Once Hazel and I had walked into the sun, we immediately turned east and began to walk further away from the dungeon. To our south, just a few kilometers away from Pyre, was the border to the Helstar Theocracy. They governed much of the southern regions of Edera, to the point where their mere size was almost double that of the other two nations.
To our northwest-west, just a few weeks away from the dungeon, was the center of Edera and the border to both the Helstar Theocracy and the Kingdom of Cefer Mor. There, where the giant neutral city of Vale sat, was the tri-border area of all three nations.
Although Pyre and Hewe were considered small cities, they were surrounded by fertile land and lush forests, mainly because they were closer to the middle of the continent. Further into the empire, towards our northeast, the lush and fertile land began to grow thin. Eventually, only rocky mountains existed to house spires that touched the clouds. The capital city of Arke, though surrounded by rough and bald mountains, was a place of great power as it housed many of the empire's well-known guilds and academies.
Of course, we weren't planning to reach the capital, nor did we want to move further into the forest. Instead, we wanted to reach areas where the monsters were stronger and the danger was closer. I also didn't want to deal with any of the three nations, as I was too weak to do anything against them.
Once we left the dungeon, I turned back to look at the small cave entrance that had been nestled in the hill for as long as I've been alive. This place was home and it would be the second time I would see this sight.
"We'll leave when we're stronger," I confidently said. Hazel looked at me, then nodded. I looked at Hazel, then said, "So, who's driving?"
Because Icarus was unable to fly, Hazel and I had to take turns making sure he didn't fall off of one of our backs while the other rode on the base of the neck. As we flew through the wide landscape, nothing but trees and rivers met our eyes. They stretched for as far as the eye could see, even spanning across the horizon in the distance. Hazel and I were only flying through uncharted territory, so we had no risk of being seen by a city or two.
If the odd human managed to sneak a sight of us, we weren't too worried. Nobody would believe that human, anyways.
We flew for a little over three hours, occasionally taking breaks whenever one of us got tired. Then, once we managed to catch our breath, we would switch spots. We ended up flying over a few hundred kilometers this way, but our distance was nothing compared to the continent of Edera.
We planned to fly until the forest began to dissipate, but both of us were surprised by how early we found signs of decay. After those quick three hours of flying, the forest seemed to disappear from under us, almost like we were watching a stop motion picture as mountains replaced them. Even the dirt seemed to disappear with the trees and the skies grew darker.
"Let's land there," Hazel suggested from atop of me. I turned my gaze toward her, then nodded. Once Hazel was given confirmation, she hugged my neck close to her body, then braced herself as I began to dive toward the ground. The wind ripped across my scales, almost ignoring me entirely, as I slowly let myself fall toward the mountain.
Hazel, luckily, had a strong enough grip to hold on. Icarus was sandwiched between Hazel and me, preventing him from going anywhere. Then, just ten seconds after I began my dive, I reached the ground. I quickly tilted my body and stretched my wings, catching myself before I met the ground. Then, once my body had slowed down, I carefully slowly flapped my wings as I landed safely on the ground.
Once the soles of my feet touched the mountain, Hazel turned her body and quickly jumped away from my neck. She carried Icarus in her arms as she landed on the mountain, then turned toward me.
"So are we doing this in dragon form or normal?" She asked. I looked at her, then activated『 Morph 』to change back into my dragon form. My scales were quickly covered in a blanket of flame as my body transformed back into my human body. After an hour and a half of flying, I had gotten comfortable in my dragon form. Changing back into my human form felt unnatural and disturbing.
"Ughgh," I muttered as I shook my body to get rid of the disturbing feeling. I looked to Hazel, then sighed, "We really need to learn how to use『 Telepathy 』. Changing from my dragon form to my human form just to speak is getting insulting."
"Insulting?" Hazel muttered but quickly ignored my choice of words as she shook her head to redirect her focus back to me, "So?"
"I wanna do both, honestly. Trust me, I think being in my dragon form is comfortable as well, but we shouldn't ignore our human form," I told her, "Not only do we need to increase our level, but we should also increase our skills if we can. Do you know any curse magic? I haven't seen you use any curse spells, yet."
"No," Hazel shook said as she shook her head, "I'm capable of manipulating curse energy, but I can't weaponize it. I'll have to learn a few spells first. Hell, I'd be happy with a few tier one spells."
"Don't worry," I said, "Once you reach level five, you won't have to trouble yourself with spells. Instead, you'll be able to use origin magic through your skill『 Ancestral Magic 』. Trust me, it feels amazing, like I'm manipulating the force of the world around me with a single thought."
"Origin magic? You're capable of that?" Hazel gasped, "Is that how you're so strong with fire magic."
"I'm not sure," I told her, "Fire is my preference, so I've never tried messing with any other type of magic. Technically, I should be able to use a bunch of other types of magic, mainly because our human forms are supposed to be more versatile than our dragon forms yet weaker. That's why we sacrifice strength and speed, to trade it for a wider range of spells."
"Amazing," Hazel said. Her eyes glimmered with excitement, "I can't wait. Using magic in that way is going to be amazing!"
"Don't get yourself too excited," I chuckled, "You'll have to reach level five, first. Why don't we spend the first few days in our dragon forms, then switch to our human forms?"
"How will we communicate?" Hazel asked with a confused look on her face. I shrugged.
"No idea. Maybe we'll end up unlocking a communication skill when we stay in our dragon forms for a longer period of time. Hell, maybe dragons have a language that specific to only them," I said as I shrugged my shoulders, "If they do, I should've known it, but I don't. I'll have to ask Aros about it some other time."
"Good," Hazel nodded, "So, how about we stay in our dragon forms for the first four days?"
"Sounds good. Talk to you then," I replied. Both of us smiled at each other and nodded, then activated『 Morph 』simultaneously. As my human form morphed into my dragon form, I sighed in relief and immediately began stretching my body. Every time I transformed, even if it was only for a moment, I grew even more attached to my dragon form.
As time passed for me, my dragon form slowly began to no longer feel like a form that I would only use when fighting. I had previously used it as a trump card and only used it when I needed it. Otherwise, I would spend my time in my human form because it was the form in that I was created. If this continued then I knew, deep down in my heart, that I would eventually come to a moment where I didn't want to morph out of my dragon form at all. It would become my true form and my human form would only be a convenience used to communicate with the outside races without scaring them.
To prepare myself for that moment, I needed to find a way to communicate while in my dragon form as fast as possible. Whether that way would be telepathy or learning how to physically speak, communication had become my number one priority.\
However, for now, I had a grinding session to participate in.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself facing Hazel with just a few yards between us. We weren't that far apart from each other, so I was able to see her figure with clarity for the first time in a while.
When I first fought with Hazel, as well as when we practiced how to fly, I didn't consider Hazel to be my partner at the time. However, now that that had changed, her body was brought into a new light. I grew nervous as I looked at her, wondering if I was even capable of satisfying something like that.
We hadn't even managed to get a chance to have a heartfelt conversation that was longer than two minutes, but now I had ignored the need for that and had volunteered myself to be unable to talk to her for four whole days. What an idiot I was.
Hazel appeared to be having similar thoughts, as she found herself staring at my eyes in a trance-like state. I noticed this, grew flustered, and grunted as I attempted to avoid her gaze. Hazel nodded, then turned away from me as she looked back to Icarus.
Compared to Icarus, who was just a little larger than a full-grown golden retriever, both Hazel and I were just a little larger than a one-story house. If we chose to stand on our hind legs, then we might have been able to reach three stories tall. Because of this, the size difference between Icarus's body and our bodies was quite easy to see.