Soft morning light filled the bedroom, shining on Laguna's face. She woke up with a gasp, startled by an unexpected noise. Cold sweat soaked his temples. His right hand felt sore, as if pricked by hundreds of fine needles. He turned to look at it—the glove, still on, but it looked different.
"What is this..." he whispered. He tried to remove it with great care, but he was unsuccessful. Even when he pulled with great force, the glove remained in place, as though it were glued to his skin.
With a trembling movement, Laguna touched the small orb attached to the back of his palm. The moment his fingers touched the orb's surface, his body reacted without delay. A warm current spread throughout his arm, and for a moment, Laguna felt as if the orb were a part of his own body.
He took a deep breath, surrendering to this strange reality. "What the hell is going on?"
Laguna got up from the bed and walked out of the room. The morning air carried the scent of wet earth and the smoke from last night's battle.
In the yard, villagers and guards worked hard to gather the monster carcasses. Some people burned the unusable parts. Others sorted the body parts for eating or selling.
"Finally, you woke up, huh?" Eve's voice came from above; she sat on the roof of the house, relaxed, while biting into a fresh red apple.
Laguna glanced at her and then sat on a nearby log. "Yes... that's how it is."
Eve jumped down, her feet landing softly on the ground. She wiped the rest of the apple from her lips with the back of her hand. "You passed out right after the fight was over. It was as if all the energy in your body had evaporated at once."
"Did anyone see the truth about what happened to me?" Laguna asked.
"Your guards discovered you had fallen when your gloves began to emit a bright glow."" They didn't dare to come near... the vibrations of the energy made the air feel heavy."
Laguna stared at the sky for a moment. "I guess I'm exhausted."
Eve sat down next to him. "What do you think about the monster attack last night?"
Laguna turned to Eve. "Something's not right. That many monsters... attacking all at once, like they were being controlled."
Eve stared at him with sharp eyes. "From what I can see... they look like they're scared, running from something."
"Scared...?" Laguna frowned. "If they're scared... there might be a more powerful being behind them. Or—"
"—a Beast Tamer," Eve interrupted. "Only a high-level Beast Tamer could summon that many creatures."
Laguna clenched her fists. The gauntlets on her hands felt warm, their pulsations growing clearer. "If it's really the work of a Beast Tamer... then it's most likely related to the Harvey incident. Someone isn't done with this village yet."
They exchanged glances in silence. Only the rustling leaves broke the silence.
And for some reason... from within Laguna's gauntlets, the orb pulsed once more—louder this time. As if it had heard... and answered their conversation.
Laguna's right hand felt sore again. A hot and throbbing sensation spread from the glove that was fused to his skin. He held back a soft sigh as he massaged his arm.
"Are you okay?" Eve asked, watching him.
Laguna nodded with a slight movement of her head. "It feels... like this glove is alive."
Eve narrowed her eyes, then walked over and took out a small object from a leather pouch on her belt. "Take this. I found it while checking Harvey's hideout a few days ago. It seems to be yours."
Laguna accepted the object. When his fingers touched the surface of the item, his pupils dilated. "This is... the Vision orb! I thought it had been destroyed along with my drone back then... but the orb is still intact."
"Get some rest. You need time to recover," Eve said before she went to help the guards carry the monster carcass out of the village.
Laguna nodded. He went back into the house and closed the door to his room. He rushed to grab some items from his subspatial inventory. He picked up light metal pieces, tiny energy crystals, thin fiber cables, and a magic crystal for power.
He got to work. His hands moved with skill. He used a magic soldering tool to connect the small cables to a miniature circuit board. The Vision Orb was placed in the center, surrounded by a protective layer of light alloy. He moved the foldable mechanical wings. Then, he added lenses for night vision.
Hours passed in silence. The only sounds were work tools and the occasional whine from overheated cables. As the moon hung high in the night sky, Laguna finally activated his newly assembled device.
"Drone Vission V2... activated."
A dim blue light blinked on the drone's bottom. The small propellers began to spin at a gradual pace. On the small screen on his controller, Laguna saw a clear visual display in the dark. He reset the control range. Now, the operational radius was five times larger than before.
"With this, I can watch the village even from the top of the mountain."
Laguna smiled with a slight curve of his lips, but behind his face was a worry that had not disappeared. The glove attached to his hand felt like it was throbbing again, slowly but consistently... as if waiting for something.
In his room, lit by blue crystal lights, Laguna sat looking serious. In front of him, the Drone Vision controller showed a view of a small forest east of Veredale. Night had fallen, and only the Night Vision feature allowed the view to remain clear.
"Let's see what exactly caused the chaos last night..." he muttered in a low voice.
The drone hovered low, following the traces of the monsters. Deep footprints mixed with dirt stood out against the bushes and tree roots. The tracks spread in various directions.
Laguna frowned. "They... aren't just heading towards the village? It's as if they're all running away from something..."
He enlarged the screen. The tracks became wilder. They crisscrossed each other. Some even had deep claw marks on the trees.
"It seems like what Eve felt was right... They fled in fear... but from what?"
Something crept among the swaying trees. A large figure, scaly and shiny, walked through the gaps between the tall trees.
"What is that..."
Laguna focused the camera. A large creature with grayish-black skin stood out in the open. Its scales looked as hard as metal. Its head was long and serrated, and every step it took shook the ground. Its thick tail crushed the bushes. Its mouth was open, biting a large chunk of rock on the ground and chewing it with a deep, grumbling sound.
"That... is not an ordinary dragon..."
It is an Onyxgorger—stone-eating wyvern.
Laguna's eyes widened. "Onyxgorger... A stone-eating Wyvern... a rare creature that produces metal ores from its feces... even Mithril..."
But that joy soon turned to worry. Her drone recorded the creature's movements. The direction of its steps...
"No... He's heading towards Veredale..."
Without thinking, Laguna called back her drone and ran out of the room.
Outside, some villagers were still awake. They cleaned up the leftovers from yesterday's battle. Several small children played near the campfire. The atmosphere of the village was quiet... too quiet.
Laguna ran into the middle of the village and shouted, "EVERYONE! GATHER IN THE TOWN HALL! NOW!"
His shout echoed. The villagers stopped working. Simon, who heard it, immediately approached.
"What's wrong, Mr. Laguna?"
"Disaster. A wyvern is coming this way!" Laguna rushed to provide an answer.
A commotion was heard from the villagers who had begun to gather. Eve climbed down from the roof of one of the houses and approached, her face serious.
"Wyvern? Are you sure?"
Laguna nodded. "Onyxgorger. He's big, and he's on his way here. We have to be prepared. This is no ordinary monster, Eve. If he gets angry or feels threatened, the entire village could be leveled."
Simon clenched his fists. "What should we do?"
Laguna looked around, then said in a strong voice, "We have to evacuate. Everyone must leave the village and head to higher ground. The northern forest, by the rocky hill. I'll buy time, distract the creature."
"You're insane!" Eve snapped. "That's a Wyvern, Laguna. Even one small mistake could cost you…"
"I know," Laguna cut in with a glare. "But I also know… I won't let this village fall after we've started rebuilding it."
The villagers began to panic, but Simon and Ashford's guards started to direct them with a strong hand. In the chaos, a single determination burned in Laguna's eyes.
THU... THU... THU...
The echo of giant footsteps could be heard in the distance. The night air turned heavy. The birds in the trees flew in panic.
The dark eastern sky began to glow with a strange purplish-red light.
From the gap in the trees, a giant black figure stood upright. Its eyes were glowing, and from its mouth came a thin smoke like hot steam.
Eve drew her arrow, her voice almost a whisper, "He... has arrived..."
Laguna stood there petrified, her right hand wearing the mysterious glove throbbing again.
"No... This is faster than I thought..."