A few hours later, Lux's party of three, became a party of seven.
Lux was extremely generous and gave his Master, Randolph, Grandpa Annie, Laura, and Livia one Griffin each.
At first, the two old Dwarfs were reluctant to accept such High-Ranking mounts as their own, but after Lux said he had more, they no longer hesitated and thanked him for his generosity.
As for Laura and Livia, although Lux had already given them two Wargs as their land mounts, since Sid had performed extremely well on their previous mission, he decided to give both of the girls a Griffin to serve as their air mounts and protectors as well.
The two girls were extremely delighted by the gifts they received from Lux and promised to take good care of them. They were the only dwarves among the young generation in Leaf Village to ever have such High-Ranking Mounts at their disposal.
After bidding goodbye to Leaf Village, the seven of them went to the Stronghold of Norria to use their teleportation gates in order to quicken their journey to reach the borders of the Kingdom of Gweliven.
Since the commander of Norria, Thoram, was one of Lux's Guild Members, he gave them a letter stamped with his seal. This allowed the Half-Elf and his fellow Guild Members to use the gateways that were used exclusively by the High-Ranking Military officers of the Kingdom to make their travel faster.
Several hours later, the group arrived at the Westernmost Town of the Kingdom of Gweliven.
All they needed to do was to cross the border, and they would finally step into the Wanid Kingdom, whom the Dwarves had a good relationship with.
"Wow, that's a very large forest," Lux stated as he gazed at the sea of trees that stretched as far as his eyes could see.
Currently, the Half-Elf was riding on top of his Thunder Warg King, Jed, and flying alongside the Griffins. However, even from high up in the air, the forest seemed unending, making him wonder about how enormous the forest was.
Suddenly, Jed and the Griffins stopped flying forward and hovered in the air. Lux could feel that his mount was all tensed up, as if ready to run away at any given moment.
Before he could even ask the Thunder Warg King what was happening, a gigantic Elder Elemental appeared before them.
This Elemental was like a giant cloud that took the shape of a Dragon without wings. Its body crackled with lightning and exuded powerful gusts of winds that were strong enough to blow them away.
"M-My God," Cethus stuttered. "An Elder Tempest. Everyone, don't do anything rash, or we're goners!"
Lux immediately opened his Soul Book to better understand the monster that was growling at them and made no move to attack.
—-------
< Tempest Elemental >
– Fusion Elemental Monster
– Argonaut-Ranked World Boss
– Forest of Beginnings Guardian Beast
Health: ???????????/ ???????????
Mana: ???????????/ ???????????
Strength: ??????
Intelligence: ??????
Vitality: ??????
Agility: ???????????
Dexterity: ??????
—-------
Lux's expression turned grim after he saw the stats of the monster in front of him.
There had only been a few instances when he was unable to check the stats of his enemies, and every time it happened, it meant that he was facing a monster that was way beyond his league.
"If you wish to enter the Wanid Kingdom, you must do so on land," the Elemental Tempest stated. "The next time you break this rule, I will not show you any mercy. Go, before I change my mind!"
The Elemental Tempest roared, blowing away Lux's Thunder Warg King, as well as the Griffins who were hovering beside him.
Perhaps it was intended, but the moment everyone recovered their bearings, they were hovering just beyond the outskirts of the forest, with the Giant Elemental glaring at them from thousands of meters away.
"Go ahead and land," Lux said as he patted his Thunder Warg King. "We'll travel that way for the time being."
Jed obeyed and descended to the ground. The other Griffins did the same because there was no telling what the Elemental Tempest would do if they tried to challenge its orders.
"I guess we just have to follow the rules of this kingdom," Gerhart commented as he glanced in Lux's direction. "You said that following you was dangerous, but I didn't expect that it would be THIS dangerous."
Cethus also glanced at the red-headed teenager with a calm expression. However, deep inside he was feeling extremely excited.
'This is what I've been looking for!' Cethus thought as he clenched his fists. 'With this, I think I will be able to increase my rank again. I knew that coming with him was the right choice.'
The Dragon Born had been surprised by Lux's explosive growth. Now that he had seen the Elemental Tempest, he was certain that he would uncover the secrets he needed in order to raise his Rank faster.
—-------
Karhsvar Draconis…
Valerie finally arrived at the Capital City of Rex Lapis.
Ever since the incident back in the Outer Reaches, the Princess of the Dragon Race was filled with anxiety.
'I know that he only did that to help me, but he still held my hand,' Valerie blushed as she remembered what it felt like to have Lux's strong arm wrapped around her body, holding her in place, while his hand locked with her own in a firm grip.
Ali and Ari, who were walking behind their Mistress, were unaware of what happened to her and were busy preparing her bath for the night.
The Royal Family used secret passageways within the city to navigate their way around, and only those that had been permitted by the Dragon King would be able to use them.
Since Ali and Ari were given permission by Valerie to accompany her, they were also able to use these passages any time they wanted to.
"Your Highness, this is not the path going to the Inner Palace," Ali said as soon as she noticed that Valerie had veered off the path that they usually use to return to Valerie's personal residence.
"Ali, Ari, the two of you should wait for me in my room," Valerie replied without even bothering to turn her head to look at her handmaidens. "I have something to discuss with my Father."
""As you command, Your Highness.""
The two handmaidens bowed their heads respectfully before turning around to head back to the Inner Palace.
Valerie, on the other hand, continued to walk the pathway that would lead her to her Father's throne room without being detected by others.
Knowing that her father usually had guests in the throne room, she first took a peek outside to check if her father was dealing with something.
After seeing that the Dragon King was alone in the throne room, Valerie no longer hesitated and opened the pathway directly behind her Father's throne.
"Valerie. How are you, my daughter?" the Dragon King asked with a voice filled with affection as he gazed at his daughter who had bowed to him to show her respect.
"Father, I have a very important thing to tell you," Valerie said with a solemn expression on her face.
The Dragon King smiled and made a gesture for her to continue.
"Go on," the Dragon King stated. "What is this important thing that you must tell me?"
Valerie hesitated for a bit, but since this was something that had something to do with her future, she gritted her teeth as she made her confession.
"Father, I am pregnant," Valerie declared. "I'm sorry, but it happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to prevent it from happening."
Dark clouds immediately covered the skies of Rex Lapis as the Dragon King's killing intent rose towards the heavens. Naturally, this killing intent wasn't felt by Valerie because the Dragon King made sure that his daughter wouldn't be affected by his bad mood, which was strong enough to split the sky apart.
"Who?" the Dragon King asked through gritted teeth. "Who did this to you?"
Although he tried to ask these questions as calmly as possible, the roar of thunder reverberated in the heavens as lightning snaked across the skies.
"Father, please spare him," Valerie pleaded. "For the sake of your future grandchildren, please spare him. He didn't do it on purpose. I was shocked as well, but when I regained my senses, the deed had already been done."
"... Who is it?" the Dragon King repeated his question. "Don't worry. I will not do anything to him. I'll just ask him to go fishing with me."
Valerie sighed in relief after hearing her father's words. Going to fish together wasn't such a terrible thing. In fact, it was a very fun thing to do!
"Father, the one who got me pregnant is the Half-Elf that built his Guild Headquarters in the Outer Reaches," Valerie replied. "He is none other than Lux Von Kaizer."
Lightning descended from the sky, and thunder boomed ceaselessly as if heralding the end of the world.
The Dragon King then extended his senses to search for the bastard Half-Elf who dared to lay his hands on his treasured daughter. Unfortunately for him, Lux had already left the Outer Reaches and had just entered the Wanid Kingdom, where the power of the Spirits reigned.
Even if the Dragon King was a Supreme Being, he was still unable to find the Half-Elf's whereabouts because the latter was on the other side of the world.
Because of this, he could only roar in his heart as he looked at his innocent daughter, who was stained by the Half-Elf that he had allowed to stay in his kingdom.
While all Hell was breaking loose in Karshvar Draconis, the Dragon Token in Lux's hand glowed faintly.
A faint chuckle could be heard in the surroundings as the Crystal Dragon laughed at the scene that was happening in Rex Lapis. Although he was far away from the Kingdom of Dragons, he was still able to see what was happening in the throne room.
'Lux, I knew you were good, but I didn't expect you to be this good!' Keoza said in a teasing tone. 'It seems that you will receive some good news when you return to Karhsvar Draconis.'
'Really, Sir Keoza?' Lux asked.
'Yes, definitely,' Keoza chuckled. 'In fact, the first thing you must do when you return to the Dragon Kingdom is visit the Dragon King. He plans to go fishing with you!'
Lux didn't understand what Keoza meant when he said that the Dragon King wanted to go fishing with him. However, if what the Crystal Dragon said was true, then the Half-Elf would be more than willing to accompany the Dragon King, and talk with him about the meaning of life.
A talk that would make him understand that the Dragon King's definition of going fishing was very different from the fishing he had in his mind.
