"So? Does anyone want to fill me in on the place we are going to?" Eve asked, her back pressed against Rex's and Danica's as the duo remained in each other's arms. The group had been on the backs of abyss falcons for a couple of days already, the constantly changing landscapes beneath them the only proper proof of the high speed they were moving ahead at. Don't get Eve wrong. She was not worried one bit about their destination, as Rex had proved countless times he had more than enough skill and sharpness of mind to always prioritize his party members safety, but that did not mean she was not curious. There usually was little that could interest Rex, so she herself was rather intrigued regarding information that could draw his mind and interest so easily.

  "There is truly little to tell, to be honest Eve. Pyra was incredibly elated after I punished Juan's champion for his arrogance, so, as a sign of thanks for that particular gift, she told me of a rather peculiar place in turn. As far as her sect is aware, there is a certain lake of insane proportions in the direction we are flying right now and we should reach it in another week or so if my calculations are correct. As for why I am interested in the place? If Pyra is to be believed, sometimes there can be sensed traces of a dragon around certain parts of said lake." Rex explained.

  "And why would you be interested in a dragon, pure curiosity aside?" Eve asked, already expecting there to be more than such a simple reason.

  "Is the fact that they are a walking treasure trove not enough?" Rex asked in return.

  "For you? Yes." Eve replied without missing a beat.

  "Well, I suppose you have spent enough time with us to pick up a thing or two. What I am interested is somewhat academic. Dragon language, and I mean true dragon language, is believed to have some sort of a connection to the origin of magic. Or so some of the oldest legends of the civilised races speak, courtesy of Pyra yet again. It is my hope that I could get the chance to either encounter a proper, elder dragon or one that is more than willing to chat. Dragons are also a font of knowledge after all."

  "So? You hope to find a walking, talking and fire breathing ancient library and acquire some of the knowledge stored within?"

  "Yes. That sounds about right. What? Too simple?"

  "No. But what if the dragon is hostile? What then?"

  "Hmm? Did you not hear the part where its entire body is a treasure trove? And besides, if the same dragon appears around these parts, his hoard no doubt is nearby. Every dragon has one. It's only a matter of finding it. So, The way I see it, we either acquire one, esoteric treasure trove, or two more mundane ones, as much a dragon's hoard and it's body could be considered mundane."

  "But dragons are powerful, extremely so."

  "Well, I am kind of depending on it. Who knows, a dragon of the correct proportions and age might just push me to my limits. The world could no doubt use my example to evolve. She is close after all." Rex added as gazed off into nothingness.

  "What was that?"

  "Don't mind that. Just my musings."

  With Eve's curiosity sated for the time, the group returned to a pleasant silence, once again focusing on their own tasks- namely burning their mana to strengthen their bodies. Rex had been kind enough and brought Eve up to the same level as Light's Oak's girls, providing her with yet another aspect of elevated growth, something Eve was very grateful about, though she was, admittedly, still trying to figure out a way to show her gratitude. Danica had expressed her own thoughts on the matter quite directly, resulting in more than one restless night for the princess. Far too spicy ideas and fantasies now frequented Eve's late night thoughts, consisting of Rex near exclusively. Thankfully, both Eve and Rex, though the latter had no issues plaguing his days, were busy with their own things, leaving the remaining week of travel rather boring and monotone. The group did stop to get some proper rest a couple of times, providing plenty of down time for the falcons so their speed could be maintained, reaching their destination within the estimated time.

  ----------------------------

  The first thing to come into their view was seemingly endless expanse of water, stretching out as far as eye could see, though if Pyra was to be believed, they could cross the unreasonably large lake in just a few days, the speed and reliable sense of direction of the falcons an important part of the necessary skills. Then, as they got closer and closer to the shores of the lake, the party could start to notice a rather special sight coming into their view. Akin to a frozen picture, numerous islands hung in the air around the lake, or to be more precisely, above the lake. And as they approached, they could notice the slow movement of each island, as if they were all placed on invisible frame, slowly moving the whole model as predetermined. The islands varied in both size and shape, starting from the size of small houses, barely capable of fitting a couple of people, to ones that seemed capable of supporting an entire city, should someone figure out a reliable way of toing to and from each one of them. There were also beautiful, heaven blue crystals on the bottom side of each island, giving Rex and the party a general understanding of what just might be the cause of these floating islands.

  "Think those crystals could be used to create some sort of a flying device?" asked Eve as her gaze was locked on the beautiful sight.

  "Yes and no." Rex replied, his eyes and powerful soul, though still recovering, seeing much more than the other two. "While true that the crystals are no doubt part of the equation, there is more at work here. I can sense that space laws work slightly different here than they do elsewhere, though I doubt any proper LORD or whatever else is here comprehending them or anything of the sort." he then hummed for a moment. "On an unrelated note. Do you guys want to make camp on one of the islands floating above the lake? Or would you prefer an inn in a nearby city?"

  "Did you bring that bed along as I asked? If you did, I don't mind camping out here for a while, though at the same time the probability of our target getting slightly, very much hostile and ruining our camp as a result is quite high as well. So I suppose a room in an inn would be better." Danica spoke up, receiving a hum of agreement from Eve.

  "Yes, the probability of combat out here is high enough. Let's rent a room in a nearby town."

  "Okey. let's do that then." Rex nodded in agreement, not bothered all too much either way and with their shelter question solved, he mentally nudged the falcons to descend. Once low enough, he had the birds to slow down they flight speed, providing Rex with plenty of time and territory to observe. What he was looking for would escape the notice of most, if not all people, since he was looking for other, similar oddities around the area, much like the floating islands themselves. While there was no entity close to the pinnacle of this world's concepts present, changing and modifying the world around it, there was no doubt in Rex's mind that such a being had been here recently. And not only that, but said creature had visited the location multiple times over decades.

  Rex could feel the deviations from the normal around the lake, resulting in the floating islands. And while one might assume that the islands floating around would be under the rule of concept of space, but those better aware and present could quite accurately pinpoint the concept at fault here. Wind. Whoever had somehow manipulated the world's concepts, was rather proficient in the concept of wind, allowing the light breezes around the lake to create a closed circulation system, moving the islands according to the preplanned system. And what was even better was the thought given to the system now in place. Not only was it self sustaining, but it also ensured that the islands would not change pace or direction, ensuring no natural accidents would occur, ensuring the continuous existence of the sky islands in question.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Upon closer inspection, Rex noticed that the larger ones had even started to develop their own little unique ecosystems with all kinds of creatures developing independently based on the unique circumstances of each of the islands in question. Just how the islands would never interact with one another's path, so did numerous independent streams of wind created different weather for each of the islands, making them as different as one would expect continents in different weather zones to be. Some had eternal summer, with endless greenery and plants, others were quite dry, the winds taking away all excess moisture in the air, creating a desert like environment. The only thing Rex could think was quite short sighted was the size of the islands. While a rather large sized city was plenty for a large sized population of humans to live on, it was also not enough to sustain the needs for food for numbers the island could support. And as such, whatever experiment the creator of the place was doing, did not concern themselves with that aspect of thriving life. Clearly, these islands were made with a different purpose in mind.

  Spending most of the remaining day exploring and cataloguing the islands, looking for additional clues as to the actual purpose of the place, Rex barely noticed when Eve and Danica left on the back of Sidsel, leaving him and Wari to his own devices. It was only when they returned close to the dawn that he focused on the duo of women who were smiling and talking as they arrived.

  "So? Successful in the room hunt?" Rex asked as Sidsel landed on the same sky island he and Wari were on right now.

  "Mhm. Found a decent place to stay for the time being. We also heard a thing or two that you might be interested in hearing, though we will share that during supper." replied Danica, a smirk on her face.

  "Roger. Returned to drag me there then? And how's the city? Anything interesting you did during the day?" he asked as he scribbled down a few more notes, having come to a couple of ideas as to the purpose of this whole construction. So far, it seemed like an experiment to see how far wind could manipulate the world around it and where it's capabilities stopped. Of course, because the concept itself was involved, said line in the sand was much further than it normally would be, but Rex supposed that was the whole point. It would also explain why the creature, most likely a dragon, for he highly doubted anything else to have the raw might to pull this off, would not stay around all year round. The experiment would take years, if not decades or centuries to bear any kind of fruits, allowing for the mad scientist to start some other projects in the meantime, ensuring he could use his time efficiently.

  "Found anything particularly interesting?" questioned Eve.

  "Kind of?" Rex replied with a slight shake of his palm sideways. "I have some ideas, but until I find the home of our mad scientist I cannot be certain. It would also give me general understanding of the frequency that the dragon, most likely, visits the place to see the result of his experiment."

  "We heard rumors, tales and whatnot in the town, the elder people all too willing to spread the old legends should you just ask, but an actual dragon? What makes you think so?" Danica asked.

  "I cannot imagine any other creature capable of messing with concepts at the level that has been done here, unless of course a LORD of this world had done it, but from what I have read, they don't actually act on this realm any more. What few legends about LORD'S I have read, they appear, perform some miracle level acts, all based on a certain concept and then disappear just as suddenly as they came. This here is something that gets upgraded and observed regularly."

  "Hmm, that does make sense, yes. The few tales of LORD'S my parents told me go similarly."

  "I do wonder though?" Rex added as he got up from his position, ready to leave for the evening "Do dragons taste good?" promptly receiving a raised eyebrow from Danica and a frown frome Eve.

  "Seriously? Already thinking of killing and cooking a creature that is feared by everybody?"

  "Had I been around for as long as dragons, people would fear me just as much, maybee more. That is hardly something to be proud about. And you can't say you are not interested in the answer. Something I will figure out one day, though that day does not necessarily need arrive any time soon. I have plenty of time." Rex smiled as he retorted, quickly finding his place on Wari's back, soon enough joined by Danica, her arms quickly wrapping around Rex's waist.

  "Mhm. This is the best!" Danica exclaimed in happiness as she relaxed, Sidsal leading the way towards the small city the trio had found as their temporary residence. "I heard there is a dungeon entrance nearby. Wanna check it out once we are done with the floating islands?" she asked, nuzzled in Rex's side.

  "Hm? Sure, if you want to. I don't mind."

  "Perfect. Let's do that then. Eve said she would love to as well." Danica added, her eyes closed as she relaxed while the group flew towards the small town.

  "Any problems with Wari and Sidsal?"

  "No. The relative closeness to the Dawning Sun sect's lands, all things considered, has the people rather used to seeing all manner of magical creatures, even if the flying kind is somewhat rare. A few surprised and awed gazes in our direction was all that happened, accompanied by a quite courteous and polite people all around." explained Eve, her eyes locked on the duo, as her hand lightly and gently caressed Wari's back. Eve had gotten much further along in her own task of earning the abyss falcon's trust, so much so that Rex knew that she had finally earned the right to feel the softness of their breast fluff, though she herself was not quite yet aware of it. With just a single mental inquiry, he was told that they would not mind if he were to actually share that morsel of knowledge, and as such, Rex did precisely that.

  "You know Eve." he started, looking towards the young woman "I do have to commend you. Truly. Never would I have expected for you to earn their approval so fast. Sure, being in my party helped a lot. The fact that Danica likes you as much as she does did as well, the two of them sensing her liking towards you. But still. You have done a magnificent job. Congratulations."

  "I don't quite understand Rex." Eve looked at him with slight confusion.

  "Don't worry then. Soon enough you will understand. Just relax, we are almost there." Rex replied, the small smile remaining on his face as his gaze turned forward.

  Soon enough, the two falcons landed in a rather spacy field, a few horses resting in nearby, similarly sized paddocks. This one though was notably larger, with its own additional barn of sorts. The trio jumped off the backs of the falcons, led them inside and left a few large pieces of quality meat for them to feast upon. Sure, they might have paid for the inn to provide some food for the falcons, but Rex was worried they would not have the quality food he believed his mounts deserved. Of course, before they left, Danica had her fill of the softness of the two falcons, calling Eve over to feel the softness as well. Eve almost squealed out of excitement, almost entirely disappearing in the fluff once she was allowed to. There was something about women and cute and fluffy things, and it seemed to transcend cultures, species and even worlds. Something Rex just helplessly shrugged about and went on with his day, following after Danica to their room for the night, or several. It all would depend on the search he would conduct the next day.

  The night was calm, no fools trying their luck, either because of the two, absolutely terrifying falcons they arrived on, or because of their A rank adventurer marks hanging from their necks. Regardless, their night was calm, and the breakfast was just as uneventful, only the servant bringing their ordered food over again and again interacting with them.

  "Think Wari ate someone?" Rex asked jokingly as they were closing in on the end of their meal.

  "Would have heard shouts and cries whenever that happened." Danica denied the probability. "It probably is the A ranker marks we have been flaunting ever since arrival."

  "Makes sense yes. So, what are you girls going to do while I am having my fun back there?"

  "That is a secret." smiled Danica as she replied, her eyes mischievous as she glanced over towards Eve a few times.

  "So be it. Don't stirr too much trouble up though, but you know the drill." Rex smiled back, paying for their meal as he rose to his feet, the breakfast done with and a large number of floating islands still waiting for him. He pecked Danica on the lips as he headed out. "You know where to find me!" he waved as he left the inn, a few gazes besides the two girls following him, their reasons still their own.