The following day.
Ryuu is eating breakfast with Lea. He's eating chicken and grapes, while Lea is eating an apple. "You are getting so big and strong. Your magic is almost better than mine." Ryuu said to Lea, who had a big grin on her face. Her head is mostly covered as she always wears a robe with a hood over her head. You can rarely see her hair. Lea is short despite being an elf, but she is very young.
Tetsuya walks in with William. Their clothes are in shreds. "Morning brother," Tetsuya says as he sits down. "I see you got my message. I am starving. Hope you didn't eat all the chicken. Greedy."
"I just took the delivery tax from it. Still plenty for you." Ryuu said back to Tetsuya. "Training must have been crazy. You guys look like 3 extra cuts, and a limb would be missing."
"He's improving well. He should be in a better position to fight stronger opponents. Raphael is strong. I was looking into him as a fighter, and he's apparently a holy knight. He is heavily blessed with recasting healing spells, making him extremely difficult to kill." William explained.
"That explains why Amatesa snapping his neck didn't do anything. Ryuu, if he pops up, couldn't you handle him by yourself?" Tatsuya asked.
"Certainly. However, there's a limit to how much power I use. Mages and sorcerers have a superstition that if you grow too strong, the planet will reject you. I'm not sure what the limits are. Nobody is, but if he's as hard to kill as you described, I might get rejected." Ryuu explained.
"But that's just a rumor, nobody knows, right?" Tatsuya responded.
"Nobody knows for sure, but whenever people are recognized at master proficiency, often times they disappear a few years later. They are way too strong to just be killed, and there's almost no trace left behind." Ryuu explained.
"Like dad? He just disappeared, too. He did magic, but he was a full blooded dragon. Could that affect them too?" Tatsuya asked.
"I'm not sure. It isn't something to toy with. That's why others of this rank avoid combat. This even applies to physical strengths as well. For now, I hold the power to make sure nobody ever takes a life or puts me under their control ever again." Ryuu looked furious but then quickly surprised as his food quickly vanished. "Turquoise!"
Turquoise had eaten the food off of his plate and ran off in a blink of an eye. "She's getting much faster. Can't let your guard down with her around, huh?" Tatsuya said mockingly to Ryuu.
"I didn't think she was going to be up so early." Ryuu said as he stood up. Tatsuya, William, and Turquoise all laugh at the same time.
Turquoise picked up Lea and was hugging her. She then signed to her, "I missed you," and Lea signed back. "I missed you too,"
"You're always treating her like a baby but she about as big as you Turquoise. She's probably going to outgrow you by a mile." Tatsuya said
"Nope, she's going to stay tiny and adorable." As Turquoise hugged Lea harder.
"I was going into town later to go to a dance bar. Turquoise, you want to come?" Tatsuya asked.
Jumping up from her sleep immediately, "I'll come little bro. What time are we going?" Amatesa said excitedly.
"Morning, sis, like 11, I guess. Want to get in pretty early." Tatsuya responded.
"Can I come too? I'd love to see your city." Crescent was awake the entire time. She just stayed on the floor silent.
"Absolutely, the more the merrier." Tatsuya responded.
"Hold on, let me answer." He asked ME. Can I bring my sister? She wanted to have some fun before she got married off." Turquoise asked.
"Emerald is always welcome. She's basically my niece, too." Tatusya said.
"I can't make it. I have to look over the sapphire mines and do weekly maintenance." Ryuu said.
Collectively, Amatesa, Tatsuya, and Turquoise responded dully. "Oh no, darn."
Slightly annoyed, Ryuu responded, "Don't all of you cry at once."
"We will party extra hard for you, dad." Turquoise said.
"You better party less hard for me. You just turned 15. Are you sure you want to hang out with your aunt and uncle?" Ryuu asked Turquoise, hoping to get her to not go.
"It's fine, dad. I'm sure we'll have fun and will be safe. I'll have my sister with me, we both couldn't get into trouble." Turquoise said.
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. She's like the mirror image of you. Just palette swapped to green. Honestly, it is surprising how strong your mother's genes are to do that. Anyway, I can't hang around here for too long. William, I'm going to head to the mine. If you need to get something to eat, that will be fine. I'll meet you there." Ryuu said as he headed out.
"Hmm, breakfast would be nice. I'm in the mood for bacon, though. I'll see if anyone donated some bacon, and hopefully, some are left over for breakfast. Have a good day, everyone." William walked out as well.
"All the old people are gone, time to sleep until we go out," Amatesa said as she laid back down.
"I think we missed one old person. Anyway, Darius is also coming. He wanted to hang out in the city as well. We should have a nice group to hit the night with." Tatsuya said. "Oh wait, new face, who are you? I barely noticed. You just blended right in with us."
"I'm Crescent, Amatesa cousin. I'm visiting." Crescent responded.
"Nice to meet you, I'm her little brother Tatsuya. It'll be a blast today, you'll have a good time." Tatsuya said excitedly.
"Looking forward to it." Crescent said.
Ryuu was on the way to the mines when he sensed an unknown creature nearby. The forest is a magical illusion created by him but is also semi-alive on its own. It builds on the ground. If he ever were to stop giving it energy, the forest would live on but would lose the shrouding effect. Ryuu found the creature. It was a female centaur. Tired, dirty, and hungry. She was borderline on the verge of going feral. Reverting to full beast and losing her sense of humanity. She then ran full speed to Ryuu. As she approached, all of her momentum was stopped almost immediately. She got instantly engulfed by water with only her head sticking out so she could breathe.
"This will take a second, but I can cure your ailment." Ryuu said to the centaur. He pulled out a book from his pocket dimension and started turning pages. He chanted a spell, creating a bring light on the centaur's head and refreshing her. "There we go. I don't specialize in light magic, so I have to read off the spell properly. Unlike the water bubble, which I can use at my demand. In which case, I'll free you now."
Shivering, the centaur replied, "Thank you. I was lost for days, and I'm starving. Could you help me? Food, water, or shelter? Anything?" The centaur was on the verge of tears. Ryuu pulled out a hot bowl from his pocket dimension.
"Slowly eat this. This should go down easily for you. I always keep an emergency bowl ready. It has small portions of meat and vegetables." Ryuu said as he handed the bowl to the stranger. The centaur looked at the bowl and immediately downed the bowl of food. Ryuu looked shocked at first and saw she had no problems handling the hot meal.
"Thank you so very much. my name is Galamene. If there's anything I can do for you to pay you back, I will." Galamene said.
"Do you have family or a place to stay? I don't really need anything, but I can help you get where you need with no strings attached. This forest is designed to stop intruders. It's partially my fault you're stuck here. You don't owe me anything. I can help escort you out if you like." Ryuu said.
"I don't have a family anymore. I was exiled and was forced to wander off. I'm a wandering soul, and for a while, I thought this forest would be my burial. I no longer have a purpose." She said sadly. Her face looked defeated, and her head was hanging low.
"If you need a new family, I can help you." Ryuu sticks his hand, and she accepts the handshake.