Chapter 365 - Dragon Gate Restored

Julia eventually deceived that she was 'full' from watching Amanda squirm for a bit before she turned serious

"We are going to need a ship"

Amanda noticed that Julia was finally serious and so she also pulled herself together before she surprisingly agreed

"Sure, but I am coming along… Unless this is your honeymoon trip?"

Julia showed a smile and shook her head, Marie and Asma sighed before Asma spoke

"Mercury… Allergic for marriage"

Marie nodded and complained

"Every time one of us has brought it up he's dodged the subject or outright run away…"

Amanda felt her impression of Mercury fall a bit, though she had never met the elusive Mercury

"I've heard he's teaching at the academy, also that he brings a dragon spirit around that likes to scream randomly, that and also he has an adoptive son that goes to the academy?"

Julia nodded and showed a smile

"Yeah that's our Mercury alright"

Amanda nodded before she looked down at the documents and spoke

"The earliest I can have a ship ready is tomorrow, I have a lot of work to do now so please excuse me"

Julia nodded

"Okay, see you tomorrow Amanda"

Then she left along with Marie and Asma after they bid Amanda goodbye…

The next morning Mercury stood at the docks, he was as he almost always was, bickering with the dragon sprit Qutil

"---As I was saying you don't put butter AND mayonnaise on a single piece of bread! It's simply breaking the fundamental laws of the universe, if anything you spread the mayo like it was butter!"

[AND AS I WAS SAYING more calories, more effective SANDWICH! You can't go wrong with efficiency!]

Amanda who had just arrived felt a headache coming on as she watched the two of them bicker and wondered

'How did Julia fall for that poor excuse of a man?'

About 15 minutes passed, Mercury was still arguing with the dragon spirit Qutil when the rest of the group arrived, they were Julia, Marie, Asma, Jey, and Naila, while Max very much wanted to go Mercury had told him to focus on his studies instead while reassuring him that it was going to be a short trip, as for Ben, he had gotten time off as his wife expected their first child soon, Marie looked over at Mercury and the dragon spirit and asked them

"Are you about done bickering?"'

Mercury nodded before he showed a smile

"Yes, we decided that you can use butter on one side of the sandwich and mayo on the other piece of bread"

The dragon spirit twirled around itself as it proudly declared

[Ehem! We are truly leading the technological advancement on this continent!]

Marie felt a headache coming on and showed a wry smile, then after a bit, she showed a smile and asked the two geniuses

"Is it the same with ketchup?"

Mercury looked stunned for a moment before he showed a smile and exchanged looks with Qutil before they both spoke in unison

"Yes!"

[No!]

"What do you mean no, you sorry excuse for a reptile!?"

[It's long been established that ketchup is a sauce, thus it falls outside of the BUTTER LIMITATIONS!]

"Listen here fucko, mixing butter and ketchup on a single bun of bread is a war crime! It's like kicking mentally challenged baby seals!"

Marie showed a smile and walked back to the others before she reported

"They're not going to be able to communicate with the outside world for at least another 15 minutes"

Julia showed a smile, so did Asma while Amanda sighed and muttered

"It is as they say… Love makes one blind..."

After leaving harbor the ship sailed for a few days along with the spotted islands of Julaintia's island sea before entering truly open waters on the 3rd day, from there the ship spent about a week on the open waters before it reached a strange sight, two column's of stone stood up from the seabed, there were a few hundred meters of open sea in between them, seeing these Qutil declared

[We have ARRIVED!]

Mercury looked at the two stone columns and asked

"What's this?"

[IT IS… THE DRAGON GATE! Well, one of many but still… ISN'T IT MAJESTIC?]

"...Dude it's two columns of rock that sticking out of the sea"

[Hush, let's get this bitch breathing again, Mercury we should start inspecting the closest column at once!]

"Got it"

Mercury then disappeared from view and reappeared on top of the column a few hundred meters away the next instance, then Qutil came flying and quickly instructed him on how to open up the dragon gate's maintenance panel

[Basicly send a puls of mana into this spot here… That should do it]

With a 'click' a panel popped out of the stone revealing a liquid crystal display that was powered by the ambient mana

[Dragon gate #515 status: OFFLINE

Mana capacitor 1 - 10: ONLINE

Force projector: OFFLINE

Link: DRAGON GATE #001, PING: ONLINE

Ignition key: NOT DETECTED

CURRENTLY IN SLEEP MODE…}

[Alright! As long as the mana capacitors and dragon gate #001 are online everything else can be fixed on-site… Let's start with the force projector]

"Okay, how should we start with that?"

[It's on both the columns, the force projector basically acts as a battery saver by not allowing the seawater to pass through the gate, thereby saving a TON of mana in the capacitors, Let's see… If I remember right then it's on this side of the column…]

"Okay before we start is it okay if I ask a few questions?"

[Sure!]

"Why use this dragon gate in the first place?"

[It's the only way to enter the barrier around the old dragon capital, think of the barrier as the walls of a city and the dragon gates as gates in that wall]

"I see… Then what's this ignition key it's talking about?"

[That's the key to the dragon gate, it's like an automatic door opener, I can approximate the mana signature of the key to open the gate, thereby allowing us to pass through the gate]

"So it's like an automatic garage door… Smart…"

[RUDE, my dragon gate is nothing like that AT ALL!]

"Yes, yes… Now, what am I doing first?"

[First, you open the panel over there---]

While Mercury and Qutil were fixing the dragon gate the rest of the crew took a break and lazed around on the ship that laid anchored a few hundred meters away from the east column, Amanda was laying on a sun chair next to Asma, the two of them had not really talked, with Asma being a woman of few words Amanda could not help but feel a little awkward around her, eventually, the silence proved too much for Amanda and she asked Asma

"So… What exactly is it you like about Mercury, Asma?"

Asma's ears twitched a few times before she responded

"Kind…. And strong… He's the savior of word shaman clan too…"

Amanda nodded before she rolled over on the stomach and looked at Asma beside her for a bit before she blushed slightly and asked her

"So, when are you going to have some kids?"

Asma tilted her head slightly as if to ask why Amanda was interested in this, so Amanda quickly elaborated

"Well if you're going to have kids then Julia is too… I really want to see Julia's kids"

Asma's ears twitched slightly before she spoke

"Mercury… Is afraid of three things… Mars… Marriage… And kids"

"So you don't think he wants to have kids of his own?"

"No… He wants kids… He's just afraid…"

"Oh, I guess that's perfectly normal…"

"Mmn"

Naila that was nearby muttered

"My lord's children… I look forwards to it"

Marie who laid on the other side of Amanda and slept in the sun suddenly woke up with a set and looked towards the dragon gate, then Asma's ears also twitched before she looked towards the dragon gate, Amanda also shuddered slightly before she stood up and muttered

"No way…"

The dragon gate was flickering, that is to say, the space in between the two stone columns was flickering before something weird happened, the sea parted, literally, Amanda looked blankly at the void that had opened up below in between the two columns before she muttered

"Holy shit… I suddenly question if I am qualified enough to go on this trip…"

Then Mercury appeared next to the group along with Qutil that were chanting in the ancient dragon tongue, Mercury spoke to the crew

"Get the anchor in, ready to sail through the dragon gate!"

Then it happened, a time-space quake like no other Mercury had ever felt before as the giant dragon gate 'opened' it was like a black mirror with various light dots on it, it looked deceptively like the night sky, Qutil suddenly yelled

[RIGHT-O LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD, BE SURE TO KEEP ALL ARMS AND LEGS INSIDE THE RIDE AT ALL TIMES! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!]