Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 305 - 304 - Spoiled Princess

Cultivators, as they advanced, could go without food, water, and sleep in greater lengths of time than before.  Mortals needed 3 meals a day with a solid third of day spent asleep as bare minimum for good health.  A World Realm at the Iron Tier could go for a year without any negative consequences.

Unfortunately, that endurance applied to battle as well.

If Lind went into battle and had precise control and was able to keep himself whole, he could go for a year easily with the timing of elixirs before he had to stop and recover with rest and possibly food.

The level of the aether beasts felt close to Delenn and he had never ever caught her asleep or eating unless he offered her food ever.  In fact, her bed was clean but clearly unused for centuries based on his Eyes.

Cultivators left a small amount of aura on objects they use daily, so it was enough for Lind to understand the battle above lasting for days was not insane, yet despite that, it ended before the sun set.

Likely the cycle of night brought risks the various tribes or clans could not afford to ignore in their nests or roosts.  Lind was never so thankful for the turn of day into night.

Like the blue sky, the night sky was different from the mortal realm.

Rather than simple starlight with a moon, it was instead a glittering of crystals that seemed to have a ripple of waves go through it occasionally.  There were stars, but they seemed far more solid than the far off specks of light Lind was used to.

As for a moon, there was not exactly a moon.  It could be more precise to say floating islands lit up underneath at different strengths as they moved through the skies.  They were impossible to see during the day from the ground but were starkly visible at night by the absolute darkness beneath them to soft light being reflected from the sparkles in the night skies.

The color was a mix of dark blues, violets, and even black ever moving and swirling in an exquisite work of art to Lind's eyes but at the moment he and Tal emerged from the cave, it simply looked breathtaking as the sky was clear of danger!

The corpse of the roc was still there but the scent of blood was spreading and would bring dangerous predators.  They had to leave!

The dead variety of birds did not entice Lind despite his new instincts.  He found it odd until he realized these corpses were death to him on consumption.  Even his dragon soul was not a fool!

They navigated the drying blood that was quickly being absorbed by some vines or roots now in the dirt yet nothing stopped them.  Howls and growling far off warned them scavengers were coming.  It would be a new battleground shortly so they did not dawdle.

Lind finally saw an end when a scent entered his nostrils.  It was not death, but life.  A fading life.  Tal kept prancing on when it noticed Lind had stopped and looking to his right.  His dark green eyes turned emerald as they became slits.

"A human?"  There was a humanoid shape that was bloody but alive near the corpse of a roc with platinum feathers.  The color reminded him of Ethry so he suspected it meant the roc was similar to her.

The massive talons were darkened with the blood of other beings but its feathers repelled anything from them while the woman covered in blood was fading fast.  She was only a World Realm, so what had she been doing in that battle?

Lind noted she was stronger than him at peak Gold Tier but he could help her.  He swiftly moved and Tal followed.  He did not slow down as he summoned an elixir and carefully fed it to her.  It began to work but it did not seem to work as well as it should.  Still, she was getting better color in her pale cheeks.

He picked her up but noticed that Tal was afraid of her for some reason.  His own dragon soul also objected but for the first time, his instinct to help was far stronger than the dragon inside him.

Lind put her in a princess carry and moved off.  They had no time to waste based on the scents on the winds.  They had barely left when shockwaves on the ground resumed.

"Let's go quickly!"  Lind spoke out loud and Tal had no argument.  They kept running until the sun finally crested the horizon and brought a feeling of safety to the trio.  The woman was still passed out but she was recovering nicely after 3 elixirs.

Lind was frustrated at how inefficient his elixirs had suddenly become but recalled Tal's worked fine before so what was wrong now?

He found a place Tal could watch over them while he treated the woman.  The simple stone embankment made an almost closed circle that they could keep an eye above and below easily.

Lind laid her down and finally noticed the oddities.  Her robes were not torn at all, yet were covered in blood.  They were a mix of gold and platinum from what he could tell and her face looked odd.  It was a deep cream color yet seemed to have an odd texture to her skin.  It was almost a leathery feeling.

Her breathing was also an odd pattern.  He had healed and administered to various races in his life as an elixir master, but this person seemed to take short yet deep breaths very quickly.

Her pulse was much higher than a human or aether child's, yet she was no demon.

A sudden similarity in coloring made the blood drain from his face.

"An aether beast in human form!"  Lind blurted it out when she suddenly snapped her eyes open.  Large pools of molten gold locked onto him before her hands turned into talons reaching for him.  "I healed you!"

He shouted and jumped back at the same time but she did not seem to care until Tal leapt between them.  Tal was big in comparison but in strength it was too weak, yet Tal did it anyway.

The action made the woman pause in confusion as she looked between them.  The longer she looked, the more confused she became.

"You have not enslaved this baby?"  Lind was hurt by her words instantly.  His mind split open as the language was something else.  A look of disdain crossed her face but then Tal made a braying noise in rage.

"An Iron Tier that is so weak?  I know humans have issues but speaking should not hurt them."  Her words changed and it was easier to withstand them.  He understood both kinds but the first clearly had profound intent behind it while the current was restrained.

"I am an ascender."  Lind already suspected that would explain his issues and it seemed to.

"You should not have taken the ascension pools and waited until you were at least a Heaven Realm.  The assumption is you are able to understand the Dao Intent of Language."  Lind instantly understood what happened.

As cultivation advanced, disparate words would no longer work.  The more profound, the more precise one had to become.  The enlightenment seemed to unlock that he could be understood no matter who he spoke to if he used his cultivation.

There would be no chance of misinterpretation if he could master it.

"You did save me, I can feel something inside me healing me but you are incompetent.  You gave me medicine for humans?!"  Her voice seemed to concede but then she looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"Where I am from, aether beasts are not able to assume human form at the World Realm."  His ears were still ringing a bit from her shout but she still restrained her voice.  He was about to look ahead when a clawed hand grasped his skull and slammed him into the ground.

"I AM NOT A BEAST!"  She was strong, but strangely her physical strength was lower than Lind's.  Tal was livid but he waved her off as he easily grasped her narrow wrist and removed her hand without issue.

Her molten gold eyes bulged as he easily stood up and she could not free herself.  While he was stronger than her, he was still bleeding from where her talons scraped his skin.  His vitality, however, healed such shallow wounds quickly.

"What are you?!  Humans can't heal like that!"  Lind felt like he was dealing with a spoiled brat as time went on before he suddenly realized she was only a World Realm.  In this jungle, she was a child!

"I am called Lind Frey and this is my companion, Tal.  We found you dying in that battlefield of rocs and other great birds."  Lind assumed she would ask about the dead but instead she puffed up her cheeks in indignation.

"How dare those overblown turkeys try to tell me where I can go!  My mother will punish them for what they did!"  Lind was now lost and wondered what she was talking about.  He assumed she was a roc but he was not certain.

"Um, do you know why that battle occurred yesterday?"  Lind asked the question but the woman simply dismissed him as she looked up and around for something.

"Where are you all?!  I need to get home to report to my mother about this offense!"  Lind stretched his senses and while there were various beasts and plants, he felt nothing like the birds from yesterday.  Tal looked confused and nuzzled Lind as if to tell him to leave her behind.

If he was in the mortal realm, he would.  A peak Gold Tier would be a powerhouse in most places in his old realm but in the current jungle it was a defenseless child.  Tal was the first Soul Realm he had encountered and this woman was now his first World Realm.

Lind reviewed his view of the corpses and realized there had been several powerful roc bodies laid out around this woman.  Most of them had gold feathers but like her a few had platinum at their wing tips.

The blood had obscured the numbers and he had been in a hurry but his memory took it all in.  They had died protecting this person, yet she nearly died.  A sudden guess formed in his mind as to why the battle started so suddenly and ended just as quickly.

"You snuck out of your home, didn't you?  All those rocs died protecting you?"  His voice was firm but the woman looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"Died?  They could not die to those overstuffed turkeys!  They are just making me feel guilty for making them come out to find me again.  Come on out!  It is time to go home!"  Lind sighed as he grasped it at last.

She was a spoiled princess or important person.  She was very young and unaware of the consequences of her actions.  Using the Remembrance Art, an image quickly displayed above Lind that directly showed his memory in the air.

Tal put her forepaws over its face as the memory no doubt scarred it.  The woman stared at the display in disbelief as her bloody and pale body was revealed toward the end.  Lind dispersed the Art and opened his dark green eyes.

He could see she wanted to deny it, but the Art was one of the few all could use with little to no backlash.  It was so simple even a beginner could pick apart the Art's authenticity easily.

"I-it's impossible!  They can't be dead!  They have to take me home!  I want to go home!"  Tears began to form as her situation finally began to sink in.  At least Lind thought it was sinking in when she suddenly latched onto his arm with her full strength!  "This is your fault for moving me away!  Take me home!"

Lind was floored as he had no idea where her home was, nor had he encountered anyone aside from her that even spoke to him!  Still, despite being a full sized adult in form, she was clearly a spoiled child.

A tired sigh left his lips as he looked up and wondered what was going to happen to him on this little adventure.