A mile from Eaglemouth village, a black spot could be seen in the sky. It was some kind of airborne variant of beastmen or a flying monster. However, it was moving with such speed that few would think of it as a beastman.

This was Raven, flying towards Reinburg, where Krouxorth academy stood. Travel by foot would take around a month and travel by carriage would last half a month. But Raven was sure he’d be there by evening.

The road wasn’t long, but took many detours because of the complicated terrain. Raven was holding a map, depicting the path in his hand, while using his wings to sustain flight. Currently, he wasn’t moving, the air current would tear the map.

He had traversed the fourth of the entire road and was over the monster infested Dark Forest, which most travelers feared. It started from 2 miles from Eaglemouth village and ended at a giant lake, which travellers would use ships to travel through. If it didn’t cover most of the road to Reinburg, they wouldn’t have taken such a measure.

This lake was the home to merfolk who were on friendly terms with the locals, which made pirating hard if not impossible. This was one of the perks to befriending them.

That very lake was in sight, and he flew there. He could only open his mouth in awe at the lake. This was beyond anything he has ever seen. His family moved to Middle Asia when he was too young, so he didn’t have the chance to see the ocean. Although he knew that it wasn’t as big as the ocean, Raven couldn’t help but get shocked.

The lake was clear, he could see the bottom. There were exquisite coral buildings, with merfolk continuing their daily lives. He heard that merfolk lived in here, but he didn’t think that they would actually build a city this close to the shore. Without humans to look out from, this would be the case.

He decided to rest his wings for a while before continuing his travel and descended towards the shore. The forest ended a few hundred meters back and there was a plain near the shore. He comfortably sat on the ground and took a water bottle from his ring. He took a drink and refilled it with the water from the lake. As expected, this was a clear water lake.

Without nuclear waste and trash, he doubted it was unclean. Even with the merfolk living there.

He checked the map for the last time and saw that he would have had to take a detour around the forest and then get on a ship from the harbor, which would then send you to another harbor on the other side.

Roar!!!

He heard a roar from behind himself and quickly got on his feet, turning around in the process. Raven saw a tiger. It had red and white instead of the usual orange and white. It was drooling, as if it saw something delicious. It roared once again before jumping at him.

Raven then used [Shock Blade] and hit it with it, while moving to the side. It was futile, its hide didn’t let anything pass. A claw scratched his right arm, but Raven’s scales weren’t anything to laugh at either. He got a light cut, nothing serious. But it ticked him off. Raven used [Shadow Step] to appear behind it, and grabbed it by the neck.

He then launched upwards, at least 50 meters. Raven then plunged downwards, with the beast in his hand. With the momentum of the descent, he hit the ground with the tiger, leaving it crippled if not dead.

This was the type of person Raven was, he would usually be a cheerful person, but when someone or something ticks him off, he would go berserk. Even though he couldn’t be called strong in his past life, he would easily pass as ruthless. And by only being ruthless, he once defeated the school bully, not to mention the prey was a bodybuilder.

Having blown off some steam, he continued with his travel. His speed was around 100 mph, so it took him 3 more hours to reach the shore.

His hometown resided in the mountains of Eagleheart, at the edge. Thus, the climate was close to that of the tundra. But what was before his eyes was a far warmer land, filled with flowers and various plants, contrary to the grass and dirt of the tundra.

Although it was hotter than he used to, his body adapted quickly. Dragons were cold-blooded creatures, so dragonmen were the mixture of warm and cold. By every means, he felt more comfortable in a warmer place.

He could see the city over the horizon, and raised his speed. Although he wasn’t a pure human anymore, he had etiquettes. He wouldn’t trespass on foreign lands without being inspected. About few hundred meters from the city, he descended from the sky and landed near a carriage. He quickly got his robe from inside his ring and put it on. He clenched his wings, to wear it. It didn’t feel comfortable at all, as if you are squatting with your extra pair of hands.

A loud voice came out of the carriage. The carriage itself was a delicate one, likely that of a noble family. There was a crest with the head of a lion, and it was pulled by 4 white horses. The voice was that of a woman “What was the name of the academy again?” She was calm, it seems that his hearing was acting up. When he wasn’t in a city or such, he would usually get sensitive hearing. Maybe this was a self-defense mechanism that his race had.

“Krouxorth Academy, my lady.” said an elderly voice. He was likely the butler. Raven didn’t feel like overhearing their conversation and decided to choose another route, but was stopped when he heard something interesting. “I heard the acceptance rate is 2 out of 100 and only 20 new students are allowed. Even then, half of them are sent back.”

‘Wow, dangerous’ he thought to himself.

He almost jumped back when he heard a voice inside his head. (Hello, I’m back.)

‘What the heck? You just jump out of nowhere after disappearing for 2 years.’

(It’s not that much, I was just visiting the others, they were growing up so I had to feed them some information.)

‘Then you should have done so forever.’

(Then I shouldn’t tell you that another one of them is in that carriage next to you.)

‘Well, you just did. And what do you mean that she’s one of them? Aren’t I supposed to be the first to grow up?’

(Oh, did I say that? Teehee, did I tell you that you were the last of the 10? I guess so, the others were sent here before you and she’s the first one.)

‘So you mean you’ve been doing it for years.’

(There’s a time difference between heaven and the mortal worlds. The mortal world would be roughly 105’120 times faster, meaning one hour is 12 years in here.)

‘Wait, that doesn’t add up, how can you even do that for 9 people in 1 hour, I think I took at least 3 hours?’

(Time distortion, my child. The room where you were slows time down with a ratio of 1:50, I had enough time to spare, actually.)

‘You are really scatter-brained excuse of a goddess.’

(Bye, bye, I’m gonna tell her now, so be close, kay?)

…

A few minutes later. “What!!!” this time, the woman was actually loud. “I’m the first one, right? How is the last one even here? He should be a baby.”

An awkward pause occurred and she continued “Fine, if you say so.” Coincidentally, she was on good terms with the goddess and the butler didn’t seem to mind, which means he knows.

The door swung open and a beauty was revealed. She had blue hair and matching eyes. She gave off a cold beauty type of aura, but her fiery temper was misplaced, or Raven thought so.

“Are you him?” she asked.

“Maybe.” he said, and revealed the mark.

“Come in.” she was acting all cool and noble, as if the conversation with the goddess didn’t even occur.

The awkward silence returned when he entered the carriage and sat. He was sitting next to the butler, and opposite to the girl.

Raven was currently wearing a robe, so he didn’t reveal his dragonic features. Even when revealing the mark, he had covered his hand with his sleeve and showed her only his neck.

“Can you stop the carriage and leave the room for a while, Patrick. And I won’t forgive eavesdropping.” she said as the butler left without a word. Soon, the carriage stopped. “So, what race did you choose?” she asked.

He showed her his hands and answered “Dragonman.”

“Wait, there was a race like that?” she was clearly shocked.

“It’s a variant of beastman, and isn’t it proper manners to introduce yourself before asking something? Or does this world lack it?”

“Oh, that’s right. I am the third daughter of the Lionheard family, Liliana Lionheard.”

“I am Raven Cangard, a dragonman.” he said.

“Cangard? You’re from that family?” It was Raven’s turn to be shocked. He didn’t know that his family name was a big deal.

“I think you’re mistaken.”

“Maybe so, you have black scales, after all.” she said.

“Do they have blue scales?” he asked, just to make sure.

“Yes, and they are known as the Blue Reapers in the South. Their leading Primus branch’s direct descendants have blue scales.”

“Oh, is that so? I guess I’m from a branch family then.” he said. Raven didn’t know if it was beneficial for him to let others know of his background. It might protect him from others, or it might even provoke them even more, he couldn’t be sure.

“If my memory serves well, you’re from the Quintus branch. Their trademark is their black scales. But it no longer exists and were scattered. Maybe you’re one of them.”

“Oh my, you’re quite knowledgeable.” he fed her ego.

“What would you expect from a 16 year old?”

It seems the goddess told her about his age. “So, let’s get to know each other a little.” said Raven.

…

The conversation lasted for about an hour, and by then, she motioned for her carriage to move, and the butler was together with the coachman.

During this time, he had learned quite a bit of information. He didn’t probe for more information about the Quintus branch, as she might suspect something.

Lionheard family was from the South, and was quite a wealthy one at that. They had their personal army, a thousand troops. It was a small kingdom of sorts. Cangard family seems to dominate the south, and was the royal family of the Eclair Kingdom.

As for the world state, it was in an uneasy peace, much like the cold war. Ever since Kuruth Kingdom appeared, all the kingdoms slowly grew their military prowess. The vampire kingdom might be the reason for a war, it seems.

Liliana and Raven were both teenagers in their last lives, so they became something like friends, but most people would see them as couples.

The city guards checked for criminals, which used a liquid. They would prick their finger with a needle and let the blood mix with the liquid. If it turned green, they were fine, but if it turned red, they would be arrested. He didn’t know how it worked and Liliana told him to just let it go. Old common sense is dead anyways.

They also collected an entry fee of 5 silvers and gave them an ID card. Raven had 20 silver coins but she insisted that she pay them, so he let her. He was short on money anyways.

100 copper equals 1 silver and 100 silver equals 1 gold, quite simple. The city was getting quieter as night approached. The sun had already set during their chat.

A city was entirely different from a village. It was at least 4 times the size of his hometown and the buildings were taller, quite logical, as to save space. They had a wall, so it was common sense to save the little space inside it. Farm fields were outside the city so the poor lived outside, the middle-class lived around the edges and the rich lived around the center. As they neared the center, the buildings got shorter and shorter, resembling Victorian age houses.

Thanks to Raven’s newfound friend, he was going to stay in a high-class hotel, a luxury he didn’t have even during his old lifetime. Asia was quite lacking in the hotel industry, at least where he lived.

They finally stopped at a building taller than the others, and entered. It was luxurious inside, as suggested by the outer appearance. There was a red carpet on the ground with golden linings, and there was a counter at the side.

“May I ask lady’s name?” asked the hotel personnel.

“Liliana Lionheard, there should be a room for one.” she said in a cold tone, which seems to be her outer layer. During their chat, she was just like any girl you would find in his old world.

“But of course, please follow me.” he said and led them to their room. It was on the third floor, on each floor were only 2 rooms, one on each side. A narrow corridor ran through their middle.

The attendant opened the door and handed the key to Liliana politely, and left. Raven was shocked. This was a room that even royalty wouldn’t mind staying in.

It was spacious and had delicate furniture, he felt like they were sparkling. He stood at the door, clearly shocked, but was brought back to the material world by the girl entering the room.

Now that he saw her, she was wearing a blue and white dress. He hadn’t noticed it before because he was too focused on their conversation and her face, mostly the latter.

There was a master-sized bed, a big sofa, a CV, a wardrobe, a table with a mirror for mostly make-up and a dinner table. Although there was too much furniture, it didn’t look crowded.

“So, are noble houses like this?” he asked.

“No.”

“I thought so.”

“These are too cheap compared to the furniture in our house.” she said and Raven almost fell to the ground from shock, but quickly recovered.

“Now that I think about it, where are your servants?” Raven asked.

“They’ll stay somewhere else.” she said with a straight face.

“Aren’t they worried about you?”

“I’m a mage with 4 talents. Do you think I’m helpless?”

“Well, that was a mistake on my part, sorry.” he said. Raven had already told her about his talents except his [Body Modification], so she knew about him too. They had exchanged most of their information, but nothing of their old world except their age and gender. Her talents were quite extraordinary; it seems that she sat for a while. They were: [Ice], [Summoning], [Darkness] and [Gravity]. She might have wanted to roleplay the Demon Queen in this life.

There was a knock on the door and an attendant brought in the dinner. It was high-class food, for one. So he excused himself to the one his mother made him. Night quickly came as they chatted about various things and they went to sleep.