"Likewise, Taegin. You three have done well to break the barrier, and I can see why Erumon chose you," the dragon said with a slow nod. "You know our names, Great One, but may we ask yours?" Ardrin asked with mild hesitation.
"Ah, yes. I apologize for my lack of manners, as I seem to have forgotten them. My name is Ryfon Ansuz, though you may simply call me Ryfon, since I can tell that Erumon has given you his blessing not to address him formally," Ryfon said with a subtle smile.
"Gre-... I mean, Ryfon, how much do you know of our situation here in Kavrass?" Bernar asked, curious as to how much he truly saw when he looked into their cores. "I would say that I know enough, but Erumon must have taken that into account, knowing I would see it and rise with a vengeance," Ryfon said, giving them a single nod as he sighed.
"Come, there is much work to be done," he continued after a brief pause, moving between them toward the cave's entrance. "That was almost too easy," Bernar muttered under his breath with a shrug.
"I heard that, but like I said, Erumon has placed great trust in you three to come and summon me. He wouldn't have done that if he thought I'd be difficult to deal with," Ryfon said, his language adapting by the second to reduce its formality and make it easier to converse with the three. "G-Good to know," Bernar chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with a smile while Taegin and Ardrin could only roll their eyes.
Ryfon led them to the cave's entrance, and with hardly a wave of his hand, the barrier was dispelled. "That took everything we had to get through it!" Taegin said in awe with a look of surprise that matched the others'.
"If this took everything you had, then we might be in a worse situation than I thought. When we return to the others, I will help guide you to become the strongest versions of yourselves, much like Kalia has done for Thoma," Ryfon said with a grin over his shoulder.
"H-How much do you know about Thoma?" Bernar asked cautiously, causing Ryfon to pause and choose his words carefully. "Thoma Fayren has the potential to grow more powerful than any of you. I'd dare say he's already almost as strong as you are, Bernar, though the only thing stopping him from being so is that he hasn't broken into the fifth stage yet," Ryfon said, though it was apparent he was leaving certain information out.
"That little shit-bird…" Bernar trailed off with a chuckle as he shook his head. "Don't worry. I understand competition between siblings, and while I will help you to surpass your limitations, it will be up to you to keep pushing those boundaries further," Ryfon said with a sly smile before raising a hand to halt the others, closing the mouth of the cave behind them.
"You might want to stand back for this," he said, his mana surging around him, weaving through his arms, legs, and chest as his size began to double, then triple. His robes underwent a smooth transition from a cloth-like material to scales, as the exposed skin around his face and hands began to change as well.
"Four legs, two wings; that's a dragon, alright. I still don't know how people confuse them for wyverns," Taegin chuckled in disbelief. "Only uncultured swine would confuse the two," Ardrin said, though he was a little less impressed than Taegin. "That would make most of the known realm uncultured, then," Bernar chuckled, interlocking his fingers atop his head in pure astonishment as he looked up at the titanic beast.
Within mere moments, the surge of mana was, once again, nearly causing the others to stumble beneath its weight, but once Ryfon had reached his full height of well over fifty meters tall, it subsided.
"Get on," his voice rumbled, shaking the very foundations of the Rhydian Mountains. He lowered a pale wing with scarlet accents along the scales that tightly wrapped around the bones supporting it. They did as he requested and found their footing was much more secure than they had anticipated, given the membrane's partially transparent nature.
"Hold onto these," Ryfon directed into their minds so as not to cause an accidental rockfall. He created three sets of handholds made of a material similar to the belt he had worn only moments ago. "Ready to see the world through the eyes of a dragon?" he sent them through a mental transmission.
They didn't even have to answer.
With a single beat of his wings, there was a blast of air beneath them that was a much more powerful version of the same blasts the three of them had left behind when they departed from Myrdin. Within a few seconds, however, they were far above the canopy, watching as the Rhydian Mountains sped by incomprehensibly quickly.
The morning sun was just coming over the horizon, casting a golden glow upon the land, and what had taken them hours to traverse the night before took mere minutes atop the dragon's back.
"This is incredible!" Bernar shouted over the sound of the wind rushing by his ears. "Shut up before he drops us!" Ardrin shouted back. "Just because you have Onyxe doesn't mean it's not an incredible experience, Ardrin. Let him enjoy the moment," Taegin snapped back with a light-hearted chuckle as the land of Caegwen sped by nearly a kilometer below them.
"I won't be able to maintain this form when we enter Myrdin, which means we'll have to stop a short distance away so I can return to a more humanoid form," Ryfon sent them along with his feelings towards doing so.
Thankfully, they all understood without another word.
Nearly half an hour had gone by since they left the cave, but they were already on the outskirts of Myrdin's training area. Ryfon returned to his more palpable form, though Bernar and Ardrin led the way through the woods.
"I'm glad they took my advice, but I hadn't expected to return so quickly," Bernar said with audible relief at the sight of nearly everyone, including Leona and Aurae, going through multiple different training regimens. "I wager 50 Crescents that Neko shits himself," he continued hushedly to Ardrin, who gave him a wry grin in return. "I'll take that wager," he replied with a smirk.
As they broke through the line of dense trees that surrounded the training area, Aurae was the first to notice their presence, though she was closely followed by Anwill and Ren, who halted their instructions momentarily.
"We're baaack!" Bernar chirped, prompting the others to turn in their direction with visible surprise. "I thought you'd be gone for at least three days. How the hells did you return so quickly?" Gwili said, lowering his sword momentarily and dispelling a small orb of Shifting mana.
"We, uh, had some help getting back," Bernar replied, stepping aside to reveal Taegin and Ryfon, allowing them to move past with a respectful gesture. As Ryfon got closer, he realized that many of them were paralyzed. Whether that was out of fear or the intensity of his mana, he was unsure, but he reduced his aura even further, just in case. "Greetings," he said, giving them a nod of acknowledgment.
No one could move or speak.
That was, however, until Aurae stepped forward, garnering strange looks from the others as she moved, unburdened, toward him, with a gentle smile on her face.
"Hello, Father. It has been too long," she bowed reverently, prompting everyone's jaws to careen toward the ground.