Sadly, magical seeds were not a common loot in video games. I could not really remember having anything suitable left in my inventory. I did a brief search anyway but found nothing helpful. That meant I had to acquire it in this world. The Black Forest was known for its monsters, mostly the spiders who produced spidersilk. But I figured a magical forest had to have some sort of magical trees.

We spent the night at our castle and I briefly met with my staff. I debated visiting hell but it would make more sense to get a seed first. So I gathered my party!

Lucy was always up for some adventure. Lily decided she wanted to join as well and Kira stuck with us too, for now. Before leaving I made sure that things were still quiet in hell. There was some activity from the older demon lords and Lilith expected some form of communication soon, but nothing needed my attention. Also, we would not be that far away if there was an emergency.

"So, where do you think we will get a seed?" Lucy asked, as we stood at the edge of the forest.

"From what I know the dangerous monsters are deep inside. So we just go there and look around." I reasoned.

"We should ensure that some spiders remain, the silk is a valuable resource." Lily cautioned.

"Why would that be an issue?" Kira asked.

"My ladies are well known for their destructive power…" Lily said, diplomatically.

"She is telling us we should not kill and eat the entire spider population." I clarified.

Kira looked at me. "I see."

"What other monsters are there?" Lucy wondered.

"I am not sure…" I admitted.

"There are some variants of wolves, boars, snakes, bears,... a lot of typical monsters. A basilisk should be around as well, that might interest you." Lily replied.

"What about plant monsters?" I asked.

"There should be some devouring shrubs. I do not know if they have anything suitable for you. They are not trees." Lily replied. "Sadly my information on trees is limited."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Why don't you do some ritual stuff with a normal seed?" Lucy wondered.

Kira frowned. "One cannot simply solve everything with a ritual. You are talking about a fundamental change of…"

"No no. She does have a point." I interrupted Kira. "A ritual to empower a normal seed might be feasible. But it would be a lot easier with a magical seed. We want the best possible dryad after all! They will need to survive in hell. I am not sure how much magic we can stuff into a regular seed."

Kira just glared at me but did not comment. I was looking forward to her witnessing some rituals in the future. But for now we had a forest to explore.

The Black Forest had a lot of tall trees. Their crowns prevented most of the light from reaching the bottom, making it rather dark, even during the day. Hence the name. It certainly affected the plants we encountered. A lot of moss and mushrooms. I could see some magic inside most plants. Especially inside the red glowing moss, of course the color was already a good indicator that something was different.

Lucy placed her hand on a patch. "This feels strangely pleasant, like a massage."

"It is trying to pierce your skin and drink your blood. It is called bloodmoss." Lily said. "It can be used in cooking."

"I wonder if it would make a good bed." I mused. Our skin was way too tough for this moss. Of course, it might be dangerous for others. Still, it was worth a consideration.

I tried to collect some inside my storage but I could only store dead moss. Oh well, it would still work for cooking.

"Sleeping on blood moss? That is ridiculous. Gems make the best bed." Kira noted.

"Gems? They are hard, not fluffy." I pointed out.

Kira nodded. "I admit that when I take a form with less scales, fluffyness is desirable. But have you seen how gems sparkle? And you can get some with electricity coursing through them. It is a marvelous feeling. And they are warm."

"Huh. Hey Amaya, could you make a storm cloud into a bed? That should be fluffy and have electricity." Lucy asked.

"Clouds are not solid. You can't sleep in a cloud." I explained. Or was there a magical form of cloud?

Lucy sighed. "A shame."

We continued our journey deeper into the forest. Somehow we were not attacked by any monsters. I stopped and looked at Kira.

"What?" She asked.

"I think your presence keeps the monsters away." I said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Obviously, I am a dragon."

"You need to reign in your aura more." I said.

"But I am proud of my aura! Not many dragons develop one at my age! It shows that I am destined for greatness!" Kira said, her voice full of pride.

"It means you have not properly trained it." Lucy pointed out. "Amaya is at the third aura stage, I am at the second. We can help you. Aura training can be fun."

I nodded. "Being proud of your aura is fine but you need to learn proper control."

"I have it under control! Otherwise the mortals would all fall down and void their bladders in my presence." Kira replied.

Lucy snickered. "Uh, that brings back memories of when Amaya developed her aura."

"Your aura is not on full display but I think especially animals and monsters can detect enough to stay away." I said.

"And that is a bad thing?" Kira asked.

"How are you going to snack on monsters if they stay away?" Lucy asked.

"Usually I turn into a dragon and hunt them. It's not like they can outrun me and you can easily spot prey from the air. I dislike places like this forest. Open space is superior to… this." She pointed at the trees surrounding us.

"Fair enough but remember that training your aura will improve your power. You will need better control if you want to grow stronger." I pointed out.

Kira pondered that. "You make a good argument. I have witnessed your power and would be honoured to receive your guidance."

I grinned. It was time to train a dragon.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.