After making his decision, Greyson quickly started to prepare for his journey. Packing all sorts of supplies and food inside Al, he made sure he would not have to make too many stops along the way. Since his teacher decided to use the emergency signal, Greyson did not want to waste any time on the way back. When it came to bringing along others, Snow and Lucius were definitely coming along since they had nowhere else to go. However, he glanced over at Theo feeling conflicted. "Hey, Theo, don"t you think it"s time for you to go back to your mother and tribe? I"m sure she wouldn"t want me to take you into the human territory. No one there will pay attention nor know of your mother"s reputation. It"s much more dangerous."
"You don"t have to worry! I actually told her that I wanted to go out to journey this time. She gave me permission because she agreed that I should experience the world."
Shrugging, Greyson did not have anything more to say. One more companion would not really change things for him. Plus, Theo looked like any other Jade Mouse and no one would pay attention to him. Time pa.s.sed quickly and it was soon time for him to head out. His grandparents were also leaving at the same time. Walking out of the cave, Greyson already released Zephyr and flew up into the air. Both Elder Brevre and Freizon transformed into their dragon forms and flew next to Greyson. They kept Rosalie stable inside s.p.a.ce using a spell. Nodding towards Greyson, their eyes showed a reluctance to part. However, at least they knew where their grandson was and that he was alive. This situation now was already mult.i.tudes better than before. Greyson also felt unwilling to separate from his family, but he still resolutely nodded back while smiling.
With a load roar, the s.p.a.ce in front of the two dragons broke apart a little. With just a flap of their wings, both of them disappeared. As Greyson watched the two leave, he was fascinated by their power and control over the s.p.a.ce element.
"One day..." He muttered under his breath.
Smiling ruefully, he knew that this one day was still far from him. Stroking the scales of Zephyr, the dragon pushed his head into Greyson"s face before licking him.
"Hahaha, alright, alright, I"m okay. Let"s head out!" Discerning his partner"s concern for him, Greyson broke out into warm laughter. Zephyr also let out his own roar before he flew away. Sitting on Zephyr"s head cross-legged, Greyson continued meditating. At this point, he was already close to the great magister level. But, he could tell that it would still take a long time before he would succeed. "Maybe three years?" Greyson thought to himself. Although he wanted to resist overestimating himself, he still hoped that it would not take longer. Only, if he took three years or so, he could break through to the great magister level before he was 20. Much to his chagrin, he knew that would mean he would be stuck looking like a teenager for a long time. The great magister level saw a large jump in lifespan and would make a human"s aging slow down exponentially. Yes, he could still disguise himself as someone older, but his real appearance would be stuck at 17-years-old for decades. Magister level humans could live for maybe at most 250 years while great magister level humans could live up to 1,500 years. Although relative to the lifespans of powerful magic beasts, that is not very long; humans would catch up to the lifespan of elves at that level. Those kind of numbers felt amazing to Greyson. How crazy would it be to live that long? As of the present, he had only lived for around 15 years.
"Well, I"ll just go with the flow. If I end up becoming a great magister so early, I"ll guess I will just have to live with that fact. It"s better to be more powerful earlier anyways." Sighing to himself, Greyson knew that he would still prefer becoming a great magister early. His stage right now was already extremely exaggerated compared to other humans. Normally, talented magicians will break through to the magister level before 25, but they would not break through to the great magister level until 50. After the great magister level, it could take people centuries to get to the magician king level if they ever get there. If one thought about it, the king of the Idris Kingdom, who was almost 500 years old, was a great magister level stage one magician. Yet, Greyson was already almost at the same level. The princ.i.p.al and his teacher were also supposedly both magister level stage five magicians, though a lot people thought they were at least great magister level magicians.
In the end, the Idris Kingdom was a tier one kingdom in an outer region country like the Snow Country. The area was still weak with only a magician king ruling. Greyson also knew that the ruling magician kings would definitely not be any stronger than stage one or two. Thinking about the dragon clan in comparison, he could only shake his head. The Ancestor Dragons were all powerful magician emperor level magic beasts. Even his grandparents were magician emperors, albeit weaker than the ancestors by a fairly large margin. He could not even fathom the limit of their powers because they never seriously fought an enemy in front of him before. However, it was an unfair comparison. The powers of the center region were equal to that of the Dragon Tribe. In the Beast Empire, the dragons were a top-level bloodline and tribe that ruled along with several other powerful tribes. While the controllers of the six central regions were the main rulers of the Human Empire.
It was rather comical to think about. In the Human Empire, he was just a lowly orphan from what some might consider the wilderness. However, in the Beast Empire, he was the grandson of powerhouse existences in the Dragon Tribe. His status was like that of aristocracy.
...
Maybe due to the difference in his power, this journey did not see many disturbances. Most magic beasts would see Zephyr and steer in the other direction. Instinctively, all of them felt fear towards dragons. Occasionally, Greyson would accidentally barge into another tribe"s territory since he did not have a completely wholistic understanding of the Beast Empire. Luckily, Theo was there to diffuse the situation. Not all of these tribes spoke the human language, so Theo was vital for communication. The little wily mouse was also great at talking to others. By the time they were exiting the Beast Empire, Theo had already made numerous friends. Speechless, Greyson had to admire the mouse"s ability to create connections with others.
"Hahaha, look at that kid..."
"I know, right? I wonder why..."
Hearing the whispers of the flying magic beasts that pa.s.sed by, Greyson could feel his eye twitching with annoyance. Glancing towards his friends, he just sighed. Theo was on his left shoulder while Lucius was on his right. Snow took her place inside his lap. All of them were small, cute, and weak; the types that would attract young children as pets. Even he knew that he looked ridiculous carrying around three with him. Before, with just Lucius, it was still fine. But now...
"Can"t any of you three make yourselves look a little more threatening?"
"No can do, Boss. This size is already the biggest a Jade Mouse can grow." Theo quipped back quickly.
"Destiny Cats never grow very large. Maybe when I can transform into a human shape I will be larger."
"More threatening?" Confused, Snow looked up from her nap. Sensing a breakthrough, Greyson"s eyes lit up as he looked down at the leopard.
"Yes! Like bigger and scarier." Simplifying his words, Greyson tried to convey his meaning.
"Ohhh... Maybe! I think I can." Hopping out of Greyson"s lap, Snow stretched herself lazily while yawning. In just a second, the cute furball became an enormous adult leopard. Wide-eyed in amazement, Greyson did not know what to say.
"Snow, if you could become like this, why did you stay in such a small form?"
"If I was big, I couldn"t sleep on Daddy"s shoulder. You also wouldn"t carry me..." Acting cute, Snow"s voice suddenly did not match up with her size and build.
"Haahh..." Holding his forehead, Greyson just felt the energy leave him. He could no longer deal with these three. They were literally draining the life right out of him. Mentally urging Zephyr, Greyson had the dragon pick up the speed. He desperately needed to get out of the air.
Flying over all the cities and forests, Greyson made record time in getting back to the borders of the Idris Kingdom. Once he was close enough, he asked Zephyr to land still a little ways away. Exhausted, Zephyr actually willingly went back into Greyson to rest. Having his mana drained while keeping Zephyr out for such a prolonged amount of time, Greyson also sat down near a tree to recuperate. Once he was feeling refreshed, he decided to ride on Snow to get to the city gate.
"Daddy, Snow doesn"t like running. Let Gold go." Lazing on the gra.s.s, Snow obviously did not comply. Remembering Rosalie"s warning, Greyson was disinclined to let Gold show himself. However, she did also say that the chances of someone in the Human Empire knowing of the Sun Moon Leopard was extremely low. Not even all the beast tribes knew of them, let alone the humans who are only aware of the more prominent tribes normally. Thus, he decided to take the chance. Gold must also feel rather suffocated, too. Giving the okay, Greyson saw how the white and black fur of Snow turned into a s.h.i.+mmering golden color. Unlike the lethargic Snow, Gold bounced around happily with bundles of energy to spare.
"Let"s go, let"s go, let"s go!" Although not as fast as his sister, Gold made up for it with endurance. His light element magic was also constantly replenis.h.i.+ng his energy which allowed him to continue running through the kingdom. Only a few hours later, the group arrived at the gate to the Idris Kingdom"s Academy City.
"We"re back!"