An ice wall was raised at the border. In fact, the ice wall stretched northward and southward as far as I could see, undoubtedly enclosing the entire district. We weren't even inside the district, and we had to alter our zip-wear to warmer clothes.
"The brochure says there are klevonian and pneumarian matchup patrols that stand guard at the district's four entrances," Za'Fia relayed, having beat me to the punch. "There's an entrance at the center of the north, east, west, and south walls. We're at the east wall, so if we head south a little more, we should find the entrance."
"Or we could simply fly over. Unlike most here, we have the luxury of flight," Avarice said as he started to lift from the ground.
"Pretty sure that's illegal," Za'Fia remarked. "If you want to spend some time in prison, by all means, fly over."
"Let's see," she continued as we flew southward along the wall. "The Dragon Crest is...oh, they have a decent number of members: 2,500 pneumarians and 1,000 klevonians. They mainly use the ice element. Not surprising. But their crest is worth over 1.7 trillion spendil. They're doing well for themselves and attract a lot of tourists. The district's main city, Caetis, is known for its hot springs at the base of an active water volcano called Blue Mountain. There are plenty of other events too, but more importantly, there are over 370,000,000 people that live here, and they have a celebratory governing system where there's always a celebration going on to liven the place up and attract newcomers."
"That's a lot of people," I remarked as I spotted the border entrance ahead.
Yes, unlike most districts, the Dragon Crest has made use of the majority of its district, giving ample room to expand its city, Viraa told us. Being a frosty, mountainous region, they were able to accomplish this without harming their environment.
When we approached the entry, there was a klevonian and pneumarian standing guard, commanding us to halt.
"The district is in a state of emergency. No one is allowed in. Go away," the klevonian bluntly stated.
"What my friend means to say is all air traffic and movement in and out of the district is being monitored and restricted to prevent agitated parents from recklessly going to attack Forgeton," said the pneumarian. "I'm sure you've heard of the missing children by now."
"Parents are really trying to attack Forgeton?" I asked in disbelief.
"They're concerned and being irrational," the pneumarian said, "but I can understand why they believe so strongly that the Klevonian Army is responsible."
"More importantly, why do three lowly klevonians want to enter the district? What's your purpose here?" The klevonian inquired.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Our goal is to have an audience with your Crest Head. That's all." I answered.
"More assassins, huh?" the klevonian said, transforming into his blue dragon hybrid form with wings, scales, claws, and fangs.
"Sorry, but all suspicious people must be detained," the pneumarian said in a less friendly tone.
"Wait! I'm not after your Crest Head's life. I'm a Crest Head, myself. The newly appointed Crest Head of the Chimera Crest," I said, trying to keep them from attacking.
They both looked at us closely and then realized they'd heard of us.
"Our apologies," the pneumarian said sincerely as the klevonian returned to normal.
The klevonian looked at his partner, who then pulled a small piece of tech that turned out to be a communication device before reaching out to someone.
"This is the East Border Entry," the pneumarian spoke.
[Acknowledged. What's the issue?]
As the pneumarian reported to whoever was on the other end, I turned to the klevonian.
"Is that the Crest Head? Why not use telepathy?" I asked him.
"You kidding? We're low-ranking members. The type that gets stuck with a job like this. We're not ranked nearly high enough to have a direct connection to the Crest Head."
"This isn't the Crest Head that I'm speaking to," the pneumarian chided in.
[That's enough. I'll be there soon to escort them myself.] The figure on the other end stated before the transmission cut.
The klevonian and pneumarian shared a shocked expression.
"He's tending to this himself? He usually sends someone to deal with border problems," the klevonians said.
"It makes sense, it is a Crest Head at our borders," the pneumarian determined.
Not long after, someone arrived from the sky. It was a klevonian. I instantly knew he was likely one of the Crest Head's personal guards. Makes sense, he was in charge of security.
As he descended, he was in his hybrid form – one of a sand-colored dragon, it appeared. He had tough-looking scales across his body, massive draconic wings, sharp claws and fangs, and a pair of draconic horns on his head. I noticed that his eyes were strangely colorless, and he wore a blue and tan ancient, yet expensive-looking robe.
His name was Seth, aka The Sightless Dragon. He was a 3-star threat with a hybrid EQN of 459,913,000. He possessed two cintracies: a temp one called Signature Sight and the Suna eutierric cintracy, which gave him control over sand.
"Sir!" the klevonian and pneumarian saluted as he hovered above us.
"At ease. Return to your duties," Seth commanded.
"Can your transformation grant you flight?" he asked us.
"We don't need our transformations to fly," Avarice retorted, rising to be level with Seth.
Seth gave us a silent, impressed expression.
"Follow me."
As we flew across the district, we saw that most of it was already part of the city of Caetis. There were occasional areas designated for the dragons, where we heard them roaring as they played in the distance, but for the most part, the district was fully civilized. The city's architecture reminded me of an ancient Chinese setting and Christmas, with snow, ice, and festive lights everywhere.
Za'Fia used her heat to help keep us warm, since we noticed that, even with the zip-wear, it was getting increasingly cold.
While flying, I noticed another group heading west at instantaneous speeds.
"Two Crest Head-related incidents in one day. We're popular today," Seth said to himself.
I enhanced my vision to view far beyond the horizon into he next district. Being this high up, I could see clearly. It was a pneumarian and a few klevonians landing inside a closed cave with a symbol of a hydra on it. When the door swung open, I saw further in and saw Rabae talking to a klevonian in private before turning his attention to those who entered. Then the door shut.