When Rudeus first saw the Red Dragon, he was stunned for quite a while, let alone Eris.
The curiosity on his face was almost overflowing from the screen.
"Can I reach out and touch it?"
Roa shrugged and said, "Of course."
Eris reached out to touch the Red Dragon's scales; her touch was like an ant climbing on a giant.
It couldn't be said that it had no effect, but it was negligible.
The Red Dragon ignored the little one's curiosity and allowed Eris to touch it up and down.
Gradually, Eris did not limit herself to just touching; she knocked on the Red Dragon's hard scales with her fists.
The Red Dragon still showed no reaction.
Roa did not let Eris continue playing; he reached out, grabbed her, and with a slight leap, they were already on the back of the Red Dragon.
Rudeus pouted; he had never been held by Roa, yet this little girl had somehow gained Roa's favor.
Discontent aside, Rudeus still used magic to create a current that gently brought him down to the Red Dragon's back.
Ghislaine glanced at them and, like Roa, leaped up, the beast warrior landing directly on the Red Dragon.
Without saying much, he took out the map he had marked earlier and compared it to their location, estimating which direction they needed to fly to reach their destination.
After planning the route, he reached out to inject magic into the Red Dragon's back. A pure magical energy surged from Roa's hand and then gathered within the Red Dragon.
As before, the Red Dragon took off according to Roa's will, soaring into the sky.
With its wings spread wide, it ascended, its massive body casting a shadow over the ground. The Red Dragon circled, adjusted its direction, and then suddenly accelerated, racing into the distance.
To the Holy Land of Swords, they set off.
The time taken was longer than Roa had imagined. The distance was not far, but they stopped several times to determine the direction, as it was their first time searching for the Holy Land of Swords, and they had to ask Ghislaine if he knew the general direction.
Ghislaine was also quite confused but nodded and said, "Let's give it a try."
Then the beast warrior looked down from above, lost in thought.
It was normal to be contemplative; a beast warrior had never stood so high before, so how could he know where they were? Looking at the small dots below, Ghislaine could only shake his head in regret due to the lack of specific reference points.
"I don't know," Ghislaine said to everyone under their expectant gazes.
In an instant, sighs arose from all around.
Ghislaine still had a blank expression, but the additional comment she made afterward lightened everyone's mood.
"Although I can't tell where this is, I feel like we should be close. Some time ago, I almost died around here, so I do have some impression of this place."
Ghislaine casually said something that made Roa feel pity.
Beast warriors often had a one-track mind; it wasn't a big problem for team adventures, but if they were to travel alone…
Sorry, Roa could only say he could deceive her eight times in one night.
Deceiving her eight times was impossible; Roa wasn't that desperate.
However, Roa's brow had already slightly furrowed. Even though they were very close to their destination, it seemed they would have to land and ask a passerby for directions, then hire a carriage to reach their destination.
Roa conveyed his thoughts to the Red Dragon, which did not immediately descend but circled above, searching for a landing spot.
Due to Roa's request, the Red Dragon could not land carelessly; otherwise, it would not be good to scare the passersby.
The Red Dragon's strength was not top-tier; it was considered above average on the continent. As long as a high-level magical creature thought of a way, it could still be dealt with.
But the disgusting thing about the Red Dragon species was that they appeared in groups, meaning that when you saw one, you had to consider that there were at least three more Red Dragons nearby.
One Red Dragon was not terrifying, but three were a different story.
Three dragon breaths coming from various directions would be a disaster for a city, let alone a village.
To avoid alarming pedestrians, Roa always tried to have the Red Dragon fly higher.
The giant dragon folded its wings and finally set its landing target on a hill.
The mountain forest was not large, but the trees were dense, clearly a wild and desolate area.
Desolate areas were good; Roa directly instructed the Red Dragon to land there.
At this time, it was already dusk. The morning and noon hours had passed in the blink of an eye, and Eris and the others had only hastily eaten some pastries they had brought along to stave off hunger.
In fact, these pastries were brought by Roa.
Even after repeatedly reminding Eris to pack properly, the girl had only taken a few of her favorite clothes when she left.
This appearance was completely unlike someone coming to study; it was more like a vacation.
Rudeus thought Roa had already made arrangements, so he didn't prepare much. Following the idea that those who could do more should do more, he only brought some daily toiletries and a change of clothes.
Then things evolved into what they were now.
Because even though Roa didn't need to eat, the elemental energy could sustain him for a month, he subconsciously thought that one day wasn't a long time.
In fact, it was indeed the case, but Eris was still hungry.
When Eris's stomach growled, Roa looked at her in surprise.
Eris's face turned red; her modesty made her snort coldly, pretending nothing had happened.
Roa thought for a moment and rummaged through his pockets.
There was no delicious food, but there were a few hard currencies.
The hard currency was very hard, and the taste could not be described as delicious; it was just average, perhaps even a bit too much.
After thinking for a moment, having something was better than nothing, so he handed a few pieces of green wheat cakes to Eris.
Eris tasted it; the taste was bad and hard to swallow.
The girl quietly complained a few times: "Why is it so hard to swallow?" "Is this even food?" "It's too awful."
Ghislaine, who was nearby, became interested. Although she wasn't hungry, she asked Roa for a piece of cake and finished it in three bites.
Seeing a rare opportunity, Ghislaine assumed the authority of a teacher and began to lecture Eris: "Eris, you can't say things like that. You must finish your food properly. I almost starved to death in the wilderness because I had no food, and I even tasted feces for these things."
Eris's expression froze as she looked at the food in her hand, lost in thought.
Rudeus nearby snorted and almost choked on water.
If you're going to give examples, can you not do it while eating?
Ghislaine reminisced about the past, giving examples and reasoning, causing Eris to lower her head in shame.
All of Ghislaine's examples were personal experiences, filled with emotion, and every word was laced with bitterness and tears.
Ghislaine might not think much of it, but everyone had already begun to feel sympathy for this silly beast warrior.
Then, with a stiff upper lip, they finished eating, during which they asked Roa for several cups of water.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Eris felt that the water was exceptionally sweet.
Sweetness was correct; the spring water, having passed through Roa's hands, was different from the water released by other mages. Under the influence of elemental affinity, this water was not the same as ordinary water. The more it was used, the more it had the effect of slowly recovering injuries and replenishing one's life essence.
Is it outrageous? But when placed on the second stage of the Pure Body, it didn't seem so outrageous anymore.
Everyone was not anxious about the long journey; everything was progressing smoothly.
Roa didn't care; even if he couldn't defeat the Sword God now, the Sword God would definitely not be his opponent in the future. The Sword God was just a part of his journey. If it weren't for honing his sword skills, Roa could even directly use Moment to forcefully take him down.
Ordinary people absolutely could not withstand the side effects of exceeding the speed of light; even those half-blood dragon species couldn't. But Roa was different; the perfect dragon blood gave him an unparalleled physical quality. The burden of superluminal speed was a challenge for him, but with gritted teeth, it was not impossible to activate.
Moreover, even if his swordsmanship was lacking, his magic was already quite impressive.
If the Sword God couldn't handle it and thought Roa was a threat and wanted to flip the table, Roa would let him know what cruelty meant.
With all these enhancements, Roa felt that coming to this place was just to steal knowledge and then defeat the Sword God, sitting on the Sword God's throne.
The Sword God sounded very interesting.
Specific situations require specific analysis. Since he didn't know when he could break through to the divine level, the time needed to challenge the Sword God was not a small number. Roa even planned to stay for two or three months.
At that time, Eris would definitely have to go back, and he could conveniently make Eris the Sword God's apprentice.
Lost in thought, the Red Dragon had already landed on the mountaintop. With its fiery red wings folded, the Red Dragon turned its head and rubbed against Roa, indicating they had arrived at their destination.
As usual, he injected some magic into the Red Dragon. The Red Dragon showed a satisfied expression and became even more docile towards Roa.
The injected magic was not abundant; it was just a little, equivalent to a small treat. This level of magic could be plundered from the natural world in a single breath for Roa.
Due to the evolution of life levels, the magic he injected was sweeter than before. The sweet magic flowed through the Red Dragon's body, causing its originally black-red scales to shift towards black-purple. This seemingly insignificant magic was subtly changing the Red Dragon's life level.
Roa was well aware of the changes in the Red Dragon but did not mind.
In a sense, he could still be considered the ancestor of this little guy.
It was a good thing for the Red Dragon to evolve; otherwise, if they were flying in the sky and a spell from someone took down his mount, it wouldn't be good.
Just as Roa was about to reach out to lift Eris down, she had already jumped off the back of the Red Dragon.
Rudeus, watching from the side, wanted to laugh, his face full of amusement.
It was rare to see Roa in an awkward situation, so he quickly laughed a little more.
Roa's outstretched hand retracted, his expression nonchalant.
He almost forgot that Eris was not just a simple noble girl.
This girl was full of wildness and was not an obedient type.
Eris landed and waved to the two, saying, "Let's go! I'm getting a bit impatient."
Roa sighed, and everyone jumped down from the back of the Red Dragon. Roa patted the Red Dragon, which exhaled a hot breath and spread its wings, flying off into the distance again.
Eris curiously asked, "Where will it go?"
Roa thought for a moment and casually replied, "It will probably find a place nearby to rest."
The surroundings were quiet mountains and fields. Since it was a mountain area, it was naturally very dense, with the ground full of pits and holes, and the air carried a damp smell.
Roa's light golden pupils narrowed, emanating a faint aura of authority, making the forest even quieter.
Ghislaine frowned, instinctively sensing a powerful pressure from Roa.
Suppressing the alarm bells in her heart, Ghislaine followed closely behind Roa.
Rudeus and Eris felt nothing unusual; they only sensed that Roa's aura had changed, becoming sharper, but they didn't think much of it as they walked toward a nearby location.
Along the way, Eris curiously observed her surroundings, her face full of wonder at the new things, and she became more talkative.
Ghislaine began to explain to Eris about the things on the ground, which were common knowledge.
The group moved quickly and soon found a woodcutter's home.
The woodcutter was a man, around forty years old, short in stature but with very sturdy limbs, looking quite strong.
Roa knocked on the door, explained their purpose, and the woodcutter did not show any displeasure, but he was not overly enthusiastic either.
Although he was puzzled as to why Roa and his group appeared here at night, he didn't ask too many questions, preferring to avoid trouble.
After pointing out the destination to Roa, he waved his hand, signaling them to leave quickly.
Seeing the woodcutter's haughty demeanor, Eris snorted, "What's with the attitude? What's wrong with giving this lady directions?"
As soon as Eris spoke, she was shot a glare by Roa.
Eris turned her gaze away, her expression still dissatisfied, but she remained silent, feeling quite unhappy.
The woodcutter naturally heard Eris's words, but although he looked rough, he was actually quite observant. Seeing the strange attire of the group, he hoped they would leave quickly, but noticing his casual attitude had provoked the seemingly pampered young lady in their group, sweat began to bead on his forehead.
There were many people in the group, and not to mention the elegantly smiling Roa, even Ghislaine standing beside him gave him a strong sense of pressure.
Knowing he was wrong, the woodcutter, adhering to the idea that a good man does not suffer immediate losses, directly apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, miss. My attitude earlier may not have been very good."
Roa was originally going to leave directly, but upon hearing the apology, she raised an eyebrow and exchanged a few polite words with him before leaving with the others.
On the way, Eris showed a proud expression and said, "Did you see that? For commoners like this, you have to speak in a commanding tone; otherwise, they will act impatiently like just now."