Chapter 349: First Interaction

Leon decided that if this creature was truly hostile, he would give it at least one chance to back down. If it persisted in attacking, he would have absolutely no choice but to render it helpless or potentially kill it in self-defense.

As the beast got closer, Leon noticed with surprise that there was actually someone riding on the back of the flying creature.

A female rider.

His strategic thinking still remained essentially the same—defend if attacked, but avoid unnecessary escalation.

The beast charged forward rapidly and arrived at the high ground where he was standing. But it didn’t directly attack him like he’d expected it to. Instead, it pulled up sharply and landed several meters away.

THUD! WHOOSH!

From on top of the creature descended a female of the same red-skinned species he’d observed in the settlement below.

As she landed, the very air around them seemed to tighten—a subtle shift in pressure, like a storm about to break but waiting for the first move.

Her hair was a notably darker shade of crimson-red compared to what he’d noticed as average among the population below—almost burgundy in its depth.

She dismounted gracefully, and both she and her mount’s eyes focused completely on him. He could feel the intense curiosity and wariness radiating from both of them through their body language and expressions.

They’re sizing me up. Threat assessment.

She had an impressive, athletic figure—clearly someone who lived an active life. Intricate blue markings covered her body in elaborate patterns, deliberately leaving her face unmarked to showcase her features. The clothing she wore was predominantly blue fabric with white geometric designs woven throughout. Up close, it actually looked quite well-crafted—unlike the simple rags he’d mistaken them for when viewing from a distance. The garments were minimal, barely covering her upper and lower body in what appeared to be their cultural style.

Leon kept his expression neutral and professional, but the sight was definitely striking.

Focus. She’s armed and potentially hostile.

There was a red spear gripped firmly in her right hand—the weapon appeared to be made from some kind of heat-resistant metal.

She stopped approximately two meters in front of him, maintaining defensive distance. Her stance was ready and poised to attack if necessary, weight balanced perfectly.

Her crimson eyes wandered repeatedly to his sword’s visible Aura manifestations and then back to his face, analyzing the threat level.

They remained locked in their positions for nearly half a minute in a tense standoff. During that extended time, she was saying something repeatedly to her feathered mount—the creature was massive and imposing, easily three meters tall with two powerful wings spanning at least five meters when fully extended. It possessed large, wickedly sharp talons that looked capable of shredding steel, and striking orange eyes somewhat matched its rider’s. The plumage was primarily deep red with black accents along the wing edges.

CHIRP! SCREECH!

The beast had a blue cloth tied ceremonially to one of its powerful legs, decorated with white markings identical in style to the woman’s clothing.

Same pattern. They’re bonded, not just rider and mount.

But the specific markings were slightly different—individualized somehow.

During their tense standoff, she continued talking—yes, actually conversing—with this giant flying creature. And remarkably, it was responding, nodding its massive head and chirping from time to time as if it genuinely understood her words and was answering back.

But her language only sounded like complete gibberish to Leon’s ears—harsh syllables and rolling sounds he couldn’t parse at all.

"Kresh’ta vol ski n bidi?" she asked the bird seriously.

"SCREECH! Chirp chirp!" it responded, shaking its head.

"Vol kresh mandala. Sekthor il prax?" she continued, gesturing toward Leon with her spear.

"CHIRP! Screech screech chirp!" the creature answered, nodding this time.

"Vekthar sil. Mandor R izz Kresh’la vol."

Leon observed all this carefully while remaining ready to attack instantly if threatened. His muscles were coiled, his grip on his sword perfect.

They’re communicating. Discussing me, probably. Deciding if I’m a threat.

But after observing them for so long in this defensive standoff, he gradually understood that she was genuinely not going to initiate combat. And it seemed increasingly clear that his visible Aura—the crackling, dangerous energy surrounding his blade—was the primary factor making both the woman and her mount nervous and ready to defend themselves.

I’m projecting threat. That’s counterproductive if I want peaceful contact.

He made a decision and deliberately deactivated his Aura completely.

FIZZLE... WHOOSH...

The Space, Lightning, Ice, and Wind energies dissipated from his blade, returning it to its normal appearance. He brought his sword down to a neutral position at his side, clearly non-threatening.

But that didn’t mean he was actually vulnerable or defenseless—he had far too many instantaneous techniques and abilities. If they tried something aggressive, he could respond in milliseconds.

Peace offering. Let’s see how they react.

Just as he completed that gesture, the fiery orange glow that had been building around the giant bird’s body faded away completely. And the barely-dressed woman also visibly relaxed her aggressive spear stance, lowering the weapon slightly.

CHIRP!

Progress.

Then her voice came, speaking directly to him while looking into his eyes with genuine curiosity.

"Vel’mora ka sithar? Kresh mandor vol?"

It was complete gibberish to Leon—he couldn’t understand a single word despite her clear, deliberate pronunciation.

Leon had absolutely no choice but to reply honestly in his own language, speaking clearly and gesturing to himself.

"I don’t understand your language at all. I’m sorry, but I can’t comprehend what you’re saying."

The girl made exaggerated movements of surprise, hearing him speak for the first time, her eyes going wide and her head tilting in confusion.

As she shifted exaggeratedly, Leon couldn’t help but notice the subtle bounce of her chest—barely restrained by the thin fabric draped over her. This distracted him a lot.

Also, her bird companion reacted similarly, ruffling its feathers and raising the ambient temperature around them even more intensely.

WHOOOOSH!

Well, the increased heat didn’t particularly affect Leon since he maintained his active elemental cooling constantly. The mana density here was substantially thicker and richer than in the middle domain, nearly matching his own time dimension, but it was lower, he’d noticed—not that it mattered much with his enormous mana capacity and absolutely insane natural recovery rate.

I could maintain this cooling indefinitely if needed, just like my spatial awareness.

Leon had already checked both their status information using his cosmic system ability while they’d been sizing each other up.

[Race: Pyrrhan] [Level: 39 - Ascendant Rank]

That classification surprised him considerably—he genuinely hadn’t expected to encounter someone at Ascendant rank so casually.

Ascendant. That’s... significantly powerful.

Her physical stats were also substantially better compared to those of regular humans he’d analyzed before. She possessed two distinct affinities listed: Fire Affinity (Rank 6) and Taming Affinity (Rank 6).

Interesting combination. I’ve seen Summoning affinity before in that girl with her kirin, but Taming feels different somehow. Both seem similar conceptually, but there must be distinctions. I’ll need to learn more about the mechanics to understand the actual difference.

Both the woman and her beast were genuinely not weak—that much he understood with absolute clarity now.

Her being in the Ascendant cultivation realm signified she had transcended mortality entirely. And even more significantly, it meant he was currently not even on the earthly plane anymore, since the strict universal limit there was Master rank.

I hadn’t expected that small, unknown portal to lead me to such a genuinely dangerous place.

Ascendant realm meant that in this world, there might even be Sage realm cultivators or even Archon-level monsters roaming around. He vividly remembered that the level 49 Coreborn he’d barely killed before was only at the Ascendant realm.

I can’t even begin to imagine what level a Sage or Archon would be. I only know the hierarchical order: Master, Ascendant, Sage, Archon... and beyond?

He understood with sobering clarity that he was absolutely not the apex predator here anymore.

A visible sigh of relief escaped him, and he wiped a bead of nervous sweat from his face as he genuinely appreciated his wise decision to avoid being the aggressor.

Thank god I didn’t attack first.

And he appreciated equally that this woman was also sensible and cautious rather than recklessly aggressive.

Because if this fight had escalated and attracted real monsters from her clan or civilization or whatever governing structure they have, they would have come after her to investigate. And that would have been absolutely disastrous for me.

She suddenly brought her spear forward in a deliberate motion.

"Oh shit!"

Leon instinctively brought his sword forward too in defensive response, his heart rate spiking.

Why is she attacking now?! I thought we’d established peace!

But in the next instant, she used her other hand to gesture at him to calm down, making soothing motions.

Not an attack. Something else.

She used the tip of her spear to deliberately draw something on the hot ground—scratching a design into the red rock.

It was a circle. He didn’t immediately understand what she was trying to communicate, but then she continued her drawing. Inside the circle, she carefully drew symbols in a very specific pattern—crude but recognizable representations.

And then it suddenly clicked in his mind.

That’s... that’s a portal! She’s drawing the portal!

She was looking at him intently for his reaction, studying his face.

Leon nodded repeatedly and enthusiastically, then pointed at the drawing, which clearly resembled the red portal he’d come through. Then he pointed firmly at himself, trying to communicate that he had entered this world through exactly that kind of portal.

Her crimson eyes widened with understanding, and she nodded back slowly with a bitter smile on her face.