After lunch, Adam decided that he wanted to explore more of the area. He took flight with his Dragon-form to leave the village and soar in the skies. The village was around six kilometers away from the base of the mountain. Surrounding the mountain and village was a wintry forest that had an average diameter of eighty kilometers from one end to another. Outside of the forest was just barren tundra. Adam wondered at the reason why this forest could survive around the mountain when nothing else could in the frozen tundra. It was just another thing to add on to the list of things he wanted to learn.

After a few refreshing hours of flying in the skies and striding along in the forest in his Dragon-form, Adam went back to the village. To his surprise, Adam found Evelyn sitting in a patio chair outside his house. She gave Adam a playfully grumpy face: “You went somewhere without me!”

Adam resumed his Human-form as he replied: “I just wanted to get a grasp of the area. What about you? You seem to have left Heinrich pretty quick.”

Evelyn marveled at Adam. He had come from his Dragon-form into his Human-form and yet still had his clothes! “You already figured out the formation!? I couldn't even draw that thing from scratch, it's so complicated! Yet you just took a few scant hours to put together something equivalent to it on your own!”

When she put it like that, Adam also felt it was rather impressive. Enough about that, though, Adam decided he would start working on one of the goals he had set.: “I hope you didn't leave Heinrich without telling him. You shouldn't strain your relationship with him.”

Evelyn gave an exasperated sigh: “I just don't know what has gotten into him these past couple of days with you.”

“... you said the two of you were the only ones in your age group right now?”

Evelyn nodded: “There are two who are younger than us. They are Maryella who is six years old and Dorothy who is Nine months old. Then there is Edith who is thirty-five years old and Mark who is thirty-six. Edith and Mark ended up getting engaged just last year and they were always rather intimate growing up. I think Heinrich has gotten the idea that we would be the same! I know he loves me but... I can only see him as a friend! He has always been the best of friends to me.”

Evelyn's last statement left Adam a little confused. If she already knew that Heinrich loved her, why did she seem so oblivious to the fact that he was acting jealously toward Adam? Adam decided to continue with a question: “So Heinrich has already told you he loves you?”

Evelyn nodded. “Many times. I just feel that our world is currently too narrow for us to get into that type of relationship. He is the only person close to my age in this village, but does that mean that we must fall in love? What about the countless other people who live in this world that are close to our age but don't live near us? I personally feel that I have to go on a small journey to experience more of the world before I can decide whether or not I want to reciprocate his love.”

“Seems like Heinrich will have a tough time trying to win Evelyn.” Adam thought. He then said: “Earlier you asked what had gotten into Heinrich recently, have you ever thought that he might be jealous that you are spending time with me?”

Evelyn gave an astonished blink: “You really think so? But why woul- oh, it's probably that stupid legend!”

“Legend?”

“Yeah, there is a legend about the mountain. It is said that if two people Dragon-form for the first time and reach the summit at the same moment to roar to the skies together, their destinies will forever be entwined! Heinrich took it to mean that if we did that, or lives would come closer together and certainly fall in love. He pushed back his Dragon-forming in order to wait for me.”

Adam shook his head as he heard it. No wonder why Heinrich didn't like Adam much, he had taken his place with Evelyn on the mountain! Adam then asked: “Heinrich was rather late in arriving on the mountain. Did you not tell him that you were going to undergo your Dragon-forming?”

Evelyn shook her head. “No. I believe that artificially recreating the legend like that would not fulfill it by any means. If two people really did meet on the mountain to roar to the skies together, then their destiny was already tied together before they even knew about the mountain in the first place! Not only that, but what 'destiny' is being forged by the two? Why does it have to be about falling on love, like what Heinrich thinks?”

Adam was impressed. Evelyn normally gave Adam the feeling of a young girl that was ditsy at times. Her thoughts on the legend, though, were fairly scholarly. It seemed that she really did have the mind of a spiritualist. Evelyn then asked: “What about you? What do you think of this legend?”

Adam gave it a brief thought: “Well, do you know what the origin of this legend is? Do we even know if the legend is true in the first place?”

Evelyn shook her head: “The legend is very old. Maybe even the chieftain doesn't know it's origin!”

Adam and Evelyn continued to talk about the history of the village in Adam's house. The village had surprisingly existed since before the first era! No one quite knows when the village was first formed. Dragon's had incredibly long life-spans but none from the first era had lived until now.

Talking about a dragon's life span, Evelyn revealed that their life was potentially endless! But that was only as long as you could mentally withstand the passage of time. Most got bored and tired of life after living for a thousand years, or even sooner than that. At that point, their souls start to weaken as they slowly give up on life and enter periods of long sleep. Eventually, they would pass away in their sleep.

Towards the end of their conversation, Adam asked about sending a letter somewhere. Was it possible to do so from the village? Evelyn shook her head: “We don't have much connections with the outside. You can leave the village at anytime you want, though! With your ability to fly, you can easily pass through the barren tundra fields. I would suggest you wait to leave, though. In a few days, the chieftain will summon us for an important meeting!”

Adam was confused: “What is this meeting about?”

“I am not entirely certain myself. After someone accomplishes their first Dragon-forming, they are given a few days to get used to it. The chieftain will then summon the new dragon for a meeting. Whatever information that is given during this meeting seems to be rather important, though we are not allowed to know about it until we become dragons.”

Adam felt rather curious about this meeting. There was no definite hurry to let Segen know about his situation. It could certainly wait for more than a few days. It was starting to get late so Evelyn said her goodbyes to Adam and left.

Adam started preparing his own dinner when he heard an aggressive knock at his door! With a hunch, Adam sent his elemental sight through the door and sure enough Heinrich was on the other side! He looked to be fuming with rage. Adam really had no idea what to do with him. Adam decided to open up the door and the angry looking Heinrich suddenly said: “I challenge you to a fight! If I win, you will not approach Evelyn again! If you win, I won't bother you about being close to Evelyn again!”

Adam gave a sigh. Hoping to diffuse this situation, Adam tried to explain that he didn't have any romantic feelings for Evelyn.: “Heinrich, I-”

“Do you accept or not!? That's all I need to hear from your mouth!”

More than being frustrated, Adam started to get angry as well. “Just where does he get off commanding me like this!? The terms of the fight aren't even either!”

In the end, Adam said: “Fine, let's just settle it this way. When and where?”

“Good. Tomorrow, as the sun rises. At the base of the mountain. I will meet you there.”

Heinrich then immediately turned around and walked away without so much as a glance back at Adam. Adam couldn't help but think: “What an arrogant prick.”

Adam calmly ate his dinner and then went to bed. Adam awoke early the next morning, just before the sun rose. He took off in his Dragon-form and flew to the mountain. When he arrived, Adam was surprised to not only find Heinrich, but Evelyn too! Adam landed in time to hear Evelyn ask with surprise and confusion: “Adam's here too? What's going on Heinrich?”

After Adam Human-formed he also sent Heinrich a quizzical look. Heinrich responded: “You are here as a witness. Just don't interfere.”

Adam shook his head. Was Heinrich's intention to have Evelyn as a witness to enforce the rules over whoever lost, or was it because Heinrich thought he could show off? Adam once again looked at Heinrich and said: “Let's get this over with. I would hope we are not fighting to the death, so what are the rules?”

Evelyn looked shocked when Adam mentioned a fight. Heinrich responded: “Fight until one of us yields or is rendered unable to fight. If a death happens, don't blame the other party!”

Evelyn finally spoke out as she stepped between them: “Stop this, both of you! Why are you fighting!”

Heinrich gently moved Evelyn to the side. She tried to stay in place, but his physical strength overcame her own. “Evelyn, this is something we have to do as men. Don't interfere!”

Evelyn looked at Adam, as if asking if it was the same for him. Adam couldn't help but shake his head. He was getting familiar vibes from this situation. It was very similar to the time he and Alfred had fought over Helen. Of course there were differences, but there seemed to be many similarities. Adam said: “While I don't know about us having to do this as men, this fight is unavoidable. Heinrich won't listen to reason.”

There wasn't anything left for Evelyn to say. Challenges and fights were something that would occasionally happen in the village. As long as it wasn't anything that would truly effect the village on a large scale, no one would interfere with such fights. There was no one who would stop Adam and Heinrich from fighting. Evelyn was smart enough to realize that even if she managed to stop them this time, they would probably just fight without her knowledge at a later date. At least now, she could try and prevent them from killing one another during the fight.

Adam and Heinrich stood a small distance apart in their Human-forms. Heinrich asked: “Ready?”

Much to Heinrich's surprise, Adam closed his eyes completely and replied: “Ready.”

Well, if Adam felt that he was going to give Heinrich a handicap by closing his eyes, Heinrich wouldn't refuse. Heinrich circulated earth essence through his body and leaped forward with an explosive speed! He aimed one of his fists in an effort to strike Adam.

Adam watched the flow of earth essence change under Heinrich's control as he started his circulation. There wasn't enough time to interfere with Heinrich's circulation, so Adam could only dodge Heinrich's first attack. Adam felt that his body was much sturdier, now that he had become a dragon and reformed it, so he felt confident in forcing a small amount of earth essence through his body to make it explode in a direction to avoid Heinrich's attack! This amount of earth essence would normally put Adam's body under a lot of stress, but he hardly felt any part of his body pulling under the stress! At the same time, Adam could use his control over wind to create a slipstream and he could suddenly move faster than Heinrich could!

Heinrich's first attack was fast, but Adam was even faster! This surprised both Heinrich and Evelyn. Both had expected Adam to use some sort of defense formation that used lightning, but that didn't happen. While the two were surprised, Adam was busy exerting his control over all the earth essence in the area. Adam was going to use the same trick he used against the spirit martial artist who had attacked Segen!

Heinrich continued his attempts to attack, while Adam continued to dodge. Adam would occasionally throw out a wind blade or a fire ball at Heinrich. Once, Adam had even caused water to dampen the earth where Heinrich would stop and he nearly slipped in the mud! Heinrich was getting angry at these antics and decided he was going to change his tactics. He was going to make a feinting attack before circulating his spirit essence into the world and directly control the earth! After achieving the state of Dragon-forming, spirit martial artists could circulate their spirit essence through the world as though it were their own body!

However, things didn't go according to Heinrich's plan. Just as he was starting his attack, his circulation of spirit essence tried to go out of control! He had to immediately stop and regain his control over his circulation before it harmed him. Adam was surprised at how much Heinrich was able to resist this little technique of his. He had only managed to cause a little disturbance before Heinrich discovered it and immediately worked on fixing the problem! Still, it gave Adam a small opening in which he created a strong attack. He combined wind and fire essence to create an intense blade of flames that whistled through the air!

As tense as she was from watching the fight, Evelyn was enchanted by the flaming blade. Flames are normally formless, but this flame was clearly in the shape of a blade! The flame wasn't that strong, though. If it had been a blue blade of flame, on the other hand, it would have truly enthralled her heart.

Just before the fire blade could hit him, Heinrich made an upward thrust with his arm as a column of earth sudden rose up from the ground! The fire blade bit into the column and exploded, destroying the column in the process! Pushed a few steps back by the explosion and the debris, Heinrich had enough. Adam's fire blade was too well timed for it to have been a coincidence with the sudden disruption of his circulating spirit essence. Heinrich didn't know how Adam did it, but he had. While dust was still settling from the explosion, Heinrich started to Dragon-form. One could control spirit essence better in their Dragon-form and Heinrich hoped this would block against that disruption of his circulating spirit essence.

Adam could see Heinrich starting to Dragon-form. Having not been able to experiment much with lightning yet, Adam had hesitated to use it during the battle. With Heinrich Dragon-forming, Adam decided to use it and see what the result would be. Adam pointed his hand at Heinrich's form as sparks of lightning raced from his feet to collect in his palm before a giant BANG issued as a lightning bolt struck Heinrich in the middle of his transformation!

Heinrich's spirit essence surged and was suddenly forced back into his Human-form before collapsing to the ground. Heinrich spasmed for a few moments before lying still. Adam's eyes went wide with shock. “I didn't think it would be this powerful!”

Evelyn screamed Heinrich's name as she rushed to his side. Adam too quickly walked forward, sensing Heinrich's condition with his elemental sight... parts of Heinrich's soul were already leaving his body! Evelyn looked at Adam with both grief an anger: “How could you do this!?”

Adam stayed silent. This wasn't his intention at all! The lightning bolt interrupted Heinrich's Dragon-form and it look like it disrupted his body's electrical tissue. An idea suddenly sprung to Adam's mind. “Evelyn, let me try something. I don't know for certain, but I might be able to help him!”

Evelyn looked at Adam with a confused look, but was willing to let him try. If he could save Heinrich, why not? Adam crouched down by Heinrich and put one of his hands on top of Heinrich's chest and the other on his side. Both were directly over where his heart was. Adam controlled a small electrical current to flow through his hands. Bzzt Heinrich suddenly convulsed and he took in a deep, ragged breath!

Evelyn supported Heinrich up: “Heinrich, are you okay!?”

Heinrich looked around in a slight daze before he started to come to his senses. A look of dismay covered his face. Heinrich looked at Adam with an unpleasant look: “I don't know what trick you used, but it looks like you won. I'll stop bothering you when you are with Evelyn.”

A look of shock covered Evelyn's face. She yelled at the two: “So this is truly what the fight was about!? Something as stupid as this!?”

Adam also gave a sigh: “Rather than that, Heinrich, won't you finally listen to what I have to say?”