Chapter 662: A cruel world

These matters aside, the land was much flatter now, and the massive mountain with the caldera had become little more than a distant silhouette, though it still stood prominently against the sky.

Elion had been taking to the skies at intervals throughout the day to survey their surroundings, comparing the landmarks with those on their rather vague maps.

By now, they believed they had figured out where they were, though they couldn’t be entirely certain. If their assumptions were correct, they were in the central region of the legacy world, its largest floating landmass.

This was both a blessing and a terrible curse, since the central region had the most stable spatial conditions.

Unfortunately, it was also the area that previous entrants had most thoroughly explored and stripped of its treasures, which made their first find all the more valuable.

It was already well into the afternoon, and the sun had long since passed its peak and begun its descent, though sunset was still a good while away. Their destination was a spot marked on the map, suspected to be the site of an ancient tomb.

The forest grew increasingly sparse the farther they walked, and before long, enough time had passed for Elion to take to the skies again.

The powerful beats of his wings echoed as he rose above the trees, once again enjoying the feel of the wind against his face.

Soon, he was gliding high enough to see far into the distance in every direction. As usual, he turned around in a full circle in the skies, slowly sweeping his gaze over the surrounding land, but finding nothing of note apart from a few distant creatures flying through the sky.

He then focused on the direction they had been heading, narrowing his eyes as he brought the distant landscape into sharper view.

It was then that he noticed something resembling a jagged, leaning spire, with several other structures surrounding it.

’That must be the place...’ he thought, studying it a little more closely. Its position seemed to match the direction marked on their map.

After another moment in the sky, Elion tucked his wings and dived back down, only unfurling them again to slow his descent.

He easily spotted the others waiting below, looking up at him with astonished expressions, and a gust of wind stirred the dust around them as he landed comfortably on his feet.

The others shielded their eyes from the rising dust while still trying to watch him. "We’re quite close now," Elion said, letting his wings fold before they vanished into his back with a soft shimmer.

It was an odd sight, almost as though the wings had never been there, especially since their appearance hadn’t torn through the back of his suit. Whether that was a property of the wings or an ability of the bodysuit itself, the others couldn’t tell.

Cole sighed in amazement, shaking his head slightly. "No matter how many times I see that, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. A half-dragon, you said you were?"

The others looked equally curious, and Elion gave a small shrug. "I wouldn’t say half. I have no idea how the proportions work, but yes, I’m part dragon because of the bloodline I acquired during the bloodline trials."

That was a detail that could potentially be used against him in the future, since he had used the fact to justify his explosive talent, but even though he couldn’t say with certainty that he trusted everyone here, he doubted that it would come back to bite him.

And Maya was more or less already well aware, or maybe she just suspected, that the dragon bloodline had been acquired in the bloodline trials.

Of course, if she someday heard about how the Royal Court trial had unfolded, and connected it with his bloodline, then that would be quite the mystery for her to solve.

Elion paused before giving Maya a questioning look. "Oh, it’s fine to talk to everyone about that, right?"

Maya shrugged in response. "It’s your choice."

Elion nodded...

"By the way, I never asked what bloodlines you guys received from that place. Have you integrated with them already?" Elion asked as the group began walking again. "I’m asking because, as you can see, the dragon bloodline brought quite a massive change to my physique, but I can’t see any changes in you."

"I’ve already integrated with mine," Maya replied. "It’s an Orikari bloodline, though I doubt even you would know about that race."

Elion’s brows rose with surprise and interest. "The Orikari, you say?"

His reaction earned a sigh from Maya, who glanced at him as they walked. "Judging by that look, I should take it that you know about them?"

"Well... I’ve heard of them before, but I don’t really know much. Discovering their existence was a coincidence, actually. Their former existence, I should say," he added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Anyway, I hope I can pick your brain about them later. You seem like you would know more than I do."

"It didn’t really come with any visible physical changes" She blushed lightly, "Well it came with a few cosmetic changes..." She whispered under her breath, before quickly dismissing her own words and changing topics, looking toward Uta and Yaana.

"As for those two, they can tell you about it themselves if they want to. It isn’t my place to meddle in their personal matters."

Uta frowned, his jaw tightening as though he were suppressing the urge to grit his teeth, while Yaana stopped humming the soft tune that had become so familiar during their journey.

Elion gave them a long look, but neither seemed particularly eager to speak.

’Seems it’s a sensitive subject,’ he thought, turning his attention back toward the front.

He wasn’t going to keep pressing for an answer if that was the case, though the grim expressions on Mayumi, Cole, and Nora’s faces suggested that they already knew what was going on.

However, the fact that it was a private matter didn’t suddenly make Elion less interested.

If anything, he was more curious than ever about the two siblings and all the strange things about them that he still couldn’t explain.

The only clue he had was the little he had learned while staying with the vampire clan, through reports and rumours about someone in the Triad Alliance practising wicked sacrificial techniques.

At the time, he had simply connected a few dots using what little he knew, but now, he was almost certain those rumours had something to do with the siblings, or whoever was responsible for them.

The fact that they were so strong at such a young age was chilling enough, but it was the thought of how they might have acquired that strength that truly bothered him. Even without knowing the specifics, just considering the possibilities made his skin crawl.

As he thought about it, another possibility suddenly came to mind. What if whoever served as their guardian had taken their rewards from the bloodline trials?

Elion’s eyes widened slightly, and he found himself growing angry. The more he considered it, the more it seemed to make sense.

Maya was one thing, and he didn’t know what bloodline Zenovia had acquired, nor had he seen Aeron Tudelig since they parted ways. But Yaana and Uta should have received worthwhile rewards from the trials, yet neither showed any sign of having changed.

Combined with their reactions to his question, it painted a rather unpleasant picture. To Elion, it seemed all too clear what might have happened.

"Bastards," he hissed under his breath, drawing curious looks from the others.

There was nothing he hated more than shameless people who preyed on the weak and helpless.

The thought disgusted him enough to make his stomach churn, and he had to make a conscious effort to relax his clenched jaw.

"Something wrong?" Mayumi asked, nudging him in the side with her elbow.

Elion gave her a sideways glance before shaking his head, forcing himself to calm down.

"Just thinking about something, that’s all," he replied with a small smile. "The more I see of the world, the more I realise that, while there are plenty of things to love about it, there are just as many reasons to hate it."

Mayumi raised a brow, taking a moment to understand what he meant. When she did, an odd light flashed in her eyes, and she glanced briefly toward the siblings before looking back at him.

’Ah... he’s much smarter than he looks,’ she thought with a quiet chuckle, falling back into step behind him.

It was obvious that he had connected a few dots and figured something out about Yaana and Uta without anyone explaining it to him, though she honestly couldn’t imagine how he had managed that with so little information.

Still, she had to give him some credit. What he had said about the world was very true, and she would know that better than most.

’A cruel world indeed...’

The others seemed to realise what conclusion he had reached as well, though none of them said anything.

Uta could only smile wryly, while Yaana went back to humming her happy tune, half walking and half skipping as they continued on their way.