Drahon was dumbfounded.
She was half dragon too?
For about ten seconds, he stared at the horns, studying them.
The horns looked like his, only more delicate and sort of intricate.
He walked forward, towards the clearing, not directly at her, but toward the corpses of the Demon Dragon monsters.
He studied their features, not that it was important at the moment, but simply because he felt like staring at them, at least to have something to do.
She’d been speaking just moments ago, but suddenly fell silent.
Trying to keep the conversation going, Drahon asked:
"What type of half dragon are you?"
The lady made a face, and Drahon could see a hint of depression on it.
"I..., I don’t know," she said, stuttering at first, like the words were too grave to muster.
"You know your type, right?" she asked.
Drahon was genuinely surprised by the question. What did she mean that he must know his type?
Wasn’t it obvious that there were only two types of dragons in the Dragon World?
A Golden Dragon and a Legendary Dragon?
According to the man with mismatched eyes and horns he saw in the dreamlike state, didn’t two main dragons rule the Dragon World?
The Golden Dragon and the Legendary Dragon?
Drahon suddenly traced back his thoughts.
’Ok, let’s get this straight.’
The man he saw in the dreamlike state said to him that two types of half dragons ruled the Dragon World.
The key word was "ruled"— did that mean other dragon types existed?
Come to think of it, in a large and massive world , there couldn’t be only two types of dragons.
There certainly would be other types of half dragons that weren’t as powerful as the main types that dominated the world.
Think of it with reality, where the rich and the famous are more known around the world, celebrities, while the commoners just go about their daily lives without being so popular or documented in history books.
Same could apply for these half dragons, perhaps there were other weaker races of them that weren’t documented, and now it was up to him to uncover it.
All these thoughts took just eight seconds; it was rapid and flooded his mind, but he was quick to connect it.
Just realizing he had left her hanging on the question, Drahon quickly blurted a reply:
"Yes I do and..., I’m..., I’m quite surprised you don’t know yours."
The lady was still gripping her swords tightly, and with a thought, she dismissed them both (they turned to ashes and withered away).
Drahon stared at the act absentmindedly, although he was a bit impressed.
"Ever since I survived Level One, I’ve been trying to uncover the mystery behind my existence, and I saw... a revelation. In it, a figure clothed in a graceful-looking velvet gown explained to me about how I’m half dragon..."
She suddenly stopped, as if realizing something. Then she turned and stared at Drahon intently.
"I shouldn’t be telling you this or even be talking to you since I don’t know who you-"
Drahon took over from here now. He had suppressed his earlier anxiety, and since the lady in front of him seemed harmless, he felt kind of safe.
"I’m Drahon," he said, offering a hand.
The lady looked at him, visibly surprised by his gesture. She hesitated for a few seconds, then still leaving him hanging, she asked:
Drahon didn’t let her finish.
"I thought you should have already known this already. This world is very dangerous, and it’s only safe we tag along. Level One was like a death sentence, and now, Level Two will be more worse than that. I just think we players should stick together."
Drahon might have sounded kinda desperate back then, but he was simply trying to be realistic.
The lady looked up ahead, still leaving his hands stretched out in an effort to get a handshake.
After the clearing was a large expanse of land that stretched up ahead, filled with caves. Some were small while others were large, and from the place she stood, she could see pebbles on the floor, looking all gnawed, twisted, and otherworldly.
For some reason, the place made her uncomfortable, like she already knew what was there.
Drahon still kept his hands stretched out though; him bringing it down would be shameful. It was an act that could lower his ’steeze’ a bit.
He just couldn’t understand what the fuck was wrong with her, earlier she seemed ruthless, like one who would chop his head off if she had the chance, and then, she went on to act relatable, telling him how she didn’t know what type of half dragon she was.
And now she was being reluctant to take his hand?
What was this? A ’lady’ drama?
"I received that revelation too," Drahon suddenly said. "But mine felt real, like I was actually there. A man with horns like mine explained some things to me and said I’ll have to find out the rest by myself."
She looked intrigued, and that was just what Drahon wanted.
Slowly bringing down his hand, he said:
"I better get going. Nice meeting a fellow half dragon."
Just as his hand was about to go down, the lady took it and said, forcing a smile:
"I’m Ayvira, and my apologies for not taking your handshake earlier."
Drahon furrowed a brow.
Ayvira? That was an odd but surprisingly pleasant name.
"No problem," he said. But he couldn’t help but wonder, her behavior felt kinky. She might be ruthless but... she’s actually soft?
Getting out of the handshake, she said:
"I just have trust issues. My life prior to entering the game wasn’t so pleasant... and neither was my life as a child."
Drahon nodded. He totally understood. He too didn’t have a pleasant childhood or life before entering the Dragon Game.
In fact, his life would’ve been worse, perhaps like a Stephen King horror novel,if not for the books he read.
Trying to change the topic, he asked, pointing ahead of them:
"So we should start moving up ahead?"
He expected her to be like:
’Oh, let’s start doing so before it gets dark,’ but instead she said:
"I’d advise we start tomorrow. The place is crawling with Tier A Demon Dragon monsters."
Drahon squinted his eyes. Well, that was shocking, but how did she know?