Chapter 54

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Chapter 54: Bat Wings

A sound could be heard from a distance.

Letizia was deeply asleep, and the distant sound only made her eyelashes flutter. She was resting her head on the table, sleeping peacefully until she turned over, causing her head to slip off her hand and hit the tabletop. The girl woke up abruptly, jumping to her feet.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she frantically reached for the life-saving short bow. The pain on her chin reminded her of the moments when she had desperately tried to escape from the strange birds, making her extremely tense. Letizia found the short bow on the table, hugged it tightly, panting, and looking around in a panic.

The gentle blue light of the slime lamp illuminated the entire room, creating a quiet atmosphere without the buzzing of strange birds. The petite and fragile minstrel named Jacqueline sat silently in the chair opposite her, observing her nervous reaction. Jacqueline remained expressionless throughout, even when the short bow was pointed at her, showing no reaction.

This was a bit awkward. Letizia put down the short bow and gave a shy smile to Jacqueline. Jacqueline did not smile or nod, just held a cup of hot drink, staring ahead in silence, her large eyes looking a bit unsettling after staring at Letizia while she was asleep on the table earlier.

Thanks to the minstrel’s music, Letizia was able to have a peaceful dreamless sleep. Her singing cleared away the terrifying images that lingered in her mind before sleep, allowing her to drift off peacefully instead of being repeatedly awakened by nightmares. Letizia felt grateful towards her. The human girl rubbed her cheeks, blushing as she wiped away the drool from the corner of her mouth, showing a much more natural smile to the minstrel.

"Is Aunt Mavis not here?" she tried to start a conversation.

Jacqueline nodded slightly.

"Maybe in the kitchen?" Letizia said, "There are hardly any people left in the ward these days, those medicines are really powerful! I never thought a potion could heal wounds so quickly, it’s almost like magic."

Jacqueline remained silent.

"Your music is amazing too, thank you!" Letizia said again, looking at the girl across from her, who appeared to be barely in her teens. She thought to herself that if Aunt Mavis hadn’t confirmed it personally, she wouldn’t have believed the girl was over ten years older than her.

Jacqueline took a sip of her drink.

The conversation was quite difficult. Letizia actually wanted to go into the house to check on Alan. The timer made by the Craftsman Dwarf showed it was still early, but she was worried about disturbing the patients resting inside. She had to continue with small talk, "What are you drinking?"

Jacqueline paused at the question. She glanced at Letizia, then back at the teacup, back at Letizia, then back at the teacup. The hot drink in the porcelain cup emitted a sweet fragrance, with wisps of steam rising. Jacqueline’s gaze lingered on the cup, she stayed still for a few moments, then suddenly brought the cup to her lips and drank it all in one swift motion.

The air seemed to freeze.

"Um, I’ll go inside and take a look!" Letizia said dryly, pointing to the ward, and quickly slipped inside.

A figure in the room quickly fell back on the bed when she opened the door, then got up again when he saw who she was.

"You scared me, I thought you were my sister!" Alan breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close, if she had seen me, I don’t know how long she would have kept me locked up."

"Because you’re not fully recovered yet," Letizia pouted, "don’t climb up and fall like that, be careful not to displace your organs!"

"If something’s gonna move out of place, it will," Alan waved his hand casually, and then said seriously, "By the way, do you know what happened outside?"

"What happened?" Letizia said puzzled, "I just woke up, Aunt Mavis is not here, seems like nothing happened?"

"There’s a dragon’s voice," said the dragon knight in the next bed.

In the current dungeon, priests couldn’t use healing spells, druids were just beginners, elves had only a quarter of their lineage, the minstrel was self-taught. With everyone’s help, most of the soldiers injured in the previous battle and the recent sky battle had already left the ward. Only Alan and two dragon knights remained, still needing the doctor’s care due to their severe injuries.

"Oh, dragons…" Letizia said longingly, "Are the dragon knights training?"

Alan asked the dragon knights, but both knights shook their heads.

"It sounds different," one said.

"The commander’s dragons don’t sound like this when they walk," the other said. "And aren’t we underground?"

The giant dragon and its baby dragon slept in a room underground, but their movements were on the ground. Only flying in the sky could make them sing loud songs. No house could contain the giant dragon stretching its wings to fly – the sky was the only place for dragons to soar.

The noise just now came from deep within the dungeon, sweeping through it in the early morning. Though not very loud, the sound quality was clear. Even those who had never heard a dragon’s roar would instinctively think it came from a giant dragon. The dragon knights, who were very familiar with this sound, opened their eyes in curiosity about what was happening, but they were unable to leave their beds due to medical advice.

Don’t underestimate the smiling Mavis. Her loving rolling pin can teach even stubborn patients to behave like model patients.

Alan had it worse. He had a sister who had raised him, with the sharp eyes of an eagle and the caring heart of a mother hen. The unfortunate young Amazon already had the worst expectations for his hospital stay; he pessimistically thought he would lie in bed until the end of time.

Three pairs of eyes eagerly watched Letizia.

"I’ll go check it out!" Letizia said immediately and walked outside.

Jacqueline still didn’t react to her leaving, Mavis was nowhere to be found, and there was no one on the streets, which was unusual. After her days in the dungeon, Letizia had realized that the craftsman dwarves might hurry past the corridors at any time, with the mole carrying tools beside them. It’s not that these people were workaholics or anything, they just didn’t have fixed schedules, with work and leisure time all mixed up. There were always noises of hammering in the workshop, and people walking to the workshop, living quarters, or the cafeteria in the passageways.

After walking for a while, she surprisingly didn’t bump into a single Craftsman Dwarf.

Letizia first went to the kitchen where Mavis wasn’t there. An Amazon warrior was brewing a drink for herself. Among the seeds brought by the Druids, a plant named "Karlo" was considered as a remedy for stomach discomfort, and the apothecary noticed that the red-brown beans had a pleasant aroma. She experimented with various ways of cooking it and eventually found that grinding Karlo seeds into powder, boiling it with milk and sugar, resulted in a delicious and refreshing drink. This drink quickly gained popularity among those who weren’t fully awake in the morning and among the night owls.

Craftsman Dwarves liked to slowly brew a pot of Karlo, pour it into a tea cup, add milk, sprinkle some spices or top it with cream, leisurely creating a morning/night snack. Amazonians, especially the warriors, preferred a more direct and effective method: brewing Karlo powder with boiling water, adding cold water to the right temperature, drinking it all in one gulp, instantly feeling refreshed, just like the Amazonian in front of them was doing.

Letizia greeted her and the other person pushed the unfinished Karlo drink towards Letizia. The young girl curiously took a sip and wrinkled her face at the bitterness.

The Amazonian laughed heartily and threw two sugar cubes into Letizia’s cup.

Despite her tongue feeling numb from the bitterness, Letizia still asked about where the others were. "They’re all at the Training Ground," the Amazon warrior said, mysteriously smiling, "You should go take a look, maybe try the next round."

Ten minutes later, Letizia arrived at the bustling Training Ground.

Early-rising Amazonians surrounded the enclosed arena, with many Craftsman Dwarves watching from the stands – the dwarves often gathered at the Training Ground to watch without participating, sometimes to see the effectiveness of the weapons being made, and sometimes just because they found it entertaining to watch taller people fight. So the craftsmen quickly created suitable viewing areas in the Training Ground. Letizia didn’t need to elbow her way in, she just had to look up nearby to see the two sides in battle.

On the battlefield were two women, one was an Amazon warrior named Dora, Letizia recognized her powerful skills from the stories their teacher told. Dora moved swiftly like in the legends, her staff cut through the air, creating a fierce sound. The staff pierced towards the enemy’s chest, and although Letizia, who had been learning from the Amazonian for a while, could barely see how powerful the strike was, she couldn’t think of any way to escape.

But the opponent managed to dodge it.

How could she jump so high? Letizia looked up with wide eyes. The opponent of Dora had no way to dodge forwards, backwards, or sideways, all options were blocked, so she chose upward as her escape route. No human could jump this high, right? Her feet left the ground instantly, her chest, abdomen, and even the legs that were raised were out of reach of the staff. Letizia struggled with her flying hair in the wind, her neck aching from looking up so much.

Humans indeed cannot jump that high, the human girl quickly realized that the opponent didn’t jump and was not a human.

A pair of large wings grew out from the person’s shoulder blades, they caused strong winds indoors, casting a big shadow on Letizia’s face, blocking the light from above. Oh, she’s flying towards her!

The people around ran away, but their warnings didn’t reach Letizia’s ears. The sound of the wings beating in the air resonated with memories of bird flocks, memories started playing back, and the shadow of the wings turned into a dreadful haze from the past. The girl who had once narrowly escaped death was back on that battlefield, she couldn’t move, she was frozen, imagining the bloody scene behind her. Letizia quickly drew her short bow, her hand frantically searching around her, but she couldn’t find any arrows.

The giant bird landed.

Letizia’s mind went blank, she wasn’t killed or knocked down, but she was lifted off the ground. A pair of hands lifted her up, carrying her lightly, spinning, and landing safely. "I’m sorry," the person said gently.

Letizia looked at the person in shock, she didn’t look entirely human — oh, she wasn’t human to begin with. Perhaps sensing her uncontrollable trembling, the person bent down to embrace her, their large wings folding around them like another pair of huge hands.

Like a protective shield, the terrifying memories that kept replaying suddenly stopped, fear was kept at bay.

It wasn’t a pair of bird wings, Letizia realized, it was a pair of featherless, dragon-like wings. The dragon wings carried a warm temperature, as if the dragon riders had flown over her head from the sky that morning, the huge dragon wings blocking out the sun, scattering the birds in disarray. The last arrow missed its mark, and at that moment Letizia fell to the ground, unable to lift her bow anymore, but it didn’t matter, they were safe, they were saved.

"Are you a dragon?" she whispered.

"No," the other person chuckled softly, "I am… the Guardian here."

Douglas walked into the Training Ground a few hours later.

The Dragon Knight woke up very late that morning, arising from a nightmare where he had been boiled in a pot, realizing he was indeed nearing medium rare. Douglas had never had such a high fever, his whole body feeling weak and his skin burning from the hot blood. He weakly climbed out of bed, preparing to visit a doctor to soothe his injured body and soul.

Mavis was a kind and lovely lady, a Druid with a simple and gentle demeanor, sometimes meeting Amazon warriors on the road, drawing people in like an adventure story. Mr. Star, feeling just as comfortable in a new place, joyfully made his way forward, only to find three bored and desolate patients near the ward. The kind nurse explained the reason for the emptiness nearby, sparking Douglas’ interest immediately, momentarily forgetting his pain due to curiosity.

Seeing a Craftsman Dwarf squeezing his way through the crowd in the Training Ground, Douglas looked up at the arena and couldn’t help but whistle. "I get you," he teased.

In the arena, one woman stood out with astonishing beauty. Although Douglas believed all women had unique beauty, he had to admit, the woman before him was exceptional, fit to be the leading lady in any knight’s tale, capable of inspiring tearful praises from poets as they drank. But maybe not so exaggerated, thought the well-traveled Douglas, looking at the Craftsman Dwarf with a bemused smile.

Speaking of which, would the Craftsman Dwarf also be moved by the beauty of a woman? He thought they only showed such expression to machines, maybe the woman was carrying something they created behind her…

Wait a minute.

The thing the woman was carrying on her back opened in the air, and Douglas instantly realized what it was. It couldn’t be a machine, it looked so familiar.

Oh my, that’s a dragon wing!

Look at that perfect curve! The bones are sharp like blades, resembling the spires of a beautiful castle, beautifully crafted like a work of art, yet filled with rugged power, like nature’s masterpiece. Look at those beautiful membranes! The dark red film has blood flowing through it, the warm glow like amber, like rubies, like the most beautiful flame, so beautiful! They can even attach to a person’s body, how do the tendons and bones inside work?

Douglas couldn’t contain his excitement, pushing forward with his neck stretched out like an eight-year-old girl seeing a unicorn. He dreamily kept pushing towards the platform, not hearing the snickers around him or feeling the sharp gaze of the girl with animal ears on his face (normally, he would have started planning his escape route by now). He stared intently, his gaze following the dragon wings back and forth, not noticing the sparring had stopped. Oh, they were blocked by someone!

"It seems like you have no problem." A finger poked at his hot forehead, a voice teasingly said.

The voice wasn’t unpleasant, nor was it scary, but the implications tied to it— the mischievous smile of the lady with a wolf’s head, interrogation, contract, miracle—made Douglas shiver, as if he had bumped into his teacher while playing wildly, immediately snapping out of his daze.

A beauty is a beauty, a dragon wing is a dragon wing, but on this lady… Douglas felt like that finger would pierce his forehead the next second.

"It’s you, madam," chuckled the Dragon Knight, moving his head back a little.

"You have a high fever," the lady stated, "but since you are so lively, you probably don’t need treatment."

"There must be a misunderstanding," Douglas raised his hands in surrender, slowly backing away, trying to get out of the range of that finger and the deadly gaze (which he finally noticed), "I meant no disrespect, it’s just your wings reminded me of my dragon… Oh! Sweetheart, how did you come here!"

About to leave the Training Ground, the Dragon Knight saw his dragon outside the door. He immediately ran towards it, like rushing to a beloved, and hugged the dragon’s neck. He solemnly declared, "Ladies, believe me, my loyalty to my dragon is eternal. With her, my heart and gaze belong to no other girl!"

The dragon’s blood was scorching, but its scales were cool and refreshing. When Douglas leapt towards the dragon, there was a bit of a theatrical flourish, but when he actually landed, he unconsciously sighed and softened like melting.

An invisible and intangible energy was flowing between the Dragon Knight and the dragon through their contact.

Thump thump, thump thump, the heartbeat echoed louder than all the sounds in the world, coming from his own heart, or was it the dragon’s chest on the other side of the dragon scales? An unseen force enveloped Douglas, the tormenting heat inside his body seemed to find a way out, yet it felt like new openings were being created. The surrounding world suddenly faded away, leaving only the dragon and the knight frozen in time. It was hard to tell if it was pain or pleasure, in Douglas’s body, every cell was being reformed.

"Did you tell him you are male?" Tasha asked in dragon language.

The red dragon chuckled and carried the Dragon Knight, walking away leisurely.

The soul of the giant dragon has been lurking in the bloodline of the Dragon Knight for a long time. It woke up to the covenant, observing the descendant of a dear friend. If a malicious entity deceived Douglas’s soul, the final curse of the giant dragon’s soul would be enough to make even demons feel a headache, but Tasha passed its test.

Nothing lasts forever, the remnant soul will dissipate after being revived. It will not return to its former Legendary Ancient Dragon form, but it will be enough to give a generous gift to the dungeon. The giant dragon with the remnant soul is closer to a true dragon than before, still lacking its past memories and spellcasting abilities, but in terms of wisdom, the transformed giant dragon after shedding its skin is incomparable to when it was first created in the dungeon.

It is almost like a sentient being now.

Tasha gradually figured out what the so-called "extra dragon attribute bonus" is all about. The characters marked with (Dragon) at the back of their cards, such as the Rune Pseudo Dragon, Dragon Knight Douglas, and the giant dragon, have all been enhanced to varying degrees. Starting from the advancement, the pseudo dragons started to become restless. After a few hours, their scales became much tougher and there were subtle changes in their form, more agile and better suited for flying. Douglas’s body temperature soared to over fifty degrees, making one wonder if his brain would melt. The giant dragon conveyed to Tasha a message of "don’t worry about Douglas", indicating that this half-baked giant dragon had completed its evolution just like Tasha did when the dungeon advancement was completed.

Tasha received more than just a pair of large bat wings.

Initially, standing up would cause imbalance, but after just a few hours of training, the wings became as easy to use as arms. It took much less time to adapt to this body compared to the body with a wolf’s head, even though the body with the wolf’s head was more similar to a human. Adapting to the new body in just a few hours, learning to fight with the new limbs, and mastering the ability to fly was truly incredible. Learning to swim cannot be accomplished overnight, as swimming requires limbs that we are naturally born with.

Rather than saying learned something new, it is more like "remembering" something old.

Tasha’s body memory guides her in operating these enormous dragon wings – stretching, contracting, gliding, flying. She has a feeling that real flight might not be too difficult. In her past life, she was human, and in this life, she is part of the dungeon. Tasha doesn’t have muscle memory for flying, this power clearly only exists in the dragon’s heritage.

The "extra dragon attribute bonus" allows Tasha to experience how the favored giant dragon lives through the unlocked memories.

The dragon learned fighting skills from the Amazonians and the army, demon taught battle tactics, plus a future filled with turmoil… How far can this body grow? It’s really exciting to think about.

However, among the many advanced areas of the dungeon, Tasha thought the most useful was not the dragon attribute.

——————————

Osmund nervously chewed on his pen, his dog barking again, woof woof, woof woof, making his head ache. He wanted to charge down now, with his military knife, and chop off that beast’s head. Then he would tell his wife that the dog rushed into the sealed basement, fell to its death in the collapsed area.

"Why? We love him so much!" his wife would probably cry and say, "We feed him so much good food, give him such a big house, and always play with him. What is he not satisfied with?"

"Because every dog tied up for work wants to die, like me," Osmund would reply to her like this, "My damn boss throws every problem that is enough to make a senior officer hung ten times to his deputy, now I need to juggle between an old bastard and a young idiot, both of whom are playing me like a dog, able to chop off my head like I chopped off your dog’s. Dear idiot, look at your husband who is about to go crazy, are you still concerned about your stupid dog that keeps barking?!"

Osmund wouldn’t really do that, wouldn’t really yell at his wife like that, just like he wouldn’t really say anything resentful to his boss.

So he’s still here, desperately dealing with Mr. Colonel, His Excellency the Governor, and reports leading to higher ranks. Colonel Benson only knows how to argue with his brother, demanding a report to General Shirel, but Osmund knows he doesn’t dare really do that, he fundamentally trusts the Governor. The Governor has no recent orders, mostly rushing around dealing with the aftermath of the airship disappearance, Osmund doesn’t believe he followed the proper procedures to acquire the airship. And there’s the higher-ups… So this whole mess is stuck, he doesn’t know how much time will be wasted in correspondence, doesn’t know when the sword hanging over his head will fall.

The dog is barking loudly.

Osmund finally dashed forward with his sword. He was filled with anger and wanted to silence the barking creature. Why was it barking? Why wouldn’t it stop? This silly dog! It was impossible for thieves or other wild animals to enter the heavily guarded mansion of Osborne.

He stopped in front of the barking dog, in a quiet yard where no alarms were triggered, and a translucent Phantom Shadow was waiting for him.