“It’s refreshing to see this new world with my own eyes~♥”

Alice, despite exuding confidence as she walked down the dirt path created by the foot traffic, had no clue about where she was going. In truth; it wasn’t just about her essentially being kidnapped by the cat. She had lived her entire life under the seas which meant she obviously would have little knowledge about the world above.

This just led to her believing anything she was told by her parents & the passing water dragon within their grand palace - leading to her thinking of the overland like some kind of wonderland. Due to being their precious little princess she mostly heard the good. This also led to zero geographical knowledge.

If you asked her where the Azura Dragon’s territory was; she would simply reply “they’re in the mountains” with her answer for the terra dragon hordes being “they’re in the ground” and so on.

To say her knowledge of the world was on the level of a child wasn’t accurate though. She could likely guide anyone to anything in the ocean - there may not be a single rock that she would be unable to recognise when under the waves. Above those waves? It was likely that you would have more luck in asking a 3 year old child than consulting her… Not that she was that old herself.

In titan dragon terms she didn’t even count as a toddler and was actually practically one in sentient mortal terms due to hatching a mere four years ago! Titan dragons aged even slower than regular dragons with her being a very pure blooded child. Still one could never guess her age based on either her level of wisdom nor her strength. For both she may not fall against another divine entity with hundreds of years on her and in terms of survivability it was hard to top her. Afterall she did survive the united attacks of the mighty {Azura Dragon} & {Primordial Titan God of Fire} that ended the {Mother}’s eternal life.

One may wonder how she was so badly beaten (by a random god) that she willingly listened to the nonsense of two strange Radiant Lions, however the reason for that was actually quite simple. She met an even greater prodigy. Of course, although Cheshire knew, there was no reason for Alice to realise that.

As a result she walked along the trail with her head tilted backwards - taking a deep breath through her nose - to enjoy nature but still remaining vigilant against any attackers.

Her right hand always passively sat upon the handle of her sword. Attempting to be as intimidating as possible, presenting that kind motherly smile she learned from her mamma, yet ready to draw at any time in a martial art she prepared specifically for this reason. Learning from her countless defeats to not let her arrogance get ahead; deciding the fight in a single draw before they could retaliate.

There was also the chance that an opponent like that three headed god could resist the attack nevertheless it should at least get her that first hit. Because of that she named the move {Deciding Draw} which got a compliment even from the little black cat. Remembering that moment made her giddy.

Similar to that {Cornered Little Black Cat Art} her {Deciding Draw} focused on a single moment of supreme speed yet they were different in the fact she applied it to the sword alone. Allowing for a sharpness that was hard to surpass. Or, rather, that was how it was supposed to be but she was far from the martial art genius that the little black cat was. There was still a lot of refinement to go; her genius lied in adaptation & growth rather than the creation of something new.

Lingering on the thought that she, although her daughter, was not the same {Mother} that her mother was no matter how much she wished to be.

Her feet stayed still for a moment as she looked down to her own feet for a moment. Thankfully her childlike curiosity caused her attention to drift to the green ‘blades’ that poked out the soil. Squatting down to have her left hand graze through only to make her let out a soft “ooo~” as they pricked her palm.

“I have been curious about this for a while but this seaweed is certainly strange, then again, would it not be landweed on account of it being… No it may be skyweed since it’s under the sky? I really should have asked Cheshire about this yet it felt foolish to do anything but train.”

Clearly letting her inquisitive nature take hold as she prodded & poked the little green plant that carpeted the area on either side of the trek. There were also those large brown towers with green hanging from their long, seemingly strong, split up limbs. Truly there was a lot to explore above the water to the point where she couldn’t help gain some spring in her step.

Swiftly moving towards one of those large plants to run her fingers across its rigid & rough surface as it seemed to flake off from even her gentle touch. Seeing that made her curious what hid under the brown exterior thus used her hand to pry some of the outer skin from the surface. Being welcomed to a lighter brown interior that felt almost smooth if very dusty.

Little spells came from the surface though, making her brow rise, as the plant was obviously unable to puncture through her invisible scales.

“Is this some method of defence to prevent weak creatures from accessing their innards?”

Tilting her head as she was going to prepare to try her hand at gathering what the planet hid yet quickly closed her eyes as she “sensed” some people approaching. Easily being able to make out that the gathering was of young male dragons with them likely knowing the exact same about her based on the scent she left as she walked. Of course she presented them with the same warm smile she taught while turning around to meet them.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Those dragons were a trio that clearly seemed to have some hierarchy between them; one of them walking a little behind the other two yet all three exuded arrogance. Freely letting their pheromones spread as they stared at Alice with an audible snort coming from the one who seemed like the leader. A scene that didn’t manage to break her smile though.

The front two had scales across their limbs & ears to their cheeks that actually seemed similar in texture & colour to the plant that was now behind her rather than those of her father. Although the ‘boss’ appeared to have a golder tint to his scales. Both her and her mamma hardly could be said to possess regular dragon scales so she wasn’t one to judge them.

As such, she just continued smiling, decking to politely greet the trio despite clearly being far above them in terms of hierarchy as a titan dragon (let alone one of divine nature).

“Hello there fellow dragons; could you perhaps enlighten me on where-”

“HMPF!”

Before she could even finish her question, she was interrupted rudely by the burliest of the dragons, and both of the front dragons walked up to her. Clearly trying to intimidate her yet she just slowly tilted her head to one side. This ended up causing the scene to go on for quite some time (since she had no idea what they wanted) to the point where the last dragon’s smug smile slowly turned into a frown.

Noticing their young lord's displeasure - the slender yet still muscular dragon walked forward - with a dismissive look clearly displayed with every movement he made. Not that this did anything to allay the confusion that the water dragon felt. All the interactions she had were with people that knew exactly who she was until she arrived at the orphanage; even then they were very polite to her.

She had no knowledge of how to deal with assholes as the only ones she ran into ended up killing her mamma with little talk.

“Do you expect lord Goldoak to greet you?”

An obvious threat that Alice answered in the obvious fashion…

“Not really since I just want directions to the nearest settlement or map.”

Maintaining her kind smile with her eyes closed as she answered them, tilting her head to one side, while secretly happy that she finally got to get across her desire. Unfortunately her fellow dragons didn’t seem quite as eager to send her on her way. The burly dragon charged forward and attempted to grab her all the while yelling at the top of his lungs.

“YOU SCALE-LESS BITCH: A MUTANT LIKE YOU REALLY DARES T- *clink* w-what?”

His surprise was caused as something large suddenly crossed in front of his face (as soon as he heard that sound of metal on metal) causing him to completely freeze up for a moment. Looking toward the dragoness revealed her hands to be positioned on her sword, as if she had just sheathed her blade, so he turned towards the object. At first he couldn’t understand what it was but then slowly began to realise that it was a severed arm that was covered in bark-like scales.

Lifting his own hands to his face revealed… He was one down.

“So can I get directions now~?”

“AAARGH MY ARM!”

“Y-you… The gaul on you!”

For the first time since they met, the face of the young master changed completely, as his face went completely pale as he lifted his hand up to point towards the young dragoness. An impressive feat since he was a lizard. Colour quickly returned as the plants around began to aggressively wiggle around which was certainly an interesting scene for Alice.

Still, she wasn’t rude, turning towards them with that warm motherly smile that she was taught to always hold when interacting with people.

“In my defence I only intended to graze him lightly for trying to touch me yet it seems I underestimated the enhancement provided to my ‘sword qi’ as she called it. I did make it with the intention of sharpening my energy however one can never really know the full influence until they test it, after all. Although it does make me wonder just how effective this weapon of mine is…”

Tilting her head to the side innocently while turning her head as if she was gazing down at her sword in a quizzical fashion.

Hearing that the sword was some kind of treasure also changed the expression of the previous irate dragon all the while the smaller of the two “servants” looked towards the burly one. His own guise being one of pure disgust. The injured dragon was cradling his stump at the same time as hugging the severed arm like it was the most precious thing in the world. Though his partner looked down at him with not an ounce of comradery or fear that such a situation could have happened to him but instead like he was looking at a piece of trash.

“Do not think that I, a Goldoak Drake, am as weak as a mere wood drake nor one who needs to rely on weapons like a freak such as yourself does. Give up the sword - though - and I will at least consider accepting you as a new servant. Such an item could see great use in the right hands… The hands of a real dragon like me!”

Alice raised her brow.

“Oh~?”