The helm looked just as fearsome as the real deal, which remained. It still had fangs, a snout, and eye slits. However, they were modified accordingly to fit a human without being too lopsided.
For now, Zero decided to have the helm on. Maybe because it made him feel safe, or rather because he thought it looked cool.
Approaching the drake's corpse, Zero pulled out his blade, then entered the fractured plane and stared at the corpse.
Not a fan of mutilation, Zero still stabbed the beast a few times, judging how far his blade could go before it met too much resistance or bone.
After that, Zero got to work messily, cutting his first meal in these floating islands. A little while later, Zero was staring at messily cut pieces of meat. They were sat atop his woody backpack.
'Don't I have to cook this. I feel like I shouldn't eat it raw, but I don't know why.'
Something was bothering Zero about eating plain raw meat, but he did not know why. Eventually, he picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The meat, although squishy, was shockingly hard to chew. It tasted odd as well.
'The taste of blood in this is too much!'
Zero pinched his nose as he chewed.
When he finally swallowed, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his stomach did not hurt. So he ate his fill and began cutting more meat.
These were in larger chunks. After a bit of struggle, Zero managed to attach the meat to his backpack by tying one of the limbs around it. This process gave him enough time to digest, and he was ready to continue walking into the unknown.
Approaching the ravine edge, he peered down and saw the sky looking back at him. A quick view to the left and right confirmed he was hopping onto another island. Although he might need a running start. Looking up to judge the distance, he found himself looking at someone wearing orange robes.
Across the ravine, a man or maybe boy, was holding a large stick. When Zero looked up toward him, the man defensively brandished his staff.
"What are you?"
Zero responded confusedly: "What do you mean, what am I? I'm a human like you. A lost human, by the way, would you mind giving me directions?"
The boy looked perplexed for a moment, then asked, "What language are you speaking to me, and why do I understand?"
"I do not know what language I'm speaking. Why does it matter?"
"Now beast, you are using the language of this place. Are you perhaps attacking my mind, for it will not work."
"Who are you calling a beast?"
It was then that it dawned on Zero that he was wearing the head of a dragon at the moment. Hesitantly, he dismissed his protection to show that he was human.
The boy furrowed his eyebrows.
"What is your name?"
Zero pondered for a second and considered using Azarax's name, as the man wanted his name to spread far and wide. But Zero decided against it, feeling too guilty to use the name of the man he killed.
"Zero."
"An interesting name, but likely that of a human."
The boy broke his defensive position and lowered his staff.
"I will trust you if you answer this one question. How did you make that dragon head just disappear?"
Zero thought for a moment. It seemed that the boy was suspicious of him being a mind-controlling dragon. Zero was not sure what was going on with the languages or how he could make remembrances disappear. It would be best if he made up something plausible.
"It is an ability of mine. I have these enchanted items I call Remembrances. See?"
Zero summoned Valiant Blade, making a hopefully plausible argument while arming himself.
"I see. It seems like we have the same ability, Zero."
With that, the man dismissed his staff, letting dust particles fly off with the wind.
'So it seems I am not the only one.'
Although Azarax was the same tier as Zero, Seeker, it seemed like he did not possess remembrances. After all, his blade was not one, but Valiant Blade was. This led Zero to believe he might have been an anomaly, but it seemed that was not true.
Another thing, it seemed the language that he thought in his head and spoke was different from how Azarax talked.
'Does that make me bilingual?'
Zero shook off the necessary thoughts that he always seemed to have and let his attention return to the one in orange robes.
"What's your name?"
Zero tried his best to talk in the language Azarax and this guy used, and it was successful.
"I am called Caelum after the high sky."
'This guy talks slightly frivolously like Azarax. Is that a good thing?'
"Well, Caelum, what are you doing in this place. Is there perhaps a Village nearby?"
Caelum looked like he was pondering for a moment.
"As crazy as this might sound Zero, I hope you will believe me. For this is the truth that I have seen. I found myself here after interacting with an interesting statue on my way to Roma. I got lost and found myself in this cavern of sorts, where there were some statues. One of them was barely visible, but I was drawn to it. When I touched it, I must have activated a sorcery that brought me here."
Zero's eyes widened slightly, "Were there two other statues, one with a book and the other with its heart showing?"
Caelum smiled, "Yes, there was. Were you too a victim of that sorcery?"
"Yes, I suppose I was."
It seemed Zero had finally found out how he ended up here.
'A sorcery, huh.'
Still, there were other questions, like why the wolf brought him there and what his Blessing Origins of Blood was. Perhaps now, Zero had found the key that could unlock those mysteries. But for now, it was best to be polite, or rather, a good person.
"Hey Caelum, do you need some food? I can show you how I managed to become part dragon!"