The day after the order was given, Fifty members of both the knights and adventurers each ventured out of the kingdom to carry out the mission.
They were split into smaller groups for easier movements, some of them using horses—mostly the knights—while the rest journeyed on foot.
It was nighttime, so everyone camped in a safe area in the forest.
Two men could be seen discussing beside a rock that's a few feet away from the campfire.
"You know what? I feel like we don't need to be this many before we kill a single monster; at least a team of four high-ranking adventurers is enough." A drunken, pot-bellied man holding a big cup filled with beer said:
"I would advise you to watch your words; if others hear what you just said, trust me, you will be persecuted already," a knight sitting beside the drunken man replied.
"Come on, burp. I am just stating the facts here. After all, it's just a random monster." The drunk man muttered.
"I know that you are right, at least at your simpleton level, but whatever his royal king sees as a threat, it is no doubt a threat." "Remember that he is the strongest king among the seven kings," the knight answered.
(Burp) "I feel insulted, but I guess it can't be helped then. Hahaha, for humanity!" The drunk man raised his cup and cheered.
"You are truly drunk; how did you become an adventurer like this?" The knight questioned him as he sighed in disappointment, refusing to cheer with him.
"Hehe, Mr. Knight, don't look down on me," the drunk man told the knight as he drank another mouthful of beer.
"You can be easily beaten in this state," the knight told the drunk man, and he left.
"Sheesh, as serious as ever, some people don't know how to have fun."
***
The next day, on the other far side of the forest, Elvis woke up beside a dead white bear corpse with three huge diamond spikes on its back.
The white bear was the original owner of the cave that Elvis met last night, but it was injured, so it didn't put up much of a fight before it got killed by Elvis.
Stretching his wings, he said, "I should learn how to fly with these things."
So with that, he left his cave and ran to a nearby cliff, not far from the mountain.
He easily arrived at the cliff and stood at the edge.
"It's now or never," he thought.
Elvis began to try and control his back muscles where the wings were connected.
Gradually, Elvis began to get the hang of it, and his wings began to flap.
Faster and faster his wings flapped as he tried harder, then slowly he lifted himself from the ground before he got tired and fell back.
He kept trying and didn't give up until he finally got the hang of it.
"Woohoo!" Elvis was happy that he was flying in the sky, although a little clumsy.
"Freedom, the wind against my face—is this how birds feel? Flying is great; it's absolute freedom".
"Flying is awesome, hahaha," Elvis said as he flew around the forest.
He was so happy that he got distracted, crashed against a tall tree, and fell.
Elvis stood up from the ground, shaking his body to remove any dirt.
"Falling from that height, I should at least experience a slight pain or sting, right?", That's when he noticed that he'd landed on a large flower bud.
'How come I didn't notice your presence, little one?'.
"Huh, Who's that!?" Elvis was startled by the strange voice.
'Don't worry, I am not going to hurt you' The voice said softly.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Elvis was on high alert.
'Very well then, I have some questions for you anyway.' Follow that path of flowers to find me.
A bunch of red flowers like roses magically appeared and formed a path, which Elvis followed curiously.
The flower led to a tall, firm tree with several branches.
"Huh?" Little Elvis was confused.
A beautiful green-haired woman then came out of the tree.
"Hi, I am Dryad, guardian of this forest." She introduced herself to Elvis.
The first thing that came to Elvis' mind was, "Damn, she's beautiful."
"Little dragon?"
"Y.. yes?"
"I am surprised that your kind still exists; the last time I saw a dragon was five hundred years ago," the woman told Elvis.
"Five hundred years ago!" Elvis exclaimed because he never thought his race had gone extinct.
"Yes, five hundred years ago," the dryad repeated herself.
"Did they go into hiding or...?" Elvis asked.
"Who knows, but I am more curious about you," Dryad said as she got closer to Elvis.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You are a hatchling, but I couldn't feel your presence," she explained.
'The last time I felt a presence was that golden light that happened in the mountain cave that even I was too scared to go observe', Dryad was lost in thought, and so was Elvis.
"I can't tell her that I am not from this world." He told himself that.
"Don't worry about it; just be careful in the future; you might be the last of your kind, who knows?" Dryad told Elvis.
"Thanks, I Will, Wait, how come you can understand me?" The curious Elvis asked
"I can understand and communicate with creatures of any race," she answered.
Elvis was glad that he met someone that he could talk to; later, before the day ended, the two talked a lot.
Unknowingly, Elvis has gotten attached to her, and Dryad has also taken a liking to him, although he is a dragon, he looks cute.
Elvis is always beside her and sleeps beside her tree trunk every night. For the past few days they have been together, and they talk and laugh a lot, especially Dryad, who finds it funny when Elvis acts shy when he wants to eat meat in front of her, which she doesn't mind because, after all, it's nothing new to her.
On a peaceful night, which might be their last time together.
Dryad was resting on Elvis who has gotten bigger in the past few days, both of them were looking at the stars, then Dryad spoke up, "You know, Elvis, there's a rumor that says every hundred or thousand years, monsters and beasts all head towards the west and are given the chance to take humans form as long as they pass the challenge."
Elvis was surprised and happy when he heard, "Is it true?".
"Well, it's a legendary rumor after all, so I am not sure," Dryad replied.
"I wish it were true, anyway, so what happens to those who fail the challenges?" He asked her.
"Nothing, but even if they fail, they would be granted the skill to speak human languages, and they can always come back in the next hundred years to retake the challenge."
"Whoa, that's nice," Elvis responded.
"Do you know the reason why I told you this?"
"Why?" Elvis was confused by that question.
"Because I want you to leave the forest and go explore the world, that will help you grow stronger," Dryad told Elvis.
[Mission triggered: Retrieve the transformation orb]
[Host will be guided by the system]
'Huh? Mission? Wait, is the legend true?' Elvis asked himself when he saw the system's mission.