“I know it might come as a surprise but…”

The monster turned its head and stopped talking, realizing that the black-haired man was no longer there.

Instead, he had already taken a seat on his back, securely holding the terrified young human who looked as if they did not like the idea of mounting a dragon.

“I know what you are talking about, I already killed like three of the infected creatures. I also know what is the identity of the entity you talk about. Take us to her highness.”

Zoemi declared, patting the dragon’s back as if it was a trusted steed, and motioned toward the sky.

“Nothing phases you, huh…? As expected of the Unbreakable! ONWARDS!”

Nexivroh roared with contentment before smacking the ground with its two sets of wings and rushing into the air while Alan was doing his best not to bite off his own tongue.

“H-how are you not scared…?! We are so high up! What if we slip and fall?!”

As the dragon reached a height that was impossible for normal marital artists or monsters to reach its flight became more steady which allowed Alan and Zoemi to have a little talk.

“He is quite slow, you should meet the girl I love – she can break right through the sound barrier like it’s nothing~”

The black-haired man snickered and boasted as if the achievement was his own.

“What’s a sound barrier and… hold on, you have someone you like?! And it’s a girl?!”𝑂𝑽𝐿xt.𝗰𝒐𝐌

The young man gasped, putting far more attention to the detail he did not originally ask about.

“Didn’t we talk about it before? Miriette Lisea Espine, the daughter of a duke. I was her attendant since I was seven and she was the fiance of the first prince. I became a high noble and her engagement was broken – the only thing that tore us apart was that I lost mana and would have died of mana poisoning if Guide didn’t transport me into this land.”

Zoemi nodded, looking to the side with a melancholic smile.

“Before I was sent here, I promised her that I will return t her if she will still want me… it has been two years since then. So long for me, but so short overall. Oh, and I mean, she was unconscious and I asked the king, my best friend, to tell her I said that and all. Hope he did tell her that, he had a crush on me too for quite some time. Got my first kiss too – you would not believe how difficult it was to act clueless and dense. I mean, back then I was a low noble with no prospects of ever reaching their social standing so I had to act dumb or both of them would do something incredibly stupid – I worked so hard and they still would call me dense as a platinum slab, would you believe that?!”

He added with a snicker before suddenly going into serious mode and furrowing his brows while complaining.

“Unbelievable, some people don’t know how good they have.”

“RIGHT?!”

The dragon glanced back and scoffed with disbelief to which Zoemi straightened his back and nodded his head vigorously.

“I… I don’t know what to think anymore…”

Alan muttered, hiding his head on his shoulders with a confused expression.

“Ah, to be young again! Unbreakable, your situation reminds me a bit of my own youth – back then I, and Intraflan fought constantly over the territory that neither of us actually wanted.”

Nexivroh hummed blissfully.

“Hey, you did not tell me anything about it before! Isn’t Intraflan your mate?”

Zoemmi gasped like a housewife hungry for fresh juicy gossip.

“Yes, she is~! Like I said, back then we were fighting non-stop over the territory we didn’t want – but that was only my perception of what was happening.”

The dragon bellowed and Alan could feel how the monster trembled from excitement at the memory.

“The thing is, different breeds of dragons have VERY different courting rituals. Vile dragons, or Chimera dragons, for example, are shockingly tame, we take it from the griffin’s side of our genes. When a dragon from my species wants to impress the member of the opposite sex, they usually perform all sorts of amazing aerial acrobatics and if the other side is interested, she or he will join in and dance in the air sealing the deal.”

Nexivroh explained, talking without ever slowing down the speed of his flight.

“I think I know where this is going, and it will be adorable~!”

“Mm…! Mm-hmmm…”

Zoemi grinned and unintentionally hugged Alan who already was in his arms anyway, making the young man blush heavily as he nodded, trying to act as if” it was nothing.

“Turns out that for the fire dragons the courting ritual is far more personal. The interested side will challenge their potential partner and battle it out – once both sides will think that they are equal the deal is done.”

The vile dragon revealed proudly.

“All that time Intraflan was doing her best to get me to approve her! I would be none the wiser if one day after the skirmish that ended up in a draw I scoffed and tried to fly away but she could not bare it anymore and bit my tail, holding me down to the ground. -You said that I am the only other dragon who could match you! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS LEAVING AFTER AFTER I COURT YOU?! OVER AND OVER AGAIN, WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME?!- she cried in such a sweet voice, and my view of the world shattered.”

Nexivroh laughed, doing his best to make his voice go even deeper while slowing down and lifting his tail, showing off the deep fang marks at the tip.

“I believe that the human equivalent of what she thought I was doing was leaving her right before saying -I do- Anyway, the misunderstanding was resolved and now we are very happy.”

“Aww~! Ah! Sorry, Alan, I didn’t squish you too hard or anything?”

Nexivroh finished the story which made Zoemi gasp with a wide smile – until he realized that he was holding his employer a bit too hard and asked in a worried voice after relaxing his rather tight grip.

“N-no at all… Mister dragon, do you have more heartwarming stories like that?”

Alan shook his head, hiding his face before calling out to the creature carrying them with a hopeful voice.

“I do, but it’s sadly not the right time, we are almost at the heart of the sea of trees, and the princess is not someone who’s used to waiting.”

Nexivroh confirmed but then shook his head while already lowering his altitude, preparing for landing.

“Unbreakable, how do you rate the flight? Did the experience improve from the last time?”

As its feet touched the ground, the vile dragon asked curiously, looking at the two humans on its back.

“It’s not on a free flight level yet, but seeing that Alan didn’t voice any complaints, it seems like it’s passable. You will be able to transport humans if the princess would wish for their company.”

Zoemi tilted his head before giving his honest evaluation and jumping down the dragon’s torso with the young man in a princess carry.

“Welcome back. I was worried that Unbreakable didn’t recognize you and beat you up.”

Another dragon approached them, calling out in a voice so low it made the ground tremble. The new dragon was much bulkier and more muscular than the vile dragon, with an incredibly thick neck and massive jaws, and with only one set of wings that seemed to be barely able to uphold her weight.

“His memory isn’t that bad, Intraflan, also, I’m back~!”

Nexivroh cheered enthusiastically, trotting over to his mate.