The next morning, I woke up in a really comfortable position. I was being hugged by Irlet, with the back of my head among her breasts. Unlike some might think, they were not surrounding my head. Dragonkin women only very rarely needed to produce milk, so unless they had a child, their breasts were usually only B to low C in size upon reaching adulthood. So while they didn’t envelop me, they were comfortable to lean against.

I didn’t want to disturb her, but I needed to get up, so I tried to escape carefully enough to let her get her sleep, but failed. She opened her eyes, smiling and giving me a quick squeeze before letting me go. I washed up and got ready for the day.

There were three days I could train until the start of the tournament. I planned on making the most of them, possibly convincing the other dragonkin to help. I wanted them to teach me how to use my wings and tail in combat. I don’t know if I’d actually reveal myself as a dragonkin, but I wanted to know how to use all the weapons I had.

Alfred was managing breakfast, making sure everyone was served and so on, even if he didn’t get to actually make the food. When he caught me alone, he requested that I open the portal to the villa when I could. I nodded. It took me a bit to get where I could do so without giving things away, but I got it done. Getting him back was going to be a pain as well. Maybe I should say he’s taking care of something and won’t be around for a few days? I’ll talk to him later.

I grabbed Gydrin, and pulled him aside for a consultation, pulling out some of the useless stuff I had, including some low class stat potions, and asking if he could help me get rid of it. He said he’d sell it for me, and bought the potions for the clan. I did make sure to tell him that they would only last an hour. He was happy even with that. An hour is a long time in combat.

He tried to get me to tell him how I got them, but I refused to say. I liked him, and trusted him and the others to a point, but I wanted to know them really well before I gave up that kind of secret.

I didn’t even have to ask the fighters if Fran and I could practice with them, they assumed I would and took me with them. At first, we were headed to the arena, AKA the training grounds, but I asked about special training for tails and flight. We left the city instead.

No one but them and my companions knew I was dragonkin. Of their group, only Jadd was known to be dragonkin, since he couldn’t hide it. They advised I keep it that way if possible. The guild was forbidden to tell anyone without a very good reason, so if it got out, it would likely be because of something I did. I’d likely have more problems than they did, since I’d be only very slowly growing up, so I might have to move periodically and hide my rank to keep myself hidden.

They of course did try to convince me to come to their village. As long as I wasn’t stopped from leaving, I actually really wanted to do that. I was interested in how they lived.

When we got a ways away, we took to the air, flying just above the treetops, until we were quite far away from the city. We had to divert a few times to avoid other people, but we ended up basically in the middle of nowhere, which is what we wanted. Fran was carried by Jadd, and seemed to enjoying flying a lot.

I’d had Fran use the swordsmanship stone, and she was getting training with some of them while the others were training me. Fran’s skills were actually best suited to stealth, so it was primarily Qevru, the party’s rogue who was training her. The others pitched in as well.

For me, I started with flight training. Dragonkin wings are not actually what allows us to fly, they are too small for that. At most our wings allow us to glide, unless we use magic. That’s what the flight skill is, the ability to infuse our wings with magic power, letting them lift us and allowing for better control. It is possible to fly without the flight skill, using wind magic, or being very creative, but it is far more difficult and dangerous.

I knew the basics of flight, but they put me through the wringer, getting me to do so many different things I’d never have thought of. I’d been thinking of the wings as the reason for flight, but it was the magic. I could just float in the air without moving my wings at all, or move in any direction while staying completely still. It was fun! But very exhausting.

Between my stats and my amulet, I had over 2500 mana points, but with all the things they had me doing, I was almost empty by lunch time. They were very impressed at me being able to work for so long. Most children my age would last maybe an hour before they were out of fuel. I told them I had more skill levels in my magic than I did my weapons. I also decided it was safe to show off the amulet. They were surprised I had such a thing, having only rarely seen or heard about them before.

Since I was unable to continue flying, they taught me how to fight in dragonkin form. The tail was nasty to fight against. It’d make an excellent weapon. The wings were useful, but also were very easy to target. It seemed that unless I was actively striking with them, it was best to keep them tucked up against my body.

This was my first time using Silverlight since my transformation. I know it had a size adjustment, but thought it was just for the grip, so anyone could wield it. I underestimated it. It was a one handed longsword, but had it stayed the same size It would have been like a greatsword for my smaller body. It matched its size to mine. That was awesome. Again, amazement for my awesome gear. I hadn’t even told them about my armor. Maybe after the tourney.

Anyway, I could actually use the sword as a greatsword, I had the strength for it. The problem was that using it like that needed different training, which I didn’t have. I let it adjust to my size and used it like normal. It worked the best that way.

I wasn’t the only one learning a lot, Fran was too. She was even given a new weapon, one that suited her quite a lot more than a sword. Claws. Of course. We should have visited weapons shops to see if we could find anything she’d like. We’d head back early enough to look around and find ones in her size. The ones she was borrowing from Qevru were far to big for her, making it difficult to hold onto.

While neither of us had any increases in skill levels, we learned a good amount. I let Ierva carry me back. I could have flown myself, but it would have left me with no reserves in case something happened. Fran decided that flying was her current favorite thing, after me, and food. I think I’d mentioned this, but Fran, being a familiar, does not have to eat. She actually lives off mana. But she really likes food. It does help her blend in.

After entering the city, we made a quick trip to look for claw weapons for Fran, we only found one set that was worth buying. It was at the bare minimum of usability. We’d asked about having some nice ones made, but they were too busy with all the requests for tournament participant’s weapons to be fixed up.

We’d find someone after the tournament, probably a good dwarf. I had some nice crafting mats in my item box, including a bar of mithril.

We headed back to the inn. I needed to see what Alfred wanted to do, so I sent Fran into the villa, and we communicated through her. He wanted to stay and care for the plants, some of them were ready to harvest, so he wanted to do so before they passed their prime. Fran came back, she had some food Alfred had made for us. I loved my butler, he’s always so thoughtful.

When asked about Alfred, I came up with an excuse for him being elsewhere. He’d be here the night before the tournament.

That night I was sleeping with the party’s Lancer, Miadhu. Qevru claimed Fran.

---

The next day we did the same kind of thing we did before, but I was pitted against monsters. There was nothing too exciting about it, but I got used to being in actual combat. I did have some restrictions. I was only allowed to use my tail, wings, and hands to defeat the monsters. I actually tried using my transform skill on my hands and feet, but while my nails got a little pointier, it wasn’t enough to call claws.

When I asked about it, they said it usually took a few years to get usable claws. It was one of the first steps on working towards the dragon form. I was motivated, I’d learn it as soon as I could, hopefully helped along by the growth boost my Otherworlder title gave me. Fran on the other hand had no problem clawing up her hands. Well, she was a panther to begin with, so she had the advantage. The others thought she was a prodigy though. I let them. I praised her as well.

I also thought about letting her show off her panther form, saying she could do a full transformation, but decided that it was too soon. We’d save it for an emergency. Also for surprise factor.

We took longer that day, since we didn’t need to try to hunt down weapons, and I was fortunate enough to get a level up in my flight skill. I was happy. I hadn’t had it long, but it was growing. Well, skill growth really started slowing down after three or four. I was also lucky to be getting a boost out of both of my titles.

We headed back to town. I still had enough mana, but Qevru insisted that I let her carry me. I gave up. I was also Qevru’s body pillow that night. Fran was claimed by one of the traders, Chiennu.

---

It was the last day of training, and because the tournament started tomorrow, we stopped at lunchtime, so we’d have plenty of time to rest before the next day. We didn’t get any more skill ups, but it was fun and informative.

If I kept this up, I actually foresaw myself getting the martial arts skill sooner rather than later. I might actually focus on doing that, since it’d be beneficial in case something happened to my weapons.

Heading back, we stopped at a restaurant that had delicious smells coming from it. It wasn’t the nicest looking establishment, but who cares! It is the quality of the food that was important. We did run into a bit of trouble, but it wasn’t anything big, just some verbal sparring with another A-Rank party that Jadd’s would be facing in the tourney.

When we got back, I sent Fran to collect Alfred from the manor. I’d have to see if there was some way I could convince the gods to give Alfred access to the system apps himself. Maybe make some kind of deal so any of my summons could use it. But what could I trade for that? If I’d realized how helpful it was going to be I’d have bargained for it when I could have. Heck, they gave it to Fran as a bonus.

I snuck Alfred back in which was difficult, since there was always someone close by. They might talk to me and treat me as an adult, except when it came to being hugged and stuff, but they would not let me go anywhere by myself. Well, they did respect my skills, so had agreed that they wouldn’t force me to go with them to the village, but they still worried about me.

We spent a restful afternoon talking and playing games. I taught them checkers and chess, making the boards and pieces from stone. They taught me some of their games. Theirs were more physical, rather than mental games. Either that or they were teaching me their children's games. The games were about using the wings and tails to do various things. One was a much larger version of thumb wars. I might have a high initial status, but they had earned their way to A-Rank, so their stats were well above mine.

However… I did have some experience stones….No. That’d be cheating. I’d save them for now. Well, I might use the goblin one just to get rid of it. It was pretty much worthless.

Anyway, back to the games. The merchants were interested in the games, and asked about selling them. I didn’t mind. I had hundreds more I could look up in the media app if I wanted to. I dictated the rules as they wrote them down. There were many variations, but I have the basic versions only.

I kept one set of the games, giving them a few more sets. Mine looked better though. I’d worked on it during convalescence, sending Fran out to gather colorful rocks, since she loved collecting such things. Theirs was something I made quickly so more people could play.

We had a delicious, and nutritious, dinner, hung out for a while longer, then headed to bed. Tonight the trader Vyssei had me, while Irlet got Fran. Skinship is nice.