Seed of Titan-Chapter 148: Dreaming of a Flying Mount

Around ten minutes later, Drai finally returned to the camp.

"Hey. Supper’s ready," Max casually said as he stirred the stew.

Drai immediately took a seat, surveying the camp. With an impressed look, he exclaimed, "Wow, you made all this in just a day?"

Aside from the fire pit and the short wooden benches surrounding it, there were two leaf mattresses under a slanted shed, several hanging racks, crude boxes to store perishables, and a tool shed. There was also a butchering station a few meters away outside the camp.

"I’ve done this countless times already—I could probably do it blindfolded. It’s nothing much," Max shrugged, pouring some stew into a bowl. "The only bothersome thing was gathering all the materials. I had to get them from a few other places since I didn’t want to make a mess of this forest."

He handed Drai the steaming bowl before getting a portion for himself.

As he slurped his supper, Drai noticed an unfamiliar basket near Max’s feet. "I didn’t realize you’re really good at weaving."

Hearing this, Max gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean? I’m not that good."

"Then why is that basket so neat?" Drai asked, pointing at it.

Max was briefly stunned before he eventually picked up the basket and placed it on the bench. "I totally forgot about this. Earlier, Madeleine visited the camp and gave me this."

Drai raised his brows. "Really? Did you guys chat?"

"Nah, she left right after handing me the basket. I asked her to stay for supper, but she refused, saying she had some work to do. Anyway, open it."

Drai wondered why Max didn’t do it himself but complied nonetheless. Opening the basket’s lid, his eyes instantly glimmered.

Max’s jaw dropped when Drai pulled out a plate of grilled meat skewers and noodles, a bowl of veggies and nuts, and a canister of light-cyan liquid containing various fruit cuts.

"’Little snack’ my ass—this is basically a whole feast..." he muttered as he eyed the entire meal set, drooling a bit.

Recalling his own lavish meal this morning, Drai chuckled and said, "I think she likes to show off her cooking skills."

Following this, the two treated themselves to the sumptuous meal, clearing the food and drink in no time while completely ignoring the pot of simmering stew in front of them.

Moments later, Max slumped on the bench, belching loudly before saying, "Make sure to return Madeleine’s stuff and thank her when you see her."

"Got it," Drai replied while picking his teeth.

"I guess you’ll do that tomorrow morning then? It’s already quite late."

"No. I’m heading out again tomorrow."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t you get the milk?"

Drai flicked his hand, pulling out a jerrycan. He tapped it a few times, each strike producing a hollow thunk.

"Huh... Didn’t think you’d fail. You had a whole map with you and an entire day to locate your target," Max remarked.

Putting away the empty jerrycan, Drai replied, "I would’ve succeeded in no time if I weren’t interrupted." He proceeded to tell Max about the lynx’s attack.

Max broke out a smirk. "I think you’re the one who interrupted the lynx’s meal." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Then he should’ve waited until I was done," Drai muttered annoyedly. "And that wasn’t all. After the lynx was gone, the Sky King swept in and took away two horses."

"The Sky King? Is it a huge-ass bird with red feathers?" Max questioned intriguedly.

"Yeah. And after he was gone, the rest of the horses were too scared to move. I watched them for a while, but they just sat there eating grass and licking each other."

"They’re probably trying to recover before regrouping with the others. I think they have some kind of healing ability that uses regurgitated plants. Didn’t their licks cover the wounds in a green sludge?"

"So that’s what it was? I thought they had green saliva."

Recalling the green sludge, Drai was reminded of Flo’s herbal mixtures.

"So what happened next?" Max inquired.

"Well, I eventually left the horses and searched for the main herd. I followed their tracks, which led me to some kind of giant burrow near the edge of the meadows. I tried going in, but there were horses guarding the tunnel. There was no cover at all for me to sneak past them, so in the end, I left," Drai concluded.

"Why not force your way in? Couldn’t you just use that skill of yours?" Max asked, looking a bit puzzled.

"I thought about it, but I decided not to. There’s a chance I’d cause a cave-in by fighting in the tunnels, and I also wanted to see how far I could go just by relying on stealth. Madeleine did tell me to return quickly, but she didn’t set an actual deadline, so I figure she’ll be okay if I’m a bit late with the assignment—it’s not like the milk’s something really important."

"Well, if you think so," Max said with a shrug, not wanting to meddle in their agreement too much. "Anyway, you’re lucky you got to see the Sky King. That fellow doesn’t go out too much. He mostly stays cooped in his nest."

"That’s understandable. With his size, I don’t think he has any difficulties with his hunts," Drai added. "That guy probably just hunts, eats, and sleeps on repeat."

Max nodded, thinking on the same line.

"By the way, you don’t happen to have a taming skill, do you?" Drai suddenly asked.

"No. Why—Oh. You want to tame the Sky King?" Max sent Drai a knowing look.

Drai smirked. "Wouldn’t it be great to have a mount like that? I could probably commute to the academy from home with ease."

Hearing this, Max couldn’t help laughing. "Lad, you have no idea how taming skills work, do you?"

Drai shook his head. The only beast tamer he personally knew was Rofalo, and they weren’t close enough to share with each other how their skills work.

"Usually, a beast tamer can only tame a beast that’s around their own level," Max explained. "Even the most exceptional ones can only tame slightly stronger beasts. If this weren’t the case, tamers would be the most overpowered class, since they could just tame any high-level beast from day one."

Drai nodded in understanding. He never thought about it, but having no taming restrictions would definitely be overpowered. Everyone would then try their best to get a tamer class, perhaps even giving rise to a beast-tamer nation.

"You think he’d agree to be my mount if I beat him up?" Drai asked again.

Max shook his head. "That could maybe work on normal beasts. But for those on the peak of the food chain like the Sky King? They’d probably rather die instead. You can give it a try, though."

"Sure, after I get stronger," Drai replied, putting away this idea in the back of his mind. "By the way, I’ll clean up for the night. You’ve done more than enough today, Max."

"Thanks," Max replied, not refusing the offer—he was actually quite spent after a whole day of gathering materials and setting up the camp.

Soon, Max was tucked in his new bed while Drai was busy cleaning up. At the same time, Madeleine was watching them through her fog screen while she was taking notes on a table, facing several potted plants.

Just then, Max’s distant voice was suddenly heard from the screen. "Drai, cover the pot and let the stew simmer. We can eat it for breakfast."

Drai’s similarly distant voice replied, "Okay."

Hearing this, Madeleine contemplated. "I wonder if I should send them some breakfast... What do you think, Igor?"

The extremely fluffy rodent on her lap squeaked.

"You’re right—they’ll just end up wasting their stew. Then maybe I’ll send them something for dinner instead."

Igor nibbled on her thigh and squeaked again.

"Oh, you want to see Drai? I don’t know when he’ll visit us again, Igor—he still has a task to complete."

Igor’s tiny paws became a blur as he furiously tapped the woman’s thigh. In turn, Madeleine giggled and patted the lively furball, calming it down.

"Where’s the fun in that, Igor? Isn’t it entertaining seeing him looking down on this task?"

Igor replied with a squeak.

Madeleine shook her head. "In the end, this is for his own good. This will also teach the boy an important life lesson."

Igor seemed to acquiesce, as he burrowed quietly into her lap. Shortly after, he dozed off.

Madeleine’s hand let go of the sleeping furball and went straight for her chest, pulling out a silver locket, which she gently opened.

Staring at the picture inside, her lips curled into a melancholic smile.

***

The following morning, Drai had a quick breakfast before leaving for the vast grassland. He headed straight toward the spot where he left the wounded horses.

Arriving there, he saw that the horses were gone. Fortunately, they had left a rather conspicuous trail that he immediately noticed, so he tried following it.

After trekking for a while, Drai’s face suddenly brightened. Ahead of him, the tracks converged into a much larger one. He approached the main tracks and inspected the grass. After determining the herd’s direction, he turned left.

It took half an hour before he finally spotted his targets in the distance. He came closer to the herd that was grazing a cluster of trees before hiding himself in the grass. Following this, he did the same thing as yesterday—sneaking.

This time, it didn’t take long for him to arrive under an outermost horse. He paused for a moment and carefully surveyed his surroundings before resuming his prowl.

At this moment, a lynx’s figure suddenly resurfaced in his mind, which ended up hastening Drai’s pace.

’Tsk. If you bother me again, kitty, I’ll make sure you regret it...’