Baba ushered them into his hut. Having a discussion outside was distasteful, and even worse was that it was a discussion concerning war.

  Merlin understood the chief’s perspective.

  The old dragonman was well aware that the villagers of Blatt were not ignorant to what exactly was happening between their village and the village of Stein to the west, but it would still be foolish to not be tact about such topics, and expose decisions that should be made between leaders and tacticians to the ears of mere villagers.

  And that was why Merlin and the rest were seated on the ground, legs crossed, in a dragonman’s hut, and before them was Baba, who was flanked by Krieger and the dragonpriest who had erected the barrier over the village.

  [Is there anything you and your folks would have us offer you]? Baba asked as he waddled to a wooden seat across his hut where a shoddy imitation of a stone fireplace was erected and took his seat.

  Merlin chewed on the offer and decided to reject with a polite shake of his head. After all, he was uncertain if he and the rest had the same palate as the dragonmen. Water was probably the only universal thing they shared in common, and vegetable and meat, obviously. Besides that, he doubted if their food or drinks would suit his tastes, or even those of the rest of his mates.

  Sure, he might have no choice but to try them later on, but now was not the time to be doing that.

  He was thirsty, though, and he was sure the rest were after their run from the sandworms.

  On second thoughts…

  “Yes,” he said. “We would like water, please.”

  Baba bobbed his head slightly and motioned for Krieger to get them some. As the dragonman moved, Merlin continued taking in the scenery of the hut’s interiors, just like the others.

  It was unlike anything he had seen before. To put it in simpler terms, it was like it was an interior straight out of the caves of the stone age. Bones hung from the roof above, with a large one in particular just behind the chief where he sat. It was a skull with two long horns protruding from each side. Merlin wondered what sort of beast could have a structure, because he knew well enough that it wasn’t a sandworm.

  The rest of the room saw the presence of carpets of fur, sustained through drying, stones bundled together in the corners for whatever reasons, sticks sharpened at the edges all about, and beams made from trunks of trees where robes hanged. Finally, there was what could be called a bed at the far end of the hut designed by long sticks standing at its four corners, holding another dried fur over it.

  Merlin pursed his lips, curious at the sight. Then his attention was taken away from the design of the room when Krieger returned with bowls of water for each of them.

  Merlin nodded in thanks as he received his, and instantly regretted his decision of asking for water. It seemed his mates felt the same way too as they all shot a brief glare his way; he tried his best to ignore Senior Sun-Hee’s, but that was hard when she was seated the closest to him.

  They couldn’t blame him, though. He hadn’t realized that the bowls would have such putrid smells.

  What had he been thinking?

  [Well, drink up, then we can begin our discussion.] Baba motioned for all of them to quench their thirst, relaxing in his chair, oblivious to what he was subjecting them to.

  Merlin couldn’t come off as rude, since he had been the one to request for the drinks, so he held his nose, blocking off the smell that emerged from the bowl, and gulped the water down.

  It was not until it was past his throat did he let his nose be, and it was then that he almost fainted. His tongue lost all vigor, and almost slacked out of his mouth. Water was usually tasteless, but that which he had just drunk had the taste of cement and mud mixed together. He had tasted neither, but he couldn’t picture any other tastes befitting of his drink.

  He tried his best to hold back his thoughts, though, and in return his expression only tightened slightly.

  Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one.

  [Alright. Let us begin], said Baba with a slight clearing of his throat, and Merlin straightened where he was seated. [You asked if we intend to go to war with our brothers, or ascend the Tower. The answer is simple. We prefer peace. That is all we want.]

  Merlin furrowed his brows as he took in the information. It was not until Senior Sun-Hee jabbed him at the side, did he snap back and relay to her what exactly the old dragonman had said. Then she too took on his expression.

  “They killed your warriors,” she said, and Merlin relayed it to the chief.

  [That is correct], Baba replied.

  “And you still want to make peace with them?”

  [That, too, is correct. If possible.]

  Senior Sun-Hee was taken aback slightly, not much that her stoic expression changed very much, but enough that Merlin didn’t miss it.

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  “Why?” she asked. “Trying to make peace with the opposing village is only going to earn you nothing but pain. Is it not in your best interest to attack them before they have the chance to attack you, or, even still, ascend to the second floor?”

  Baba paused, silent, as he rubbed his stick which was resting on his lap.

  [We Drachens are all born out of the love of the dragon god, Xéros], said the dragonpriest standing to the left of Baba. [It is in our best interest to make peace before fighting. That is what the doctrine teaches.]

  Senior Hyunwoo frowned when Merlin relayed those words to them. It seemed the mention of religion struck a chord in him, and it annoyed him to no end, because he opened his mouth and spoke with the most vigor Merlin had heard from him yet…

  “Then why doesn’t your god come down and resolve this dispute,” he said. “If you Drachens were created from his love, why does he leave you all to struggle and fight over scarps?”

  Merlin was silent, unsure if he was to relay those words to the dragonmen with the same fire or be a bit more prudent.

  Senior Hyunwoo noticed this, shot him a glare, and said, “Say it exactly the way I did.”

  Merlin realized that he was caught at a crossroad here. No matter which path he took, there was probably an enemy to be made at the end. Which was why he picked the greater of two evils.

  He relayed the message to the Drachens in a prudent manner, toning down Senior Hyunwoo’s aggression while keeping the message.

  Senior Hyunwoo seemed even more annoyed at that—obviously—but Merlin didn’t let that bother him.

  [For a while now there has been no answer], the dragonpriest replied. [Some of the villagers claim that Xéros has forsaken us, but if that were to be the case, then I would not be able to use His miracles. While others fear He’s dead.]

  Merlin frowned at those words.

  “That’s a reach,” he said. “Gods are immortal, no?”

  [God], the dragonpriest corrected. [There is only one god.]

  Merlin jerked back slightly, but didn’t push on the matter. Who was he to argue the religion and history of the Drachens in their own world.

  [And, yes, Xéros is immortal], said the dragonpriest. He then raised his hands high, looking up towards the thatched roof of the hut. [The Tower is made out of Xéros’ flesh and blood. We live inside Xéros. The air we breathe is that of Xéros. The water we drink is of His fluid. We were born of his life force, and so is everything around, living or dead. If Xéros was dead, then we Drachens would cease to exist.]

  Merlin hummed. He didn’t quite believe that was to be the case. In fact, he had his own theory. Krieger had said that the first floor had once been blossoming with life, greenery all around, with abundance to eat and drink and feast on. And then on a fateful day, everything changed. Slowly, the grasses began to wither; their livestock began to grow frail and die, amongst many other occurrences. All in all, their flourishing land slowly became a desert—a wasteland—over a short period. If that didn’t indicate something being wrong with the dragon god, Xéros, then what would? And it seemed it was a lot more than just their god forsaking them. Perhaps He had truly died, and the priest was just delusional to think that it was otherwise, seeking hoops to exploit to make it seem like the dragon god was still alive.

  The dragonpriest glanced in Merlin’s direction then, specifically his bag, just like Baba had been doing for a while now. Blue had popped his head out for like the umpteenth time in the past few minutes.

  The Drachens could see and sense Blue, and Merlin had not thought it weird seeing as they were basically humanoid dragons, but he found it uncomfortable, because they always looked at him in return. Perhaps it was the whole ‘Blessed’ thing, or maybe they thought of him a tyrant, imprisoning one of their own. Something of the sort. Thankfully, Krieger had come to his aid earlier on, stating that Blue wasn’t a prisoner of any sort to Merlin as soon as the priest had set his eyes on the little dragon. That had cooled things down before they could escalate, thankfully.

  [The first floor has all the answers], said Baba then, drawing everyone’s attention from the priest his way. [If we want to find out what has really happened to Xéros, we will have to ascend to the first floor.]

  Merlin swallowed. “And you are curious, yes?”

  Baba nodded. [Very], he said. [But now is not the time to be worried about Xéros. I have my people to feed and keep safe. I said I would prefer peace, but if my own brothers have decided to take up arms against me, then I shall have no choice but to dine with spears and cuddle with war itself. I will not subject my own people to their death because of my sense of peace. That would be foolish of me.]

  Merlin took a deep breath and sighed. “Give us a moment.”

  [As you wish.]

  He turned around, facing the rest and reported the full details of his conversation with Baba to them, then they settled into a conversation of theirs.

  No one still had any idea if they were proceeding in the right manner to clear the Tower, but what they did know was that being idle wouldn’t bring any results. Taking action was always the best course of action. Merlin realized that too. However, as most decided that they would take up arms with the village of Blatt, defend their village with them, he raised the point of them only seeing things from one point of view.

  And he was right.

  What if their journey had led them to the village of Stein first? Would they have taken up arms for that village instead if they had fed them lies? Was there any guarantee that the village of Blatt wasn’t feeding them lies at this moment? They were not sure of anything. And his Perception was not yet at the level where he would be able to pick up on body tics that indicated lying, just like Kieran had when he had approached level hundred in the Attribute.

  The truth was, they had no idea what was the truth, and that could lead to them being hasty with their decision.

  However, he had no solutions for that problem. The only one he could think of was journeying to the village to the west, and sitting down with their chief as well. But not only was that risky, it was time exhausting as well. And Senior Sun-Hee had told him the same when he had brought it up.

  At the end of the day, the only thing they could do was pick a side. In a dispute, most of the time, no side was completely wrong. One just had to decide where they stood. But, this was a mission that determined the graduation of the second years along with deciding who and who fought in the upcoming tournament, so it was not to be taken lightly. They had to make their choices carefully, ensuring it didn’t jeopardize them.

  Which was why Merlin asked for a moment to think of something good enough, and a minute later he came up with something that everyone stood by and he was certain Baba would quite appreciate too.

  They turned back to the patient dragonmen.

  “We have decided,” said Merlin. “We will fight with you.”