“You should try to have a couple of his children, Sakura.”

“Mom! What are you saying?” Sakura replied, so surprised her food fell off her fork. Flustered, she glanced towards Martel at the other side of the camp, conversing with Hestia over dinner. She was relieved to see he was still out of hearing distance, though she was slightly concerned he spontaneously had a coughing fit when she looked over.

“You know what I’m talking about. I saw the contract. If you’re lucky, you can pay him back in a couple of decades. By then, your youth will be gone. We had a great relationship with the previous shield hero. That is why our tribe was able to flourish even though we respectively did not have much strength. Tying yourself to the hero will not only be good for yourself but our tribe.”

“Why would it be good for the tribe?”

“Because your father, from what the bandits have hinted at, was and is the leader of our tribe.”

Sakura’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“They wouldn’t let me. They always had a guard and would not let me spend the night with you. I would’ve been punished if I told you.”

“I’m sorry,” Sakura said with a drooped head. She knew full well how much her mother had suffered to protect her.

“It’s fine. After all, your mother knows best for you. I’ll be rooting for you.” She replied with a thumbs up.

“Mom,” Sakura replied with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Well, if you’re going to seduce a human, we are going to need to find a bunny suit.”

“Megumi, how are you doing?” Martel said as he sat down next to her, noticing she was staring at the whispering mother and daughter pair with a hint of envy.

“I’m okay.” She simply replied.

“You seem to be getting the hang of group fighting.”

Megumi nodded. “It’s still a little difficult.”

“Well, you’re an incredibly fast learner. I’ve been impressed at how quickly you have been able to learn and integrate all the martial arts I’ve been teaching you.”

“I’ve worked hard.” She said as she cocked up her chin.

Martel smiled as he put a hand atop her head and ruffled her hair. “Don’t get complacent.”

Despite moving to fight him off, an ever slight grin appeared on her face. Martel couldn’t help but chuckle when she stuck her tongue at him. He was happy to see that she was becoming more sociable and interacting with others. Her years of isolation had stunted her social and emotional growth, and she was still a child on the inside.

Martel went over to the carriage, placed in the middle of the tent, and accessed a secret compartment. A few seconds later, a barrier appeared, covering the entire camp. Eventually, everyone went to sleep.

…

Megumi fidgeted in her sleep. All the time she spent living in the dangerous environment heightened her senses to the extreme, even when she rested. It had saved her life several times and was one of the major factors to her survival. However, her senses had weakened as she became comfortable and confident in her surroundings and companions. However, an oppressive feeling on her chest woke her up. 

Megumi opened her eyes, expecting to see the barrier and the night sky. However, between them was a large black dragon’s head whose enormous body stood above her. For a brief moment, she felt she was hallucinating. However, that only lasted for an instant as she saw the laughter and the dragon’s eyes and its serpent-like smile. Her skin broke out in goosebumps, and she was wracked by fear. Even though she had fought a dragon on her own before, at this moment, she felt so insignificant. Those two dragons could not be compared. As despair flooded her eyes, the dragon seemed excited, but that led its presence to leak for a moment.

*Bang!*

The foreign sound of gunfire, along with the following roar of pain and anger, awoke the rest of the party. Martel, who had awoken when the dragon accidentally revealed its presence, had pulled an enhanced sniper rifle from his inventory and immediately fired. The bullet had managed to pierce the limited HP of the dragon and caused a gash across its snout. Somehow, it had moved its head just enough to avoid the impact location from being fatal. However, given that the gash was superficial, the sniper designed to penetrate tanks may have been insufficient to deal the fatal blow.

The dragon’s furious eyes locked on Martel, but it did not approach. Its entire body seemed to become a shadow, though a three-dimensional one. This mass of shadows shrunk before entering the hole nearby that the dragon had used to avoid the barrier.

Martel immediately placed another barrier on the ground to prevent a similar attack from easily happening again as he turned to the others. “Gather your things, quickly. We are leaving.”

The others, who had awoken in time to see what was going on, nodded all with pale faces. Dragons are rare enough that it would be unlikely for an individual to see them during their lifetime, present enough that everyone knew they existed. Silently and quickly, the party broke camp as Martel kept a vigilant watch as he was extremely wary. Even with his current stats and Talents, he could not lock on the individual or gather any information from him. However, there was a name of a dragon of similar characteristics that came to mind.

Just as they began to leave through the portal, a voice from outside suddenly spoke. It seemed almost omnidirectional, deep, yet young. “Running so soon? You disappoint me. Perhaps I should not play with my prey.” The voice said with a chuckle. “It truly is a pity. Though, it seems that your group has quite the destiny with me. In the future, we will meet again, many times. Although, I’m sure you will be unaware of most. I will be an ever-present shadow. While you may be able to lose me occasionally, I will be there the moment you forget to strike at the perfect moment.”

Martel’s fist tightened as he entered the portal. The serpentine laugh ceased when the portal closed. Martel glanced at the collapsed party, who was breathing extremely heavily from the pressure of the experience. Megumi, specifically, was curled up in a fetal position and being comforted by Rio. 

Shining under the moonlight, Martel glanced towards the top of the mountain surrounded by water. It spewed forth mist into the air as he glanced over the straight towards the port city. Quietly, so none could hear, he mumbled to himself. “It seems that I should not become complacent. I should accelerate my plans to become stronger even more quickly. I don’t want there to be another time when my strength is not enough.”

Although none of them said it, the entire group barely fell asleep again as an ever-present shadow shrouded their hearts.

End of Day 102