"What did you say?" (I)

"I said there's a way to awaken your True Dragon bloodline, but you need to agree to do something first." (Karina)

This Princess of Cartoza Kingdom is being a headache, ever since I received that letter I knew it would be a problem to find her, but what she said really interested me, the True Dragon bloodline is one of the most powerful I have, fully awakening this bloodline would greatly increase my strength.

"Master!!!" (Ibuki/Diana)

"Welcome back, Master." (Nira/Freya)

"You took your time this time, Dad." (Vanessa)

"I'm glad to see you, safe Master, I was starting to think something had been done to you." (Jade)

"I tried to tell them nothing would happen to you, but you took too long to get back." (Sophia)

"I'm fine, I was busy doing something very important." (I)

"Where's Kira?" (I)

"Kira has been training every day with the Gray Elves, the first few days she came back injured, but as the days went by there were less and less injuries." (Diana)

"What did she say about the reason for the injuries?" (I)

"She says it's because of the training, I believe since most injuries are superficial in vital areas and in areas that will immobilize a person." (Diana)

"I'll talk to everyone soon, but first I have to talk to this troubled Princess so you can go back to what you normally do, I'll meet you at the house later." (I)

"Yes." (all)

"Follow me to a quieter place." (I)

I use my wings and fly to the forest near the temple of the World Tree, I noticed that that forest is too silent and calm for us to stay.

Karina comes flying up behind me, I land where she has an old tree down and then I sit down as Karina lands in front of me.

"Let's talk here, so explain to me first what you want." (I)

"Before that, I need you to know that I don't care about my position as Princess of the Cartoza Kingdom." (Karina)

"I am and always will be a Priestess of the Dragon God Akatosh." (Karina)

"But I'm just a simple Priestess for now, as a Priestess I have the Dragon God's protection, but that also limits my growth and potential." (Karina)

"I need to become a High Priestess to leave this protection behind and obtain the Dragon God's Blessings in its place." (Karina)

"I still don't understand what all this has to do with me." (I)

"I just want you to understand the bigger picture, so maybe you can understand my decisions so far." (Karina)

"Then go on, I want to know why you want to talk to me so badly." (I)"There are certain requirements to become a High Priestess, I already fulfill all but one that I am not able to fulfill without help." (Karina)

"By help you mean me?" (I)

"Yes." (Karina)

"A High Priestess should not be a Dragon, that's why we are the representatives of the Dragon God and Dragons for the other races." (Karina)

"But a High Priestess must participate in an awakening ceremony with a True Dragon, it will turn the Dragon God's protection into Blessings allowing me to finally receive my God's power." (Karina)

"..." (I)

"The thing is, True Dragons don't accept doing this kind of thing easily, each True Dragon has its own requirements, that's why the Awakening ceremony forms a bond between the two parties." (Karina)

"So you..." (I)

"I want you to be the real Dragon who does the awakening ceremony with me." (Karina)

"But I'm not a Dragon, look at my appearance." (I)

"Maybe I could be mistaken for a Dragonewt, but I'm not a Dragon, I'm just a Vampire." (I)

"You don't understand, you can already be considered a True Dragon, you have a pure Dragon bloodline and you must already have the title that proves it, right?" (Karina)

"..." (I)

"Your silence just confirms what I already knew." (Karina)

I actually have this title of True Dragon, but Nix also has that title, so why does she know about me and not about Nix.

"Why not look for a True Dragon elsewhere, I'm sure you would be able to find one much more powerful than I am." (I)

"No, it has to be you, I need to find a Dragon that has as much Affinity with me as possible." (Karina)

"I was born with Affinity for three pure elements which are light, fire and wind." (Karina)

"Even without considering the other two elements, just the light element would be a problem, the Light element Dragons are mostly on the Church of Light side, those who are not with the Church of Light are scattered and would not to accept." (Karina)

"So there's only..." (I)

"Exactly, besides that Aredhel told me that there are many Fairies and Spirits that follow you in the village, it seems that they are these strange Fairies and Spirits with more than one element." (Karina)

"Besides I know about the Dragon in its shadow and I can see this Fairy, the two of them have more than one different element, the Holy Beast that was with you also had many elements." (Karina)

"How do you know about Sakura?" (I)

"I saw you getting the trinity." (Karina)

"..." (I)

"You may not know it, but True Dragons are divided according to their elements, Dragons with more than one element are rare." (Karina)"That's why it would be very difficult for me to find someone with more than one element that matches mine, so it has to be you who I'm most compatible with." (Karina)

"During your process to obtain the trinity I felt the elements that you possess, you have almost all elemental affinities including the same elements that I have." (Karina)

"But I can't do this awakening ceremony with..." (I)

"Don't try to lie, I know the truth just from seeing the Holy Beast, Fairy, and Spirit that were with you, they have many of your characteristics which shows that they went through a very powerful awakening ceremony that conveyed a bit of you to them." (Karina)

"Why would I do that to you, it will involve forming a connection with you, I don't want to do that." (I)

"I am a believer of the Blood Goddess Selene, my daughter is a Priestess of the Blood Goddess, so I don't want to have any connection with other Gods anymore." (I)

"But it wouldn't be without rewards, during the Awakening ceremony the power of the Dragon God will involve both of us, it will help you to fully awaken your bloodline for its next evolution." (Karina)

"If you don't take this opportunity you may have to wait a long time even for a Vampire like you." (Karina)

I close my eyes like I'm thinking, but I'm actually communicating with Nix who knows more about Dragons than I do.

"(Is she right, Nix?)" (I)

"(Yes, a True Dragon's bloodline is too powerful for your body, but even if she is telling the truth, you won't receive the power of True Dragons, but your power should at least double again.)" ( Nix)

"(What she's not telling you is that for the True Dragons and the religion that believes in the Dragon God Akatosh, when a Dragon performs a ceremony with a Priestess is the same as marrying her, this is an ancient custom. )" (Nix)

"..." (I)

I'm confused for a second before I realize I've been considering this and shake my head with the truth that I was almost tricked into getting married.

"You almost got me this time, trying to trick me like that, your answer is still no." (I)

"Where did I try to trick you? I've been honest all along." (Karina)

"Just forgot to tell me about the wedding part." (I)

"..." (Karina)

"Apparently your Dragon told you, but he told you only halfway, but your view of this is different from the truth." (Karina)

"Then explain it to me, no fuss this time." (I)

"Marriage is just a custom followed most of the time, it's not always performed and it's not a requirement either, but I must say that I will be strongly attached to you as my power will come in part from you." (Karina)

"So you're not trying to trick me?" (I)

"(It was a very simplified explanation, but she told the truth.)" (Nix)

"(Accept her Master's proposal, it would be good to have more strong people before going to the Dark Continent, we have few people in SSS Grade, she is already quite strong, if she goes through Awakening her strength will be equivalent to yours.)" ( Nix)

"..." (I)

What Nix said makes sense, I don't know about the forces of the Dark Continent, I think I'll have to ask Lilian about it later since it's her homeland.

Also, the Elf Queen said something about monster wave for a week, maybe it's better to have a little more strong people on our side.

After a few minutes of thinking, I look at Karina sitting on another tree trunk looking at me expectantly.

"You know that you will be subordinate to me after awakening due to my skill, right?" (I)

"Fine with me, I heard from your mates that you want to travel, this is perfect for me as I don't want to stay in this boring place forever." (Karina)

Sigh

I hope I'm not making the wrong decision.