21

I wondered how the hatchling would be when it emerged. I was unusually intelligent for a newborn because I kept my memories from my human body. I wondered how much the hatchling would know on instinct, and how much I would have to teach. Honestly I was still learning most of this myself. It was almost terrifying to think about bringing another hatchling into this world, but I would need to do it sooner or later.

It actually felt kind of good to think about trivial things like this. Not having to hide around here was really refreshing. My wings extended halfway as I spread out on the floor slowly. I would need to learn how to fly properly eventually. A part of me kind of wanted to just jump off the sheer drop outside, but that idea also terrified me. The cold stone of the floor was rather comfortable.

It didn't take me long to fall asleep once I got absorbed in the cold feeling of the cool stone. The next few days went about the same. Me daring the kids to come mess with me each time I got bored. Everyone was seeming to calm down around me now that I'd been here for a few days without causing any problems. The full moon was coming soon, and tension in the town was slowly going up.

The alpha seemed busy, and a bit worried. They didn't usually have guests during the full moon. I wish that was all there was to it, but it seemed like he was having more trouble with the wolves around town then he was used to. Goliath had said the same thing about Soren, and his buddy when they'd been around me. I was pretty sure it had something with the mana I released into my environment.

Dragons were an origin species after all. The werewolves were probably absorbing some of the mana I released before Gaia collected it. If they were then my presence here was slowly making them all stronger. The system had already told me that the werewolves of today were far weaker then the ones of the past. They had long forgotten how to control themselves properly.

I'd imagine that back then it was a requirement for them to be able to stop themselves if anything happened. My wings twitched as I stood up slowly. Walking my way out of the cavern to look up at the night sky. I only needed to sleep about five hours a night now so I kept waking up before dawn. I looked up at the nearly full moon, and walked down the narrow path that led back down to the beach.

There was so much out there that I didn't know. I wanted to learn about it all. My body tensed as I thought about running down the beach. I'd never been this close to the ocean before. I flared my wings as I thought about swimming. I had an affinity with water so I was probably a really good swimmer, but I'd never had the chance to test it out.

I walked down into the salty ocean water until my body started floating enough that my feet came off the ground. It was interesting that I was light enough to float on top of the water. I paddled around the water passively for a while. I debated on diving down in the water or at least trying to. A flap of my wings was enough to propel myself free of the water.

I glided back down to the beach, and shook the water off of me. Then paused when I realized that I'd just shook the water off me like a dog. Sometimes it caught me off guard how animalistic I'd become. I shook it off since there wasn't much I could do about it now. I walked up the beach back into town, and laid down at the edge.

Just outside of the small neighborhood on this little island. I'd learned a few things about this little town. They were mostly just a small little neighborhood in the middle of the forest on this small island. The high side of the island had the tower that drew the portals to the island while the wolves themselves lived on the low side of the island. There was a warehouse just outside of the neighborhood where they kept the supplies that were brought to them by boat every two months.

From what I could tell they weren't brought enough supplies to survive healthily so they ate the monster meat of the beasts they caught to make up the difference. My wings twitched as I thought about what would happen if they ran out of meat. I wouldn't let them. I wondered how many beasts they were losing into the ocean. I flapped my wings as I thought about helping them catch some fish.

I floated on the water so I could easily get out pretty far to go, and fish from the deeper depths. My bonded could help. Ethan was probably the best choice for the actual fishing part. I should bring all of them actually. Well I guess I just wanted to bring all of them. I'd never gotten the chance to just be alone with my bonded in school.

Closest I'd gotten was when I was on that school hunting trip. I wasn't alone with them then either. The werewolves were trying to be accommodating, but their distrust was obvious. The alpha, and Soren were the only wolves on this island that seemed to trust me. The kids liked playing with me, sure, but that didn't really count as trust.

I could think about it later. For now I needed to get that light element. I closed my eyes, and focused on it again. I was starting to make progress so I wanted to get my affinity as soon as possible. The excitement of another dragon for me to interact with was slowly overriding any worries I had about the possible problems.