Eve and Lethe each rode the magical wind and flew through the sky.
Below their feet, a vast sea of green spread out. Above their heads, the blue sky and bright sun had risen. To their left and right, clouds flowed.
"Lethe. You haven't encountered Titans and Dragons yet, have you?"
"No."
"Then take a good look at this opportunity. After you become independent and take care of the forest, you'll also come into conflict with them. It will be a good experience."
Eve and Lethe flew high in the sky, dispersing clouds that obstructed their view with fierce winds.
From the distance, the sight of huge entities violently colliding briefly caught their eyes. The roaring sounds and shockwaves created by these entities were shaking the forest.
"Is that a Titan?"
Lethe asked, pointing to a massive entity with two feet and two arms like an Elf, but unlike Elves, it had round ears.
"That's right."
"Then is that giant snake with membrane wings a Dragon?"
"Yes."
Seeing Titans and Dragons for the first time in her life, Lethe carefully examined their appearance.
The Titan wore the hide of an unidentifiable beast around its body.
Its exposed skin gleamed as if oiled, and it had sharp teeth like a wolf's. Overall, however, it had a human-like form.
In contrast, the Dragon had a snake-like form, with a long body attached to legs and wings.
The legs, with a skeletal structure similar to a leopard's, looked very agile, and the bat-like membrane wings were long and wide enough to cover the sky.
Additionally, a pair of imposing horns protruded from its head.
Kwadeudeuk!
The Titan's rock-like fist struck the Dragon's body. A thunder-like cry erupted from the Dragon's alligator-like snout.
Lethe blocked the sound and vibration with magical wind as the roar threatened to burst her eardrums.
The Dragon, having taken a hit from the Titan's fist, flapped its wings. The wing beats created a fierce gale.
At the same time, glowing fireballs formed in the air and spewed streams of fire toward the Titan. The streams of fire were as red as the Dragon's scales.
Seeing magic of such terrifying power and scale, Lethe tilted her head.
"Eve. The Dragon's magical force seems weaker than I heard?"
"That Dragon is probably young. Dragons' magical force strengthens as they age."
"Then is the Titan fighting that Dragon also young?"
Eve glanced at the Titan staggering from the Dragon's magic.
"Yes. Judging by its size, it seems even younger than that Dragon."
While Eve and Lethe were talking, the Titan and Dragon continued to fight fiercely.
The Titan endured the Dragon's magic with incredible resilience, moving in close to throw punches wildly, while the Dragon tried to maintain distance and cast magic.
"Aren't we here to deal with them? Why are we just watching, Eve?"
"They're not creatures easily killed like magical beasts. For now, we'll watch them fight, and when one dies or both are greatly exhausted, we'll step in."
Nodding in agreement, Lethe watched the fight between the Titan and Dragon with a languid face.
The fairly even fight eventually concluded with the Dragon's victory. The Dragon had a slight advantage from the beginning, and the Titan ultimately couldn't overturn that disparity and collapsed from exhaustion.
The Dragon bit the Titan's neck with its alligator-like snout.
Wudeudeuk! The sound of neck bones being crushed resounded eerily.
The Dragon, standing on the Titan's corpse, looked up at the sky and roared. Flames exploded to the left and right of the Dragon, as if celebrating its victory.
Right at that moment, Eve approached the Dragon, whipping up a fierce wind.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself. Despite having ruined the forest I cultivate."
Eve muttered quietly. The wind carried her voice.
The Dragon whipped its head around. Its vertically slit yellow eyes caught sight of the platinum-haired beauty and purple-haired girl.
"Forest Elves, I see. Hmph, you dare to bother me over a few broken trees? Get lost. I need to savor the joy of my hunt."
The imposing voice echoed in all directions. It was the Dragon's voice created by magical wind.
"Dare? Did you just say 'dare' to me?"
Eve sneered and drew up her magical force.
Formidable magical force stirred. The surrounding ground shook entirely, and rock giants rose up. The clouds in the sky and rivers in the forest surged.
The Dragon flinched like a startled cat, then instantly changed its attitude. Instead of an imposing voice, a honeyed voice resounded.
"Oh my. You're not ordinary Elves. To think the High Elf Queen herself has come. Please forget my previous discourtesy."
Eve stared at the Dragon with cold eyes. The Dragon rolled its eyes as if trying to smile sweetly.
"I'm sorry for violating the forest. Truly. But I only came this far while chasing my prey, it wasn't my intention at all, you must understand."
The Dragon, cunning and crafty, assumed a posture as if lying flat before Eve. However, behind her, it was subtly preparing magic to launch a surprise attack at any moment.
Eve discerned that this red-scaled Dragon had much more strength left than it appeared.
'I thought it would be completely exhausted after fighting the Titan. Tsk.'
She inwardly clicked her tongue.
If the Dragon had been in a weakened state, she would have been willing to destroy it even at the cost of slightly more forest damage.
But with the Dragon having strength in reserve like this, she couldn't rashly try to destroy it.
'I would definitely win if we fought, but if too much of the forest gets destroyed in the process, it would be a loss even if I win.'
Having made this judgment, Eve pointed her finger at the Titan's corpse.
"Leave the corpse behind and depart. Don't come to the forest again."
The Dragon was enraged.
"Leave the Titan behind? This Titan is my trophy! My prey that I worked hard to catch!"
"That corpse will become nourishment for the forest. It will be used to regrow the forest you destroyed."
"Shut up. No one can take what's mine!"
The Dragon rebelled, almost having a fit. Dragons had a greedy nature and were extremely averse to having what they considered their possessions taken by others.
"Then will you bury your bones here alongside your trophy?"
The Dragon gritted its teeth and glared at Eve as if to kill her. But Eve wasn't intimidated at all by that fierce gaze. Rather, she looked down at the Dragon as if finding it ridiculous.
After glaring at Eve for quite some time, the Dragon made a groaning sound and said:
"Then let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"Yes, a deal! Since I must take my trophy, I'll compensate for the destroyed forest with something else."
"What will you compensate with?"
The Dragon proudly puffed out its chest.
"A piece of my heart."
Eve's eyebrow twitched.
Dragons' magical force strengthened as they aged, and the secret behind this lay in the Dragon's heart.
The Dragon's heart grew larger as it aged. And as the heart grew, the Dragon's magical force also strengthened.
"I'll cut off a piece of my heart for you. It's a treasure hundreds of times more valuable than a few trees in this paltry forest. What do you think? Is that enough for me to take my trophy?"
In that moment, Eve's interest was piqued.
The piece of Dragon's heart had one use: consuming it could grant magical force.
'It's of no use to me, but if I feed it to other Elves...'
If fed a heart piece of sufficient size, even ordinary Elves could potentially gain magical force comparable to nobles.
After thinking for a moment, Eve weighed the value of the Titan's corpse, the destroyed forest, and the heart piece.
"If it's a heart piece of sufficient quantity, I'll accept the deal."
"Good. How much of a piece do you want?"
Eve negotiated the amount of heart piece with the Dragon. The Dragon accommodated Eve's demands with a fairly docile attitude.
"My heart piece can't be cut off right here and now. I'll tell you the location of my palace, so come there."
"You're not trying to pull any tricks, are you?"
"Such worries, really. Would you feel assured if I promise by the Primordial Dragon? Until the moment I hand over the heart piece to you, I won't cause you any harm."
Long ago, when Dragons told too many lies, the Primordial Dragon placed one restriction on them: if they broke a promise made to the Primordial Dragon, their heart would be destroyed.
"Fine. I'll visit your palace soon."