"Is there a problem?" Arianna asked when she noticed that Aiden had been taken aback by what he saw.
Aiden shook his head and said, "No, not at all. But we aren’t the only mages here."
He hadn’t seen anyone from Dragonhold in such a while that it was hard for him not to react the way he did.
"Oh? From our guild or the others?" she asked for more clarity.
"They are not Xathians. They are mages from Dragonhold," Aiden replied. Then he remembered the view of the map he had seen earlier.
Geshu Mountains was within the Xathian border, but it wasn’t far from Dragonhold territory as a whole.
At that point, the system sent him a new quest:
[New Side Quest Assigned]
[Side Quest: Find the Purple Hermis Stone]
[Rewards: ??]
[Bonus Reward: ??]
[Duration: ??]
He nodded seeing that quest, then said to Arianna, "Let’s start looking."
And with that, they both set off along the path, hoping to find the Purple Hermis Stone somewhere.
Although he wasn’t sure if he wanted to encounter mages from the kingdom like this, he couldn’t avoid it if it happened.
...
They had been searching without any luck for the better part of an hour.
At some point, Arianna exclaimed, "Oh, I’ve found it!"
But when Aiden came to get a closer look, it turned out to be a grub with purple skin.
She smiled sheepishly at herself, and Aiden shook his head and smiled too, then they both continued on their way.
At one point, Arianna beckoned to Aiden to stop for a second so that she could catch her breath. She sat on a rock and tried to slow her breathing.
Meanwhile, Aiden didn’t exactly feel tired. In fact, it had probably been a while since he actually felt tiredness. Perhaps it was one of the perks of the Dragon King System.
Aiden’s enhanced hearing picked up sounds of people walking toward them. These were the mages of Dragonhold, and they hadn’t made contact with them until now.
Aiden’s Dragon’s Sight skill deactivated, and his eyes returned to normal before he turned to see them approaching. Arianna had raised her head in anticipation as well.
The mages then appeared before them; there were about four of them. It looked like the blonde-haired boy with glasses was the one leading the party.
"Good day to you both," Karl said, raising his right hand slightly as he greeted them.
"Good day to you too," Aiden greeted back.
From the looks of it, they hadn’t recognized Aiden. Well, it wasn’t surprising either. These were most likely mages who weren’t the latest initiates of this year and as such could never have known Aiden.
This, coupled with the fact that as a bastard, he was barely ever allowed to move as he pleased within Dragonhold as a whole. The King also prevented him from appearing at public events or feasts hosted by the Palace.
So therefore, aside from the servants of the palace, the captains and Grand Magus, a few of the knights and certain heads of families, people could never really identify who Jarius’ bastard was.
They only knew that the king had a bastard son.
"We are mages of the Silver Pegasus Guild of Dragonhold. I am this team’s leader, Karl," he spoke with pride as he introduced himself.
"We are mages of Ravens Grave of the Xathian Kingdom," Aiden introduced himself, leaving out any introductions regarding names.
"Yes, I know the guild uniforms of your kingdom," Karl sounded really conceited at this point, then he added, "Why are you mages here?"
Maybe it was the tone of his voice or something, but both Aiden and Arianna exchanged puzzled glances.
Then Aiden turned back toward Karl to express what he and Arianna were thinking: "This region is within Xathia, and I believe we can move about it to conduct our business."
Karl adjusted his glasses and with a smile on his face said, "Yes, yes, I know that. I’m simply asking what your purpose is. Perhaps we could even help each other out."
Aiden looked at him with an expressionless face for a moment, then said, "We are looking for the Purple Hermis Stone. Any idea where we can find it here?"
Karl exchanged glances with the mages behind him, then turned toward Aiden again and said, "We are also looking for the Purple Hermis Stone. We hear they are easily found in this region. Perhaps it would be wiser if we stuck together and searched in a larger group. Who knows? We might find just enough for everyone."
Karl had this smile on his face that didn’t exactly sit well with Aiden, but his malice perception hadn’t gone off either, so it was hard to say for sure.
Aiden was going to decline, but he was doing this for Elena and not himself, and the sooner they found this thing, the better.
Then he replied, "Okay," agreeing to carry on with them.
"Great!" Karl said, and in a few moments they discussed which parts of the regions they had searched already.
That way they wouldn’t go back to those places or rather would only return to them after they had searched other places, just in case they missed a spot.
And with that, they set off together.
Aiden and Arianna still maintained some distance behind them, and at one point he whispered to Arianna, "Stay close and be careful. I don’t like the feel of this whole thing."
Arianna simply nodded in agreement.
....
While they continued the search, by some chance, Aiden had spotted a flower that grew on the rocky mountain paths. In fact, it was the only thing with life around, which was very strange given the environment.
Everyone who had crossed the path before him hadn’t stopped for a second to make that observation, except Aiden.
He moved his hand in front of Arianna, which prompted her to stop in her tracks. By this point, the party in front had already given them some distance as well.
"Hmm..." Aiden muttered as he looked at it contemplatively, then used his Dragon’s Sight skill to look at this flower.
That was when he saw it, its root was embedded in that stone they had all been looking for. The Purple Hermis!
His Inventory Skill: Collector was triggered, and in response, the system highlighted a message in front of him as he saw the stone:
[Purple Hermis Stone → Rare Value]
With a grin on his face, he said, "I’ve found it."