New Form (2)

With the five boys behind him, Michael made his way into the spacious main cavern where most of the Lizardmen rested through the night. His new form drew the attention from everyone they passed. A tiny, winged lizard-like humanoid. Of course, it would draw attention from everyone. They soon arrived at where Milizaus stood with his daughter, Ramita. The two of them went over what their goals were to be for the day. They soon sensed the new arrivals.

At first, the two business minded individuals dismissed Michael as a young Lizardman, but they immediately pushed that thought to the back of their minds when they felt his presence.

"Aiden? What is the meaning of this?!" Milizaus shot to his feet, a low hiss bubbling at the back of his throat. He obviously didn't recognize Michael.

Ramita wasn't exactly built for battle, so she took a few steps back, remaining behind her father. Milizaus used his large frame to block his daughter from view as his serrated tongue slithered into view.

"It's good to know that you will be ready for battle no matter what, Milizaus." The calm voice of their leader filtered into their ears. Milizaus was stunned for a moment before his eyes narrowed on the form of the Dragonewt standing before him.

"Leader...?" He hesitantly asked.

"In the scales." Michael waved his hand. "I simply reach the threshold for evolution after we returned from out expedition yesterday. I have reached a new level of power."

"As expected of our respectable leader. I envy your power, but I remain loyal to the end." Milizaus stepped forward and bowed from the waist down. Ramita did the same, as did the surrounding Lizardmen who were hanging around and had overheard the conversation.

"You may rise." Michael wasn't really comfortable with so many people bowing to him at once. In fact, he didn't even like the fact that people bowed to him at all! It was quite unsettling.

The sound of skittering feet over the rocks drew them out of their bubble. A couple Lizardmen hurried into the cavern, immediately spotting Milizaus and hurrying toward the older Lizardman. They stopped before him, tipping their heads in greeting before reporting what they needed to.

"Our scouts have detected the approach of several strange objects making their way through the forest, and straight in our direction. The movement speed of the objects is relatively slow. We should have until noon to prepare for its arrival at the outskirts of the cave." The first one to regain his breath spoke up.

Milizaus looked to Michael for instructions upon hearing the report of the scout. Michael had a frown on his face, his scales scrunching up in mild concentration.

"I will leave the matter in your hands, Milizaus. You and Ramita will come up with a plan to handle the situation if it turns out that these 'objects' are hostile. Me and the boys will head out on our own to find out what exactly it is that is approaching us." He turned, and with a wave of his hand, led the five young Lizardmen behind him out of the cavern, and towards the exit of the cave.

On the way, he walked by over a dozen Lizardmen, who all gave him strange looks upon seeing the wings on his back. Last they checked, Lizardmen were not born with wings. Perhaps the sizes of their eggs would increase, relative to their new size, but there was no way they could be sure. Ever since their evolution, no couple had tried to procreate.

"Aiden." An older looking Lizardman who looked like he was from Milizaus' generation called out to the head of Michael's followers. They all stopped as they looked to the Lizardman.

"Whose hatchling is that?" He asked.

A strange look passed over Aiden's face when he heard those words. "This is no hatchling, but our Leader. Our mighty leader underwent an evolution that has brought him to an entirely new plane of power!" Aiden clenched his fist and raised it as he spoke, passion underlying his words.

"Leader?!" The Lizardman looked shocked, but hurriedly bowed and apologized. After that, he hurried down the path. Michael shook his head at Aiden's antiques but didn't comment on it, instead just turning and walking away.

'I should probably gather enough Growth Energy to boost my growth. I wish I could store the excess that goes to waste whenever I consume anything.' He sighed internally.

Soon enough, the group left the dark cave and made their way into the dense line of trees that started a dozen meters away from the entrance of the cave. A cool, soothing breeze blew between the trees, ruffling the leaves as it went by. Michael loved the feel of it against his scales, prompting him to stretch open his wings.

A surprised gasp burst out from the boys behind him as his wings opened to their full wingspan. A deep golden light reflected off his shiny scales as the light hit them at just the right angle.

"Leader... can you fly?" He wasn't sure who asked it, but one of the boys asked if he could fly.

"Probably." He shrugged as his wings folded against his back.

"Will we ever be able to fly?"

"Probably." He turned over his shoulder and gave them a smile. "If you're as good as I believe you all are, then you probably will."

After that exchange, the six of them continued through the trees. After about an hour of walking, they finally reached the part of the forest where the trees were sparser, scattered around in small clusters, or standing on their own. A single path led through the forest, swerving out of their view.

Michael stopped them with a raise of his scaled hand.

"A few scouts should be around here somewhere." He mumbled as he focused his senses. After a dozen seconds of concentration, using his newly upgraded senses, Michael was able to pick up the sounds of faint movements. He narrowed his eyes as he focused on those sounds.

[Two E ranked creatures have been detected twenty meters away from your current position.]

[Race: Yellow Scaled Lizardman.]

"This way." Michael called out to his followers before setting off through the bushes.