The chilly morning air burned his lungs. The sun had just risen above the nation of Elbrim, casting rays of light upon the land, illuminating the courtyard below, creating a series of brilliant colors that splashed across the sky with the kind of vibrant artistry that master painters have spent centuries trying to capture--pinks, reds and purples, all blended together in a beautiful combination of zest and vitality.

The innumerable blades of grass that made up the courtyard were slick with morning dew, producing a slippery coat that would cause serious injury to anyone who was not mindful of where they stepped.

Each blade glistened with a gentle luster in the morning sun, sparkling with a pale gleam of crystalline droplets. Many a servant had found themselves falling on their backside-or their face-from having not been cautious enough when they walked through the grass covered courtyard on their way to perform their chores.

Esdras ignored the wondrous scene-as well as the potentially omnipresent danger that was always lingered in his mind and continued to move in a never ending dance across the grassy courtyard.

He'd been coming out to this place in the past few days since their coming, he found the practice effective against any stress that might have existed, as it was negated by ease of practice.

He had simply been doing this for so long, that he was now able to accommodate for the slippery surface on a subconscious level. It was a work in progress to get his footing and body movements in sync.

Quick movements. Thrust. Sidestep. Take two steps in. Parry. Slash. Move faster.

Each time Esdras attacked, sweat flew off his body in rivulets that soared through the air and splashed against the ground around him. His messy blond hair whipped about his face in a furious frenzy as he spun about in a dizzying display of sword attack combinations.

His sword arm was a mere blur as he slashed and lunged and cut and sliced. Esdras's luminescent presence reflected off his blade, mere flashes of light that confounded one's sense of sight.

Faster. He needed to be faster.

Vibrant blue eyes narrowed as he increased the intensity of his attacks to boost their speed, his muscles visibly bunching as they strained and quaked under the weight of his blade. The sword in his hand was heavy, like a boulder that had been compressed into sword form.

It was much heavier than his usual weapon of choice. But then, that was the whole point, wasn't it? Strength.

In order to fully utilize his strength properly, he needed to get more efficient; he was plenty strong enough that his normal weapon felt like a feather in his hand. But he lacked technique, that was his short coming.

That was why he used his [Malleable slime] to consume many weapons since they got here. He didn't forget about that ability but he didn't find any magical metals so far.

Fortunately, he discovered that the slime could grow heavies and more durable even if it just consumed common metals. That was already a great advantage.

He did find a useless piece of metal that could only be used as a paper weight back when he just stumbled into the dungeon for the first time. And he ordered the slime to devour it but the results were... great!

The slime failed to devour it which means that it was very likely something that even better that he first thought!

By the time he was finished, his arms felt like they were weighed down by lead, and his body was covered in a slick sheen of sweat. The clothing he'd chosen to wear, a sleeveless white shirt and black pants, clung to his skin, sticky and wet and altogether uncomfortable.

He paid no heed to something so trivial, however, as he'd gotten a good workout in; thus he was satisfied.

Picking up the towel he'd let sit across the glassless granite windowsill that made a ring around the courtyard, Esdras wiped some of the sweat from his face.

He then decided to wipe off the sweat from his underarms, too. After that, he proceeded to enter the large structure surrounding him on all sides.

Their stay in Seroie was at an end. They were going to leave for the Headquarters of the Octarine tower on this day. The city of Leo Dara.

After breakfast everyone was ready. They were waiting for the sub-tower master, Meeralah Alabaster. She was coming back with them as apparently her job here was done.

Honestly this was a little troubling to Esdras as she continued her advances towards him this whole time, she was not being subtle at all.historical

Unfortunately the advances were not erotic in nature, she wanted to join the crimson tower no matter what!

Esdras was concerned more with looking for a suitable position first and then deciding on which faction he wanted.

Naturally, there were some jobs that were exclusive to certain factions, so it was an important choice.

"What do you suppose we're doing here?" Daylen asked out loud. It was a question that was not directed to anyone in particular.

"Beats me. I guess for the sub-tower master to get ready?" Esdras answered anyway.

"Nah, I don't think we're going back the way we came." David shook his head.

"Hm, what does that mean?"

They were told to prepare their luggage and wait in one of the courtyards. This was a strange request since no one knew what was going on.

Shouldn't they be making their way out of the city?

Suddenly Esdras felt something in the surroundings, it was a huge pressure that could only be felt by a mighty creature. It was powerful and brutal, not as strong as the Pharaoh when he awakened but close.

Esdras looked around only to see nothing, his senses were screaming at him and yet he couldn't tell where it was or where to go. There other still didn't know something was wrong.

But, before he could warn them he heard a screech and then a huge creature plopped down in the middle of the yard.

It had a sinuous, snake-like body with a long neck and tail. Four-feathered wings extended from its blue scaly body. Tufts of yellow feathers emerged at the base of the neck and the tail.

The head possessed a black toothed beak and four eyes, one pair was above the beak and the other below it. It was around twenty meters long.

[Arrowhawk (Adult)]

Rank: 3

Level: 10

- Mind link Lv.6

- Air command Lv. 7

- Wind canon Lv.8

- Gale cutter Lv.7

- Air burst Lv. 9

- Lighting bolt Lv.2

Esdras was not panicked anymore as he noticed a small wooden house on the back of the Arrowhawk. While almost everyone was still in shock, several servants moved about.

They brought several ladders and started moving their luggage on top of the monster, and then calmly open the door to the wooden house.

From there, an enchanting woman walked out, she was the sub tower master Meeralah. As expected, she called out to them while they were busy staring in a daze.

"Are you guys going to spend the rest of the day gawking or when you get a move on?"

Everyone mustard their courage and started climbing atop the monster while still feeling jittery inside. Esdras himself was among them perhaps even more than them, because he knew just how ridiculous this creature was.

Moreover it had a lighting type attack? That was extremely dangerous and intriguing.

The house was not some shabby place either, it was mode like a high class cabin and fully furnished with the most beautiful furniture no less impressive than the royal castle itself.

And it was used very well, there were even some servants and two cooks. Food and water was in a storage room in the back.

But to be honest, Esdras thought that it didn't make sense, especially if this monster flew at high speeds. The place would be messed up.

Also how is this thing going to take off here? The courtyard was big but it wasn't enough to allow the bird to gain speed to take off properly. On Earth this wouldn't make any sense.

But this was not Earth.

After the preparations were done they waved back at the prince and Calvin was also there to send them off.

The bird didn't need to run to fly it simply started levitating like a helicopter or a drone. When it was high enough the air twisted around the bird and it started gliding in the air.

Soon with all four wings flapping the speed increased and doubled in a matter of minutes. Esdras and company got off their seats and watched as everything blurred below them in wonder.

"This is my master's familiar."

Meeralah said, appearing behind them when they were too busy stating at the clouds. The master she referred to was probably the missing master mage Sera.

"How... why don't we feel any wind pressure?" Esdras couldn't help himself and asked.

"Hm, oh? I didn't think you would notice so quickly. This because of the Arrowhawk's natural abilities, it can isolate wind pressure from itself which allows it to reach incredible speeds with absolutely stability."

"Wow, it's a superior creature... indeed only a Mater mage could have something like this."

David and everyone else listeria to their conversation and nodded in understanding.

"No, not true." Meeralah shook her head, "not just any Master can tame this creature. Maybe they could kill it but tame it? Not so easy. The first problem is to actually find one, they're that rare."