"I'm used to humoring the elderly." Walter joked with a shit eating grin that looked like it belonged on Isaac's face.

Xlen just shook his head at Walter and tapped the coin. "I am a part of the Dragon Slayer clan. Most of us are scattered to the four winds but if you look hard enough, in every race and almost every country, you can find some of us." Xlen began. "The dwarf and lightfoot that are a little too tall, the human with a hint of green in their hair, the gnome with shorter and sharper ears. Those are our descendants."

Isaac nodded along. "Okay, so what does that have to do with us?" Isaac wondered.

"Recently, the strongest among our number have reached their decline. Fable, myself, and for the past few hundred years, Cainen, along with a few others that you have not met." Xlen easily explained. "Cainen had come to a decision, long ago, that before the old guard die off, we need to secure the future of those who protect our world from the scourge of dragons."

"Even the metal ones?" Isaac wondered. Those were supposed to be the good ones after all.

"Yes." Xlen stated simply. "Most of them, anyway. There is also one chromatic dragon that is loosely allied with us." It was at that time that a waitress arrived with a cart of treats and various teas. Xlen nodded to her with a smile. "Thank you, the Material de la Celestia special for the two foreigners, cherry tea and pear tarts for me." He then looked to Walter for his own order.

"Raspberry everything." Walter replied and looked like he was struggling to keep himself from blurting out a question towards Xlen while the waitress was there.

"As you wish." The waitress replied and started dishing out everyone's orders. Isaac usually preferred to order for himself but the city special was always a good thing to try at least once in a new city, especially a very wealthy one in a higher class restaurant. Lenna didn't really mind either way as long as it tasted good. As soon as there was an opportunity, Isaac saw a strawberry crumble get snatched from the corner of one of the trays. He and Gypsy locked eyes for a moment before he just cracked a smirk and she vanished under Walter's chair again.

As soon as the waitress left, the conversation picked up where it had left off. "Which metal ones and why?" Walter questioned and leaned in. As he did so, Isaac distinctly remembered Walter mentioning using dragons as the base for his Elementalist's Armor.

"The Guild Leader, his aide, and the Space Wraith have allied with us from the metallic side, The Slumbering Volcano is the other." Xlen explained like Isaac and Lenna were supposed to know who half of those mentioned were.

"A little help?" Isaac asked Walter.

"The Guild Leader's a gold dragon, his aide's a copper one, the Space Wraith's one I haven't met yet but I hear she is something to behold. She can tangle with Space and Gravity and hold her own, not win mind you, but take a while to lose." Walter helpfully explained. "The Slumbering Volcano is a red dragon that lives in a constantly minorly active volcano, the same volcano that Blade uses as his forge, just on opposite sides. Apparently they are old friends, well, as close to friends as a red dragon will let themselves have."

"Just so." Xlen agreed with Walter's explanation. "They are four of the eleven ancient dragons alive on Primatia at the moment. The other seven are split, three metallic and four chromatic. They need to be hunted down but finding them is almost as difficult as killing them."

"There used to be twelve, but Fable, Cain, Saint Catherine, and I took one down a few decades ago." Walter chimed in. "Why didn't Fable say anything to me then?"

"Fable was against it until a specific group of young adventurers landed in his lap less than a decade ago." Xlen replied. "The group seemed very well suited to hunting down blue, copper, white, and silver dragons specifically."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"The Flame Ravens." Isaac said the group's name aloud. "Lenna and I helped get them ready to fight the drow empire and took them on an underground expedition."

Xlen's curiosity spiked and he brightened. "How well did Fable's successors fare?" He asked Isaac with full focus and attention.

"They are bright kids." Isaac replied. "They learn quickly but they aren't a group of geniuses or anything. They could all stand to just be better but that is hard to train into them."

"They lack the 'Hero Factor'." Walter said with a nod. "So do I, for the record." He added. The other three at the table all looked at him questioningly. "Some people are born to fail, they are the Fodder. Some people are born to work, we are the Backbone. Some people are born to fight three dragons at once while his body tries to break itself apart and a healer is dumping everything she has into him, they are the Heroes. People like the Fatebreaker, the Glinting Blade, Jallen V'Nova." He added with a knowing look towards Isaac. "Those people were born to function at a higher power level than those of equivalent level."

"I have noticed it too." Xlen agreed. "I fell behind Fable and he has only recently started to return to my level as he ages, even though I have three centuries more combat experience than he does."

Isaac nodded in agreement as well. "Jallen was a freaking monster beyond any other twentieth level person I have met. His senses were too sharp, he was too strong, too fast, brought too much of his power to bear in too short an amount of time, and his instincts were near precognizant. And that is coming from me of all people."

"Human demigods can be lumped into the same category as well, yeah." Walter added.

"As for the Flame Ravens, they do not have that. Shy might be able to reach legendary status, and she might be able to bridge the gap with disposable items, which she is prone to do, but those are finite and expensive." Isaac continued where he had left off with talking about the Flame Ravens. "The other three are solid and reliable in their respective roles but Eskahno, Fable's apprentice, will never live up to the old man's legend. He just doesn't have it in him."

Xlen nodded in thanks and thoughtfulness. "They do not need to shake the world, it is always being shaken enough, they just need to be strong enough to survive when it all comes crumbling down and be able to put it all back together. At this point in time, it is more important that they continue to carry the legacy of the Dragon Slayers, and push it onto the future generations who will have to deal with the dragon surge." The old warrior went on.

"So, are you trying to recruit us?" Isaac wondered. If Xlen wanted to recruit Walter alone, it wouldn't have been that hard. There had to be a reason why Xlen met with all three of them together.

"You." Xlen corrected him. "You are welcome to bring your mate, future children, as well as any others that you deem 'strong enough' into the fold, as long as there is another member, like myself, around to back up your decision." He explained clearly.

"Are there any reasons to join?" Isaac wondered. "What do we get out of it?"

Xlen pushed the coin across the table so it rested well within Isaac's arm's reach. "Those who hold these coins are family, and family do not count favors." He stated in terms so simple they were complicated.

"But, do we know who else will have them?" Isaac wondered.

"The Fatebreaker." Lenna said with wide eyes.

"Oh." Isaac spoke with eyes also wide in realization.

"Cainen and his wishes are something else entirely. There are entities beyond us Primatia residents involved in such things." Xlen shot down the duo's thoughts about getting a free wish.

"Oh." It was Lenna's turn to say the word, though with dejection instead of realization.

"As for who has them, only the elders know for certain, myself included, but we can point you in the right direction towards your 'cousins' in whatever country you reside in." Xlen explained. "The obligation is that you help out whoever among our number is sent your way. That, and carrying on the legacy of keeping dragons in check. They are not the lords of our world, they are just residents like the rest of us and those that think otherwise need to be put in their place or in the ground." He punctuated the thought with a very gentle bite out of a tart. Everyone else had been eating the sweats and drinking the tea between and around the conversation.

Everything that Isaac and Lenna had been served was 'Peach' but not actually. It was all made from the strange plant that the high elves had engineered to produce peach scented and flavored things. It tasted almost exactly as Isaac expected peach things to taste but with a richer sweetness that came from a smaller berry and a slightly less pervasive flavor.

"Will we be notified when a dragon is spotted in our area? Will you have some means to contact me directly and vice versa?" Isaac questioned.

Xlen nodded. "Yes to both. We have contact points for regular members but those in charge of hunting groups will receive a communication item." He continued to answer and explain everything that he could to Isaac and company.

"Are there any other demigods or similar beings counted among your number?" Isaac wondered.

Xlen nodded. "Three." He stated simply. "If you join, then I can tell you which three."

Isaac nodded and switched to the next thing on his mind: "There is a specific dragon that we are looking for, if she is found, we want to be the ones to get her." Isaac told Xlen and put his hand on top of the coin.

"As long as she is not the Space Wraith, I will do everything that I can to make that happen, regardless as to which country or continent she is found on." Xlen promised without any hesitation.

"Then I think we have a deal." Isaac told the old warrior.

Xlen smiled warmly. "Welcome to the family, nephew."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.