The black fog continued to cover Hazel's body for a few more seconds before dissipating back into the core. By the time it was all gone, Hazel's hand let go of the core and she began to fall to the ground. I quickly moved my way behind her, catching her body as she fell.
I looked down at Hazel, who had slightly changed in appearance, and slowly lowered myself to the ground as I held her in my arms. After I relaxed my back against the core's pedestal, I looked back at Hazel and began examining her new appearance.
Hazel still had deep black hair and black eyes, but the dark green scales that had covered her body were gone. Her skin, which was surprisingly pale and smooth, seemed brand new. Hazel also seemed to look a lot older, no longer skinny or young in appearance. Before, she looked like a middle schooler. Now, however, she was a fine young woman. Her body was taller than before, almost as tall as me, and the curves around her breasts and waist were a little bit more defined. Her hair, which was before messy and long enough to reach her shoulder blades, was now silky and long enough to reach her elbows.
I found myself entranced by her sudden change in appearance like I was looking at an illusion. Then, while I was still staring at her, she began to wake up. She looked at me, confused, and mumbled,
"What happened," She said. I blinked, then sighed.
"You don't remember?" I asked. Hazel quickly sat up, her eyes now wide and devoid of any confusion.
"The core! Did it work?" She asked as she turned to me, "Am I still cursed?"
"Let's see," I said as I looked at her. Then, while my eyes were trained on her, I appraised her.
﹃
Hazel Conley
Race: Dragon
Level: 1
HP: 100
MP: 70
AC: 15
DMG: 35
Rank: S
Titles: Curse Dragon, Partner of the Dungeon Master
Skills: Morph (LOCKED), Ancestral Magic (LOCKED), Curse Magic, Sprint, Sword Skills
Status Effects: Flame Immunity
Titles- Partner of the Dungeon Master: Because of Hazel's relationship with the Dungeon Master, Hazel will gain the exact amount of XP the dungeon master gains while they are together. Also, while Hazel is in any of the dungeons belonging to the dungeon master, she will gain a 30% boost to all stats
﹄
'Partner? And what's this about flame immunity?' I shouted within myself as I saw the audacity of the new title that Hazel had. Then, after a few moments, I sighed.
"Hazel, I still haven't told you one thing about myself," I said, piquing Hazel's interest, "I actually have a skill called『 Appraisal 』that lets me see everything about somebody when I first meet them. Honestly, I already knew your name and race when I first met you but decided to play it cool so I didn't seem suspicious."
"Oh," Hazel said. She looked down, then sighed before looking back up at me, "Well, it's a rare skill, so I'm not surprised. Do the twins know?"
I nodded, "I'm their bodyguard, technically, so even their parents know. However, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You know how I told you you're a spirit, right?"
Hazel nodded.
"I said that a spirit is an untethered dungeon monster," I said, "Well, I appraised your race earlier. What came up was『 A spirit is the result of a collapsed dungeon. They are forever cursed to wander the earth in search of a place to call home. As a result, Spirits have the innate ability to bond to a dungeon. By doing so, they adopt their original form and power once again 』"
"Form?" Hazel said. Suddenly, she moved her hands to her cheeks and rubbed her skin. She froze as she felt the softness of her cheeks, then looked at me.
"Hazel, I'll just go ahead and tell you. You're a dragon, like me."
"They sure have been gone awhile," Jonathan sighed as he stared off into nothingness. Evelyn nodded as she stared off into nothingness with him. Icarus, who was sitting next to them on his chair, sighed and looked to the door.
Then, while the twins weren't paying attention to the young dragon, Icarus suddenly bolted away from the chair.
"Hmm?" Jonathan mumbled, noticing the blur in his vision. He turned to the chair Icarus had been sitting on, then quickly sat up as he noticed the dragon's absence, "Not again!"
Jonathan began looking around, searching for anybody that was stupid enough to attempt to steal Icarus. However, when his eyes fell upon the restaurant's door, he failed to find a thief. Instead, he found Icarus in the hands of a young man with dark hair.
"Oh, he's back," Jonathan said as he recognized Arthur.
I had just arrived back at the guildhall with Hazel, who was wearing a new cloak to accommodate for the change in her size. Her leather armor, which was a little too tight on her new body, had been scrapped and was replaced by a normal set of clothes until we could find her a new appearance.
When we walked into the Hitman's Hearth, I was immediately assaulted by a small red boulder as it crashed into my stomach and brought me to the ground. The boulder then began to lick my face, its sharp tail wagging back and forth like a dog's.
"Icarus!" I shouted as I tried to push against the young dragon. Icarus, on the other hand, was acting like he hadn't seen me in years. Finally, after a full thirty seconds of being attacked, Jonathan and Evelyn appeared to pull Icarus off of me.
"Arthur, you're alright!" Jonathan shouted as he pulled Icarus away from me. I looked at him, then nodded as I pulled myself back to my feet. I looked at my clothes, then groaned in annoyance as I felt the remains of Icarus's saliva stick to my suit like glue. Jonathan, on the other hand, had already turned to look at Hazel, "Who is this? Where is Hazel?"
"You're looking at her," I said as I turned to Jonathan. Jonathan and Evelyn looked to Hazel, their eyes wide with surprise.
"How?"
"She was cursed," I explained. Then I opened my mouth and began to fabricate a story to tell to Jonathan to explain our trip "I had some people from the Aureys household get rid of that curse. I thought the curse prevented her from leveling up, but it looks like it also changed her appearance. Once it was removed, she changed back into what she should've looked like all this time. This is the result."
"I see!" Jonathan said, nodding as he heard my story, "I guess that just means she needs to be reevaluated, doesn't it!"
"No," I quickly said. Hazel also shook her head, already understanding that the status plate would give her race and rank away. If that happened, Augustine would just get even more suspicious and the guild would end up either fighting her or chasing her away from the city. Then, after noticing Jonathan's confused expression, I opened my mouth and said, "She's S ranked dude. How do you think the city- no, country- will react to that?"
"Oh, you have a point," Jonathan said as he put Icarus on the ground. Icarus, once he was on the ground, slowly moved toward me and began to nuzzle himself across my legs like a cat, "Not even the guild master is S ranked. She'll get a target on her back for sure."
I nodded, then turned to the floor and watched Icarus turn from me to Hazel. He looked at her for a moment before moving to her ankles and doing the same thing he did to me. The group watched as Icarus looked at me with a smug expression on his face as if saying 'I approve. Go for it.'
"Icarus," I groaned in annoyance.
Over the next hour, the group explored the town's market to get armor for both myself and Hazel. Hazel just needed new armor because her old armor didn't fit anymore, but the twins seemed insistent on getting me armor because I didn't wear any.
I couldn't exactly tell them that my suit was better than the armor that they wore. Eventually, we ended up in a small shop that sold most types of weapons and armor and decided to get our stuff from there.
Hazel got the replacement for the leather armor she wanted, though her new set of armor was more of an upgrade. Before, her armor was nothing more than animal hide that she wore on her body. However, now that she had officially joined the party, Evelyn was determined to get her something better.
She eventually got a set of armor with a breastplate, small shoulder pads, greaves, and gauntlets. The armor was a set, as it was all colored dark grey with a slight white outline to the armor. Hazel wore another set of leather underneath, but it was colored similar to the armor. Thanks to the cloak she wore she looked like some sort of assassin and was not to be taken lightly.
Hazel was over the moon because she was getting all of these upgrades, but they weren't done coming yet.
"Here," I said to Hazel as I pulled a large black sword from the back. I had actually bought it from my dungeon shop, but I didn't have a pack on me so I had to make it look like it came from the shop.
"Oh," Hazel said with a blushed face as she took the sword. She looked at the sword for a moment, her eyes sparkling like jewels, before she looked back up at me, "Thank you, Arthur."
"Now, now," Jonathan laughed, "Arthur, we still have to get you stuff. Would you like a matching set, sir? Or would you prefer plate armor to match that ego of yours?"
"I already told you, I'm good with just my suit!" I told him. Jonathan shook his head, then walked to me and took me by the shoulders as he began parading through the shop.
"Don't let your ego be the cause of your death, my friend," Jonathan chuckled. He looked down at me, then scrunched his nose, "Besides, we really need to clean that suit. It's got Icarus all over it."
"Shit," I sighed as I looked down. My collar was beginning to dry, but the smell coming from it was horrendous.
"Take this as an opportunity, Arthur," Jonathan smiled, "Let's go shopping!"