But aside from her horns and wings, Austin also noticed her long scaly tail swaying slowly back and forth through the grass beside her.

Looking closely, Austin noticed she was barely dressed in what seemed like a white cloth wrapped across her chest, along with a dark sash tied loosely around her waist over her loose pants, leaving a significant amount of her midriff exposed.

Her eyes were currently closed, and for a moment Austin wondered if she was asleep, but before he could get any closer, the dragon lady spoke.

"So, you’re finally awake, huh?" She asked, as the edge of her lips rose into a grin.

But Austin froze mid-step. "How did you...?"

"I could smell you coming from the hallway." She replied softly, as though it was something she was completely used to.

Then, in one swift motion, she sat up and her wings spread out wide behind her as she turned to face Austin properly.

Her crimson eyes immediately swept over him from top to bottom, and the grin on her lips widened even more. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Hmm, your body adjusted faster than I expected it to." She remarked while tilting her head slightly.

"It did?"

"Mm-hm." She nodded while still staring at him as though studying him.

"So, how do you feel?" She asked, and Austin glanced down at his body. He could feel that his limbs were lighter than they had been since he arrived in this world.

Coupled with the fact that his mana capacity and power value had increased exponentially, there was no way he wouldn’t be feeling good right now.

"Honestly? I feel fine. Actually, I feel better than fine. In fact, I feel stronger, lighter, and more awake than I’ve felt in... I don’t even know how long." Austin admitted while laughing softly without even intending to.

Meanwhile, the dragon lady couldn’t help but grin even more upon hearing his words. "I know, right? I can sense the mana change in your body, and that’s all thanks to my dragon abilities." She said, instantly rising to her feet in excitement.

"Yeah, I can tell. I feel so strong, refreshed, and alive all at once. Dragon abilities really are amazing."

"Hehehe... that’s what makes us dragons amazing! Muahahaha~!" The dragon lady cackled loudly while throwing her head back and planting both hands firmly on her hips.

Meanwhile, Austin couldn’t help but laugh along with her as the sound of their laughter softly echoed across the empty field.

"Well, if you want, I could teach you a few things."

"A few things?"

"Yeah, like how to settle into your new changes faster and how to get stronger too, if that interests you."

"Of course it does, but are you really serious? You’d really do that?"

"Sure. Why not?" She replied, sitting back down on the grass.

Hearing this, Austin smiled and took a few steps closer before sitting down on the grass nearby.

"Actually, before anything else..." He hesitated for a moment.

Then he added softly. "I never got the chance to properly thank you for saving me back there and for bringing me here. So, thank you. I really appreciate it."

Austin thanked her, but the dragon lady simply blinked at him for a moment, then let out a soft and almost lazy laugh before flopping back down onto the grass, tucking both hands behind her head.

"You humans really are strange. You saved me from centuries of solitude, so it only made sense that I’d help you when you needed it. That’s all there is to it." She said, staring up at the stars.

"Well, I still appreciate it." Austin replied as he lay down beside her.

Now he was close enough that their shoulders were almost touching as they both stared up at the same sky.

Although a part of him had expected his first meeting with the dragon lady to be awkward, it was strangely comforting to be talking to her like this.

There was also no pressure, and no need to worry about dying while talking to her as well.

In fact, he didn’t need to choose his words as carefully as he did around Rowena, because he felt truly relaxed and free whilst talking to her, almost as though the two of them were just ordinary people lying in the grass and staring at the stars.

...... But they weren’t.

"So, what are you doing out here anyway?" Austin asked, still staring at the stars.

"Well, I came out to enjoy the wind and stare at the stars. It’s been centuries since I last did this, so I’ve been coming out here every night since they brought me to this place." The dragon lady stated before pausing for a moment.

"I just wish my mother was here to see it with me." She uttered softly, and Austin instantly turned his head slightly toward her.

"Your mom? Where is she?"

"Dead."

"Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to..."

"Nah, it’s fine. Mother was ten thousand years old, so it was always going to happen sooner or later."

"...What? Ten thousand years old?" Austin asked with a surprised look on his face.

Meanwhile, the dragon lady noticed the look on his face and smiled as she asked. "It’s pretty wild, right? Living that long?"

"Yeah, that’s..." Austin shook his head slowly. "That means you’re over a thousand years old too, then?"

"Three, actually. Though I lost count a bit while I was stuck in that spirit realm."

Hearing this, Austin sat up slightly, propping himself on one elbow.

"How did you end up there, anyway?"

"The spirit realm?"

"Yeah." Austin nodded, and for the first time since he had arrived here, he noticed the dragon lady’s playful expression slowly being replaced by a more serious one.

"A few centuries ago, I was sleeping in my cave as always, but then this demon showed up out of nowhere and said something about how only one demon should be allowed to rule a kingdom, so he had come to kill me."

"And so we fought. For days and weeks."

"Eventually, I began to win, but to prevent that, he swiftly sealed me away instead."

"Never expected demons to resort to such cowardly tactics but he really did it and it still surprised me till now." The dragon lady stated as her lips curled somewhere between a smirk and a snarl.

"So he’s still alive out there?" Austin asked. "The demon is still out there somewhere?"

"Huh? No, he isn’t."

"Oh, then where is he?"

"He’s dead."

"What?!"