"Thanks for accompanying me today, Brown. I appreciate it." Ryder smiled with levity as the duo strolled down the rather vacant market.

  Brown, in her human form with short, ashen hair, flashed her signature faint smirk silently. She had an appearance of a pale teenage girl that, when paired with her tan crop top and chestnut skirt, gave those who glanced at her an unshakable impression that she was a free spirit.

  "I wonder if Green and Purple are getting along outside. Purple promised he won't cause any trouble, but would he actually stick to it? What do you think, Brown?" He tilted his head slightly over to his companion.

  Brown still remained quiet, making the atmosphere awkward for the human.

  Ryder let out a sigh inside his mind. Even though they had been traveling for a while now, he still had no clue how to converse with her. Despite her friendly demeanor, she didn't seem to be fond of unnecessary social interactions or be interested in much of anything. Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder if she was hiding her true self under this facade.

  The dragon rider snapped out of his thoughts when his dragon tucked his shirt and pointed at a large stall. There was a variety of fruits displayed with their price tags on the table. They both promptly approached it and saw a middle-aged blue-skinned man in an opened vest standing behind the tables.

  "Welcome to my humble stall! Where do you two come from? Oki? Pikola? Or Prope?" The stall owner warmly greeted.

  "We come from a very far place. You probably never heard of it before," Ryder replied with a stiff smile.

  "Ahhahahaha! I see, I see! If that's the case," The grocer picked up a baseball-shaped fruit with yellow and orange stripes. "I recommend you two try this out! It's our local specialty. Ya can't find it anywhere else! 10% discount if you buy three or more! Whaddya say?"

  "Oh, a discount!" The human took a closer look. "And it looks fresh, too. What do you say, Brown? We get this stall's fruit?" He turned to her and saw her sniffing at the general direction of the fruits. A few seconds later, she nodded.

  "We'll take it!"

  "How many?"

  "Uhm, all of it. We'll take everything in your stall."

  The stall owner froze and stared wide-eye at the duo. Seconds later, he burst out laughing. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he saw the duo still wore a serious expression, though Ryder looked a little embarrassed, and his smile faded. "Surely you jest? I have enough fruit in my stall to feed a banquet full of people, but you're dressed like an adventurer."

  "Well... my companions have enormous appetites. I have enough money to pay for all of it, so please calculate how much I need to pay, stall owner."

  The blue man was still skeptical, but he nonetheless picked up his 'pen' to calculate the total amount on a piece of 'paper'. Then, an idea entered his mind as his writing slowed because he noticed the duo weren't looking at the price tags or doing any calculations themselves. The edges of the stall owner's mouth curved upward as his fingers started trembling slightly.

  Brown narrowed her eyes as her seismic sense faintly picked up the middle-aged man's increased heartbeat.

  When he put his pen down, he raised his head up with a smile. "The total amount is-"

  "Wait." The dragon stretched her right hand while her left stopped her rider. "Let me see the calculations you've written on your paper."

  Sweat formed on his forehead. "You wouldn't be able to understand it, missy. My handwriting's pretty awful, you see. I assure you that-"

  The dragon's glare halted him from speaking entirely. A chill was sent down the stall owner's spine as he felt like a sheep staring at a wolf's jaw.

  "Hand me the paper." She demanded gently as she withdrew her glare. At this point, even Ryder had picked up something was going on.

  The owner gulped while trying to stop himself from shaking.. "L-let me rewrite it t-tidily first." He speedily pulled out another piece of paper and scribbled. Once he finished, he handed it over to Brown.

  She examined the numbers and compared it with the price tags. Moments later, she passed the paper to Ryder. "The calculation is correct. I apologize if I appear to be doubting an honest man like you."

  "I-it's fine. Can't b-be too careful, right?" He smiled forcefully.

  The situation finally clicked in the human's mind as he glanced at the biggest number on the paper. He then stretched out arm and aimed the back of his hand at the grocer's. The number on his hand went down while the grocer's went up.

  The stall owner wiped his forehead and had calmed down significantly. "I appreciate your purchase, good sir, but how are you going to carry all of this?"

  Brown swiftly formed a big dry mud basket from the ground. Ryder smirked and loaded the fruits into the basket.

  The stall owner was incredibly tempted to throw a few more questions at the mysterious customer. But in this part of the land? He shook his head and packed up his stall.

  The earth-dragon sealed the basket up once it was full and decorated it with spikes. Then, the basket slithered down the street in the direction of Green.

  "Hopefully, the guards won't try to stop it," Ryder commented before turning around and advanced deeper into the marketplace. Once he was certain the two of them were out of the stall owner's earshot, he leaned toward his companion and whispered, "Thanks for helping out, Brown."

  "You're welcomed, Ryder. Though, if you feel the need to whisper, you could've told me telepathically instead."

  The human pouted. "Yeah, but it's more genuine if I thank you by mouth."

  The edges of her mouth curved upward higher.

  The duo continued onward, buying up vegetables, meats, and dairy products in a similar manner. The sparse amount of customers and stall owners barely gave them any attention, to the relief of Ryder.

  "I hope we get out of this desert soon." The human sighed. "Relying on groceries to feed three- I mean, all of us, is such a hassle and a drain of money." He glimpsed at Brown and saw no reaction from her. "I never thought I'd miss gathering and hunting for food."

  Minutes later, they reached the end of the market and saw a small crowd gathering in front of a big water fountain. Ryder was curious what the crowd was staring at, but their bodies were blocking his view. Right as he was about to check it out, Brown tugged his shirt again and pointed at a spice stall.

  He slapped his forehead. "Almost forgot about that. Thank you for reminding me." When he arrived at the stall and stared at the rainbow-colored spices in front of him, a resigned sigh escaped his lips. He recognized a few that he had tried before in other regions, but most were unfamiliar to him.

  "Brown, do you know how some of these tastes-" When he turned to the dragon, he saw she was gazing at the thinned crowd. Most people there finally dispersed, and he could see what the commotion was actually about.

  He first raised his arms in frustration as his eyes widened, then he threw them down while rolling his eyes, and finally, he stomped toward Purple with a groan. The purple dragon, in his humanoid form, was currently standing like a model for the residents there to awe at him. The dragon rider politely cut through the crowd and crossed his arms.

  "Now, now, Ryder. I'm not causing any trouble. I am simply displaying my beauty for these lovely citizens to admire." He winked at a young woman. Bafflingly enough, despite his scary appearance, the young woman blushed and looked away.

  "How did you get past the guard? They were very clear about not accepting 'undesirables'." Ryder pouted.

  "An artist brought me in here. The blue guy over there." Purple pointed at a blue guy painting his canvas with magic a couple of meters away. The crowd was polite enough not to block the artist's view. "He was inspired by my majestic body, and begged me to fulfill his artistic vision. His words flattered me, and I decided to help him out of the goodness of my heart."

  The human rolled his eyes again while the crowd believed the dragon's words wholeheartedly. He was tempted to poke through Purple's lie and tell everyone he was just an egomaniac, but he just shook his head and went back to the spice stall.

  "The stall owner said you're allowed to give the spices a taste test." Brown handed a small and curved wooden plate to her rider when he arrived. "She heard about our purchases from the other stall owners."

  "Ah, thank you." He nodded with gratitude at the stall owner as he accepted the plate. "I see," he replied telepathically.

  Ryder spent the next 30 minutes asking questions and trying the spices. By the time he finally wrapped up his purchase, the crowd had completely dissipated with the departure of the artist. With a big bag of spices under his arm, the rider approached Purple again with Brown. "Had your fun?"

  The purple dragon casually lifted his feet from the cracked ground and made another crack with each step he took. "What kind of silly question is that, Ryder? There's nothing more flattering than to be worshipped~"

  The human pointed at the cracks on the ground, annoyed. "Ah huh. You forgot to use gravity magic, again. If you want more meat, then stop making me pay for street damages!"

  The dragon clicked his tongue with a scowl and didn't crack the ground when he took another step.

  Suddenly, Ryder's dark scaly left arm tingled before a faint black light glowed. The two dragons noticed it too, as the town's sirens went off at the same time.

  "Launching formation!"

  "Ugh, really?" Purple grumbled.

  "I already bought the meat you want, so just do it!"

  The streets were hastily evacuated, allowing the trio to run through without interruption. The purple dragon spread out his humongous wings, and once they built up enough momentum, Brown slammed her legs down and the three of them were propelled through the air by earth pillars. Purple swiftly transformed into a miniaturized version of his original dragon form and carried his companions with his claws. While in the air, Ryder saw a tornado of dust at a distance. He also heard shouting from the streets below as they flew to the town's entrance.