The Celtic who was supposed to have fair skin instantly turned into a pure green-skinned guy. That shiny green hue made Ian think of those orcs corrupted by Evil Energy in a game from his past life.
"You okay? Damn! The teacher really went hard on you!" The sudden change caught Ian off guard. He quickly helped Pandro, who was clutching his butt, and asked with concern.
"I won't die, that's for sure. But your backstab wounded me gravely. Now, only some particularly rare and precious earthly wine can heal such a major trauma."
Someone who can speak so calmly, logically, and with such conviction can't be in much danger, Ian thought, so he immediately let go of this guy who was clearly seizing the chance to blackmail him.
"This stuff won't wash off, will it?" Ariana walked up with a big basket of fruit and even curiously grabbed Pandro's arm, scrubbing it hard a few times.
Nope, the color stayed.
"Sometimes, you just can't defy a teacher's order," Ian heaved a sigh, eager to clear his name. His shameless attitude made Pandro huff and call him out in indignation.
"Now it'll cost two bottles of good wine to fix this!"
For this blatant attempt at raising the price…
Ian really didn't feel he could refuse.
"Alright, fine, after all, it was my bad in the first place." He did have a bit of a conscience, so he decided that next time they entered the Misty Illusion Realm, he'd bring some Pearl Level wine for his friends.
Just two bottles felt stingy.
Ian decided to be generous and bring six right away. After all, most wines come six to a case—Twenty Pounds, shipping not included. How can the pearl of the food industry not be called Pearl Level?
"Excellent, very good, you're finally getting it!" Pandro was rarely so pleased by Ian's generosity. He nodded approvingly and tossed the fruit he'd been holding into Ariana's basket.
"Want to come back to town with us?"
He glanced at the Little Wizard next to him, as if trying to sense how much longer the Wizard could stay—since they'd spent so long chatting with the Giant Dragon, Ian didn't have much time left before he returned to the real world.
"Of course! The teacher said you guys caught a Giant Dragon, I saw it too! That dragon was huge." Ian followed the other two, heading toward the town.
"I was just providing support. The real hero was Pandro—he leapt onto the Dragon's head and drove his sword straight in! The Dragon dropped like a rock, motionless!"
Ariana smiled modestly, but then her tone turned excited as she recounted her and Pandro's adventure to Ian. It was obvious this quest had been both novel and fun for her.
"Come on, you were amazing—you chopped off all four of its legs! Otherwise, getting on top would've been a nightmare for me!"
Pandro was happy to lay on the mutual praise. But with that green face, his smile actually made him look less sunny and a bit more like Gargamel—kind of creepy, really.
"Too bad, I wish I could've gone too." Ian had always yearned for a Middle Ages style adventure like this; it was the sort of epic scene he'd only ever read about in stories and biographies.
"You'll get your chance soon!"
Pandro shot Ian a look and declared confidently, "Next time, I'll take you with me. I'll be slaying dragons left and right, and you cover my back. We'll dragon-hunt together!"
Of course, the "dragon" he was talking about wasn't one of the Half-Blood hybrids Ian was used to, but an Ancient Giant Dragon like the one at the Ancient Castle. Maybe the dragons in the real world had suffered enough and gone extinct, but here in the Misty Illusion Realm, they still couldn't escape their tragic fate.
"Why are Giant Dragons lingering in the Misty Illusion Realm? Are they different from the other Fantastic Beasts, or is it…" Ian was just about to ask Pandro the question that had popped into his head.
Suddenly—
"It's Santa Claus!"
Ariana let out a cry of delight. Up in the sky, a clear tinkling noise rang out, like copper bells jingling in the air.
The sound got closer and closer.
Following Ariana's gaze, Ian looked up and spotted a sleigh pulled by two flying reindeer growing closer—spotless white deer without wings, yet soaring neatly through the sky.
Their antlers shimmered like gold in the sunlight, so bright they nearly hurt his eyes, as if golden fire was blazing over them. It was a fantastical, dreamlike scene if he'd ever seen one.
"I see this every year, but he never gives us any presents…" Ian wasn't all that surprised. As long as you entered the Misty Illusion Realm during Christmas, this was a regular sight.
The figure driving the reindeer was a bit taller than the Goblins, with a beard so thick and long it nearly brushed his ankles. He was forever driving his reindeer sleigh across the entire Misty Illusion Realm—never stopping.
"Told you, he's just a Wizard with severe senile dementia. That's sunk right into his soul—he's totally forgotten he's supposed to hand out presents to us!"
Pandro moved fast—he snatched a stone from the ground and hurled it at the sky. "If we want gifts from Santa Claus, we'll have to do it ourselves!"
As he spoke—
The boy's stone struck Santa's sleigh dead-on, and from above, a beautifully wrapped present fell. The precision and range was more impressive than an assault rifle—Ariana gasped aloud in disbelief.
"You must've been the king of the kids when you were little." Ian rushed over to grab the gift Santa had dropped. Up above, the old man acted like nothing had happened and kept flying off into the distance.