Part 38

"Before we start, why don't you tell me how the trip to Hewe went?" I asked Hazel as we walked away from Aros and Icarus. She looked at me, then nodded as she began to recount her experience there.

- The day before -

Not long after the group found Hewe in the distance, they managed to find their way on the main road. They continued, walking for only an hour before they finally arrived at the gates. Because it was long after midnight, the line wasn't as long as it had been when they left, but they were still required to wait in line for a few dozen minutes.

Luckily, the adventurers' guild had given each of them an ID card, which helped them get into the city. They passed through the inspection with ease, then made their way through the gate. As they walked into Hewe, Hazel noticed the absence of people on the streets.

Usually, even if it was late at night, the streets would be busy. Hewe was a densely populated city, after all. It was large, an entire kilometer in width, but there were several hundred thousand residents. Because of this, the streets would usually be filled to the brim.

Luckily, Hazel knew the reason why, as she had been living in the city for three years.

"Why is it so empty?" Jonathan asked. He hadn't been living in the city for three years, so he had no idea why it was so empty.

"Empty streets like this mean one thing," Hazel sighed with annoyance. Her brows furrowed in anger as she stared at the roads in front of her, but her emotions quickly calmed down, returning to a calm expression as she turned to Jonathan, "A hunter is here."

"A hunter?" Jonathan gasped as he looked at Hazel in fear. Hunters were rare, even rarer than S-class adventurers, but they were well known throughout the world. Hunters were, in the simplest of terms, somebody with the authority to do whatever they wanted. They were strong, even stronger than entire countries could deal with, so nobody was able to stop them.

Most hunters used their strength for ill deeds, whether that be murder in broad daylight or kidnapping cases for slavery. Some decided to rob banks for fun, while others sometimes took to the skies to decimate cities. The first hunter, Otar the Red, was born centuries ago but grew up to become the strongest man in the world. He was level 60, a new height that nobody had ever reached before, and was considered a demigod.

"Who is it?" Jonathan managed to mutter as he looked at Hazel.

"I have no idea," Hazel replied, "I've only ever seen this once. Two years ago, a hunter by the name of Xavier Bloodsworth visited the city. At the same time, hundreds of women went missing. By the time he was gone, he kidnapped around seven hundred of them. Nobody was able to stop him."

"What level was he?"

"Low forties, we think, but his equipment was S rank," Hazel replied, "Hunters are the most powerful people in the world. If one decided to visit the dungeon, no resistance we put up would work."

The twins exchanged glances for a moment before turning back to Hazel. The three of them began to walk through the barren city as their eyes darted from door to door. Every minuscule sound set off Jonathan's nerves as they walked, almost like he was in a haunted house.

They walked for another ten minutes, barely making it a portion of the way to the Forsyth Manor before they finally found another person.

"Please, please! Not my daughter!" A woman cried out in pain. The three turned toward the direction of the screams, only to see a group of men surrounding a couple of wagons. All of the men in question wore black uniforms, almost like an army, as they formed a perfect circle around the wagons. Atop of the wagons were large cages, each full of several dozen citizens in chains. All of the citizens, now captured to be turned into slaves, cried silently into each other's shoulders. A few of them were young, far younger than Jonathan or Hazel. One parent, an ordinary civilian that had no combat experience, was begging on the ground at the army's feet, "Please, take me instead!"

As soon as Hazel and the twins saw the commotion, they jumped to the nearest corner and began to watch from a more discreet position.

"Get out of the way, Wretch," A high-pitched voice commanded. Hazel looked at the voice, then saw a short man with a large red cape walk to the crying woman and stop just before her. He wore the black uniform that the others wore, but his body was lean and frail. He wasn't a fighter, more likely a spoiled kid that was flaunting his position of power, "Your city is full of filth. You should be glad I'm only taking this many."

"Please!" The woman cried again, "Why won't you take me? Spare my daughter!"

"Is everything prepared?" The young man asked as he turned to one of his soldiers. His demeanor completely changed as he turned away from the woman, almost like her existence wasn't worth any effort. As Hazel saw this, she felt her emotions flare up in anger. Her brows furrowed for a moment as she momentarily lost control of her expression.

"Yes, Lord Bloodsworth," The guard said, bowing his head. Hazel gasped as she heard the name. Her eyes widened and she turned her gaze back to the man standing next to the guard. She had issues believing that was actually the hunter the entire city had been afraid of, as he looked too weak.

"What?" Jonathan gasped as his body trembled. He looked away from the man and turned toward Hazel, who was still staring at the commotion in surprise.

If only Arthur were here, then they could see if his strength was the real deal. For now, she understood that messing with Xavier Bloodsworth meant death. It didn't matter whether she was a dragon or a human. She was dead either way.

Still, Hazel was curious about the boy. When Xavier Bloodsworth visited the city last time, not many saw his appearance. Those that did either died or were taken away.

"Good. My father will be pleased," The boy smiled as he turned back to the woman. His face contorted in disgust once more as he struck his foot forward, smashing his boot into her nose. The woman gagged in pain as she fell to her side. Her hands flew to soothe her nose as she wept, "Let that be a lesson to you, plebian. Pack it up, we're going to be late."

The small army nodded as the young man jumped atop one of the wagons. Then, after a few seconds of silence, the wagons began to move through the streets as they left the woman behind.

"An hour after that, we finally arrived at the manor," Hazel explained with a calm expression, "I wanted to do something, but the Hunters aren't people we should be messing with."

"Fucking humans," I sighed in disgust. Hazel looked at me and nodded with a cold face. Even though her expression was calm, I felt a suffocating pressure that seemed to shift the air around her. The anger she must've felt was nothing compared to my disgust, her cold eyes almost like a predator as she thought back to her experience in Hewe. As my gaze met hers, we both calmed down, "Why don't we start?"

It didn't take long for Hazel to learn how to transform into a dragon, but it did take her a while to learn how to transform back. As a dragon, she was unable to talk or describe what she was feeling, so getting the feeling of transformation down was difficult, especially when I did it a different way than she did.

Because I had the system, I was able to simply activate or cast the skill. The required MP would leave my body and the skill would then activate without any extra effort on my part. Other than focusing my mana on how to fly, it wasn't really difficult to do anything.

For Hazel, however, she needed to learn how to use skills from scratch. She needed to feel the mana within her and consume it in a way that caused the skill to generate. Then she would need to balance the MP while it was being consumed, so the skill or spell wouldn't fail before it was complete.

Only once the MP was all the way gone would the skill activate. For spells, even further work was needed, as one would need to memorize an incantation or magic circle to activate the spell. Thanks to my『 Ancestral Magic 』skill, I had access to casting magic without a circle or an incantation.

Up until Hazel could reach level five, she would still be forced to use magic the normal way. In the end, though, she eventually got her transformations under control. Hazel was, of course, overjoyed to be able to change her body into that of a dragon. Even when she was in her dragon form, I could tell she was as excited as a child would be on her birthday.

Then came flying. For Hazel, it was as difficult as it was for me. It appeared that in her enraged state, because her instincts took over, she didn't struggle with flying. Now that she was in control over her actions and mind, the instincts seemed to fall apart like glass shattering against the floor.

Thanks to my help, she eventually learned of the existence of the mana magnets in her body and began to learn how to even out her mana at a frightening rate.

After two hours of practicing, Hazel was able to control her wings with as much control as she had shown when we battled. She soon ended up flying through the air like an arrow. Now and then, she would roar out in joy.

Even though barely any trace of Hazel's human form could be found in her physical appearance, her personality hadn't changed in the slightest. Once Hazel learned how to fly through the air like an arrow, she eventually returned to the ground and joined me as I was learning how to control my mana.

The two of us didn't speak as she made her way to my side, then laid down on the ground next to me.

'Uh, Hazel?' I wanted to say, but couldn't. Only a low growl escaped from my mouth. Hazel didn't budge. After a few moments of relaxing, her breathing evened out and she began to sleep. It seemed that just being near me was enough to allow her some piece of mind- enough to fall asleep. I turned away from Hazel and focused on the mana in my body again, attempting to calm it down and even it out across my entire body.

Eventually, after another hour of practice, I finally succeeded. My last attempt began long after the blue crystals of the dome's ceiling and walls turned black. I concentrated on the mana in my body as I moved it across my wings. I made sure to apply the exact amount of mana I needed in the areas that needed it while suppressing the flow of mana in other areas.

As I moved the mana through my body, I felt my mind control it like I was flattening dough across a counter. The dough started out thick and hard to control, but now it was like paper, smooth and perfect all around.

I felt the mana touch the edges of my wings while still keeping a solid consistency around the rest of my body.

『 Passive Skill:『 Mana Control 』, Learned 』

I opened my eyes, still concentrating on the mana in my body, and turned toward my wings. I sent my wings a small command, just a twitch, and watched as my wing moved.

I felt the wing move, like it was another limb, as I sent the command. I hadn't felt that at all when I was fighting with Hazel. It was like I had two giant robotic arms on my back that only listened to the most basic commands. Even earlier, when I was training by myself, the strength of my wings was worse than the strength I had over my tail.

However, now that I had gained the『 Mana Control 』skill, I had full control over my wings. I lifted them up and watched as they completed the command with ease. I felt the slight breeze of the field crash against my wings and slide off like the wind would do against a blade of grass.

As I moved my wings more and more, I stood up in excitement as I flapped them up and down, testing out their reach and strength. However, as I did so, I felt the wind underneath me rustle. My body lifted upwards, supported by the power of my wings as I slowly made my way into the air.

I wasn't even trying to fly. I was simply testing the power of my wings, but it appeared that was enough to lift my body off the ground. I quickly stopped moving my wings, then felt my feet hit the ground as my body returned to the earth.

Then I heard a low groan and looked to the side. Hazel had looked in my direction with an unfocused gaze. I quickly gulped, feeling a lump in my throat, and transformed back into human form. The transformation was only for a second, but the sudden blanket of flame that covered my body was like a bright flash for Hazel.

She yelled, then jumped into the air.

"Sorry, sorry," I whispered. Hazel looked down at me, then sighed before transforming back into her human form. I saw an explosion of grey smoke, its color almost the same as the sky above before I saw a sleepy and disgruntled Hazel appear from within the smoke, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"How long was I out for?" Hazel asked with a murmur as she rubbed her eyes. She looked up at the sky, then yawned.

"Just an hour," I replied, "Why don't we go inside? Now that I know how to fly, I can be prepared for when we run into some serious trouble."