37 Part 35

A few hours after I finished creating the dome, the twins and I were in the kitchen eating dinner. Thanks to the dungeon shop and the Kobold scout's efforts to supply me with DP, I always had fresh ingredients to eat when I wanted. The dining room, which was connected to the kitchen, had one large table surrounded by eight chairs made out of similar material. The table seemed especially empty with seven unfilled chairs, but I had no intention of keeping them like that forever.

I was sitting on the head of the empty table when Hazel walked into the room. The twins were sitting just next to me as they ate their meals. All of us turned to Hazel and watched as she walked into the room. Her expression was slightly annoyed, but I was happy to see her regardless. She wore a set of white pajamas that seemed to enunciate the curves of her body but also the color of her hair. When I saw her, my body seemed to act on its own as I stood up, causing my chair to fall back.

"You're up!" I gasped. Hazel looked at me, then turned to the table.

"Where am I?" She asked. I smiled, then turned around and set my chair back up before moving to the kitchen to get a second serving of breakfast. While I did so, I looked at Hazel and began to explain.

"You're in my dungeon. You remember the core room, right?" I asked. Hazel nodded.

"I upgraded it," I told her, "The core is in the attic and Aros's boss room is one floor above us."

"This is the core room?" She asked with awe as she looked around the room. Her eyes fell upon the window, where the edge of the dome could be seen a few hundred yards away, "So that's what that is. Amazing."

"I know, right? I could hardly believe it myself," Jonathan laughed, "That small little room turned into this, with no mana used! It was absolutely incredible!"

I nodded, then stood up and walked back to the kitchen. I looked back to Hazel as I finished preparing another helping of breakfast. On the plate was a simple sample of jam toast. There wasn't much more I could make, as I wasn't a very talented chef, but Hazel seemed happy to take it anyways.

"Hello," Hazel said as she turned to the twins. She looked at them, then nodded her head. She looked back at me, then said, "So I guess they're in on the secret? When did that happen?"

"Why don't we eat," I said as I turned, then went back to the table as Hazel followed close behind me, "How much do you remember?"

"A little," She answered as she sat down on Evelyn's left. She set her plate of food on the table, but she seemed too conflicted to eat it. She looked at me, then shook her head, "My memory is a bit foggy. I remember bathing in the river, but then somebody showed up and interrupted me."

"Oh, Kelvin," I said, remembering the dwarf's existence, "I completely forgot about him. I might have to take care of him, otherwise, he'll tell Hewe about us."

"You know him?" Hazel asked with annoyance.

"When did you run into him?" Jonathan asked as he turned to me.

"He was one of the first people that found my dungeon," I explained as I turned to Jonathan. He explored my dungeon a few days ago, back around when I got my license, but I'm surprised he managed to get out. He should've died there."

"Died? Oh, right," Jonathan said. His expression turned to a sorrowful one as he turned away from me, "I forgot that there is an entire army here. It would make sense to defend against intruders. Was he alone?"

"No, there was one other with him," I answered, "Bernard, I think. He died against the first group, so there's no chance we'll run into him. Shit, as long as he doesn't get lost, he'll have already arrived at Hewe. That'll be annoying. What else do you remember?"

"Well, I got angry that he ran up at us while we were bathing, so I slapped him," She said. I raised my eyebrow, not quite believing Hazel, considering Kelvin's wound was much worse than a simple slap, "But he went to the ground easier than I thought. After that I- I can't remember."

"Don't worry, you remembered quite a lot," I said, "I'll explain everything else."

I told Hazel about how she had leveled up from almost killing Kelvin, which unlocked her『 Morph 』skill. However, because she didn't know how to use the skill, it activated on accident while the Forsyth twins were still in the area, so she attempted to stop the transformation by suppressing it.

However, that only made things worse, as she ended up losing control of the transformation only to enter an『 Enraged 』state.

"I had to fight you off to get you back to normal," I explained, "But the twins had already seen your form by the time it was complete, so I had to spill the beans."

Hazel turned to me with a shocked expression. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape. She looked at the twins and her expression grew more exaggerated as she realized she was almost a danger to her friends.

"We're okay with it, though," Jonathan said as he noticed her expression. He looked at me, then said, "Although, talking about Kelvin brings up an issue. If he's going to Hewe, it's probably to report the dungeon to the guild. What if that brings in more adventurers? It would become dangerous quickly, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, that's what I've been thinking," I sighed as I leaned back in my chair, "I originally left the dungeon to explore the world, but my dungeon comes as a top priority. How long do you think it'll take before your parents start worrying about you? If possible, I'd like to train here, where I can use my full abilities, but I also need to take care of Kelvin."

"Not even a day," Jonathan answered, "They're probably worried about us now. Why?"

"If there's a chance this dungeon will be in danger, I'm going to stay and build it into something I can be proud of," I said. I looked to Jonathan, then sighed, "I won't be leaving for a while so I can train. Why don't you head to Hewe?"

"I can take them," Hazel said. She quickly stood up, then turned to me, "The forest might be dangerous. I may be level one, but I'm strong."

"Huh?" Jonathan said.

"Dragons are naturally stronger than humans," I explained, "Hazel may be level one, but she's stronger than both of you. Even I'm only level seven."

"Huh?!" Jonathan stammered as he turned to us. Even Evelyn, who rarely ever talked or showed any emotion, was shocked to the core. She looked at us, then leaned against the back of her chair as she relaxed her shoulders.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Hazel shouted from behind me. I turned to her, then saw her standing still with a shocked look on her face, "You're not level ten and you're that strong? How?"

"I don't think I can take any more surprises," Evelyn gasped quietly. Jonathan nodded, then looked back at me.

"How long do you think you'll need to train?" Jonathan asked, "I would like to train as well, but I can't really do that without you."

"I'm too weak right now," I said, "I want a little bit more time learning how to at least fly before I focus fully on my dungeon. For now, I'll just let the DP pool increase in size. Hazel will take you back to Hewe, but you'll need to find a new trainer once you get there. In the meantime, I'll get a few Kobolds to start searching the forest, hoping to find Kelvin. He's probably already gotten to Hewe by now, but I should at least try."

"Why don't you just allow him to get to Hewe?" Hazel suggested. I looked back at her and cocked my head, confused. She noticed my expression, then explained, "You need intruders, right? Why not use Kelvin to spread rumors of this place? It's not like anybody can reach the bottom floor anyways."

"Intruders?" Jonathan muttered, confused.

"It's how I build the dungeon," I explained as I kept my eyes trained on Hazel. Jonathan nodded, "What if Kelvin brings in somebody stronger?"

"One thousand Kobolds, several hundred Salamanders, including four who use spears," Hazel said as she started counting off my troops, "Even if you or Aros don't get involved, you're still a force to be reckoned with."

"Aros can train you while I get a hang of my dragon body, so I guess everything works out," I said as I slowly began to nod in approval, "It's still kind of unnerving, but I like the idea. More intruders mean more DP, which means faster dungeon progression."

Hazel nodded. I looked back to the twins, then said, "When do you need to be back?"

"Soon, but we can probably stay for a few more minutes," Jonathan told me, "We'll end up being late regardless, so it doesn't really matter by this point."

"Yeah, but what will Icarus be doing?" Hazel asked. Then, as soon as she realized Icarus's absence, she began looking around the room. Her face became worried as she looked around. For a moment, she must've assumed he was caught up in the mess in the forest.

"He's in the forest," I explained as I saw her worry, "Aros is with him."

"Aros? Are you sure it's okay to leave the boss room empty?" Hazel asked with concern as she looked back down at me.

"It's okay. The dungeon doesn't have any intruders so he'd just be a waste stuck all the way up there," I replied, "Why don't we go out to meet them?"

After finishing our cold breakfast, we left the house and went into the forest. Hazel made sure to put her gear back on so she wasn't outside with just a pair of pajamas, then followed us into the forest. Luckily Jonathan had already grabbed it during the commotion, so it wasn't in the forest for an entire day.

The forest wasn't very large, as it needed to be small enough to fit a small portion of the dome, but it was still large enough to hide Aros and Icarus. Luckily, I was able to open the dungeon map and find them instantly. Aros and Icarus were colored blue while I was colored gold. Hazel and the twins, because they weren't summons but were considered allies, were colored green.

We found the two near a large tree. Aros was at the bottom, his neck craned up to look at the branches above him. Icarus was nowhere to be seen on the ground, but we quickly found him dancing on the branches like a kitten. Each branch was supported by magic because it was created in the dungeon, but Icarus's weight was beginning to wear them down.

"Jesus that's a tall tree," Jonathan whispered as he craned his neck to look up.

"Master Icarus, please come down from there!" Aros called out, having not yet noticed us, "Lord Aureys will be very mad if you got injured on my watch!"

"Aros?" I said. Aros quickly turned around, his voice full of shock as if he had been caught doing something bad by his mother.

"Lord Aureys! It is nice to see you!" Aros said as he quickly bowed. He turned his head and met eyes with Hazel. Aros bowed again, saying, "I see you have awoken, Lady Conley. I am glad to have seen you once again."

"Lady?" Hazel whispered, too quiet for me to hear. Aros nodded to us again, then turned back around and looked up at the tree. I walked to his side, also looking up at Icarus.

"Why is he up there?" I asked as I looked up. Icarus was almost a hundred feet up, far too high to be considered safe as he clung to a set of branches. I called out to him, hoping he could hear me, "Icarus!"

"My lord, he has been like this ever since the dome has been created," Aros answered, "I believe he blames himself for your injured state after fighting Lady Conley, so he's been trying to learn how to fly."

"How to fly?" I muttered, "But won't he be able to after he evolves into a young dragon?"

"Not exactly. He'll gain the skill『 Flight 』once he reaches level ten. Dragon ages are a bit different than you're expecting. They age when they level up, up until they're level twenty. In Icarus's case, he's matured to the same level as a five-year-old human," Aros explained, "Once he reaches level ten, he'll be considered a small dragon, while he'll be considered a young dragon once he reaches level twenty. To that end, he'll need to reach level ten to evolve, Milord, but I don't think he's ready to wait that long."

"I'm not even level ten yet, I suppose that makes sense," I sighed.

"Wait, that doesn't quite make sense. Icarus is level five, then how can he not transform into a human? You're only level seven," Jonathan asked, "Even Hazel's only level two, but she's able to transform into an actual dragon and turn back. How does that work?"

"In their case, it's a bit different," Aros chuckled, "Dragons mature differently than humans. Up until they're level twenty, their age is dependent on their levels, so some will mature faster than others. After that point, they age based on time. However, Lady Conley and Lord Aureys don't appear to be constricted by that requirement. They're already capable of transforming their body, something only ancient dragons should be able to do."

"Wow," Jonathan gasped. Hazel looked at him, then back to me. Suddenly, we heard a large crack above us. I quickly looked up, then saw Icarus hanging onto a half-broken branch by his front two legs. His back two legs and tail were thrashing about like a fish on land, attempting to find any purchase to support himself.

"No! Master Icarus!" Aros quickly started climbing the tree. He did so quickly, reaching halfway up before I noticed.

"Stop, Aros," I said. Aros stopped his climb and looked back down at me, "If he wants to learn how to fly early, let him. We'll be here when he falls."

"I understand, Milord," Aros said as he slowly climbed back to the ground. As he did so, I kept my eyes trained on Icarus, who was still struggling above us. He continued to struggle but eventually managed to pull himself up.

"He's not dropping himself?" I muttered, "If he wants to learn how to fly, why isn't he taking any risks?"

"I believe he's attempting to reach the top of the tree, Lord Aureys," Aros said. I sighed, then looked back to Icarus. I crouched down for a moment, then immediately jumped. I felt my body spring upwards and sail through the air. With one jump I reached the branches just below Icarus.

As I flew through the air, I heard the collective gasps of everybody below me. Once I got near the branches, I struck my hands out and attempted to find a place to land in the tree. When my body landed, the entire tree seemed to sway, truly showing how high up we were.

As soon as he felt me land, Icarus looked down at me. His legs were gripping the branch like it was the only thing protecting him as he looked at me with a terrified face.

"You won't learn how to fly like that, buddy," I laughed. Then, with my left hand, I took Icarus's branch and tugged it down. Icarus began to shake as the branch bent to me, "A dragon afraid of heights? That's not right. C'mon, Icarus, you can do it. Come to me."

Icarus looked back at me, then slowly began to push away from the branch. Then, with a wild spring, he jumped directly into my arms. He immediately began to clutch my suit like the branch from before as his entire body shook from freight.

"You brave little boy," I sighed as I held onto him, "I appreciate you learning how to fly. It's good, but I'll show you a better way."

Then, after Icarus had a moment to relax in my arms, I slowly dropped back to the ground and joined the others.