The next day Alex woke up and much to the little wyverns dismay forced it to stay in astera since today was the day of the expedition into the coral highlands. Alex knew that a legiana was definitely going to show up and attack Zain and the handler so having it with him was going to be a problem. Alex also knew that the two people would be found and rescued by one of the explorers that was in the area so he was just going to let the scene play out before attacking the legiana.
It might seem a bit callous of him but those two reestablishing contact with the third fleet was extremely important for him since they may deem him hostile otherwise. The little wyvern was NOT happy at being left behind by Alex but since the field leader was watching it Alex didn't need to worry about it. Zain and the handler were already waiting at the gate of astera when Alex arrived bringing laughs from them as they teased him. 'Shut up and get on my back already so we don't need to wait on your slow legs trying to keep up.' he bit back in irritation.
"Alright alright chill out geez." Zain said raising his hands in surrender at Alex's comment that basically insulting them for being inferior. 'Note to self don't make jokes about the big dragon , he bites back.' Zain thought seriously. Normally it would have taken a few of hours for them to get to the canyon from astera but thanks to Alex's ability to fly it merely took thirty minutes. He totally didn't also make the trip as bumpy as possible as payback either , nope not at all. "HEURGH!" The handler threw up on the ground after they landed while Zain was stumbling about from his own nausea.
The scholars already nearby merely snickered at the twos misfortune while giving Alex a thumbs up since they had a pretty good idea of what had happened. Zain was a sort of good natured pain in the ass for everyone in astera since he liked to tease people for the smallest things. The scholars rightly assumed that he had tried to tease the wrong person and had paid for it at this point. No one tried to help Zain but the handler did get some sympathy since she was likely dragged into Zain's actions like normal.
"Yup , you are definitely on the 'avoid at all cost' list" Zain said seriously after he stopped swerving on his feet like a drunk. 'I don't know what you are talking about.' Alex said while acting clueless. "Yep definitely on the list." Zain nodded his head while muttering to himself. 'Well if you lot are done being dramatic I'd like to get this show on the road , got throats to introduce to my claws , their relationship will be quite intimate.' Alex said with a slightly bloodthirsty inflection. "oh yeah , straight to the top of the list." Zain said with a slight shiver at the bloodlust leaking through Alex's telepathy.
As a hunter Zain was used to having the aggression of monsters focused on himself but the sort of bloodlust coming from Alex was the kind that was distinctly human or rather like that of a person. The feeling it gave was totally different from the stuff that a monster or animal had meaning Zain had very little experience feeling it. The man was relieved when Alex finally closed the connection and freed him from the oppressive feeling that came from his bloodlust.
Alex himself hadn't even realized how the last few months of living as a monster had changed him into a much more violent individual. Sure the constant presence of people interacting with him made sure that he was mostly civil while they were around but when he thought about hunting it flipped a switch in his head bringing those violent urges out in full force. Until now no one had even realized that he had this side to him , but telepathy had basically made this aspect crystal clear to Zain.
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