"How do you mean weird? Also, what's your name?" Caelus spoke.
Her sister spoke. "The name is Adrastia, and you just spoke that weird way, questioning every single thing instead of knowing the answer." She was a little annoyed that he never just assumed or knew.
"Well, I'm not from your Human... Culture, I think it's called. As for the questioning... If it's not normal, then that's weird. I usually did it with everyone I've met, and no one questioned that." Caelus replied, shrugging. He didn't see why it was weird to question, though he did know this wasn't current times, so it was a lot rarer, as he assumed.
Adrastia stared at him, listening to his explanation but not buying it. "Really? Your tail is clearly fake or made by Mana, no way you're a Dragon, you'd be rampaging."
"...And have you ever met a Dragon?" Caelus replied.
"No, but I know they should be since the Church said so." She replied. A little smug.
Caelus pinched the bridge of his nose; he didn't want to argue the same way he did with Tellus, especially with her little sister. "Look, just because someone has a higher power on their side doesn't mean they're right."
"Whatever, still don't believe you." She replied, even after hearing him speak, turning away.
"Stay. Calm, I should just kick h-, No. No, absolutely not." Caelus tried to calm himself down.
"Uh... Sorry about that, Caelus." Tellus spoke, only to then lean in and whisper in his ear. "Even I find her too much whenever it comes to talking about Dragons or anything the Church hates." Tellus continued.
Caelus listened and let go of his nose. Stepping back, he looked at Tellus, saying this and becoming less annoyed, and a little amused. "It's fine, you don't need to apologize over something like that."
"Though I do need to ask, how did you make that Slash? Or your attack, I try to replicate it, and yet I'm never able to get it fully right." Tellus continued, feeling confused about how he was doing it, since it felt very refined.
"Ah, I mean, I usually just make it so I take the fastest route to the solution, so I usually target weakpoints and direct the slash there, as for how I make it, I just use very little mana and spread it into a slash and add more as coating, but I try wasting as little as possible," Caelus replied. However, he didn't feel like he should explain, since it was Tellus he felt like he could; it'd fit her usage of swords anyway.
Tellus listened and processed, like a child learning to write. She didn't expect him to use something as basic as what he explained to make something as useful as that.
On the other hand, Adrastia was getting annoyed that Tellus was still talking to him, but she didn't want to intervene for an odd reason.
"Alright, well, I'll be going, I'll see you in the training area, unless you have somewhere else to meet," Caelus spoke, waiting for Tellus's reaction instead of being rude and flying off.
"I mean... We could meet at my house... Wait- Do you even have a home to stay at??" Tellus realized, asking in a worried tone.
"Yeah, it's called Tianyun Peak," Caelus spoke; though this decision was on a whim, he did find the place comfortable to stay, since it looked big enough to fit hundreds of homes inside.
Tellus took a second, nodding only to realize he spoke of a Mountain. not a house. "I see, then you're fine, just meet me at my... House."
"WHAT!?" Adrastia turned confused, shouting as Caelus winced from the loud noise; his ears were sensitive after all. "OW, okay, don't shout like that again. What's wrong?' Caelus replied, now annoyed.
"You-You live in a MOUNTAIN???" Adrastia replied, though Tellus, on the other hand, wasn't even surprised, for the fact that she already believed he was a Dragon.
"I mean, yeah, it has a lot of room, and I can put lots of stuff in there like Gold," Caelus replied. He knew it was wildly different from the way people lived, though now he wondered: how did Dragons even interact? "A question for another day, I'll ask after the Mission with Tellus tomorrow."
Caelus noted his own thought down before turning to Tellus. "Alright, I'll meet you at your home."
Jumping up, Caelus's wings appeared, flapping once and accidentally hitting Tellus in the head. He reached higher in the air. Going forward, he tried to land within the Training area to meet with Arjuna or at least someone else, but since he missed his trajectory, he landed right on the purple carpet, which had been recently cleaned. Yet his foot left no mark on the fabric.
"Oh, it's you. What do you need?"
"Nothing, I'm just seeing if you're doing fine, especially because of that." He points at the cracked wall, though the dummy was back in place now.
"I am, you need not worry for such trivial subjects," Arjuna replied. His voice was calm and rough.
"Weird way of speaking... But that's just me." Caelus thought everyone else spoke without using words like Arjuna did, but he just assumed he wasn't from here.
"Well, I do need to ask what Realm you are in?" Arjuna replied.
"Foundation Stage Five," Caelus answered. He assumed it was normal to ask a question like this. "What about you?"
"...I am at the Beginning of the Virtuoso Realm, peculiar that you beat me, but it must just be because of the techniques," Arjuna replied. Simply nodding before turning to the other guys standing.
"Well, I shall be going. I need to go and meet with Tellus; I still have to train with her today." He knew that Caelus had met Tellus, since their hearing was advanced enough to be heard from that far away, even amid others talking louder.
Caelus turned as well; he didn't want to disturb someone who was doing something important. Though he felt lost since he had nothing to do right now, other than exploring and learning more about the world.
"Aphro... Does this place have a library at least? Or something close to it." Caelus asked the system.
[Let me check... According to the area around you, yes, there is a Library or well, what they call a Pavilion. There are about eight different ones, each one for a different subject, with the biggest one being history.]
Caelus sighed. He wouldn't trust that since he assumed the Church would have absolutely tried and succeeded in rewriting the past, which is easier than changing the present.
Caelus wouldn't ask for directions this time, since he wanted to explore the Empire, without flying around, as he felt he was using it too much instead of his own legs. Which felt weird since he rarely went on walks.
Leaving the Training area, he took a sharp left, following the rocky pathway as he passed homes larger than those near the entrance; he assumed they were for those of a higher class. Or those with more money, at least.
Though he paid no mind, seeing carriages pass by with the occasional people, though those people were a lot older, with their hair turning gray, but mainly staying long, even for men, which he thought made sense. It must've been common here.
"...This is a lot different from what I expected. I thought they were going to start hunting me instantly. I have misjudged." Caelus thought, realizing he assumed something that never happened with just some amount of information. He was a little embarrassed about that.
Continuing forward, his foot slipped sideways as he touched the warm... Asphalt? They had it before everything else, but it made sense, since it was efficient after all. The heat didn't matter to him that much, though he did see two men walking on that path with a lady walking on the rocky terrain.
"Weird... Well, it's not my business- Oh, there it is." Caelus noticed a single pavilion, standing tall, about fifty meters high, with intricate symbols, covered in a darker gray-yellow, as if it were ruined or worn out, and with each corner and pillar painted entirely black. He liked the design enough that he almost got distracted examining it.
Caelus shook his head. A few minutes later, he reached the area where four guards were waiting and blocking the entrance. Caelus stood in front of them, staring as he looked down to make eye contact.
"What brings you here?"
"I want to learn more about Cultivation, that's it," Caelus spoke. He'd comply as long as they didn't take an insanely long time.
"I see, then you can go in. If it is for anything else, you must notify and list your name where you're going. You cannot enter a pavilion you did not mention without permission." One of the guards spoke, though he was weirded out that he wasn't getting a reaction. The two in the front moved out of the way, pushing the door open.
Caelus listened... And if he didn't follow that rule and go into whatever one he wanted, he'd simply enter the Cultivation one first so they'd actually believe he was here for that. "Mildly strict, still not listening though..." Caelus went through as the doors promptly shut, a small gust of wind blowing his clothes and hair forward.
Going into the Pavilion, he saw how large it was from the inside, with multiple floors, ladders, and occasionally an area to stand and read whatever was there; the books weren't arranged much in order, though along each path.
Martial Path, Arcane Path, Valoria Path, Hunter Path, Resonant Path, Literature Path, and... the Undead Path.
He was interested in the Undead one, since he didn't expect the Church to allow that, or maybe Cultivators just ignored their rules and still put things here.
He noticed one other thing: the Books, the higher they got, became newer, so they were still being filled, which he found intriguing. Picking a book from the Arcane path, old, rotting, but still somewhat taken care of.
Esoteric Arts: The Basics of the Arcane Path
"...Fancy name, but Esoteric and Arcane... Almost means the same thing, so weird. I guess they were trying to be eye-catching or something." Caelus thought, already criticizing it without realizing it, but that didn't stop him from actually reading it; he didn't judge a book by its cover.
Turning to the first page, he read the table of contents, each one mainly being something he knew, things like usage of Mana, different levels of usage, other things it could do, but as soon as he got to the fifth one, he was... Interested, 5. Usage of Mana and Nature.
Caelus let out a soft smile. It helped him recognize that he didn't just need to make the attacks out of Mana; he could make something like a fireball or a strike of lightning, equal in power to how much Mana he used.
Passing the contents, he skimmed the first few chapters so he could reach the fifth topic. Getting through thirty percent of the book, he stopped. He was going to have a lot of fun coming up with more ideas of what he could do... As long as he knew how to do it at least, he assumed that's how it'd work; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to come to this world, let alone think on his own.
Eight Hours Later, The Next Morning.
Caelus finished the entire book, not just to read it but also to completely understand it, writing down on the ground using his hand, due to its scaley nature, as he tested everything it told him he could do without rushing, a surge of excitement as his face lit up, his body shivering in joy.
"I don't care about the other pavilions right now, I'm going to stay here- Wait, no, I still have to get to Tellus!" Caelus got up, grabbed the book, closed it, and put it back as he left the Pavilion-