Over the next few days, Loa made two more trips.
One was to see Wot Lucas. Loa had never forgotten the heart and Magical Core of a fire-element draconic magical beast that he owed him. This visit was mainly to let him know that he was planning to head to the Sunset Mountain Range and would get everything as soon as possible. Wot was in no hurry, saying Tiya could still wait and telling him not to take risks. Loa agreed, chatted for a while, then took his leave.
The other trip was to Old Dao's. The information broker's shop looked as lifeless as ever, with a battered wooden sign hanging outside and a musty smell inside.
Old Dao was not surprised to see him back. He tossed him a stack of papers, saying they contained the news he had gathered over the past year, with the worthless bits thrown in for free.
Loa skimmed through them. Little was useful, but one item mentioned recent trouble in the Sunset Mountain Range: several adventuring parties had gone in and never come out. He made a mental note of it.
With both visits out of the way, Loa began considering his main business.
The Sunset Mountain Range lay in the south of the continent, and Fire Dragon Valley was within it. This was genuine Fire Dragon Clan territory-adult fire dragons were Level Eight Magical Beasts, and gifted ones could break through to level nine.
There was also a Saint-level fire dragon living in Fire Dragon Valley, which had attracted quite a few fire dragons from elsewhere to join it of their own accord.
The question was how to get there.
There were two routes: one went south through the Magical Beast Mountain Range, while the other passed through Dark Alliance territory.
He