White Flower, Black Feather

Surface

Miriam screamed with every cell of her body, with every memory she had, with every emotion that lived in her soul

And the ground answered back, making the surrounding trees coat themselves in their barriers like many times before, as a defense from the quake that started…

That scream was loud without causing damage to those that heard it, but it was heard beyond the forest, beyond the plains, beyond the coasts…

The nameless world was getting a new Dragon… and as the jewel in her chest melted and reshaped, the whole world heard her pain…

“Oh crap!” and one of those whispers became a clear, yet rough-sounding voice…

As if there was a pile of gravel grinding those sounds as the individual pieces collided against each other, right next to her…

That started to laugh the moment her jaw closed shut-

SLAM!!!

Before Miriam sunk her fingers deep into the ground. Immobilizing the ground with that gesture…

“Not the best time to laugh!”

CRACK!!! CRACK!!! CRACK!!!

And suddenly, she was perfectly quiet while her body twitched from underneath her scales, scars, claws, eyes, horns, fangs, feathers, brain, muscles, organs. With a dark radiance threatening to unravel behind all that she was…

The sound of a vibrating crystal, ringed in her mind, making the previously terrified voice gasp

“She can hear us too!” but a male voice spoke next, firm, but not indifferent “Make sure to not overwhelm her with messages. Let’s work on the limitations while De keeps her mind sane”

A billion new cuts…

A trillion new burns…

A new eternity of pain…

With each passing second

“What limit- HOLY SHIT!!!” the voice of a woman turned into the twisted sound of an air-raid siren “SHE GOT ALL OF THEM?!!!”

“Focus!!!” a voice identical to the rustling trees surrounding her body, came next

Those trees got their barriers sucked into the dark-

“Stop that!!!” but that Command coming from that voice, stopped her from eating too much of the barriers. Still, the trees started to move away from her, ignoring the voice that was ordering them to stop moving like that “Seriously?!!! When did all of you became cowards?!!!” the rustle of the fleeing trees was an answer that Miriam couldn't understand through the pain

Followed by three different vibrating crystals…

“She is just becoming a High Dragon!!!” the exited ever-shifting voice of a singular entity, was a small mystery that was keeping her mind from melting “Why did SHe got all of them?!!!”

Her blood boiled after being deprived of the barriers, with the crimson steam clinging to the radiance that kept pushing out, weaving tightly with those treads, snapping and cutting each other before being weaved again-

“““DE!!!””” before snapping and cutting each other-

“I DON'T KNOW WHAT else TO DO!!!” before being weaved again-

Miriam was pushed down, yet she didn’t moved

There was a sound that wasn't a sound

The ancient sound of a galaxy spinning in the void

Roaring its annoyance

“True, I never do~” the voice changed again to be an eternal ten years old “Miriam! Use your breath attack!!!”

The melting jewel sunk into her body as a maw snapped open becoming a wide funnel held together with bands of black lightning, the glowing core was visible at the end of it, being held with burning threads. The intent of the funnel was obvious: to guide an attack coming from the crystal that…

Despite everything, the jewel was still green

So, in the only conscious decision she could make. Miriam thought of Sunny, not about water, fire, lightning, or venom

Just on the act of growing something

Making a torrent of green plasma fire from the core and hit the ground

With the oddly silent impact of her Nature Magic, causing a literal wave of dirt that the trees struggled to contain as she started to sink, loudly pushing more of that dirt away. The trees, also were pushed away with it from the impact zone

The ever shifting laughter that answered her attack, intensified as an untold amount of plants started to grow from the glow of the attack…

Stopping the fleeing trees when it broke the barriers they made, making moss grow on them as the trees started to grow taller, with their roots going deeper into the ground

“What…?”

Her attack was still ongoing, slowly expanding the hole and the glow further, until the three crystalline sounds happened again

“Sto-!!!” but it was too late

A burst of what had the appearance of water, broke off the ground underneath her interrupting her attack, swallowing and making her sink far faster, than what she would have

The unraveling threads tried to absorb that dark water at first-

“Miriam get out of there!”

But merely trying that for a moment, made that radiance flinch and pull back in instinctual fear, ceding control of the situation to anything else, just to avoid that… familiar feeling…

That was trying to rip it off…

“Miriam swim up!” another Command was made…

And in comparison, it was easily ignored, making the pain that was still wrecking her body intensify

“Staying there will erase you! Get up!” and a third one was ignored soon after, while she sunk deeper, as her body still kept trying to weave itself together…

Fighting the deep, dark, and still ocean she fell in, while it kept pulling and threatened to unravel her…

The whispers became that once more…

Buzz

But a small, closer, sound, managed to reach her… even if Sunny’s roots couldn't go as deep. She had been as close as Miriam to the surface of that ocean before

Miriam looked up, seeing the small light of the sunset peeking from the opening she made… not really capable of illuminating much of the vast, dark, space she was in…

She struggled with her emotions one moment more, but she pushed up with her whole body, towards the only way out that existed, stopping her descent, soon adding her wings to the effort to go back out

Not realizing that her weapons fell and sunk

SPLASH!!!

She emerged silently and nearly instantly despite the distance: once she stopped wishing for her death, going back out was easy, but her body coughed a lot of the water that had gotten inside her as it chased the radiance

“Get away from that pond!” and her pained body had no ability to resist that Command coming from her voice, that now instead of terrified, sounded angry. She started moving…

“Aufi, chill… it’s not the first time she nearly gives up…” and while the ever-shifting voice and the rest of the whispers turned against each other in a heated discussion she couldn't hear most of it, she kept moving “This time it’s… kinda important to not scream at her…? Call me crazy, just a hunch…”

With only the Trickster giving her some information, that she couldn't focus on…

Nearly getting out of the area with the newly moss-covered trees, while her body finished sliding out of the pond, before something clicked-

‘Ugh…’ and her whole body collapsed against the plant covered ground, with no evidence of the wave of dirt she had caused before

As her eyes grew irritated and her body squeezed together, the deeps vanished, leaving behind a surprisingly shallow, yet wide, pool of glowing water

‘Ugh…’ there was a rumble in her throat as she managed to finally inhale, since she didn’t knew how long, and exhaled what seemed to be far too much mist to be inside her body

That mist coiled and roiled against the ground, ignoring the wind and slowly moving towards, and sink into, the pond

‘Ah…?!’ but she couldn't focus on it, because the irritation became too much for her eyes, and her sight was stolen for a blink

“You can blink now Miriam, try it” he noticed and explained that detail to her, because her whole body was tensing, getting ready for a fight, against something she had forgotten that existed…

She tried it just two times before her eyes remained shut, wishing for sleep or unconsciousness… but neither arrived just yet, as her body still was changing

Just feeling some tears forming in her eyes, but unsure if they were falling, due to the pain and sounds her body made

As she kept waiting for something else to happen, a swarm of wooden ladybugs arrived, and each of them descended to the water, grabbing a sphere of the glowing liquid before flying away in different directions

And eventually, something did happen…

It started as heat gathering at the tip of her “Nose”, then a glowing dot, flashed on the distance, followed by another, and with time she started to see those dots making lines

All of that while her eyes were still closed…

Those lines formed shapes that confused her at first… but slowly started to make sense…

She was “Seeing” the magic inside the trees around her

/////

A few minutes later, after her body stopped twitching constantly-

“Ok! I’m bored now. Come on! At least heard to what I have to say!”

‘Shut up…’ there was a grumble escaping her mouth, and with it she noticed how… different… she felt about her body

Nothing that felt wrong, or made her dysphoric, just… different. This was something she could actually get used to

“I’m sure that even if you don’t want to see the Status, you can take a look at your body” Mordauntless said to her

‘Ugh… did I got the calamity avoided thing…?’ the answer felt obvious, and she heard, and saw with closed eyes, a message appearing, but she couldn't read whatever it said, just see the rectangular shape and a thread connected to her body. It took her a few seconds before she opened an eye

-Yes…-

‘Are you all right…?’

The window closed and she closed her eye too, a bit overwhelmed by how her Magic Sense overlapped with her sight

“Come on!” with a whinny voice the Trickster sounding right against her brain, the fingers of her right hand started to tap the ground repeatedly

‘Wha-?!’ she wasn't the one doing it

Which made her look at her hand

‘Ah…’ and she realized how… big, she got… the glow she was making worried her, but she assumed that it was just her new sense, because at that moment, she wasn't using magic…

Miriam was easily fifteen meters long, and now was wider than before, not that she was in the mood to test how fast she was at the time, but she assumed that she got slower after evolving. Her scales, where they weren't scarred, still had the petal shape she was used to and most of those were smooth, while remaining mostly white

At random intervals in her body she could see a few clusters of scales, that had colored edges, in the range of reddish, blacks and greens

Her wings also had a few spots with colored feathers, but compared with the rest of her body, those spots were even rarer, perhaps due to the enlarged size of the things… she didn’t felt like trying to fly either

The only non-random colored parts she could see, at first, were the black bands at an even distance along her body, where the few ridged scales of her body were along her spine. Secondly, the colored plumage on her head and fins, that was still purple

She couldn't see the three red horns she now sported, two at each side of her head, and the central one remaining the same as before. Just like when there were five of them, the horns aimed backwards, and didn’t got in the way of the feathered fins on her head

‘Ah!’ Miriam noticed a lack of sensations on her wings, so, after looking under both of them, she realized that she had lost her weapons ‘…?!’

Freezing once she saw the crystal on her chest as she was raising…

The only thing she could tell for sure, was that it now had a circular shape

‘Ugh…’ it was so “Bright” that it should have hurt to look at, but she knew that it wasn't supposed to affect her sight ‘What color it is?’

-Green…-

“Kinda…? It looks funny”

Miriam moved her neck to look at it from a different angle, and “Saw” that the insides of it were like a maelstrom of chaos that she couldn't confirm if it was moving or not, she just could tell that it was flat against her body, surrounded by black scales

With a grumble she shook her head softly and looked back to the direction of the pond… that was twice her size from one side to the other and had many plants growing inside it

‘Did they fell in…?’ she started to move towards it…

“Seems that way…” he answered

‘Then, they are go-?!’ Miriam flinched away once she saw the pond become an opening to that “Ocean under the world” once more…

Moving away from it, restored the peaceful appearance it had finally letting her notice the ladybugs working to gather water from it…

‘This world… is empty…?’

“Nah~ if you start digging, you eventually are going to make lava~” the sudden turn into a male voice attempting to make a seductive tone, made her squirm in disgust, before her right hand shook again “Now, let me explain things so what you saw makes sense… or do you prefer a ‘Nail~’?”

The Trickster asked that while making the gesture of holding a gun that aimed at her head

“De!”

Slap!

““Ow!”” and Miriam felt an impact to the back of her head, that made her turn around to look at the source of the attack while growling…

At the same time the Trickster laughed loudly…

“Sorry Miriam… I forgot how that connection worked…” the woman, the First Mother, sounded mortified

‘It’s… it’s fine, I just got surprised because it pierced my Pain Resistance…’ she shook her head ‘Ugh’ which made her dizzy due to the Magic surrounding her, and she laid down while looking at her right hand ‘All right… what’s going on?’

One of her claws sunk into the ground and the many plants in front of it moved away, to let a sphere of dirt float up. Half of it fell back into the hole, leaving visible a smooth half-sphere that pointed the flat side to her

“Let’s begin with the origin of the world~” a screen appeared on top of the half-sphere with those same words forming a rainbow arc on top of it

Miriam snorted and started to look away

“Hey!”

“I know how it sounds… but please listen to the explanation…” he spoke in behalf of the Trickster, so she sighed and looked back to the floating thing that was using…

Very little of her magic… but as she focused in the way the half-sphere was floating, her fingers wiggled wildly

“No spoilers!” her hand dashed towards her face “Boop~!” and with a bit of static, the new sense was disable “Ow… good thing this is temporal…”

‘It better be…’ she wasn't used to it yet, but the sudden disappearance of the blue glow on the trees was feeling awfully like dysphoria to her…

“I’m feeling it too! Anyway” her hand pointed to the half-sphere “When a world capable of bearing life is born in the right location, a Primal Soul is also born in its core”

Dirt started to fall from the half-sphere like it was sand, revealing… a simple feminine doll-like shape, with a ridiculously detailed long hair… she could see individual strands of hair made out of dirt, even if the rest was…

So plain…

“A Primal Soul is ridiculously strong, and their first instinct is the stabilization of their outer layer, but they are a little too strong at times” the doll flexed her arms and the surface of her planet wavered, until a crack appeared and her hair frizzled “In that case they make Primordial Gods~” the doll punched the crust from the inside four times in different spots, before she started to fix her hair, while from the punched places a smaller doll-like shape stood up, and started to walk around the crust “Who are weaker, but still strong enough, to do the job”

The Trickster’s voice was just changing genders during the explanation, making it simpler to understand, in comparison to the sounds of glass grinding together, and many other things, that Miriam struggled with

Soon, the Primordial Gods stopped and scratched their bobbing heads

“But when things look fine, and life starts to happen, since a Primordial is too strong to interact with mortals, they make Gods for that job” even smaller doll-like figures fell from their bobbing heads into the crust “And those are the ones that guide and interact with the mortals” at that point it looked like a few grains of sand were circling the smallest figures “WITH ME SO FAR~?”

‘Ugh… yes, I get it…’ the sudden boar-like sound rattled her… but she just tried to be patient

“Good~ now: This world’s Primal Soul was killed”

Miriam flinched as the Primal doll fell to her knees, followed by the Primordial ones, and most of the Gods

Only leaving three of them

As those who fell, sunk and filled the inside of the half-sphere. Making her eyes fill with tears as she remembered the feeling of emptiness coming from that deep, still place…

It wasn't just her feelings causing that: the air, the trees, the smells of the plants she had made a few minutes ago, the darkening sky, the other side of the connection she had with the Trickster…

Everything was mourning

And she only realized it at that moment…

It took her a few minutes to recover, but eventually she looked back at the half-sphere

“We couldn’t do anything to help. We didn’t even realized that this planer existed, until that thing you saw while helping Jess…” her mind instantly remembered the Eyes the Trickster mentioned “Killed whatever did that… I’m not going to go into details…”

‘I don’t want to hear them…’ she shivered, recognizing the crystalline sounds she had heard before

“Good, I don’t have to smack myself then” Miriam tilted her head in annoyance with her fins aimed backwards with ruffled feathers, but the Trickster continued before she could say anything “So far we have managed to help a little, but recovery is slow, or rather: recovery without wiping out all life on the planet, is slow”

Miriam bared her fangs at the half-sphere, she didn’t needed to hear that bit of information…

“Which is why~ dragons are a good thing! They aren't as strong as Gods, but they can actually do a few things a Primordial can do”

‘You… what’s a dragon…?’

“You can remember thermodynamics, but not dragons!?” a baby’s whinny voice boomed “What kind of amnesiac are you!?”

Slap!

““Ow…!””

‘Another…’

“Masochi-!”

Slap!

““Ow…!””

There was a moment of silence that she used to close her eyes and calm down, while the voices became whispers again and communicated with each other for a few seconds

“Let’s continue” Mordauntless spoke next, letting the half-sphere fall, and the plants return to that spot “Dragons can be broadly divided into four types: Fake Dragons, Pseudo-Dragons, High Dragons and True Dragons. The last ones are those that can do the functions of a Primordial, but that doesn’t means the rest aren't strong, or, that they can’t do something that benefits the world”

“In general, they are so strong, that they need several limiters in order to not… make everything try to survive, when one of them rolls in their sleep” the First Mother continued “Due to their abilities, True Dragons have the most limitations of all of them, to the point where… leaving them with a personality of their own is, in a way, a danger to the world, but we never have kept them from having one”

“In your case… well…” who she assumed was the Lady of the Forest spoke next “You have every limitations of a True Dragon, but you are considered a High one… even if your abilities are… quite strong”

Miriam grumbled her annoyance…

‘Will I lose my mind if I become one?’

“There is no reason for us to do that to your mind, nor path to become a True Dragon…”

“Like he said~! But! You are still under the effects of those limits” it took her a while to understand the words coming out of the static before it changed “Like~ for example~ you are never going to be able~ like~ to say anything that we have mentioned today~” to make obnoxious popping sounds every now and then

“And to do other things, like pointless killing. Even if, to you, a particular human deserves death, your limitations will stop your body from doing it, if we believe that the human can still be redeemed”

“But that doesn’t means that you are going to be forced to [Boundary Break] in the middle of a fight between two humans, just to protect a redeemable jerk. Nor that you are going to be forced to watch people try to kill someone you love. You might not be able to kill those people, but that doesn’t makes you, let yourself be killed”

The grumble increased in strength with her anger…

‘The slavers…?’

“This particular group is…” she sounded pained as she spoke “None of them can be redeemed… not anymore…” but the wrath that was under her pain, was contagious…

Miriam felt her aura get released as she stood up, her body trembling with the promise of imminent violence

And glared eastwards…

Her body relaxed after a moment, knowing that she had a new target there… even if it was too far away to pinpoint his location at the moment…

‘All right… I’ll worry about that kind of things later…’ she grumbled again… ‘Why I’m not that bothered by cold…?’ it was getting to the point where she usually started to focus into ignoring the temperature

“One of the perks of being a Dragon with affinity for water. You are still very weak to lightning, tho~”

Slap!

““Ow!””

“What was that one for?!”

“Cut that connection already…” Mordauntless stated “And we aren't supposed to reveal information about affinities just like that…”

“She is going to upgrade the Helper when she opens the Shop! I just revealed that like a minute earlier!”

She froze upon hearing that…

“Upgrading the Helper will knock her out…”

“A MINUTE FOR HER! NOT US~!”

Slap!

““Ow!””

“Cut that already!”

Miriam grumbled again… feeling the urge to roar loudly…

‘I’m not the screeching idiot…’ but shook her head pushing that urge away, before looking at the pond…

Moving towards it, ignoring the feeling of dread that grew inside her… as she looked to the deep opening that formed for her, she realized another thing that made her uneasy

When she could see the opening to the ocean, she stopped perceiving the magic in the water. It was completely still and barren…

‘Color of my eyes…?’ it also didn’t gave any reflection

-Green…-

She nodded…

And placed her claws around the core in her chest, not feeling anything else trying to stop her… just how everything went completely silent… Miriam knew what would happen if she removed it, and just like the Commands she got while sinking, that choice was hers to make…

Those limits weren't absolute…

After a sigh, and acting by pure instinct, she pulled her hand away, before using a claw to make a single drop of her blood, fall on the edge of the ground and the water

Where a plant grew and bloomed three flowers immediately, without her using any of her magic…

‘Ah…?’ the ethereal quality of the petals of the otherwise familiar flower, surprised her…

“Oh~ you are still unpredictable~” the Trickster laughed loudly

Before it sounded like someone was gagging and pulling the fake-sounding voice away… thankfully, Miriam didn’t felt anything when that happened

‘I’m not going to ask…’ she looked at the giggling plant ‘Are you all right? Is this a problem…?’ she also asked if the plant wanted a name

But the plant said that a name would be a negative thing for him, and that everything was perfect

With that, Miriam nodded and moved away from the pool until she reached the point were the opening vanished… leaving the plant waving at her

Vanishing from sight at moments, just to reappear at the next one

“Fascinating…” he was the one that spoke next…

‘Do I want to know…?’

“Let’s just say that you made our work a lot easier~” with the excited voice of the Lady following “Oh~ I can’t wait for you and Br-?!!!” but she also was dragged away…

‘…’ perhaps more violently than the Trickster was…

“You don’t want to know…” he groaned “Sorry about… everything, that’s coming your way…”

‘I’m… don’t worry… I’m getting used to it… I just didn’t expected my next job to be like this…’

Miriam sighed, feeling euphoria bubbling inside her, as it actually sounded like a sigh instead of a hiss

“Then” his voice sounded amused as he spoke “We’ll do our best so we don’t become a black company”

‘A what?’

“Don't worry about it. It’s a term from a different place than… where you were before”

She noticed how he seemed to be avoiding the name of the world…

‘Can I ask… about Max and Jess…?’ but she couldn't stop herself from asking that…

Feeling a pressure against her aura… followed by the sound that wasn't a sound… that felt like a galaxy sighing…?

“Your siblings miss you…” he started “But don’t worry about them, a lawyer got them a good thing, and are capable of moving away from them soon”

‘Oh…!’ the relief she felt almost made her faint right there… ‘That’s… good…’

Rest was something she could start to feel the need for…

‘Status’ but she had to do something first

She wanted to scream…

‘Did I lost Berserker?!’ with happiness…

-No…-

But as Draconic Judgment glowed, revealing where that Trait had gone to, she just grumbled…

‘Hmm…?’ no trembling, no uncontrollable rage, no violent urges. She wanted to scream, she was angry ‘Finally…’ but she was in control of her emotions, which let her relax…

Her aura didn’t felt innately like a death threat either… and the smell of blood that impregnated it was gone…

Until she got into combat, but she didn’t knew that yet…

‘All right, why a lot of those don’t have levels, or the lines, now?’

“Too many stonks to measure~” the Trickster’s voice came back while being followed by a spring bouncing on the ground “You just have to trust that it’s good~” which made the voice come to her head as if the one speaking was bouncing around her…

‘Hmm… where is the… Eater? And what happened to Absorb and my species…?’

Ouroboros glowed next… but the screen that used to appear every time she mentioned it, didn’t appeared…

She just heard three crystalline chimes again

“Absorb seems to have… used everything it had in the evolution” her words made Miriam look at her tail with worry, but she didn’t found a Stinger on it before the First Mother continued “In the sense of using its contents as fuel. It might appear again once you eat other creatures”

“And every High Dragon and above are Unique, which means that the section became redundant, as it’s the same as your name” a quick attempt to enter her name, gave her the message telling her to reach the Level Cap first “So, we’ll need to wait until you reach your Level Cap, to see if you can evolve again, because Dragons are generally an endpoint in evolution” he continued

‘Ah…’ she didn’t knew how to feel about the idea of getting stuck, she was definitively getting worried… but between becoming a Calamity and remaining as she was now…

“B-but there is a chance! Don’t lose hope!” the Lady came back too, sounding really embarrassed for some reason…

Miriam sighed and shook her head

‘Wasn’t I supposed to not be able to auto-evolve?’ before changing the topic

-Draconian is stronger than auto…-

‘Really…?’ she almost felt disappointed by the answer… but as the message closed ‘EP Shop?’ she decided to see the horrifying prices that were going to-

‘AH?!!!’

“Becoming a Dragon means that your body becomes as powerful as it possible can be” Mordauntless started explaining “Which means that any, and all, EP you gain will be used immediately, in that which is most required at the time”

“Basically~ Absorb went Shopping~♥!”

“The only exception… is the choice that Dragons have of trying to become a deity” she continued ignoring the addition

“Before you ask, just getting that Spark isn't enough. It’s the start to a long and difficult path”

“So~ like~ if your strength is ten thousands! At its cap, and you get the Spark” there was a loud, thunderous sound coming from the southwest… that she wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not… “Then the cap is raised, but your strength becomes ten thousands and one~! Not, infinite~”

Miriam was torn upon hearing all that… and she started to get a headache…

So, she laid on the ground, closed her eyes

‘Get the Free Upgrade…’ and avoided thinking about that while waiting for the pain…

That didn’t arrived…

‘Who… is… the gala…?’

Instead, she fell asleep as her magic sense was coming back, while hearing the Trickster giggling like a baby…

/////

The next thing she knew was that she woke up surrounded by blue wires that took the shape of trees

‘Ah?!’ surprising her to the point of standing and looking around while an annoying laughter surrounded her, until a square of magic appeared… that she couldn't read… ‘Eh…?’ right in front of her…

Miriam opened an eye

-You fucking idiot…-

‘Hey! It has been a while!’ before she remembered to open the other one… ‘How did that bird could stand just seeing like that…?’

-How the fuck I’m supposed to know?!-

She stared at the message, but snorted after a moment

‘Glad to have you here’

-Well! I have a lot to complain about!-

‘And I’m sure every single one is justified…’ Miriam flapped the her feathered fins and shook her head feeling a smile in her voice ‘But first… I should… I’m not that hungry…?’ that feeling made her confused, so she stared at her body, until her eyes started to itch ‘Ugh…’ and forced herself to blink

The trees that weren't covered in moss rustled with mirth

‘Good morning to all of you too…!’ she waved at them, but between a message that was rapidly changing colors, and the non-moving, moss-covered trees ‘Eh… are you all ok?’ she choose to look at the trees first…

Looking up at one of them… I wasn't at all like looking at Sunny, but the immobile plant…

‘Getting… used to… new duties…?’ wasn't silent… ‘Oh… sorry about that…?’

It just… took so… much more… time to… translate them…

‘Oh, good to hear that…?’ she wasn't sure about what the tasks the moss-covered trees spoke of meant, but they were radiating a lot of pride while talking about them…

Great Wisdom

That was the name that came to her mind when she looked at the moss-covered trees, which was new and made her look at the place where she made the plant grow…

He wasn't there… so she waved in that direction, and the plant appeared again as he started to wave at her

Like he had said before, a name would have been a negative for him… but thanks to seeing him vanishing and coming back, she figured out that the other plants she had found and made, were called Holy Blossoms, due to their flowers...

‘Grudge killers…? Nice!’ and marveled at now knowing that fact about them

-Ugh… finally…- the message changed, so her attention was on her Helper -Let’s get this over with, your affinities from birth, in no particular order, are: Earth, Water, Swords (Absolute), Snakes and Healing. Absorb gave you Venom as an affinity when you ate that crystal… but now I wonder if it’s going to change into Toxins… it has eaten a lot of poisons too…-

‘Does that happens often…?’

-Miriam, I call it Anomaly, for many reasons…-

‘Noted. What do you mean by absolute?’ she was so happy to be able to talk like that, that she wasn't bothered by the answers

-It means exactly that. Any sword it’s going to fit in your hand perfectly. Even the ones that should be the exception: Bloodline Swords (Weapons made to be used by a specific family), can be used by you… at 50% effectiveness, but that’s way better than a 0% and you are a Dragon now… honestly? I want to see you fighting people a little too proud of their swords, just to see them getting knock down a peg or two with their own weapons…-

That idea worried her…

‘But that’s hard to figure out, right? I mean… I don’t want those people trying to kill me, because they are scared of me stealing their swords…’ but not for a dislike to the idea of smacking prides…

“Sweetie~ everyone that fights an absolute, knows when they are fighting an absolute~”

Miriam grumbled as the Trickster laughed

-Specially when they share the affinity the absolute has- her Helper continued -Anyway, Ouroboros it’s the Eater combined with your Stamina and your Regeneration. Thanks to the massive amount of magic inside your Magic Core, you are not going to be feeling too hungry out of combat, but not eating is going to slow those two things-

‘Hmm… so… I’m eating myself’ she grumbled again

-In a matter of speaking, yes-

The laughter around was ignored by both of them

‘Going to look for food then-’

-Not yet- she got interrupted before finishing that thought, and the message changed once she read it -You have visitors-

Before she could ask, a hint of color appeared with vibrations from the south, peeking between the blue trees

Red

“Go to the edge of those trees please” the First Mother asked her “They are there just to talk, but get ready to smash some swords on top of his head just in case: he must not go inside the place you entered yesterday” it wasn't a Command

“Neither of them should be able to even see the opening you can, just the pond. What she said is the worst case scenario”

Mordauntless and her started to whisper to each other, but she just nodded to the air and slid south to met whoever had all that red magic…

“It’s less magic than mine…?” she wasn't sure why she knew that, specially without focusing to try to measure her own reserves after evolving

-Practice makes a HUGE difference! Don’t go picking a fight with this guy!-

‘I wasn't going to, and I know… ah?’ Miriam looked back to where she was during the night, but didn’t saw any plant that was bent or crushed ‘Eh…?’

-Benefit of Nature’s Dragon… and of Earth’s Dragon. Now plants aren't affected by your passage unless you deliberately try to affect them and you don’t leave a track while moving on ground or plants… fucking ridiculous…-

A crystalline chime seemed to agree with her Helper…

Miriam blinked hard and read that message again while trying to contain the urge to scream, making the easiest test she could think of: she extended her hands to the sides and made two swords get out

A single look to the ground confirmed the message, the plants had been unaffected and the ground quickly shifted to fill the openings she had caused…

‘I’m happy with this!’ her tail was wagging without her knowledge while she moved to the edge of the moss-covered trees, and stabbed the two swords in the ground…

Eventually noticing how the trees further to the south were moving to let the huge creature pass…

Having a clear picture of the creature due to the vibrating ground, long before she had clear line of sight to-

“Hello~!” the cheerful black haired woman, who was waving while sitting on top of the head of a crimson, six legged, giant salamander-looking, Dragon…

‘Diamond Volcano…?’ she had an odd sense of awareness coming from both of them as she waved back

She finally realized that she was a priestess of the First Mother…

And that he was the First Ruler of Death…

He slowed the moment their auras touched, but since neither felt any kind of hostile intent, he kept walking. Miriam became aware of the effects of his aura as they covered more of the same ground

Heat. That her body appreciated in order to fully wake up

Fear. That wasn't aiming at her, and felt of a similar level to the one she could inflict

And the same Draconic Pressure she had…

This, helped her realize that her Combat Gauge was a component of that last thing, and that her aura now had the effects of the Leadership Trait she got at some point… the exact memory of when that happened was eluding her, but the Ruler getting close enough for her to confirm that her whole body could fit in his mouth

Made her focus on the woman as she spoke

“You have gotten bigger since last time!” she patted her belly while laughing with her icy blue eyes full of mirth “Me too!” it wasn't entirely obvious due to the layers of fur she had on top of her, but once she pointed that detail out

‘With a girl’ Miriam couldn't help but notice that

-Remember to speak-

‘What?’

Before she could get an answer, he opened his mouth and growled-

“Thanks for shutting up the loud one” he growled, but those growls had meaning

“Ah?!” just as the sounds that escaped her mouth, also had meaning “You-?! We can talk?!”

Her “Voice” was a combination of grumbling sounds and hisses of many different pitches, but their meaning was just as clear as his

Miriam’s reaction made him start to growl a laugh-

“She didn’t told you…?” but the gelid tone of that question, froze both of them in place “Oh!” briefly “Someone woke up early~” before she started to rub her belly with a smile

“I evolved, got the final upgrade of the Helper, and fell unconscious until little time ago!” she hissed quickly while she was distracted with her unborn daughter

“Ah~ all right then~”

Surely, the whispered “Thank you” in her mind, was just an hallucination due to lack of food…

“Oh! Before I forget: I’m Hanna, and like he said, thanks for shutting him up” she smiled while pointing with her thumb over her shoulder in the bat’s general direction “But if in the next few years, he starts doing that again…” she placed both hands on her belly, and smiled “Could you…?”

“Yes!” she made other twenty swords appear around her “After the slavers I, Miriam, will go and finish him off!” Hanna giggled at what she said

“No~ No~ I really… wait” before tilting her head “Slavers…?”

Something glowed near her neck at the same time the trees rustled around the three of them. She also could hear the First Mother hurriedly whispering something…

“I could have helped!” she sounded annoyed by the short explanation provided

“Hanna…” the frustrated groan of the First Mother, made Miriam wince… as the woman grabbed her necklace

“Before I knew about my baby…” she didn’t quite glared at the wooden ring, but she did looked annoyed

-When that ring glows, is that she can receive messages from the trees, and the kind of messages you used to get-

She thanked her Helper mentally, trying to ignore the “Whispers” she could hear in her mind…

“Whatever!” until Hanna huffed and pulled out a fruit from inside the layers she had, and started to eat it while looking quite annoyed

Miriam quickly met eyes with the other Dragon, but he seemed more interested in looking at the moss nearby, than in acknowledging the woman that he had on top of his head…

“Anyway” Hanna continued once she had eaten half of the fruit “At first I came here so you don’t try to kill this guy, but now I’ll use this chance to tell you that every Ruler has a role, including those that aren't Dragons, so, don’t go rushing to try to kill him: now that you are a Ruler and a Dragon, you need a reason to do it”

She gestured towards the bat again, making Miriam tilt her head at the notion that he was useful…

“I changed my mind…” but he talked before Miriam had a chance to ask more about that “She is too small for us to bree-”

In an instant, her aura and every sword she made, was aiming and oozing with killing intent, as she glared at him. Daring him to finish that word…

He also reacted when she did, by covering the laughing Hanna with a red barrier that felt a bit more sturdy than the ones the trees used…

But otherwise, he just looked amused…

SLAP!!!

Until the still laughing woman slapped him in the head

“Urk!!!” and he winced from the hit…

‘…!’ snapping Miriam out of her hostile mood after hearing that sound…

Just as the barrier vanished, she also made sure that all her weapons were back to be nothing more than ground, before she finished laughing

“Are you aware that to become a priestess you need to become a mom?” eventually saying that with a smile

Shocking Miriam to the core…

“IT’S NOT A REQUIREMENT!!!” but the shout coming from the First Mother startled her “It has never been a requirement!” and made Hanna glare at the circle in her necklace “I have made sure that everyone knows since you were conceived!”

“And you didn’t tell her that before I did it… because…?” her tone was gelid sending a shiver along the long bodies of the other two

“Eh…” but Miriam managed to raise her hand “I like girls… not…”

“Ah. Then, sorry for what I said before, my mistake” he spoke while Hanna…

Looked at her like she had grow an extra head…

Before laughing, hard…

‘What’s wrong…?’ it sounded like the First Mother was the one being muffled and dragged away for some reason…

-Don't drag me into this mess, please don't make me answer that…-

‘I not going to force you…?’ getting a bit worried due to the reaction of her Helper…

Eventually Hanna recovered, and took a few bites of her fruit while giggling

“See~ what did I told you~? I know of these things~” she giggled again when he growled in annoyance “That would be all from me, what about you?”

“Hmm…” he growled for a bit before slapping the ground with his tail and looked at Miriam “I got an idea. What to scare him again?”

“Sure” there was no hesitation

So, when a high pitched sound reached them, and Hanna was covered by a pair of barriers, blue and red. Both of them interrupted his screeching with matching roars at his direction that were heard beyond the forest

Making Hanna laugh at what they did, while Miriam enjoyed the satisfaction of knowing that the bat was going to be quiet for a while

He also laughed for few seconds

“I’m done, I hope you become a True Dragon some day” before saying that with a nod

“If I figure how to do that, then you’ll be the first one that I tell about it” she nodded back, and waved at the still laughing woman

That only could wave her goodbyes as she kept laughing

-How did you know that he wasn't a True one…?-

‘A hunch… but…’ she remained there, seeing him move away, and the trees going back to take their spots ‘I’m surprised that he even mentioned that topic… to me it feels… what’s the word…? Taboo?’

“I think Impolite works better…” Mordauntless’ voice started saying “A Taboo is something very different…”

‘Why are you copying his voice?’

“What do you mean?”

‘You sound in pain, he doesn’t…’

“Damn… you good my giiiiirl~!”

Miriam snorted, ignoring how her hands high-fived while looking at the red glow… moving away…

‘Ah…?’ which… ‘I didn’t saw any magic when she received the messages…’

“We are keeping that information a secret…” her voice was…

“W-why are you aiming me with that…?! I waS quieT sincE shE hateS mE!”

“What are you talking about~? I’m just holding this in my hand~”

“MOR!!!”

His sigh resonated somewhere deep in Miriam’s memories…

-…- and she could feel that he wasn't the only one sighing

‘Is this related as to why The Triad is…’

There was a moment of silence…

“Let us keep that as a secret too, please…” the oddly nervous Lady was the one that answered…

‘Fine… oh, I forgot to ask his name…’

“He doesn’t wants one” he said…

‘Free EP…?’

“Useless to him due to his age” and continued…

She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders

‘Not going to annoy him then’ she looked to the pond, wondering why neither of them mentioned it, or the trees… ‘Am I forgetting something…?’

-Not that I can tell, or, are you an idiot that’s is trying to make a food joke…?-

‘I’ll have you know, that I’m perfectly aware that I’m hungry’ she crossed her arms, unable to keep a hissing laugh from escaping ‘Glad to have you here’

-Glad to be fully here-

Miriam couldn't ask about her wording-

Rustle

She was already dashing north the moment the trees started to mention the Singer, and with a [Boundary Break] she jumped across most of the pond, before flapping her wings to ensure she reached well beyond the other side

Even with their new size she understood then, that her wings still weren't enough for flight

But it wasn't important in comparison to her Singer being in danger

To the point were she was just thinking about being faster, and had no time to think about how she was thinking about the other girl

The only thing that mattered was using her skill as much as she could, to the point she was almost faster than the trees that were guiding her to-

She saw them: a beautiful glowing crow and a cute bunny nuzzling on the ground

Unaware that a brown, tall insect started to separate from a glowing tree, the glint of its blade-like arm barely visible-

CRUNCH!!!

Ding

CAW?!!!

Miriam didn’t heard the bunny making any sound, but that was fine, she already crushed the insect in her mouth, and glanced at them, just to make sure that no part of her body hit them as she stopped moving

The gust of wind that followed her, was ruffling both of their feathers while the bunny was frozen while looking at her while her glowing horn was dimming…

With the trees telling her that the bunny was a friend of the Singer

‘Ah…’ she looked away from them, and used her wings to cover the direction to her head

Crunch!

Barely remembering to pray before she ate what she had on her mouth…

Using its blade arms to make a pair of swords after she remembered doing that once before, and prepared to leave

“Miriam!”

Freezing upon hearing her name being called by a very melodious voice

“You told her my name!?” before hissing at the sky when she remembered one of the things she forgot to ask before

CAW?!!!

Squeak?!

Making the other two jump once they understood her…

“Both of you are going to the same place!” the First Mother had a chiding tone…

“Interact already! I want to see you two kis-?!!!” while the Lady got dragged away…

Miriam started to grip both sides of her head, while all her emotions battled each other…

‘Aaahhh!!!’

Embarrassment was winning…