up the rest of his time. The chubby leader observed Aizel's daily activities with growing bewilderment. 

He had heard tales about Aizel, the gifted mage who had won the interkingdom fight, and how rare he was—a triple-core mage.

But all that was visible was a rather lazy man going about his daily business of eating, pooping, and sleeping.

Maybe this is also some kind of high-level training for him," The chubby man thought.

It took them around two weeks to get to the Beast Kingdom after they took a few detours. The ship finally anchored at the port nestled within the seafolk area.

Umm... this brings back some memories," Aizel thought. 

He trailed behind the group of slaves, following the chubby man as they disembarked from the ship and reached the port.

The carriages were prepared to carry them. In sequence, everyone boarded the carriages, and the journey commenced.

Aizel had no idea where they were going or when they were getting sold. 

He needed to be patient and come up with a solid escape strategy.

His focus lingered on gathering information about the regions, particularly the Dragon region, the region where the beast fairies are found.

They arrived at their destination after a day of traveling. 

Numerous members of a wolf-like race were visible to Aizel, suggesting their arrival in the Wolferins region.

Within a large mansion teeming with Wolferins, Aizel suddenly observed three finely attired individuals advancing toward the chubby man.

One of them sniffed the air, ensuring it was safe.

"Is this everyone?" the enormous Wolferin in the middle inquired as he stepped forward.

"Hoho, yes yes, that's all for now. The rest of the thing you can discuss with my master later," The chubby man replied, there were some beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Grrww... You can leave." The Wolferin growled and ordered,

"It was my pleasure; now I will take my leave." The chubby man replied and quickly left the mansion in a hurry. 

"Rejoice, you human; you now belong to our princess," the Wolferin declared.

Slaves were silently led into the mansion, although Aizel was not one of them.

He had discreetly left the premises with the chubby man, traveling alongside him in the carriage.

At the Grade III level, he could become invisible, which he noticed lasted for at least ten minutes. 

"So now tell me, where is the Dragon region," He suddenly spoke, which surprised and shocked the chubby man. 

"You.. but how and when did you arrive here?" The Chubby man asked.

"Magic... now don't waste my time."

The chubby man, still in shock, reached for a handkerchief and used it to wipe away the sweat from his forehead.

"Right now we are in the Wolferin region. The southern left part of the kingdom. The Dragon region is in the middle, which is one of the largest regions in the Kingdom."

"Hmm.... how much time will it take for me to reach there?" Aizel asked.

"With carriage, around three days," The chubby man replied quickly.

"Good, now step outside of the carriage and leave this one for me,"

"ahh.. sure." 

The chubby man quickly signaled for the carriage to stop and told the driver to head towards the Dragon region. 

He swiftly switched to another carriage trailing behind, making his way towards the seafolk region.

"Well, finally we are alone. It wasn't that difficult,"

[Invisibility really helps a lot]

"Yes, but we can still be detected by a high-level mage."

"Now once we are in the dragon region, we will use the magic crystal and talk with the person who is going to help us."

[I still don't trust that bitch.]

"There is nothing we can do now. I will also try calling Grandmaster Gogo later; I hope we can meet him."

[Yes, it would be fun.]

They finally arrived at the Dragon region's heart after three days of nonstop carriage travel. 

The landscape underwent a staggering metamorphosis.

The air was heavy with increased humidity, which clung to everything it came into contact with, adding to the already dense heat.

Over an enormous, desolate landscape, the relentless sun threw lengthy shadows. Parched dirt formed a mosaic as the ground split under their feet due to the extreme dryness of the area.

The landscape became more rugged as they ventured deeper, with towering mountains crowned with jagged peaks that stretched toward the sky like sentinels of stone. 

The jagged shapes of these natural fortresses testify to the severe beauty that characterized the Dragon region as if they were standing guard over it.

The scorching winds whispered old stories—stories of dragons that had once flown across this sky. 

Damn it, this is shit," Aizel commented.

Having distanced himself from the carriage, Aizel found himself amidst a desolate jungle on the outskirts of the city. 

In contrast to the muted sky, the heavy and dry trees stood tall, their branches extending like skeleton fingers. There was little greenery, and an eerie quietness pervaded the deserted terrain.

Here in the remote bush, Aizel was ready to use the magic crystal to communicate with the person. 

Taking the red magic crystal out of his possession, Aizel imbued it with mana. After a successful connection, the crystal emitted a soft glow and a faint vibration as a response.

In the ensuing moments, a peculiar silence hung between Aizel and the unseen recipient on the other end. 

It appeared like there was a silent standoff going on, with both sides waiting for the other to say something.

Aizel took the lead after a short hesitation. He said, "Hello," 

"You are not the princess," the person replied.

"I am her personal royal mage, sent by her here."

Aizel was momentarily unsettled when he did not receive a prompt response.

He began to wonder if something was wrong with the prolonged silence. Finally, after a minute, the individual responded.

"Stay there, don't move," and the connection ended.

[Master, I don't feel good about this. What should we do now?]

"Let's just wait here. We can still connect with the princess. If the situation becomes dire, we will escape,"

After lingering in anticipation for half an hour, a subtle shift in the air caught his attention.

Raising his head, he beheld a colossal black dragon soaring toward him. Its sheer magnitude momentarily caused Aizel to break into a nervous sweat.

[This is bad, this is bad. Master we should escape]

"We.....can't"

*ROAAAAARRR*