The army and the settlers had brought troubling news with them. The Father of Monsters had shown himself. Leander stared at the picture of the creature. It looked like a buck, of some sort. But with a humanoid body.

Leander scanned the picture for any weak spots. Would the antlers hurt, if they broke? Was it just as fast as a normal buck, or was it lumbering, because of its size? At any rate, they needed to be prepared. Yet, first, they needed to move to Canos.

Leander went to Dorian and nodded at him. The tank began blowing his whistle, until all the adventurers gathered in the new town square.

"Everyone, we can't let these people live here with all the dungeons in the vicinity," Leander spoke, and numerous people nodded.

 "Remember, these are wild dungeons. They have not seen an adventurer in a long time, perhaps ever. We will take them in one fell swoop. The F, E and D ranked platoons will form bigger platoons. With three platoons in them. After we clear the Puebleque region of dungeons, we will hold ranking evaluations," at Leander's words, the crowd cheered. As far as they were concerned, they had this in a bag.

"Move out," Dorian called, and the platoons began forming up.

"With Alklair in our platoon, we should take the most dangerous one," Leander said, after they had all gathered. "The Hold of Jhar."

"Isn't it weird that that place has spiders, too? Two dungeon cores, with the same mobs. That is unnatural," Morris wondered out loud.

"It could be a daughter core," Valerie told him. "The theory that dungeon cores could breed has never been proven wrong."

"Why should it? Getting children is easy for a dungeon core. I bet all the dungeon cores around here are from the one we broke in the temple," Armaros chimed in. For him, everyone, especially dungeon cores, could have children. To think otherwise was silly.

"If it is indeed a daughter core, it might want revenge," Alklair said. He looked at Asmodeos, who was standing by the side with a couple of wraiths. Asmodeos had undone the illusion, and was again his normal, brown-haired and green-eyed self. The necromancer turned to them, and winked at Alklair.

"Hey, Al, I bet I can deal with my dungeon faster than your platoon can deal with yours," Asmodeos boosted.

"If you lose, you will be washing my clothes for a month," Alklair had nearly forgotten how good it was to have this banters with Asmodeos. No one else closed the distance like the necromancer.

"If you lose, you'd be sleeping in my tent," platoon 23 all looked at Alklair with raised eyebrows, with Jean smirking at him.

"Not a word," Alklair snapped at the red-head. Jean placed his finger on his lips, but his smirk did not fade.

"Al, do you take the bet?" Asmodeos asked and Alklair nodded.

"Prepare to wash for hours," Alklair then turned to his platoon. "We can't lose. Can Ebony carry us all to the dungeon?"

Armaros looked at his battle companion and sighed.

"I suppose, but he will ask for trinkets," all groaned. Ebony would ask for the best of their treasures. But, they looked at Alklair, who had a fire in his eyes, and decided not to argue.

Flying on a dragon who did not wish to carry you was the most frightening thing that had ever happened in Leander's life. Ebony would lower himself too quickly, always saying that he had seen a spider or another mob, and nearly throw them down.

The platoon was of the mind that the greedy dragon did not deserve treasure, at all. But, they also knew that if they didn't give the overgrown lizard his due, they would have to deal with dragon fire.

Ebony placed them before the watchtower, and looked at them expectantly.

"Here you go, Ebony. A nice titanium crown to go with your hoard," Armaros had enjoyed the ride, and he was cheerful as he placed the crown in the bottomless bag that was tied around Ebony's neck.

"Have this bracelet, Ebony," Leander placed a priceless diamond-white gold bracelet in the back, knowing full well that he would have to part with something else on the way back.

"Here you go," Morris placed a ring with a garnet in the bag, and Ebony glared. "What? You wanted to throw us down the entire time, you darn lizard!"

"I simply wanted to clear the area of mobs," Ebony defended himself, being understood because of the dungeon contract that he had with Armaros. No one believed that.

"This is for you, Ebony. I hope you like it," Lilia placed a golden leaf as big as a head inside the bag.

"Hm, no gems," the dragon grumbled, and Armaros went, and hit him over the head gently.

"Don't be greedy, Ebony. You have a bigger hoard than what you used to have," the dungeon core said, and Florifel came forward with a pair of earrings.

"I wanted these for myself, but you can have them," she placed the earrings in the back, and Ebony nodded. They were small, but they had jade in them. They would do.

"This is from myself and Jean," Dorian came forward with two titanium daggers. "Only girl dragons hoard just jewelry. You have to be manly, Ebony."

"I am, already," Ebony protested as Alberta came forward with a small breastplate.

"They do have a point. A bit less jewels would go a long way, once a lady dragon comes to check out your hoard," she placed the breastplate inside and Alektos moved to deposit three rings in the bag.

"When you begin to fly in a more comfortable way, then you will get more from us," Ebony puffed a puff of smoke in his face, but the tank was not moved in the slightest.

"Here you go, take good care of these," Nestor came forward with cheeped weapons that looked like they had been used for years.

"Jewels only," Ebony snapped.

"These have a story, and, if you are good, I will tell it to you," Ebony sighed. Weapons with a story could impress a lady. He let Nestor place the weapons inside and stared at Alklair and Valerie.

"I have something for you, Ebony, but it is a potion," Valerie uncorked the growth potion and brought it to the dragon's nose. "You will grow big and strong with it."

She tipped the vial, and the dragon drank it.

"And this is so that you will be healthy. A cure all potion that will work for a month," Alklair came forward with his own vial.

"I feel cheated, somehow," Ebony spoke, voice booming. "But, as long as I grow bigger and stronger, I will let this slight go."

The two members of the Prancing Pegasus shared a look. Cheated? These potions were the top of the top. People challenged each other to honor duels to get them. Ah, what a strange dragon.