1186  Beast Men

A few days pa.s.sed, and Kana had spent quite a bit of time with her daughters. With Nia and Tia"s help, she placed a wide-ranging barrier that would hide their location from anyone flying over, allowing her daughters to train in peace. No one would be able to pa.s.s it unless they had her permission.

Kana had decided to go on a trip to see the area around her. To get a better understanding of the place she was calling home for the time being. She had flown up into the sky once already and knew the area around her was covered in densely packed forest that went on for many miles as far as the eye could see. But just because there were forests everywhere did not mean there were no settlements within the forest, even if they were from different races. She was hoping to find some places she could trade with to get things she might not be able to get on her own. With how far away any city or town was from her current location, it was not feasible to get what she needed by flying back and forth, and until she was strong enough, she did not wish to bring any unwanted trouble to her family.

Kana spent one day and night flying around when she finally came upon a tribe of beast men. These beasts were walking on two legs but were nothing like the beastkin like herself but real beasts with beast bodies. To not suddenly surprise the people, she landed just outside their village. "Excuse me."

"Hmm?" a turtle man turned his head and looked Kana up and down. His eyes slowly widened as he yelled out: "Dragon!" "Huh?" Kana was confused. Normally, people always called her a lizard girl, but this beast man actually called her a dragon. She wondered if she should celebrate!

*Plop!*

The turtle man dropped to his knees and began bowing to Kana. This startled Kana, making her fl.u.s.tered because this was not what she was actually expecting.

"Wait! Please get up. I am not here looking to be wors.h.i.+ped or anything; I just wondered if I could form some kind of trade ties." Kana explained quickly while helping the turtle man up. She could only guess that dragons were like G.o.ds for these people.

"You wish to trade with us? Of course! Of course, to have your excellency want to trade with us is more than we could ever ask for. Come. Come, I will bring you to our leader." The turtle man was more than happy to bring a dragon into the village. It would be the greatest honor for his people. Desaray followed the turtle man whose name she found out to be Todles. He was a woodworker and had just been out scouting for some fine wood for a new job. The tribe or, more, the village he lived in was well maintained, not exactly what Kana was expecting to see. Wood huts were crafted from the surrounding trees but each hut had nice smooth wood paneling. Some even had intricate designs carved into them. The roofs were wood s.h.i.+ngled with large leaves tied together for extra protection. "This place is really nice." She was not putting on airs when she said this. She truly felt that this village was well-crafted and colorful. They made good use of what they had to make a comfortable living environment for those who lived her.

"It has only been a few thousand years since we have begun doing this like this. When this village was first founded we were all living outside like any other beast. While we had gained intelligence, it was only enough to understand that working together in a community was much better than trying to survive on our own. His lords.h.i.+p, Jadar was the one who really began helping us form a proper community. This forest is the only place for beings like us to live. I once tried to enter a human town before and was almost killed. They do not like beasts who are able to talk or do things that they can. Even our closest cousins, the beast kin, do not welcome us." Todles lowered his head as if feeling melancholy. It seemed he had gone through quite a bit before coming to this place. "Jadar is a kind leader and has helped us greatly. He will be happy to know that a dragon has come."

"I hope that my family and I can get along well with you and your people," Kana said as she nodded to a little wolf girl. It seemed after they gained intelligence, their offspring, too, would have this intelligence. Kana found this quite interesting since they were all once beasts, to begin with.

As she walked through the village, many people looked at her with curious gazes. There was not a single hint of malice from these people, proving just how kind they were. Kana really could tell she would be able to get along with these people with out issues. She was glad these beast men were so close by.

After walking almost the entire length of the village, Kana arrived in front of a some what bigger hut than the others. It was not by much, but it was at least twice the size of the other huts. This one was covered in colorful painted carvings of dragons. "Your lords.h.i.+p, I have brought Kana, a dragon."

"Come in." An old voice called out from inside. Todles opened the door and walked in, with Kana following behind him. When she entered, she was met with a neatly kept room with a large cooking area in the middle. There were no rooms just the cooking area and then some crafting tables. Only after scanning the entire room did she spot a bed hidden away in the corner. It seemed this man, Jadar, liked to craft more than sleep. The man looked Kana over before smiling and extending his shaky hand. "It is a pleasure to finally meet a dragon after so many years…"