Two men rested against the quarry's entrance. Enjoying their lunch break as their co-workers went about their day, hauling iron and coal out by railcar, and dumping the ore into the back of a cart. The one on the left downed a cup of water and smacked his lips, while his friend bit into the sandwich his wife made for him that morning. Satisfied with their comfortable silence, the two of them continued to enjoy one another's company.

At least they would have if hadn't started raining out of nowhere. The man on the left gave the sky a weird look, and said, "The sky was clear the last time I checked."

Nodding, the other man stared up at the sudden rain clouds over head. He hummed and went back to enjoying his meal, only for a violent gust of wind to rip it from his hands. He watched in horror as the sandwich was thrown through the air, "What the fuck!"

The wind only grew fiercer after his exclamation. The both of them had to hold onto their bench as it began blowing them out of their seats. Their fellow miners had to cling to their full cart as the wind started dragging them off their feet.

A thunderous boom drew their eyes skyward. The both of them could only stare up at the sky in horror as a scarlet, violet comet descended from the heavens. A piece of debris racked the man on the left, causing him to swing and collided with his friend. The last thing they felt before losing consciousness, was the feeling of a helping hand drawing them away from a horrifically other worldly screech.

-0-

"Hey!"

Dawn pushed the gate aside as he left the castle, and held it open for the rest of his companions to follow him. His attention still on the child nipping at his heels. She strangely reminded him of a puppy, and the way her ribbon in her hair sat only made his subconscious comparison all the more accurate.

She frowned at him, and crossed her arms; waiting for him to properly acknowledge her existence. He decided to let her stew, and began making his way to what looked like the library in the distance. Ace came up beside him with Mia in tow, still keeping hold of the terrified cat girl.

The palico's eyes moved back and forth, from person to person, always lingering on their lower half. His gaze dropped to his legs, and then Mia's. He grimaced, and then turned to look at Estrid, before finally turning to the hunter.

"Hey Dawn," Ace nudged with his free paw, "I just realized that I don't have pants."

Dawn's stride came to a halt, "Do you need pants?", He stared down at the felyne, "Your legs are completely covered in fur."

"Yeah, but…", Ace turned to look at Mia. The girl seemed to have calmed down, but was still acting strangely around the little girl near her. He made a mental note to ask her about that later, but his focus was on her legs at the moment.

"Mia, can I look at your legs?", Ace shook Mia's paw.

"Yes!", Her expression made an immediate about phase, "But I don't think we should do it here."

"Not that!", Ace shouted, "I want to look at your knees. I think I just noticed something."

"Oh.", She nodded and lifted a knee to start bending at him, while making sure to give him a full view of her thighs, and accentuating her femininity before his scrutinizing gaze. A lustful look in her eyes, and a smug grin on her face. She still refused to let go of his paw, even as they got uncomfortably close, for Ace at least. A nosy passing family took notice of the interaction; they proceeded to quickly cover their children's eyes, and immediately moved to get away from the scene.

Ignoring her and the people watching them, he held her leg by the knee, and began observing the structure despite how they looked. Mia didn't make it any better as she hooked an arm around his neck, and gave him a suggestive look. Tatsuo moved to stand in front of Mimil as Mia began purring.

"Hey!", Mimil huffed, "Don't get close to me, monster."

"I'm just protecting your innocence," he waved his paws, "look the other way, and cover your ears just in case."

"What!", She cocked her head at him.

Ace pushed Mia off of him, while still holding onto her paw, and took a look at his own legs. He gave a small gasp, and gestured for the hunter to look at him, "Dawn, look."

Dawn got to one knee, and began observing Ace and Mia's legs. Mia's knees bent the same way a normal human's would, while Ace's bent in an opposite direction. Ace's fur covered the entirety of his legs, but Mia's only covered her calves. While he appeared far more felyne with human like traits; Mia appeared more human with felyne like traits. Dawn's gaze moved to Ace's face in curiosity, and got back to his feet.

"Do you still have your whiskers?", He asked.

"Let me check.", Ace took off his helmet for the second time sinse coming to this world, and felt the sides of his face. He ran his paw along his cheek before finding the almost invisible streaks of a hair. They were still there, but nigh invisible to the eye. He turned to Mia, and began searching her face for whiskers as well.

"Oh.", She leaned in as Ace caressed her cheek.

"Stop that.", Ace lightly slapped her, and started feeling the other side of her face. She giggled, seemingly forgetting about the hero nearby. Ace frowned and turned to Dawn, "She doesn't have any."

"Then I suppose you and Tatsuo are not just werecats," he cupped his chin in thought, "perhaps you two could be considered variants… subspecies… maybe deviants… we'll look into it later. Let's just head to the library for now."

"But I still need pants.", Ace complained, "Having normal felyne legs doesn't mean that I don't need pants. I'm practically naked."

Dawn stared down at the palico, and the Ace stared back up at the hunter. They stayed there in complete awkward silence, as the rest of their companions and Mimil watched in confusion.

"Fine.", Dawn relented, "Mimil?"

"Finally," the little girl groaned, "took you long enough. Now, how about…"

"Mimil," Dawn pointed at Ace, "go with Ace, and he'll explain the Healing Horn, while he's looking for pants."

The child glared at the hunter and then at Ace, before sighing, and calling for the palico to follow her, "Come on furball! I know a clothier!"

Ace gave Dawn a weary look, and only received the emotionless expression of the Helios helm. His eyes, though technically impossible, grew in size as he gave a silent plea for company besides Mia. Dawn sighed, "Shizuka?"

"Yes?", She slithered up next to Dawn, a loving smile painting her face. As Ace nodded and started dragging Mia after the young hero.

"Can you please go with Ace and Mia? Just to make sure they don't get into trouble… well, too much trouble, at least.", Dawn asked.

Shizuka's smile faltered, but returned with gusto, "I can do that, but", she began whispering, "Estrid and I want to ask you something; it's about last night. If she brings it up, just please wait to come to a decision when I'm around."

Dawn crossed his arms, but reluctantly agreed to her request. He had a bad feeling that whatever they wanted to talk with him about would involve more 'paydays', and not just for Estrid this time around. Shizuka beamed, and took a look around them to make sure no one was looking. She leaned in and adeptly lifted the hunter's helmet. Revealing the hunter's startled expression, and quickly moved in for a peck on the cheek before following after the werecats.

As the bunyip raced after the palico slash werecat duo, she quickly waved at the hunter, and joined the second group. Tatsuo stood next to Dawn, and shrugged, "I should join them. I don't think Shizuka will be able to keep those two from causing a scene."

The hunter nodded, and gestured for the chef to follow after them. He turned to Estrid, "Are you coming with me, or would you like to join the pants brigade too?"

Estrid glare softened as she moved to stand beside him, "As fun as shopping for pants sounds, I'd rather be with you."

"Are you sure?", Dawn chuckled, "I think you could go for something else, other than overalls and leather straps."

She smirked, "Nope, my overalls are part of my company uniform. I can't change into anything else, on the job, not until I'm married at least. At that point I can wear whatever my husband wants me too."

"Yeah…", Dawn started walking again, "I've been meaning to ask you about that."

'We we're going to do that.', Estrid mused, "What about em?"

"What is a husband to a mamono?", He asked, "Are they your people's mates, or is it more complex than that?"

Estrid went silent as she contemplated Dawn's question. On one hand, he was correct to assume that their husbands were their mates, but on the other hand, there was still more to it than just sex. Her expression darkened as she sighted a normal human couple shy away from them. Her unconscious glare only made them pick up the pace, 'How would I know?'

Estrid's silence and physical reaction to seeing the couple bothered the hunter. He nudged her shoulder with the back of his knuckle. Seemingly drawing her out of her stupor, and causing a small, embarrassed blush to grow across her face. She struggled to form an answer, "A mamono's husband is… more… much more, but…"

"Estrid.", Dawn stopped her. She turned to look at the hunter as he removed his helmet. A sympathetic smirk and his hand on her shoulder gave her some sense of reassurance as she gathered herself. She swallowed her embarrassment and said, "I don't know what a husband really is, in all honesty, but I know they mean more to mamono.", She turned away as she whispered, "More than their husband could possibly imagine."

"I see.", Dawn put his helmet back on, and took in the city around him.

The city was surprisingly quiet, especially quite considering how many people they were passing. They seemed to quiet down as they passed, children playing in the street dropped everything and moved to get away from them after their parents called for them, civilians talking amongst themselves turned to whisper to one another as Estrid's glare fell on them. In fact the only person making any noise, at all, was the young man struggling to move four full crates of food in the same direction as the library.

Dawn, seeing an opportunity, picked up one of the crates, "Need help with that?"

Startled, but still focused on pushing the crates, the young man replied, "Oh, yeah! That would be great! I need to get these to Miss Fullmoon's orphanage. It's just down the road."

"Alright," Dawn nodded, "Estrid can you grab one too?"

"Oh! There's more of you?", He finally looked up to see the hunter, and his minotaur companion. His once jovial demeanor dropped, "Oh shit!"

Estrid glared down at the young man, but did pick up the crate as Dawn asked. She said nothing, and moved to stand beside the hunter. The young man could only gape at the mamono before him, and then at the hunter himself. He tried collecting his thoughts, "I-I… I um…"

"Hunter!", A voice called out.

All three of them turned to see Wilmarina running to catch up with them. A hand on her sword's hilt, and a map in the other. She came to a halt in front of them, and took notice of the young man gaping like a fish, "Elt, what are you doing here?"

"I-I-I'm just trying to bring these crates to Miss Fullmoon's," Elt replied, "and the hunter and his… friend asked me if I needed help."

"Okay," she came over beside Elt, and picked up the third crate. A slight blush grew across her face as she asked, "How about I help you with that as well… I need to speak with the hunter anyway."

"Uh," Elt gave the hero a wide berth in surprise, as he picked up the last crate, "sure?"

-0-

Mimil Milte didn't know what to think of this Hunter's Guild. On one hand, they had no issue with working with the Demon Lord's creations, and on the other hand; they offered incredible technology like the Healing Horn. It reminded her of the time she had to work with a gremlin during her stay at the Magitech Academy.

She held the horn in her hands, and turned it over to look at the instruments mouth. It was just as the male werecat described: encrusted green crystals and markings, she supposed, were the required etchings to activate the horn. She went to blow the horn, but was stopped by the male so he could make sure the blowing end was clean.

This werecat perplexed her as well. He was male to start off, and the fact that he didn't share his apparent 'mate's' lust was also something of interest. He and the other male, that decided to tag along, only stood about two inches taller than herself. She grew more and more curious about these strange monsters as she took notice of the growing list of differences between them and the average demon spawn.

"Here you go.", The orange werecat gave her the horn back.

"How will I know if it works?", She brought the item to her mouth. As soon as she started blowing the horn, a faint sense of warmth swelled up within her. Mimil stopped blowing when she saw glowing green notes start to dance around her, "What are those?"

Ace wasn't paying her any mind as he started pulling up his pants, and trying to tie the belt around his waist. The female came up close to him, and started wrapping the belt through the loops before pulling them back to his front. The only female werecat, Mimil believed she heard them refer to her as Mia, gave her 'mate' a sly smile as she helped him with his belt. Ace grumbled before begrudgingly taking her paw once more.

Mimil turned to the eastern looking werecat sitting on the tail of what she believed to be a bunyip, "You," he turned to look at her, "what were those green symbols, that just appeared?"

"Um," he shrugged, "I wouldn't know."

She groaned, "What about the crystals, then. Where do they come from?"

He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "They come from ore deposits, but I don't know where exactly."

She stared into the mouth of the horn, "Okay, I'll ask the hunter later," she glared at the felyne, "but I have another question, one that even you should be capable of answering."

"You are really well spoken for a little girl," her glare was accompanied by a scowl, "I mean, yeah sure."

Sighing the young hero handed the orange felyne back his horn, "What are you?"

The chef quirked his brow, and looked to the palico for assistance. Seeing that he wasn't getting any, he answered, "We're Lynians," her scorn changed to confusion, "more specifically felynes. We're basically a variation of our world's beastmen, and we didn't really look this human back home."

"Are you demons?", She inspected the chef's cat features from a distance, "You two don't act like the other… baser monsters."

"What's that supposed to mean?", the furry lamia asked, not sure if she should be offended or not.

Patting the bunyip on the back, the male turned to her, "No, we're not demons," her surprise begged him to continue, "we are by a technicality a monster species, but so are humans and wyvernians if we start splitting hairs."

"So, your world doesn't have a Demon Lord?", She cupped her chin as a fascinated grin grew across her face, "Tell me more!"

"I'm sure Dawn could give you a proper run down." He scooted away from the suddenly close hero, "I can only really explain the best way to turn a spit to purroperly cook the purrrrfect well done steak, while adding natural ingredients you could find pretty much anywhere to create…"

The young hero silenced him by grabbing ahold of the werecat's shoulders, "Tell me everything!"

The people of Lescatie could hardly believe their eyes as the greatest mind sinse King Castor, the first himself, relentlessly badgered a monster of all things about every little thing that came to mind. Some even took notice of a certain half-elf following after Mimil as she and the rest of the monster made their way to the city library.

-0-

"What did you need Wilmarina?", Dawn asked as he quite effortlessly carried the crate in his off hand.

The hero handed him a map as she too carried the crate with her off hand, "I'm supposed to act as your escort around Lescatie. Just to make sure you and your… companions feel welcome in the city."

Dawn took a look around at the frightened populace before adding, "No offense, but I'd rather not stay in Order territory for too long. I don't believe your people will take to our presence anytime soon."

Wilmarina blushed in embarrassment as she realized just how quite the area had actually gotten. She looked to Elt to see that even he was on edge from the hunter and the minotaur's presence. She suppressed a gulp, 'I'm a hero… I need to do something about this.', with determination in her eyes she faced the hunter, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to bring out peoples together."

"Sure, you will.", Dawn turned his attention from the deflating hero to the young man in front of him, "What happened here?"

Elt stumbled, almost dropping the crate in the process, as he realized that the hunter was talking to him, "Uh, what do you mean… Mr. Hunter… sir?"

Dawn sighed and gestured with his free hand, "This part of the city doesn't look like it hasn't had any maintenance in years. Is there a reason why?"

"Well," Elt shuffled beneath his own crate, "we're in the poorer side of Lescatie. This place doesn't get much attention in the court, after Sir Nelius never came back from his crusade in Reinhold."

"And no one wanted to take his place?", Dawn asked.

The conversation seemed to have calmed the young man's nerves, "His brother is trying too, but now that we know Nelius is alive…"

"I see.", Dawn nodded.

Wilmarina sighed, and noticed that the minotaur was practically walking beside her. The monster was easily a foot taller than herself, which was just a tad shorter that the hunter himself. The minotaur glared at everything around her, and for whatever reason she avoided looking at her in particular. She watched in dismay as the people edge away in fear as the monster's gaze passed over them.

"What's wrong with the monster?", Wilmarina asked.

"You can ask her yourself," the hunter glanced at her, "and that 'monster's' name is Estrid by the way."

Wilmarina frowned and whispered, "I told you that I can't talk to monsters."

The hunter ignored her. The minotaur, Estrid, glanced at her, but was quick to look away when she noticed. Wilmarina suppressed a sigh and whispered to the monster, making sure no one else could hear her, "Why are you glaring at everything? You're scaring people."

Her glare finally came to rest on her, but she refused to look her in the eye. She grimaced, "My eyes cause me to get," she paused as she tried to figure out the best way to explain it, "they bother me in ways I don't want to talk about. I spent a lot of time in my room back in Reinhold, because of it. And now my eyesight has a hard time adjusting to the light, so I glare when I don't mean too. Colors get really bright whenever I see them during the day."

"So, why wont you look at me?", Wilmarina moved closer.

"Red in particular, bothers me.", She finished.

Wilmarina peered at Estrid's eyes, and quickly realized what she meant. She whispered an apology, and shuffled away from her.

Elt came to a stop beside the Fullmoon Orphanage, and carefully set the crate of food beside the doorway. He knocked on the door and called, "Sasha can you let me in!", He glanced at the others, "I brought help by the way!"

There was short scuffle, the only sound beside their voices they have heard for a while now, and the muffled sound of murmuring from someone coming to the entrance. The door swung open to reveal a woman with long green hair, dressed in a blue and white habit, followed by a number of children peaking out the doorway beside her.

"Oh my," Sasha hurried down the steps and gave Elt a hug, "thank you Elt. I was just about to start dinner when I realized that we were out of food."

She released Elt to take a look at the crate, but upon seeing the hunter, a minotaur, and Wilmarina of all people standing off to the side. She didn't know how to react, so surprised by the sight of the rumored man from another world, and actually seeing an actual mamono within Order walls only furthered her shock.

She wasn't given much time to collect herself as the children ran out of the orphanage to cling to Elt. Some grabbed onto his hands trying to get him to join in their games, others simply wanted to hug their older brother figure. Their shouting drew more attention from the homeless people casually sitting off to the side in another alleyway, as well as the other people living in the area.

When the children finally caught sight of the two foreigners, they had already drawn Elt half-way up the steps. One boy ran up to Dawn and yelled, "Wow mister, you look really weird!"

Sasha moved to discipline the child for his rudeness, but was interrupted by another. A toddler this time around had found her way behind Estrid, and had started playing with her tail. The minotaur herself humored the little girl, and gently moved her tail to play with her nose. Causing the child to sneeze, fall on her butt, and then giggle as the blush tickled her neck.

Another little boy had wound up behind Dawn in the confusion and began rubbing his hands on the Great Sword, while the hunter wasn't looking. Feeling the random pushing on his weapon, the hunter carefully moved to avoid hurting the child with the razor's edge. He took the Great Sword off his back, and set it beside him before kneeling in front of the child, "You shouldn't touch that. You could hurt yourself."

The child gave him a goofy grin, and started playing with his helmet's visor, "Doggy."

Sasha sighed, and with but a single snap of her fingers she silenced the children. They quickly gathered back into the orphanage with some of them waving at the hunter and minotaur. Sasha forced a smile, "Hello, and thank you for helping Elt. My name is Sasha Fullmoon, and I would like to welcome you to Lescatie.", The hunter gave her a silent nod, while Estrid scooped up the toddler by her hooves.

Both Elt and Wilmarina gaped at how careful the minotaur was with the child. Estrid slowly crept towards Sasha, fearing that the veteran hero would smite her. She winced and held out the giggling little girl. Sasha, though surprised, took the child into her arms, and smiled at the mamono.

"Would you two like to come in for dinner?", She asked as she set the toddler by the door, and gently pushed her in, "It's the least we could do."

Dawn glanced at the people gaping at them, and hesitated, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Sasha too glanced at the people watching them, and waved away his concerns, "Oh, think nothing of them," she took the hunter and the minotaur by the hand, and started guiding them in, "you two went out of your way to bring our groceries. It would be rude to turn you away."

Wilmarina could only stand there in morbid fascination as she watched a veteran hero, a woman she looks up too, slowly pull a monster and a giant of a man into her orphanage.

So shocked by the sight, she only just now notices the sudden feeling of a cat paw tugging on her arm. She cautiously turned to see Mimil, and the rest of the monsters that made up the hunter's party coming up from behind her. She blinked in surprise, and rubbed eyes when she saw that Mimil was also sitting a top the tail of the furry lamia beside the foreign werecat.

"Yo, Noscrim girl", Ace walked up to her, "have you seen Dawn around? We went to the library, but they were closed."

She blinked again, and pointed at the orphanage behind her. The werecat shrugged, "Thanks!", and walked right on by. The female holding onto his paw edged away from the hero, but she and the rest of the monsters followed Ace into Sasha's home.

The sudden sound of Sasha exclamation, and their eventual conversation drew Wilmarina back into reality. Elt called from one of the windows, "Wilmarina, are you coming?", She merely blinked at him, before running up the steps to join them for dinner as well. She was starving after such a ridiculously long day.

-0-

"Cha-cha wins!", The young shakalaka roared.

"Keep it down Cha-cha," Chloe whispered, "you'll wake them."

Cha-cha sat himself back down, and rubbed away the tic-tac-toe board they made from Chloe's claw marks. He grabbed his sides, trying to control his joy, "Play again?"

"Sure," Chloe began drawing the board again, making sure to muffle the sound with her other paw. She didn't want to wake her sisters and Kayamba. She finished drawing the four lines of the board, and asked, "so, how did you and Kayamba get down here?"

Cha-cha pressed a numb finger into the center of the board, and said, "Cha-cha and Kayamba search for new masks, and then big swirly thing suddenly appear."

"And you went through it?", She asked, as she carefully scraped a circle in the center.

"No, no", Cha-cha shook his head, causing his mask to bobble, "Cha-cha and Kayamba were pushed in by mean lagiacrus… Dumb lagiacrus."

"What's a Lagiacrus? it sounds like a strong monster.", Chloe whispered, as she scribbled a cross to her right of the center.

"Hmm," Cha-cha rubbed the chin of his mask and thumbed the open space at the top of the board, "Cha-cha thinks lagiacrus is about… one hundred times smaller than a Ceadeus, and had big pointy bits sticking out of its chest. Make zaps, and shocks Kayamba lots."

"How big is this Ceadeus?", She scribbled in a circle, before adding a cross at the bottom of his column.

"Hmm," Cha-cha rubbed his chin again, "about three times as big as Cha-cha.", And then he poked the spot between her crosses.

She sighed, 'So that lagiacrus is either gigantic, or it's really small,' she took a look at the board and scribbled one at the point where he would win with a diagonal, "Cha-cha we tied."

"Mhmm," he nodded, and proceeded to press the middle of the remaining spots anyway, "continue."

"Okay," she smirked at his childish nature, "but why are you two down here? You two don't act like normal mamono."

"Because they foiled our plans," Druella came up to them, still in her disguise, "when they came through that portal in the sky. They fell on our spy.", She pointed to the kunoichi, who was still sleeping soundly in her cell.

"Oh, Lady Druella," Chloe bowed, "I'll wake my sisters in just a moment."

"Don't," the false man, Drell, laid the trays of food at the bottom of their cells, "I'm only here to bring your food, young lady."

Chloe's eyes widened. Her lord was bringing HER food. It was incredible, "My lady…"

"Hush, little one," Drell held up a finger, "I'm in disguise remember. Try to act casual."

"Okay.", Chloe sat back on her haunches and pulled the tray in, and took notice that Drell was pushing the mamono boys' food into Cha-cha's outstretched mitts.

"You're not mad at them?", Chloe whispered.

"I am," Drell bit his cheek, "but they didn't mean to interfere. They just happen to drop onto her, while she was trying to hide."

"Cha-cha thank you Mr. Lady.", Cha-cha proclaimed before splitting the food into two piles on the pristine floor.

"I'll be back tomorrow," Drell started walking away, "I have a dinner party that I need to attend."

-0-

The crumbling of stone woke the sleeping Pluck to the moonlit sky. The sound originated from Kushala, who was attempting to devour their plundered ore. The ravaged human mining town offered copious amounts of iron and coal, though the stench of deceased human defenders and butchered cattle agitated the newly awoken Valstrax.

"Must you be so loud!", Pluck covered his snout as the smell got to him, "This horrid smell… How long was I asleep?"

Swallowing a solid chuck of unrefined iron, Kushala growled, "I'm simply *hack simply going through the process of consume the ore. And quit your whining! This petty iron isn't nearly enough to forge my new body.", He held a talon full of iron, and crushed it with minimal effort, "Doesn't even compare to the iron of our world.", Plucking a shard of ore from his maw before throwing it back into his mouth, "At least it had some flavor. Carbalite tastes awful let me tell you…"

Pluck tuned out the old dragon, and carefully maneuvered out of his crater. Accidentally stepping on and crushing the head of a long dead defender as he did so. Wiping his bloodied claw on the ground, he asked, "Do we have to destroy more villages? I don't want to attract the attention of this world's hunters… Some of these humans were creating fireballs last night."

"Fireballs!", Kushala chuckled, "I didn't see any fireballs."

"You blew them away," Pluck grumbled, "in my direction!"

"Oh," Kushala shallowed another chunk, "it didn't hurt, did it?"

Sighing Pluck moved to stand by the ore pile, "No…"

"Then why are you complaining?", Kushala rummaged through the ore, "I think that should be the last of it."

"Last of what?", Pluck peered at the pile, "There is still plenty of iron here."

"Yes… there is," Kushala gave a rare scowl, "unfortunately this iron is useless now. I have enough, and now we need to find another ore for it to mix with. Preferably something much stronger than this scrap."

"And where do you suppose we find this ore?", The Valstrax swiped the pile aside, "Didn't you just say that this world's ore didn't compare to ours?"

"Calm your temper Pluck.", Kushala's scowl turned into a neutral expression, "I figured out something, while we were raiding the village.", He tore off the chest plate of a dead defender, "Their smithing makes the metal more… impressive."

"Meaning?", Pluck asked.

"Their metal is imbued with strength that the ore never had.", Kushala tapped the chest plate's center, "A strength that the strongest of the defenders have as well."

Their attention was drawn to the lone squirming hero. Trapped beneath the corpses of several long dead cattle, the human woke to the dragons staring down at him. He gaped in fear, and covered his face in vain hope that the dragons would spare his life.

"Can we let this one live?", Pluck leaned down to look at the human.

"Why do you care? You killed those other humans without a fuss," Kushala scolded, "but no we won't be killing this one. I have questions for this human… HUMAN!"

"What do you want?!", The hero cried.

"Where can we find more of your people?", Kushala asked.

"What… no. NO!", He shouted, "I'm not telling you that. I'd rather die than let you monsters kill anyone else."

"We let the villagers go.", Pluck scratched at the ground.

"Yes, we did, but you nearly squashed some of them when you started tossing cattle.", Kushala growled, "Regardless, I'm after your people's metal, not their lives. Tell us where to find your people, and we'll let you live."

"You're not going to eat me?", The hero stared up at the imposing figures of the Elders before him.

"No, we won't.", Kushala shook his snout, "Now tell us where we can find more of this interesting metal of yours."

A million different thoughts ran through his mind as his expression changed from fear, to anger, to confusion, to relief, before his face finally settled on understanding. An odd smile flashed across his face, and then he hid it from sight. He stared up at the three eerily glowing eyes staring down at him, and said, "Lescatie is about two days north from here, but I'm sure you monsters can get there in one. The city houses all the metal you could ever want."

Seemingly satisfied, the rusted monster gestured a nodding motion at the silver coated dragon beside him. Fear struck the surviving hero as he saw the massive wings of the beast slowly descend.

"Wait please!", He screamed and covered his face, but was shocked to find that instead of being crushed beneath the talon like wings. He instead felt the weight trapping him beneath the corpses slowly lift.

He uncovered his eyes to see the wing blades on either side of him pushing the corpse pile off of him. He crawled out, and felt the other dragon, claw the armor off his back. Again, expecting excruciating pain, and instead feeling a weight being lifted from his shoulders.

He stared up at the rusted giant, and gaped as the beast crushed the blessed metal in his claws. He could only watch as his sacred armor was swallowed whole after being compressed into a ball of steel.

"You may go.", The apparent leader fanned him away after swallowing the metal in one go.

Nodding, he scrambled to his feet, and ran South. Hoping to never see these monsters ever again. With only one thought on his mind, 'Oh gods, Hero Noscrim better be able to kill those beasts! She's supposed to kill the Demon Lord, damn it!'

The two Elders started heading north after watching the human run off into the hills. Kushala's limp having recovered over the past day, which allow the two of them to keep a steady yet slow pace across the vibrant fields and short patches of forest. Both of them unaware of a mamono shadowing them from a safe distance. A mamono Pluck had come to be very familiar with, during his time in this foreign world.

AN: So, Kushala can use Dragon now... That makes things weird for later chapters, and I'm not sure if I want to implement that new feature. If anyone thinks I should try to work with the idea of Dragon attacks for everyone's, now, favorite windy boy, I'm open to your ideas.

Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Made, some quick edits to change a couple of typos. Thank you hizack13 for pointing them out.