We left the small town the next day . Dragon Mom seemed to have a great fondness for the meat there . She probably noted down the town . We’d probably drop by on our way back .

We continued heading northwest . As I initially said, the farther we went northwest, the more desolate it was . What saddened me was that my nation’s population was pathetically small . After leaving the town, we were met with nothing but wild gra.s.s and the sort . The streets in the town complied with the rules and were, thereby, durable . However, the road we were on was a simple dirt path; it didn’t even qualify as a road . The only reason there weren’t weeds was because there were lots of people who treaded on the path . We came across multiple small villages, but the villages were too tiny . A village with just over ten people was too small to be a village .

Dragon Mom and I had both lived in the wild before . At night, we found a place to take shelter from the wind to set up a small tent and then started a fire . Then, we’d eat food that was vastly different to what we previously ate . For example, we had tough bread that was only edible after boiling it in soup . Even Dragon Mom was afraid of breaking her teeth . A dragon’s teeth may be tough, but not even they could chomp off rocks .

The alcohol we had was low quality alcohol . To prevent us from getting drunk, we diluted it a lot . You might as well consider it a mere thirst quencher . We began to run out of the meat Dragon Mom craved . We only had salty dry meat . I was somewhat sad to see Mom pitifully looking at the dry meat inside her bowl . She wore a look of despair when she looked at her food at night . There was no helping it, though .

We could preserve the freshness of food using magic, but we weren’t an army . We only had two horse pouches . Dragon Mom and I couldn’t bring much . Not to mention the fact that I couldn’t use spatial magic . Although my bloodline and mana were both excellent, I wasn’t Mommy Vyvyan . Mommy Vyvyan had to put in a lot of diligent practice to refine and develop her skills to be as powerful as she was . As for me, I’d have forgotten it had I not been reminded . I still considered myself to be a human by nature .

Watching Dragon Mom was pitiful, but she never griped . Instead, she stayed by my side with a happy smile and continued onwards with me . She must’ve been genuinely happy . The lifestyle wasn’t very tough for dragons, but she was on her way to see her dragon kin she had always wished to see . That, alone, was enough to brighten up Dragon Mom’s days, so those sorts of challenges were nothing in comparison .

I wiped away the leaf on Dragon Mom’s face and then wiped her mouth with a handkerchief . She shut her eyes to enjoy every bit of it . Sometimes, I felt that taking care of Dragon Mom was the same as taking care of a big pet . I let go . Mom sighed . She then handed me her bowl . She stood up to peer at the empty, dark wilderness . There was no longer a road in sight . I was positive the place used to be frozen land in the past . Then it was desolate land with weeds growing . The moon was clear, yet unable to light up the entirety of our surroundings . I washed the bowls with water and then covered the pot to ensure we had breakfast for tomorrow covered .

The vicinity was incredibly quiet; it was virtually dead silent . That was the sort of world the North was . It’d take time for the North, which was once frozen, to recover . Nonetheless, it felt slightly lonely with just the two of us present . Dragon Mom didn’t seem to mind . She surveyed her surroundings curiously: “Son, Mommy wants to fly in such a s.p.a.cious place . There aren’t people around anymore, right? Why can’t we transform into dragons and fly? We’d get there very quickly . ”

“Mom, have you gotten tired? There’s n.o.body around anymore, so you can transform and fly… with that said, I’m still reluctant to fly…”

Indeed, there was n.o.body around anymore, so n.o.body would see Dragon Mom flying as a dragon . It was just that I didn’t want to fly . The North was warmer after I took over, yes . Still, the desolate place was freezing to me . I’d die from the cold if I flew in the current weather

The White Deer King suddenly stood up from behind me upon hearing our conversation . She jumped up so suddenly that she nearly tipped everything in her pouched into the fire . She bit a corner of my clothes . She wore an anxious expression and shook her head to desperately try to stop me . I smiled helplessly and touched her neck . I then turned back to Dragon Mom .

Mom’s excitement was at its peak; I was aware of that . The closer and closer we were to our destination, the more and more irritable she grew . She was able to contain herself at first, but the closer we got, the less patience she had . She had lived for a thousand years, yet was no different to a child .

I stopped to think about her suggestion . I then looked at Dragon Mom and gave the White Deer King a nudge . Smiling, I replied, “If you want, you can fly, Mom . ”

Dragon Mom dawdled for a moment .  She rubbed her hands and asked, “Really?! Son! Mommy is going to fly now, then . Son, you want to join me?”

“I’ll pa.s.s . My scales will shrink . Plus, it’s freezing . ” I waved my hand and turned down Dragon Mom’s well-intended offer .

Dragon Mom seemed unable to comprehend why I refused . From her perspective, dragons should enjoy flying and would be happy to fly . Dragons were meant to spread their wings for freedom and air . She might have forgotten that I wasn’t a dragon… Plus, I couldn’t fly with my wings . All I was capable of was gliding for a short time at the time . If I tried to fly, I’d just look as though I was squirming in the air . If I flew on Dragon Mom, it’d be freezing . All of my scales would shrink and reveal my skin underneath, which was a repulsive sight to behold .

Dragon Mom ran up ahead to the centre of the lawn . She then began to transform into her large form . Soon enough, she was a huge beast in the wilderness . The moonlight shone onto her dragon scales . Her scales reflected the moonlight, bestowing light onto the dark area of land . Her majestic body was standing in the wide field . She looked at me with her golden eyes .

Despite knowing that she was my Mom, suddenly standing face to face with such a huge and imposing beast was tension-inducing . She lowered her head and affectionately licked my face . She then cried out toward the sky .

Dragon Mom’s cry created a strong gust of wind akin to a tornado . The gra.s.s rustled . Her outstretched wings looked as though they swallowed the entire sky . The gusts of winds from her flapping her wings virtually pulled the gra.s.s out of the ground . She slowly ascended; eventually, she looked the as small as a leaf in the sky . She fully stretched out her body . Her cry was cold, yet powerful . If you were to look up at the sky, you’d occasionally see a huge black shadow on the moon .

Mom looked really awe-inspiring as she soared in the skies . That was Mom’s real form . Seeing her usual gentle and clumsy self all the time, I had almost forgotten she was a dragon . She was the dragon who almost killed me . Usually, she kept her pride and murderous intent in check . But nevertheless, I could sense her pride and terrifying power in her huge dragon form .

Thousands and thousands of years ago, there were countless dragon tribes with countless dragons of this shape soaring the skies .

“One dragon, alone, was enough to look so eye-catching . If there were a few more, how spectacular would that scene look? Perhaps I’ll get to find out,” I thought to myself .

I turned back to look at the White Deer King . With a helpless smile, I stated, “Sorry, White Deer King . Thank you for your hard work . ”

The White Deer King looked at me with a hopeless expression . There was a hint of sorrow and despair in her eyes, but she angrily looked at me . She then bit my hand . Unfortunately, because of my dragon scales, she groaned in pain after biting me . She turned its head away and refused to speak to me .

I hugged the White Deer King’s head with a smile . That was the first time I hugged her that way . She gently shuddered but didn’t shake me off . I carefully and gently stroked her face . I softly laughed and said, “Sorry, sorry, I know that this isn’t nice of me… But I can’t help it… After all, she’s my Mom . I want to be with you, too, but what can I do…?”

I was serious . I did want to be with the White Deer King, as her back was warmer and softer than Mom’s back or claws .

On that very rare occasion, the White Deer King didn’t react with anything other than a soft snort . She leaned onto my chest and allowed me to caress it . I let go soon thereafter . She looked at me with a complex look . She then swung her head and lied down next to the fire . She looked up at Dragon Mom in the sky in silence .

Mom flew very fast . She carried me in her claws . The White Deer King could just keep up if it ran full pelt . Unfortunately, it couldn’t keep up that pace endlessly . Once we came to rivers or valleys, we’d need to pick it up and cross with it . That’d speed us up, however . After all, the White Deer King only traveled at running speed .

I sat down to one side and gazed at Dragon mom freely dancing in the sky and listened to her cries . I picked up the map to examine it . We were nearly there . We were nearly there . We’d arrive at the village and valley of dragons in three days .