The Monster King's Legacy - Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Sight Seeing
The wind rushed past as Aelyndra soared high above the ground, her massive wings slicing through the air with effortless grace. Lance clung tightly to the harness, his eyes scanning the endless expanse of uncharted wilderness below. Rolling forests, jagged mountain peaks, and sprawling rivers stretched out in every direction.

“This is breathtaking!” Lance admitted, the awe in his voice cutting through the roar of the wind.

“Of course it is,” Aelyndra replied smugly, her mental voice brimming with pride. “Everything looks better from the back of a dragon.”

Lance chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m not going to argue with that, but keep your eyes on the skies. I don’t want us getting ambushed out here.”

“Ambushed? By what? There aren’t many creatures that would dare challenge a dragon,” Aelyndra replied with a dismissive snort, the faint plume of smoke trailing behind her as she glided lower.

“Regardless, you will be doing most of the fights, you’re the one who wants an adventure after all.” She said. She said as they descended into a narrow canyon for a brief rest, mostly because she wanted to show Lance the place, not because she was tired.

The place and scenery was breathtaking, being the first time Lance had ever seen such a place with his own eyes in the flesh. He had always seen similar sights on television, who would have thought he would get to experience it himself one day? With a dragon as his guide no less…

Once they descended into the gouge of the canyon, the peaceful atmosphere was quickly shattered by the deep, guttural growls of a massive pack of direwolves emerging from the shadows.

“Uh, Aelyndra?” Lance said, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword.

“Wolves?” Aelyndra huffed, her tone laced with disdain. “Aren’t they supposed to be wiser? They dare approach me? Foolish beasts.”

Before Lance could react, Aelyndra unleashed a deafening roar that echoed through the canyon. It caused the direwolves to hesitate for a moment but they quickly regrouped, their primal instincts driving them forward despite their fear.

“I think you underestimated their numbers,” Lance muttered, sliding off Aelyndra’s back and drawing his sword, as even more appeared. They were easily a hundred of them now staring at Lance and Aelyndra. Lance couldn’t help but think of just how much they would need to feed such a large pack.

“I don’t need to count,” Aelyndra replied, her golden eyes narrowing. With a swipe of her massive tail, she sent half the pack flying into the rocky walls before Lance could get to even move, not that he was particularly looking forward to anyway.

While her raw strength was undeniable, it immediately brought forth a chaotic situation. As she struck the wolves, her tail struck a precariously balanced boulder, sending a cascade of rubble tumbling into the narrow canyon below.

“Watch where you’re smashing things!” Lance shouted, narrowly dodging several falling rocks.

“Ah yes, you can still die from this,” Aelyndra quipped, though there was a trace of embarrassment in her tone. Unlike Lance who needed to avoid the rain of rocks and stones, Alelyndra simply tanked it, only dust left on her scales afterwards.

The battle ended swiftly, with the remaining direwolves scattering into the wilderness.

“You know,” Lance said, brushing dust off his cloak, “for someone who claims to be invincible, you sure do cause a lot of collateral damage.”

“I never claimed to be invincible.” Aelyndra replied, her tone imperious. “Besides, as my mother would say, only the weak worry about keeping things intact.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Your mother?”

The dragon turned her massive head, her golden eyes glinting with a hint of sheepishness. “I’m a young dragon after all, I’m just bigger than my peers.”

Not that Lance would know what the normal size of a dragon was supposed to be, but nonetheless, he was still surprised to hear that she was young… even though in dragon terms, it could be different. Regardless, Lance didn’t ask of her age, he didn’t bother to find out if women were the same regardless of the race.

“Our ultimate destination is to the far east, but before that, we should head south, there are some interesting places to visit there. If you really seek adventure, that is the place to go.” Aelyndra said, once they took to the skies again.

As for Lance, he wasn’t opposed to the decision, rather, he was all for it.

The journey continued, taking them through uncharted lands filled with hidden dangers, at least, to Lance rather than Aelyndra herself. She made sure not to venture into potentially dangerous lands.

A few days later, following a more lengthy travel with fewer stops, they reached a place where a dense jungle teemed with strange, luminescent creatures that scattered at Aelyndra’s approach stretched far and wide, seemingly into the horizon.

The towering trees loomed before them, their gnarled branches twisting together to form a dense, almost impenetrable canopy. A faint shimmer of magic hung in the air, making the forest seem alive.

“And this must be the Forest of Trials?” Lance asked, stepping cautiously onto a tree branch that would lead into the shadows of the enchanted woods.

Aelyndra lowered her head, covering her eyes for a moment. “It’s just a forest. How difficult could it be?” She said.

“Enchanted forests are never just forests,” Lance replied, his tone wary. “Let us tread carefully.”

Aelyndra chuckled in a low voice. “Us? Lance, finding an entry point into this dense forest will be more difficult than bathing in the wild seas. Besides, the challenges of this forest will pose any threat to me. I have long conquered them.” She said.

Lance almost felt a cold sweat run down his back. “You’re not up and abandoning me here, are you?”

“Of course not. I’ll keep watch over you in case you can’t handle it and need my help,” she declared, lifting above the dense canopy and away.

‘She just leaves? I’m not going to meet my end here, right?’ Lance thought to himself, suddenly getting cold feet now that he was put to the test. He could face gnarly demons and combat them head on, but something about the forest gave him the chills. Blood sucking trees and dangerous illusions have never been on his bucket list.