Ira stood on a small island in the middle of a big blue ocean. He contemplated his next move since the Naiads were hidden deep below the water. He could alter gravity to make himself sink to the bottom faster but fighting underwater wouldn’t be a very smart move. Ira wasn’t concerned about losing to the Sea Serpent but rather letting it escape.

“I guess it can’t be helped,” Ira said to himself. He opted for the best solution he could come up with.

A sphere made of black mist appeared in his hand and he tossed it into the air a couple of times before he dropped it into the ocean. There was no reaction as the object sunk deeper until it could no longer be seen. Slowly, ripples spread out on the surface of the water. And then a massive whirlpool appeared and the calm waters became violent and unforgiving. In the center, the whirlpool was a massive orb which began swallowing up hundreds of thousands of gallons of water each second.

Any living creature that was caught in the radius of the whirlpool was consumed or crushed into pulp by the strong currents. Ira didn’t think of draining the ocean since it would require a faster rate of absorption. He only wanted to create a disturbance that would draw the Naiads to him. Once they arrived he would only need to consume one of them and learn the location of the Sea Serpent. At least, that was the ideal outcome seeing as the Naiads could choose not to come or the ones who came to him would know nothing.

Ira sat down and waited for someone to come with a bored expression. Since he had nothing better to do he began to train his body to use Reality Separation.

Ira closed his eyes and black mist began to slowly emerge from his body.

…

In the Underground City, a very different scene played out.

“...Praise the Keeper,” An Old Scribe said devoutly while looking over all the children gathered in front of him.

“Ah, yes, the Keeper,” Samantha spoke with a forced smile.

The Moon Temple which was now referred to as The Keeper’s Temple, was built to hold thousands of worshippers but the seemingly endless children pushed the capacity limit and it became crowded.

“So, what happens after this?” Samantha asked while watching Dark Elf women dressed in ornate robes hand out pastries.

“First we teach them the wonderful nature of the Keeper and then they are moved to the newly constructed dorms. After that, we impart the wisdom of the teacher before we test them to see where their talents could be best applied.” The Scribe explained.

“What do you do with the ones who have no talent?” Samantha inquired curiously.

The Scribe laughed while shaking his head, “One doesn’t have to be extremely gifted to be useful, in fact, their bloodlines alone are valuable even if some have faint traces of dragons blood. If they have no talent as soldiers and mages then there are plenty of other tasks for them to do. Though the number who fail to provide results are extremely rare since the Keepress’ training regiment produces results.”

“You mentioned their bloodlines, are they to be given to people like slaves?”

“By the Keeper’s name, of course not!” Samantha’s question caused the Scribe to become indignant. “There are various families who are willing to sponsor children in exchange for an arranged marriage. The offers won’t be given until the children are of age and fully aware of what it would mean for them. We would not betray the Keeper’s trust by treating these children as livestock.”

“I’m sorry if my question caused you to feel offended,” Samantha apologized.

“No, I should be apologizing. You’re someone the Keeper has shown favor to so I should’ve been more understanding.” The Scribe slightly bowed but he didn’t go too far as he felt it would violate the respect he showed to Ira.

Samantha decided to change the subject since she had no idea how to handle Ira’s followers. “Could you tell me the average meal size for all of the previous half-dragons?”

“Since some of them just started their rigorous training it’s different but before that, they ate three times the normal amount for each meal. That doesn’t include pastries since they are more of a reward than a meal,” The Scribe explained.

Samantha proceeded to ask questions to get a general idea of how much food she would need to procure. It was her job as someone who was the head of administration and one of Sylun’s advisors.

…

Meanwhile, the Capital of the Grenitian Kingdom was in all-out chaos. The bombardment from the Airships took the city by surprise but what happened next was far worse.

“You traitorous dogs!” General Holchester bellowed before coughing out blood. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Kingdom until he sustained a great injury in his fight with Casey Thynne. His soul had been damaged and as a result, his life had been slowly declining. “All of you bastards will suffer for your treachery!”

General Holchester breathed in the smoke and ash while tightening the grip on his sword. He was surrounded on all sides by enemy soldiers. They were obviously Grenitian soldiers but they flew a yellow banner instead of the national dark green colors.

“All you are is a sickly old fool shouting for no reason, die quickly.” A soldier lifted his greatsword and they swarmed General Holchester like a pack of dogs.

The General, even though he no longer had the same prowess as before, fought on while sustaining injury after injury. A sword cut into his arm and another impaled his leg.

“Haaa!” The General shouted while resisting with all his might.

He could do nothing against the preplanned assault and so after receiving more wounds he suddenly collapsed. The blood loss paired with his already weakened body left him without any strength. General Holchester breathed in deeply as the figures of the soldiers blurred in his vision.

“Move!” A voice resounded in the General’s ears.

A young man leaped forward and brandished his sword and cleaved a man in half, cutting through his thick armor. The sword was clearly special as it radiated a white-gold divine light.

“I-It’s Randolph!” The Soldiers dressed in yellow shouted before scrambling backward. “W-Wait we’re under orders from the New King, His Highness, Hayden Windsor.”

Randolph ignored the words of the soldiers and charged at them once again. They tried to move backward but the image of a translucent golden shield appeared behind them and sealed their escape.

Randolph cut the men down easily before he turned to face the dying General with a detached gaze.

“Save...The...Fourth...Prince,” General Holchester said before the life in his eyes faded.

“Wait, the Fourth Prince?” Randolph’s eyes regained their clarity. He was confused but his question didn’t reach General Holchester.

“The Fourth Prince?” Clark repeated. “Where do we look for him?”

“I’m not sure but we should get to Juliana before anything,” Randolph said with determination.

“Hold on,” Clark looked up at the sky and saw a bright blue light gathering inside of one of the mana cannons.

“They’re going to fire again...Clark can you stop it?” Randolph asked with concern.

“I can try.” Clark formed a golden barrier as he finished speaking.

The mana cannon fired and blocked out everything except the high-pitched buzz that came with it.

When the beam finished firing the golden dome remained largely intact.

“Nice one!” Randolph cheered but Clark looked too exhausted to respond. “Are you alright, Clark?”

“I’m...fine,” Clark waved his hand. The reason for his exhaustion was a surge of power he suddenly gained. When the beam first hit he felt his barrier shatter for a split second but a foreign energy invaded his body. Clark felt that Randolph was the source of his power increase and not himself. It was as if Randolph’s body responded to the danger instinctively even with the one in question noticing.

“Let’s go.” Randolph, ignorant of what transpired, tapped Clark on the back and began to run toward Juliana’s residence.

“...Yeah,” Clark replied. He decided not to put any more thought into the strange experience.

...

After a few hours had passed, Ira opened his eyes.

“It’s about fucking time,” He said with a voice full of complaint before standing up.

Beings with Dark Blue hair and eyes rose out of the water with tridents. Naiads were able to manipulate water so they could resist the life-threatening whirlpool underneath them to some extent. Though to be truthful, Ira left the whirlpool at a manageable level or else they would die before they could approach.

“Who are you and what have you done?!” The Naiads asked while pillars of water rose up behind them like vines ready to distribute punishment.

Ira didn’t even respond as he suddenly shifted into his beast form before grabbing two Naiads out of the water and eating them.

The remaining Naiads were speechless, not at the sudden and messy deaths of their comrades but at the figure they had heard countless stories of, none of which were pleasant.

The beast growled and the Naiads woke up from their distracted thoughts. They immediately dived into the water and swam away before Ira could grab them.

The memories Ira received told him little about the Sea Serpent except that some sort of group of powerful Naiads restrained it.

“What a waste of time,” Ira grumbled and was about to revert back to his human form but he chose not to. “I’ll get it over with quickly.”

Ira normal beast form, which he kept restrained to ten or so feet, suddenly swelled until his size doubled. The black mass of writhing tendrils covering his body shook before Ira breathed in deeply. He dove into the water and swam after the Naiads and with each movement of his arms he covered hundreds of miles.

The Naiads who thought they were safe looked over their shoulders and saw a dark silhouette of a monster moving toward them at a speed incomparable to their own. They reflexively opened their mouths to scream but nothing came out. Ira opened his jaw and devoured the group of Naiads without stopping. Their memories made his destination even clearer than it previously was and his speed increased. The layer of dark mist covering his beast form made it hard to tell but it would be correct to assume that he was smiling.