25

Who was I kidding? Calen hadn't done a thing because he probably wasn't powerful enough to stop me if I was set loose. Not without massive casualties. I wasn't going to stay as powerful as I was now either. Not if I could help it.

It only took about an hour for Savannah to find a couple of volunteers, but they refused to go out before morning. My wings twitched as irritation filtered through my body. I didn't like staying in this long. The building sucked. It was better than what I'd had before, but it still wasn't all that great.

I kind of liked that cave. Sleeping in my element was way better then some false metal building. I snorted to myself. The fact that I only needed four hours of sleep was now a source of irritation. I'd just developed the opposite problem to what I'd had before.

Now I was wishing I could just sleep all day like I used to. That would help me get through this limitless time I suddenly had. I started cutting through the concrete with my talons to create my own work of art. I'd never tried drawing before. Let alone carving.

They treated concrete like it was some big tough thing, but it was rather fragile. My talons cut through the concrete like it wasn't even there. Creating my own little aerial map on the concrete. I tried to keep it as accurate as I could to start with then started adding details. Starting with the settlement first.

It kept my mind busy so I didn't mind it all that much.

New skill Cartography level one.

I almost started laughing. The stupid system was always trying to help me. Even with the things that I really shouldn't need help with. I kept on working on the map of the settlement for a few hours before getting in some sleep. I woke up before daylight again, and started scratching away at my map.

My Cartography skill started leveling quickly. I was at level four by the time the others woke up. I was already ready to go so I didn't really need to do anything. My wings twitched as I was guided out of the warehouse. I shook the kinks out of my scales, and walked down the street.

Many people looked my way, but none were brave enough to do anything about me. I didn't know the two people that joined up with our group to head out, but they seemed skeptical. I didn't bother with learning their names since it was unlikely for them to work with us more than once. I walked through the gates for the first time since I'd come to the planet. Greeting the guards with a nod as we passed through the gate.

My three bonded plus the two random men that looked at me like I was about to eat them. I ignored them with a smirk on my face as I trotted through the grass. Ignoring the speed at which the humans walked as I practically ran circles around them. I wanted to know more about the landscape surrounding me. I'd only seen most of it from the sky while I flew.

I kind of hoped something exciting would happen, but I doubted it. There wasn't enough powerful beasts nearby for us to really make any progress. We had only gathered about fifty weak crystals before the day was over. Most of which I was just dinking around. I only killed about twenty of those beasts since I was trying to avoid doing everything myself.

I'd step in the moment anyone showed any sign of struggling, but avoided doing anything the rest of the time. Choosing to keep mostly to myself as I studied the various plants, and such around me. I wondered if I'd get a skill for that too. I spent most the day goofing around or studying plants. I'd spent a lot of time working lately.

Even though I was dinking around right now I was still trying to advance my elemental control. I found that if I wasn't working too hard I could still advance my lightning element. Cultivating the element as I wandered through the trees, and grass. I debated on whether I was hungry enough to hunt down something for food yet or not. I wasn't a problem for me to go without food for a day or two now.

Sure I'd lose the five XP I got from eating, but I didn't really care about that. Five XP was practically nothing for me now. Sure I was finishing off a good amount of beasts, but most of them were too weak to give me any trouble. I wished my system would give me more quests so I could advance my XP more. It was just pure level grinding at this point.

Boring level grinding that just seemed to go on forever. I sighed to myself out of boredom.

New quest.

Protect your new ally.

Calen the guild leader is in danger. Protect him, and gain a loyal ally.

Reward: An alliance with the Soaring Aspirations guild, and three levels.

Penalty: Lose ten levels in all elemental affinities. If affinity levels are under level ten you will lose the ability to use them for one month for each additional level lost.

A penalty. I almost choked on the idea of a penalty. Losing ten levels in each affinity would be a big hit. If I didn't advance my light affinity I could lose control over it for seven months. There were still three elements I needed to get.

I wanted to find out more about this quest. What could possibly be putting him in danger in the base? My wings twitched as I tensed at the thought. I flared them as agitation went through me slowly. Those three levels though.

I wanted all tree of them. Three instant levels if I succeeded to keep one man alive.

{What is it?} Ethan asked.

{Somethings wrong back at base} I snorted.