First Flight

As they had suspected, Ithicos was already scouring the area, looking for the abomination. Fortunately for them, he was at least basically aware of the dangers that came with close contact of the creature. It was only natural, if only glancing at a species whose paradoxical existence was capable of spawning a color, was enough to incapacitate a person, then surely close contact would come with more risks.

Just gotta burn it to death!

Not that he particularly cared, or had a good strategy. He was probably still a bit drunk on the new power that came from his new form, but would it help him against this less than new adversary?

Just looking at him hurt Miyo, so I just have to keep my eyes closed and burn everything till it dies!

This plan was… in a strange way more effective than he likely expected, though I sincerely doubt he realized the reason why it would work so well.

As long as I let him hit me once or twice first! I need to make sure I can actually deal with this one just like the last!

Now, whether the part of the plan based on testing his second aspect of seemingly indestructible skin, or I suppose more accurately… The preamble to his main plan was a good idea was not something for me to say. It made some amount of sense, I cannot deny. After all, if his body was tough enough to take so many hit's earlier, mayhaps even this unfathomable abomination's hits would do very little. If not a change in strategy was in order, there was, I must insist, sense to this plan. But that sense was muddled by the sheer risk being taken by allowing himself to be hit once or twice just to see if it would hurt.

Now where are you? You monster!

That actually required very little explanation. You see, as Ithicos bounded round and round, searching for the creature by following the paths of its tentacles as they fired at his friends, jumping over tree and bush alike in some attempt to finally get the drop on something whose shape he did not know, the creature simply did all it could to stay as far away from him as possible. Cowardly? Of course. Wise considering the previous bout? Most certainly. But there was a weakness in this consideration.

This thing isn't even bothering to try hitting me… or I guess more accurately, it doesn't want to hit me?

Attacking would tell Ithicos how weak the creature truly was, but not attacking still told him quite a bit. Even if, unlike the previous encounter, the creature could hurt him, not attacking implied there was a reason to bide its time, or that something else was amiss. Even if it were setting him up to get overconfident and subsequently sneak attacked, that still implied Ithicos was enough of a threat that attacking in a straightforward manner was a dangerous proposition. If there were some other reason? Then Ithicos, if he were smarter than he actually was, would be able to poke and prod and work at that reason until he could take the creature by surprise, rather than the other way around. No matter what, not attacking was the right choice of course, as it put Ithicos in a more cautious position (he could not be certain whether it could hurt him or not), put the creature in a position where it could allocate its resources more effectively (all of the tentacles were squarely aimed at those it could hurt, not the nigh indestructible dragon) and meant he had less ways of tracking where the creature was coming to and from (since none of the tentacles were actually going near him, he had no way of trying to follow it towards it's master), but that does not mean it was ever the fully safe plan.

Where is this thing?! I've been looking for what feels like hours¹!

As mentioned above, as much as Ithicos WANTED to find the thing, actually reaching it was…difficult, given his closed eyes and none of the tentacles going near him.

Maybe I could dig it out?

As he thought this, he ran towards the location where he heard a tentacle had just burst through, and tried to dig it up, so he could follow it to its main body, only to find it was too late, and the tentacle had resubmerged. It seemed that after each strike, the tentacles would return from wence they came.

Can I bait it somehow?

As he thought this, Ithicos stopped his mindless charge for a brief moment, after this pause, he theatrically flipped forwards into something akin to a draconic somersault, and allowed himself to fullforce fall on his back.

Ack, this is probably gonna hurt worse than the last fall huh?

It was truly an over the top leap, as he seemingly put one of his front legs as far under himself as he could reach, and then proceeded to put all of his strength into that leg's hand (or would claw be the proper description? I am unfortunately not entirely sure, as such specifics in nomenclature tend to get… Complicated, depending on the species and their individual circumstances, it is especially complex in dragons, where some have what may as well be hands with pointed nails, while others have what appear more like hooves if anything… back on topic however) so that he would essentially flip forwards, it was a truly incredible sight to behold, as his back hurtled over his head and then towards the ground. If there existed a judgment or ranking for fake falls, this one would be written in all the halls and stories in tales to come, as an example of premier, first rank bullshit. All that needed to happen was the next step.

Huh? Where's the collision?

Unfortunately, this next step was now unlikely to occur, as Ithicos found he was now not only failing to collide with the ground, but he was once more speeding forwards. Except this time he was upside down, was going steadily upwards, his wings were flapping, and his legs were not moving.

Am… am I flying?!

Yes, due to some subconscious fear of a fall similar to the one he had earlier, through some sort of instinct which now likely ruled his body, it seemed that his initial goal, with all of that theatrics he had put quite a bit of work into, was now entirely for nought. Just as his back began to close in on the ground, the way in which he had flipped filled his wings with air, and due to that aforementioned subconscious fear, they flapped, propelling him forward at top speeds.

How on earth did I…? Why wasn't I able to fly earlier? How much strength do my wings have to move me upwards this fast? How… How… Actually, how do I flip around?

It was obviously quite uncomfortable to fly given it was his first time attempting it, instinct notwithstanding, but it was made much more difficult with his current… orientation, with his vision showing the ground above and the sky below, he was effectively doing what many thrill seeker dragons would normally do after decades of experience.

I don't wanna stop myself by hitting the ground, even if my skin is impervious, it's would probably cause me to throw up if I let myself just barrel into the ground… that, and I don't wanna test to see if my wings are as impervious as my skin, I mean if they aren't… could they end up permanently damaged if I hurt them enough? Could they-AH!

As he contemplated this dangerous possibility, his fortune of being able to avoid obstacles by simply going above them was no longer viable, as he found himself slowly but surely going downwards, directly towards a wall of trees, blocking entrance to a gigantic forest.

Okay! Time to figure out one of two things… how to go up again and/or how to turn!

Unfortunately, the nervous instinct which had initially guided him upwards was now starting to die down, meaning he now had to learn the basics of flight on his own. Or at the very least, he had to figure out how to force these instincts of his how to do as he needed.

Okay… just flap your wings some more like before…and then… and then… move my weight around? Maybe that's how I turn?

The secret in going up was rather obvious, the secret to flipping however was… less so, especially given how Ithicos had been a landlocked creature most of his life.

At least I don't feel sick.

It was fortunate however, that his body was truly that of a dragon and no longer mortal, as it meant he was truly unaffected physically by the seemingly perilous situation.

Seriously though, how do I flip over? This is getting tiresome. Maybe if I… no, I think I almost careened into the forest again… perhaps if I… no… that just makes me go faster, somehow.

After managing to avoid hitting the forest, his next goal became obvious, flip back over and fly properly without hitting the ground. I wondered why that was his goal of choice, considering the current circumstances, but mayhaps he was the sort of person who was easily distracted without a consistent guiding hand? I would posit that this is the single most annoying type of mortal, after all… how can you call yourself anything other than a dog if you can't do anything without a master's command or strict guidelines?

Like how certain beings, such as *REDACTED*, are outright inert without a master or long standing orders? Unless they develop a soul of course, but honestly, the entire process behind that is rather confusing, they somehow gain souls by being around births or deaths, but somehow upon gaining a soul they do not function like a reincarnation would? It's very bizarre to be frank, I mean how does the soul reset itself so easily upon entering a *REDACTED*? Well ok, sometimes the soul doesn't reset, but those are edge cases where the one responsible for the soul transfer generally wants the transfer to happen to begin with, and has a good understanding of how *REDACTED* work, meaning the soul is sent in a way which allows for maximum carry over. This was done most successfully by the *REDACTED*, but even he ultimately failed in some rather… important ways, after he attempted to save his *REDACTED* from *REDACTED* by transferring her mind and soul into a *REDACTED*. This seemingly worked well at first, but the dramatic change in physical form, the obvious fact that she was inherently a new being, plus fear over the bits of her mind and body which may have not carried over, caused her to ultimately go mad, and kill him. Ironically, her original body, which continued living with only a partial mind, soul, and a dying body, lived for decades after this, and actually managed to live a relatively decent life, having children of her own eventually. The *REDACTED* was never found though. This is not particularly surprising, given the personality of the *REDACTED* and their strange *REDACTED* after all-

*Upon my editing of this report, I discovered the unfortunate fact that I may have gotten a bit off topic for a few hundred pages, as such… I will simply skip to the portion where I begin to speak of Ithicos again (as much as it pains me given my nature… At least I got to keep the previous tale, which happens to be a personal favorite of mine). The *REDACTED* are simply being used to erase any personal information that could hurt innocents in the future, and nothing else.*

That is why, with exactly two exceptions. Almost all of the monster gods perished rather violently, even the dragon kings met their ends. In terms of power, I would actually argue that Ithicos was, by some sort of bizarre stroke of divinity, on par with the dragon kings. Though you would not be able to tell given his initial difficulty with flying.

The boy was having quite a bit of trouble figuring out that whole flipping over thing, and was likely starting to consider the prospects of simply crashing, righting himself, and chasing the abomination again, wings or no wings. But before the entertaining option was selected, he unfortunately chose a more logic based plan.

I can fly up pretty easily, so if I keep on bending forward as I rise, I should eventually end up right side up right?

As he thought this, he began steadily rising, it was admittedly a decent plan for one with no real experience flying, but I must mention it was by no means the prevailing, preferred, and all around more effective style of flipping over, but that one required a bit more skill, so I could see why he would not attempt or even conceive of it.

Yeah… it's just like when I was falling, only upside down, come on… come on…

As he began steadily rising, his body began to turn steadily vertical, this led to him gaining more and more speed, until he was eventually going straight up.

Ok… now I just have to… curve downwards…

This was perhaps the most terrifying aspect of his plan.

C'mooooon… C'mooooon…

Out of context, it almost appeared as though he were stretching for some sort of bizarre exercise or activity, but in actuality, he was effectively attempting a death defying stunt through the sky. As he slowly but surely curled his now vertical head forwards, and the rest of his body with it.

Almost… there…

While this method began to work, his conscious thoughts slowed down to a crawl, as he put every ounce of mental and physical energy he had into performing this stunt properly, despite his inexperience.

GOT IT!!!

*ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR*

Yes, despite all of the difficulties, Ithicos was finally able to properly flip himself over, letting out a celebratory roar in thanks.

Now then… since I am up here,where are you, monster?

Now this may sound strange as the abomination was not a monster of any kind, while Ithicos was, but one must remember where Ithicos came from. This is an unfortunate result of language divergence plus a general lack of proper by definition monster interactions. As strange as it may be to hear for some readers, in many cultures, particularly human ones, monster is a simple shorthand for anything especially powerful and/or dangerous, and usually carries the implication of an abnormal inhumanity. Unlike the actual definition, where monster is simply the term for any creature made from magic.

Oops, guess I got to get closer.

As he thought this, he slowly but surely began to descend, though rather than going down like a falcon in a dive, he simply slowed the flap of his wings and allowed himself to lower slowly. This was not merely the result of fear, but instead a more tactical thought.

Yep, I can see everything from here. Can't see that monster either… but that's fine.

Thanks in part to the light from Shari's Guardian blade, the general area of the battle was decently visible, giving Ithicos a view of the entire situation.

Geez, they aren't doing too well, at least that Armos guy is rushing over now, I guess he feels Miyo and the little girl are safe…actually speaking of which, what even is that girl's name? They never said.

Little one's name notwithstanding, the battle was indeed in a rather bleak state, with Mairi barely avoiding tentacles as they fired towards her, and Shari having to devote a decent percentage of her guardian's blade to defense.

Hmmm, so if I look at a specific area from here, I can see whether or not the tentacles are out… without having to worry about looking at that monster…

They had made their way to an outcropping of rocks to avoid more of the underground tentacles, and were jumping between them. Perhaps because of their respective experiences, both did not seem particularly winded from jumping from rock to rock, but that did not mean they had limitless stamina, so if they continued for too long, they ran a true risk of simply passing out from exhaustion even if they somehow continued to avoid the tentacles.

Hmmm, how do I…? Ah! That's it!

Being in the air did have one important advantage, which Ithicos only now realized in the heat of the moment.

Here goes, if I remember right all I have to do is…

Holding up his head, Ithicos let out a mighty roar, followed by a mighty flame, torching the surrounding area, with the obvious exception of avoiding his comrades.

Come on monster… hit me while I’m nice and vulnerable in the air! Even if my flames can’t hurt you much, you gotta be itching for an easy hit!

“Huh?! Is that-”

“Mr. Dragon!”

Well… duh. I mean unless there's another dragon here, I kinda doubt this could be anyone other than him. Why was I even questioning that?

After a brief moment of joy from Shari and silent embarrassment from Mairi, both returned to avoiding random tentacles.

“Ha! Guess the guy's pretty impressive huh?”

Meanwhile, speaking to nobody in particular, Armos admired Ithicos’ display of power, as it torched the entire area.

Geez, gotta be careful while aiming huh? Also… I guess I'll have to see it eventually, but whatever, I have to take that risk.

As he burned the area, a rogue tentacle could actually be seen going in his direction, before stopping for a few moments, as it paused, it squirmed a fair bit, as though to invisible hands were pulling it in two direction, and then suddenly moving right towards Mairi and Shari again. This likely showed the conflict the creature was feeling, as it began to slowly but surely incur greater and greater risk by allowing Ithicos to burn everything below him. But I suppose at this point, it truly was too much of a risk? Or perhaps it feared him actually being able to follow the tentacle straight to it? Or perhaps, as ridiculous as this might sound, after it had spent so long not attacking him, it now felt like it had to fully commit, regardless of the continuingly sinking cost of not interfering with his actions?

Gah! Do something will you!? I can't breathe easily while shooting fire!

Evidently, he was the kind of dragon who had something akin to lungs, or at least needed to breathe. A surprisingly consistent trait among dragons.

You know what?! I'll do this the hard way!

After lowering a fair bit, Ithicos roared a little to signal Shari.

Ah, does he have a plan?

Signaling that she was paying attention, Shari waited for Ithicos to respond.

Hmmm… how do I put this?

After thinking through his plan, Ithicos began to point his claws towards the ground, as he did this, he did a grand, sweeping motion with that same claw. After repeating this gesture several times, he blew a little fire, and waited for Shari to respond. After a brief moment of thinking, she did, with a simple but understandable gesture, by nodding her head in a style similar to that of the babylonians.

That means yes right?

Unfortunately, being so far away Ithicos couldn’t couldn’t be certain of her response.

“Armos… could you…?”

Fortunately for him, Shari was quick to notice his confusion, and in another bout of fortune, as she thought of what to do, Armos, who had arrived more quickly thanks to all of the tentacles scared off by Ithicos’ flame, presented a simple solution.

“Couldn't you use your sound magic?”

“The area is much to disturbed for it, but even then, I have too few options for mana right now, I need to be frugal, at least to a certain extent.”

“Ha! You oughta learn one of these days not to use something like a guardian's blade too much!”

“Lay off her Armos, I asked her to use it, given that it was the best choice we had.”

“But isn't the shadow flame hotter? Even if it's more mana intensive?”

“Yes, but the guardian's blade is brighter.”

“...? Well whatever. Now then… cover yer ears kids!”

After inhaling a bit, and seeing his companions doing as he asked, Armos let out a tremendous yell, shouting “DON'T WORRY BOUT US, KID! WE KNOW WHAT YER PLANNIN!!!” and similar variations two or three additional times, before smiling widely at his loud achievement. After a moment of this pride, he looked to Shari for their next move.

“We should stay where we are for just a little while longer, at least until Mr.Dragon see's fit to strike.”

Both Mairi and Armos shouted YES before continuing to avoid more and more tentacles, as they peeked out (albeit a tad shriveled) through the flames still burning from Ithicos’ initial attack.

Huh? Why aren't they just leaving… oh! Actually I'm glad they didn't. This might work out even better than before!

Ithicos thought in confusion. Evidently, while Shari had shockingly grasped the broad strokes of his plan. Her general overestimation if his abilities had led to her… taking a few liberties with what the plan's execution would actually be, and Ithicos, who also in many ways overestimated his friends abilities and intelligence, assumed she had to have had some sort of reason for her actions, so as such took the situation at face value and modified his plan to fit this new her actions. Fortunately the new plan was in many ways superior to the old one. So I suppose this miscommunication was actually a boon more than anything.

Ok… now to wait…

As he thought this, Ithicos stayed at the same general height above the ground, trying to shoot his fire breath as far as possible, to ensure the creature would not suspect.

Hmmm… I wonder what would happen if I…? Oh cool! I just thought it would make a burst, not a ball!

As this waiting game began to get played, Ithicos began to experiment with his fire breath. Firing in short bursts and occasionally long drawn out blasts. The most interesting experiment to him was the one which produced fireballs, which he achieved by holding in the breath for a few moments, allowing the built up flame to mix with his saliva, and then allowing the built up flame to escape through a small opening in his mouth, as though he were spitting it. As it escaped, it grew in size, until reaching a maximum, where it then began to shrink. If this shrinkage continued, it would have likely eventually shrunk into nothing, but fortunately for Ithicos.

*Boom*

When this fireball made contact with a hard enough surface, whatever force that held it together would seemingly vanish, as the ball exploded in an outlandish fashion.

Man… it may be small, but it might have more destructive force than even the long flame blasts… I wonder if I could…? Yes!

As he continued experimenting, Ithicos shot out six fireballs one after the other. The middle four of which acted just like the single fireball he had shot just moments earlier.

*Boom*BOOm*bOOm*BooM*

I can shoot out-

*BOOOMMMM*

As he celebrated his newfound ability to shoot multiple in sequence, Ithicos’ thoughts were interrupted, as the last and largest of the fireballs grew so large and moved so slowly, it merely sunk to the ground, and produced the largest explosion yet. Leaving a crater in its wake.

Huh… guess if they get too big, they just go slowly and sink…? And what happened to the first shot, I thought it would have gone off by now? It had the least build up of all of them, so maybe if they're too small, they burn out quickly?

This was correct, of all the fireballs the first was the fastest to move, but also the fastest to shrink to nothingness.

Well… that thing may be fire resistant, but a blast like that is just as much destructive force as it is heat, so…

While the fireballs were an accident, they worked so well with the plan that this didn't really matter, and justified the distraction.

Well, back to waiting.

As he thought this, Ithicos returned his full attention to the ground under him (he had allowed himself to look away a little to fully understand the fireballs) and continued to wait for the creature (which I must reiterate for those who are confused, is not a monster by my definition) to get just a little closer.

THERE!

Just as this wait became tedious for both writer and reader alike, Ithicos spotted his chance, as a few tentacles shot out just within his ideal range. As they made their way towards his companions, he released a multitude of fireballs towards the ground a few feet behind where they exited, and then dropped downwards, as he found himself falling just behind them due to the nature of gravity.

Now please get to safety…!

As he fell Ithicos looked a little towards his companions, and was relieved to see them running away, though he was concerned over why Shari was getting carried, despite moving around well enough in his arms from the looks of things.

“Let me go Armos, I must continue helping Mr. Dragon! He needs our help! I know you wish to stay!”

“HA! Not a chance! I hate playin’ carrier boy for yall, but if I don’t carry ya, ya won’t be leavin’ anytime soon!”

“And why must I leave?!”

“Ya said it yerself, Mr. Dragon there’s plannin something big! And there’s not enough mana here anymore for ya to actually support ‘im properly!”

“By no means does that mean I can’t-”

“If ya stay, ya only make things worse.”

“...”

*boom**Boom**BooM**BOoM**BOOM*

As Shari thought about this situation, the mana in the area began to swell around her, as though it were angry In her stead. While this happened, the fireballs made contact with the ground, and blew it away.

“If Shari leaves quietly with me, will you stay Armos?”

“Course I would kid!”

“I'm not that much younger than you!”

… Thank you, honorable elder sister, I almost switched.

“Would ya actually leave quietly ol' Shar?”

“I would. I can… I will.”

“Ha! Then get goin’... me and ‘im got stuff ta do!”

“Yeah lets go, Shari!”

“...Yes!”

And so, Shari and Mairi began to run away from the danger, while Armos stayed firmly where he was, arms crossed as he waited for the danger to approach him.