Chapter 4: Albus

{Congratulation! The Egg Hatches!}

A small pure white dragon emerged from within the egg.

"Kyuu..." The baby dragon opened its eyes, looking straight into Zaine.

{Please Enter the Name}

{ }

Zaine had never seen this monster in HHL. He thought that this must have been a thing only he had.

"A name, huh? Hmm... What about Draggy?" Zaine looked at the newborn the size of the palm of his hand.

The dragon frown at Zaine. It does not seem to like the name.

Zaine thought long and hard before a name appeared in his mind.

"No? Hmm, what about... Albus?" 

Its face lit up, and as it started to jump around, it seemed to like the name. Albus jumped around Zaine's body and decided to rest on Zaine's head, claiming it as his nest for now.

Zaine decided to exit the Orc Den, now with a companion at his side. Zaine lifts his head. He realizes that nighttime is just around the corner, and being homeless, he decides to walk a bit more.

"Grumble... Ugh, I am starving."

As nighttime approaches, Zaine realizes he hasn't had food for the whole day. With his provisions gone, he decides to explore the now-abandoned convenience stone.

People had ransacked the store, leaving only a few pieces of food left. Zaine decided to take some raw meat and gave it to Albus.

"Kyuu?" The Dragon shifts its head to the side before biting at the meat.

"Kyuu kyuu... nom nom nom.." Albus seems to enjoy the raw meat.

Zaine goes around the convenience store and takes what's left of the foods, namely canned food and other food with a long shelf life. He also took water for his journey ahead.

He took out one of the remaining ready-to-eat food from the shelf and went into the back of the convenience to finally eat food.

Night time had come, and Zaine decided to spend the night inside the store. Albus finishes eating the raw meat go back to Zaine's side. It seems comparably larger than the first time they met. Maybe the food it eats makes it grow?

As midnight rolls around, Zaine is fast asleep. Accompanied by his new companion, they both slept on the floor using a pad he took from the chair he found. He made a small bed for Albus and a pillow to sleep on.

Zaine summoned several of his minions to scout and protect the area and kill all the surrounding monsters they could find.

Dawn had come, along with some troubles. Albus jumps around Zaine, waking up Zaine and warning him about something. His summons seems to be fighting something. A few have even died in the process. He carefully went out to see what was going on.

Outside, he saw people, human beings, fighting his summons.

"W-Wait, stop! they are not your enemies!" Zaine shouted at the group of people while putting out his hands, reassuring them to calm down.

The two parties stopped fighting. The summons saw Zaine and decided to run back toward him.

Zaine had seen the people. They got metal pipes and crossbows as weapons.

"Uhh, hello there!" Zaine nervously approaches the group.

"Stop, who are you?!" A person in the front, who seems like their leader, started talking to Zaine, warning him not to get close."

"Hello, I am Zaine. I am a summoner. I do not mean any harm." Zaine paused for a moment.

"Please trust me!" Said Zaine while raising both his hands.

He saw the monsters running towards Zaine, standing in front, protecting him.

"Are those things... those monsters around us, your doings?" The man asked while demanding answers.

"No, the world situation is not my doing. I received a class when all this started so that I could summon monsters, but it was not me that caused the world to be like this." Zaine looked at the people there with sincere motives.

"It is true. The monsters just now did not try to attack us. It was only defending itself. Maybe his monsters are different from the others." One of the group party members noticed the difference in the monster's movement.

"Okay, we will trust you for now." The man thought about Zaine's power and how it might be fortunate to be on his side.

"We have secured a safe zone near here. You can come with us if you want. Just don't cause any commotion." Said the leader of the group.

Zaine thought about it for a moment. This is a chance that he has been given... After pausing for a bit, he had come to a decision.

"Is it possible to tell me where the safe zone is?" While being honest, Zaine decided to take the opportunity to see what a safe zone looked like.

"Follow me, we will guide you to the safe zone, and then we will part ways. Just know that we will welcome you anytime."

Zaine followed the group from behind, still not fully trusting them. However, Albus seems able to sense bloodlust from other living beings, and for now, Albus appears calm.

After walking for a few minutes, they finally arrived at a safe zone in the middle of the town.

{You have entered Safe Zone}

Safe zones work like a small city or village, where every safe zone contains limited quests for the player. Once done, there will not be re-occurring ones except quests that require players to gather stuff or hunt monsters that respawn over time.

As Zaine entered the safe zone, he bid farewell to the group that escorted him and decided to explore the place.