From about halfway through the night, I couldn’t sleep properly.
The discomfort at the base of my wings that had been going on since yesterday had clearly turned into a fever.
It was different from the fever caused by an injury.
It felt like something was flowing from around my left and right shoulder blades to the centre of my back, pushing at each wing bone from the inside. It bothered me even more when I stayed still, so I sat up, but it still wouldn't go away.
The sky was still dark.
There was almost no light in the houses of the village.
I tried to spread my wings at the edge of the forest, away from the fence.
“Guru…”
Heavy.
Not heavier than yesterday, exactly.
Even though they were my own wings, I felt like I didn't know how much force I should be putting into them.
I checked my right hind leg as well.
The wound from being caught in the trap had healed considerably, but it still hurt when I stepped hard, probably because I had walked in the mountains yesterday.
At least it didn't seem to be related to the strangeness in my wings.
If I were sick, that would be a problem.
I doubt there are any dragon doctors around here.
The moment I thought that, pale letters appeared in front of my vision.
《Establishment of a guardian territory confirmed》
I blinked.
The display did not disappear.
《Evolution conditions have been met》
《Current race: 《Young Dragon》》
《Beginning evolution》
I didn't even have time to think that it had finally come.
Heat ran down my back.
"Grrrr!"
My wings opened on their own.
My muscles were pulled taut, and my bones creaked from deep within my body.
It hurt.
However, it wasn't a pain like flesh being cut. It felt like my body was being forced to grow inside a shell that had become too narrow.
I planted my four legs on the ground.
It wasn't just the wings.
Neck.
Chest.
Front legs.
Tail.
There was heat all over my body, and something was running beneath my scales.
A strong heat passed through my right hind leg for just a moment.
However, the wound itself did not disappear.
In fact, perhaps because I had put weight on it while my body was changing, I felt a sudden pain where the trap had caught me.
It didn't seem to be so convenient that evolving would make every injury vanish.
I don’t know how long it lasted.
Eventually, the heat that was burning my body slowly began to subside.
I looked up while breathing heavily.
A new display appeared in my field of vision.
《Evolution complete》
《Evolved from 《Young Dragon》 to 《Juvenile Dragon》》
Juvenile Dragon.
It seemed I was finally no longer a young dragon.
Next, another line was displayed.
《Racial Trait (Flight) acquired》
《The wings and internal magical power can now be linked》
I stared at the letters.
Flight.
So wings alone aren't enough to fly?
As soon as the last display disappeared, I understood just a little of what the heat remaining in my back was.
A thin current ran from the base of my wings to the depths of my chest.
It wasn't blood.
It was far vaguer than that, but it was definitely there.
Magical power, I supposed.
I don’t remember being able to handle it freely until now.
When I let out a weak breath, my throat and chest felt hot, but that was a different sensation.
I slowly lifted my wings as a test.
My body had changed.
The wings themselves had grown a little larger, and the muscles from my chest to my shoulders had also become thicker. The claws on my front legs were a little thicker too, and the position from which I looked at the ground was higher than before.
I don't know how big I had become.
What I was more concerned about was the wings.
I turned my attention to them.
The flow I had felt earlier split from my chest to the left and right.
It spread along the wing bones and soaked into the thin membrane.
“…?”
My body felt strangely light.
Although my weight hadn't actually disappeared, the sensation of pushing the ground with my four legs had become slightly weaker.
I swung my wings down.
The wind scattered the dead leaves on the ground.
At the same time, my front legs floated slightly.
I stopped my wings.
My legs returned to the ground.
Once again.
This time I moved my wings while being conscious of what was flowing through my body.
It was lighter than before.
It wasn't just the force of the wings pushing against the air.
I felt as though my body itself was being pulled towards the sky.
It didn't seem like I was controlling the wind.
At least the surrounding trees weren’t shaking on their own.
Something was happening only to my body and my wings.
"Val?"
I heard a voice and turned around.
Lina was standing inside the fence.
She still looked sleepy.
"There's been so much noise since this morning…"
She broke off halfway and her eyes went wide.
"You've gotten bigger."
It seemed I'd changed enough to be obvious.
I looked down at my body and then nodded.
Lina came near the fence.
"Your wings are big too."
Then Dario appeared with a bow on his back.
"What's all the fuss about… huh?"
As soon as he saw me, he stopped.
"Isn't he different from yesterday?"
"He's gotten bigger."
"I can see that."
Dario turned his attention to my wings.
"That much can change overnight?"
I can’t explain it either.
To be exact, it didn’t grow overnight.
But right now, there was something I wanted to try more than dwelling on the evolution.
I walked in the direction away from the village.
“Where are you going?”
Lina called out to me.
I reached an open area and turned around.
It was far enough away from the fences and houses.
Even if I failed and fell, I wouldn't have to worry about dragging anyone into it.
"Hey."
Dario looked exasperated.
"You're really going to fly?"
I spread my wings.
"I'm not telling you to stop, but don't go over the village."
I don't intend to.
I don't want to fall onto someone's roof when I don't even know whether I can land.
First I walked along the ground.
I picked up speed, one step, two.
I still felt discomfort in my right hind leg, so I couldn't run at full power.
I turned my attention to my wings.
The flow deep inside my chest expanded.
My body became lighter.
That's where I spread my wings.
The feeling of the ground beneath my feet disappeared.
“Oh!”
I heard Dario’s voice.
I was floating.
However, my joy was short-lived.
I put too much force into my left wing.
My body leaned to the right.
"Grrrr!?"
I hurriedly stretched out my legs.
My front legs touched the ground and I stumbled about two steps.
My wingtips scraped the grass.
I didn't fall, but I couldn't say I had flown very far.
“Are you okay!?”
Lina cried out.
I just nodded my head.
Dario was holding back his laughter from a distance.
"It's not going to go well right from the start."
I know.
I know, but it still makes me angry.
I returned to my original position once again.
"You're still going to do it?"
Of course.
I got off the ground once.
If so, it isn't impossible.
The problem was handling the wings and the magic at the same time.
It wasn't enough to just flap my wings strongly.
When I cut off the magical power flowing to my wings, my body suddenly became heavy.
On the other hand, even if I focused only on the magical power, I wouldn't move forward unless I moved my wings.
It had to be both.
This time, while running, I passed the magical power through my wings first.
When my body felt a little lighter, I kicked the ground.
I beat my wings.
Once.
Twice.
The ground fell away.
Without panicking, I did it again.
My body didn't sink.
"He's flying!"
Lina’s voice echoed from below.
That was the first time I noticed it.
Neither my front legs nor my hind legs were touching anything.
I moved my wings and maintained the altitude with my own strength.
I wasn't slipping downwards.
I was really flying.
Laughter welled up from deep within my chest.
"Grrrr!"
Raising my voice disturbed my concentration.
The flow of magical power became thinner for a moment, and my body sank.
I hurriedly beat my wings.
"Whoa."
That was dangerous.
I could enjoy it later.
I faced forward.
I adjusted the interval of my wingbeats little by little.
While pushing the air with my wings, I supported the weight of my body with magical power.
Either one alone wasn't enough.
After repeating it several times, the feel of it settled into my body.
I tried increasing the altitude a little.
I beat my wings hard.
The flow within my body also became stronger.
The ground drew further away.
Higher than the fence.
When I got to the same height as a tree branch, I suddenly felt scared.
It would hurt to fall.
Until now, even gliding off a cliff had only meant losing height.
If I climbed under my own power, the place I fell from would be higher.
I went on over the grassland away from the village.
I tried turning.
I swung my tail to the left and changed the angle of my wings.
My body banked.
It was a wider turn than I imagined.
"Gru!"
I almost went into the forest, then beat the opposite wing hard to correct it.
Difficult.
How do birds avoid trees in such narrow spaces?
It’s completely impossible for me right now.
Drawing a large, gentle arc was my limit.
Still, I was able to change direction.
I returned to the grassland once again.
At that moment, my field of vision suddenly opened up.
I could see the village.
It was the first time I had seen the whole of Rue Village from above.
A collection of low roofs, surrounded by fields.
The fence still had visible signs of repair.
A place where livestock were penned.
The forest continued outside.
A little further away on the mountainside was the area Dario and I had found yesterday.
Places that had felt separate when I was walking on the ground appeared connected as one.
The village was small.
It was a place where people's lives had been squeezed into a space surrounded by mountains and forest.
If a Tusk Boar destroyed a field, or bandits came, everyone had to defend the fence.
With just eight more people, they had to worry about food.
Looking at it from above, you could clearly see how small it was.
However, that was the place I had decided to protect.
《Territory: Rue Village》.
Even without the display, I couldn't mistake it now.
I want to go a little higher.
As I thought that, my chest suddenly felt heavy.
“…”
The flow of magical power became weaker.
At the same time, my wings felt heavy.
This was bad.
I had only just learned to fly and I'd already gotten carried away.
I lowered my altitude.
Gliding would be easier now.
I spread my wings wide without cutting off the magical power completely.
I descended gently towards the ground.
The problem was the landing.
I put out my front legs.
My speed was too high.
I raised my wings to catch the air.
I slowed a little.
I weakened the magical power as well.
The ground approached.
My front legs touched.
One step.
Two steps.
I couldn't kill the momentum.
"Gru!"
I managed to keep my footing while running forward, and ended up scraping my belly against the grass.
I stopped.
It didn't look good.
But it was better than the first time, because I didn't fall.
I stayed face down for a while.
My chest hurt.
My wings were also heavy, like lead.
It was a different kind of tiredness from running — one that used the whole body.
I might have used up all my magical power.
Flying again right now would have been impossible even if someone had ordered me to.
“Val!”
Lina ran up inside the fence.
"He flew! He really flew this time!"
"I know. I was watching."
Dario also arrived a little later.
"It was dangerous at first, though."
Unnecessary remarks.
I just raised my head and glared.
“Yes, yes. That was amazing.”
So flippant.
Lina was smiling without a care.
"How was the sky?"
That's a hard question to answer with a growl.
After thinking for a while, I looked towards the village.
As if that alone conveyed something, Lina looked in the same direction.
"You saw the village?"
I nodded.
"All of it?"
I nodded again.
“That’s nice.”
Lina looked up at the sky with envy.
I tried to move my wings, but they were heavy and would only rise halfway.
That's it for today.
Around that time, the village chief also came over.
He stopped as soon as he saw my body, but Lina and Dario had apparently told him what happened.
“I hear you can fly now.”
I nodded.
The village chief immediately looked at the sky.
"Then will you be able to see further than before?"
So that's what he's after.
I lifted my wings a little and immediately let them drop to the ground.
“…It doesn’t seem possible today.”
I nodded firmly.
Dario laughed.
"He only flew a little while ago, and this is the result. He'll need to practise for a while."
"Of course. I wouldn't be so unreasonable as to suddenly ask him to fly over a mountain on the day he learns to fly."
That was a help.
After thinking for a while, the village chief looked at my wings.
"But there's more we can do now."
That was certainly true.
Until yesterday, I couldn't even see the whole village without climbing up a high rock.
Now I could go up to that height on my own, for a short time.
If I got better at flying, seeing a route to water on the mountainside, or the spread of the forest, would be far easier than walking it on the ground.
However, that's only after I practise.
As I was now, I'd crash on the way back from a scouting trip.
I rested in the grass for a while.
As the sun rose, the weight of my wings became lighter little by little.
Still, I didn’t try a second flight.
My right hind leg hadn't fully healed either.
Just knowing that I could rise into the sky was enough for today.
I raised my body and folded my wings.
《Juvenile Dragon》.
My body had become different from yesterday.
However, rather than feeling stronger, I felt more like I had become able to do one more thing.
Even if I can fly, I can't till a field.
Food won't increase on its own.
It still hadn't been decided whether the eight people who fled here would be allowed to live in the village.
Still, when I remembered what the village looked like from above, I felt like I might find things I couldn't see before.
I looked up at the sky.
High.
This morning, the place I climbed to on my own for the first time was only the beginning.
Wings alone can't reach it.
Magical power alone can't fly.
I wonder how far I can go if I can use both properly.
I still wanted to try it.
However, my heavy wings were telling me to stop for today.
As I returned to the edge of the forest, I looked back at the village just once on the way.
Seen from the ground, it was the usual Rue Village.
However, by seeing it from the sky, I felt like I had understood for the first time, just a little, where this place stood among the mountains and the forest.
That was more important to me right now than being able to fly.
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