It turns out that for humans without wings, learning to fly quickly is indeed quite difficult.

Perhaps some can manage it. But that list certainly doesn’t include Garrett Nordmark, who had all his athletic skills focused on surgery.

Flying, falling, caught by a dragon’s back. Flying, falling down, quickly casting a feather-falling spell on himself before the silver dragon could rescue him. Flying again, only to be tossed about by a crosswind...

Having exhausted all his third-level spell slots for the day, Garrett’s achievement was limited to safely taking off, landing, and moving in a straight line in the air. Flying alongside a silver dragon seemed out of reach for now.

No matter, tomorrow is another day! Garrett, panting, sat on the back of a deer, wrapping his coat tighter. Ah, although the spell "Resist Heat and Cold," even at minus forty degrees, allows one to move comfortably, the fur coat indeed provides a sense of security!

Garrett buried his face into the fur collar. The fluffy black fox fur was soft and thick, just rubbing it on his face made him feel warm and cozy.

Speaking of which, this coat was stuffed into his space bag by Andrew Lynn before departure. Back then, Garrett, who disliked cumbersome things, had struggled fiercely:

"I know ’Resist Heat and Cold’! I’m not going to live there until winter! The Dwarf King abdicates in June, I’ll be back by July! No need to bring it! It’s said that the Dwarf King’s city is underground, filled with lava, very hot!"

"Bring it!" Andrew slapped him on the head and pushed him back into his seat:

"When you’re traveling, you have to consider all sorts of accidents! What if you have to climb a snowy mountain? What if you end up staying till winter? What if you’re busy saving someone and run out of mana? When that time comes, without a big fur coat, you’ll just cry!"

...Speaking of ’what if,’ it seems like you’re the one who ends up in so many ’what ifs,’ big brother Andrew!

Being chased by a seventh-level knight to the Arctic Circle and forced to live there for half a year, your ability to attract accidents is unmatched...

Ah, big brother Andrew, and Aurora, how are they now?

And Mister Norwood, who said he was saving up a dowry for his daughter, half a year has passed, has his daughter gotten married yet?

The new apprentices, Miss Anita Vineya and Leon Carlos, how are they progressing?

That new maid, Jenny, who borrowed books from him, how many has she read by now?

Unconsciously, Garrett’s thoughts had drifted across the sea. Seraina peeked at him, seeing his distracted gaze, she waved her hand in front of his face, but no reaction came. The silver dragon girl bit her lip, thought for a moment, and then secretly smiled, took a deep breath:

"——!"

The breath was forcibly held back in her throat. Above them, a somewhat familiar mountain hawk folded its wings and shot down like an arrow, shouting mid-air:

"Mr. Nordmark! —— Lord Nordmark!"

"Ah?"

Garrett startled awake. Seraina had already raised her hands high behind him:

"Here!"

While shouting, she gently kicked the silver moon deer with the tip of her toe. Apa slowed down and gradually came to a stop. The mountain hawk fluttered its wings and landed three to five meters in front of them, scratching the ground with its claws: ȐâƝο฿Ёs̩

"Mr. Nordmark, I am ordered by Lady Glorious Scale to relay a message. The lady says: The council has asked her to relay a message, telling you to return immediately, as quickly as possible, to the port where you came from. A ship is waiting there for you, from the full moon, waiting only seven days!"

"What?"

"Why?"

"What happened?"

Garrett, Seraina, and Bernard asked in unison. The mountain hawk fluttered its wings again:

"Apu doesn’t know. Apu is just following orders. Okay, Apu is leaving~~~"

"Wait!" Seraina sat up as straight as she could on the deer’s back, trying to appear taller:

"Did my aunt say I should return too?"

"Lady did not instruct."

If aunt didn’t say, that means I can do as I please. Seraina pursed her lips, okay, that’s somewhat good news. But did aunt calculate, how long it would take from here to the port where Garrett arrived?

What if we can’t make it?

Don’t tell me, I have to carry him and fly over!

Garrett bowed his head in thought for a moment. Suddenly being called back home, what happened?

The selection for the Dwarf King had ended, and when he left the team, he had reported to Archmage Serrano. At that time

, His Excellency the Archmage had not required him to return at any specific time, nor had he restricted his traveling regions...

Basically, he was left to his own devices. Implicitly, if a fourth-level mage couldn’t safely return home on his own and died outside, there was no need to bother making it back.

Embarrassing.

But now, why the sudden change of tune?

Too little information to judge. But considering the council tasked a silver dragon to relay the message, it must be no small matter, and those who don’t want to die had better obediently obey. Garrett quickly calculated:

All tasks on the Black Gate Peninsula were completed, all patients that needed treatment were treated, no one was left half-treated waiting for a follow-up;

On the silver dragon lady’s part, it would have been polite to revisit, but since she said so, not going wouldn’t be considered rude;

Seraina, Bernard, important teammates were all by his side, ready to leave at any moment...

Not right!

Garrett suddenly remembered. There was a necromancer who had induced teratoma in someone autonomously, who had followed them for a while and was waiting in a village not far from the dragon’s nest!

That guy had said he’d wait until early summer...

Should he take him along?

Garrett hesitated for a moment.

Frankly, he didn’t particularly like the necromancer’s temperament. Disrespectful to patients, harming innocent people autonomously—

But, after all, the guy had followed him around all this time. Just leaving him hanging until next year seemed a bit harsh?

Alright, give him a chance, see what he chooses himself.

"Mr. Apu." Garrett jumped down from the deer’s back and bowed slightly. The mountain hawk fluttered its wings, returning the gesture:

"What is it?"

Garrett took out a golden bowl, a silver collar—both given by barbarians—and a large piece of beast meat from his space bag, placing them on the ground. He pulled out his oak wand and drew a sketch on the ground, carefully writing a letter:

"I’d like to ask you a favor. In the nearest village south of the dragon’s nest, there is a necromancer named Leon waiting for me. Could you please relay a message to him, if he wants to see me, come directly to Nevis City?"

"No problem!" The mountain hawk, without even looking at the golden bowl, grabbed the silver collar and slipped it onto its claw. With a sharp swipe left and right, the beast meat was cut into pieces:

"Rest assured, the message will be delivered!"

Garrett tied the written cloth strip around the mountain hawk’s leg. Watching the hawk finish the meat and take flight, he turned to the silver moon deer:

"Apa, it’s going to be tough for you."

At the start of their journey, Garrett had looked at the map. From the northernmost tip of the Black Gate Peninsula to the port where they had landed, it was almost two thousand miles. The location of Akula was about a thousand miles east from the northernmost dragon’s nest—

On the day the Great Hunt ended, the moon was already half full. Counting from then, they had best reach the port within seven days!

With Apa’s level and speed, even carrying three people, it could be done. But it would be extremely tough, requiring all-out effort!

"Bernard, take off your armor, hand me the staff!" Garrett reached out to the barbarian:

"Seraina, the two of us, take turns casting Levitation to reduce weight as much as possible! Apa, let’s change course south! Run at a steady pace, straight south!"

The silver moon deer left a trail on the great plains. The three, squeezed together, made their weight as light as possible with the aid of Levitation, utterly negligible for a level eight magical beast. In fact, if not for being tied with vines—

Right now, they could have let go a giant kite.

Run, run, run. Towards the south, towards the direction of the sun, run as hard as possible. On the east side of the Black Gate Mountain Range, mostly gentle hills and crisscrossing rivers, the silver moon deer ran very smoothly. Narrower streams could even be jumped over—

They ran non-stop until evening, the silver moon deer hanging its head, ribs heaving, its fur all stuck together in tufts. Bernard rolled up his sleeves to brush the mount, while Garrett took out all the sugar cubes he had and fed them to it by the handful:

"Apa, it’s tough... Hang in there a few more days... Apa, I know there’s not much tender grass here, once we get back to the city, you can have sugar if you want sugar, eggs if you want eggs..."

"Why make it so complicated? Just feed him meat!"

With a slap, the silver dragon miss dragged over a freshly caught wild sheep, directly throwing it

in front of the silver moon deer. Before Garrett could react, Apa lowered its head, opened its mouth wide, and crunched the sheep’s leg bones to pieces.

Garrett: "......"

What, it eats meat?

Alright, a level eight magical beast, there’s no reason it doesn’t eat meat, nor is there anything it can’t digest. Besides, the energy contained in meat is indeed higher than that in tender leaves or fruits...

Wait!

You’ve eaten it all, what will we eat!

With Apa’s all-out effort, with Seraina flying high twice a day to scout ahead, they headed south smoothly. They traveled by day, set up a "Refuge Hut" to rest at night, Garrett even had time to practice his flight spells...

On the third day, they found a village. On the fourth day, they encountered a town, and on the fifth day, following the trade routes between the mountains, they arrived at the largest trade port on the Black Gate Peninsula, the port where Garrett and his companions had landed, Annya Port.

Annya Port, although it was deep in winter and the vegetation was withered, looked no different from before. Giant logs formed a pier where sharp, long warships with both ends curved upwards were docked side by side, dozens, perhaps hundreds at a glance.

Though there was no one on the ships, and no shields neatly arrayed on either side, just looking at those narrow hulls and the fierce dragon heads on the ends, one could feel a surge of killing intent.

Garrett walked around, unable to find any ship that seemed to be there to pick him up. Having no other choice, he returned to the urban area, staying at the Crow Inn where he had stayed before. Just as he entered the inn, someone stood up next to the door:

"Ah! You’ve finally come!"

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay