Where I was laying, I could see the kid and the wizard clearly. Not only that but I could also hear them perfectly fine as well. If I were a human, I would definitely not be able to hear them this clear since they were not shouting nor talking loud. Still it was just something else which amazed me. I definitely had to say, dragons were something else on the positive side not negative one.
"Ilya, did you eat something wrong?"
HAHAHAHAHAH
I can't believe the first thing he said.
"No! You know that I did that once! Just once!"
"Are you sure?"
"I am!"
"Then where is the dragon?"
"Over there!"
I could tell that the kid was pointing at me but I could also tell that it would be hard to actually spot me up on the tree. It was dense and my scales were also white which for sure would make it hard or not. It was just that my scales didn't have any contrast and I was just happy that this tree could completely cover me. Better safe than sorry!
"You mean by the tree?"
"In the tree not by the tree. You scared the dragon away!"
"I will personally eat my hat if there is one."
Isn't it good that you don't have a hat right now?
Also why can't you just leave it be?
I didn't harm the kid!
"I am telling you!"
After that last sentence, I could hear some footsteps approaching me and I decided to climb the tree up a bit higher. Now, I knew it would make some sound but I was ignoring that. The wizard also heard it and I could see that he was ready to get the kid away if there would be something dangerous there.
Shit!
I can't hide more than this!
Any further and I think the branches won't hold me.
I was already there standing on the edge of a small branch. It was a wonder that it didn't snap or that I was falling down at all. No matter how I would try to hide, the moment he was right there below me, he would see my white scales.
"Come down, please. This is my Sensei, Aneko. He won't do anything to you."
"Ilya?"
"Isn't that right?"
They came closer and closer and I didn't react until they were right there by the tree.
"You stay there! I'll go look. If this is a sick prank from you, I will be disappointed!"
"Just don't scare the dragon more, Sensei."
Is this supposed to be reassuring?
It was finally the time to face it. The man who had very light blue hair was standing right below me and our eyes met. I could tell that he widened for a second before he softly smiled at me and opened up his arms.
"Come down little one."
NO!
Why in the world should I do that?
I am not tired of life yet!
A growl was all I gave the man as an answer. There was definitely no way, I would jump down into his arms as he thought I would. Why else would he open up his arms like that other than saying, jump.
"I am the tower master, Aneko Hermit. I promise by my name that I will not hurt you."
Now that was something more assuring. It was only assuring because I knew the meaning behind a promise on the name. For a swordsman that meant losing their sword aura if they would break that promise. For a wizard it meant losing all access to mana and making them a normal person. Of course the latter would be more devastating. After all, for a wizard, the access to mana was their life. Losing that meant to lose everything they worked so hard for. It was just something I could never imagine happening to anyone.
Wow...
Who would have thought he would do such a promise...
It's rare and I think only one time this was mentioned in the book.
But that was it...
Then again this person seemed quite important.
"Please come down. I would like to see if you are hurt, little friend."
Who did he say, he was again.
Damn, do I really have a memory like a damn lizard or is that just my attention span right now...
AHHHH I want food!
I am hungry!
My stomach grumbled again. This time even the tower master could hear it. In response to it, he started laughing a bit before magically making an apple appear in his hand. Just a moment later he tossed it up to me. Of course I leaped to get it without thinking twice and then landed on the next tree branch.
"If you want more, how about coming down?"
This was a very good trick. I had to give him that. I was really hungry and no matter what he would say to me, everything sounded good right now.
"...roar...."
I made a small roaring sound which sounded more like chirping to be honest before jumping down and gliding above the man's head away from him or the kid. I wanted to play it safe a bit and not jump right into anyones hands.
"Seeing as you can glide, you should be able to fly as well... I wonder why a small dragon like you is all alone...Did you get lost?"
Well kinda...
I was running away and then got lost...
Not as if I could say that.
I just looked at the man as he was slowly approaching me but once again, I backed away. It was only now that he sighed and just nodded for a bit.
"Alright, alright."
"Sensei?"
"We won't come too close to you. Can you follow us for now?"
Follow a stranger, AS IF!
Do you even realize what you are saying?
Who knows what you're gonna do there!
You could want me as an experiment or a guinea pig!
I am nothing like that at all!
"But Sensei! The tower is full of people!"
"Ah that might be a problem if our little friend here is a bit scared of people."
"Can't you just teleport us to a room?"
"I could but that would freak out our small guest here."
Freak out... more like who knows what you all gonna do to me!
You are all freaks!
FREAKS!
They seemed to be debating what to do and I could tell that both of them were quite serious. I was not scared if they would teleport me somewhere but I didn't trust these people and right now, I still had chances to escape. They may not be big but no matter how low they were, I would take them up. On the other hand if they would have teleported me or brought me into the tower, there wasn't really a place where I could easily escape too. I would only get lost for sure.
"Ah I know."
Oh please do tell me!
I get that you promised not to hurt me and that child is too young for that too.... But I am not gonna go anywhere near the tower!
The people in there are secluded people!
Not even the book revealed a lot about them... it was just mentioned a couple of times that the tower owner refused to help the king because.... Ohhh... they refused because they have sworn their loyalty to the dragon by their blood and every magician is bound by that.....
How could I forget something this important?
A snap with his finger and a blanket was put on the ground. It was quite a large one and they were both a bit away from it. The next thing this wizard did was doing some incantations and the small blanket got filled with various types of food as well as fruits and desert. This reminded me of the food from the duchy.
Oh my god...
Where are you even getting all this food?!
Just one or maybe two plates of this meat and some fruits are enough for me....
I think....
Ah, I am not the second coming of glutony, so it should be fine.
"Here you go."
"Sensei, what did you do right now?"
"I teleported some stuff over."
"Can I try this too?"
"Not right now. You don't have the best control over mana and this is a high intermediate spell."
"It's soo cool!"
You mean handy!
Just imagine you lost your sword and baam it is in your hand...
I would have killed to have this skill in my previous life... how many times I searched for my phone or my keys... I really would have needed this skill.
"It may be like this but only a couple of wizards could ever use this."
"So it's really hard to learn?"
"It is but if you have a talent for dimensional magic this much will be easy for you one day."
I knew that it was stupid and I shouldn't eat what a strange man prepared for me but didn't tell me what to do. I was starving just a bit and I was really hungry. To top that off, I was really just trusting my instincts and my nose and none of them told me that something was wrong with the food. So inevitably, I was laying there on the ground eating some of the food until I felt full.
"...roar..."
"Glad you liked it."
"Sensei, can you understand the dragon?"
"Unfortunately not.. .But you can see it. The joy the dragon had while eating."
"Oh, I get it now."
"Now then let's see if you are hurt anywhere.... Can you open up your wings for me."
There was no harm in doing that and while he was a bit away from me, he was using some kind of magic to assess my situation. I felt the mana shift around me but it was nothing dangerous at all. If anything this felt like a tickling sensation and really really warm as well.
"You seem all healthy!.... Then why are you alone here...."