Drake led his friends out of the tunnels and back to the surface of the clearing, where they could see the twin suns shining in the afternoon sky.

As they exited the hole that led to the tunnels, the dirt around the opening began to collapse and transform, leaving nothing but the flat surface of the clearing. There was no longer a tunnel system beneath the clearing.

Drake led his cohort back to where Ruby was waiting, her hive still surrounding the men in the clearing. All eyes turned to Drake as he and his friends approached. Renn had transformed back into her real form, which had changed slightly. She was twice the size as before with long, serrated fangs. Her claws were veined in green that shimmered brightly. She was a level 4 beast now, making her stronger, faster, and more deadly.

As they approached, they could tell that Ruby had changed as well. Her size had nearly doubled. The long pincer at the end of her tail, veined in green, dripped with acid. Her carapace glistened with a green glitter embedded in the thick, shelled armor.

Drake grinned widely as he approached the men. "You can all leave now. We're finished with the quest. I will remind you, though. Any beast that has green eyes is either my ally or my familiar. Harm them… well, harming them is going against me."

Ruby broke away from the hive and headed straight for Drake. She lowered her head, allowing Drake to rub it. A grainy purr could barely be heard, happy to see her master.

The hive backed away, allowing the men to leave. Drake watched as they quickly took down their camp and gathered their things.

Drake, still rubbing Ruby's large head, smiled. "Well, Ruby… Do you want to go back with me so you can transform into a smaller version of yourself like Renn can? It won't be gone very long. We just want to gather some supplies, then we'll return here," he told her. "If you don't want to come with us, you can stay here, and we'll come find you when we get back."

Ruby flashed images in Drake's mind, indicating that she wanted to return with him to the ordinary world. If she had been able to change form, she would have been able to go with him inside the tunnels for his quest.

With one last rub on her large head, he began walking toward the dirt road that led to Draco Town. He still needed to talk to Gavin. He didn't trust him; something about him seemed off. In the back of his mind, he felt like he would have to deal with him sooner or later, but not until he gives a good reason.

Mike and Chad followed behind Drake and the two beasts, all flanking Drake as he headed toward the road.

"Maybe we should just go back to the ordinary world, refresh our supplies, visit Bren so we can let him know that Nana knows he's still alive, then head back here before anyone realizes that we left," Mike suggested. He was worried that someone would try to stop them again before they could even think about starting their third quests.

Chad nodded, agreeing with his friend, but Drake spoke before either of them could say anything further. "My system message was telling me to proceed to Draco Town. Its exact words were, 'You may now proceed to Draco Town. Your quest is complete,' that tells me that I need to go to Draco Town before we return to the ordinary world to get more supplies."

"So, it's some sort of stopping and starting point for our ascension quests?" Mike asked, not sure if that's what it was. That's what it sounded like. It sounded like the quests had to start and end at Draco Town.

Chad remained quiet, listening to Mike and Drake. He was thinking the same thing as Mike after he spoke it. He didn't need to say anything because Mike had already done it.

"It would seem that way; Draco is our starting and ending point," Drake nodded, then looked at his staff. "I don't really want to walk, do you?"

Not letting them answer, Drake slammed the staff into the ground. A bright light surrounded them in a blinding flash before disappearing completely. Once they could see their surroundings again, they found themselves standing in front of the welcome sign, welcoming them to Draco Town.

"Now, can we go back?" Mike asked. "We're here, can we return, or do we have to make contact with someone first?"

"I want to talk to Nana first, and let Mayor Ivan know that we're finished with our quest. We can tell him that we're going back to replenish supplies, then we'll be back. I still agree with not returning to school. If we can finish our quests, living here would be the best option because of my familiars," Drake explained. "Unless you guys want to go back. We are in this together, so we live where we all want to live, not just me."

Chad smiled widely. "I think I want to live here after we're done too…. If the dimension lets us."

"I think we should live here too. We can return when we need supplies, but we can live here," Mike put in.

With Mike and Chad's declaration, Ruby nuzzled Drake with her large head, happy with their decision. Renn seemed to have gotten a bounce in her step. She liked what she heard also.

Drake smiled as he slowly walked down the main street, heading for the tavern where he knew that he would find Mayor Ivan and Gavin. He wasn't sure if he was ready to speak with Gavin yet; he figured he would play it by ear.

The streets were filled with townsfolk going about their business. Shops were open again, and everything appeared to be back to normal.

Many of the people walking in the street stopped to stare at Ruby. Her green eyes shining as she looked back at them, continuing to walk along with Drake. Gasps and muffled whispers could be heard as they made their way to the tavern.

When they reached, they discovered that Ruby and Renn could barely squeeze through the double doors. If they evolved again, there would be no way that they could fit through them.

Mike and Chad each pulled one of the doors open, letting Drake stroll in calmly. His two familiars came after. When they were completely inside the tavern, Mike and Chad entered and let the doors close behind them.

All eyes turned to them, then to the beasts. Their eyes widened as they stared in shock at the menacing creatures standing calmly next to the dimension master heir with their eyes glowing a soft green. Gasps were heard throughout the tavern.

Drake smiled, then spoke loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "These are my familiars, Renn and Ruby. You already know Renn. My scorpion beast is named Ruby. They won't hurt you unless you try to hurt us. Other than that, there is nothing for you to fear," Drake declared, then turned to walk toward Mayor Ivan.

Mayor Ivan smiled, gulping subtly at the large scorpion. "Your quest is complete!" he burst out in excitement. He was worried that they wouldn't be able to finish since they had to stop to save Nelly. "It was timed… You must have barely finished."

Drake grinned widely. "Saving Nelly caused the quest to reset. She was in the same direction as the quest, so we were able to find where we needed to be while we were after Nelly. Once we brought her back, all we had to do was teleport back to where we found her and continue on our quest." Drake suddenly turned serious. "We had to choose between Nelly and the quest. We chose Nelly. The dimension can find another dimension master, but there isn't another Nelly. We were prepared to die. Our goal was to save her and bring her home safely. If there were time, we would attempt to finish the quest. Without the reset, we would not have finished in time."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, saving her actually helped us."

Drake scanned the room. "Where is Nana? Is she at home? I promised to talk to her."

Ivan nodded. "She's at home waiting for you. After you left, she said she was going to wait there until you returned. She wants to hear about her brother, Bren."

"After we talk to her, we need to head back and replenish supplies. We'll return as soon as we can. Hopefully, we'll be back by morning. I don't know the time differences, but we plan to get more supplies, visit Bren, and then return here. We plan to stay only one night… and that's only if we have no choice."

Ivan nodded as Drake turned and headed out of the tavern with his familiars close behind. Mike and Chad had opened the doors for them again and waited for them to exit before they let them close. They had left the tavern and then rushed to catch up to Drake.

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