"What!?" Felix spun in his chair, eyes wide. "You’re almost at the Fifth Class advancent already? That doesn’t even make sense. I’m only level twenty-two! How are you so far ahead?"
"Calm down." Percival chuckled.
But Felix kept going, throwing her arms up. "Don’t tell to calm down. How are you this high? I’ve been working non-stop. I’ve got nothing to show for it, and you’re almost at Fifth Class advancent. This is insane."
Even as she complained, there was a faint smile tugging at her lips.
Percival’s chuckle deepened, amused at her mix of outrage and envy.
Arthur, listening faintly through the training room comms, shook his head.
He wasn’t surprised.
Felix always had energy to spare, even when she was frustrated.
For her, progress had always been slow.
Even with a soul weapon, it had taken her fifteen thousand years to claw her way up to Stage 2 before Neo gave her another path.
Percival, on the other hand, had risen like a storm.
His ability to see the tapestry of Fate in vivid detail ant opportunities opened before him like doors waiting to be stepped through.
He had surged to Stage 5 in what seed like no ti.
But then, suddenly, he stopped.
He could no longer climb higher.
It was strange.
It was as if he was missing sothing integral.
As if he was missing a part of his own body, and until he got that part back, he could not get stronger.
Percival had tried to find a way to get stronger, but there was no solution.
"It’s your Fate reading ability, isn’t it? That’s what you’ve been abusing to get ahead, right?" Felix leaned forward on her chair, eyes narrowing. "Help too, Dad."
Percival’s lips twitched at her shaless attitude.
"If you help , I’ll set up shrines in your na." Felix pressed her palms together in mock prayer. "I’ll make sure all my descendants pray to you. Co on, Father Percival, don’t abandon your child."
He rubbed his forehead, realizing too late why Arthur had slipped away with the excuse of training.
Dealing with Felix when she was like this required patience that no one had.
"All right, all right," Percival said, cutting her off before she could continue her performance.
Felix grinned, satisfied with her small victory.
The ship carried them smoothly through the last stretch.
Hours later, the Whiterun Site ca into view.
A massive planet swirled in thick purple smoke, the atmosphere alive with streaks of red lightning that cracked like veins across the sky.
It looked unstable, and dangerous.
Arthur left the training room, Alia stepped out from her quarters, and the four of them gathered in the central chamber.
The ship descended toward the surface, its shields rippling as they broke through the smoke.
"Final checks," Percival said. "Rember, the ambient elentals here are corrupted. Use the suppression spell Neo gave us as soon as we step out."
Arthur nodded.
Alia murmured the spell under her breath.
Felix slapped her chest confidently, though the edge of nerves was visible in her eyes.
The ship landed with a hiss of pressure.
The doors opened, and the four stepped out into the haze.
Imdiately, the berserk elentals pressed against them, strange whispers trying to burrow into their skin.
But the spell flared, keeping them out.
Percival looked at his group one by one.
"Be prepared to fight at any mont. The Supre of Void is our biggest concern, but that doesn’t an the rest of this place is safe. Anything here could kill us. Stay sharp. Especially you, Felix. Your defense is—"
He never finished the sentence.
Sothing dropped from the sky.
It ca with such speed that even Arthur’s instincts couldn’t track it.
One mont Felix was grinning at Percival’s lecture, and the next, a crushing impact shattered the ground.
Dust and lightning burst outward.
When the smoke cleared, Felix was gone.
Her body was crumpled under the foot of a dark figure, crushed like a tin can.
"Felix!" Alia scread, rushing forward.
Arthur’s hand flew to his sword.
Percival’s face twisted in alarm, his senses burning as he tried to understand how the attack slipped past him.
He had felt nothing, seen nothing.
Alia leapt for Felix’s broken body, hands glowing faintly.
If she touched it in ti, she could revive her.
But the figure that had crushed Felix moved faster.
Massive and scaled wings tore open behind him, and the gust they generated blasted all three of them backward.
"I killed her because she’s annoying. You don’t think I’d let her co back now, do you?" His voice was harsh, grating, like tal dragged against stone.
Arthur steadied himself, sword raised.
Alia growled, trying to force herself forward again.
Percival’s eyes flickered with both fury and disbelief.
Before they could react, the figure moved again.
Humanoid dragon’s wings were spread wide. His horns curved from his skull, and his claws dripped with a purple energy that burned with an esoteric power.
With one swipe, that energy tore forward in the shape of colossal claws.
It was too fast. Too strong.
The three of them couldn’t reach in ti.
But before it struck, the mist around them thickened.
It condensed into a humanoid figure that slamd its arm out, scattering the purple claws like shattered glass.
"Laplace," the mass of berserk elents said. "Why is a filthy lizard like you moving around?"
"Void, we finally et again." the dragon-human sneered.
His claws flexed, wings twitching with aggression.
The Supre of Void wasn’t looking at him.
His burning gaze shifted upward, where three more dragon figures floated in the haze of the sky.
Their presence distorted the world around them.
"They’re using a troubleso ability," Void muttered.
Then he looked back at Arthur, Alia, and Percival. "Are you three okay? If you are, get ready. I don’t have ti to protect you or play with you. You’ll have to pull your own weight from here."
Arthur tightened his grip on his sword.
Alia staggered.
Her head rang with pressure.
A presence, vast and overwhelming, embraced her.
Her voice shook as she spoke.
"The Supre says... the Ancient Dragons shouldn’t be here. She’s asking how they ca."
Void’s gaze flickered with surprise. "You... how can you hear her?"
"She is her Loved One," Laplace said, smiling with twisted satisfaction. His eyes burned with vengeance. "With both of you here, I’ll finally have my revenge."
Alia’s eyes shifted.
The blood red eyes of her flickered to a brilliant blue.
"Laplace!"
The Supre of Water’s presence poured out of her.
A wave of power surged, bursting from her in a torrent that split the smoke.
Laplace laughed.
The sound was wild, shaking the air and even the fabric of the world around them.
He spread his arms wide, welcoming the fury aid his way.
At that mont, Arthur knew things had spiraled beyond what they could manage.
"Alia, calm down—"
Before he could complete his words, Alia attacked Laplace.
Her movents were driven by intense hate.
Laplace opened his palm towards her, manifesting a transparent wall of purple hue that blocked her attack.
"You seem angry, O Supre of Water. To think you would take over your Loved One—"
"Shut up, Laplace. I don’t know how you got here, but I’m going to kill you."
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