"Can we talk?" Leila asked as she sat alongside Edward. Edward nodded and moved over to allow Leila to sit closer by the fire he had started to keep the group warm. She smiled and nodded before sitting directly at his side. Ikarus was sleeping on his other side, completely unbothered.
For a moment, Leila didn't say anything. Her eyes were transfixed on the red firepit in front of her. Although the flame was only as small as an ember, it was powerful enough to keep the entire hallway warm. Edward quickly realized the walls must've been covered in magical ice, considering it didn't melt in the heat.
"How did you get stronger flames?" Leila asked, her eyes still focused on the firepit, "I tried to add more MP like you told Brandon, but my flames didn't become stronger— only bigger."
Edward didn't answer.
"You lied to him, but why?" Leila asked. Edward looked up from the fire and turned to Markus. Luckily, the man was far away from Edward and healing Brandon with what little MP he had left. He wasn't able to hear their conversation, nor was he even facing them.
"I'll tell you, but you mustn't tell anybody else. I don't want them to freak out," Edward told her as he turned back to Leila. He made sure to speak in Draconic, to tell her that this was a conversation that he didn't want to be overheard. Her eyes widened in excitement as she gave him a nod. Then, after Edward took a deep breath, he slowly removed his glove and revealed the black scales covering his knuckles.
"What happened?" Leila asked with worry. As expected, she spoke in Draconic. Ikarus's eyes twitched as she spoke, though he didn't react further. She immediately grabbed onto Edward's hand and turned it over to see if there were any scales on his palm.
"After the last boss fight, the system gave me a race change and some skills," Edward replied, "I'm a full-blooded dragon, now."
"What does that mean?" Leila asked, confused.
"I'm not human anymore— not even a little bit," Edward answered with a low voice. He put his glove back onto his hand before turning to look at Leila, "Although I don't feel any different, there have been some side effects. Parts of my skin were replaced with scales and all of my skills have been upgraded. I gained a new one, too, that allows me to morph into a dragon."
"A dragon? Like, an actual one?" Leila gasped— though with a low voice, "Like Ikarus?"
The young dragon looked up for a moment, now invested in the conversation. Ikarus rested his head against Edward's knee, his eyes following whoever spoke.
"My scales would be made out of Obsidian while his are made of platinum, but kind of," Edward told her. He looked into Leila's face, nervous to see her reaction, but was surprised by the level of excitement hidden beneath her eyes. She wasn't afraid or nervous but rather filled with curiosity. Edward smiled, thankful that Leila hadn't pushed him away. He continued, glad to have somebody to talk to about this— as he was extremely excited about it, "The system told me I'll be a bit bigger than most dragons and I'll only have one pair of wings, rather than two."
"What else?" Leila asked as she leaned closer to Edward. Edward smiled once more, then turned to point at the firepit.
"My flames are one of the most powerful of all dragon subraces, I think. Obsidian Dragons are loyal and brave— though I'll admit it might be because of how durable they are," Edward smiled, "Supposedly, we're one of the most durable of Dragon Kind."
Leila continued to listen to him talk more about his new abilities. He looked over his status and discovered that most of his skills had been given a buff of some kind. Most of them were now used more MP— especially his Draconic Presence. Now, he could have that on all of the time, rather than save it for the times he needed it. Even if he was just walking down the road, he could announce that he was not to be messed with.
Edward thought this might become handy to ignore midnight robbers if needed.
"It's incredible," Leila muttered as she gazed into the fire. Edward stared at her for a moment as he looked into her eyes. He was able to see the fire reflected from where he gazed, almost like a mirror. Then, with a soft voice, she said, "How exactly did it happen?"
"I got a notification, as I said," Edward told her. He leaned against the wall before continuing, "During the battle, Ikarus took too much damage and died. The system gave me a challenge. Or, I guess I should say somebody else gave me the challenge, but did so with the system as a proxy."
Leila was momentarily confused to hear of Ikarus's demise, but her attention was soon stolen by was Edward said next.
"Who?"
"The Ancient Dragon," Edward answered. He began to pet Ikarus's mane and looked at him to see if Ikarus would react upon hearing that phrase. After all, Ikarus was a gift from that very person, but Edward was disappointed when Ikarus didn't act any differently. He looked back to Leila and explained, "I don't know their name— it's redacted in the notifications. The challenge was simple— I just needed to kill the boss. Doing so would bring Ikarus back to life, as well as give me something called 'The First Gift'."
"Was this that gift?" Leila glanced at Edward's hand. He nodded. Leila sighed upon hearing his story and turned back to the firepit, "It doesn't sound like something the system can replicate, then. If it's from somebody independent, they might not even know I exist."
"It might happen to you, too," Edward reassured her. Leila looked away from the firepit and smiled at Edward. For a moment, he felt butterflies in his stomach, but the feeling went away only a moment later. After a moment, he blinked and shook himself back to reality.
He stood up and looked at the group. Markus and Brandon were fully recovered and were having a conversation on the other side of the hallway. As Edward stood up, though, they both looked in his direction.
"Let's get going," Edward said, causing Markus and Brandon to stand up. Edward waved his hand and extinguished the firepit.