Author notes: Everything before this could be considered the prologue arc. This chapter is a new arc

-Several years later-

-Ria Pov- [(author note) Similar to previous version Sera name will be ria now]

As the days turned to months transitioning into years I didn’t feel much as time continued to go by. With no memories or anything I can remember that I could possibly be attached to I didn’t mind living in a cave like this. Once in a while when I’m quiet enough some animals might wonder into my home, during such rare moments I get to savour the taste of meat. I gave up trying to hunt due to my sheer size most animals ran away as soon as they hear or see any signs of me coming. Occasionally I would see a daema wondering into my cave rather than a animal. However there wasn’t much difference in how effortlessly I could kill any which does wander in.

This lifestyle is fun in a sense being able to live so carefree in a way. Nevertheless as days pass I start to get more curious of how towns and kingdoms look like. Also what was I like before I lost my memories, is something that I will always ask myself. Do I have parents siblings anybody close with me. Also as the days past I get more used to my abilities controlling it much better than I ever could initially. Yet with each passing day my curiosity on what the outside world is like grew.

On a day like any other to my surprise a group of humans somehow ventured into the area which I had somehow considered my territory at this point cause of how long I have been staying here. I could somehow sense the area around my territory by releasing my mana around the area. When anything touches my mana I would be able to sense it. Unfortunately releasing my mana creates a dense layer of black fog. I could see just fine in it but various creatures were unable to do so.

The area I covered was just enough for the maximum distance I could see with my eyes. That was how I could see the party of humanoid creatures which entered my territory. I wonder what they were doing here. I continued to observe them from my cave deeper in the forest.

After some time I wondered if I could follow them into a town. It shouldn’t be too hard to follow them without them being aware of my presence. It would still be impossible to go into any town with my current appearance though. Maybe I could try to transform into a human. I have never tried it but maybe if I could. With that in mind I went to my self made lake in the cave and looked at my reflection. I concentrated on a human shape and tried spreading mana through my whole my body.

A burning sensation was felt as I could feel my body slowly shrinking and a sharp pain spread throughout my body as I could hear cracking sounds coming from my body. The pain wasn’t pleasant and was probably more painful than anything I had experienced thus far. After about five minutes the pain subsided enough for me to open my eyes.

I hesitated a little before I finally looked at the lake to see my current appearance. What stared back was a face that looked like a little girl. I was short similar to a child compared to the humans I was viewing earlier. My hair was long enough to reach my waist and it was a pure silver colour. Both my eyes was a golden colour. The one difference between my current form and the humans outside was the presence of a fluffy tail and animal ears on top of my head. The fur was similar to my hair colour. Another huge problem was the fact that there wasn’t a stich of clothing on me. I had expected it but it was still a little embarrassing when I think about it.

I don’t know why but my appearance was somewhat nostalgic almost as if I had seen it before. I was a little surprised the transformation worked since I had tried to transform to various things before but it always failed. I had tried it simply for fun but now that it has worked I don’t intend to let this opportunity go to waste. Well either ways I took the fur I used as a bed when I was a dragon and made it wearable by transforming my nails to claws to cut it. After which I put it on and looked at my reflection for a while before I decided I was ready to leave.

After preparing I went out of my cave and transformed my eyes to see the humans still lost in the fog. I proceeded to climb a tree and travel to them by jumping from tree to tree. It didn’t take too long as I reached the group in a matter of minutes. All that’s left to do is to stalk them until they reach a town of some sort.

From a distance I could see their faces and they seemed worried about something and perhaps and argument of some sort was going on between them. Nevertheless since I stopped releasing mana it was only a matter of time before the fog disappear and than they would be able to find their way out

After some time the fog dissipated enough for them to be able to find a way out. As they manage to leave the area covered with the fog they seemed relived. I on the other hand had to be more vigilant to avoid detection since there was no fog.

-Party POV-

“Finally got out.” A guy wearing heavy armor sigh in relief as they exited the dark fog.

“Its all your fault for suggesting to go in.” A girl wearing a robe like outfit said in annoyance to the heavy armored guy.

“Well more importantly we are still lost.” A guy wearing leather armor said to the other 3 people.

“We could be anywhere on the continent. I can’t believe we actually got teleported by a trap due to your carelessness.” The girl said once again directed towards the man wearing the heavy armor.

“Well at least we made it out of the fog in one piece.” A guy wearing a robe similar to the girl said.

“All our hard work to reach the 10th floor gone to waste all because of you stupidity of rushing ahead without thinking.” The girl said in annoyance once again towards the man wearing the heavy armour.

“Oh come on give me a break. Don’t blame it all on me. It was you who suggested to try out a dungeon no one explored before.” The man in heavy armor argued back.

“If anyone sees you guys in your current state it would be hard to believe we are a famous team.” Said the guy in leather while shaking his head while the girl and guy argued.

“More importantly a black fog normally means a powerful daema is releasing its mana to mark its territory. We better get out of here before it comes to attack us.” The robed guy said to the other three.

The guy in heavy armor and the girl both refused to give in and ended up walking as far away form each other as possible.

-Ria POV-

Following them was rather boring since they seemed to have no idea where they were so they had to stop several times to discuss some stuff. During such times I test if I was capable of transforming my body back into a dragon like parts. Covering any part of my body with scales wasn’t that painful but growing horns or wings were rather painful. I decided to not transform back to my dragon form unless I absolutely have to since the pain when I transformed to this form was extremely intense. Logically it should be painful to transform back as well. That and testing that now would obviously be giving the party I’m stalking a tell tale sign I’m here.

As I continue following them I have to wonder why I look like a child. Perhaps for other dragons I look like a child as well in dragon form. I always thought I was at least 16 or so but judging from my current form I appear to be younger than I thought. Since I was unable to transform to any other human no matter how I try I can assume this form is permanent if I try transforming into a human. The tail and ear as well unfortunately. With the tail and ear it was obvious I wasn’t a human maybe I can try hiding it before going into a town. Putting all these thoughts aside I continued to follow the group of human as they departed once again.

(Author note) : I wrote this slower cause of the adventurer part which took a few tries before i got the version above.

As usual i appreciate any and all opinion regarding the series as a whole. I try to listen if there is anything you guys dislike so please feel free to voice your opinion. Lastly a huge Thank you to all my readers :)