Frilian: The Adventure of the Hero

Upon hearing about the Celestial Dragon, Frilian instantly forgot about the damp and chilly weather and insisted on setting up camp near the village.

"The last time we saw the Celestial Dragon, humans couldn't use [flight magic], so we could only look up at the dragon from the ground."

"This is a rare opportunity; we must take a look."

He then gave Xia En a lecture on the knowledge of the Celestial Dragon.

The excitement in his eyes was almost as intense as if he had just seen a mimic.

Left with no other choice, Xia En began packing up the campsite. To avoid getting caught in the rain in the middle of the night, the two returned to the rock where they had just taken shelter from the rain.

Actually, Shane was also very curious about this legendary creature.

The Celestial Dragon is a colossal dragon with a near-immortal lifespan. Its massive size is such that it can carry an entire mountain range on its back, hence its name. Unlike other dragons, it is gentle and dislikes fighting, spending its entire life in the sky.

It roams freely, never stopping, and few people ever catch a glimpse of it. When it lands on the ground, that is when it will die.

It's no wonder that Frilian would be interested in such a mysterious creature.

Night falls.

After the rain, the sound of frogs croaking filled the mountain forest.

Shane and Frilian chatted about the Celestial Dragon around the campfire.

Suddenly, Xia En frowned and looked in the direction of the village in the distance. It seemed that some residents had quietly slipped out of their homes in the middle of the night.

Then, something puzzling happened: villagers began to emerge from their houses, one after another, groping their way up the mountain in the dark.

This eerie scene instantly reminded Xia En of the ghost incident he had previously resolved.

No way, not again?

Frillie reacted quickly, immediately grabbing Shane and flying into the air to follow.

The villagers, as if asleep, with their eyes closed, staggered toward a small clearing in the woods, then lined up and lay down on the grass.

Not long after, snoring began.

"?"

Xia En was puzzled.

Instead of sleeping at home, they gather in the woods. Is this some kind of strange folk custom?

Don't you find the ground cold?

Then, something even stranger happened: the people who were sleeping seemed to start having nightmares. Many people began to hum with their eyes closed, and some even started talking strange things in their sleep.

"It seems... something is controlling them to have nightmares."

As she spoke, Frilian flew a little lower, but still maintained a proper distance.

"See the footprints on the ground? There's something there, it's invisible, it's near the villagers."

Following Frilian's words, Shane then noticed that there were indeed many messy footprints on the slightly muddy ground near the villager who was lying down.

But those were not human footprints.

Instead, the footprints resembled those of a large feline, and although nothing else was nearby, the footprints continued to accumulate, suggesting that... the owner of the footprints had been circling around the villagers.

"Are there any monsters that can become invisible?" Shane asked.

Frillie shook her head.

"I've never heard of any demons who possess invisibility magic, but there's a type of magical beast called the Dream Eater, which is born with the ability to become invisible."

"This kind of monster likes to eat human nightmares and is not harmful to humans."

"No harm? Then what's the situation now...?" Xia En asked, puzzled.

Frillie was also puzzled. "This is the first time I've ever seen something like this."

"So what should we do now?"

"There's nothing you can do. When the Dream Eater is feeding on a human's nightmare, you can't wake the person up, otherwise it will damage their soul. In severe cases, it can turn them into an idiot."

"All right."

The two quietly descended behind a nearby tree, waiting patiently for the dream-eating tapir to have its fill.

She didn't know how much time had passed; so much time that Frillie was almost asleep.

The villagers who had been lying on the ground finally got up again and began to line up, walking into the village one by one.

And the invisible footprints began to run deeper into the mountains and forests.

Shane quickly woke Frillie up, and the two of them chased after them.

After many twists and turns, and even using the [Spell to Reveal Tracks], they finally found a nest by following the footprints.

The Dream Eater, having returned to its lair, has deactivated its invisibility.

Xia En almost burst out laughing. The Dream Eater actually looked a lot like a pink "elephant-nosed pig," and in the Dream Eater's nest, there were three extra-small "elephant-nosed pig" babies. A litter of adorable pink creatures, not at all like a monster.

Ok?

and many more!

"Frilian, look at the Baku's lair. Don't those [stones] surrounding the lair look like dwarven helmets?"

Upon hearing Shane's words, Frilian looked closely and indeed found seven or eight dwarf helmets, which the Dream Eater had used as stone enclosures for building its nest.

"What should we do? Should we go down and get it?" Xia En was very tempted.

"Wait... at least wait until they're asleep. I don't want to fight invisible monsters..."

Frillie seemed to be thinking about some past experience, and her expression showed some resistance.

Xia En had no choice but to wait patiently.

After half an hour.

After a long day of fussing, the baby finally fell asleep peacefully in its mother's arms.

Shane and Frilian exchanged a glance, then quietly crept to the edge of the nest, carefully taking the helmets and trying not to make a sound.

Luckily, the Baku family slept soundly and didn't notice anything.

Xia En, holding the last one, slowly backed away.

Snapped.

In the silent nest, the sound of a branch breaking suddenly rang out.

Frillie tensed up instantly.

Xia En was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe. He waited in place for a while, and when he saw that the Dream Eater didn't react, he lifted his foot again and continued walking in the direction of Frilian.

As a result, just as he lifted his foot, he saw Frilian opposite him, turned around, and took off into the air using [Flying Magic].

"?!"

Xia En was stunned!

Then a warm, moist breath came from the back of his neck.

Without turning around, he knew that the Dream Eater had woken up!

Without a second's hesitation, he activated [Sprint] and sprinted forward!

Behind me, there were angry howls.

Xia En didn't care whether the voice sounded like a pig or a cat anymore; he could only run frantically, hoping to escape the Baku's pursuit.

He cursed Frillie in his heart for being so heartless, abandoning him and running away!

What a heartless and cruel elf!

"Aww—"

Xia En yelled and jumped a meter high.

His buttocks were bitten hard by the dream-eating tapir behind him. He was both shocked and furious, clutching his buttocks and running as fast as he could.

When people are pushed to the limit, they're capable of anything!

He ran like his life depended on it, feeling like his soul couldn't keep up with his body's speed!

Finally, after running for who knows how long, the sound of pursuers gradually faded away...

He collapsed to the ground, coughing violently, almost coughing up his lungs.

Only then did Frilian slowly float down from the sky.

"How could you abandon your teammates?!"

Xia Ennu.

Frillie looked away somewhat embarrassedly: "...Mothers with cubs are very protective of their young. We need to let it vent its anger, otherwise it will cause trouble for the villagers nearby."

"!!"

How dare you say that?

Shaen was heartbroken that he had been used by Frilian as a pawn to appease the Baku.

"What should we do now? Should we chase the dream-eating tapir away?"