Given his current strength, very few creatures could make him feel a sense of crisis. Yet, this feeling had truly appeared at this moment, and it was growing increasingly intense.
Something is approaching!
Asa stood up and looked toward the sky. That sense of oppression was identical to when he first touched the dragon medallion ten years ago; both originated from the same source.
"A dragon? But within the borders of the human kingdom, how could that be?"
It did not make him wait long before a massive shadow tore through the night sky in the distance.
A dragon blocked out the starlight, its wingspan reaching dozens of meters. Like a moving storm cloud, it flew straight toward his location.
But Asa brow furrowed even tighter. That sense of oppression did not come from it; it was still further behind.
He strained his eyes to look into the distance, but he could capture nothing. As he tried harder to sense it, that feeling of danger, like needles pricking his back, suddenly vanished.
There is someone in the shadows, Asa warned himself internally.
The system prompt popped up right on cue: [Discovered important plot character Saskia Saosi, establish a relationship to receive rewards!]
Wasn't Saskia Saosi the final boss in the second installment, a green dragon that could transform into human form?
Asa gaze fell upon the green dragon circling and descending, and sure enough, he saw a few traces of the final boss from the game in it.
The dragon scales shimmered with a cold light under the moonlight, and its dragon head was ferocious, its vertical pupils staring at Asa like a venomous snake.
The little mare, Grape, at his feet was already terrified, her four legs trembling like a sieve.
Asa frowned, untied the reins, and let her hide to the side; if he didn't let her go, she might be scared to death on the spot.
Grape kicked up her hooves and fled the abandoned village. The green dragon above immediately locked onto Asa in the village, folded its wings, and dove down.
A gale pressed down from above, almost blowing a person to the ground.
Asa expression remained unchanged as a transparent magic barrier appeared on his body, allowing him to stand firm in the gale.
Just as they were about to make contact, the dragon's sharp claws suddenly retracted upward at the moment they were about to grab him, brushing past the edge of the barrier.
"Hmph." Asa lips curled slightly; he had seen early on that this dragon was just bluffing.
"Human!" The dragon's voice was rough and deep as its ferocious head leaned close to Asa.
At such a close distance, the texture of the scales and the skin on the green dragon were fully visible.
"Why do you have the scent of my kind on you?"
An ordinary person encountering this scene would likely have already wet themselves in fear.
Even if they couldn't feel the direct oppression of dragon might, being questioned face-to-face by such a colossal creature would inevitably leave them with cold hands and feet, trembling uncontrollably and unable to stand.
However, Asa simply took the medallion from around his neck and waved it gently in front of Saskia.
"Is this what you're talking about?"
His teacher, Tissaia, had once said that this dragon medallion was crafted by the ancient elves using the reverse scales of a dragon as the material, supplemented by various types of magic. It was constantly releasing the pressure of a dragon.
"Reverse scales." Even though the dragon's voice lacked inflection, Asa could still hear the sense of surprise in its tone.
After a moment of silence, as if contemplating something, the green dragon said:
"Human mage, I want to trade for this scale with you. What do you need? Speak."
This dragon is quite polite.
Asa did not research the plot of the second game deeply; he only vaguely remembered that this dragon in front of him would eventually transform into a young girl, become the leader of the resistance, and go missing after a battle with Geralt.
However, judging from its current behavior, it was at least not the kind of evil dragon that breathed fire upon meeting. There was no point in making an enemy of it, and there might even be potential benefits.
This system probably has a dragon's aesthetic for all things.
But when it came to trading, Asa thought about it and realized he didn't really lack anything at the moment.
So he said, "Let's talk about your treasure first, dragon."
The green dragon's breathing hitched. Should it admit that it had just left home, was penniless, and had impulsively shouted to trade upon seeing the reverse scale?
When it actually came time to bring out bargaining chips, it couldn't produce anything; it really couldn't save face.
After stammering and holding back for a long time, it simply changed tactics and asked Asa:
"Don't you want to be friends with a dragon? If you have any problems you can't solve, or enemies you can't kill, I can help you."
After speaking, it spread its wings, and a gale immediately blew the roofs off the huts in the abandoned village.
"So you don't actually have anything, then?" Asa said.
The green dragon's eyes widened, and it stopped speaking.
The trade didn't go through, and its hand had been completely revealed. Fortunately, its dragon scales were thick enough that the human mage couldn't see it blushing.
The green dragon silently made a mental note, thinking that this human mage was quite good-looking, but his emotional intelligence was too low, and he probably didn't have many friends.
Seeing that the conversation was about to end in such an awkward manner, the green dragon flapped its wings, preparing to continue flying to the next location.
"Hey, dragon, are you just planning to leave like this? In your current form?" Asa sighed and stopped the dragon.
"Is there a problem?" The polite green dragon leaned down to look; the scales on its body were sparkling. "Look, how beautiful it is!"
Asa rubbed his temples. This was clearly a sheltered young lady who had run away from home, yet she was in the form of a dragon.
"Forget it, let me tell you about the modern human world's attitude toward dragons. Can you change into another form?"
"Another form?"
The green dragon thought for a moment, then suddenly realized something. A green light flew toward the ground, and the moment it touched the ground, a young girl with flaxen hair appeared before Asa.
Her skin was bronze, her eyes were bright and spirited, her long hair draped over her shoulders, and she wore a pristine white robe.
"Hello, human mage, I am Saskia Saosi. You can just call me Saskia. What is your name?"
"Asa."
Asa introduced himself briefly, his gaze sweeping across the darkness behind the dragon girl.
He wondered if the monster that had brought him such a strong sense of crisis was still watching them, or if it had already left.
With someone lurking in the shadows, he shouldn't reveal too much of his strength.
"Miss Saskia, could you please retract your dragon might? My horse is about to be scared to death." Glancing at Grape, Asa said helplessly.
"Oh, oh." The dragon miss clearly hadn't thought about this, and she paused for a moment before agreeing.
Recalling the trembling Grape from a distance, Asa invited Saskia to sit down. He cleaned up the messy campfire, relit the fire, and only then began to explain things to Saskia, who had just learned about the human world.
To put it simply, it could be summarized in one sentence:
Wherever a dragon's figure appears, that place will fall into chaos and a sea of flames.
Humans don't care whether you, the dragon, are here to help or do evil; they will only do everything in their power to kill the dragon and find the treasure they have hidden.
The result of Saskia rashly appearing in a human town would be either the town becoming a purgatory, or Saskia having her dragon head cut off.