Ithil used his claws to dig at the rock in front of him rhythmically. It felt much nicer than breaking it with momentum. It was slower but gave him another kind of training he was not used to. His scales and claws were getting harder, and he could cut through the rock like butter.

The ground suddenly started rumbling. Cracks spread out above him.

‘Not again… This area is becoming unstable.’

The tunnel collapsed and everything fell down on him. The feeling reminded him of the underwater cave, though a bit sharper.

He used his full power and shot up through the ground. On the surface, part of a mountain suddenly fell off, and Ithil came through.

The darkness of the underground and the many hits to his head he had received had messed up his sense of time. The light hit him and the fresh air felt good on his scales.

‘That’s it! I’m really not suited for cramped spaces. I give up on digging.’

He looked at his own body, trying to measure it.

‘About 15 meters… How long have I been digging? I’ll need to check with someone…’

Ithil started flying towards the Voucan Kingdom.

‘I guess I’ll check on Lerth and Hikor.’

He quickly picked up speed, and the world around him blurred. It didn’t take long for the capital of the Voucan Kingdom to appear on the horizon. But that wasn’t Ithil’s target, he steered slightly to the side and soon reached the village of Rockyhill.

‘I feel like I’m faster. Maybe the digging helped more than I thought. Or maybe it’s because of my growth.’

He landed in the forest nearby and morphed into his humanoid form. He looked slightly taller, but not much had changed.

‘It feels even more cramped in this form now… I’m getting worried.’

He walked out of the forest and headed to the village. He still remembered the whole layout and headed straight for the Sparrow Inn.

‘The village seems mostly the same, so I can’t have been gone for too long…’

He went in through the inn’s entrance door. The familiar smells hit him, and he remembered his adventures with the Thornhunters. They often stayed late at the Inn’s bar, talking about whatever they had been doing that week. Sometimes they got into arguments, but a few tasty drinks would lighten the mood quickly.

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Dragons didn’t really form strong relationships, since they were mostly loners. Ithil didn’t really see Lerth and Hikor as good friends, more like nice people he had spent some time with. Even his parents weren’t that important to him. The only beings that dragons really cared about were their offspring, which they had the desire to protect just like other species.

Dragon families were a bit one-sided. The parents loved their children, but the children mostly wanted to start their own lives.

He sat down at a table, keeping his eyes out for familiar faces.

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A few hours later, the door opened revealing two humans. One was wearing light clothes, with a cloak hiding the face. The other wore more armor with his face visible. Lerth locked a bit differently from when Ithil had last seen him. He had grown a dark brown beard and his face was more tempered.

As soon as Lerth and Hikor entered, people noticed them. Some of the older adventurers staying at the inn walked up to them, asking questions regarding the adventure they had just completed. Lerth put on a proud smile and pulled forth a giant head similar to an eagle’s, just with a more prominent beak and spikes instead of feathers.

‘Seems they’ve been busy. I never expected them to get this popular…’

Ithil stood up and walked behind them. Being in a good mood, he wanted to give them a surprise and did it stealthily. He put his hands on their shoulders once he was behind them. They both turned around at the same time, surprise clearly visible on their faces. It quickly turned to shock as they recognized Ithil.

“Cliff!”

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“What have you been doing these past 10 years? We thought you died or something.”

‘I’ve been gone for 10 years? I’m getting worried about my health. I thought at most 5 years would’ve passed, but 10…?’

Ithil was quite shocked. It almost explained why he’d grown so much. But he was still unusually large. He was most likely nearing double his siblings’ size.

“Well… It’s a bit of a secret, but I can tell you I’ve been training.”

“For 10 years? How am I supposed to believe that?”

“Believe what you want, but it’s true.”

A dragon’s sense of time was different compared to most other species. Years went by quite quickly for Ithil. Being away for 10 years felt to him as if a, for example, a human went away for a couple of months.

“By the way, you’ve really become popular. Everyone here seems to know you,” Ithil said.

“Yeah, we’ve grown a lot these past years. Did you know we’re rank 3 now?”

“I could tell by the equipment you’re wearing. Things seem to be going really well for you.”

When Ithil had left the Thornhunters they had been rank 4. Advancing a rank was much harder than one would think. It was generally thought that you could defeat five adventurers of the rank below yours.

“I would say so too. Anyway, you haven’t really changed much. You look pretty much the same age as when you left, only a bit taller,” Lerth said.

“Yeah, you could say it’s in the genes.”

Ithil didn’t like lying. To him, only telling part of the truth felt much better. He still wasn’t ready to reveal his identity. Perhaps when he had become an adult.

That night Ithil slept in his old bed. For some reason, Lerth and Hikor hadn’t changed where they lived. Apparently, they had fallen in love with the place.

The next day he spent talking to them about what they had been through. Apparently, they had even taken on a global quest together with some other parties to slay a large cave monster further east. It had been a difficult fight and they wouldn’t have made it if not for a rank 2 party that had shown up.

Later in the day, it was time for Ithil to continue with his plans. He once again promised to see them again, although a bit earlier this time.

Ithil went to the forest and morphed into his dragon form before heading toward the Distant Peaks.