Chapter 15 – Quest

Chapter 15 – Quest

So, the quest to cure my curse begins! I'm unironically looking forward to this, I bet I'll have to slug it through heaven and hell, fight creatures from mythical legends all to give myself a chance at everlasting life. If I put it that way, this quest sounds bloody brilliant!

There is a slight problem though.

I'm unsure how to actually go about this.

I think my best chance of finding someone who can help is the battlemage but she and the captain still aren't back. I could go to the capital and try to find them but that's like trying to find a needle in a haystack, they could literally be anywhere in the city. The palace is another option to ask for that prince Alistair guy but I doubt the guards would even consider sending a message to him.

I've purposely left the most important part of it as well, none of the family actually know which city it even is. Both parents have a rough idea but flying over to have a quick check is something that needs to be avoided.

So, the only thing I can think of right now is waiting for the next messenger to visit the cave and using them for help. The problem is, they only come after a set amount of time.

It's been roughly half a month and they still haven't arrived yet.

__________

'Status'

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 21]

[Health 3,484/3,500]

[Stamina 3,467/3,500]

[Magicka 3,500/3,500]

'Look Aesa, this curse is so freaking dumb, I've lost sixteen days of life already!'

[<-User- is not far from next level>]

'Really? Ah, that's good then, that's another five hundred days'

If it isn't obvious, I'm going to add every single point into health as I level up. I won't be able to improve my energy or magic consumption for the time being but that should make sense why. I've also been purposely hunting as much as I possibly can as well recently, that also should also be obvious why. More EXP equals more stat points so which gives more life for this mighty bird.

'Why couldn't it be a cool curse like growing a third limb or something like that?'

[<-User- is disgusting>]

'Dirty Aesa, get your mind out of the gutter! I said limb, not third leg. Bad system!'

<They’re back little one>

"They’re back already? That was quick"

Tis just me and my old man in the cave right now, both the other dragons have gone hunting for our lunch today.

<No little one, the messenger. Can smell the abomination he's riding on>

Damn this guy's casual racism, he's going to say something that gets us cancelled soon.

Off in the distance, I can see the messenger on the wyvern above the mountain range. As he gets slowly closer and closer, suddenly, two other flying beasts appear right in front of the cave coming from nowhere.

<Ikarus! The messenger is here!>

"Cu!"

"*Sigh*... Just get in the cave already. The guy won't have a place to land"

<Little one is right>

A little time passes and we've all cleared the entrance allowing the flying knight to land into the cave. Once he's landed and starting to get of the wyvern, I notice he has a familiar face.

'Oh, it's that guard Nathan guy. I didn't realize he's sometimes the messenger'

"I-It's a good to m-meet you again"

<Ah, it's human who saved our daughter>

"Cu!"

<Greetings, little mortal>

'He really can't help but stutter around dragons, can he?'

[<Affirmative>]

'Aesa, it was a rhetorical question'

While the greeting is going on, I notice something new about the guard, his knight's armour looks slightly different than before. Some of the arm and leg plates have been replaced with bits from that black dragon scale he received, I'm actually surprised they allowed him to keep it.

<Little mortal, the terms with your empire need to change>

<Dermak... what are you doing?>

"S-Sorry Mr. dragon?"

I'm not the only one who's confused, mother is as well, this wasn't the plan. what is he doing, why do the terms need to change? The guard is looking stressed as well.

<I'll explain it later darling. Human, take this to the blonde mortal>

<Urgh... must I do such an embarrassing thing again?>

<Yes Dermak>

Father looks extremely uncomfortable and mother is smiling, I wonder the reason why?

<Listen little one, I know you are strong enough but the world is not always an easy place to survive in. Please... for me and your mother's sake... stay safe. I do actually care for you my child>

"Never realized you were such a sappy old man father; I'll miss you too"

<Sappy old man!?! Hmph>

Intense anger appears on father's face for a split second from my joke and then goes straight to grumpiness, even mother found that slightly funny.

"Cu?"

"What is it brother?"

Just as I'm about to set off and leave, Minos leaves the nest and comes up to me asking something while pointing his head to his small money pile in the corner, think he's a little depressed I'm leaving to.

I've purposely neglected mentioning the pile since he's like a dog with a bone with it, he's surprisingly aggressive with anyone going near it. It probably doesn't help that I've purposely been moving and messing around with the pile while he's out. He deserves it though; he actually is quite nasty guarding it. Bad Minos!

<He says you can borrow some of his money, little one>

<Something about charging interest though>

"Borrow with interest!? You're turning into a loan shark brother; I'll miss you too"

"Cu..."

He rubs his head against me and I give him a little hug, I should probably get moving before water works start appearing from everyone's eyes.

"We should get going then guard, is it still guard though or a different title now?"

"A-Ah yes, it's k-knight now"

"Moving up in the world I see, good for you"

__________

As were flying off on his wyvern, I can see the three dragons waving me goodbye. Even I'm starting to feel a little sappy looking at that. It's unfortunate but what can you do about it?

Why me, a majestic flying creature is currently sitting on the back of a wyvern is for a simple reason. I would have had to change form again and things were getting sappy enough back in the cave. Definitely nothing to do with getting naked again, erm... ahem.

You might be thinking, why not use magic and grow wings like what my parents can do and stay in human form? It's simple really, I'm not a bloody dragon! The only magic I can do all evolves around fire, I can make a set of fiery wings but it's only fashion statement, they don't actually work. They do look badass doe.

"You can relax around me you know; I can't be as scary as my parents"

I say this to the knight guiding the wyvern since he still seems a little nervous even while flying the creature.

"S-Sorry miss Ikarus but d-dragons aren't my specialty"

"I'm not a dragon though remember, I'm a big fat chubby orange bird... well normally I think"

I think belittling myself got a little chuckle out of him, maybe he can try and relax a little. As for why I'm allowed to call myself fat, it's because I know I'm not! If someone calls me chubby in a joking way, then I'll be fine with it, I think?

Thinking about it, I never described what a wyvern even looks like. Basically, just imagine a dragon with no arms and a hell of a lot smaller. I know it's simple but that's literally what they look like, father's racism doesn't make all that sense looking at them.

"I'm going to be quiet for a little while if that's okay with you, need to check something"

"Okay"

'Aesa, how does that storage ability subspace work?'

[<While -user- has -subspace- ring equipped, -user- will have limited storage >]

'Yeah, I already know that. How much room do I have and how do I actually take stuff out?'

[<-Subspace- ability correlates to -user's- phoenix form weight. To remove items, all -user- needs to do is imagine what item -user- wishes to take>]

'So, a small elephant worth of weight? That's a really good amount. Hang on, can I not view what I've got stored though? It's like opening a fridge, you need visual confirmation to know what you want to get'

[<-User- has provided dumb example. If -user- wishes to know what's in storage, ask G.A.P>]

I know it's not a great example but the number of times I've been hungry and just stared looking what I have in the fridge, I can't even begin to imagine. Thinking about it, I wonder if I could build a fridge in this world. I could get ice cold booze anytime I wanted, that's a brilliant motivator!

'You've changed your name back to GAP again, just fully embrace your name system, we both know you want to. Oh, and call me Ikarus or find something other than -user- while you're at'

[<...>]

'You really are tired of my shit... Forget it, let's try this out while flying. If I just imagine the blade in the sheath the sword goes in, that should work right?'

As soon as I thought that, the empty sword sheath on my hip appeared full.

Let's just hope this ability doesn't have any ill side effects like with the others, that's probably why I'm not that excited on it. With this system, I can never be too sure.

So, me and knight Nathan's journey to the capital continues on and the quest finding the cure for dragon descendant finally begins!

'This better be enjoyable'