Caelus reached the first Realm, getting a Connection with nature itself. He could now release a natural energy that shaped the world around him, clumsy at first, raw, compared to what the next Realm would bring. As the next Realm, it would be the basis of everything.
He felt exhilarated and stronger, a sense of happiness. His goal was to survive, but he also wanted to go back and find his family. He could build a new family here and remake the world into his ideal, though he didn't let it get ahead of itself.
[Congratulations! You've reached the Awakening Realm, and you won't see much difference in power right now because you're a dragon and generally stronger already. Still, you'll probably be able to use two abilities right now!]
Caelus didn't approach the noise; he assumed the worst already, so he was sure not to get ambushed by anything. Adjusting his body, he remembered the acid he had. He shook his head quickly, finally stopping, and he noticed the sound of footsteps approaching.
They got quicker, and a lady jumped out, one who had already begun and tried to strike at Caelus's head. Yet he released the vomit, no longer able to hold it, spewing out like some fire breath, with her quickly changing her body mid-air and creating a barrier of Mana.
Even then, the barrier showed signs of wearing down. The acid was strong enough to damage constructs that weren't physical. So Mana reacted like nature. Which he expected.
"Why did you come here to attack me already? I haven't done anything to you? " Caelus asked, not letting his guard down. He straightened himself, no longer ready to attack or pounce.
"You're a dragon, that's why you're evil and hoard tons of gold; you're greedy." Her voice was calm and deliberate, and she sounded serious and determined.
He stared at her and sighed. "What use would gold be for a Dragon? There is none, I'm not going to exchange it for anything, and I'd at most sit on top of it."
He answered like this because he genuinely didn't believe Dragons were greedy; instead, he thought they liked collecting. After all, he would wonder why Dragons even needed gold in the first place.
"Wh-What!? What do you mean, sit on top of it?" That single line from him had made her rethink her entire education, not expecting a Dragon to clarify on anything, and just get mad, she attacked. "But why isn't he mad?? Is he toying with me? Surely!" The lady thought to herself.
Caelus, on the other hand, looked at her standing in place. Taking a few steps forward, he had reached her, going around the barrier since it only blocked ahead.
He put his hand on her shoulder. "You should probably not zone out that much when you start fighting someone." Caelus was genuinely saying this to help. Expecting nothing other than him just being nice.
Yet to the lady, it only affirmed that he was toying with her. He didn't even attack her when she indulged in her thoughts and gave her advice.
Her heart hammered against the barrier. Caelus's eyes didn't look cruel; they looked calm. That scared her more than rage would have. She shook her head and moved back while holding her blade towards him, still wanting to continue fighting.
[Ooooh! Caelus, do you wanna make her your wife-]
Caelus blinked and, in an instant, giving no time for the system to finish, replied, though with his mind, "WHAT!? Wh- That's it. Hasn't it even been a day??? Why should I-"
He still looked calm to her, turning away and lost in thought, yet still focused on her. Since he could see her from the corner of his eye.
[But come on! It'll be fun, plus you get someone on your side!]
The lady took a second, standing upright as she sheathed her blade. "...Why do you act differently? Is it because you're the last of your kind? Either way. I shall greet you since you didn't try to kill me. I'm Tellus." Her voice was calmer now, though still shaky. "Royal Guard in Training as well, of the Fifth Division."
"Royal Guard? It seems you have Prestige." Caelus replied, more to continue the conversation if anything. "But could you tell me why you automatically went to attack me when I hadn't done anything that caused you or people any chaos?"
"Well, you're a dragon, evil and hoard tons of gold, you're greedy and attack or kill when someone tries taking the gold. Everyone knows that. To humans, Dragons are demons. Those made of Sin and must be purged."
Caelus listened to Tellus speak. From his point of view, this was closer to medieval times, maybe a little after. "I'm pretty sure anyone would be annoyed if you stole their things." To make a point, Caelus swiftly moved his hand, grasping her blade's handle, pulling it out, and holding it.
"HEY! Give it Back!" Tellus jumped ahead to grab the blade again, to which Caelus let go, letting her take it back. "What was-" It took her a second to realize. "Oh..." She finally realized that being annoyed or attacked was a natural reaction if someone stole something.
"Well, anyway, what Realm are you? You should be stronger than me if you're in a fifth division while training," Caelus said calmly, standing while looking down to make eye contact with Tellus, who was a few inches below six feet.
[Oh yeah, I can give you information on items and people. It's not invasive since you don't like that, unfortunately, but it's information nonetheless!]
"...Sure, go ahead, I'd rather speak with Tellus right now than anything."
"You seem always lost in thought. Is that normal for you?" She was confused. Every time they finished talking, his focus shifted, even if he was looking at her. On the other hand, she noticed how much taller he was than she was —about 2 feet.
"Yeah, at least right now, I'm not used to... Well, this." He pointed at himself. With only a cloak, he wouldn't have anything comfortable to wear, and he didn't want to remove it since he found that inappropriate. "Speaking of, do you have any clothes I could wear? Not your clothing, obviously, just in general."
"Indeed, I do. It's clothing I was given by royals, though it was bigger than my intended size, so it may fit you." Tellus responded instantly. She had no problem giving clothing, but she remained suspicious of Caelus, whose name she didn't know. "What's your name anyway? I told mine, but you haven't said yours yet."
"Ah, the name's Caelus. I apologize; I didn't mean to forget-" He spoke, surprised, and realized he wasn't even nice enough to tell his name.
"It's fine. You don't need to ramble on. Just follow me, and I'll get you clothing." She cut him off before he could finish. Turning away, she started walking, to which Caelus followed obliviously.
[Oh, Caelus! You should ask how much it costs! I'll let you access this body's treasures to buy it properly and compensate without getting free stuff!]
"Absolutely no-... What- Oh, Sure." He found it weird that his instinct was to deny any exchange of his gold. "Hey, Tellus?"
"Yes? What is it?" She wasn't expecting him to say anything.
"How much would the clothing even cost? I just wanna know, at least like in gold." Caelus tried to be as calm as possible. Though still nervous.
"About thirty pieces of gold. It's made of a hard-to-access material. A piece can buy a month's healthy food since you don't know how humans act with gold."
Caelus sighed. With how many assumptions Tellus had made, he would've thought she was a philosopher. But he shook it off.
[Tutorial Phase, Second Quest or Mission, Try to understand how customs and other things work in this world! Or don't. If you do, you'll get the ability to use Pyrokinesis to burn enemies and stun them in place. Along with that, you'll get your durability enhanced to withstand magical attacks more!]
"Two birds with one stone, then, I get to learn more about this place, and I get new stuff. How much do I need to know, though?"
[Enough knowledge that you can get around normally, oh! Also, I automatically translate you and others so you can understand, and they can understand, I should've said earlier!]
"Oh." Caelus blinked, but he should've expected that. He noticed he was already inside the city with her, moving slowly for some time. It was starting to turn daytime.
"Well. How long till your home, Tellus?" Caelus asked, not impatient but more worried about whether it would waste her time.
"A couple more minutes, if you want, you can explore while I try and find a carriage, since I'm not allowed to fly on my blade here," Tellus responded calmly. "Albeit dragons and other mystical species have different laws applied to them, which fit their needs and what can stop them, if they do ever decide to come to this empire."
"Could I see them? Considering I'm a dragon myself, so it would be expected for me to know." Caelus spoke, not wishing to go without information or a chance to break the law.
"Well, Uh... Sure." Tellus looked to the side, grabbing a book from a conveniently placed bookstore. Caelus found it suspicious that it was so close by. Or was it the system doing that? He couldn't tell, and at this point, he didn't want to.
Looking at it, he took it from her hand as she handed it over. Flipping through the pages, he saw multiple drawings of each, except for those that were too violent. Having passed elves and banshees' law, of which he only skimmed over, he had finally reached his own species.
'Royal Coronation Law - Whenever a Dragon, no matter which, or what they are doing, must give 10% of their treasury to the Royal who is crowned.'
"...Yup, this is going to be corrupt, I don't even need to read the rest." Caelus sighed, thinking to himself in annoyance.
[Oooh, don't worry, you have enough gold that they are not to deny the gold that you are to give! Primarily because of inflation from a mere 10%! No access to it right now, though, too weak :3]
"Oh? Okay, but also rude, I should have some access to use it for personal needs." Caelus already felt a little suspicious of the system.
"Alright, let's get going. Also, that law will be annoying in a few months, I heard the first prince is to get his coronation in [June]." Tellus waited, her arms crossed, as if she were annoyed, yet her expression was neutral.
"Oh, translated for me." Caelus was relieved, turning to Tellus, though feeling irritated that he'd have to actually pay 10% of what he had. It was basically stealing from him.
Getting into the carriage with Tellus, his tail curled to the side against Tellus's legs. "Hey- Get, what- Why isn't it moving?" Tellus, on the other hand, was not pleased and tried to grab it to lift it up, but the tail decided to stay down and even rolled off her hands.
Caelus looked at his own tail, moving his hand to softly grasp it and pull it off. "I don't know why it does that; it's just normal for it to stretch like that. So you need to sit on the other side." Holding it up, he watched Tellus move and sit right in front of him, letting his tail drop; it remained in place, lying straight.
"You seem to live far away if we can't simply walk there."
"Indeed, it would take at least five hours by walking; the Carriage takes less than ten minutes."
"Wha- UHA!" Feeling the Carriage speed up, Caelus held himself back to not go flying forward and hit Tellus in the head. "You could've warned me!"
"You're a dragon, you should be able to handle this," Tellus spoke, though a little amused. While trying to hide her emotion.