"Uhm... I, No, they aren't, but-"
"You cannot be serious. Just because someone follows a higher moral code doesn't mean the church itself is moral. You have too much trust in people." Caelus cuts Tellus off, speaking calmly, though annoyed.
"B-But they're the church!" Tellus spoke out
"...Tellus, are you going to continue holding onto this belief even when it's proven wrong?" Caelus was slowly losing his patience.
"I-I" Tellus tried to respond, though, stopping herself, "..."
"You don't need to choose now, just take your time, but seriously explain why you could trust them on everything." Caelus eased himself; he didn't want to get mad here.
"It's- It's because they said the Lord told them about things which will help us progress to his realm," Tellus spoke, though more hesitantly.
"And you believe that they speak to a God? Or at least, believe they're telling the truth, they are?"
"Yes." Her voice became softer and quieter.
"So would you believe me if I became a member of the church in a higher command if I told you that this Lord told me something?"
"...Not entirely, it depends on whether it doesn't contradict the books!" Caelus spoke, trying to grasp at the last straws.
[Oooh, you might need to stop, if she learns on her own, it'll be a lot better!]
"Why so?" Caelus questioned the system, confused.
[Do you want to see her start crying?]
"...No, but what does that have to do with this?"
[Yeah, so if someone's worldview is shattered and it's something they've held onto for this long, it'll cause them to be hurt more if anything, so just stop here! Additionally, she comes from a family with a rigid moral code. Hence, it was harder to change her mind; luckily, she's just barely an adult, so she isn't fully entrenched :3]
"Ah." Caelus became embarrassed, looking away, noticing Tellus was doing the same while fidgeting with her fingers. He wasn't trying to hurt her, but he got carried away.
[Keep that in mind next time~]
Caelus sighed, walking towards Tellus and speaking, "Sorry about that. I was just getting annoyed. Take your time, just don't continue arguing with me."
Tellus turned, her face showing a mix of confusion and relief. She didn't want to keep arguing or end their relationship, since he didn't push too hard. "He's actually real to me." It felt weird for her; usually, she meets people who only hide their true selves around her because of her status.
[Oooh, oh yeah, you can fly by the way, Caelus! So, we should get going so you can learn that!]
"Not the time." Caelus thought to reply to the system, but he kept it in mind.
"Shall we get going? I still need more to learn since your civilization is very different from how I live." Caelus was half lying, but he felt it'd be better if he stuck to being a dragon than revealing he was actually a human first, since it'd be easier at this point to explain that than to explain reincarnation.
"Sure-, First of all, though, where did you get those clothes? It's nothing like what I had and nothing like my family's clothing."
"My treasury, I can access it anywhere." Caelus lied, but he couldn't just reveal that a system existed; he wasn't that dumb to get all attention on him.
She simply nodded; it made sense, and it wouldn't be something a dragon should lie about. It already exists, and they hoard it so much that clothing wouldn't be off the table.
Once they went outside, Caelus looked back, noticing and feeling two holes on his back with his hand, in a long oval shape, from which his wings sprouted out, not too large, stretching them out only for them to quickly pull back to hide on his back.
"...I guess I could start flying. Or trying too."
Before Caelus could try anything, he heard the sound of people arguing. Looking over Tellus, he was hinting at wanting to investigate by looking over at the crowd.
Caelus, on the other hand, groaned, not wanting to go, but it took him a second to remember the fact that she was meant to be a part of a royal guard; her stopping quarrels would be great for her own image.
The smell of incense became apparent. The sound of people shouting rang through the street, and then a sudden movement, the ground shook as the crowd split apart, and someone went flying into the wall.
"The Hell-?"
Caelus didn't give himself time to react, looking over at Tellus, who was running over to where the crowd was. Caelus, on the other hand, ran, moving in a near instant, reaching the cloud of dust, which started to dissipate. Looking ahead, the sound of groaning, a person lay on the ground, clearly in pain.
He didn't speak; he moved over and lifted the person to their feet. Seeing as no bones were broken and they weren't bleeding.
"You doing okay?" Caelus asked, the feeling of hair across his scales.
"Yeah, that asshole just punched me because I wouldn't listen to what he asked me to do." The man spoke, coughing between his words from the dust, and showing irritation with the other person. Dust in his hair as her took a second to regain his senses.
Caelus let go, moving back because of the guy nudging at his side. "I'll listen to the crowd, I can't just trust one side," Caelus replied.
"What the fuck!?" Tellus shouted, which made Caelus look over to see her holding the attacker to the ground. Her face turning red, ready to hit him, though, she stopped herself, wanting to show she had at least some control.
Getting up, she lifted the other person and held him as guards ran over. Caelus watched Tellus hand the man over to the guards, as if he were luggage. Made Caelus hold back a chuckle.
Caelus took a step forward towards Tellus, "So, what did he do?" Caelus knew it was something bad if it pissed off Tellus.
"He's a lunatic, rambling about some end of the world and thus everyone should die, he was about to self-destruct with his mana, it would've killed almost every civilian here," Tellus spoke with disdain, her eyes looking towards the guard, dragging him away.
"...Wait." Caelus thought to himself, his mind scrambling, and yet he realized many of the habits he had before couldn't be continued; this place was different. It didn't follow the same rules or social taboos.
His mind turned, a realization.
He could be himself
There was no reason to be judged. No reason to be seen as wrong; people would automatically assume it is something a dragon does or something special to him.
He was the only one presumably of his kind, and whatever biases the church had, or people had, was something he didn't need to follow, since his would be worth more, since he was a Dragon himself.
[Oh yeah, there's only pseudo-Dragons, or well Wyverns left.]
The system didn't seem as cheerful as before, but it felt right; it would've been smart enough to notice this wasn't the time for jokes.
Tellus, on the other hand, poked at Caelus. Who moved his eyes, turning. "Hmmm? What is it?"
"You look zoned out. Is that normal for Dragons? I only know as much as the church tells me, but... Someone like you, who is a dragon, knows more, right?" Tellus spoke, a little nervous since she didn't want to diminish the church's authority.
"Yes. It's normal, mostly because that's when Dragons are thinking about something. You should probably not disturb them when they are." Caelus spoke, chuckling at Tellus, who had taken a second to register what he said.
"Ah- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, you haven't met one before, so it would be expected." Caelus let out a soft laugh, finding it endearing that she actually went to apologize.
"He's so nice despite being a dragon... But I've been told they're brutish and couldn't care less about people... Maybe they just misjudged aloofness, that's it!" Tellus thought to herself, looking up as she watched birds fly by; it was about time for them to migrate, since winter was coming soon.
"Looks like those crystals will fall from the sky. I heard it's a time to be happy. Though I've never really experienced it." Tellus spoke, a little shy since it was normal at this point for people to know about the winter and snow.
"It's fine, compared to you, I've rarely been in a place without snow." Caelus wasn't lying, considering he was originally from Siberia, but it was the past; he didn't have to hold attachments, other than the care he had for his aunt.
"Really? There are only a few places which are like that, but they're mostly uninhabitable, especially since the church doesn't let people use fur from animals because it's seen as disrespectful." Tellus looked bummed out; she knew how fluffy and comfortable the fur would be.
Caelus, in that moment, after listening to Tellus, felt confused, wondering why it wasn't allowed to be worn, but maybe the cold didn't get bad enough for people to need coats. Considering he couldn't feel any cold.
From there, he jumped up, his wings stretching out instinctively as they began flapping on their own, like it was natural, floating up in the air. "Whoa! Okay, I should probably prepare myself for that."
Caelus took a second, staying afloat, trying to get used to being able to fly, but that was proving to be hard for him.
Rebalancing himself, he could stay up for at least six minutes, almost seven, before his wings became tired, and so he fell down, though his reflexes like a cat and his instincts made it so he did land on his feet instead of faceplanting.
[Oh yeah, the higher cultivation you are, the longer you can fly, it goes up by ten times every major realm, so from the Awakening Realm, you'd have forty seconds, and now you have six minutes and forty seconds, so next realm you'd have an entire hour and six minutes of flight time!]
"Could've warned me earlier." Caelus thought, looking over at Tellus and getting ready to leave.
"Well, now we have to go to the capital, it's mostly because my training is there. If you want, you can follow me there."
Tellus paused. "I'm of the Valoria path. You, on the other hand, as a Dragon and everything you've described would fit the Arcane... Or possibly the Literature path." She spoke with ease, in a calm tone, and with a relaxed expression.
"...? What's the Literature or Arcane path?" Caelus spoke, confused about what it was.
Tellus expected that he didn't know, so while walking with him, she'd explain. "Well, first of all, I'd have to explain the realms and all, there's also the things called Creation Artifacts, if you didn't know, I was lucky enough to get one!" Tellus looked to the side as a Maid went inside, then took it out, walked over to Tellus, and handed it to her.
"This, it's called the Pot of Demeter, A Deity of a realm even beyond the Spiritual Realm." Tellus sounded excited, but then it died down. The Maid walked away and went back inside while Tellus was still holding it.
"I still don't fully know what it's used for, but I'll just use it for storing the herbs and all that I have. Since the inside of this is seemingly infinite or something." Tellus spoke while holding it; the aura exuding was immense.
Caelus sighed. "Alright, do you even know what the name means?"
"Uh- No, I don't. It sounds cool though!" Tellus was clearly excited and loved having it.
Caelus could see her childish self, a smile on his face. It was fun to see it. It reminded him of his younger cousins.
"...Is this the place I've been dreaming of?" A realization from Caelus: this world had not been a dream; he was way too lucid for it, and the death was way too gruesome. Yet he had remembered a dream that showed something similar occurring.