The shortest path is always a straight line.
Following that logic, I decided we're going in a straight line.
No matter what gets in the way, mountains, monsters, whatever it is, we're going straight through it.
I know for a fact I'm going to have to be flying over mountains.
It sure is easy for the two freeloaders on my back that don't have to put in any effort and can even enjoy it.
But I have to put actual effort into flying and it's only fun for a little while before it just becomes a repetitive and straining exercise.
Getting tired and hungry is inevitable.
I didn't even think of what kind of food this place has to offer.
I only found a single thing to hunt here before and that was because it conveniently attacked me. The only other thing I've really had was that slop a kid tried to force feed me.
I ignore the hunger for a while until I just can't stand it anymore and I have to find something.
"Isn't there anything that tastes good here?" I ask somewhat desperate to quell the feeling of being hungry.
"This Lupri over here was enjoying flying a little too much, I'm sure he'd probably taste pretty good if you gave it a try." Elestra suggests and laughs silently.
"Hey!" Shiba complains. "I don't-"
"You're right, you'd be way too furry to get down easily anyway." Elestra continues.
"Stop teasing him already, I'm too hungry to listen to a comedy." I interrupt to get it to end.
"I heard there are these huge mantis things-" Shiba starts before I cut him off instantly.
"NO, NO bug things! I'll die before I consider anything like that!" I shouted quickly.
"All you have to do is look down." Elestra points down at the group of turtle-like creatures on the ground.
"Oh, I don't think there's much to get out of a bunch of hard shells." I mutter, disappointed.
"Those are Shellshockers, the shell part isn't hard at all. They just tend to electrocute you if you touch them. At least the boy can finally make himself useful." Elestra says.
That's way too far, but I guess it's true he needs something he can do.
Maybe I shouldn't tell him I can also just go up to them and do the same thing without ranged attacks. Scales can't be electrocuted, and I have barriers I could use as insulation on top of that anyway.
I landed a distance away from a larger group of them and watched as Shiba readily aimed at some of them.
It was strange to see someone never miss a shot despite seeming an amateur to even someone that doesn't know archery, but hey, magic is just awesome like that.
The arrows hitting them like pincushions makes it really obvious that they really don't have hard shells...
They look more like big mushrooms than zappy turtles.
Cooking it was more troublesome than catching them.
I wasn't even sure my diminished fire breath could even start a fire.
Luckily it worked, but it wasn't even close to the best fire out there.
It's not very awesome to be a dragon that can barely start a campfire.
The aroma of the meat cooking invades my nostrils and makes me get more and more impatient.
The longer I watch it sizzling there, the more I want it.
My two temporary companions over there are looking at me while clearly thinking it would be a good idea to let me eat first.
It's the best idea they've had so far.
Wolves have nothing on my hunger, it's a shame there's no phrase for dragoning it down.
I'm not getting very nice looks for acting like a ravenous beast either, but I'm too hungry to care. At least I'm sharing.
"Are you done yet? We want some too!" Shiba states while scanning what's left.
"It was so good. Of course there's some left for you." I reply and let them have what's left.
Which is probably barely enough for them because I loved it too much.
"It's not even that good!" Shiba complains after tasting it.
"Try being hungry first, then it will." I suggest.
Elestra has no problem with it, this isn't a place to be picky, it's better than what his home had.
We were getting ready to continue on, but--
"I've found you!" Announces an unfamiliar voice.
A large black dragon blocks our way.
Well, maybe large compared to me. I'm still not a full adult yet.
"They mentioned the wacky color but they never said anything about you being so young. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be. Just come quietly." The dragon commands fruitlessly.
No way am I just giving up like that.
"No way! Who are you to come here trying to make me go anywhere?"
"I'm supposed to be the strongest of the dragons, but you can just call me by name, Liora. Now, please come, so I don't have to fight with a child." Liora begs.
'supposed to be'? Does that mean it's not actually true? All the more reason not to give in.
"I'm not going anywhere, we're leaving now."
Elestra was unphased, and Shiba was hiding behind me seemingly petrified.
"That dragon looks like one that might eat us. Save us!"
Liora stopped looking at me to glance over at Shiba.
"Those are just stories! And exaggerations! Why would I wanna do that?!" She grumbled irritably.
I try to go around and Liora gets in the way every time, so I send Elestra and Shiba a small distance away and drop a cage made out of barriers on top of her.
I thought that was enough but she shatters the bars and breaks out with just pure strength and tries to tackle me.
Liora narrowly misses me as I jump back and force her away with another barrier.
"Is that it? All you have for a power is boosting your strength? You won't be able to touch me with that." I don't want to get cocky, but I really do already have this in the bag if that's it.
This time, I create a prison which just presses down with more force to counter her strength until she will eventually run out of it.
"The dragons in my world really are more frightening..." I mutter.
Liora is still trying to fight the barrier pressing her down, but no matter how hard she tries to get up, my control over it seems to be much stronger than her brute strength.
"I can't afford... to lose like this!" She utters, as if this is some situation where she is going to just get some nonsensical power up out of nowhere.
It never comes, though.
"You've already lost. Maybe you're stronger than every other dragon with offensive powers, but against a good defense there's just nothing you can do." I explained, ready to move on.
"I can't be alone! I have to win!" She struggles like she's having a tantrum.
Not sure what losing and being alone have in common.
"Why would you be alone just from losing once?" I ask, hesitating because I'm unsure if it's really my problem at this point.
"The strongest dragon being defeated by a junior? I'll probably be exiled at that point!" She shouts while still trying to break free with no success.
"That doesn't necessarily mean you'll always be alone, though?" I retort without thinking too much about it.
"That's easy for you to say when you've made friends so easily! My power isn't even strength, it's just a healing ability I abuse to increase my strength!" Liora cries and finally gives up.
Elestra comes up and whispers up to me, "Azgaroth only used dragons as symbols of fear to retain control in case people ever forgot his strength."
Ah, that makes sense. I guess it would almost impossible for them to have good relationships with other races here, then.
"You don't need other dragons to be friends with you if they only care about strength. If they abandon you because you aren't that strong then they were never friends in the first place." I preach, "Once we go beat Grimnal, we can change this world- well, not me, but I'm sure Elestra is smart enough to manage it. Then there won't be any need for you to be used as tools anymore."
"That sounds too much like a dream." Liora pouts in a defeated tone.
"Well, believe it or not. We're leaving now to go make it a reality. Alright, you two, let's go." I ordered.
"Wait a minute." Shiba paused and went over to Liora shakily.
"I'm sorry. I guess I was wrong. I thought Lava was different, but you're not bad either. I'll show you to some better friends after we're done with our adventure." He says while hesitantly touching her head and then getting back on me to leave.
It's a start, I guess.
As far as I can tell, Liora didn't even try to follow us.
Our confrontations so far were all very fortunate.
Repeating the same task of flying, eating, and scaring the settlements passing below is a repetitive task that comes with traveling.
While flying, Elestra spots some of those trees that tried to kill me before and had me land there.
I had no idea why she wanted to be near those things, but she plays chicken with them and dodges a bunch of spiked branches swinging at her.
She then breaks off some of the thicker ones and starts stripping the bark off of them while engraving some strange symbols on them.
"Those look a little like runes." I observe, not expecting them to know what those are.
"Run-? Oh, I read in Azgaroth's experiments that those were his prototypes for enchantments in this world. They're similar but weaker. Enchantments are closer to an actual language than a bunch of written magic keywords." Elestra answers. "I'll show you, there's a leftover piece I can use."
Oh, that sounds fun to watch!
"The bark of this tree carries a lot of Arcana, so it's a perfect subject to engrave on." Elestra states.
So that's what they call magic in this world?
"This symbol here basically means explode, and there's also one for delay." She points out, rubbing over two of the symbols.
"So what's that one on the end for?" I ask curiously.
"This one's the inhibitor that keeps the rest from activating. You draw this on a weakened part of the material, then you can activate the others by breaking it off. Like this!" Elestra answers, snapping off the end of the wood and throwing the bigger piece.
After a few seconds it explodes, it's a small explosion, but still an explosion.
"Wow. How does that work?" I question.
I wasn't sure how this works without any thought given to maintaining the spells.
Do I need to know? Not really. But I still want to know just because.
"Azgaroth called them fairies. It's one of the reasons the other gods he always cursed so much sealed him here in the first place. They're really small and have the capability to think and understand, but without will of their own. Essentially artificial spirits. You still need a power source for them to use, like bark from these trees that saturate themselves with magic." Elestra says.
Waiting for her to finish all of them is time-consuming, but it's worth it, I assumed.
Watching her somehow fit so many into her clothes is a spectacle, though. I'm not even sure how it's possible.
We've been flying for a few weeks like this, our destination isn't that far ahead.
In fact, I can see it.
It's not really like a castle, or a palace, more like a fortress.
Elestra tells me to stop a good ways before we actually get there.
"Stop, it's best to continue on without flying. You won't be able to block and dodge everything in the air, and they will definitely know we're close because of detection abilities."
Almost there... Just wait a little longer... my little sister.
I'll never be bothered by constant snuggling again if I just make it back.