Free Web NovelChapter 56: Shedding Old Light
Having finally finished the paperwork, Caelus groaned as he went inside the house, turning back into his dragon form the moment the door was closed. Going upstairs to the bedroom, seeing a normal bed, one that was far ahead of the time period he was in.
"Well, at least it’s more comfortable..." Falling into the bed, Caelus looked up from the window, looking out while feeling the softness of the bed, almost in bliss at the fact that he was on something this soft. "Is this wool or some kind of magical material? Because wow, this feels good."
Going back to lying down, Caelus felt a little different, almost constricted.
[Two hours later]
"...What?" Looking back at him, he watched as he peeled off some of his ’skin’ as though it was just another layer, finally getting rid of it, he stepped away, incredibly confused. "...Am I like... Oh yeah, I’m a reptile, I almost forgot."
"Well, guess it’s time to go ahead and talk more. Ughh."
Turning into his human form once more, he left the house, though not decorated in the slightest, because he didn’t want to. Walking away, he took another pathway to another place with more homes, then entered a small alleyway. Shifting back into his Dragon Form, he teleported back to the Entrance of the Empire, walking forward only to be stopped for the first time by the Guards. Though different from before.
"Halt, what is your reason for coming here?"
"Meeting some people and talking with them. They live in this Empire."
"State their names and also your name."
"Caelus is my name, for their names, it’s... Sol, Tellus, Diana, and Elysia."
One of them paused as they wrote it down in a notebook they held, though nothing like the modern ones, a different form of paper. "...As in Princess Elysia?"
"Yes. You’re saying you think she wouldn’t talk with everyone she meets?" A little annoyed at what he thought they assumed. "She’s literally tried talking with people who hate her. I wouldn’t think a Dragon is a limit."
"Never mind, she always talks to people, a Dragon wouldn’t be a stretch." The guard simply wrote down every name and called someone over. From the side, a person in a brown cloak and light pink or red hair appeared, grabbed the notepad, and disappeared with it.
"Alright, you can go in, just don’t cause any chaos or break the laws." The older guard simply lets him pass. "...People like Nyx are more of a problem for the Empire. Why should a Dragon matter as much when he’s only at Virtuoso?"
Caelus passed through, not worried about what they thought in the first place. He didn’t shrug as though he was thinking of it in the first place.
His mind was calm, not empty, just relaxed, as someone is when listening to music in bed at night. Yet it was midday, and a bright morning.
Seeing Tellus talk with her sister. He looked over, keeping his eyes open lazily as he stopped in place and began to stretch, his tail staying still, almost like a cat curling up.
Feeling someone touch it, Caelus jumped back as his tail curled in and then swung out to make sure no one got hurt. "WOAH! Okay, don’t touch my tail again." A little more serious, though, he didn’t think it was done on purpose.
The person behind him, moving back two steps, looking up to make eye contact with him, simply nodded. "Apologies, I was just seeing what the texture was."
"...Alright, just ask if you want to, if I weren’t calm, I would’ve punched you, you know that right?" Exasperated, Caelus didn’t notice anyone staring, though he wasn’t focused on it in the first place.
"Oh." The same person blinked obliviously, taking a moment for themselves. "Noted, also, what might your name be? I haven’t seen you before here, albeit it’s been a few years since I came back."
"The name is Caelus, and I’ll just say this earlier, I’m a Dragon." He crossed his arms, waiting. "What’s your name then? I’ve only been here for maybe a month or two."
"The name is Phanes." He watched Caelus cross his arms. "Must’ve made him wary of me, no, he looks relaxed still," moving his hair as it got stuck. "No wonder I haven’t seen you before, I only came last winter."
"His hair is different, well, I’m not here to judge." Still keeping his arms crossed, since there wasn’t any other way he could put them that was more comfortable. "Phanes, pleasure to meet you then." Looking at Phanes from head to toe, he began examining his dress and appearance. "I don’t want to forget, just in case I become friends with the guy."
"Gold? Oh, just the color of his clothing, the outlines aren’t thin, maybe he just likes that, though the rest of his clothes are white... Reminds me of Greek gods." Still looking at him with a neutral expression, he didn’t speak; both of them just stared at each other in silence. "A croptop? I didn’t expect clothing like that to exist now, well, whatever..." Taking a closer look, his eyelids narrowed half a millimeter. "The sleeves aren’t connected and have the same gold outline as his croptop. Hm, I might try to get this for my human form. It looks cool." Finally, Caelus blinked. "Are we going to continue staring like we’re in love or talk? I’d like to know you more since you seem cool."
The silence was broken on the entire street, even though people could speak and no one had prohibited them, it was still silent, with only footsteps. "Pinkish hair, well, it’s lighter, oh wait, why the hell is everyone so quiet?" His head turned to Tellus, who was simply staring at him with her sister.
"...Tellus, go back to talking with your uh, is that your sister or daughter, I can’t tell, she’s just that short." Caelus knew, Adrastia knew that he knew. Ready to reply, Tellus covered Adrastia’s mouth. "Don’t laugh, don’t laugh." Tellus kept her composure. "My sister, you haven’t met her much, so I don’t blame you for not remembering."
Caelus nodded, as if she were right, even though Adrastia, Tellus, and Caelus knew that he was bullshitting.
"Alright then, Caelus, should we start going to the Upper District, since I wish to meet the Princess now. I have something to give to her as a gift." Holding his hand out, a thin portal opened as he took out a bag full of something with an incredible smell. Caelus’s eyes shot towards it, though no one noticed due to it being completely black.
"... It’s sweets, right?"
"Correct, she loves these specifically, so I’ll have to give her a few."
"Alright, then let’s go ahead. I want to see how far she’s gotten with her cultivation anyway." Caelus turned away, shrugging with his hands facing up, his palms open.
Soon after Phanes reached to stand next to Caelus, being somewhat shorter, though at the height of 180 centimeters at least. "Oh, he isn’t from the poles of this planet other than right now... Makes sense."
Noticing his skin was more bronze-like, Caelus just continued, looking at his face, which didn’t look masculine and instead more feminine, if anything. "Finally, someone I can relate to when I’m in my human form." Noticing Phanes’s eyes, Caelus saw they were light blue. Considering Tellus had literal green eyes, he didn’t find it odd.
"Where are you from then? I’m only in this part of the world because it’s colder and my body temperature is counteracted, it’s lovely, honestly." His voice was more relaxed as well. "Might as well make small talk, I’ve met very few people who would be willing to."
"I’m from nowhere in general. We don’t give the community we stay in a name because it isn’t something common. The only places that get named are the home or location where the founder or elder lives." Speaking without much care, he stretched while holding the bag.
Looking at how he was holding it, it seemed he was gripping it tightly, almost as if he expected someone to try to steal it. "Fair enough." He didn’t doubt someone would try, but he didn’t think it would be someone strong or fast enough to escape Phanes, who was also at Virtuoso.
As the kids walked by in front of them, Caelus slowed his movements so they could go past without his tail having a chance of hitting them if it swung around.
[Heyyy, so I know I haven’t talked in a bit- But I may have a Mission :3]
"...Depends on what it is. Are you going to make it so I’m annoyed by the Mission but still have to do it because of the Rewards? I haven’t really tested these ones yet."
Letting his thoughts pause for a moment, only his body was working as normal. "And also it’s been only a day, not like a week or something, of you being silent; that’s impossible."
[That’s a compliment, I love to talk :D]
"...I should’ve said nothing." Halting right before the Entrance, he looked at Kiana, who was talking to another guard, who looked somewhat new there, standing still. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Caelus’s eyes moved to look at Phanes. "Well, go ahead. I’m not gonna enter, unless you think I’m insane." His voice wasn’t too loud, at least what he assumed; he was just using the normal tone he always did. "...I know Elysia a lot, but I’m not gonna walk in there. I doubt anyone else there knows who I am."
"Alright. I’ll be going then." Phanes continued forward, seeing that Caelus had stopped; he already knew why. "That’s annoying, well, whatever, He’ll probably be better off not meeting her. Having every noble watch you is a pain."
Turning away, not waving bye. Not like he forgot, but because he would rather not. "...I should work on getting rid of those habits. Still incredibly persistent, like a Parasite."
"OW- Oh what the-" Jumping to the side, a lady looked towards Caelus, seeing her own leg, which was bleeding now. "What was that for!? Why did you hit-"
Caelus looked towards them, his eyes moved down staring at their bleeding leg, looking at his own legs, the talons still there. "...Talons. I have those. Apologies for that." Caelus shifted his body, making his talons smaller.
"Huh, what do you mean by talons?" Looking down, noticing the talons slowly became smaller until they couldn’t hurt anyone. "No, Wyvern has that, unless your body is a mutation or something, is that it?"
"I’m a Dragon, that’s why." Tilting his head to the side, his eyes still focused on her bleeding leg, which he watched slowly heal. Though way faster than any person from his world. "Is this natural Aphro, or are only cultivators able to heal this fast?"
[The body heals a lot faster because Mana can be used by the body; it sometimes can get in your blood and start working inside your body, hence why people sometimes can do a lot more than they could before. It usually persists for at least a few years.]
"Nice joke, Dragons don’t have talons, that’s only for creatures that try and capture prey while flying."
"...Yes, Dragons can Fly, that’s one of the most prominent characteristics as it’s the first thing Dragons learn." He didn’t even think he was lying; flying would be essential, other than learning to hunt and walk, especially for younger ones who couldn’t hunt on land yet.
"Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they have talons, I mean, what are the adult ones gonna do with that?"
"...Hunt with it? Why would Adult Dragons stop hunting using that if it was an efficient method TOO hunt?"
"Well, it’s just- Useless, I mean, it probably wouldn’t be able to break Wyvern scales."
"...It can cause scratches, yeah, but the talon alone isn’t for breaking-"
"See, I told you." Almost a pout from her as she looked smug when saying that.
"...That’s why Dragons fly quickly instead of just kicking a Wyvern, so they can use the pressure to go through the body with lots of force."
