As Jod started ascending the mountain, his mind was turbulent.

  As a warrior, he had trained to suppress the feeling of danger and fear to the point that it was manageable.

  But he had never wanted to be a warrior, nor had he ever enjoyed the act of killing. His heart had never been in it.

  And now, watching the orc settlement grow into a town was taking place. It was interesting to see civilization born. It gave him headaches dealing with a multitude of issues, but he also found that he felt a certain ownership of the town because of that.

  His relationship with Tenia had been progressing fast as well. He found her intelligence astonishing, as she innovated new ways to smith tools and different metal parts for construction. He loved listening to her talk about it, even though he himself had no interest in blacksmithing.

  All this was to say, he now felt fear.

  Jod looked up towards the peaks of the mountain he was to climb, and for the first time in his life he truly felt he had something to lose. He had never had that much worry over death; after all, if he died, no one would have truly mourned him.

  His templar colleagues were not friends. They were simply other children brainwashed to become warriors for a god none of them knew.

  But now, after reuniting with his mother and finding a partner, Jod felt that his life now mattered more to him than before. After all, his dying would not only make his loved ones mourn, but it would also be a significant setback to Mafu.

  He was not so sure he was friends with Mafu. He thought of Mafu as some sort of wise man, existing outside of the world while sometimes giving advice. Of course, Mafu also provided food and other necessities.

  But he was not a person to be friends with to begin with. Jod respected him, as he knew through their mindlink that Mafu did not hold any hostile intent towards any of them and truly only wished for them to be fed and happy.

  Jod slipped on a flat rock that got sent down the slopes of the mountain but caught himself quickly.

  Dragons, huh.

  He had felt fear back then too. He had felt small and afraid, shivering while cowering from the predator that had appeared in the town that day. He had no illusions that the dragons could wipe them out as easily as he himself could swat a fly.

  Jod spent the first day climbing, stuck with thoughts swirling in his head. As night fell, he set up a hide tent that had been made for two people. The orcs that had gone travelling had used similar tents.

  Jod unpacked his equipment, among them the spear they had gotten from the lava dungeon. Mafu had given the spear to Jod, although Jod had not really fought with spears before.

  But the effects of the spear had been too good to pass up. It shielded you from projectiles and gave you fire resistance while being able to pierce anything when the tip had been heated up.

  It was a far cry from how Jod fought, but he had trained with it in the training grounds. Now, when they had dragons that might or might not be enemies, a spear with fire resistance felt apt to bring with him. He was happy he had trained with it.

  Parek had volunteered to follow with Jod, but Mafu had stopped him. If Jod were to be killed, Parek's military knowledge would be needed. Furthermore, the dragon had only invited Mafu. It was possible they would accept Jod being a tool to talk through.

  The same was not true for Parek.

  As night fell on the tent, Jod fell asleep, troubled by what the morning would bring.

  ---

  Jod knew very quickly when he entered the territory of the dragons. It was an instinctual fear that made him want to turn around and sprint full speed down the mountain. Tumbling down the mountain, having his flesh ripped apart by rocks, felt safer than what was ahead.

  As he crested the next peak, he saw multiple dragons. They were about half the size of the dragon that had gone to the town and carried much less of a presence.

  But three of them instantly fixed their eyes on Jod and started prowling. They encircled him in silence, even though their bodies were much larger than Jod's.

  Then, one of them roared. The roar had a deep bass behind it but also a light hissing sound attached. Jod fought the instinct to flee yet again and simply held the spear [Flameleaf] in his hand.

  He readied himself, but the dragons kept circling him for what felt like minutes. They seemed wary.

  Then Jod felt a pressure like nothing before descending on them and looked up to see the same dragon that had visited the town. It landed with a sound like thunder, the stone cracking and exploding under its large claws.

  It roared, and this time Jod dropped his spear and covered his ears, wishing to be anywhere else in the world.

  The large dragon swung his arm and hit one of the smaller dragons who was also cowering. The small dragon was sent flying down the slopes, screaming as it crashed into hard edges and boulders on the way.

  The other two small dragons bowed, their necks and lower jaws pressed hard to the cliff.

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  The larger dragon looked at them for a second and then decided to ignore them. He then spoke to Jod through telepathy.

  "I assume you are the one the mushroom sent?" The dragon's tone was arrogant but not unfriendly.

  "Yes, I am the one linked to Mafu. He can speak through me." Jod replied.

  "Simply keep walking upwards from here; it is not far. You will face no more issues on your way." The dragon said, and then took off as suddenly as he had arrived.

  Jod took a few minutes to steady his legs and then started walking again. When he looked back, the two dragons that were left still had their heads pressed down on the cold, hard stone.

  It was as the large dragon had said; not long after, he noticed a building in the distance. Or, the building was not truly correct. It looked like large stone pillars had been molded from the ground into a large domed roof.

  There were no walls on the circular building. As Jod drew closer, he saw that stairs down into the middle of the structure existed all around the building.

  In the middle was a large flat space, filled with different... furniture?

  There was an exquisite wardrobe, made out of wood that seemed to exude a healthy energy. It had metal inlaid decorative swirls around it, with what looked to be the purest silver.

  A large mirror, made out of the same silver material, floated next to the wardrobe.

  There were beds, drinking fountains, large chests, and many other items strewn around the flat circular plaza.

  In a seemingly simple chair, made out of a light-colored wood, sat a man. It was immediately very clear to Jod that it was not a human, even though he looked every bit human.

  Jod approached, and the man exclaimed,

  "Welcome, dear guest! Do you want some refreshments after your travels?" And before Jod answered, the man clapped his hands.

  A woman approached from the side, clad in simple yet elegant clothing. She had a shirt and pants but multiple bracelets and earrings. Jod felt like he knew the woman, yet also knew he had never seen her before.

  "Thank you, I will gladly accept some refreshments." Jod bowed his head slightly towards the man. Jod had "trained" with Mafu in how to speak and what to do when they met the dragons.

  Jod could not be discourteous and had to be careful with his words. Although most of the speaking would be done telepathically by Mafu through Jod.

  Jod was offered water in a crystal glass; that made it hard to see whether it was the water or the glass that sparkled. He drank a sip of it, and his jaw instantly dropped.

  He just leveled up twice. From drinking a sip of water.

  The man then offered Jod a seat, and Jod put his glass of water on the table before him. Jod then waited in silence for the man to continue the conversation.

  After a very awkward thirty seconds or so, the man spoke up.

  "See, I knew you lot were interesting. No one we have invited has had the patience you've shown. Have you spoken to dragons before?" The man studied Jod with an intense gaze.

  "I have not had the honor of speaking to any other dragons, and I would not consider myself a very patient man." Jod said. He certainly felt he was not especially patient.

  "Yet, you gained levels when you drank the water and did not immediately chug the rest of it. You sat silent in our presence and did not speak to hurry the conversation along. Few mortals are capable of these things." The man said and finally removed his gaze from Jod and drank some water himself.

  The woman had stood silent next to the man sitting in the chair all along.

  "I am the lord of this 'nest.' My name is... difficult to pronounce. You can call me Jormun." The man said and drank some more water. He then continued, "And this is my sister, Nidh?gg, who you've met for the third time now."

  It did not take long for Jod to realize that the woman was the large dragon that came to town and saved him from the smaller dragons.

  "Thank you, Nidh?gg, for saving me earlier." Jod bowed his head towards her.

  She let out a slightly annoyed puff of air and said, "The kids were informed; they should not have shown aggression towards you. Stupid kids are better off dead, lest they infect the rest of the flight with their stupidity."

  Her tone was only annoyed, not angry or hateful, yet the words were brutal. Jod reminded himself to tread very carefully when talking to these dragons.

  "Now now, sister, they are but beasts; they will learn in time." Jormun said. Jod got the impression they had this discussion often.

  "More importantly, the reason we invited you here. We wish to speak with the mushroom about the future. My sister says he can speak through you?" Jormun continued.

  Jod simply nodded and closed his eyes. He then felt Mafu take over most of Jod's mind. It was deeply uncomfortable, but this was also something they had trained to do in this meeting.

  "Greetings. I am Mafu, the mushroom."

  "Ah, welcome!" Jormun exclaimed through the telepathy. He had a jovial tone, as he had since the start of the meeting.

  "You wish to speak of the future?" Mafu said.

  "Ah, so you are the less patient one. Yes, we wish to speak of your future and our part in it." Jormun said, now more serious.

  "You see, we dragons are in a predicament. A predicament we have been in for... several millennia. Now, we will not be so brazen as to ask you to solve it for us. That would be improper. But you succeeding helps our cause." Jormun continued.

  "Do you know of the world fragments?" He asked.

  "No. What are they?" Mafu replied.

  Jormun stood up and walked over to a map depicting the world.

  "This. This 'world' is nothing but a fragment." He pointed to the world map.

  The valley took up near a third of the world, with the great plateau taking up most of the world. The grasslands next to the portal took up quite a bit as well.

  There were some other features depicted on the map, among them a volcano, which Mafu made a note of.

  "This world is a fragment?" Mafu asked, not really understanding the concept.

  "Yes, specifically it is one of three fragments of a world. You, who have otherworldly origins, must notice it when you see this map. This world, like the one you emerged in, only ever had one continent. It is much smaller than the world you originally remember."

  "So, if this is a third of a world, where are the other two-thirds?" Mafu asked.

  "Wherever you wish. You must get rid of the preconceptions of your time on... what was your original world called?"

  "Earth."

  "Ah, you must get rid of the preconceptions you held when you were on Earth. Also, did you really call it 'Earth'? That is a stupid name for a planet."

  Mafu gave out an exasperated laugh:

  "Technically, it had the name 'Tellus,' but everyone just called it Earth. I agree it is a stupid name."

  Jormun smiled a bit and then continued.

  "Your preconceptions tell you that the planet only ever has one size. This is not true, not here. When your mycelium spreads throughout the lands of three world fragments, they will be merged together."

  "So, whatever world I 'own' will suffice for the other two-thirds?"

  "Exactly! If you were human, you would have to create an empire spanning three world fragments. This is basically impossible. Simply because humans often rebel, or secede. But, people or creatures who own a territory through the system are different."

  "Because I can 'own' a territory without technically caring about the living beings on it?"

  "Yes, world trees work the same way. They spread their influence by connecting with trees across the land. However, your way of claiming territory is much more insidious. A normal creature won't notice you spreading at all."

  A silence spread out as Mafu was thinking, and Jormun was drinking some water.

  "Okay. I thank you for this information. What part do you have in this, then?"

  Jormun gave a devilish smile, put down his glass, and stood up.