“Brother! What was that?” Asked Ynos as he stared at me with shining eyes.

“Cosmic mana,” I answered with a smile to which Immy nodded in understanding.

“Big brother, your scales color is a little bit different too,” Noted Essie, as she glanced at the faint green vine pattern on my sides.

To that, I nodded before replying, ”That change occurred after I gained initial control over Earth mana,”

Hearing that, Ynos was the most surprised one as his eyes lit up in understanding before he spoke, “No wonder I sensed the familiar mana surrounding you, but I didn’t pay too much heed to It!”

“Brother, you gained control over Earth mana as well?!” Sidus who was silent all this while couldn’t help but blurt out, while Immy who was by his side looked at me In wonder.

I glanced at the collapsed figure of the three young dragons and the unconscious, wingless Ember, before speaking, “Let’s talk on the way, we are done here,” Saying that, I instantly launched myself to the sky leaving a small crater on the ground.

Essie was right behind, followed by Immy, Sidus, and finally, Ynos who couldn’t help but glance back at his defeated opponents, a satisfied expression on his face. “So, when did you gain affinity with Earth mana?” He asked as he flew closer to me.

Sidus and Immy couldn’t help but draw closer as well, curious to hear my reply, while Essie on the other hand settled on her usual spot on top of my head, waiting for me to speak.

“Well, It all started when I met our Grandmother...”

***

By the time we landed back outside of our cave, all of my siblings had different expressions on their faces after hearing my story. Ynos was most excited when he learned that some of the Gods were huge giants, he constantly expressed his desire in fighting some of them.

Essie’s eyes were wide open when I talked about the delicacies grandmother had me eat and the colorful plains. Sidus on the other hand was interested in the fruit of the Tree Goddess, as he took the initiative to ask me if he could gain Earth mana affinity with it as well.

Since I wasn’t sure about that myself, I refrained from confirming nor denying, and simply said that it would be best if he checks himself. When It came to Immy, she was the most composed one out of all of them, as she simply listened to everything with a curious expression, most of her interest was drawn to grandmother and her strange shape-shifting magic.

Once inside the cave, I habitually glanced around only to find it empty. Father and mother were still nowhere to be seen. Ynos yawned and slowly made his way towards the small pyramid of fairy skulls on his corner, he seemed to admire his handiwork for a few seconds before he nodded in satisfaction and laid down to rest.

Immy didn’t enter and instead curled up around the entrance where she basked under the sun. I glanced at Essie who still seemed to be a bit hesitant to take to the sky after what happened, after a few seconds of hesitation she sheepishly ran out to lay down next to Immy who didn’t mind.

Sidus eyes on the other hand kept darting around as he kept sneaking peeks at me, as if he was hesitant to say what’s on his mind. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

Hearing my question, he paused for a few seconds before seemingly making up his mind as he replied. “I need your help...” Hearing that, I raised my non-existent brows in surprise as I motioned for him to continue.

His eyes glanced at Ynos who already closed his eyes and was fast asleep and then back towards the entrance where Immy and Essie were laying down, before he slowly walked towards the deeper ends of the cave, ushering me to follow.

My eyes were unconsciously drawn to a few drawings on the cave wall, they depicted a black dragon fighting strangely familiar obsidian monsters. The first thought that crossed my mind was that the dragon looked strangely similar to Sidus before I realized that the drawings took over the entirety of the wall on my right, with various parts of It scratched off, while some of the monsters had an ‘X’ mark around them, others still had a circle.

“This-” I subconsciously muttered before glancing at Sidus who nodded at me.

“Not too far east from our cave, past the grey mountain range, I came across a particular large chasm in the ground,” He said.

I nodded carefully waiting for him to continue, “Something there was calling for me, still, I didn't dare rashly enter and so I came back. After a few days, I still found myself drawn back to that chasm, I even had a dream of an ancient black dragon calling me,” He took a deep breath before continuing.

“After some preparations, I decided to go visit during the night when my magic is at its peak. There I encountered a few of those tainted monsters, most of them lacked any distinctive features. Some were humanoid in shape while others appeared to belong to formal animals, I can’t be too sure,” He shook his head.

“You mean, the drawings here,” I said motioning towards the walls with my head.

Nodding, Sidus continued, “Yes, I tried to record what I encountered, the dangerous places, the strong monsters, the ones I have already taken care of, and the ones still left,”

Saying that he slowly walked towards the wall and tapped at the middle part with his tail where a strange monster was drawn, “This is the strongest tainted monster I encountered, and even with my strength, I couldn’t do much against him and could only retreat,” He said with a solemn tone.

I didn’t say anything and instead walked over to study the drawing of the monster. It had four huge shadowy wings that, his legs appeared to be that of a goat, but I couldn’t be too sure since the drawing was not too perfect, the monster’s head was hazy as If it was a simple blob of darkness, It didn’t seem to be connected to Its torso and instead was floating right above it. The strange part was that It had no hands nor arms.

Turning my attention back to Sidus I asked in curiosity, “And why didn’t you mention this to the others?”

Shaking his head, Sidus replied in a serious tone. “It’s too dangerous for them, especially with their mana affinities...”