As soon as they brought the meat and bones, he took them, dropping eighteen pieces of gold, which he saw that the amount he had in his inventory was with at most 500 left, after this, so he wanted to stay a bit more conservative with how he uses it, quickly taking the bone and meat he turned to the Princess who was just at another stall, looking at food she could've eaten.
Since for him it didn't matter, he took his time eating while waiting for her and waiting for her to be done, while watching out for her, just in case someone came to kill, for some reason he had the urge to protect her and keep her, which he found ironic, especially from all the stories of Dragons keeping Princesses with them.
After he finished, he got up, with his tail moving quickly as he felt a change in the air with something moving quickly enough that it broke the sound barrier, coating his tail with Mana. Just in time, a small dagger flew in and punctured right through his tail. Taking a second, he winced in pain, with Elysia getting up and quickly jumping to the side, going behind him.
"So, are you used to people trying to assassinate you...?" Caelus asked, somewhat jokingly, his tail swinging towards his hand as he took out the dagger, his Mana filling the hole, making sure nothing could go in, and it could heal without being infected. Though he doubted he could even get infected, given how he survived being touched by the undead.
"No, I'm not used to it-" Elysia spoke, shivering somewhat as Caelus extended his Mana to cover her just to protect her in case there was someone behind, making a small barrier which blocked any attempt to grab, touch, or even hit her.
The commoners, on the other hand, ran off, with more cultivators arriving as those trying to assassinate noticed more presences and tried to go around and take Elysia, only to be stopped by the barrier.
His head turned, and his hand reached out, grabbing one of them by the neck and throwing them towards a cultivator, who was falling, getting them to land on the assassin's shoulders. It was most likely those shoulders broke or at least got dislocated.
[Ah- New Mi-]
[Oh, nevermind, she didn't get kidnapped, no mission. Protecting her is the mission instead. You would've had like 4 months for the other mission, anyway, you'll get like... A new technique that boosts your focus so it's harder to lose focus when fighting :D]
"...Oh, thank you then, I guess, well at least she didn't get taken." Caelus thought, waiting for any more people to come and attack.
Only then did he notice a person with a blade dash over, unsheathing as he went to attack him, yet he wasn't covered everywhere, which was weird, but moving his hand, he noticed their Mana wasn't flaring up, but he didn't let his guard down; it was dumb to do so.
His Mana formed outward as he applied it to his hand and punched the guy's blade, protecting his own hand and sending the guy's blade flying back. Since it wasn't strong enough to clash with his hand due to it not having Mana, it almost cut the user's ear.
"Okay, rude, I don't think you're one of those assassins, right?" Caelus spoke, confused about why they attacked.
"Yeah, I'm not, but you're a Dragon, you're going to take the princess for whatever you want to do-"
"...You do realize that if I do that, I'm going to be attacked by probably the entire Empire, that's just dumb even for an unintelligent species," Caelus replied to the guy, confused.
"Well, whatever, you're still a Dragon, and the Princess isn't here!" They replied, clearly annoyed.
"...Are you just trying to get me to fight you or something?" Caelus asked, genuinely confused, looking back to see if anyone had come to take Elysia, who had walked out of the barrier since she wasn't attacking or anything, and then looked from the side, seeing all the cultivators.
"Oh, Hiii!" Elysia spoke happily, acting as if she knew them, while he wouldn't object; he moved his tail so it didn't hit her.
"Huh?" The same guy replied, confused why she was so happy despite a Dragon being there. "Why are you not scared or angry at him? He's a Dragon-"
"Why should I be angry? I've only heard that Dragons are just powerful without cultivation, but most of them have died off." Elysia replied, puzzled at his reaction
"...Please don't tell me that higher nobles and royals aren't taught what the church teaches." Caelus thought, knowing the amount of chaos this would cause, considering the inconsistency would definitely cause something. "She probably couldn't say something because of the Kiana lady."
"Either way, Dragons are greedy and also extremely violent, just like what he did with that assassin, he could've knocked them out-" He replied.
"Alright, Yuan, you can stop trying to make him evil," Elysia replied. "He protected me, I saw it, he didn't even try taking me, if he wanted to, he could've just grabbed me with his tail, and he's probably been here longer than right now." She continued.
"B-But a Dragon like him can't even cultivate, it's something only humans and at least somewhat pure beings can do!" Yuan spoke, his voice growing louder, as the other cultivators and people watched, some from afar, others closer.
Caelus listened, noticing particles in pure white floating in the sky, mainly because they obstructed light for a glimpse, even half a second.
[Ooh, well, new mission now!, Because there's something actually going on.
Main Quest One - Escape the view of the Church and Empire or become a part, Also-]
"...No, I'd rather not do either, I'm going to be myself," Caelus replied to Aphro with a sigh. Caelus noticed Elysia turn to him and hand him what looked like a small bag, but it felt decently heavy, and she had struggled to hold it.
"Uhm, that has enough for you right now and an extra something in there. I'll give more if you help me cultivate." She spoke, clearly wanting to learn how to fight.
"If you make sure not to try and get into fights often or get yourself hurt," Caelus replied, he's not going to turn it down; he knows the consequences. Even if Kiana tried to stop him, he'd still try. Additionally, he wanted to talk more with Tellus to apologize for the argument he had with her teacher.
"You don't need to pay me, though. I already have a lot of gold, but I appreciate it," Caelus replied calmly. "If you wish to find me, it'll be easy, especially during this time, because I will be going to the pavilion to learn more about cultivation.
Caelus sighed.
[Okay, uhh- No Mission then, You were gonna get a chance to roll for a strong body and everything, hmph.]
"I don't wanna hear it, just deal with it or give missions which fit what I want to be, you can read my thoughts anyway." Caelus thought about how to reply to Aphro. "I just realized how our names, including Tellus, are close to that of Myth... Weird." Caelus continued. "Well, your name was from me, so it's my fault for that."
He almost forgot about Sol, which he found suspicious. But he wasn't going to investigate now.
"I'll be going now, though, possibly either to train or continue studying," Caelus spoke, a sigh escaping him as he turned away, walking past the many cultivators who only gave him nasty glares, but he didn't mind it; changing their minds wasn't a top priority, as long as they didn't do anything to Tellus.
"Weird... I'm feeling a lot more protective of her despite only having met her ten days ago."
Caelus reached past the area where Tellus had trained, noticing some minor changes. Walking up, he entered and saw Arjuna talking with Sol. Arjuna's expression was calm again. So he'd gotten rid of the anger he had from earlier.
Walking past them, he felt the air shift, like he was about to be attacked, something weird... He also remembered he could've used Mana to sense things around him, only realizing it now.
With the sense he still noticed no one there, which was weird because this was when the most people were there, and he didn't see any cultivators with staff or something, which even showed that.
Caelus opened the door, and a rush of Mana flooded the room, dense and explosive, but it didn't hurt. The flood of Mana swarmed his body, trying to take it over. Arjuna noticed the bits of Mana getting to him and saw it was unnatural; there was no way Mana like that could exist without it being someone of a giant realm gap.
Caelus's body instinctively absorbed the Mana, spiraling around his chest, where his heart was now. Due to his humanoid body, the more it flooded in, the more his mind became clogged.
[Looks like someone's attacking you, or at least trying to alter your mind, but don't worry, I got that for you~]
In a sudden motion, the Rest of the Mana flooding inside of him was pushed back, an intense force which, for a few seconds, made the person visible, the lady he saw at the stall earlier, who transformed only for her to disappear.
[No problem, Caelus~, You can still die, don't get this the wrong way, it was just that this was unfair, especially from someone who's multitudes of times stronger.]
"Okay... You could've warned me, so I don't go here instead, you know that, right?" Caelus sighed, but noticed the Mana still in his body, spiraling being slowly stopping and becoming a sphere, something like a core,
[Well... This may help you survive if people that strong are going to come after you.
[Unlocked - Draconic Core]
[The Draconic Core comes in multiple variants, being different for each being. The Draconic Core is usually unlocked by Wyverns because Dragons did not do cultivation. Draconic Cores typically abide by the rules the user wants, appearing during Soul Formation to protect the Soul. Other such Creatures have this, like the Banshee, and also Drakes, but those are less likely due to them being rare.]
[Draconic Cores are powerful body parts that arrange the body into a more reasonable and proper manner, removing many weakspots their human bodies had, along with allowing a complete transformation into a human body once fully formed.]
"Oh, so I get to go back to my human body... Hmmm, that would be a good disguise, but how long would that form even last?"
[Two days, once it's finally learned, it can grow in how long it can be used, the stronger you get, or if you get an ability that can help extend it.]
"Are you okay, Caelus?" Arjuna spoke, his voice rough, and he looked... Like he was brooding. "...No." Caelus nodded, "I am fine, I was just a little confused about something," Turning back and entering the area, which Arjuna let him, seeing
Caelus entered the room as he focused on his Core, noticing the massive number of changes. The ground felt better under his feet, like he was outside, with a texture that matched it, along with more room and dummies he could test his attacks on.
[Hey, you didn't let me finish explaining >:( Anyways, the Draconic Core is usually based on how and what the Cultivator thinks, since you got enough Mana to get it despite being Foundation Only, your Cultivation Realm has also been bumped up to-]
"No, just keep it fully for my Core, I want to get to Virtuoso myself," Caelus replied.
[Fine, since all of it went to your Core, it'll be a lot more protected than a Wyvern's. Which can only be obtained during Soul Formation.]