In the days that followed, with Aegon's encouragement and affirmation, Mira no longer felt anxious. She began to explore and learn various cuisines from the Eastern Continent, and Aegon enjoyed a feast of flavors.
As spring turned to autumn, a year quietly passed.
Aegon reached level 90, thanks to discovering new ways to gain experience in the Liminal Magic World, Elentear. However, leveling up had become increasingly difficult; since reaching level 90, the experience required for advancement had grown immensely.
Looking at the long experience bar, he sighed helplessly.
He had tried to develop the members of Fairy Tail as subordinates, but they were all unruly characters. Even if you defeated them, they would never submit.
The rulers of the Eastern Forest were not very intelligent, and he couldn't convert them into subordinates. Most of them had just become his experience points.
However, it wasn't all in vain. After his dragon transformation, his length had reached fifty meters, and most of the blue markings on his body had disappeared.
He could say he was no longer related to the original Black Dragon Acnologia. If he went out now and claimed to be a black dragon, no one would believe it. His body had also developed significantly, and now the issue was that it had become somewhat too long...
He and Irene hadn't noticed at first, but Mira was the first to spot it.
One morning, she remarked, "No wonder I feel like you've grown taller recently."
Katherine, the tallest among the girls at 179 cm, used to look him in the eyes but now only reached his nose.
In addition, Irene, Selene, and Katherine had all reached maximum intimacy.
Irene had reached intimacy level 100 with Erza only after Erza forgave her. Irene had been stuck at 99 for a long time but finally moved to 100. Her efforts over the past year were evident to Erza, although she couldn't solve her eye problem, she had guided her training and forged her armor.
All of Erza's current armor was forged by Irene using enhancement techniques.
Irene had intended to teach Erza higher-level enhancement techniques, but given Erza's current magical power, it was not feasible yet, so it was put on hold for the time being.
Additionally, Mira had quietly appeared in the partner section about a year ago.
Mira's intimacy: 95.
This was before Aegon had harvested any intimacy points, so what was supposed to happen had basically already happened.
Stroking her silver hair, Aegon murmured, "Looks like... the saying about women and pathways might not be accurate."
"What?" Mira, curled up in his arms with a hint of fatigue in her voice.
For the past six months, whenever Aegon wasn't with Irene or Selene, Mira would quietly sneak into his arms in the early morning hours. She always woke up early when in her own bed but would sleep until late when she was in Aegon's embrace.
"Get up," Aegon said as he dressed, as if oblivious to her presence.
"Carry me up," Mira said, stretching her arms out with her disheveled hair.
"Are you the maid or am I?"
"Only when we're outside the room."
...
"Ah!"
"Don't you have any decent clothes?" Erza turned her head, irritated.
"What else should I wear at home?"
"At least wear something underneath!"
"I'll make sure to do so next time."
"You idiot!" Erza clenched her fists, shaking with anger.
Erza was probably the person in the entire estate who spoke the most casually with Aegon, and Aegon enjoyed bantering with her.
During mealtime, Erza and Misaki discussed:
"This year has been much quieter. There are far fewer commission tasks."
"Yeah, situations like last year's sea beast attacks on the coast have rarely happened."
Erza's tone was filled with anticipation, "But I heard that the Northern Border still retains that ice and snow wall! I'd love to see it!"
"The wall of bricks and ice, apart from its length and height, isn't much to look at," Aegon's words immediately doused Erza's excitement.
The ice and snow wall, which had been temporarily erected, was reinforced and augmented with many defensive magic arrays.
Selene said nonchalantly, "If you want to see it, I can take you one day. It's not a big deal."
Moreover, the Northern Border's guards had reported that the Black Dragon appeared in the Northern Border, but since then, sightings of the Black Dragon had become rare.
This was quite normal since even he, Selene, or Irene would head to the Liminal Magic World, Elentear, to try new magic.
Thanks to the dense magical energy there, Irene and Selene had made some progress in their magic over the past year.
Katherine's strength had grown rapidly after practicing Dragon Slayer Magic and receiving occasional extra training from Selene. She had now reached part of the ultimate principles of Dragon Slayer Magic.
Irene used her Observation Eye to check Katherine's current state: "At this rate, it might take about five to six years for you to fully transform into a dragon."
Katherine blinked, "Is that fast or slow?"
Selene pondered for a moment before answering truthfully, "It's considered above average, but not top-tier."
Katherine had good talent but was not exceptional. She couldn't learn Dragon Slayer Magic on her own like the original Dragon and reach the level of the Earth God Dragon, Dogramarg.
"I'll see if I can find a way to speed up your Dragon Slayer Magic training."
Katherine nodded seriously, "Thank you."
"No need to thank me. It also helps me, and having another Dragon Slayer Mage is clearly excellent combat power."
Selene was straightforward, and her occasional extra training for Katherine was intended to help her become the Dragon Slayer Mage's heart as soon as possible. This would aid in locating the Dragon Slayer weapon "Athena" and the locations of the Flame Dragon Ignia and the Wood Dragon Aldron.
Although the year had been peaceful, both Selene and Irene shared the understanding that significant changes might occur at any time in the next decade.
So even though Aegon continued to grow stronger, they could not afford to stagnate.
Their pride would not allow it.
Among their training, Selene's favorite was undoubtedly Kagura.
Kagura was a model of diligence praised by Selene. Whether in winter or summer, clad in a simple white training outfit, she wielded her sword with dedication, venturing into the Eastern Forest to hunt wolves and tigers, exchanging wounds, and paying the price of a fractured left arm to kill a forest Warken.
Even so, she never forgot to meditate in the evenings.
Such a Kagura had naturally become the child of admiration in others' eyes...
"Look at her, and then look at you."
Although Erza knew Aegon was joking, she had no way to refute it and angrily slapped the table.
"You're no different; you sleep until late yourself!"
She muttered, "Who can resist the temptation of sweet treats?"