Late at night, a group of three people can be seen near a fire, It was Lucius's group, he sat crossed legged while Sky lay on his lap, her breathing sounds could clearly indicating she was having a peaceful sleep, While Lucius and Auriel sat talking in a hushed tone as not to wake her. They were only a day away from The City of Auguste....

"I'm telling you L-Lucius, she's horrible, since i've been missing for a few months, she'll definitely kill me...What should i do?! What Should I do?!"

Auriel said with a face full of white, he had gone terribly pale.

"You....Isn't she your wife?" Replied Lucius half-heartedly.

"You don't understand! That's precisely why!" Said Auriel absolutely sure of himself.

"Lucius, wives are are the common enemy of adventurous men! Never forget this!"

he added.

Lucius sighed as he watched the man fidgeting nonstop, he then clenched his Dragon shaped necklace around his neck, He stared into the fire and then said as if he were thinking of something.

"Well I don't think so, I think she would be happy to have you home, she might break you into pieces for being an idiot, but family is family, she would ultimately be happy you're safe after all you ventured into a dragon's lair, that's many kinds of stupid."

Auriel then laughed and replied

"Yeah you're absolutely right, She's like a fireball Ha ha ha, the first day I met her she punched me in the face, It was love at first Punch"

"I still remember it like it was yesterday" he added while holding his jaw.

"Well I wouldn't worry about it too much, cause she'll refresh your memory tomorrow, Heh Hahaha"

Lucius said while bursting out in laughter, he could pretty much tell by now which direction it was going to head.

They laughed for a bit and chatted for a while longer, before they decided to call it a night and went back to their respective tents. Lucius carried Sky and placed her on the makeshift bed of fur pelts covers he brought from home. He then withdrew a bottle of water from his inter-dimensional ring and began rinsing his body, he then took a few sips and proceeded to lay down, as he lay down.  Sky almost naturally clung to his body while sleeping and after a few minutes he was already asleep.

*Clang*

As the sun had risen the sound of a pot banging against utensils were heard as Auriel was preparing to get breakfast up and going, he was starting the fire and preparing the vegetables as Sky and Lucius went out hunting for breakfast. It was still very much early, as the birds in the surrounding area chirped and whistled, Auriel wanted to hurry up and get home so they decided to leave as early as possible.

Shortly after Lucius returned with a Large Deer sized animal on his back, Sky at his side a few berries in her hands. What caught Auriel's eye was the deer on Lucius' shoulder, The kill was so clean, not an ounce of blood could be seen and it was completely intact.

"Hey Lucius how did you kill that deer so cleanly?" Wondered Auriel in awe.

"I hit the neck vertebrae, How else?" said Lucius plainly.

What Auriel didn't know was that Lucius' training with Xiaxinia taught him complete mastery of body, He had learned how to use the minimum force at maximum potential.  Not to mention how he also learned how to make as less noise as possible while walking, he could naturally contour to a terrain and move like a ghost hardly disrupting anything in the atmosphere.

The frightening part however was the deer probably had not even realized it was going to die in the blink of an eye it had just fell as if it stumbled on a rock. What Lucius didn't tell Auriel was that he had used a tiny stick and threw it, because eye sight and accuracy of that degree was something probably only a 6th Grade Warrior could do. Lucius didn't want to go into detail explaining things.

Indeed in terms of warrior ranking Lucius was a 7th Grade Lightning Warrior, and his Magic, 7th Grade Storm Mage but the problem was his insight, it was at a 1st Grade Storm Mage, and as there were no other Draconians alive he could learn from, it was probably going to be a bit tougher for him to gain insight now that none of his family's documents weren't accessible, and the House of Lightning were so secretive that no other houses anywhere on the Continent of Astarte had any information that could help him out.

His best bet was to join the Academy and learn how Insight works and get hints from it. What made it even tougher was that he was a variant Lightning user even the traditional documents might not have been much help either but he would have a better foundation in lightning magic which was overall better than his current position.

As they finished cooking the deer and each having had their fill, They then set off again heading straight towards the City of Auguste, Auriel finally calmed down and was happy to see his wife and children. They passed many small settlements but ignored them all as they had nothing to really offer and if they stopped it might caused more harm than good as the villagers didn't look like they weren't too friendly to visitors.

Lucius realized Sky was becoming faster the more she ran, he was secretly pleased as he stroked her head...After a short time they could see the rise of tall buildings, they knew they had met their destination. As this Fortress like City was nothing like the passed villages, they couldn't totally see inside as it had high walls all around but they could see the tall buildings poking out passed the walls high into the skies.

As they could finally make out the silhouettes of the guards, Sky slowed down and Lucius hopped off, as she released Auriel from her tail. She quickled switched back into her human form, as her clothes were made by Venastrasia, she was never naked during transformations, it would instantly equip itself. They then approached at first the guards looked weary as they saw the huge 9 tailed violet colored fox approaching them but upon noticing Auriel, they immediately relaxed.

Guard 1 : "MY LORD?! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" yelled the guard in surprise.

Guard 2 : "My lord feared the worse *Sniff*" said the second guard as he teared up.

Guard 1 : "Yes my lord you should truly stop these dangerous quests, Your family, Milady and the young misses were quiet worried my lord" he said worriedly.

Auriel "Ha ha ha, I know, I know, after today I won't be doing these reckless things again, I felt like I've seen enough now, I'll be staying at the Academy full time from today"

Auriel said trying to calm the two doting guards.

The guards took a few quick glances at Lucius and Sky curiously but they didn't press for any information as they could sense the boy had no interest in sharing his business.

"Anyway Milord we won't keep you any longer, Milady must be dying to see you..*Cough* Good Luck Milord, may you survive this next trial"

The first guard said while looking  away.

" LOWER THE BRIDGE!!"

yelled the second guard as he looked at a man above on the fortress walls.

*Rumble Rumble*

The gates began to shake violently as it began opening,

*Clang Clang Clang Clang*

The chains started moving as the bridge lowered down till it hit the ground with a loud

*DOOMM*

The sight before Lucius left him stunned, there was so much people, and so many different types of stores selling so many different things, merchants filled the streets selling their wares, while he saw many people mostly commoners buying supplies and it was lively. There were high quality stores as well as low quality ones, as they entered, Sky and Lucius were curious about everything, She locked her arms into his, so she wouldn't get to caught up in anything and be left behind as a fox's curious was really insatiable, Lucius looked at her as her eyes flashed over every stall, he thought this little trait of hers was incredibly cute and give a light giggle.

As they were making their way through the town, Looking at some of the taller buildings, Lucius could see A cathedral that was huge, It was certainly much bigger than the one in Blueheart village and not only that but it was incredibly high quality, apparently it's called the Church of Fire and they serve the Spirit Fire God, Ifreet, apparently there are a few dispustes between them and the Fuhrer, as the Fuhrer believes people of the Fire Continent Astarte should pray to him as he is a Deity, but the Church has their own leader, called Astriel Firesong. It's said she is also a Deity but no one really knows how true that is.

Also because of the Allied Forces of Elements, he is unable to surpress the church, because it would be a form of discrimination and that wouldn't bode well with the United Elements, as they were all of different races, any form of discrimination could be taken as an offense and he would probably suffer greatly, Also a lot of people in Astarte are believers of the church, so he would also gain the ire of his own people. Lucius made a side note to visit it before he left to go to the Academy, because he was interested in culture as he had never been exposed to any culture other than his own. As if a thought dorned on him he spun and turned to look at Auriel.

"Ohh that reminds me, Auriel why did they call you "Lord", I thought you said you were a teacher at the Academy?" Lucius asked questioningly.

"Oh but I am, this City Auguste belongs to my father, He is an Elder of the House of Fire and Adviser to the Fuhrer himself, as well as Headmaster of Four Elements Academy, this is his territory bestowed unto him by the Fuhrer for his many accomplishments, But he left  it to me as he decided to Move to Corinth because of his work, he always has to be close to the Fuhrer because of it"  He said with a hint of pride.

"I see..." Lucius replied as his curiosity had been sated.

As they continued chatting and taking in the scenery of many different buildings like the Bank, Or the Inn, They saw an Adventurer's Hall, where people get hired to clear out certain

troublesome monsters that destroy crops or cause harm to the surroundings. It was Lucius' first time seeing so such a sight he slowly strolled and casually chatted with Auriel for information. He had already learned quite a bit from Auriel During the two months in Lizard's Run so naturally he only had a few questions.

As they left the entrance of the city of Auguste, and proceeded pass the Market Section, They then entered the Nobles Quarter, Quite a few famous Nobles lived here, as well as quite a few minor ones as well, being the city closest to Corinth, naturally it was prosperous and the Nobles Quarter had the most High Quality houses as well as Guards stationed at almost every turn with the symbol of a open palm hand with fire burning inside it. It was the symbol of the House of Fire.

The Guards upon noticing Auriel, bowed and motioned him to enter as they parted to allow him to do so.

All guards shouted in Unison "Welcome back milord!"

"Good to be back" Auriel said with a wide smile.

Lucius then looked at a Inn a few streets down and Approached Auriel.

"Well, we're going to go book our rooms at the Inn, What time should we meet you tomorrow? We can meet up at the Inn as it's close to you and we'll be staying there"

Auriel then firmly declined,

"No Lucius, we have a lot of room you know! Come stay the night, we're going to be leaving to go to the Academy soon anyway and it's only a few days"

Truthfully, Auriel dare didn't leave this piece of evidence of where he had been, when he was going to face his wife. Lucius was a key part of his survival...

After Auriel began begging, Lucius realized his agenda and reluctantly gave in. They then took a carriage and it begun moving hastily along the cobblestone road, after about half an hour the carriage began slowing down toward the hugest, most richest, high quality mansion Lucius had ever seen, It was incredibly astonishing.

Many sculptures littered throughout the gardens, most of them were pertaining to fire element beasts, There was a huge fountain at the entrance as well. As they exited the carriage and approached the mansion's gates, the 4 Guards immediately stood at attention realizing the return of their master.

They gave a salute to Auriel and said in Unison

"Welcome home Master Auriel"

"Yo, I've returned!" Auriel replied happily, he was finally home and couldn't contain his excitement.

As they walked into the main hall of the Mansion, Lucius removed his hood as he felt it would be rude to keep it on since it hid his face, They were then greeted by an old grey-haired man, his hair  was kept in a neat ponytail, his eyes were hazel and he had a proud nature, his attire was that of a butlers and his every movement seemed graceful, it was the demeanor of a gentleman, he gave off the aura of a caretaker. Upon seeing Auriel, the grey-haired man looked delighted.

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"Ahh Master Auriel! Where have you been all this time? The Lord Aurius sent a letter to Milady Marie that said you went to Lizard's Run and for 4 whole months no one has seen you! Everyone has been worried sick My Lord is here presently as he came to escort the Young Misses To the Academy Next week!"

The butler said in a panic, he had truly been worried for his Master's safety. He then added

"We tried many location spells with help we got from an Aero Mage, and were still unable to find you he said there was powerful magic wherever you were as it affected his spells, but at least he did confirm you were alive so we were relieved, but still it was very disheartening for Milady and the young misses as they hadn't known of your condition, Everyone is currently having dinner, please let us head there at once to put their minds at ease Master"

The butler then urged him to go to the dining hall where his family was.

"Ah well quite a few things happened and I wasn't in a condition to get word out, I will explain once everyone is together as it's not something I can hide anyway and it's going to be known pretty soon" He said as he glanced at Lucius and smiled.

Lucius just yawned, Sky did the same as they were both pretty worn out and just wanted to eat and head to bed.

It was only then had the butler realized His Master's company, he glanced at the child and then glanced at the girl, and was about to turn and leave to lead his master to the dining room, He felt as though he had been struck by lightning and slowly turned his gaze back to Lucius, his forehead more exactly, and let out a bewildered gasp.

"T-This child Master?" He was absolutely dumbfounded as he looked at Lucius.

He was sure this was a draconian mentioned in the Legends of the Lightning Calamity, He had never once seen one but he knew for sure, that the boy that stood before him was indeed a Draconian. It was Auriel that interrupted his thoughts.

"Don't worry let's go to the dining hall and I'll explain everything, It's actually quite fortunate dad is here, I need his help dealing with this matter after all".

They walked through the halls approaching the Dining room, as Lucius begun admiring the paintings, and family sculptures, he saw suits of armor encased in glass that suggested they were heirlooms of sorts, All with the House of Fire emblems boldly showing on the their chests. It was the house of a true noble. Lucius quite liked the Mansion, It was something that revered it's ancestors , Lucius understood the importance of family, he couldn't help but respect the way it was designed.

As they approached the door, They could hear many conversations being held, the butler then knocked, entered, bowed and said in a voice clear enough for the occupants in the room to hear.

"The Master has returned"

Instantly the chatter stopped.

As Auriel entered he opened his mouth to say

"My beautiful family I hav ret-"

*BOCK*

Auriel, had been interrupted by a fist embedding itself in his face. Shortly after that.

*BOCK**BOCK**BOCK**BOCK**BOCK*

A few more had followed.

Only then did the feminine silhouette calm down, As She got up off a dizzy Auriel, it took a few minutes for him to gather his senses, Lucius calmly hid in the hall awaiting the bloodshed to end, Because once more..Lucius understood the importance of family, so outsiders like himself should keep out...or at least that's what he told himself.

As Auriel regained his senses, he looked at his lovely wife, Red hair, Red eyes, A fiesty but beautiful face, and a Slender body with good curves and a decent chest, She gave off a calming motherly aura, totally opposite to her previous appearance just a few minutes ago, Which would send shivers down any man's spine.

As Auriel regained his senses, he looked as his wife who had tears in her eyes and her body was shaking, she had truly feared the worse for her husband and anyone could tell she badly missed him. He tried to hug her to which she fought for a bit before giving in.

"W-where have you been *sniff* Do you know how worried we were, you went missing for 4 months you know Auriel! You have to stop this silly adventuring or else I'll cut off your arms and legs and keep you here!" she said with a hint of rage.

Usually he would make up some sort of excuse and try to bargain with her, but after recent events, Auriel learned how easy it was to lose his life, before he would always have a chance at surviving but meeting Dragons, taught him how easy it is to stumble across a beast he can't fathom. He decided if he ever made it home, He would gladly, remain in the Academy, and never go venturing out again. His following words surprised her.

"I know..I won't do it again, this time it was dangerous, I met dragons.."

He said with a face she had never seen before, it was a mysterious look.

"DRAGONS?!"

The ones who interrupted were his 3 daughters and his father, the Lord of Auguste, Aurius Flameheart. Instantly the eyes of the old man shone as the eyes of fear were in the eye's of the daughters, they clearly wanted to know what happened afterward. Even his wife was scared, in fact they were all surprised he had came back alive, they had heard stories of dragons, and they knew they didn't appreciate anyone entering their territory and such trespassers would never be forgiven.

"Well you have some people you should meet before we get any further, Lucius, Sky, you guys can come in now" Auriel said while looking at the opened doorway. Two silhouettes then appeared.

One was a seemingly 12 year old boy, he was quite tall for his age, he had white hair that reached down to his shoulders, it was curly and it had a faint gloss to it, it was hair that was almost too feminine for a boy, but the boy's masculine handsome face and manly appearance had removed that thought completely, his fierce blue-eyes as deep as the sea, with split pupils that looked like lightning bolts but the thing which drew the most attention was the

gem embedded in his forehead.

It was certainly something they had never seen before, the ethereal blue diamond shaped gem, pulsed faintly and if you looked clearly enough you could see lightning bolts striking constantly within it. It indeed was his most eye catching feature because of it's rarity, It added to his look of mysteriousness, and it made him give off quite the alluring aura.

The second was an elegant girl, She was incredibly beautiful, She had Silver-Azure colored hair, Her proportions were perfect, she had the perfect curves other girls would just envy and get incredibly jealous over, she had two slender white colored fox looking ears,  her eye color drew a great deal of attention as it was azure and her pupils were light purple, which gave off a sort of an enticing feel. She had her arms locked into his as if it was quite natural and her expressionless face helped give off quite the womanly aura, even though she looked like 16. But the feature that drew everyone's gaze were her 9 azure colored tails.

As Lucius walked in, the first thing he recognized was Auriel's wife, the demon that sent the flurry of attacks, on the dining table Behind both Auriel and her was an elderly looking man, he was in a white ceremonial type robe, he had a matching hat which he had in his hands that looked like a top hat but the top was pointed, as the hat was worn it sort of curled to one side, But one could tell the material used to make it was of the highest quality, the old man had long shoulder length grey-hair and warm brown eyes, he gave off a Bright Righteous like aura,  Lucius could tell the old man was no ordinary old man, as he sensed a great power within him. He was certainly much stronger than Lucius.

On the other side of the table sat three girls. All had one trait in common, They all had red hair and  tankfully, none of them looked like Auriel.

One had Red hair long reaching to her knees, she looked the oldest of the bunch, She was about 16, the same as Sky, Her long red hair was straight and she had two braids which came from around each of the side of her head sort of like creating a crown but it stopped by her ears, it then had one more braid coming down the back like a warrior sort of style, She was indeed beautiful and had red eyes like her mother, her gaze seemed fierce as if she was accustomed to battle and her attire proved this, it was a red robe warrior type armor like Sky's but of less quality, as Sky's was made by Venastrasia with rare materials.

She had a womanly cleavage a bit bigger than Sky and she looked like the silent type. Her figure was that of a woman warrior but it wasn't muscular  just extremely well toned. In one word, Gorgeous. She scanned Lucius and looked at him in curiosity.

The second which looked like the middle child, had her raid hair in twin tails and eyes were brown like her father's minus the hint of idiocy. She looked like about 14 years old She seemed sort of bratty and spoiled as she didn't look particularly interested in Lucius and instead continued eating,  which was rude but Lucius didn't care, he just wanted to be done with this farce and go sleep.

She was slender and her chest was slightly smaller than Sky, She gave off the appearance of a pretty girl as her eyes were lazy and full of confidence, it was a prideful look almost arrogant, She gazed at him once and then looked away, and every now and then she would sneak a peak. She wore a red robe made out of a silk like material that reached  before her knees, She wore red and black striped stockings and Red and white knee high boots. Lucius could tell it was some sort of latest fashion.

The third looked timid and her face was beat red for no reason, Her eyes kept darting around the room as if she didn't know where to look, her red hair was curly and it curled to her shoulder, she was like her sisters and mother had a beautiful look, her frame was delicate and she like her older sister had red eyes. She looked about 12 years old, So she had no particular features like her sisters and was rather quite shy, like a little animal worth protecting...

Lucius after entering, then proceeded to give a slight bow, as he had learned etiquette from Auriel, the bow he gave was what one king would give to another upon entering his kingdom, to give face so to speak.  He then opened his mouth and said in a voice everyone could hear clearly.

"I am Lucius Stormblade, Rightful heir to the House of Lightning, Son of the Queen of Dragons, A pleasure to meet you all, the family of Auriel Flameheart, and this is my Companion Sky"

This was the greeting Venastrasia told him to use whenever he introduced himself. She told him never hide who he is, to step forward with pride, and hold his head high like the dragon she knew he was.

Sky gave a cute curtsy, and followed up with

"Please take care of us"

Everyone in the room was shocked, they thought ' House of Lightning!! A draconian!! What's more the Son of the Queen of Dragons!! they thought they hadn't heard correctly

The old man then got up off his chair and walked towards Lucius and offered his hand

"A pleasure to meet you, young Master Lucius" he then offered him a chair and then followed up with

"I am Aurius Flameheart, Elder of the House of Fire, Adviser to the Fuhrer and Headmaster to the Four Elements Academy" He motioned Lucius and Sky to sit next to him which Lucius gratefully accepted and sat next to him while Sky sat next to Lucius.

Auriel then began to explain everything to his family, and Everyone's expression turned to a face of shock and disbelief, they couldn't believe that such a thing could occur, they heard vague details about the Lightning Calamity, Venastrasia never told Auriel the whole thing just that she saved Lucius from there, and about the time curse and even more vague details about what she did to save Lucius from the curse as she only told him what was necessary for him to know.

Lucius just continued eating, not paying attention to the constant stares, during the

explanation as he was hungry.