The massive, drum-like beats of Kai's wings almost covered the sound of his snort as the young dragon rolled his eyes at Mellisa's question. An incredibly human response considering his draconic features.

However, if one were to look closely into his amber eyes, even if he appeared to be irritated with the seemingly pointless question, they would know that Kai was inwardly shocked.

It had been a little over ten minutes since they had met and, after a short, apparently innocent conversation, challenging questions especially considering his lack of knowledge were already surfacing.

However, as Mellisa had never encountered a creature like Kai, she could only see the surface response and, at least to her, the black drake's actions were clearer than words could ever have been.

Respect and curiosity could be seen glistening in her eyes as she turned her body so she could see Kai better, a genuine smile appearing on her face.

"Wow, I have only had the luck to meet a few enlightened beings before, but they were beasts that were lucky enough to be born far outside human territories."

Kai's inwardly cursed. He had hoped that Monsters still held the numbers they had done in the time of his ancestors, uncommon but not rare. The weak auras below him and in the distance indicated this yet; it seemed that they were all bonded or at least, they weren't whatever the term enlightened meant.

The woman took a deep breath as she patted her mount in a comfortable, reassuring manner. She now understood why her companion's overbearing, cocky attitude, never failing to get the last word in had disappeared.

"No wonder Eldric has been so quiet, to be an enlightened being, a monster at that, is impressive. Your bloodline or origins must be incredibly powerful."

"Eldric?" Kai believed she was talking to the monster she was riding but, after his preconceptions kept falling, he wanted to make sure she wasn't talking about the yellow crystal he had seen her talking to.

"Sorry, I didn't introduce you earlier," said Mellisa as she pointed to the Vermillion Bird underneath her. "This is Eldric, a Vermillion Eagle. He has been in my family for generations and has looked after me since I was a little girl. Eldric this is...?"

Mellisa frowned, trying to think if she had asked for Kai's name or had simply forgotten in her excitement and fear.

"Kai, Black Drake," responded Kai, a weird feeling appearing in his chest. The friendliness of Mellisa, even if she had threatened him into following her, tugged on the loneliness he had felt since birth.

A painful expression momentarily appeared on his face as he thought about the dryad. Even though their interactions had been short, the dryad had a special place in the young dragon's heart as his first friend.

-"Friend?" Kai was distracted with his thoughts and didn't hear much of what Mellisa was saying.

Dragon's were social creatures, exceptionally so, and even though his isolation had tempered him, Kai's desire to interact with others and learn was approaching the level that he could barely resist.

"Angels and demons don't count though. They have always had humanoid appearances and are considered the children of gods. The drakes and other high-level monsters tend to stick to the more dangerous worlds, making it hard for adventurers to find and capture their young before they achieve their human form and become enlightened. When that happens, then unless they are willing, the world laws prohibit bonding," continued Mellisa, as her voice floated across the wind.

"Not many support forceful bonding anymore, but as beasts and monsters that cannot take their human form are not very intelligent and relatively dangerous, its seen as the better alternative than culling them."

"And that they make huge amounts of money, both in their sale, keep and taxes, as well as being a basic slave has nothing to do with it?" grumbled Eldric, the first words he had said since meeting Kai.

Mellisa laughed and ruffled his flame-like feathers. "Come on now. You should know not all humans are like that. Don't give Kai a bad impression of us. Every being should be judged on their actions, not their birth."

Eldric's eyes nervously watched Ka with his head slightly turned to the side. "Your family are different than most, and that is why my flock freely work with you. However, there are some that..."

His words stopped abruptly, deciding to keep what he was about to say to himself as he looked into Kai's eyes.

Mellisa tilted her head and was about to ask what he meant when Eldric interrupted her. "We are here."

While Kai was lost in his thoughts and Mellisa was chatting excitedly, they had approached the area Kai had seen earlier were many large, metal flying ships were unloading cargo.

Squadrons of flying creatures patrolled the sky, humans on their backs, seemingly keeping order while others drifted in and out of large, glass, dome-like buildings below.

"Follow me, as you are an enlightened being, and don't seem to be carrying any identification this will be a little bit more tricky, but it's not like we are at war or in a state of emergency so it shouldn't take too long. We will only need a bit of your mana to confirm your origins and travels, especially if you grew up outside one of our allied territories," said Mellisa as she urged Eldric towards one of the glass buildings. She didn't believe Kai had originated in her country because she had never seen or even heard of a creature like him so was secretly hoping he had come from one of their allies to make the paperwork easier.

While she would need to vouch for him, taking responsibility during his stay, it would give her an opportunity to learn more about this strange monster, a passion that many like her had maintained since childhood.

Kai, nervous of entering a trap hesitated in mid-air, finding it incredibly difficult to hover, as he watched numerous beasts, low-level monsters, and humans moving about. However, ever since coming close, his unique appearance made him stand out and drew surprised, sometimes fearful, looks from all around.

"Come on, your causing a disruption and we don't want to get a fine," shouted Mellisa, breaking Kai out of his fight or flight instincts.

Swallowing hard, and believing he could smash the glass dome easily if he needed to escape, Kai followed Eldric through one of the large gaps in its wall, praying that his gut feeling that he could trust Mellisa was right.