Arthur had barely made it a few hundred meters through the forest before he felt a familiar presence closing in fast. He stopped running, as his boots started skidding against a patch of moss, and he came to a complete stop. Lightning still faintly crackled across his legs.
With a soft rush of displaced wind, Selene materialized right in front of him, her long dark purple hair whipping behind her due to the wind. Her golden slit-like eyes gleamed with that unmistakable mix of confidence and irritation. She crossed her arms under her chest and glared at him.
"Humph… are you finally done flirting with that bi*ch?"
Arthur blinked once, then twice as if to process what he heard. "…Eh?" This was the first time he heard a curse word coming out of Selene's mouth.
Selene's pout deepened, her tail which she rarely showed unless she was fighting flicking once behind her. "Don't play dumb, I saw everything."
Arthur tilted his head, still half-bewildered. "Saw what exactly?"
Selene squinted at him suspiciously. "You know what I mean. That demoness, the one with the pretty hair and attitude problem."
Arthur froze, realizing who she meant. "Oh, you mean, wait, hold on. Flirting?" He blinked rapidly, almost laughing. "Selene, I was literally fighting her. You call that flirting?"
She raised a brow, unimpressed. "You were smiling at her like a fool."
Arthur groaned. "I smile at everyone! It's called being polite. And I was excited about the battle, that was why I was smiling."
Selene's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You smile at me differently."
That made him pause. His mouth opened slightly, then closed again. "...Okay, I have no response to that."
How would he explain there was a difference between the two smiles, while talking with a stranger it was considered polite to smile and greet them, and mostly that was a fake smile. And the time he laughed and smiled with Selene was genuine. Arthur felt helpless and thought it would only drag the conversation and sound like an excuse if he started to give a lecture about smiles, so he just sighed helplessly.
She huffed and looked away, crossing her arms tighter. "You were acting way too friendly with her. All that 'good fight' and 'you're talented' talk, you sounded like a creepy teacher hitting on his student."
Arthur let out an awkward chuckle and scratched the back of his neck. "Whoa, whoa, hold on now. I swear I had zero intention of flirting with her. I just wanted a fight, that's all."
Selene shot him a look that said she didn't buy it one bit. "Mhm. Sure, you just happen to compliment every woman you fight right after you beat them half-dead?"
Arthur sighed in defeat and raised both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Guilty of being too nice maybe. But I promise, I didn't mean anything by it."
"Humph," she said again, looking off to the side. But her shoulders relaxed just a little, and the faintest tinge of pink crept up her neck.
Arthur caught it, and smiled. "You're not jealous, are you?"
Her head snapped toward him. "What?!"
"You totally are."
"I… I am not!" she sputtered, her face flushing as she turned away again. "Why would I be jealous of her?!"
Arthur shrugged. "I dunno, you tell me."
Selene glared daggers at him, her eyes glowing faintly due to mana. "You're insufferable sometimes, you know that?"
He smirked. "And yet you keep coming back."
Her glare faltered for just a second before she looked away again. "Tch. Don't flatter yourself."
Arthur laughed softly under his breath. It felt… nice, seeing her acting like that again after days of endless fights. Even if she was threatening to smash him with her aura, speaking of…
He noticed it then, the subtle pressure in the air around her. It wasn't overtly aggressive, but it was heavy. Like standing on top of a mountain and looking down, one wrong move and you are finished.
"Your aura's stronger," he said, his tone turning more genuine as he looked her over. "You've gotten more powerful since last time."
Selene tilted her chin up slightly, smug pride returning to her expression. "Of course I have. I've been killing monsters continuously and absorbing their cores, unlike someone who spends his time flirting while fighting."
Arthur exhaled slowly, shaking his head with a smile. "You're not gonna drop that, are you?"
"Nope," she said flatly.
He laughed quietly again before continuing, "So… how was your adventure so far?"
That seemed to finally pull her out of her teasing mode. Her tail vanished from her back as she retracted it, and she sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "It was… messy."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Messy?"
Selene rolled her eyes. "I was teleported in the middle of a desert. Then, out of nowhere, a massive horde of scorpion-like monsters came after me. And all of them were at least S rank monsters."
Arthur winced slightly. "Sounds fun."
"Fun?" she said, glaring at him. "I had to kill hundreds of them. And you know what's worse? Their blood smelled disgusting. I had to change my clothes three times, and who knows how many times I had to take a bath!"
Arthur snickered despite himself, picturing the usually graceful dragoness complaining about laundry.
Her eyes immediately narrowed. "Are you making fun of me?"
He coughed, trying to compose himself. "No, no, just… appreciating the mental image."
"Uh-huh," she said, unimpressed. "Laugh again and I'll make you drink scorpion venom."
Arthur held up his hand and moved it in a zipping gesture in front of his mouth. "Message received."
Still, he couldn't help smiling. "I'm just glad you're okay, that trial sounds rough."
Selene sighed softly, some of her irritation fading. "It was… but worth it. I absorbed enough SS-rank monster cores to strengthen my heart. My mana capacity has more than doubled, and I'm nearing the peak of my current realm."
Arthur nodded approvingly. "That's impressive. Honestly, I expected nothing less from you."
A faint blush creeped towards her ears hearing Arthur's complement but she suppressed it. "Flattery won't take you anywhere."
"Noted," he said as he chuckled.
They stood there for a moment in companionable silence, with the faint sound of birds and rustling of bushes in the forest surrounding them.
Then Selene looked at him again, her golden eyes turned serious this time. "You've grown too, haven't you?"
Arthur nodded, his tone quieter now. "Yeah. I broke through to Grandmaster rank a few days ago."
"I can feel it," she said, her aura brushing against his like a warm tide. "But I also feel… something else. Your Chi feels different."
Arthur shrugged casually. "I developed a powerful domain. It's related to density manipulation."
Selene's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then narrowed again. "A conceptual domain?"
"Pretty much," he said casually. "Still getting the hang of it though."
She exhaled softly, equal parts impressed and concerned. "You're going to burn yourself out one of these days, you know that? You keep pushing past limits like the laws of the world don't apply to you."
She believed he was extremely talented and remembering what his power was she somewhat felt both reassured and worried for Arthur, as Arthur had to get injured to quickly become stronger.
Arthur smiled faintly, his eyes distant. "That's kind of the point."
She sighed, shaking her head. "You're insufferable."
"Yeah," he said, chuckling. "But I'm good at it."
Selene rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the tiny grin that tugged at her lips. She came closer to Arthur and shook his arms, as she leaned on his shoulder. "Come on, Mr. Insufferable. Tell me about your side of the adventure. What kind of trouble did you cause this time?"
Arthur crossed his arms, thinking. "Hey, I didn't cause any trouble. I just fought with some monsters, then a demon, entered a trial ground, accidentally created a powerful domain, tortured a few beast-kin for information, and so…"
Selene looked up at him with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she listened to Arthur tell her what he did after entering the ancient realm. "Arthur."
He stopped mid-sentence. "Yeah?"
"What is your goal to become strong?" Selene stared at him in anticipation of his answer.
The wind blew through the treetops above them, carrying away the playful tension that had hung between them moments ago.
Arthur paused to think about his answer, why exactly was he pursuing strength. He thought of his friends back in the original universe, the unknown entity, whose name might be Typhon that was targeting the Milkyway Galaxy. Then to the island of Avalon, where he was starting a new kingdom for the people who had no place in society.
Then he looked at Selene and with the most genuine smile he could muster he said, "For my friends, my people so they won't have to hide anymore, and fear while saying they are from Avalon. For me, to survive." He then muttered inwardly, 'And for you to be free, so that you won't have to be bound by the politics of the Dragon clan anymore.'
Selene looked up at Arthur's eyes and saw the conviction in his words, and felt even more attracted to him, a seed of love had already been planted in her heart though even she was not aware of it, or more like ignoring it. For the first time since entering the Ancient Realm, the two stood side by side again, a human and a dragon, both stronger, but both far from done exploring the ancient realm.
Arthur looked toward the horizon, where faint flashes of lightning still flickered in the clouds. "So," he said, glancing back at her with a grin, "you ready for what's next?"
Selene smirked, her golden eyes glinting. "Always."
Then as if remembering something, she started to tug and drag Arthur towards a direction, Arthur was bewildered but allowed her to take him with her. And with that, the two of them vanished into the forest, side by side.
***
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