«That's because you recognised me.» Rather than denying it, Sensei began to make excuses like the shameless bastard that he was, effectively turning it around on me.

«I just thought it would help you be more calm if we interacted like we used to. To restore a semblance of normalcy after what you've been through.»

What nonsense! As if he cared.

«I didn't think you would actually stick to it for so long!» He continued and had the audacity to chuckle. «You're surprisingly naïve in that way.»

Naïve?

Was he trying to piss me off now?

"Look here, you insensitive jerk, I haven't forgotten your real name." I snapped at him angrily. "I just disrespect you like that but if you are going to insult me, then I will start calling you-"

«It's too late for that now.» Sensei interrupted me before I could call him by his name.

This bastard was too shameless, he did not deserve to be called Sensei.

But then, Sylrin, who had been waiting for praise, ran out of patience and swiped at me with his wing claws before rolling over with his back facing me, like a little kid.

This irritable lizard!

I didn't mean to ignore him, but he was already curled up into a defensive ball, seemingly angry with me.

I quickly tuned Sensei out of my mind and looked over at the big baby of a lizard.

Sylrin was too cute when he sulked, and I slithered over his scorching back scales to stare at his face.

His eyes were drooping, and he seemed to be falling asleep. I nudged his head to try and wake him, but his large wings once again draped over me like a heated blanket, and soon, I too began to stifle a yawn.

"Why is he so tired?" I wondered. "Don't tell me he wasn't eating enough?"

«As large as he's gotten, he's still a young drake.» Sensei revealed. «He needs all the rest he can get to keep growing. Having restrictions like those you placed on him isn't exactly helping.»

Was I wrong then? I examined the sleeping lizard once more.

If he was only a young drake now, did that mean he was going to get even bigger?

And so was eating mortals the answer?

From seeing nearly every stage of a Hesperia's evolution, I'd already begun to form a picture of it, enough to predict my own as well as those of others – with plenty of room for error, of course.

It wasn't accurate at all, but I summarised it to something like this.

LV1 worker grunt – LV12 evolved grunt – LV31 scary wasp – LV 42 Queen wasp – everything above that was a mystery.

Sylrin's probably went something like that, with some differences.

Baby drake – Medium drake – Large drake – ??? – Dragon maybe?

I sighed.

Everything was far more confusing without [Appraisal].

Mine likely followed the lizards closely, because with every evolution we surpassed each other in size. I guessed if I was to evolve again, I would be much larger than he was right now.

Hmm…that would be a little scary, but oh well, I was eager to regain my height advantage anyway. I still needed more information about evolution – If only I could get my fangs on some kind of monster encyclopaedia of sorts.

Sylrin rolled over in his sleep, a wreath of flame flaring from his mouth as he yawned, and the pleasant atmosphere was soon replaced by uncomfortable heat.

Aww.

I suppose he was very cute while he slept, but this heat would not do!

I stopped analysing him and put out the flames around me. Sylrin's fire was diffused while my poison evaporated in a green cloud, leaving the ground dry.

I was feeling tired anyway, so I decided to curl up next to him for a while.

However, it wasn't long after that I began to sense some irregular movements outside.

The vibrations were unlike those of a creature. They were muffled like something was sneaking around, multiple things in fact.

I perked up and pushed Sylrin's outstretched wing behind my head so I could hear the shuffling better, targeting [Heat Sense] like an arrow beyond the cave entrance.

My heat sense picked up three glowing figures hiding in the bushes outside the cave – and one more behind the stream.

Mortals!

What were they doing here?

The figures were clunky in shape, glowing in blue with cold where they donned helmets and chest plates, but their arms and legs that were exposed were red with heat.

They must've come here for Sylrin!

Were they here to kill him as revenge for the one he killed?

I got angry with just the thought of them hurting him, but a part of me hesitated because they looked human.

But I quickly shook off those thoughts, showing them any sympathy would put me and those I care about in grave danger.

I looked over at Sylrin and saw him wide awake, staring intently at the entrance. He then got up, stretched his wings, and rushed out of the cave with an excited roar.

This idiot! What happened to stealth and subtlety?

With no choice, I quickly activated [Shadow Shroud] and chased after him.

Once outside, I saw the shadow figures carrying swords as well as daggers on their waist. I recognise some of the mortals from the elf's hunting party, however there were no elves among them.

Had they separated from the group to attack Sylrin?

The smoke from Sylrin's cave was dispersing outside, which gave me near invisibility with the combination of [Shadow Shroud], so I took off into the trees towards the mortals, circling around to get a better look.

They seemed like soldiers, dressed in light armour, but there was a certain bedraggled air about them that made them look like stealthy thieves.

Each figure was decked in leather armour that was dirty and worn out, with no chainmail, but they bore shiny breast plates along with large shields equally as wide as they were tall.

Peculiar.

It was truly a mishmash of armour and apart from their brilliant shield, they looked no better than mercenaries.

However, there was an exception.

In their middle, stood another soldier with blonde hair, but was completely clad in heavy armour that shone a brilliant silver, a clear indicator of him being the one in command.

I perched on a nearby tree branch after failing to find any trace of Sylrin around, and turned my attention on the soldiers below who were straining their heads high to focus on the trees across from me.

Soon, I heard a loud roar echoing in the silent darkness and then there was a bright spark, before a long plume of violet flame shot down from the trees, onto the soldiers.

They immediately planted their shields in the ground and hunkered down firmly behind them for protection. But the fire continuously blazed onto them with force, lighting up the ground around them in purple fire.

The shrubs were incinerated, the stream hissed wherever the flames touched, and the ground quickly transformed to scorching sands that created more toxic smoke that made my eyes burn.

In the deafening deluge that ensued, I found Sylrin's frightening figure above the trees, a good distance away from me.

There was no way anything could have survived that. Aside from the continuous hiss of flames there was no other sound and the smoke improved my camouflage greatly.

But in the aftermath of his flames, I couldn't help wondering as the smothering air was strangely devoid of any screams.

I looked down at the river of flames where the soldiers once stood and flapped my wings over the flames to clear the smoke a little.

To my shock, I saw the mortals alive and unharmed behind their shields. Sylrin's roar had been countered and their glistening shields did not bear a single trace of fire damage on them.

Within the flames, some were chugging down potions, while others had their swords drawn, as the blond haired commander stood behind them, chanting something under his breath.

And one soldier in front had a harness riddled with tough black chains while he held a dagger firmly in his grip as he stared at Sylrin with a sinister look in his eyes.

I exploded with anger as I realized what they were planning to do with that.

But before I could react, the blond haired commander let out a harsh cry and a barrage of arrows shot out from within the flames as the soldiers readied their bows, all aimed at Sylrin's illuminated figure.

No!

I rushed down to stop them, but the arrows were already set loose and soon I heard Sylrin cry out.

The deluge of flames ceased at once. The surroundings instantly drowned in darkness and I felt the fury rise up in me like a poisonous bile.

With anger, worry and regret dictating my actions, I unhesitatingly spread out my [Shadow Shroud] to cover the whole area, rendering all the soldiers blind in an instant.

The blonde commander was stunned, and he stopped chanting to look around in confusion with blank eyes. The soldiers were no different. They had come prepared for Sylrin, but facing another monster on the same level probably was not in their plans.

But unperturbed about the new circumstances, the blonde commander resumed his chant, the words resonating with a different tone this time.

I didn't pay them any more attention either and flew over to find Sylrin, quickly scanning the base of the trees for where I figured he would have fallen.

However, I found nothing.

In my anger, I thought of how easy it would be to behead them all with a darkness blade, but amidst all this, I was more worried about the dumb lizard's condition.

But as I made up my mind to attack them, I heard a roar from somewhere and a blaze of fire shot out at the soldiers from behind their shields.

They were still stuck in my shadow and while under its effect they did not hear his roar, or see the pillar of flame rushing towards them.

Before they could react, every soldiers was covered in a sticky flame that melted their skin and hair together with their leathers, wrapping them in flames from their helmets down to their boots.