"It's so big!"

Natsu shouted, staring in shock at the Wood Dragon God.

Carla gasped, covering her mouth in astonishment.

"Is that really a dragon? It looks more like a mountain shaped like a dragon."

"It's a dragon," Nate chuckled, finding Carla's reaction amusing.

Wendy, however, was thoroughly confused.

"How do we even fight something this huge?"

She doubted that even Dragon Slayer magic would amount to more than a tickle. Compared to the Wood Dragon God, Grandeeney, Igneel, and the other dragons she'd seen were practically tiny.

"I'm fired up!" Natsu rolled up his sleeves, ready to go.

"Haha, if we take this one down, Gildarts is going to be so impressed!"

With that, he was about to leap off the flying carpet when Nate grabbed his scarf and yanked him back.

"It's late. No need to rush. We'll handle it tomorrow."

Nate steered the flying carpet down toward the ground.

The city was brightly lit, even late at night, and the streets bustled with people.

As the group descended, the city came into full view. Even though it was just one of five cities atop the dragon, it was already larger than Fiore's capital, Crocus.

"Let's find a place to stay and get some rest," Nate said, glancing at the townsfolk with his Six Eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

Wendy noticed the peculiar tone in his laughter but didn't say anything.

Later, the group checked into a hotel. Wendy and Carla shared a room, while Natsu and Happy bunked together.

Nate, alone in his room, stood by the window, observing the lively streets below.

They're not human.

A portion of the city's residents weren’t humans. Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be "treefolk"—humanoid beings with plant-like characteristics.

"They must've been created by the Wood Dragon God," Nate muttered, piecing things together.

The dragon, after being gravely injured by Acnologia 400 years ago, had fled to the northern continent. To heal, he allowed humans to build cities on his body and created the treefolk to assist in his recovery.

Shaking his head, Nate stepped away from the window, sat on the couch, and opened the Magic Net interface.

After a moment of thought, he began writing a book.

The initial title he typed was: "Magic Net Programming: From Basics to Mastery (Tentative)."

To prepare for the official release of the Magic Net, he needed to spread knowledge. The Developer Community would serve as a hub for users to share their programs and creations. The infrastructure for this was simple, and his helper bots could finish it within two weeks.

However, writing the Magic Net Manual was his responsibility, and it required a significant investment of time.

He typed for a while before his private chat notifications lit up in the corner of his screen.

The icon belonged to Jenny Realight.

Jenny Realight: "Nate~~ Are you there? Answer me! 🚪✊"

Jenny Realight: "I can see you're online~!"

Jenny's barrage of messages forced Nate to pause his work and reply.

Nate: "I'm here..."

Jenny Realight: "Mira said you're in the northern continent on a Hundred-Years Quest?"

Nate: "Yeah, you interested?"

Jenny Realight: "No, no, just chatting with Mira earlier, and she mentioned it."

How did their conversation even shift to me? Nate thought, bemused by the strong bond between the two guild poster girls.

Just then, Jenny sent a document.

Opening it, Nate found a 5,000-word review about one of his abstract games, [Getting Over It].

Jenny Realight: "I promised I’d write this, and I finished it! 😏"

Nate: "You beat the game? 😲"

Jenny Realight: "Yep!"

Jenny Realight: "But seriously, what kind of sadistic game is this? I wouldn’t have played for even a second if you hadn’t asked me to! 😤"

Nate chuckled, both amused and impressed.

Nate: "Thanks for your effort… 😄"

Jenny Realight: "Where’s my reward?!"

Nate: "What reward?"

Jenny Realight: "The prize for beating the game! Don’t play dumb—hurry up, hand it over!"

Nate vaguely remembered mentioning a reward but wasn’t entirely sure.

Nate: "I’ll give you a box of bandages. 😁"

Jenny Realight: "Why would I need bandages? 🙄"

Nate: "To wear, obviously. What color do you like? Pink?"

Jenny Realight: "!!!"

Her response confirmed that she remembered that incident. Nate smirked, recalling the time Jenny had lost a bet and ended up wearing only “creative” attire.

Jenny Realight: "Forget about it! I’m never wearing that again!"

Nate: "Don’t be so dramatic. I won’t forget—it’s in my private collection, after all. I look at the pictures daily. 😎"

Jenny Realight: "AAAAHHHHH!!!"

Despite her dramatic outbursts, Nate continued chatting with Jenny while writing his manual. He promised to think of a proper reward later, defusing the situation for the time being.

…

Having worked late the night before, Nate didn't wake up until noon.

When he went downstairs to the hotel restaurant, he ran into Wendy and Natsu.

The moment Nate arrived, Natsu excitedly rushed over.

"Nate, while you were sleeping in, Happy and I went to investigate the Wood Dragon God!"

"Really? Good job."

Nate grabbed a tray and started picking food from the breakfast buffet.

This hotel offered self-service meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all included in the room price.

As a super-metropolis, the city's living expenses were far higher than those in Crocus.

"So, what did you find out?"

"To defeat the Wood Dragon God, we have to destroy five crystal spheres!" Natsu said confidently.

"I thought about it seriously last night. There's no way we can beat a dragon that huge.

But if the goal is to smash crystal balls, that's much easier!

Just so happens there are five of us—Wendy, Carla, Happy, you, and me! We can each target one!"

Nate froze mid-motion, turning to look at Natsu suspiciously.

"Who told you that?"

If his memory served correctly, the five crystal spheres sealed the Wood Dragon God's power. Breaking them would only release the seal, making the dragon even stronger.

So the real question was—who told Natsu such a thing?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com