A silent pause settled in the air.

The dragon's gnarly and scarred finger was pointed to Tia, and with it, he also pointed a permanent scowl. His overpowering presence emanated strongly, surges of his magical energy flaring. Sindra and Cicero were in equal amounts of worry at this standoff, and they looked between dragon and guildmaster with tense stares.

"Excuse me?" said Li, his words strangely calm. "Could you repeat that? Just so I know I have not misheard?"

"Her. Hand her over," growled the dragon.

"I see," said Li. He nodded slowly, not in agreement, but in disbelief. He loosed a light laugh, and Sindra's eyes widened because she knew that for him to laugh was a rare sight.

"Your letter indicated that this would be some sort of negotiation, that we could reach an amicable deal for both of us, and I had thought it would be one that could be talked out. In a civilized manner if you will." An edge came into voice, his laugh dissipating into a cold, blank stare lined with disgust, the kind someone would give to an insect they were about to crush underfoot.

"But now I know that is not possible."

A burst of bright green energy began to surge around Li, sounding like the roaring of a waterfall and shaking the building. The entire building of stone and marble began to teeter on its foundations, and cracks began to line the ceiling.

Normally, he thought of things like collateral damage, not raising too much attention, and the like, but now, all those thoughts escaped him. There was only but to eviscerate the bug in front of him.

Cicero drew back in terror, getting onto the ground and hiding by a chair for fear of falling debris. His breathing was stalled, and he had a frail hand on his chest as he felt the pressure crushing his body.

Sindra managed to stand up through the pressure and slowly make her way behind Li, where she could take in a deep breath of relief, away from the surge of directed power from Li. 

The dragon stepped back, his draconic features beginning to show as his fight or flight instincts kicked in. His rough, scarred skin gave way to thick, plate-like black scales, and his eyes morphed into gleaming yellow reptilian ones.

"You come all this way from the North and reach out to my guild, and decide that you want to take my daughter from me? Did you ever stop to think of how absolutely ridiculous that plan was? You thought I would sit down and negotiate with you? Or no, of course you did not. You are used to taking things by force. You never thought twice about this."

The dragon looked at Li, at the overwhelming aura of strength that raged around him, and his fight or flight instincts settled on a decision. Black wings sprouted from his back.

"Do not move," said Li as he nodded towards the dragon. "The moment you try to take flight, or use your dragon breath, or your claws, or any pitiable little trick you have that you think makes you strong, you will end up as a bloody smear on the ground. No, a quick death like that may even be too merciful."

The skin around Li's arms and fingers began to flake off, revealing bark, and it was then that he took in a breath, controlling the surge of anger that had erupted within himself.

"Do not misunderstand," said the dragon. His tone was still gruff, but it seemed that that was the only tone of voice he had to begin with. "I want her to protect her."

"It is true!" stammered Cicero through labored breaths. "Guildmaster, give us time to explain!"

"Speak," said Li. "And know this is no longer a negotiation. You squandered that chance. I ask the questions, I make the demands, and you answer to me."

Li reduced the intensity of his magical energy, and Cicero could finally breathe.

"Torr Valeris has decreed your daughter to be eliminated," said Cicero quickly. "They do not wish for what they believe are impure bloodlines to remain in this world, nor for their draconic blood to be raised and spread among the humans."

"I am enforcer of their will," said the dragon. "Supposed to be. I am of lesser bloodline. In service to them, for the higher do not dirty themselves hunting the lesser. I do not truly hunt. I take the lesser. Give them safety. I want the same for her."

"Gronn is gathering the remaining remnants of draconic bloodlines scattered across the world for he knows of a prophecy," added in Cicero. "A prophecy that hailed destruction for all dragons. He believes the higher bloodlines to be beyond saving, but others like himself, he wishes to group and save."

Li scrutinized Gronn and Cicero, looking at their expressions, and determined they were not lying. Neither were truly trained to hide their emotions and intentions, and he could hear quite clearly the panic driven truth that came from their mouths.

"What a convenient prophecy," said Li. "And the dragons on Torr Valeris do not know of it?"

Gronn grunted. "They do. They do not care. They think themselves invincible."

"Then you, elf, what are you here for?" said Li.

"I was here to guide Gronn and also to reach out to you, guildmaster. Truly, I must apologize for the initial mishap. We had data that there was a dragon in Riviera, and that she was part of the Farmer's Guild, but we had no idea you had adopted her as blood of your own."

"You did not think that it obvious she was precious to me?" said Li, considering that he was holding Tia close to him with the love and strength of a father.

"I did," said Gronn. "But I thought it better for her to be with me. For her safety. Did not know you were strong."

"I see. So, a mistake. Know right now that it still very well may be the last mistake you ever make. I am not satisfied with what you have to offer me."

"I wished to warn you, guildmaster, of the Republic's intentions," said Cicero rapidly, knowing that all the information he had was now his lifeline. ���From what I have gleaned from what documents I could access, you are considered a target of extreme priority, the same as the Sunspear, heroes, and the Burning One."

Li raised a brow at the mention of the Sunspear. He knew what that item was, at how powerful it was, nearly reaching even Celestial tier of strength despite being a divine class weapon. It had made its way into this world? Or had it always been here?

"Oh? And why has the Republic not directly contacted me, then? Why do they send you crawling through the shadows?"

"I-I seek to topple the current Imperator," said Cicero. "I have sought allies from the corners of this world, one of whom is Gronn. Naturally, I also wished to forge an alliance with you, to warn you of any plans the Republic has against you in return for your aid."

"And now, there is no exchange. No negotiation. No this for that. A pity. Tell me now what they have against me."

Cicero paused nervously. "I know that they wish to leave you entirely alone for now, but that may change at any moment. Aside from that, I do not currently know more."

"You do not know, or you do not want to tell me?"

"I truly do not know. Senator I may be, I am not in the inner circle of the Imperator."

"Your usefulness to me is waning quite thin, elf."

"I have been making good progress in accessing information. The hero here, Meld, she too works with me, if only to further the strength of her own state, but I am sure soon, I will have more than enough information to grace you with. Please, guildmaster, merely grant us our lives and some time."