CHAPTER 13

After they left Fantasy Park, the group did not continue traveling on different territories and decided to use the portal. Because they were traveling at night and Hirayon was already sleeping, he didn't see the large gate shining brightly with swirls of different Auras. As a portal requires so much Aura from Space Oddities, the portal contains a combination of different Auras. Hence it was colorful, with most shades in purple color.

In front, Space Oddities oversaw the portal and tracked the people and vehicles passing through. They are investigating the identities of oddities first before letting them use the portal.

When it was the turn of Hanan's group, the personnel immediately recognized Hanan and bowed. He allowed the group to pass first, not making them wait in line.

Oddities were about to complain because of the special treatment, but when they saw the logo of the Water Clan and Hanan's name at the back, they all swallowed their complaints and bowed instead, greeting Hanan's hover car with respect.

When the hover car entered the gate, their surroundings changed, and the weather dropped slightly. It wasn't freezing, but the difference in the temperature was evident as it was also windy in the territory because it was near the sea.

From the other side of the portal, vehicles lined up on the side who wanted to use the portal toward Gahala, and once they saw who was the car's owner, they also paid their respect.

The group traveled for a few more hours until the sun started to rise.

"We are near," Zeno informed Hanan, who was still working when he saw the time.

Although they were already at the Water Territory earlier, the residential part and the city were at the northernmost beside the sea.

"How were the preparations?" Hanan asked while still typing into a hologram. He was asking about Hirayon's room and the library's renovation.

"I received a report an hour before that the library is already finished, but the young masters' room is still under construction," Zeno reported.

Hanan looked at Zeno, "Why is it taking them so long?" He asked with a frown, clearly displeased that Hirayon's room was still unfinished even though he had given the order over a week ago.

"You ordered the room to be filled with the best quality of Water Aura, so they had to kill Type 2 sea monsters which takes a lot of time," Zeno explained. Pointing out the ridiculous order that Hanan gave.

Zeno suggested using Aura Stones because it is already available in the market, but Hanan wanted Aura Cores from monsters. He wanted the best for Hirayon and thus ordered him to fill the room with high-quality Aura, which Zeno estimated would take at least one thousand cores.

"Why Type 2? The Aura from a Type 3 Aura Core is denser and more potent," Hanan asked. If the hunting team hunted Type 3, filling the room with Water Aura wouldn't take too long.

Aura Cores from monsters or simply Monster Cores differ in quality depending on the type and level of a monster. The more intelligent and powerful it is, the more its core has a higher quality of Aura. Usually, people would use Aura Stones that could be naturally found in the environment where the elements are. Water Stones on the sea floor, Earth Stones in the deep mountains, Rock Stones in caves, Air Stones in the clouds, people would mine for it and sell so oddities could suck the energy from the stone to replenish their Aura or use it in their daily lives. Most would use stones to power machines and make an artificial environment rich in high-quality Aura. But Elemental Aura Stones weren't the only source of Aura.

Oddities could use the Monster Cores as well. They have similar use but are considerably more expensive because the Aura from cores is more powerful and challenging to acquire. Ten Class-E Aura Stone is equivalent to a One Class-D Aura Core that could be found in a Type 1 monster. Moreover, people still seek Monster Core despite its prize because sucking the Aura from it could make an oddity gain an ability without training. If the core is from a monster capable of using an ability, there is a chance that the person would gain that monster's ability. It might take numerous Monster Cores from a similar monster, but the Mind Clan researchers have proven and tested that it could definitely open an innate ability without proper training.

Because of that, Hanan ordered to get Monster Core instead of Aura Stones to fill Hirayon's room with a more powerful Aura that could help him enter his Core Space faster and potentially open another ability. Although that won't happen if Hirayon did not suck and made the Aura his own, Hanan still thinks that it would be the best thing to use.

"Chief, only a few individuals in the Water Territory could kill a Type 3 Sea monster, including you. They are all busy individuals with other missions that they cannot postpone," Zeno explained.

"They should have prioritized this first," Hanan insisted.

Zeno calmly looked at Hanan as he was used to his stubbornness. "I understand, chief, but they are already in the middle of their mission after your order. The only ones left available are Gifted and Stellar Oddities.

"Fine. How long will it take to complete Hirayon's room?"

"It will take one more week," Zeno said, repeating the exact words the head butler, his father, gave.

Hanan frowned. "That's too long. Ready a group after I return. I'll hunt them myself," he decided.

Zeno shook his head in disagreement, "But your schedule is already full until next month. We can't postpone them anymore because they need your replies and decisions-"

"It will only take a few days," Hanan cut, insisting on what he wants.

Zeno knew that Hanan's decision couldn't be changed, but it would be problematic if his chief left his duties longer. People will find fault in his capability and would cause more trouble and work. He is thinking of a way to convince him when Hirayon's room door opens, revealing the child looking at them with still dazed eyes.

'I really don't want to use Hirayon, but this is for his sake, too," Zeno said, remembering his fear yesterday that people would use the child to their benefit. At least his goal was different from other people's.

"Are you sure you want to leave Hirayon in the mansion? Even though it is already his home, he might get scared if you're not by his side," Zeno said softly, trying to poke Hanan's doting nature for his son.

Hanan frowned and thought of how Hirayon would be if he left him for days. He contemplated and thought of many scenarios that could happen and grew more concerned every second.

When Zeno saw the chief's face, he beamed a broad smile and greeted the child.

"Good Morning, young master," Zeno greeted brightly.

"Good Morning," Hirayon greeted back.

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"How was your sleep? Were you surprised that you found yourself in the bed?" Zeno asked.

"Yeah, I remembered I was on the sofa with Dad."

"Oh, you were shocked not seeing the chief when you opened your eyes," Zeno stated. Rephrasing what Hirayon said and fanning his plan to stop Hanan from hunting monsters himself.

Hirayon looked at Zeno with confusion. As he had just woken up, he didn't fully understand what Zeno had said. But as he saw Hanan watching him intently, he nodded and grabbed a book from the small table.

When Hanan saw Hirayon n od, his eyes mellowed and followed his son's movement. He couldn't believe he was about to make Hirayon lonely and resolved not to leave the child alone anymore.

His reasoning ultimately evolved from Zeno's rephrasing, making him misunderstand Hirayon's answer more. What they didn't know was that Hirayon is a really independent and understanding child. He already understood yesterday that Hanan is busy and would need to leave now and then due to work. He doesn't expect Hanan to be always by his side because he also grew up with Marin leaving him in the cave for days to hunt monsters.

While Hanan was watching Hirayon, Zeno looked at the chief with a triumphant smile. Even without Hanan confirming, he knew that Hanan won't hunt anymore.

"I'll deploy more teams to hunt monsters faster," Zeno said to appease the issue about Hirayon's room renovation.

When Hanan just nodded, Zeno celebrated in his mind. He was cheering quietly when they suddenly heard a loud sound of a Horn in the distance.

Hirayon looked up, surprised, while the two adults just looked outside the car's window. When Hirayon saw where they were looking, he walked towards a window, and his mouth opened at sight.

A few kilometers in the distance, Hirayon could see a large region surrounded by water, making it seem like it was floating in the sea. It was smaller than the other territories, but the buildings were high. They were decorated creatively with sculptures of corals and waves, imitating the sea. It was also primarily white, contrary to Hirayon's expectation that it would be full of hues of blue.

His father informed him in Fantasy Park that they would no longer travel and use a portal to reach their next destination, the Water Clan Territory.

He got excited imagining what the Water Territory would look like and the portal, so he stayed on the sofa, but the exhaustion from the exhilarating rides made him fall asleep.

He felt pretty sad that he couldn't see the portal, but now that Hirayon saw the territory, he felt excited again. The region looked clean and serene. It looked less technologically advanced than other territories, but to Hirayon, it added to the serenity of the place. Aside from the sculptures, Hirayon noticed that some buildings had a giant ball made of glass at the very top. Above it, flags were flapping wildly with the wind.

"What are those?" Hirayon asked and pointed at the giant glass that was shining brightly because of the sun.

Zeno looked at what Hirayon was pertaining. "That is a light orb. It came from the Light Clan and could illuminate five hundred miles. Looking at it from the sky, you can see it was positioned at the outer part of the territory, making a circle. It was put there so that we could illuminate the whole region and the sea at night. It could also repel sea monsters because they don't approach light."

"Is it really bright?" Hirayon asked, curious about what it would look like in the dark.

"Extremely bright. The previous chiefs had to put them at the top of the high towers because there were cases before that blinded oddities. But don't worry, the orb is safe now as it is secured by the Mind Clans' technology," Zeno answered.

When the horn was heard again, Hirayon looked for the source and saw a white tower similar to those with light orbs above, but instead of an orb, it had a giant horn that curved a little at the tip. Below it was a gate that seemed like the entrance to the city.

"Why are they blowing the horn?"

"It is to inform everyone of the arrival of the chief. They don't usually blow it that hard, but I think there is another reason," Zeno said with a smile, mumbling his last sentence.

Although he wasn't informed about this, he could guess what the clan residents' were planning.

"What do you think?" Hanan asked. They watched Hirayon expectantly as the child looked at the whole region.

"It looked serene and peaceful," Hirayon answered, watching the buildings get closer, looking more massive.

"That's right! The Water Clan has one of the most peaceful and largest territories out of all clans," Zeno proudly said.

"The largest?" Hirayon asked with apparent confusion. He was sure that out of all the territories they visited, this was the smallest of them all.

"Yes. Oh, you must be confused. That was just half of the residential region. The other half was underneath in the sea. We are the Water Clan, after all," Zeno said nonchalantly, surprising Hirayon.

"Under the sea?" Hirayon asked, his eyes widening so much that Hanan couldn't help but chuckle.

"There are five cities in our clan. Three were situated on top, and two were beneath the island. As water Oddities could breathe underwater, our ancestors decided to build cities underneath in case of emergency. They were used as a refuge before when there were a lot of wars between the clans, but now they are used as residential and entertainment. At the top of the island were mostly offices for easier access to other clan oddities visiting the city."

"A city underneath," Hirayon muttered in so much wonder. His eyes were gleaming with so much interest.

"What you'll see outside the windows would be fishes and other marine animals. Sometimes there is also a pod of whales who decided to visit."

Hirayon's heart beat loudly with excitement. As he lived in the mountains, he never saw marine animals or even the sea. He only saw a few illustrations of what it looked like in the books he read.

"you can also swim with them," Hanan suggested when he saw Hirayon's expression.

"I can? How?" Hirayon asked.

Hanan smiled at him. "You can always go out in the sea, but for now, I suggest you spend your time in the marine sanctuary under our protection. There, we take care of fish and other marine animals."

"I could play with them?"

"Of course. But make sure that there is personnel to guide you as you still need to become adept at caring for them. If you want, you could also have a pet. Other than marine animals, we also take care of water Auveasts.

Hirayon's already widened eyes widened more. He hadn't even seen the region yet, but he was already flabbergasted by the things on it. Because of that, he got more eager and excited. He was only looking forward to the library before, but now he has a lot of things he wants to see. What's more, Hanan said that he could have a pet.

"Can I really have an Auveast?" He asked.

He read in the storybooks that Auveasts are evolved animals who live in places rich in Aura. Their appearance is similar to normal animals but has minor to significant differences depending on how rich their surrounding area is. They have abilities and could even communicate with oddities if their connection is strong. One story he read depicted a magical Auveast who became a hero together with an oddity. It left him an excellent impression of the Auveasts because he had been seeing savage monsters with no qualms about attacking and killing.

"Yes. You can even have more than one. But we need to make sure that they won't harm you. They can be aggressive sometimes, so they must also be trained well. Have you seen one before?" Hanan said and asked.

"Nope," Hirayon answered.

"There wasn't one in the forest of the Earth Territory?" Zeno asked.

Hirayon shook his head.

"That's weird. There should be one, even though it wasn't too deep in the forest. Maybe because there were a lot of monsters," Zeno mumbled.

"I'll let you pick one once we get home. For now, look outside," Hanan said, urging Hirayon to look outside the window.

When Hirayon did, he saw that they had just entered the large stone gate, and when they got through, Hirayon saw people outside the buildings waving a white flag with a blue symbol in the middle. The illustration looked like a water orb with streams of water swirling intricately.

The oddities were cheering while looking at the hover car. They were celebrating the arrival of Hirayon, who was already known as Hanan's son. Even though Hanan has not made any announcements yet, people have seen a lot of pictures and posts in Odidily about the group's travels.

They even saw a picture of the two getting out of the Oddity System building, and some had already connected the dots that Hirayon was registered. With that, the clan members didn't stop themselves from assuming. They shouted and cheered.

"Young leader!"

"Water Clan! Water Clan!"

"Young master!"

"Future clan leader!"

"Wow, they're really celebrating your arrival, young master," Zeno pointed out, delighted by the surprise welcome the residents did. Hanan was also looking outside with a content expression. He felt proud as the chief and Hirayon's father as well.

The child looked outside with a dazed expression. The hover car slowed down a bit, so he could clearly see the happy faces of the oddities.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because you're important to the clan," Hanan answered, then put his hand on the child's shoulder.

"To them, you are the symbol of a bright future for the territory. I know they are already assuming that you're the next clan leader, but I want you to remember this, Hirayon. No matter what you want to do in the future, I will always support you. So don't be pressured and live your life as you want."

Hirayon looked up at his father and saw his rare smile, making the already good-looking chief more striking.

Hanan squeezed Hirayon's shoulder a little. Its warmth was bringing the child to feel unfamiliar emotions. "Be happy, Hirayon. That's all I want for you."

R E H I L I Y A