'Thoughts'

"Journal"

"Talking"

'Greatsage'

Words of the world

[skill]

{Special move/art}

It didn't take as long to find the break in the mountains as I had thought it would, only a week of flying at a casual pace was enough to reach the divide.

Then after another day of flying, I was past the mountains and the terrain had quickly changed into vast green fields in the far distance with thick vegetation being closer in the form of a forest.

The short amount of time it took to arrive may have to do with my drastic increase in power. I had fully analyzed my new skills and had been slowly fusing the power of the King Serpent into my body.

The result was me having more than doubled in magical power. My magicule count alone was putting me close to the Special A rank.

Thanks to my higher control over the elements, new branches of magic were being opened to me though it was still rough and I could only use more basic magic.

I needed to find a mentor or some books to help me expand my now though, I had hit a wall in my magic development.

I could also use a good weapon or someone to teach me more about fighting. My past in learning Muay Thai had been an introductory level thing, so it wasn't going to be very useful in a fight.

It was humbling but also exciting knowing despite my power I still had a lot of potential for growth.

After exiting the mountains I decided to walk from then on. With a more open area I didn't want to risk someone seeing me flying. And by switching into my Human form I knew I could blend in perfectly.

The only problem I had left was the aura of magicules I gave off. I found out about my aura shortly after leaving the cave, it had taken some practice but by pulling in the excess magicules I was able to reduce my aura a considerable amount.

Though what was still leaking out was a potential risk in attracting the attention of other monsters. So I used [converter] and [energy drain] to collect all the leaking magicules and stored them in [converter].

The result was me giving off no aura. After that I was able to avoid monsters more easily and hopefully, I would meet some humans without them realizing I'm a monster.

And It seemed luck was on my side, because after a few days of walking I found a dirt road and in the late afternoon about 2 hours before it got dark in the distance I spotted a caravan of wagons using dragon senses.

From what I could see, there were 5 large wagons pulled along by horses that looked a little bigger than your standard horse from my world and by the looks of it, they seemed to be merchants.

They had about 12 people armed with gear that reminded me of the type of gear you would see on fantasy-based adventures.

The details were a bit hard to make out with the distance but they were walking in my direction. I doubted they would be able to see me, so I took advantage of the time to look myself over to make sure I wasn't looking suspicious.

'Then again a single person standing in the middle of nowhere and traveling light would never be considered normal.'

With that thought I acted fast, I grabbed a few branches from a nearby tree and made the fake leather straps and pouches with my skills. It took a few minutes but I managed to make a passable backpack.

I quickly filled the pack with fur and horns of the Terra-rams I killed along with the horns of the Spear Toros. With the backpack now stuffed with monster parts, I hoped I looked the part of a monster hunter looking to sell his wares.

After that, all I needed to do was wait by the road. I also made myself a canteen and filled it with water using magic.

It took the group longer to get within normal eyesight than I had expected but once they were closer it made sense why. Two of the wagons seemed to have some damage.

I ran a {multiprocess analysis} on the group and it came up with a lot of information. There were a total of 20 people, 4 were driving the caravans each with an additional person sitting next to the driver, the drivers seemed to be normal people.

The other dozen were of more interest; there were 7 males and 5 females and each of them wore an assortment of armor and weapons. The men weren't that impressive when I ran my analysis.

Each seemed to be about C+ to B- rank but I didn't know much about their gears or combat ability so that ranking may not be that accurate.

Now the women were on a different level entirely, each had a faint aura that showed they had some magical power.

Each one registered in my [analysis] as at least a B rank with one of them radiating enough power to make her an A- minus rank, making her stand out among the group.

And while I tried to ignore it there was no denying each of the women was rather beautiful and considering the pointed ears that stuck out from their hair it seemed the women were all elves.

I was a little excited then, not only would this be my first interaction with humans of this world but I would even get to meet some elves.

Suddenly the strongest elf of the group looked straight at me despite there still being some distance between us, and I swear she locked eyes with me as if she knew I was looking directly at her.

That shocked me and I shut off my [analysis] and dragon senses. I took a deep breath to settle my nerves before I waved to the group as they came to a stop several meters away.

There was a moment of silence as I approached, three of the armed men walked ahead of the group weapons drawn while the other men spread out clearly on alert for any ambush.

I tried not to show any alarm at the drawn weapons and lifted my hands to show them I meant no harm.

The man in the lead spoke in an authoritative voice making his position as leader clear, "Who are you? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

I could feel his eyes all over me no doubt watching for any sign I might try to attack, I could understand his need to be cautious so I gave him a smile and did my best to keep my voice calm. "Hey no need to draw blades, I'm just a lost wanderer hoping to find a village or city so I can sell some skins and furs." I turned slightly so they could see the large pack, "I'm not looking for trouble but I was hoping you guys could give me a ride. I don't have any money but I'm willing to trade some of my goods as payment."

The leader didn't put his sword away but he did seem a little less hostile, "So you're all alone out here? You don't have anyone hiding in the bushes or something?"

I raised an eyebrow at the questions, would anyone say yes to those questions?

Though I suppose he was probably just wanting to see what my reaction was, so I just kept on talking in a casual tone. "Nope it's just me out here, well there might be people waiting in the bushes somewhere but if they are, they're not with me I can promise that much."

He didn't seem to appreciate my joke that much but I noticed one of his men smirking so that was good I think.

"What's your name stranger?" That question was harder for me to answer than it should have been, during my research I came across the term Named Monster.

Apparently, if a monster was given a name and they accepted it they would grow in power however the process was very dangerous and could kill the person naming them if they weren't strong enough.

But I can't just go around without something for people to call me, "Well I don't feel like giving you my name but you can just call me Ryuu."

In my head, I tried to send out my thoughts that the Ryuu was simply referring to my species as a dragon and therefore was not a name.

Maybe I was being cautious but I didn't want to risk someone dying just by accidentally giving me a name even if I didn't accept it. I had no idea if there was more to naming a monster.

The man didn't seem too pleased by my response, "Ryuu huh? What kind of name is that?"

"Like I said, it's not my name. It's just something you can call me by." I tried to remain calm but seeing the growing anger on the man's face, I wondered if I would have to run away and try to find another group.

"Hey, Oswald, stop being a jerk and put that damned sword away already!" The stand-off was broken when the group of elven women walked over.

It was the woman in the lead, she was taller than me at about 170 cm, with light dusky skin like mine, long raven black hair, bright green eyes, and she wore leather gear that looked a bit like a corset exposing a generous amount of cleavage.

Not that I was paying attention to her outfit for more than simple curiosity about the quality of her gear.

The elven leader didn't wait for Oswald to react, she simply shoved him aside and walked straight up to me without any signs of drawing the sword at her waist. She got so close to me that I was forced to look up given our height difference.

For a moment, her face was shrewd and her green eyes had an intensity that made me feel as if she was trying to read my mind, which might have been possible given all the magic and skills this world had.

"Damn it, Saria get away from her! She could be a demon or a dangerous Majin for all we know!" one of the men yelled to her.

'Wait, is he talking about me? And did he just call me she?' I had no time to respond due to the woman, Saria, grabbing my head and pulling me into an embrace that shoved my face straight into the exposed cleavage. "Huh?"

"Oh please, look at her! She's not giving off any aura at all so chances of her being a majin are tiny, and a demon? She's way too cute to be a demon and a demon wouldn't be hanging around in the middle of nowhere and she wouldn't be able to lie about her name either." she argued back.

I was trying to keep up with the conversation from then on but it was rather difficult when my face was being pushed deeper into the woman's chest. I could feel my face heating up to the point I was worried I might have actually caught fire.

I had been married so I was no stranger to the feel of a woman's body but I had no other partner after Tora, and… this woman was more… gifted than my late wife.

It didn't help either that my enhanced sense of smell was being overwhelmed with how nice her scent was. It was a lot like the forest after rainfall, it was a fresh and comforting scent.

She squeezed my head more firmly and I was easily able to feel and hear her steady heartbeat. I wasn't sure how long she kept me in that position, but it was enough time for the feeling of guilt to overshadow the feeling of her soft skin and the warmth that came from the firm but still pillow-like mounds.

'How long is she going to keep me in this position? Wait… why haven't I just pushed her away!?' The shame I felt grew and I started to struggle against her, I didn't want to hurt the woman of course so I didn't just outright push her away.

After all, I had a lot of strength so I had to be gentle, and I certainly didn't enjoy the way her breast jiggled with my movements.

It seemed whatever the two leaders were arguing about had come to an end and I was let go. Another of the elven women rushed up to me looking concerned her leader had been suffocating me with her breasts.

"Oh come on Elesha, I wasn't squeezing her that hard." she said with annoyance.

"She was flailing around for several minutes! And you always forget to watch your strength! Did you forget the time you broke that man's arm in an arm wrestling match?!" the now named elf, Elesha, yelled back.

"Oh, yeah…to be fair he did try to feel me up, plus the guy was a total weakling." She seemed completely unabashed and was even smiling as the elf named Elesha checked on me asking a few questions.

After some talk and introductions and after I managed to recover from being bear-hugged into a beautiful elven woman's chest, the leader of the caravan walked up to me.

He was a tall slightly overweight man with a cleanly shaven face, maybe in his 30s, named Clive Hathaway.

He was apparently the merchant in charge of the caravan and apologized to the leader of the Bladed brothers, the group of men, inviting me to join their camp for the night.

It seemed like a big change in behavior, but what I didn't know was that while I was in the elven woman's embrace another of her companions had gone to search the area. Being quite skilled she quickly returned and confirmed there were no signs of an ambush or any nearby monsters.

The group worked well together and in less than half an hour they circled the wagons to help provide a barrier and set up tents and a firepit. Once the setup was done the group sat around the fire on the grass, logs, or blankets.

Only the leaders and I were given the few stools they had brought with them to sit on, they were treating me as a special guest and it was nice to be around people after over a month and a half of having no one to talk to.

Introductions were first, I once again asked them to refer to me as Ryuu and they agreed.

The leader of the larger group of adventures apologized for his earlier aggression, he mentioned they'd been having trouble on the trip. I waved away his apology, I wasn't offended and I wasn't going to hold his caution against him or his men.

During the set up he didn't help his men out much but they didn't seem to mind, he had instead been watching their surroundings.

His group seemed close, each one knowing what the other was good at and trusting the others to do their job to help the good of the group.

The group of elves then introduced themselves. I had already met their leader Saria Thewarin, the busy beauty who was apparently strong enough to crush most men with ease if they pissed her off, despite not appearing to be overly muscular.

Elasha Enris was the elven woman who had checked on me and admonished her leader, she was about 160 cm I would guess, with long blonde hair, pale fair skin, grey eyes, and a soft face.

She was apparently the healer of the group and wore long flowing robes reaching down to about midthigh, with a motherly feel to her. The belt at her waist helped to show her curves even in her modest attire.

Her gear seemed to be a long ivory staff with a deep blue crystal on the end. She also had a long dagger that was strapped to her belt.

Basically, she was what most would think of an elven priestess, just with a more modest sense of clothes.

Then there was Valindra, or as everyone calls her Val, and Elyon Wynna they were twins both standing at about 164 cm.

They both had fair skin though a shade darker than Elasha, and both had platinum blond hair though they had it cut short so it only reached the nape of their necks.

Val had blue eyes and carried a saber, a long dagger, and was equipped with metal studded leather armor under a dark green cloak. Her twin Elyon had green eyes and carried a longbow with several knives strapped to her sides.

The final member of the team was Elfreda Ivyne, she was a little taller than me at about 151cm, she had dusky skin much like her leader, and she had long dirty blonde hair that framed a set of amber-colored eyes.

Her equipment was a leather corset over a light green shirt and dark green trousers that were tucked into a sturdy set of boots.

Her gear was a long staff with a light blue crystal ball held inside an inward curving at the end of the staff, a long dagger strapped to her waist that matched her companion's, she also held a journal with a quill and a bottle of ink next to her.

It seemed the boots colored green and black were part of the uniform for their team called the Silver Azaleas. That was when I noticed a flower pattern woven into different parts of their clothes. I wondered what it represented but I wasn't given a chance to ask.

"So Miss Ryuu you mentioned something about having some monster furs to trade?" It was Clive the merchant that asked, a curious look in his eyes as glanced at my bag.

I wondered if he believed my story, it seemed he believed enough to be curious. Though calling me a miss was annoying, I glanced to Saria who seemed to be very interested in me considering she hadn't let me out of her sight the entire time.

"Please just call me Ryuu, and for the record, I'm a guy, not a girl." I gave a small smile to show I wasn't offended that they had assumed my gender, I was still not used to looking so feminine and I couldn't blame someone for assuming I was a girl.

I glanced again at Saria but her expression didn't show any shock. If anything the sly grin on her face made me think she had suspected as much or the fact made her take a bigger interest in me, either way, it was a little disconcerting.

It also made that feeling of guilt return as I thought about Tora, so I moved along the situation by opening up my pack and pulling out one of the Terra-ram skins and a set of horns.

I handed them over to Clive and he took them with a curious eye, he examined them closely muttering to himself before asking, "Miss- I mean, Mr. Ryuu this wouldn't happen to be from a Terra Ram would it?"

There was something in his voice that sounded disbelieving, that piqued my curiosity, and apparently, the question did the same to a few of the others.

A nod of my head led to a rather heated negotiation, Clive offered to purchase everything in my pack for a ride to the capital city of Dwargon and 20 silver coins.

I had no way to know how fair that was, my analysis of the item only named them as items of higher quality which led to my conclusion of them being valuable.

But since I had no reference to the money system of this world I had no way to know if he was ripping me off. I figured since he was a merchant he would probably try to get away with paying me less than their ideal amount.

Not that I cared too much, with my skills I could get by pretty easily. I was even considering just making items out of gold and silver.

But I hadn't put any work into that research, no point in crashing the economy of this world by creating gold. So I would have accepted the offer if Elfreda hadn't protested.

"You can't be serious Mr. Hathaway! Terra-ram fur is rare and an undamaged example like that even more so!" she shouted, apparently upset at him trying to get them for cheaper than he should.

The merchant didn't seem to expect anyone other than the leaders to say anything, he looked at Saria as if to ask her to silence her teammate. Saria however was giving him a look that clearly said she had no intention of interfering.

No one else seemed to want to step in to help him and the small grins they had seemed to imply they were happy to see him in this position.

Looks like my guess of him trying to undercut me might have been an underestimate, and it seemed I was not the first he had done this to.

Only later would I learn that while Clive was a nice enough guy, he was a bit stingy even for a merchant and would always try to pay the least amount he could get away with.

At the end with the help of Elfreda or as most people called her Ivy, Clive was forced to concede and accept to buy my stock for 15 silver per fur and 5 per set of horns.

My pack only had 8 furs and sets of horns with the rest hidden in [converter]. To hide my skill, I decided to carefully take each fur out making sure to only activate the storage part of my skill when my hands were in the pack. To make it seem I had it all packed inside the one bag.

The total amount would have been 280 but I argued that the 80 silver would be my pay for a ride to the capital city and for help getting into the city. Going in with a merchant caravan would give us priority and make it much easier to get past the gate guard.

Clive and I shook hands, sealing the bargain. I could tell by the expressions Ivy had that she didn't think I got a good price, but 200 slivers was the same as 2 gold coins according to Clive during the negotiations.

Which meant I was making a hefty sum considering Terra-rams were simple enough for me to deal with. I may even go back to the mountain range and hunt a couple of them down.

If just 6 skins were worth about 1 gold coin not including the horns then I'd say it was well worth the effort.

Once the negotiations were done Clive seemed to become more friendly and he didn't seem to hold any grudge against anyone, simply laughing and saying I was a good man to do business with.

That seemed to lighten the mood and soon there was plenty of chatter around the fire as one of the drivers of one of the wagons set up a big pot with some help. They got to work making a hearty stew and cooking some bread in the ashes on the edge of the flame soon after.

I had read about this type of bread but it seemed so strange to eat something covered in ashes, but I wasn't too concerned, [converter] could break apart anything I ate including harmful bacteria and diseases.

But my concerns were for nothing because peeling away the ashen crust exposed the fluffy inside of fresh bread. And using it to scoop up some of the stew made it a delicious and rather filling meal.

It then occurred to me I could have just made myself a pot while I was in the mountains and experimented to make myself some better tasting food…

That thought suddenly had me feeling like a complete idiot, so I got another bowl and tried to forget my own stupidity by enjoying the simple but tasty meal.

Once the food was done and people were relaxing before it was time to call it a night I asked them what had happened to their wagons.

After a long talk, it turns out that the group had been harassed by a pair of lesser dragons, which wouldn't be that big a problem for a group such as this, or so they claimed.

I didn't know about the Bladed Brothers but the Silver Azaleas gave me the impression they were much stronger than a pair of lesser dragons.

Apparently these lesser dragons seemed to be more intelligent than your average magic creature, but what was worse was when an Earthen Arch Dragon or an Arch Dragon who had obtained the earth attribute, had appeared attacking the pair of lesser dragons.

The group swears the lesser dragons used them to escape the earth dragon. The group just barely managed to escape but not unscathed, it was only due to Elasha's healing magic and knowledge of medicinal herbs and treatments.

The wagons however were another matter altogether, the wheels or more specifically the end of the axle where it attached to the wheel was cracked on both wagons.

The group had just been praying and hoping it would hold out till they arrived at Dwargon about a weeks travel from their current location.

Though it was clear that they weren't that hopeful, and with the possibility of the earth dragon still being nearby it was clear why they were on edge and couldn't turn back.

I wondered if there was something I could do about it, defeating the earth dragon shouldn't be something I take lightly. If it had turned into what I would call a true arch dragon then it could be on the same level as the King Serpent I faced.

Not something I wanted to fight with other people close by, especially since I wanted to keep the truth of what I was a secret.

That left only replacing… or changing the state of the axles, I quickly got up and offered to take a look at the wagons.

The group looked surprised, but Clive just shrugged, I guess he thought I was just being friendly. It was Saria and Ivy who seemed the most interested and led me to the wagons that were damaged.

Ivy cast a spell that caused the crystal ball of her staff to light up illuminating the underside of the carriage.

I crawled under the wagon and ran a full [analysis] on the damaged axis, using [magic sense] as well, allowing me to see every detail of the axis including the large crack that seemed to be splintering out.

I may not know much or really anything about this stuff but [analysis] allowed [all of creation] to give me all the information I needed. Now it was time to use [voice of change] in a way I had never used it before.

[Voice of change] was meant to allow me to change the state of physical matter and anything magical in nature through my voice or rather my will. However, I needed a clear picture of what I wanted to change both before and after I made said change.

It could be considered a form of reality manipulation but without the right information I had a high chance of failure and that failure would still cost me magicules.

Also manipulating something that isn't physical or standard magic like pure energy, space, or magicules required an even higher level of control and a higher level of magicules to match depending on the task I was trying to do.

So it was not something to be used without thought, that was why my constant research and hunt for knowledge was crucial to using my skill to its utmost potential.

And now would be my first time using it aside from a few minor experiments like changing an oak branch into the branch of a yew tree.

"So what exactly are you planning on doing? You don't have any tools do you?" Ivy asked.

I set aside the questions and put my full focus on the task at hand.

Using the information I gathered, I had a mental picture of what an undamaged axle was supposed to look like, and compared it to one that was damaged.

I took all the information and focused my will. I could feel my skill reacting, my will taking form from the deepest part of my very being.

Would you like to use the skill Voice of Change to alter the state of the target?

Yes?

No?

Keeping my will focused on the changes I wanted, I answered with a mental 'Yes'

Acknowledged…

Altering the state of being of the target…

Successful.

In front of me, I could see every crack and a bit of wear and tear vanish as a dark purple glow surrounded the axle then faded away leaving it good as new.

I glanced back at the pair of elves, I grinned seeing the look of surprise on their faces. I suppose they hadn't expected me to be able to do anything, "I should check out the other wagons to see if there's any damage I can fix."

"W-wait a minute how in the name of the spirits did you do that?" Ivy's look of surprise was replaced with a look of overwhelming curiosity.

I almost laughed seeing that expression, it was one that expressed my own curiosity and eagerness for knowledge.

It was also cute so I couldn't stop myself from teasing her a little. "Sorry, that's a trade secret."

I gave her a cheeky wink that made her pout, and her cheeks puffed out, that nearly made me want to tell her instantly so I had to quickly look away and make my way to the next damaged wagon.

Of course, a cute elven girl would make that face, even in my past life that pouting expression had been one of my biggest weaknesses, my wife had made use of it liberally any time she wanted me to do something.

Like the times in winter when she made me make some hot tea because she didn't want to get out from under the Kotatsu by using that damned expression.

I glanced at Saria who had her eyes on me with a very intense stare, I was almost sure she could look into my soul or something cause that level of staring couldn't be normal.

I tried to ignore her as I used the same process as before to fix the next wagon. After that I went ahead and checked the others, there was no significant damage but I went ahead and repaired some minor damage to the axles and wheels.

It was good practice for my skill and by the time I was done, I could feel Ivy's stare reaching an intensity comparable to Saria.

I could practically hear a voice going 'stare' as they continued to stare, after a few more seconds I couldn't take it especially not when they were both now doing that damned pouting expression, which wasn't even fair!

Saria was more beautiful and sexy than she was cute but somehow she was pulling off cute just as well as Ivy.

"Okay! I used my skill alright…" That seemed to calm them down a little…for a moment, then they were back to staring at me wanting more information.

I sighed and organized my thoughts. I felt like I should keep [voice of change] a secret, it was by far my strongest skill and one that I'm sure others would try to exploit. So I would need to use one of my other skills as a decoy, so I chose converter.

"Okay, my skill is called converter, like the name it lets me convert my target. So what I did was to convert the damaged material to a non damaged item."

It was a stretch but I thought it was a good enough explanation to pass muster after all without any other examples they would have no way to guess the full nature of my skill.

Plus I could spin it to me converting magicules or other matter into something new, a roundabout way of using voice of change.

"Woooah…I've never heard of a skill like that, it's a unique class, right? That sounds way too powerful to be an extra class skill." Ivy said with curiosity.

I gave a nod hoping that would be enough to satisfy the curious elf girl…it was not.

After the announcement of the wagons being repaired and the group cheering for me with promises to buy drinks when we got to Dwargon, I ended up answering multiple questions.

Most of them came from Ivy but a few came from the other members of the group and I didn't care for how Clive and his associates looked at me as if wondering how they could use my skill for profit. I decided that I should stay on alert around merchants.

Suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders, pulling me back until I felt two conflicting surfaces, my back was up against something firm and flat while my head was pressing against something soft and bouncy that had a little give as the back of my head was pressed into the soft mounds.

Then a soft and rather sensual voice confirmed what and who I was being pressed against. "Don't worry cutie, I won't let those mean old merchants get a hold of you." Ivy said.

My first thought was the question of how she managed to sneak up on me, I had [magic sense] on constantly so there shouldn't have been any way for her to get behind me without me noticing.

She squeezed me tighter, the firmness of her breasts trying to rebound me off. I could feel her breath tickling the back of my ear sending a shiver down my spine. "Uh…you did hear me say I'm a guy right?"

I could feel the eyes of most of the camp watching me, a look of envy from most of the men in the group though some seemed amused.

Only Saria's teammates seemed to understand that I wasn't comfortable with my situation, on an emotional level.

Cause being honest it was hard not to take some enjoyment from the feel of her body pressed against one. 'No! What the hell man you can't just accept this! What would Tora say?!'

I didn't have time to imagine her reaction since I was suddenly being lifted off the ground in a bear hug.

"Well, I'm gonna call it a night. Hey Oswald, your team has lookout duty tonight! Oh and I'm sharing my tent with our special guest since they don't seem to have one." she without any shame in her voice.

"...Huh!?" The casual way she said something so ridiculous I was wondering if I misheard her, was the feeling of her body against mine causing my face to heat up to the point my brain was getting fried?

"H-hold on! There's no need for that. I'm perfectly comfortable sleeping in the open. I've been doing it for weeks!" I started to try to wiggle free only for her to hold on to me tighter, enough that if my body wasn't so durable I was sure she would have crushed my bones but it was still uncomfortable for multiple reasons.

"That's horrible! A cutie like you shouldn't be sleeping in the open, especially in the Canaat Mountain range, even in the spring, the mid-level can freeze every night, your lucky you didn't freeze to death or get sick!" Elasha's voice carried all the worry of a woman with maternal instincts presented with a child in an unacceptable situation.

For a moment I hoped she would have some reason for getting me away from her leader. "Saria, make sure Ryuu is as comfortable as possible and goes straight to sleep, I'll give them a thorough examination first thing in the morning."

Somehow Saria's hug grew even tighter that I would need to assume my dragon form if I wanted to escape her grasp, though I wondered if she was strong enough to prevent me from changing my form. "H-hold on I'm fine really!"

My words were ignored and Saria sounded cheerful when she called back, "No worries Elasha I'll make sure Ryuu is nice and warm all night long!"

That comment was just too much for my mind to handle, my body went limp and I wasn't able to fight.

The only thought in my mind was an apology to Tora, it seemed even in this new world I was still no match for a determined woman like Saria.

I almost smiled when we arrived inside her tent which was just barely tall enough for her to stand up without having to hunch over and wide enough to allow two people to sleep side to side.

The smile wasn't for what might be about to happen, rather, it was because of how familiar her behavior was. Though I didn't have much time to think of why her behavior was familiar because as soon as she tied together the straps of the tent entrance she began to strip.

Now the cooking fire had gone down enough that it barely reached the tent, and the thick material allowed only a faint glow that didn't go past the entrance flaps.

So a normal person would barely be able to see a dark silhouette moving, but with [magic sense], every detail was as clear as day.

As soon as I realized this I looked away and shut off my magic sense, I heard several items hit the floor followed by a quiet giggle. "It's all right Ryuu you can look now, I promise I'm decent."

There was something in her tone that made me nervous but regardless I turned around slowly and to my relief, I wasn't able to see any details. But that relief was gone instantly as my imagination was allowed to fill in the details, and with my past experience, I had plenty of options running through my head.

"My, my, I can tell you're staring cutie, are you wondering if I'm wearing anything at all?" I swore her eyes were glowing with how direct her gaze felt, making me wonder if she could see in the dark with magic sense or some other skill.

There must have been some truth in the idea cause she giggled in perfect time with the feel of my face heating considerably. "Well, I guess you'll just have to find out once we get to bed. So you should really undress now."

"Huh?" I needed to process her words before it clicked. I had been sleeping in my clothes or in my dragon form ever since I had arrived in this world.

I didn't even think twice about sleeping fully clothed. But I suppose sleeping fully dressed might seem a little odd, so I silently removed my boots and jacket, setting them at the edge of the tent as close to the corner as I could.

"Oh? Are you not going to remove anything else? You didn't seem to have any extra clothes on you so it wouldn't do to wear dirty clothes to bed." I could hear the smile on her face with those teasing words.

"It's fine, I can use my skill to clean my clothes. Besides, I'll be warmer with my clothes on." If they weren't going to listen to my protest then I would use what I could to have some semblance of control.

I could see Saria tilting her head but I couldn't see her expression. To my relief, she chose not to continue the subject and instead laid on a blanket laid on the floor of the tent and pulled another blanket over herself.

Her sudden change in behavior was a little jarring but I took it as a victory and laid on my side facing away from her and used my arm as a pillow. I made sure to reassign my parallel process to keep up my magic sense but on a broader scale to keep track of any potential intruders.

Night watch or not I felt more at ease if I had a way to be alerted the moment a potential threat was in the area.

And yet I was once again taken by surprise when I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pulled me onto my back.

The moment my back touched the ground the arm held me more firmly and a leg wrapped around me holding me in place as a blanket was pulled on top of me and the elven beauty kept me from moving.

The moment I had stopped paying attention to her she made her move and had me in that unyielding grip.

I could feel my arm fitting snugly between her large breasts, her heartbeat was slow and steady as if she was doing the most natural thing. "No need to be so tense cutie I won't bite…well at least not tonight. After all, Elasha did say you needed to go to sleep."

I could feel her breath tickling my ear with every word she whispered into my ear. "She also said I needed to keep you nice and warm and this is one of the best ways I know how to keep someone warm."

"Its-It's really not necessary Miss Thewarin I-" I was cut off when I felt them squeeze me closer, my arm sinking deeper into the valley between her incredibly soft and warm breasts.

"It's Saria, okay cutie? There's no need to be so formal with this group and especially with me. So you have my permission to call us all by our nicknames or our first names, or would you like for us to be close before you use my name?" Her last words were punctuated with the feel of something warm and wet passing over my ear making me stiffen even more.

"T-that's okay, I'll call you Saria from now on!" I did manage to keep my voice to just a loud whisper, my answer seemed to satisfy her because I no longer felt her breath on my ear.

"Good, now get some sleep Ryuu, we have a long day tomorrow and you'll need your rest."

I gave a quick nod and that was the end of the talking that night, needless to say, given how fast things were going I didn't go to sleep any time soon.

I was painfully aware of Saria, my above-average senses picked up on everything about her, and the soft sound of her breath, and the fresh scent she gave off filled the tent. I could feel her heart steadily beating against my arm, the softness of her breasts embracing my arm as welcoming as a lover's embrace.

After I don't know how much time passed I felt my body grow more relaxed, and slowly I drifted off to sleep, for the first time in a long time I slept with the feeling of a warm embrace soothing my mind.

That night I had another strange dream, it was as if I was seeing the world through a foggy glass. Details were blurred out but I could see I was looking up at a wooden ceiling, I wasn't sure where I was but I felt something or someone laying on top of me.

Then I noticed the feeling of someone clinging onto each of my arms, I wasn't able to move anything except my eyes.

I looked down to my right side and then to my left, I saw a foggy figure on each of my sides but I couldn't make out any details except a few flashes of bright colors.

I felt the figure laying on top of my chest, I looked down and tried to focus my eyes when a small voice came from the person on my chest. "Jeez, they couldn't even give us one night alone?"

The figure sat up, stretching their body only covered by a thin old fashioned sleeping blouse that clung loosely to their petite frame. The strings were loosened exposing a large amount of perfectly pale skin with a little cleavage exposed.

My eyes moved up to the figure's faceHUGE to meet a face that took my breath away, brilliant golden eyes stared at me, a bright smile was on the person's face. "Well, I guess this is what we signed up for when we agreed to let them join in huh?"

I could only stare as the figure layed back down, their face resting against my neck, I could feel something soft press against my neck. "Since it doesn't seem like you're going anywhere soon it wouldn't hurt to just lay here for a while right?"

I couldn't respond, there were so many questions that should have been running through my mind but instead I smiled to myself.

There was a feeling of familiarity and warmth, a feeling I remembered and had longed for many years.

I didn't know who this girl was but as I leaned in closer and pressed her soft lips to mine everything else faded away.

I didn't feel the cold stings of guilt, only a deep joy that made my heart skip a beat. Before that joy could fully fade there was a flash of light, and I awoke suddenly to a new day, the memory of that mysterious girl vivid in my mind and the feel of her lips still fresh in my mind.

Hello everyone I hope you enjoyed the new chapter and the new style. I want to give a HUGE thank you to Singular Ash for editing this chapter and giving me his opinion on the story as a whole. I'm looking forward to working with him to keep on improving this story! I also want to thank Biggyfalls on Twitter for making the cover image of the main character of this story. Thanks again man it looks amazing! That's all for now I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter, my goal is to post one chapter every 1-2 weeks on Sunday evening USA Central standard time. See you all next time!