"He's finally back..."
The Dragon King opened his eyes before looking in the direction of the Outer Reaches.
As the ruler of the Dragon Race, he had the omniscience to know everything that was happening inside his Kingdom.
He was paying careful attention to the Half-Elf's Guild Headquarters, and as soon as he sensed Lux's presence, he understood that the red-headed teenager had finally returned to the Outer Reaches.
Of course, his wife, Queen Saphira, had already told him what really happened to Valerie, and she wasn't really pregnant.
However, the mere thought of having the Half-Elf touch his daughter was enough for the Dragon King to want to kick Lux's bum repeatedly until it became swollen.
'Maybe I should really go and have that fishing trip with him,' the Dragon King lightly growled, making the Royal Guards standing in the throne room subconsciously shudder.
They could feel that their King was very angry, but they had no idea why he was angry.
If not for the fact that Queen Saphira had repeatedly warned him to not harm the innocent Half-Elf, the Dragon King would have instantly teleported to the Outer Reaches and dragged the red-headed teenager to the Sea of the Ancients.
A place where Dreadnaught-Ranked Krakens and Empyrean-Ranked Sea Dragons lived.
Suddenly, the Dragon King sensed another presence behind him which calmed down his raging heart.
"All of you leave me alone," the Dragon King ordered.
Immediately, the Royal Guards that were in the throne room left in an orderly manner. None of them wanted to face the brunt of the Dragon King's wrath, so they left the throne room without even a backward glance.
When the gates of the room were shut tight, the secret passageway behind the King's throne opened, revealing a very beautiful lady, whom the Dragon King would kill to protect.
"He's back, right?" Queen Saphira asked as she sat on her husband's lap while holding a baby Dragon in her arms.
"Yes," The Dragon King replied. "Did you come here to make sure that I don't go there and kill him?"
"Mmm." Queen Saphira smiled. "You and Keoza are not on good terms right now. If you make a move out of anger, the consequences might be something that both sides don't want to see. Don't worry, I asked Valerie to stay put in the Inner Palace for a while. She won't be allowed to 'sneak away' until the Half-Elf has left the Outer Reaches."
The Dragon King reluctantly nodded his head after hearing his wife's advice. Just like Queen Saphira had said, he and Keoza weren't on good terms right now.
He had already angered the Crystal Dragon by purposely giving Lux a hard time, sending the Half-Elf into the Pit to build his Guild Headquarters. However, to his surprise, the Half-Elf managed to overcome this hurdle and even managed to reach a compromise with the Mayor of the City of Pygmalion.
Of course, Keoza's appearance played a major role in the incident. Both of them parted on bad terms, and the Dragon King didn't want to antagonize the Crystal Dragon, who could make the capital city of the Dragon Race fall from the sky in a heartbeat.
As if sensing his father's simmering anger, the baby Dragon in Queen Saphira's arms started to cry.
"There, there. Don't cry," Queen Saphira coaxed the crying baby with a soothing voice. "We love you very much."
After a few more words and kisses of love, the baby Dragon finally stopped crying and fell asleep in Queen Saphira's embrace.
"Kids grow fast," Queen Saphira said softly as she held her baby in a loving embrace. "So we can't keep them inside a cage forever. Dragons are creatures who want to fly in the sky. If you restrict her too much, it will be bad for her growth."
The Queen of all Dragons then planted a kiss on her husband's cheek before leaving his side.
"It seems that the Half-Elf had brought some interesting people back with him," Queen Saphira commented as she opened the secret passageway behind the throne. "I'll permit Valerie to visit them when Lux is no longer in the Outer Reaches. Feel free to add more guards to keep an eye on her when she leaves the Inner Palace."
After saying what she needed to say, the Dragon Queen left her husband behind. She knew how overprotective the King was of her only daughter, Valerie, but keeping her locked up in the Inner Palace wasn't a solution.
Queen Saphira knew that her daughter could get rebellious at times, so she decided to give Valerie some freedom by letting her sneak away from time to time.
She just didn't expect that her daughter would start to feel things she had never felt before, which made the Queen happy and worried at the same time.
Meanwhile in the Outer Reaches...
"Let me join your Guild," Cethus said.
"Join my Guild?" Lux arched an eyebrow at the Dragon Born who had asked him to talk in private. "Why?"
"My reason is the same as when I joined you in your journey to the Wanid Kingdom," Cethus stated. "I want to be stronger."
The Half-Elf crossed his arms over his chest before glancing at the window of his room. He could see the giant crater from his vantage point, and that was also where he planned to build a village with the help of the Orcs.
"Cethus, I have lots of enemies," Lux said while still looking outside of his window. "Enemies that are far stronger than I am. You might find yourself facing off with someone who is beyond your league if you decide to stay by my side."
"I don't care."
"Even if you lose your life?"
"If that happens, I can only blame myself for being weak."
Dragon Borns prided themselves in their strength. This was why when Cethus lost to Lux, he felt as if the beliefs he had in the past all crumbled under his feet.
That was when he realized that the people whom he called Low-Landers were different from what he had imagined.
They were not weak as he and the other Dragon Borns originally thought.
The battle in the Wanid Kingdom once again solidified this fact, and it made Cethus realize how naive he was in the past.
His arrogance from being born as a Dragon Born held no value whatsoever in the face of overwhelming strength.
Strength that he wished belonged to him.
"Very well, but on one condition," Lux stated. "You will have a one-on-one fight with Gerhart. If you win, I will allow you to join my guild. If you lose..."
"If I lose, I will train to become stronger and challenge him again," Cethus replied. "Thank you for your time. Goodbye."
The Dragon Born left the room without even waiting for Lux's reply.
The Half-Elf could only look at Cethus' back with a complicated expression on his face.
"Are you fine with that, Gerhart?" Lux asked.
"Yes," Gerhart replied as he flew inside Lux's room from the window.
The green-haired Half-Elf planned to eavesdrop on their conversation but was easily discovered by Lux.
After being discovered, Gerhart asked Lux to keep his presence a secret, which the Half-Elf agreed on.
It was also Gerhart that proposed that he fight Cethus in a one-on-one battle. Lux didn't know if Gerhart had a grudge against the Dragon Born, but he still agreed to his request.
For him, adding Cethus to his guild wasn't a big deal.
However, he was worried that the Dragon Born was not someone who could keep secrets. Because of this, he was reluctant to agree to Cethus' request.
If not for Gerhart's proposal, Lux might have rejected Cethus' request to join his Guild.
"Don't hold back, okay?" Lux asked. "I want to see the two of you fight for real."
"You have nothing to worry about," Gerhart replied. "I've held a grudge against Cethus since the day we first met. This is just me paying that back with interest."
Lux shook his head helplessly after seeing the determination in Gerhart's eyes. Although he was curious about who would win between the two combatants, who were both at the peak of the Initiate Rank, he didn't want either of them to be fatally wounded in the battle.
Having considered this, he planned to interfere when he deemed that both were about to land a killing blow on each other. The Half-Elf was not aware that high above the clouds of his Guild Headquarters, an old Dragon-Born Lady was paying close attention to her grandson.
The moment Cethus returned to Karhsvar Draconis, his Grandma felt his presence, so she immediately came to the Outer Reaches to check up on him.
'Good, Cethus,' the old Dragon Born Lady thought. 'It seems you have improved a lot since the last time I saw you.'
She had hoped that after Cethus accompanied Lux on his journey, her grandson would learn a bit of humility. After seeing him again, she knew at a glance that her grandson had experienced many things that allowed him to grow not only in strength but in character as well.
