In the forest—-
The forest breathed under her feet. Cordelia, in her root form, moved like a breeze—unseen, unheard, yet everywhere.
The winds were thick with salt, and the air carried the faintest traces of smoke and dried blood. This was no longer just a monster's nest. It was a graveyard. A broken home.
"Val… We're here."
The voice wasn't spoken aloud—but Val, now fluttering beside her in his upgraded bat form, heard it anyway.
Val: "Took you long enough, Root. I was getting emotional up here."
He perched upside-down on a twisted vine branch, wings twitching as if bored.
Cordelia: "You cry ?"
Val: "I'm toxic."
"Master."
His voice interrupted the banter. Sigurd stood near the jagged stone archway that once guarded the entrance to the serpent tribe's cave. He was now marked—connected—loyal beyond reason. His black-purple hair gleamed beneath the fading sunlight, and his golden serpent tattoo pulsed faintly at his neck—proof of the link.
And yes—he could now see Val.
Sigurd: " A flying rat ?"
Val: "Flying—" he hissed. "Listen here, oversized gecko—"
Cordelia: "Shut up, both of you."
She roamed forward, and the land opened to her senses. Roots slithered through the soil, revealing:
Broken serpent homes.
Charred stones.
Cracked serpent eggshells—abandoned.
Training pits flooded with seawater.
Blood. So much blood.
She stilled.
This was her first domain. And it was wounded.
---
[ System Notice – Quest
"Rebuild the Serpent Village"
Objective: Restore the village into a treehouse settlement.
Sub-objective: Construct Training Grounds, Medical Root Nests, and Defense Vines.
Bonus Objective: Discover the Serpent's Hidden Legacy.
Reward: Territory Stabilization. Loyalty MAX. Passive skill unlock — Rootbind Shelter.
Failure: Moral collapse. Serpent trust will weaken. ]
Cordelia: "Accepted."
And then she whispered, "Grow."
The vines moved like beasts answering a call. Red roots rose. Branches twisted and fused into homes. Petals formed canopies. Trees aligned in spirals, their hollowed insides turning into warm shelters.
Sigurd's eyes widened. "You're… building us a kingdom."
Cordelia: "No. I'm building us a future."
The Treehouses.Towering like ancient totems—each tree sang with mana.Homes shaped like open blossoms, connected with glowing vine bridges.
At the heart: a spiraled training ground formed with crimson leaves as flooring, soft but unyielding.
The serpents emerged from the shadows, awe-struck. The children whispered. The elders knelt.
And Cordelia stood in silence. It was just a few tree houses. There are thousands of serpents.
Cordelia : Stood up. We all need to work together to build our future. And the first thing is to stabilize a house.
Elder Nimu: We're gonna help you with our at most ability, my lord.
All the serpents ready to build houses like this. And Sig introduced her to the warrior serpents.
Sig, Rex, Nox, Mimi, Sai. They are all S class monster. And the rest 395 serpents were A class. Most of them are B class. Just one serpent and a town is finished. Cordelia thought. Rest 600 are all C class serpents even the child.
Sig: They are the elite's. I trained them myself.
Rex, Nox, Mimi and Sai stood straight. Breath held. And Sig just gave them side-eye.
Pfttt Hahahahaha. " Why are you holding your breaths."
They all looked relaxed now... That their Lord laughed like that.
They all talked for a moment like how to build the arena. The training ground. Close to the sea that will be.
Rex and Nox took the initiative to build it.
"Leave it to us... My lady!! "
They said with great enthusiasm.
Mimi and Sai will help Cordelia locate the dwarves. They live in off limits places. Most dragon layers have dwarves as they made them make jewellery for their mates.
Val: You seem oddly excited. Root.
Cordelia with her silk red dress. Barefoot and decorated with golden embroidery.
Cordelia: Come on. Dwarves are cool.
Sig: We can find them in Sapphire dragons lair.
Cordelia: You know?
Sig : I once came across that lair. But she was already dead.
Cordelia: After we sly the Levithian. Our next stop will be Sapphire's lair.
Sig: I'll make preparation according to that.
They are standing on a vine bridge. Looking at the town being built. The paths. The houses. It's peaceful and to make it stay like that.
Cordelia to herself, I need to annihilate the Levithian.
____
At the village's meeting branch—a giant root-formed balcony twined with glowing fruit—a private discussion brewed.
Sigurd, Rex (the silent warrior type with bronze scales and crimson eyes), Mimi (a sharp-tongued strategist serpentess), and the elders sat around a glowing moss circle.
The topic?
Levithian.
Mimi: "The full moon is in two days. Its waters will rise. And so will that bastard."
Rex: "If we don't deal with it now, the entire treehouse village will be drowned."
Elder Voth: "It has grown stronger by feasting on our fallen. It won't be baited easily."
Elder Nimu: We need to assist our Lord.
Sigurd (quietly): "...It'll come for the Mana. For her."
" She said ... She will deal with it herself. Rex, Nox, Mimi, and Sai can join us. But they will be by the shore. Even I'm not allowed in the water.
Elder Voth: Isn't that too risky. We know that she is powerful. But her safety is also our responsibility.
Sig: Her safety is my responsibility.
They all fell silent.
Sig: I'll be there.
And they didn't say anything else. Just nodded.
Two days later.
Cordelia, in her human form, sat at the edge of a high branch. Her bare legs swinging. A glass of moonflower nectar in hand. In her silky white attire. Looking at the town. So lively.
Val zipped past her in a blur of indigo wings and attitude.
Val: "I want credit. You hear me, Root? I built half of this damn town."
Sigurd, walking below with his arms crossed: "Correction. You whined half of the time. We built it."
Val (hovering down to face him): "You wanna go, Gecko Prince?"
Sigurd (smiling too calmly): "Anytime, Flying Rat."
Cordelia: "I will set both of you on fire with Asmodeus meal."
Silence.
Then both turned away with synchronized, dramatic scoffs.
Later that night—
Cordelia walked alone. Her pale bare feet swayed. The red petals under her feet shimmered with every step.
She reached the shore—the place where forest met sea. Where Yerith's energy once bled into the ocean, now her own.
The air smelled like blood and brine.
She raised her hand, releasing a thin pulse of pure Mana, letting it ripple across the sky like smoke. The water shivered.
Val (from above): "You sure about this, Root?"
Cordelia: "It wants power. I'll give it a reason to come. But I'll choose the battlefield."
Sigurd, stepping behind her: "We'll fight with you. To the end."
Cordelia: " Don't worry. Leave it me. "
Cordelia now in the sea. Her white silky dress drenched. Hair that touches the ground now floating.
Cordelia: " It better not be the end. I've got too many dresses in my inventory to die now."
Val: "Also I didn't even get to finish designing the underwater spa—!"
Cordelia: "Val."
Val: "Okay okay, shutting up."
---
[ Notice — Quest Update
Eliminate the Levithian.
Phase I: Lure the beast.
Phase II: Isolate it away from the treehouse town.
Phase III: Strike under the full moon.
Reward: Domain expansion unlocked. Water territory added. Passive skill — Tidebound Dominion.
Bonus: A hidden story unlock.
Failure: Total serpent annihilation. ]
The sea rippled. A tremor in the distance. A roar, muffled in the ocean's belly.
It had begun.