Lucius adjusted the strap of his satchel, feeling the light weight of the sleeping beastkin inside. She hadn't moved much since eating. That was good. She was easier to carry that way.
Kael walked beside him in silence. Well, it wasn't really walking. It was more like gliding. Heavy steps, but quiet. Graceful in a way that dragons shouldn't be.
The path ahead curved slightly, revealing a cliff edge and a worn stone ledge. A good place to rest.
Lucius stopped.
His body still felt strange. Not in a dangerous way. Just… different. Like something inside him was awake but still drowsy.
That damn fruit.
He pulled off one glove and held his hand in front of his face.
Mana was there.
Barely.
A light pulse, like the flicker of a candle in the wind. If he tried to pull on it too hard, it would probably sputter out.
"Still weak?" Kael asked.
Lucius didn't answer right away. He looked down at his palm, where a faint line of energy shimmered for half a second before vanishing.
"…I didn't expect a miracle," he said eventually. "Just a start."
Kael huffed, settling nearby. "That fruit was supposed to unlock your core."
"It did," Lucius said, slipping the glove back on. "It just didn't do anything else."
He could feel it now. The mana was there. Sluggish. Uncooperative. Like a wild animal that hadn't been fed in weeks and didn't trust its new owner.
He'd have to coax it.
One step at a time.
"I suppose you'll want to train now," Kael said, stretching his wings lazily.
"No," Lucius said. "I want to sit. And I want you to stop breathing so loud."
A pause.
"I wasn't—"
"Then stop existing so loud."
Another pause. Then Kael spoke again, more amused now.
"You're very rude for someone who needed my help climbing a rock five minutes ago."
Lucius ignored that.
Instead, he leaned back against the ledge and closed his eyes.
The mana inside him wasn't moving on its own. Not yet. He would need time—days, maybe weeks—just to control it properly. Until then, physical training would have to do.
And hiding.
He opened his eyes.
"Kael."
The dragon's eyes opened, golden and sharp. "What?"
"You said before you could vanish."
"I can."
"How well?"
Kael stood up, wings folding in tightly. "Perfectly. No scent. No sound. No presence. I'm not just a dragon—I'm Veilborn."
Lucius tilted his head.
"Veilborn?"
"We're rare. It's not something I brag about."
"Could've fooled me," Lucius muttered.
Kael ignored him. "Why? You want me to sneak into a town?"
Lucius didn't answer immediately. He simply looked eastward, toward the distant trees and the faint glow of buildings beyond.
There was a noble estate there. He remembered that from the novel.
A minor duke's side house. Used to move "goods" that didn't want to be seen.
Like rare beastkin.
Or worse.
"I need to know what they're doing there," Lucius said.
Kael's gaze narrowed.
"You planning something?"
Lucius smirked faintly.
"No. I'm avoiding something."
"…That sounds like planning with extra steps."
"Then I must be improving."
Kael snorted and turned, his body shimmering.
One moment he was there.
The next, he was gone.
Lucius sighed, leaning back against the rock again.
Mana flickered faintly in his chest, just enough to remind him it was real.
Barely.
"Slowly," he muttered. "That's fine."
He didn't need a burst of power. Not yet.
He just needed to survive long enough for it to matter.