Chapter 206: The Dragon Valley
"Pack up your things, we’re leaving first thing in the morning. I don’t want to be here another second." Kai was tired as hell once he walked through his house doors. His stamina and mental strength were through the roof, yet he was tired as hell after talking to so many people at the festival.
"Aw man, we’re leaving already?" Amaya still had some things she wanted to do at the academy, so leaving now would ruin her plans.
"I’m ready to go! I can’t stand this place. I belong on the road where the adventures are." Sasha was with Kai, and she ran up the stairs to pack her things.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted. I guess we won’t know who will lose the bet." Kyana stared at Kai when she said that. She also felt the need to emphasise the last sentence to alert the others.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Damn, I really wanted to see you lose the bet, Kai." Gwen punched him in the arm.
"Why? Kyana lost already." Vanessa said as if everyone knew.
"What?!" Everyone turned to Vanessa, wondering what she was talking about.
"Yeah. Not long after we arrived at school, Kyana got challenged. She won, of course, but since she fought in a duel, she lost the bet. Then she begged Kai to keep it a secret. I was watching the whole thing." She grinned.
"Y-Y-You little!" Kyana pounced on Vanessa.
Kai managed to grab Kyana before she landed on Vanessa. "Calm down. I don’t even care for the bet anymore."
"B-But my dignity!"
"You lost that the moment you begged me to keep this a secret."
"Man." She pouted and admitted defeat.
"Haha! Kyana lost the bet! Who would have thought?!" Amaya couldn’t stop laughing. She believed that Kai would win the bet, but she didn’t expect Kyana to beg him to keep his mouth shut.
"Ugh, shut up, Amaya!" Kyana stormed upstairs to start packing.
---
"Okay! Are you guys ready?!" It was the following day, and Kai was ready to leave. They only had one more stop, and it would be time for them to go on their next adventure. He was so excited and could barely contain himself.
As much as he respected Gwen’s choice to visit her family, he wanted to leave right now. But he did anything for his girls, so he had to make the detour. He just hoped they wouldn’t stay longer than a few days, and Gwen reassured him that she only wanted to go there to show her family that she didn’t turn out to be a failure and that she was with the hero to rub it in their faces.
"So, where is the dragon valley again?" He asked
"It’s close to Hearthwood. So teleport us there and we’ll take the carriage for the rest of the way."
"Got it." Kai teleported all of them into his home.
"Kai?" A blonde pregnant woman perked up.
"Sup, Linda. How’s it going?"
"I-I’m doing well. Thank you for the food yesterday, it was really good." She smiled
’The fuck? She and the others ate all of that? Well, they are pregnant, so I guess that makes sense.’
"Anything for you all. We have about three months left until the birth, right?"
"Yes." She nodded.
Because of Kai’s safe birth power, his children would be born exactly on the expected due date. Not a day earlier, not a day later. They would also develop properly and perfectly. They might be the healthiest babies to ever exist.
"Whoa, Kai, you’re here!" Laura ran over to Kai to give him a big hug and kiss.
"Yup. Just passing by. We should be on our way. Tell Martha and Mary we said hello."
"Okay. Have a safe trip."
They waved them off, then left the town.
Kai had no idea where he was going and relied on Gwen to show him the way. Even his minimap didn’t show where the Dragon Valley was located. She pointed at landmarks she recognized, telling him to follow them, and they sometimes had to stop so she could make sure they were going the right way, since her people often made decoys to deter people from entering their homes.
It took them two hours just to find the halfway point and another two hours to finally find the place that would lead them to the entrance. By the time they landed, all of them were extremely annoyed.
"I mean, I get it, but what the hell! It shouldn’t take that long to find this place with Gwen here." Kai grumbled, stepping out of the carriage. He held out his hand to help all of them out, something he did every time they traveled by carriage.
"Sorry, babe, they changed the landmarks in the time I was gone. Not to mention we were traveling by air, so it was a bit harder to make out."
"No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault, Gwen. We’re here, so let’s just get going."
It was typical and cliché, but a thick fog surrounded the Dragon Valley to protect it from outsiders. Even if someone managed to find the place where Gwen directed Kai to, they would still get lost in the thick fog.
Gwen led all of them through the fog with ease, remembering the right path to take as she had been in and out of the valley plenty of times.
There were a few twists, turns, and jumps here and there, but after twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at the Dragon Valley entrance.
"Hey! I see people!" Amaya pointed off in the distance.
"Yup, those are the guards. They’ll probably stop us because you five are outsiders." Gwen informed them.
"Hey! You six, stop!" As if on cue, the guards stopped them.
"State your...Gwen? What are you doing here?" One of the guards asked
"Heh, so the failure returns."
Kai nearly unalived the guard, but Gwen held up her hand to stop him.
"Yes, I’ve returned, and with friends of mine. You see this man here? He’s the hero, now let us pass."