"And I am the Siren Queen of one of the branches of the ancient tribe, Thaaloré."
Morgana explained her origin lightly to Ian.
"In fact, according to the elder, we are actually the tribe of the Abyssal Sea, Abythra. We were stranded here in Deepsire due to the ancient war of Wizards."
She said this, looked at Ian, and then asked,
"You must know about the Whispering Expanse, the forbidden zone on that forbidden continent, right?"
"Hmm? Yeah, it is near the Mistveil Empire."
As far as Ian knew, there were three forbidden zones on the Gravethrone Continent: Ashen Spires, Umbral Rift, and the Whispering Expanse. He also knew that the Whispering Expanse was related to the Abyss from his encounter with Aurora.
"Umm, actually, the three forbidden zones on that continent are the three ancient nodes from which the invasion of this world occurred. After the brutal war, all of those places and nodes were sealed, while the entire continent was used as a springboard to operate the grand formation to stop the invasion."
Morgana slowly explained what she knew.
"Anyway, my tribe used to live peacefully on the southern side of Deepsire, along with a few other sea tribes."
"However, the sudden appearance of the secret realm changed everything," Morgana said, her eyes blazing with fire just by recalling the events.
"Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have entered that place. Maybe… maybe, if I hadn't entered, nothing would have happened to my family."
She mumbled, deep in sorrow, as if blaming herself for all the events that happened afterward.
Lucien could already see her sad eyes full of regret. He could feel how she had carried such a heavy burden alone this entire time while running so far from her destroyed home.
So, he hugged Morgana closely in his arms, giving her the warmth she so desired. He didn't offer false words like everything will be alright because he knew those words were empty.
Instead, he just kept this incident in his mind for now.
"So, after that secret realm, Dragon Gate, appeared, all the sea tribes within thousands of miles entered to search for treasure."
Morgana hugged Lucien's waist tightly while placing her cheek on his warm chest and recalled everything that had happened,
"Among them was our Siren tribe and those bastards, Krakens."
When she said the name Krakens, she gnashed her teeth in deep hatred.
"Everything was going well during the exploration of the secret realm, and we gained a lot, too. But everything changed when we reached the core."
"Everything changed drastically when I was recognized by the treasure that was deep in that secret realm."
Morgana said, and then suddenly waved her hand, taking out something small and holding it in her palm.
When Ian looked at it reflexively, what he saw was a small, shimmering, trident-shaped relic floating above her hand. It was made of gold-veined coral, with smooth, curved prongs and a radiant blue core that glimmered in shifting light.
Although it was small, it managed to captivate Ian's attention instantly.
'So, she got this in the Secret Realm?'
Ian thought and reflexively used his Analysis feature on the Trident.
---
[Trident Heart (Legendary Artifact Fragment): a shard of the Sea God's divine weapon, once part of the legendary trident that manded all ocean tides.]
---
Just as Ian thought, he didn't manage to get much information with his Analysis feature. But still, what he found surprised him.
'Legendary artifact? Sea God's divine weapon, huh.'
Ian wasn't sure what this small trident was capable of besides manding ocean tides, but he knew for sure that for a sea tribe in that Secret Realm at that time, it was a very tempting treasure.
From what he read in the Arcane Passage, it was only mentioned that Morgana helped the protagonist Carl with her unique treasure during his travels at sea.
"See? It seems extraordinary, right?"
Morgana noticed Ian's surprise and continued,
"But don't think it's that great. Besides being able to control the tide, it can do nothing else."
She said this, clearly disappointed with the object in her hand.
"Anyway, since this Trident Heart recognized me, other members of the sea tribe could do nothing. They knew that even if they killed me, it wouldn't recognize anyone else, as they had already tried countless times before."
"So, at last, we gave up a significant portion of the loot we obtained during our exploration just to exit the secret realm safely. But… but it was clearly not over yet."
Sera said, her mood sinking again as she spoke.
"We were fine for a few days. But suddenly, one day, those bastard Krakens attacked our tribe with full force out of nowhere."
"Although we were prepared in case something happened, we were clearly caught off guard when all the sea tribes around turned a blind eye to the attack."
"I don't know what kind of deal they made with the Krakens, but although they didn't help in the fight, they were clearly hoping for the demise of our tribe."
Morgana said this, snuggling against Ian's chest.
"In the fierce fight, our side lost, and I barely managed to escape with the help of my elders. I don't know what happened to the others after that. I just used my disguise ability and continued running from those Krakens until I arrived here."
Morgana finally poured out everything about her origin and her situation, breathing deeply.
Maybe she had been too stressed before, or maybe she had been all alone this entire time; being able to talk to Ian already made her feel better, as if she had finally found someone to share her grievance with.
"But… how did you manage to get this far? Do you know some shortcuts?"
Ian saw Morgana relaxing on his chest and caressed her with his hands, asking the question he wanted answered most.
If he remembered the story correctly, Morgana had met Carl in Deepsire. So he couldn't understand why she had suddenly appeared in this place.
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