Simo

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My vision swam as I slowly blinked back to the real world. The vine cocoon still surrounded me in protection preventing even the light from coming inside. A low grunt escaped my mouth as my clawed arms lightly twitched. 

I was slowly regaining my lost control over my limbs. After a few breaths, I finally managed to stand up, to my surprise, my current height easily reached the ceiling of the cocoon forcing me to lower my head, I grew larger than before, this I was sure of yet It was not what surprised me the most. 

It was the faint translucent light that emitted from my scales. To my immediate surprise, my light blue scales now held a distinct pattern akin to green vines streaking through my side. The green strips were not exaggerated and appeared to compliment the blue color of my scales quite well. 

Glancing at my body in curiosity, I confirmed that the pattern of vines was only formed to my left and right side, under my wings. The vines seemed to glow with a hazy green color, yet that was blanketed by the shiny blue light that my scales emitted. 

Another change I was able to sense was the presence of the Earth mana, although I was always aware of Its existence, this time I clearly felt myself to be much closer to It than before. Although nowhere near my affinity with water, It was very impressive nonetheless when compared to before. 

Just as I was thinking about that and curiously studying the vine pattern on my body, a thought suddenly made its way to my mind making me halt in place. 'I just gained a small affinity to Earth mana and pattern appeared on my body, but I don't remember any distinct feature transpiring after I gained control over Cosmic mana, why Is that so? What's the difference?' I wondered. 

Just as I was seriously contemplating such matters, the vine cocoon that protected me slowly opened as bright light seeped in, driving away the slight darkness inside. The glow from my scales seemed to dim as well as I glanced at the small entrance in curiosity. 

I called It small since the entrance was just about the size of half my arm, not quite reaching my chest. Grandmother's humanoid figure slowly walked in with deep steady steps. Once she was inside, she instinctively raised her head to glance at me with a pleasantly surprised smile on her face. 

"Well well, well, would you look at that, little Aether is not so little anymore," She sweetly chuckled while elegantly hiding her mouth with her hand. "Grandma?" I muttered with undisguised surprise. Her figure looked very small when compared to mine, she didn't even reach my chest. 

Taking that into consideration, while also recalling that grandmother's humanoid figure was still significantly taller than that of a normal mortal, I was pleasantly surprised with my sudden growth sprout. "Tsk, this went way better than I expected, I'm afraid we won't be able to continue with our exploration for the time being," She said as her head dropped sadly. 

"What, why is that so?" I asked in surprise, although the land of Gods appeared rather mysterious and seemed to be fraught with hidden dangers, I wasn't very concerned since I had my grandmother with me, which was why I intended on fully exploring the place now that I had the chance. We had barely gotten here yet grandmother already wants us to go back?

Letting out a slight chuckle, grandmother spoke slowly, "Loen's fruit is not supposed to give you an affinity to the Earth element, at best It's a delicacy that could help strengthen your body. Seeing how your physical aspect is not a strong fort of yours, my original intent was to help you strengthen it a bit. The fact that you managed to grasp a small amount of affinity from It instead is quite shocking," 

Grandmother's lips curled upwards in a wide smile as she continued, "Haha, I can now understand what that old lizard meant when he described you as a little monster," Hearing that I lightly lowered my head in embarrassment, 'So that's how It is, I wasn't supposed to gain an affinity with the Earth element, it could be considered as a very pleasant surprise, still that didn't explain why we had to leave,' 

Seemingly reading my mind, grandmother continued her explanation, "With your current body size, and your sudden advancement, It's best If I don't change your body back to a humanoid form for now, at least not until you get used to the changes," She said. 

I slowly nodded, 'Wait! She said 'change' my body, not disguise It! Does this mean grandmother's magic is not illusions but rather something else?' I seriously contemplated over the matter as I recalled the extremely realistic senses of a humanoid body. 

Grandmother did not seem to notice my puzzled look, or perhaps she chose to ignore It as she continued, "And if we leave you around the land of Gods with your Dragon form, then we'd have every major deity on our tail before we could blink," She chuckled as If what she had just said was not a problem at all. 

Nodding solemnly, I slowly asked, "How are we going to leave then?" To that, the vine cocoon silently closed behind my grandmother plunging the inside into the familiar darkness. Though with the presence of the gentle light seeping out from my scales, It wasn't too bad. 

"Loen will help us leave, her powers are quite helpful in certain matters," Explained grandmother. I highly nodded to express my understanding as I felt the ground below me steer, I wasn't quite sure but I had the vague inkling that we were currently moving at a surprisingly fast speed. 

It took a few minutes before the cocoon silently collapsed, bright sunlight forced me to squint my eyes in surprise as I adjusted to the sudden glare. It was only after a few moments that I realized that we were no longer in the land of Gods, and instead were in an ancient forest a distance away. 

Loen's a gentle voice drifted into our ears as the leaves surrounding us rustled, "Good luck little dragon," She said in a slightly teasing tone before adding, "Next time you better bring something else in exchange," She said, and I unconsciously understood that the later part was meant for my grandmother. 

As the slight breeze disappeared, so did the Tree Goddess' presence leaving me quite conflicted after my first real meeting with a deity. She was quite different from what I expected, and although we didn't have much time to interact with one another, I could still sense that she wasn't a bad person, God?

Perhaps I was wrong and everything she showcased was just a facade, one can never be too sure. Still, from how my grandmother seemed to trust her, although she didn't directly express It, I was confident in my guess that the two ladies were friends, It was just that no one wanted to admit It first. 

'Heh, cute,' I chuckled in amusement.