Time passed as slowly as ever for a being as old as Aella. Mentally, at least.

Despite the numerous days that ended up blending together, not a single moment of it left her bored. It had been three years since her rebirth into this world, and aside from her curiosity growing extensively, not much had changed. She checked on her [Dragon Core] daily, and instead of just the lightning dancing around it, it began to move ever so slightly. It was nudging around like the egg of a chicken trying to hatch. It’s been doing this for the greater half of a year, so Aella had no idea if it would be an actual dragon, but she patiently awaited the day it might happen.

While she waited, though, not a single moment was wasted.

In a bustling market square, surrounded by towering buildings adorned with glowing signs and magical lights, little Aella’s eyes widened in amazement as she curiously looked at the numerous wonders around her.

The air was filled with the scent of exotic foods and the melodic hum of arcane gadgets. Aella’s attention was fully captured by a colorful display of floating orbs that emitted dazzling lights, changing colors and patterns with each passing moment. Her tiny fingers reached out, trying to touch the enchanting lights, only for them to pop in her face.

She wasn’t entirely sure why the place was so packed. Her mother mentioned something about a fair, but she wasn’t paying that much attention. The reason didn’t matter to her though as so many different things which she had never seen before appeared in one spot because of it.

“Look, Mama! Papa! They’re like stars that I can touch!” Aella exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Inwardly, her words made her cringe slightly. After much deliberation, she decided to play the part of a child for the time being. It had been a long time since she had a family, and even if she held no attachment to these two who gave birth to her, she wanted to at least experience what it was like to be a child after so long.

Further, even if the way she spoke made her cringe, her feelings weren’t lies. Her world was already not as technologically advanced as the world she currently found herself on, Earth, but to make it even worse, because the world was under constant threat of attack, innovations in things like entertainment and quality of life were rare in her world.

“Those are Mystic Orbs, Aella. A magic crystal powers them and can create beautiful displays. Be careful, though. They’re delicate.” Anastasia spoke with a chuckle as if her daughter hadn’t just popped one in her face and learned their fragility the hard way.

Naturally, Aella could tell that even before she touched the bubble-like orb. Just because it was never thought of in her world didn’t mean it was all that complicated in structure.

Regardless, Aella marveled at the orbs while ignoring her mother’s warning. The mysteries of modern technology piqued her curiosity.

Turning her attention elsewhere, Aella saw a funny-looking man wearing a prominent magician’s hat. A street performing ‘Magic’ Tricks. This, too, amazed her. Not the tricks themselves, she saw through them immediately, but how skillfully he hid his methods from ordinary people.

‘It’s similar to the skill set of a thief or pickpocket, yet they found a way to turn it into entertainment. It’s so fascinating.’

After each trick of the man, the small crowd around him clapped, and so did Aella, following the mood with a giggle.

It was then her father, Slade Rossi, who roughly rubbed her head. Or rather, the hood that covered her ears to grab her attention.

“Look there! [Dragon Riders!]” Slade pointed north, towards the sky.

Turning to see what he was talking about, a small group of humans who rode dragons through the sky passed overhead to the cheers of many in the square.

Each of the dragons rode was very different from the other. One seemed more avian than reptilian, and another was a massive dragonfly with resplendent wings.

“Woah…” Sparkles of wonder filled her eyes.

‘Dragon Riders. To my understanding, they’re like mercenaries who fight to protect the world from… What were those things called? [Abyss Kin] I think? Apparently, they live with great prestige. Like heroes.’

“I want to be just like them!” Aella stated arbitrarily, surprising both her parents.

Both looked at each other before chuckling in unison.

“Maybe when you’re older. If you can form a bond with your dragon before you’re 10 years old, and if you still want to be one, we’ll enroll you in an academy. How does that sound?” Anastasia brought up, with Slade nodding in agreement.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

‘I’m sorry, there’s an academy? Do they function more like a country’s military force? To my knowledge, they use a guild system similar to the one in my last life.’ Aella mused.

In her home world, Cities weren’t ruled by mayors or governors but by groups sort of like businesses. They were called Factions, and they functioned like Guilds in an MMORPG.

Whatever the case was, Aella nodded vigorously so as not to make her parents wait too long for a response.

Even if she was put under the direct supervision of a country’s military, she would just disobey orders and continue about her life if they did anything she disagreed with. Or, if push comes to shove, take more drastic measures.

Truth be told, she just wanted to be a [Dragon Rider] so she could see what these [Abyss Kin] were. Fame and fortune were already something she had plenty of in her past life.

As they continued to fly overhead, so too did Aella and her small family continue through the market, and just as quickly, something else grabbed Aella’s attention, causing her to run to a nearby Inventor who showed off his newest device, nearly losing her parents in the process.

It wasn’t anything complex, but it captivated Aella for some reason she couldn’t pinpoint.

Inside of a glass ball, rain fell infinitely and lightning struck the tiny ground inside around a majestic silver dragon.

“Velfius…” She muttered under her breath.

Her parents, finally catching up to her through the massive crowds, let out a sigh.

“Don’t run off like that, Aella. Come on.” Slade playfully complained.

“But look, look! It’s so cool!” She cheered, pointing at the electrifying snowglobe.

“Oh, is that a habitat space? Those are rare.” Anastasia acknowledged while getting a closer look.

“Habi…tat space?” Aella questioned.

Before Anastasia could answer her daughter, the inventor opened a small compartment on the device, and the dragon inside of it actually ran out of it! As it left, it grew to be a whole meter tall, quickly taking to the skies like the many other dragons that accompanied their human partners.

Unsurprisingly, Aella’s eyes widened in surprise but much wider than ever before.

‘Spatial Magic!’ She thought.

All these other magic devices that she saw on the large screens and in person used magic in fun and creative ways, sure but spatial magic was something completely different.

Even in her world, devices utilizing magic weren’t uncommon, even if they weren’t nearly this sophisticated. Space and Time magics were the exceptions to this rule.

Only a handful of people had either, and no matter how hard engineers tried, they could never figure out how to use it in Magitech. Something they’ve been trying since Aella was a wee little fox to the point of her death against Velfius.

“Can I get one?” Aella asked.

Crouching down, Slade let out another chuckle.

“What for, Little Fox? You don’t even have a Dragon yet! Ask again when yours hatches, okay?”

‘But I don’t want it for my dragon! I wanna study it!’ She lamented inwardly, making a pouty face toward her parents.

“I hate you, daddy!” She cried, running behind Anastasia.

“Guh…” Slade fell back a little, holding his heart.

“Come on… Don’t be like this Aella… We’ll definitely get you one in the future, okay?” He pleaded.

“Hmph!”

Smiling at the antics of her beloved daughter and completely defeated husband, Anastasia looked around for something to appease her precious baby.

“Oh, dearest. How about Daddy take you through the [Portal System]? I bet that’ll be much more fun than owning a habitat without a dragon.”

Instantly, Aella’s pout vanished as she looked up at her mother.

“Portal?”

Hearing this, Slade quickly chimed in. “T-that’s right! It can take you anywhere you’ve been before that has another portal on the other side! What if I take you to the top of a mountain?”

Aella pretended to think about it for a while. The entire time she glared at Slade before eventually nodding begrudgingly.

‘I win! I get to study spatial tech anyways!’ She cheered in her mind.

It is at times like these that you need to remember most that Aella is an ancient being who killed Gods. She was now also apparently a master manipulator.

Quickly the family made their way over to the portal platform. It was surprisingly large, with hundreds of people being on it at once.

“Hold our hands tightly, dearest,” Anastasia said, Aella nodding as the young girl gripped the hands of her parents.

“{Teleport, Whitney!}”

Coating herself in a thin layer of mana before the portal began to activate, Aella and her family were engulfed in a mystical light before a burst of magical energy whisked them away in an instant, the wind tousling Aella’s hair as they traveled through a shimmering portal.

It took no more than 3 seconds, and by the time the light dissipated, they were across the country in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The experience left Aella breathless and exhilarated. She was used to traveling such distances in seconds with a simple dash. That was just the level she was at but this. The feeling was completely different!

It was amazing!

As for the mountains themselves. It was a little chilly, but the mana she coated herself with protected her from that rather pleasantly. The range itself was smaller than what she was used to. She didn’t have exact measurements but she was pretty sure that Velfius was larger than the mountain she currently stood on.

However, so as to not disappoint her father, she naturally pretended to be ecstatic.