“Tae, is he lying?” Kel asked the woman behind him frankly, not taking his eyes off Micro for a moment.

  “Well…” The young woman called Tae looked worried, but eventually nodded her head. “His soul is difficult to read even with the Spirit Vision Skill, but he couldn’t be more honest.”

  “Boy, tell me your name,” Kel demanded. “We’ll know if you’re lying.”

  “I’m called Micro,” he answered plainly, tempted to feel relieved that he was still alive. “Those eyes…”

  “You spoke of a dragon,” Kel continued. “Explain your encounter.”

  “My encounter with Ray? I was lost at the time.” Micro’s face crumpled slightly as he tried to recall the events. Having been unconscious for a large amount of the time since the event, it seemed like a distant memory. “He came out of the water and poked me. Then he gave me Core Cards and told me to find his friend. I wonder if his friend is the same shade of yellow…”

  “Never mind the Core Cards, a yellow dragon gave you a quest?!” Kel struggled to keep from shouting. He turned frantically to the woman called Tae, whose eyes glowed with a magical confidence in her ability to discern the truth, but she only nodded once to confirm everything was as Micro said it was.

  “He lives in a cave not far from here. He said to make a yellow core before my green—jade one springs a leak,” Micro explained earnestly. “After that, I have to find his friend. His name was…”

  “Yes?” Kel asked. “And does he intend to leave his cave?”

  “That must be the reason we haven’t encountered many lesser beasts in the area.” One man commented. This could be where it has chosen to hunt!”

  “No, he seemed pretty happy parked where he was,” Micro replied. “He was just mad at… what was his name…?”

  “Who is the friend of a yellow dragon?!”

  “Sorry, I’m not good with names…” Micro shook his head apologetically. “Blue probably remembers though. She knows a lot.”

  “Wait, so Blue is the dragon’s friend?” Kel raised an eyebrow. “And you mean to say the dragon was residing in our realm, rather than within a dungeon? Be clear in your answers.”

  “Well, Blue is in my pock—” Micro cut himself off, suddenly remembering Blue’s reluctance to speak with humans, but it was too late. Tae scanned him again, and then pointed at his chest.

  “There, she explained to Kel. “There may be something in his pocket, but it’s unclear…”

  Another man stepped forward and extended his hand toward the rusty chest plate, lifting it out of the way to reveal his chest pocket, into which he carefully reached with one hand.

  CRACK

  A small stream of blood flowed from the man’s nose as he was flung backwards by a sudden impact.

  “That’s my passenger!” Micro growled, his eyes fuzzy and his head bloody. He felt queasy as the fact that he’d deliberately collided with somebody sank in, but he stared at the surprised young man without blinking. “Ow…”

  Another man burst into laughter while his comrade picked himself up, pressing his hand against his bloody nose in his hand in shame. Micro leaned back against the rocky wall and looked at Kel, who continued unfazed by his servant’s bloodied face.

  “A yellow core…” Kel mumbled. “You mean an amber core? You may have been born with an artificial jade core, like some heroes are, but cultivating an amber core is beyond the abilities of a broken summoned creature.”

  “I’ll figure it out,” Micro stated. “The old man wouldn’t walk away from a problem…”

  “Nonsense,” Kel scoffed. He looked offended by Micro’s words. “The path of a true cultivator is far beyond your reach.”

  “I need a stronger ‘core’ to get home,” Micro countered. “I know my destination. I’ll go as far as the road takes me, no different than any trip I’ve been on.”

  Kel stroked his chin as his servants regained their composure. Tae remained silent, and the others waited on Kel’s word, standing ready to act. However, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, deflating their tension. He opened his eyes with new resolve, and spoke to his comrades.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Though our path may intersect another’s, our course is set,” Kel spoke softly, but the confidence in his aura shook Micro. “We shall return to our sect with the Turtle Art cards in our hands, or we shall not return.”

  The men and women all bowed deeply as he spoke.

  “Your cool head prevails even in times of confusion, as befitting our young master.”

  “Your wisdom shines in this darkest of places.”

  “And your eyes are just plain shiny,” Micro added, directing his comment to the women near Kel. “How far can you see with headlights like that?”

  “That which is not hidden is clear to me, as are many things which are hidden,” she replied. “It would have been more difficult not to find you. I have been tracking you and your three friends, along with several other beasts, for some time now.”

  “So that was you!” Micro gasped.

  Tae frowned, unsure how to interpret Micro’s comments, but Kel turned a friendlier glance toward Micro.

  “I apologize, lost child.” Kel bowed his head and spoke kindly. “This is probably very confusing to you.”

  Micro smiled and nodded once, though Kel’s comrades seemed disturbed by their master’s courtesy.

  “Like so many others, my family has suffered at the hands of magicians, but I see no enemy in you.” Kel’s voice was still heavy on Micro’s ears, but he spoke more politely as he went on. “My own path is marked by failures and dishonour, but my regrets do not change the fact that I must continue to walk upon it. The gods may twist and bend the fate of all they touch, but cultivators must walk their own path until the very end. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “I’m still looking for a road,” Micro replied. “I haven’t seen a single one anywhere…”

  “You feel no attachment to the path of carnage you were summoned upon?” Kel inquired. “Your masters, and a goddess herself, intended for you to be a force of destruction.”

  “Destruction?!” Micro gasped. “I’m efficient and reliable!”

  “Oh?” Kel grinned. “Who would rely upon you?”

  “I’ve been delivering passengers and their cargo safely since before you were born,” Micro replied with a confidence that startled Kel.

  “You were an escort?” Kel asked. “Whom did you protect, and from what?”

  “I protected my driver from everything,” Micro asserted.

  “Everything?” Kel leaned in with a curious glance.

  “Rain, snow, wind, sun…” Micro reminisced. “Other vehicles, bugs and animals, everything.”

  “An escort that protects against forces of nature?” one of Kel’s comrades scoffed. “I’ve heard less absurd lies from—”

  “All true,” Tae interrupted him, addressing Kel politely. “No lies, master.”

  “The power to defy weather itself, you say?” Kel nodded. “Forced into this vessel, but still able to defy the will of evil deities…”

  “I was only designed to do one thing.” Micro looked up at the cave’s ceiling and sighed. “It’s really not that complicated…”

  “Weak enough to be bound by simple rope, and yet the survivor of an encounter with a rogue dragon…” Kel continued. “A powerful escort indeed…”

  Micro took a deep breath as his headache began to subside, while Kel took his time thinking about Micro’s answers. After a while, Kel stood up and smiled widely.

  “Micro, the result of a failed summoning. Micro, the otherworldly traveller. Micro, friend of a dragon,” Kel said, his eyes full of curiosity. “Micro… What else are you, I wonder…”

  “I’m just a Micro, and I want to return to my driver.” Micro’s voice shook under the increasing pressure of Kel’s aura, but his tone was still clear and sharp. “You’re not my driver, so you have no right to keep me parked here.”

  “You better watch your tone you dirty little—” an attendant’s roared with his hand on his sword, but Kel raised his own hand to stop him.

  “I can’t apologize for mistaking you for the natural enemy of a cultivator,” Kel explained. “But this is too unique an encounter to simply walk away from. Perhaps I am tempted to explore what fate may offer…”

  “I don’t need an apology, and you can walk all you like,” Micro said, his voice getting louder. “I just need to get moving!”

  “Your destination was a sect?” Kel asked.

  “The Serpent, something…” Micro replied, hopeful that Blue could remind him of the sect’s name again later.

  “I see,” Kel replied with a curious look. “Then we shall deliver you to whatever sect you wish.”

  “Really?” Micro shouted gratefully. “Thanks, Kel!”

  “I swear it,” Kel confirmed. “You may be lost and weakened, but I sense the dignity of a master in you.”

  “Thanks?” Micro replied awkwardly.

  “Young master!” one of his companions stubbornly protested. “Can you place so much faith in such a being? We don’t know what—”

  “We shall not fear the unknown,” Kel rebuked his comrade. “My cowardice until now has brought untold shame and suffering to the sect and…”

  Kel looked back at the five people behind him with a complicated expression. They looked worried for the young man, but they bowed humbly as he met each of their eyes.

  “My path shall no longer be one of caution and cowardice, but of discovery,” Kel announced, then turned back to Micro.

  “I shall indeed assist you.”

  “Thanks!” Micro replied happily.

  “But I shall first have you accompany me to the dungeon.”