Around two hours passed after the moment the three hooded figures disappeared from that shady alley. The city of Zolag was now fully awake. Laughs of happy children and shouts of merchants filled the Main Plaza where the Gran Market was taking place. Colors, sounds, smells, textures and tastes. There was someone trying to adsorb every surrounding information inside her being. For Rubra, this was an event of secular importance, literally. In her whole life, she had never seen such a lively scene that didn’t imply a territorial fight between different races of monsters. The only social experience she had in the past was the BBQ party she took part in with her parents and Cain after their reconciliation…but well, that didn’t end well. Instantly she stopped thinking about her past and decided giving now her full attention to what was in front of her in order not to have any more regrets in the future, or at least she hoped for that. ‘’In these moments, you really show your age, uh! ‘’ A seemingly smooth voice pricked her behind her head. She turned her head and saw a beautiful woman with light brown hair and green eyes. Her age wasn’t easily guessed, as her youthful appearance contrasted with her seasoned talking skills. This was the appearance Eve decided for her stay in the human Kingdom. She would have no problem transforming Zolgas into a sea of fire in approximately three minutes, but from what she learned, that not-quite-literal monster of Eric was actually a human. At least he should have been one in the past, or so she thought. When she initially heard that information, during their travel across the Cinder Forest, she tripped on the roots of a tree and almost kissed the ground if it wasn’t for her wings instinctively moving at the right moment. This unique creature had already saved the city of Zolgas once the past night when his two travel companions were ready to start a firey Armageddon that would have terminated the existence of Zolgas in the history books. Whatever the reasons, she agreed to go with his plan. After all, she herself didn’t experience human society that much. Her past experiences were limited to some self-called paladins of justice trying to kill her when she was younger. All she had done wrong was trying to enter a city, curious of its structure and daily life, in her original 50-meter-long, fear-inducing form. Just a couple days ago, she had learned from Eric the nature of the instinctual fears of humans and understood why after being rejected by those past citizens, she had to collect the armor of the dead fools who tried defeating her. At the time, she didn’t just understand humans and gave up on that objective, resuming her travel across Ouroboros. Now her destiny had given her the opportunity to fill her past lacking points, and she was all for it. She was ready to the point of morphing into something as unattractive as a wagon in order to enter the city. Naturally, the red-haired girl with hazel colored eyes, the chosen human appearance of Rubra, didn’t forget it and was ready to mock her about it. ‘’Oh, what’s happening? I hear a voice in the air...but why can I only see a wagon in front of me?! ‘’ The smile on her face was clearly making fun of her. Unexpectedly the green-eyed beauty seemed unfazed, and an enigmatic smile appeared on her face instead of the grimace Rubra was expecting from her. ‘’See? That’s just what I was talking about. Mocking others about something you aren’t able to do is clearly childish. ‘’ Foreseeing where Eve wanted to hit her, Rubra interrupted her again. ‘’What are you talking about? I’m not childish!’’ Eve sighed visibly as if listening to a baby throwing a tantrum. ‘’I had to turn into a wagon because in Eric’s plan, in order to not raise the suspicions of the city guards, we had to be two persons instead of three. I had to become the wagon because you aren't able to transform into an inanimate object yet. Do you remember now, Rubra? ‘’ Luckily the two were in the middle of the square, so their loud voices were covered by the surrounding sounds. If that hadn’t been the case, they would have been already misinterpreted as demon spies. Rubra wasn’t happy about Eve’s comment. At that moment, she remembered her never-ending days of training in order to avenge her parents. She remembered her effort and didn’t want to hear someone related to Cain mock her because of that. ‘’I don’t care about it. For that matter, Eric doesn’t have Polymorph altogether. Mine has a low level because, for the last two hundred years, I trained every awake hour training to avenge my parents. ‘’ A normal human, hearing that, would have probably turned silent or said sorry for the sour topic brought into the discussion. Though she was a dragon, one of the most prideful races that hardly ever acknowledged their mistakes. For this reason, she didn’t stop talking and didn’t say anything similar to a ‘’Sorry, Rubra’’. Eve thought of herself, at the same time, as a dragon and not a dragon, as she said to Eric the first time they met. She couldn’t forget her past experience and didn’t want to feign it didn’t affect the person she was today. At that moment, her dragon part, so to say was ready to continue the verbal fight with Rubra going, as she was clearly closing her in the corner, metaphorically speaking. On the contrary, there was a new personality she felt like she was discovering since the new beginning Eric gifted to her. At that moment, this new persona just wanted to be accepted by Rubra and Eric and live the rest of her life happily with the two of them. This internal struggle between those two emotional pulls gave birth to a response dual in nature. The earthling pick-up artists from which Eric learned when he was a teen would have called it a good example of ‘’Push-Pull’’. ‘’Ah, so you think Eric is a failure, eh?! Well, if that was your reason for your beginner-level Polymorph, that’s alright. You became an honorable warrior that managed to avenge your parents. ‘’ For a moment, Rubra was stunned. Unsure of what to answer to that sudden critique followed by a compliment. *That was actually the first compliment she made me since I met her… * The two were focused on the verbal exchange they were having or maybe the third member of their group had improved in his presence-erasing techniques. Be it as it may, suddenly, Rubra and Eve felt a shiver down their spine. In their minds, danger and pleasure were almost mixed when it came to him. ‘’Who said I’m a failure? ’’ Goosebumps appeared on Eve’s skin. ‘’Who didn’t try to defend me in the slightest? ‘’ Now it was Rubra that felt another shiver, but, differently from Eve, she started smiling, intoxicated by that feeling. As if answering her, Eric Adopted a relaxed smile and continued. ‘’Anyway, I’ve got the money. Now we can go register ourselves to the Adventurer Guild! ‘’

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