Ithil came home to find his family nowhere to be been. The doors stood open and the treasury was empty. He searched the whole place multiple times but didn't find anything.

'Have they moved?'

When he walked back out, he found something written on one of the stone doors. It was on the opposite side from the entrance, explaining why he hadn't seen it on the way in. It was poorly written, seemingly with a dragon's claws.

We are at Cliffside.

'Well then, I guess I'm going to Cliffside... But it's quite far, so I'll visit the Thornhunters first. I need to know how much time has passed, plus I'll probably need to explain some things to them.'

He walked out on the platform and set off toward Rockyhill. His new strength was many times his old, and if not for his enhanced eyesight he wouldn't have been able to see where he was going. But it was still hard to control, and he almost went face-first into a mountain multiple times. But he survived, and not long after, he was in the forest near Rockyhill.

He morphed into his new humanoid form, looking more like a half-lizard humanoid than how he was before. He still had scales in some spots, but before he had half his body covered. Now it was more like 20%. He still had the same face, it just looked a bit more human, and his eyes were still from a lizard, though a bit less obvious.

There had been some bigger changes to Rockyhill, but the village was still the same. It had also expanded a bit, with the streets being a bit busier. Ithil walked toward the Sparrow Inn, hoping to get some information on what had happened to the Thornhunters. If as much time as he suspected had gone by, it would be quite surprising if they were still the same. He opened the doors and scanned the inside.

The first thing he noticed was that there was a new person at the counter, but it wasn't very surprising. He continued looking for any leads.

'Maybe that loner is willing to talk?'

Ithil sat down opposite a young male fidgeting with some sort of tool. It looked like a hammer but seemed to be used for other things as well. The man looked up at Ithil for a moment before looking down at the hammer again, visibly nervous. He appeared to be in his young twenties, with dark brown hair and sooty skin.

'Doesn't look that well off... But he could still know something.'

"Where is that hammer from?" Ithil asked, trying to ease the conversation. But it didn't go well, and the young man froze for a moment before rising up. Before the man could go, Ithil decided to go straight to the point.

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"Do you know anything about the Thornhunters?"

The young man froze again before saying, "You don't know about them?"

"I do, well, I used to. I don't know how they are nowadays."

The young man sat down again, slight excitement showing on his face. He then began to talk about the many adventures the Thornhunters had been through.

'They appear to be even more popular than I thought, they're like legends around here.'

"I know about all that, I'm just wondering about where they are."

"They disbanded several years ago... I believe Lerth still lives here though, but he doesn't accept visitors," the man said sorrowfully.

'Just as I suspected...'

"Do you know where he lives?"

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The young man guided Ithil to a large house down the road before leaving him. Ithil thanked the man and continued toward the entrance. Next to the large, wooden doors stood a guard wearing complete armor. As Ithil got close, the guard stopped him.

"What is your business here?" she said with a harsh tone.

"I'm meeting an old friend."

The guard looked him up and down, before saying:

"And your name is?"

"Cliff Dagger."

The guard seemed surprised at his answer.

"That person Lerth keeps talking about? How am I supposed to know you're telling the truth?"

"He should recognize me if he sees me."

"But what if you're trying to harm him? I'm afraid I'm not allowed to let you in."

Ithil pulled out his adventurer's card from the pouch he had been storing it in and showed it to the guard, who looked at it for a moment.

"You look a bit different from the picture..."

Ithil, who had given up on proving his identity to the guard, pushed the guard to the side before walking through the locked doors. The guard, who wasn't prepared for Ithil's overwhelming strength, stumbled to the side. She quickly regained balance and rushed inside to stop Ithil. When she came inside, however, she found Ithil and Lerth looking at each other. Lerth, who seemed very surprised, said to her:

"Leave us alone, please."

She didn't want to go against her master's order and left immediately, wondering what had just happened.

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Lerth turned back to Ithil, a smile spreading on his face.

"I knew you would come back!"

He walked up and hugged Ithil, who was feeling a bit unsure about what to do. Lerth then took a step back and his smile became a bit more serious.

"Now then, you'd better tell me what happened that day."

They sat down and Ithil told him about him really being a dragon and how the other dragon was his father. He also told Lerth about his adult sleep and why it had taken him so long to see them again.

"By the way, exactly how long was I gone for?"

Based on how old Lerth looked compared to before, Ithil had a rough guess. But he still wanted to have it confirmed.

"Actually, I think it's exactly 20 years since I last saw you. And about ten years since we disbanded. You know we really became big during those ten years after you left. It only took us a year to climb to the 2nd rank. Afterward, we became quite big. Especially here in Rockyhill."

'So I'm 50 years old now, huh...'

"Yeah, I've noticed."

They spent the rest of the week talking about the Thornhunter's prime, and about the many incredible things they had done. And after a couple of days, it was time for Ithil to leave. But before he could do so, Lerth spoke to him.

"This might be the last time I see you, so... do you mind doing me a favor?"

"What kind?"

"Can... can I see your dragon form a second time? I want to see your true self."