~ Chapter 20: Friends ~

[Kataryna's point of view]

 “The moment you go past the skies, you will find the world to be little and insignificant… while you are eternal like the gods above. Kataryna, please, never try to go past the skies…”

I remember well these words… They were offered to me when I was little and still unaware of what eternity meant. Like all the other dragons, I dreamed about one day making an Awakened Breakthrough and the temple stones to show I had a power over 1000. It was a dream that one day became a reality, but the price… maybe it was too much to bear.

Those words, maybe I should have listened to them…

Such a long time had come to pass since the day I gained this power. So many things I have seen, both good and evil. Like a proud mountain standing tall and firm, I didn't let either winds or sea shatter me, yet at the same time, they molded me.

Whenever I closed my eyes, I could recount the moment when my life changed, and I stepped into the realm of immortals. This happened on an old battlefield at the end of a battle which the former Dragon Kingdom Zerudan lost almost 500 years ago. Or maybe that was actually where I used it for the first time? For me, that period was a bit... hazy.

Surrounded by countless dead dragons, both from my own side and the enemy's, I kept fighting. The cold tried to bring me down, the arrows to push me back, and their swords to make me kneel, but I didn't care. I bared my teeth at them and fought. One after another, until my armor was in tatters and my blade ready to break, all of those who dared challenge me were killed by me, pilling up into a mountain of dead, broken, and bloodied bodies.

I was in a trance, a dance of death and blood, yet untouched by the pain of my own body.

When I came through, my breath was in tatters, my body was heavy, and my eyesight blurry. Before me stood a dying dragon solider, the last one. To compensate for my broken sword, I used any I could pull out of the dying grasp of my enemies. Thus, the sword going through this dead dragon's chest was none other than one of his own.

Yet, I didn't care… I pushed through, turned the blade inside of him and then pulled it out.

He died with a curse on his lips and then I roared to the skies as hard and loud as I could. My blades were broken, my armor shattered, but I did it, I won a battle thought to be impossible!

I survived…

There was no one there to hear me. I was left alone and soaked in blood on top of a pile of broken bodies.

No soldier could defeat me afterwards… They all fell like flies cut down by my swords or crushed under my claws. I felt free, powerful, and for the first time ever, I realized how useless our war was. The enemy was sure to win, after all, they fought to protect, and we to conquer. Although, I couldn't say I was on my allies' side either... I loathed them... I loathed them for what they did to him.

It was their bodies I was standing on top of right now. It was their blood flowing on my claws and my tattered body... It was their commander whom I killed with my bare hands. For their crime, for their arrogance, losing this war was just perfect... Justice!

As I laid there, looking up at the darkened sky, I felt different, like something had changed. In that moment, I wasn't yet aware of what happened to me, but I was looking at the world with a different pair of eyes. For the first time ever, details and colors I didn't see before were now popping up in front of my eyes. It was amazing, and for a while, I felt blessed.

The rage I had piled up after fighting and killing so many had dissipated in the blink of an eye. Taking a deep breath, I knew that even my own body had changed somehow, I didn't feel so weak anymore.

Then I heard them… Another wave was coming. Looking ahead, I saw the countless armors running towards me, all sparkly clean and untouched by the mud and blood on the battlefield. They were the reinforcements of the enemy. Looking back, I saw my allies rushing towards me as well, but it was strange. My desire to fight, my need to kill those I saw as enemies was gone.

They all felt weak when compared to me, both ally and enemy.

Taking a deep breath, I thought about this moment, these feelings of mine. Lifting my gaze up to the sky, I couldn't see the need or reason to participate in this battle anymore. Fame and glory were nothing but empty excuses because neither of them could benefit my current self in a way I desired.

I had no family, no friend, no lovers… It was just me on either side of this battlefield. Thus, without anything to protect, without a desire to grow rich and famous, I stepped away from the battlefield and let the mortals play their mortal games. Maybe in time, I would return, but when I would, I promised myself that I would do it for a more… satisfying reason.

After a quick bath in a nearby pond, I rushed towards the first temple I could find. I didn't even bother to check in which kingdom it was. There, I was officially told that I made an Awakened Breakthrough. The stones showed I had a power of 1016. It was amazing, but at the same time… it didn't feel that great.

This state of mind, the feeling of being above all, the sensation that nothing could defeat me, the fear of others when they saw me… the loneliness of being immortal, all of these were the curses that came with this power. At first, invisible like a devil, but then as real as my own two hands.

Yet, after so many years, there was one who managed to rile me up and make me wish for a hunt… Surprisingly, that one was a human.

Alkelios was his name, I think. He managed to make me feel the need to kill him or the desire to capture him and make him MINE! Yet, he slipped away from my grasp at the very last moment. He defeated me…

[Seryanna's point of view]

 “Let me go! He's in there, somewhere!” I shouted as I broke free from Kleo's grasp and jumped in the pile of rubble, trying to dig him out of there.

“Sister! There's nothing you can do! Something like that… even you would have perished…” she said with tears in her eyes. “Even my shadows can't find him…” she looked down and clenched her fists.

This can't be… It's not possible… I shook my head and refused to believe Alkelios was dead.

Yes, he was rude! He was annoying! He always joked about grabbing my chest or butt! He was a pest… but he was my pest, and I didn't want him dead!

In front of me were the remains of the bandit cave. After Kleo woke me up, I only caught a glimpse of the Phoenix casting a powerful fireball covered in lightning. It hit the same spot where I crashed into, but compared to the little hole I made, the beast's attack shattered the entire side of the mountain. Countless cracks spread on the surface, and the whole thing collapsed on itself. I watched in awe and for a moment, I believed we won without any casualties, but it turned out that it wasn't so… Alkelios wasn't here, he was inside.

Now, I was digging like a mad woman trying to find him or at least… his remains.

“Sister, it's going to be alright… Alkelios will be remembered as a mighty dragon!” said Kleo with a soft smile.

“He wasn't a dragon… he was a human.” I told her as I wiped my tears.

“Human?” she looked surprised, but it was her fault for not paying attention to these details in the first place.

“Alkelios, if my stupid luck is worth anything, I wish for you to be alright.” I said and looked over at the huge pile of boulders in front of me.

“He's a human? But you about humans... and grandfather... Erm... How?” Kleo was still a bit dumbfounded by this.

I honestly couldn't blame her, especially when given the history of our Draketerus family.

[Alkelios' point of view]

 I fell… We both did…

We landed in a body of water, maybe an underground stream because I felt myself getting swept away. I tried to grab onto something to stop myself from spinning and swim to the surface, but there was nothing there in the darkness.

Crap! Crap! CRAP! I don't want to die here! I thought as I started to panic.

A moment later, I hit a rock and went past it, unable to grab hold of it. I hit another and another, going around like a ping-pong ball until I stopped. My lungs hurt, my body was bruised, but when I looked up, I saw light. The surface was just a few meters above me.

I can make it! I'll survive! I thought.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the silver-scaled dragoness as she sunk towards the cold, dark abyss of this body of water. She was knocked out, so she would certainly drown here. I could ignore her and swim up, she was the enemy after all.

Why? I thought and then turned towards her.

Even though it was painful and I knew this won't end well, I still swum down after the enemy.

You idiot! You fool! Moron! Stupid! Retard! Don't do it! Don't you dare do it! She's the enemy! She's just a dragoness! Don't do it! Just swim back up! All of these thoughts came flowing into my mind, telling me to stay clear of her, to let her drown, to let her suffer, but…

I can't… There's something pulling me to her… There's something telling me that she's important… I can't, but if I do this, I'll die. She'll kill me! I'm an idiot! I'm a freaking idiot! I screamed in my mind as I grabbed her hand.

Looking at her unconscious face, I clenched my jaw and desperately tried to swim back up, pushing the water around me with all of my strength. At the very least, Jophiel wasn't sucking Magic Energy out of me anymore, she probably dismissed herself.

I'm so going to die after this! I cried in my mind when I reached the surface.

“Puha!” I took a deep breath and then coughed.

It was a bit painful, but I would survive.

Pulling Kataryna's head above the water, I began to swim towards the shore, it was quite close to us. When I reached it, I pulled the dragoness out of the water and coughed a few times.

Is she breathing? I thought and immediately checked.

She wasn't breathing. A chill ran down my spine, and without even the slightest delay, I began to apply CPR to her. Thanks to my strength, it was quite easy to do so, but I only hoped this method worked on dragons as well.

“Come on! One! Two! Three!” then I pulled her chin up, blocked her nosed and exhaled into her mouth. I repeated the process, pressing with both hands on her chest.

“Come on! Breath!” I was at my fourth try now.

It was then when she coughed and spat out the water in her lungs. I helped her turn to the side and patted between her wings to help her out. She was probably still confused and didn't understand what happened to her. I was relieved for a moment, but when she saw me, she suddenly grabbed me by the neck and slammed me down with enough force to crack the ground around me.

Ouch! This is it… I'm going to die! I thought and closed my eyes.

Kataryna coughed a few times and then asked me “You! Why did you… save me?”

“Huh? Erm… Honestly, I don't know…” I replied as I opened one eye and looked at her confused expression.

“I'm your enemy…” she squinted her eyes at me.

“Yes?” I foolishly smiled.

Letting out a sigh, she released me and then took a step back.

“To think there was a human who could defeat someone like me who made an Awakened Breakthrough.” she shook her head and sat down crossed legged.

“Awakened Breakthrough? What's that?” I asked as I rubbed my neck.

She looked at me for a moment, probably wondering if she should tell me or not.

“Do you know how the Temples in the cities and towns measure the power of an individual?” she asked me.

“It makes them smash rocks?” I joked.

“No, that is the foolish human way of finding out, but strength can be a deceiving thing at times. One can have little strength but great power.” she shook her head.

“I have a feeling you aren't talking about the ability to bust rocks here…” I told her.

“That's just brute strength. An individual has strength, speed, dexterity, Magic Energy, and Magic Excellence, all of which rise with one's power.” she explained and then using her claws drew a few symbols on the ground.

I don't recognize any of those… I thought squinting my eyes at them.

“Strength is gained by lifting stuff up, doing hard work in general.” she pointed at the character to her far right, then at the next one “Speed is gained by pushing your body to its limits when you run and after recovering, doing it all over again.” she pointed at the next one. “Dexterity is the trickiest one of them all because you need to train in the way to properly move your entire body, for example, doing sword training or dagger training. One said that knitting and stretching can help too. Magic Energy is gained through meditation and focusing the energy into your core, while Excellence is gained by taking your time to cast each spell and focusing on it until you understand the feeling behind it. Well, there's more to it than just this, but you get the idea right?” she asked me with a smirk.

“Yes, I get it… but I'm surprised you are telling me this and not killing me…” I told her.

Kataryna looked at me and then at the small cave around us.

She let out a sigh and then said “If you listen, you'll understand…”

Listen? To what? Bats pooping? I thought while I blinked confused at her.

Looking back at me, she said “You don't get it, do you?” she closed her eyes.

Sorry lady, but I'm not a psychic! I would like to be one, but I'm not! I replied in my mind, but I kept my mouth shut.

“For now, let's just say that you being alive is a whim of mine.” she looked at me and tilted her head to the left a bit “You also saved my life, and to someone like me, that's not something I can easily ignore. If I killed you, my old masters would twist in their graves and come out as Bone Dragons to haunt me! Hahaha!”

The dragoness had a cute laugh, but she spoke with some rather confusing words. As long as I didn't end up like a bug splattered on the side of the cave, I was cool with it. Besides, I actually didn't feel like I was in any danger at all. On the contrary, I felt a bit safe with her around, which was the weird part seeing how a few moments ago we were trying to kill each other.

Am I turning into a masochist? She is the enemy right? She is the one who sent Seryanna flying into the wall, kidnapped Kleo and set fire to the mansion, right? I thought while trying to remember all the reasons why I should be fearing her.

“Well, as I was saying… Power is something else. Even I don't know what it is exactly, but the Temples have a way of finding out. If you go to one and ask the priest there to show you, he will lead you to a private room. Inside, you will be left alone only with a black sphere on a pedestal. That's the reading room. By placing your hand on the sphere and infusing it with Magic Energy, a small number will be displayed on top of it. That's your current power.” she explained with a smile.

I blinked surprised, then asked her. “What's your current number?”

“Last time I checked, it was 1290, I think.”

Holy Pancake on a Rainbow Unicorn! She's talking about levels! That idiotic god lied to us! He told us that only we, the heroes, can see levels, but from what Kataryna just told me, everyone who goes to a temple can find out. The only difference is that they call them power. Well… technically it would be power level or level of power, but still… WOW! I thought as I blinked surprised.

“It's 1294 actually…” I mumbled in my amazement.

“You can see the power of an individual?” she asked squinting her eyes at me.

I messed up.

“Maaaybe?” I smiled foolishly.

“Never mention this to a priest, they will think you are a blasphemer or some sort of devil.” she warned me and shook her head.

“Thank you?” I was getting more and more confused.

Why would they believe that? I wondered.

A moment ago, we were fighting to the death, but now she was explaining stuff to me and giving me survival lessons? Was this a dream? Did I die? What just happened?

“What's your power, young one?” she asked me.

I gulped. “Erm… didn't check, let me see. Status.” I said and looked at the screen.

[Name]: Alkelios Yatagai

[Species]: Human

[Level]: 141

[Strength]: 16+342+607.5+140.5

[Speed]: 14+256+452.5+178.5

[Dexterity]: 20+257.5+527+77.5

[Magic]: 16+200.5+251+832.5

[Luck]: 100

[Magic Excellence]: 1%+7%+8.5%+11.5%

[Skills]: Show? Y/N

[Skill Points]: 80

[Stat Points]: 1400

Well… those are a lot of skill and stat points! At least, I can cure Brekkar now, but… wow, just WOW! I thought as I looked a the numbers, and to think I had yet to even add any of my Stat Points.

“141” I told Kataryna.

Hearing the number, she burst out into a loud laughter, holding her stomach while her voice echoed on the walls. I felt like I wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.

“BWAHAHAHA! To think I, a dragon with a power of over 1290, was defeated by one with a power of 141! Hahaha! How is this even possible?” she asked me with tears in her eyes.

“Erm, luck I guess?” I shrugged.

“Luck?! For something like this, you would need to have the blessing of all the gods put together! Well, it does explain why you were able to skillfully dodge my attacks like that. Even Brekkar wasn't able to dodge like you, and he is a master at it!” she said with tears in her eyes.

“And dying…” I added squinting my eyes at her.

“Dying? I didn't attack him that hard!” she furrowed her brow.

“Well, it's not you… “ I shook my head.

All of a sudden, the air around me began to change. The temperature dropped, and I could feel a strange pressure on my shoulders. Kataryna looked upset.

“What happened? Did someone else attack the old man?” she asked me.

“Erm, don't you know?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“Know what?” she knitted her brow.

“Isn't the reason why you attacked the mansion like that because of Brekkar's weakness?” I asked.

“No!” she retorted, her tail whipping the air behind her “My subordinates said his granddaughter double-crossed us and stole something from us! When I got there, the house was already on fire… and…” she stopped and closed her eyes. “Did Seryanna mention anything about a [Purse] ring?” she asked looking back at me.

“Yeah… She went and returned it, then she was with me until later today. I got the armor you completely destroyed with one punch.” I told her the truth.

Her tail whipped the air and smashed into the ground behind her, causing a big crack. This dragoness was in a bad mood.

“That bastard! He tricked me!” she growled.

“Can someone actually trick you?” I asked a bit disbelieving, she was the top dog… well dragon around here, after all.

“Sigh… Yes, it's possible…” she said scratching the back of her head.

“So, I'm starting to guess you weren't the one who planned the attack?” I asked.

“As I said before, I reached there AFTER the attack began. Brekkar attacked me, I defended myself, then I left. When I got back here, I was about to take a bath, when all of a sudden, my subordinates reported an attack from the knights. I thought they came to exterminate us, so I went out and found you two… Then, you know the rest.” she shrugged as she explained the course of events, but something was wrong here.

“Wait, so you aren't the one who actually controls everything from the shadows?” I asked.

“Sort of. I can move the entire group and do as I please with it. They will follow my orders, but I do have some subordinates who deal with those sort of meddlesome stuff. This time, it was one of them who ordered the attack.” she explained.

In other words, she was there as a leader in name only. She had the strength to back it up, but she wasn't 100% focused on this, if she was, she could have expanded her influence and power to unparalleled levels. Getting enough bandits to even take over a small town was entirely possible, but she had no such intentions, which made me wonder just what exactly was she planning to do by becoming the bandit leader in the first place?

“Why so?” I asked.

“When a dragon or any other individual reaches power 1000, they go through what can be called as an Awakened Breakthrough. When this happens, you undergo a certain change…” she then looked into my eyes, and it felt like a wise god was looking back at me. A shiver went down my spine, and I gulped. “You see the world differently. You feel different. You are immortal and more powerful than before. It's amazing, but at the same time… a curse.” she closed her eyes.

“A curse?” I asked a bit confused.

This Awakened Breakthrough thing she spoke about was a bit curious for me. I couldn't imagine that reaching level 1000 you would gain so many things, but I certainly didn't see it as a curse. On another note, the idea of becoming immortal was news to me. With that, I could actually compensate for the age difference between me and Seryanna. Well, the idea was nice, but I had the feeling there was more to it than just that.

“You lose something…” she looked down at her hand. “You don't feel the need to advance and grow in power anymore. There's a lack of ambition, of emotion in your soul. Everyone around you sees you as something great, you can live for as long as you wish, and there are very few who can stop you. Upon reaching this sort of state…” she then looked back into my eyes. “there was nothing to catch my attention, nothing interesting… until you came along.” she smirked.

Gulping, I asked her “How am I interesting?” I asked.

“You feel different from the others… There's something pulling me towards you. To be honest, every time I wanted to initiate an attack capable of killing you, I hesitated. When I thought you were going to get hit and die because of my strike, I worried, but then you dodged or returned alive.” she told me as she looked into my eyes, her tail swaying left and right behind her.

“What about that first strike?” I asked.

“I tested you… I could have killed you if I wanted to, but something told me not to… it was strange…” she smiled and then reached out her clawed hand towards me. I froze and watched her as she touched my cheek. “You are just a fragile human, so why are you so… interesting?” she asked me.

“I dodge well?” I asked with an awkward smile.

“Yes, you are quite lucky… I don't know, but there's a mysterious aura around you. The more I focus upon it, the more I wish to get close to you…” she smiled and then looked down at her chest “I'm a bit old, but even I can still lay an egg…” she then looked into my eyes. “You do find me attractive, don't you?” she asked.

I gulped.

She's not thinking what I think she's thinking, is she? I wondered.

“I'm joking.” she giggled and pulled back, causing me to blink surprised.

This woman is toying with me! I complained in my mind.

“But tell me, human, what did you mean when you said that Brekkar is dying?” she asked squinting her eyes at me.

Suddenly, she turned serious.

“He's ill… That's why his granddaughter needed your ring to go to the Seculiar Forest in the first place.” I told her.

At this point, telling a lie seemed to be a bit useless, but then again, there was also a certain thought in the back of my mind which told me she was telling me all of this because she was able to easily kill me whenever she wanted to. Barely having any Magic Energy left and without much space here for me to move, I certainly couldn't dodge or summon Jophiel as I pleased. Kataryna was aware of this, I could bet my Luck on it.

“Once more, this is news to me.” she squinted her eyes at me and rubbed her chin. “My lack of desire to involve myself in the matters of those lower than me seems to have led to this unfortunate situation.” she shook her head “I should have killed that bastard when I had the chance, but I highly doubt he escaped the cave in.” she let out a sigh and then looked back at me.

“Why did you become a bandit, anyway?” I asked.

“Because I wanted to see how it is. Because I was bored. Because I didn't really care what I did. Because I simply saw time passing by me without anything interesting happening. Basically… because I felt empty inside.” she tilted her head and then touched my cheek “Until you came along. Maybe I should seriously think about making an egg with you.” she smirked.

I gulped.

“I…” before I could say anything she pushed me back and kissed me roughly.

The dragoness slipped her tongue in my mouth and pressed her upper body onto mine, unfortunately, the armor didn't allow me to feel the suppleness of her breasts. She was a damn fine kisser too.

“Puha~!” she licked her lips after the kiss was over and showed me a seductive smile. “Never kissed a human before. I think I like it.”

“Huh? What just happened?” I asked a bit surprised and dumbfounded, but I was already missing the soft sensation of her lips pressing onto mine.

“I got a taste of you…” she pulled back and then got up, stretching her body.

“Huh?”

“From now on, I won't be a bandit anymore, I'll follow you around and see what interesting things you can show me…” she then looked back at me “To miss an opportunity like this, it would be such a shame!” she smiled.

“Huh? Can you do that?” I asked surprised.

“Why not? I never actually killed anyone just for the heck of it. Stealing was never my thing either, even though my skills belong mostly to an assassin, and I can easily sneak into anyone's house.” she shrugged.

“You are an assassin?” I blinked surprised.

Wait a second! Aren't they supposed to have like very low HP and can only do shadow magic? She's a boss level character, she can't be an assassin! I immediately complained in my mind as the things I knew about the assassin class collided with the reality of my current situation.

“I said they belong mostly to an assassin, not that I am one. I think my former rank was Grand Knight of Zerudan, but after the collapse of the kingdom, I was returned to commoner status. Well, it doesn't really matter for me.” she shrugged as if it was nothing.

Getting off the ground, I let out a sigh and tried to wrap my head around the entire line of events. Basically, Kataryna was a former Grand Knight who reached level 1000, also known as Awakened Breakthrough. This gave her a strange state of mind that made her indifferent towards many things around her, including personal boundaries, but she was one hell of a kisser. She also had no idea Brekkar was ill. Apparently, someone else pulled the strings behind the attack, but with the cave in earlier, it's likely that he was killed and if not, he would have a hard time launching any sort of counter attack.

And now, I am stuck with her in this cave, and I sort of feel like my virginity is in danger, but that part isn't entirely a bad thing… I mean, Kataryna looks hot, but… yeah… Seryanna. I thought and then sighed.

Well, if we reached this point, and she didn't kill me, there was no point in actually not doing this, so…

“Kataryna, do you want to be my friend?” I asked her.

The dragoness blinked surprised when I asked her.

“A friend? Nobody asked me to be their friend in a very very long time…” she smiled and nodded. “I will be your friend.”

[DING!]

[You have made a new friend: Kataryna Greorg]

“What's this?” she asked me and pointed her hand at the invisible message in front of her. “Ah! It vanished! Alkelios? You are Alkelios Yatagai?” she asked tilting her head.

“Yup! Nice to meet you too, Kataryna Greorg, I hope we can be good friends from now on!” I smiled at her.

“Me too.” she nodded.

“Now, how do we get out of this hole?” I asked.

“A good question…” she laughed.

“You don't know?” I blinked surprised.

“I don't, but I can find out.” she smiled.

“How?” I squinted my eyes at her.

“We follow the path through there.” she pointed at something behind me.

“That… I can't see anything there.”

“Maybe it's a bit hard for normal human eyes?” she scratched her cheek.

“Maybe… [Kitty Eyes].” I activated this skill.

The Magic Energy drain using the skill wasn't felt at all, so maybe I gained a few points from Kataryna's stats. Thanks to this, I was able to see perfectly in the dark, although, technically speaking, the iris of the feline wasn't what granted the animal the ability to see in the dark in the first place, but meh… details.

“That is a strange ability you have, and your aura seems to have gotten stronger from a moment ago. Interesting…” she said with a smile, while her tail waved left and right.

“Well, my eyes are changed because of the skill. It allows me to see in the dark and around me. The aura probably changed because of my [Dragon Tamer] ability.” I told her and started walking in the direction of the semi-dark corridor.

There were a few fluorescent crystals here and there, which lit up the place a bit, but most of them were on the ceiling behind us. That was the light I saw when I was underwater.

“What does that skill do?” she asked me tilting her head to the left.

“Can you promise not to tell anyone about this?” I stopped and looked back at her.

“You can always seal my lips with a kiss, but I will keep it a secret. You have my word as Kataryna Greorg, a former knight.” she nodded and made a small bow.

“Alright, well… it basically allows me to become friends with dragons and in exchange for that friendship, I gain strength, speed, dexterity, Magic Energy, and Magic Energy Excellence, while the dragons gain the ability to grow faster in power. Well, I call it level… So the correct term is maybe Power Level?” I explained.

“Hm, a useful ability for you, but the advantages I get are rather minimal. I have no interest in becoming stronger, but then again… being your friend just got a whole lot more interesting.” she smirked and waved her tail a bit faster.

“As long as you don't kill me or betray me, I'm cool with it.” I told her.

“I never betray my friends. That is a given.” she nodded. “Hm, now that I look at you better, I think the reason why I feel attracted to you and find you interesting is because of this [Dragon Tamer] skill.”

Her words surprised me a bit.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, many skills in this world aren't exactly as they are described in the textbooks. It's possible that your ability is selective about who is allowed to become your friend, and at the same time, it subtly attracts them to you. The feeling I get from you might be the one emanated thanks to this peculiar trait of your ability. You truly are a fascinating and interesting fellow!” she giggled.

“I never thought of it that way… Heh, you learn something new every day.” I said.

After our small talk, we continued on our way through the tunnel. Kataryna took the lead as she could read the winds and figure out the exit faster than I could. While we did so, we didn't talk about much, we just quietly searched for the way out.

Meanwhile, I was a bit curious about something, so I called out my status and her's.

At this point, these were our current stats:

[Name]: Alkelios Yatagai

[Species]: Human

[Level]: 141

[Strength]: 16+342+607.5+140.5+1605

[Speed]: 14+256+452.5+178.5+2111

[Dexterity]: 20+257.5+527+77.5+1778

[Magic]: 16+200.5+251+832.5+602.5

[Luck]: 100

[Magic Excellence]: 1%+7%+8.5%+11.5%+7.5%

[Skills]: Show? Y/N

[Skill Points]: 80

[Stat Points]: 1400

In other words, the values for those stats were:

[Strength]: 2711

[Speed]: 3012

Dexterity]: 2660

[Magic]: 1902.5

[Luck]: 100

Magic Excellence]: 35.5%

Talk about an overpowered level 141, but even so, my original stats were pathetic. As for the silver-scaled dragoness, her stats were even more ridiculous:

[Name]: Kataryna Greorg

[Species]: Superior Draconian of the Ice Spark

[Awakened Status]: 6 out of 6 conditions met

[Level]: 1294

[Strength]: 6420

[Speed]: 8444

[Dexterity]: 7112

[Magic]: 2410

[Luck]: 41

[Magic Excellence]: 30%

[Current Buffs]: [Dragon Tamer] <3X Life Force and Magic Energy Absorption from kills/Learning Speed>

[Wisdom of the Old One] <Buff acquired through a True Awakened Breakthrough. It offers the individual a new perspective of the world. It raises the intuition of the individual. It grants the aura of a wise individual>

Upon seeing her status, I asked her: “What's a Superior Draconian?”

Kataryna froze in her spot and shot a glance at me “How do you know about that?” she asked.

“It says here on your status.” I shrugged and replied.

“Your ability, right?” she asked.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Sigh… Guess there's no point in keeping it a secret from you.” she said scratching the back of her head, then with a mischievous smirk on her lips, she told me “Give me a kiss, and I'll tell you.”

I gulped. “OooK?”

It wasn't like I hated it, besides, I wasn't technically in a stable relationship with anyone.

Coming over, she looked into my eyes and then brought her lips close. This time, she wasn't as rough as before, but it was still mind blowing. When she pulled back, she licked her lips and giggled.

“That was delicious, thank you.”

“Yeah… you're welcome.” I was a bit out of it.

“Now, the Superior Draconians are basically those with high affinity towards certain elements. For example, I'm a Superior Draconian of the Ice Spark. Although I can use Shadow and Darkness elements as well, my spells from the Ice and Lightning elements are far stronger than those of a normal draconian. If I wished to, I could summon a blizzard to bury the entire Tomeron town under snow and ice. I could also freeze an entire lake at the snap of my fingers, while a Superior Draconian of the Flame could literally turn it to steam. There are those few, special individuals who belong to the High Elements. They are more or less a myth, but it is said that they have the hardest time of Awakening but also are the most powerful when it comes to their elements. When they make an Awakened Breakthrough, they are said to have power equal to a god belonging to that element. Of course, these are just rumors and most likely only refer to a high affinity to a single element.” she explained calmly without holding back.

“So that's how you were able to freeze that room back there!” I said when I remembered.

“It was a cinch!” she giggled.

“But how hard would it be for a Superior Draconian of a High Element to Awaken?” I asked curiously, seeing as Seryanna was in such a position.

“Very… Some say they have near impossible to meet conditions. I never met one who was Awakened. Most of the times, they are killed before they reached Awakened status or fail to do so completely and die of old age.” she explained shaking her head.

“Killed?” I asked and gulped.

“Yes. As it is with the human kingdoms and any others for that matter, you will find those individuals in seats of power, who do not see it with kind eyes when someone of such potential appears. They would rather risk a war than offer the chance for a Superior Draconian of a High Element to Awaken.” she nodded and then made a sad expression “My last friend… he was the victim of such a plot.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.”

“Don't worry, this happened more than 500 years ago.” she showed me a soft smile, but I could see it in her eyes that she never got over his death.

Maybe he was someone very close to her? More than a friend? I wondered as we continued to walk.

About two or so hours later, we finally reached the exit. It was dark outside, but it felt so good to breathe the fresh air of freedom!

“This took far less than I had expected.” said Kataryna a bit surprised.

“It took us about four hours to find the exit in that maze! Four hours!” I reminded her.

“Yes, normally, it should have been days even with my skill.” she said shaking her head.

“We're just lucky, anyway, let's go and find Seryanna and Kleo, then head back to Brekkar, give him the cure and take a good night's rest!” I said with joy in my voice and stretching out my hands.

“How will we find them?” Kataryna asked curiously.

“[Dragon Tamer] has the nifty ability to allow me to track one of my friends. Currently, it's set on Kleo.” I smirked.

“So that's how you found my lair so quickly. Interesting.” she waved her tail left to right.

“It should be that way!” I said and pointed to my left.

“Good! I'll fly you there.” she said.

“Huh?” I blinked surprised, but just then, Kataryna spread her wings and took off.

From a few flaps, she was already flying up high in the sky while holding my arms.

“How's the view from down there?” she asked with smile.

Looking up, I was about to say ‘sexy', but I refrained and then told her “It's great! But don't take us above the clouds, we want to see what's down below.” I told her.

“Interesting. A normal human would either scream or tremble at this sight, but you are calm, almost like you are used to it.” she said looking back at me with a gleam in her eyes.

“Well, sort off.” I laughed awkwardly.

The reason behind this was most likely due to the fact that I wasn't afraid of heights, and I found skydiving videos interesting.

And thus, we flew towards my two other friends, the dragonesses Kleo and Seryanna. All in all, this adventure turned out just as I wished it to be… without any of us dying.