After leaving the Abyss, Arslan took a breath and said, "Tell Damon to gather everyone in the open courtyard. It's time." Suddenly, the shadows around him flickered, and everything returned to normal.
Arslan gazed at the castle's backyard. Without looking, he said, "Kaplan, you should go. It seems our trip has been hastened." With that, Kaplan left them behind without questioning.
Derin took a breath and said, "We are as prepared as one possibly can be. You go while I speak with the Creators to check on the preparations. They should be finished." She kissed Arslan on the lips and moved through the castle to her destination.
The Luvi Empire, through the eras, had been developing with all kinds of research. The umbrella term in their current galaxy for those who deal with these researches and productions was Creators.
As she left the castle premises, Derin wondered how much of a change their newly designed equipment would make in the galaxy. She also started reminiscing about the opportunity she had in the past.
When she was young, her favorite hobby was exploring the lands beyond the Empire. She used to believe that being engaged to someone from royalty would come with certain restrictions, so she would often go to some safer areas beyond the Empire's borders. One of the trips she took was a mix of disaster and blessing, and it would be the last time she would embark on such an adventure alone without a good reason.
After she discovered a water source in the middle of nowhere, she thought that it was a miracle. If something like a water source existed, it meant there were undiscovered resources below the earth.
However, her expectations didn't last for more than a second before a flood dragon emerged from the water with a swiftness that she, at the time, couldn't escape. Even now, she would still be helpless. Before her eyes went dark, the last thing she remembered was the dragon turning humanoid.
When she awakened, there was no grass nor the endless deserts of the Shattered Continent. Instead, she found herself in a cave, with the outside of the cave surrounded by an endless ocean. In the middle, a crimson flood dragon coiled around with an ethereal dance, whiskers penetrating the water with a grace that would put any being in doubt whether it was safe or deadly. After a few seconds, Derin heard a deep, yet feminine voice say, “Your luck seems out of this world. A powerful Immortal seemed to have left his will within you. I wanted to eat you, and since I didn’t, I can’t risk showing my existence to someone like that. So, how will you guarantee that I leave you… intact?” Dragons were always direct unless it involved their hoard.
Upon hearing this, Derin couldn’t help but shiver. She would have never expected to suffer from something like this. Arslan's speech about trust came to her mind as her thoughts ran wild.
She also didn’t think that her fiancée’s father had left his will or whatever this being had mentioned. She also had the thought that Arslan had saved her for a second time, even if this one was not a direct help from him.
Derin, in a few seconds, thought about the past and future. She, on this day, finally figured out that no one had ever ordered her to do anything. Arslan had made a marriage proposal. She neither denied nor confirmed the marriage. Previously, she had thought that she wasn’t given any option. Her only choice seemed to her to be a woman who would be stuck in that castle of theirs and smile, be a proper lady, and do whatever an Empress would do.
After realizing her immaturity, she decided to spend more time thinking about how to overcome her misleading thoughts. She had always been open to new experiences, and this was just another opportunity for growth. When Derin returned from her thoughts, she looked up at the giant dragon but didn't refer to it as a flood dragon, as she knew some dragons could be temperamental. "Wow, this is my first time seeing a dragon!" she exclaimed, choosing to act like a fan of this divine creature, which wasn't entirely untrue.
Bloodlines showed a being’s status in the most basic but fundamental form. Although the being in front of her was not a True Dragon, she could sense she was still a dragon with purity not losing to one. True Dragons were the darlings of the chaos, but ancient beings of their species discovered that it was not the best thing to focus on the True aspect after noticing the progress and civilizations of other races. So, they ordered their younger generations to mate with chosen creatures to try out different species. Only the Dragon Princess, the only daughter of the Primogenitor, refused.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
As for how a flood dragon came to be, the Princess of the True Dragon, who was the sole daughter of the Primordial Dragon, was supposedly seduced by a river. When a river had been exposed to certain energies, it started gaining sentience, and it would not be the first land to gain sentience. This river, upon noticing this Dragon Princess, who had scales made out of seven colors, fell in love with her upon seeing her humanoid form. After comprehending the ways of humans and learning True Dragons can have similar forms to them, it had chosen to have a male form with seven shades of blue.
When the Dragon Princess fought a sibling of hers, she fell into the river, and the river, later known as Aqua, healed and treated her.
After being submerged in his true body, the river, for a long time, she became pregnant. This marked the birth of the first Flood Dragon. The Dragon Princess shamefully begged her father for advice, and from him, she learned that Aqua was a worthy mate for her, as he was blessed and known as the first Demon bestowed with sentience. The beings that would similarly come after him would rarely have the same noble background because he possessed the Divinity of Water Demons, a Progenitor status that merged the Water Element and Demon Race. There could be other Demon Progenitors with different Elements and Concepts, but never again a Water and Demon Progenitor.
After learning this and noticing that their daughter from that man had no lesser status than her own, she finally relented and had many more children through the times, since she noticed her brothers were already ahead of her. Aqua gladly used every position he comprehended from humans that supposedly raised the birthrate. He was an enlightened demon, after all.
While reminiscing about a book Derin had read at her fiancé's castle, she also remembered that every dragon-kin possessed memories inherited from their divine ancestors, which made them incredibly powerful. These memories include every path their ancestors had taken, even though they were obsessed with hoarding raw resources, that began to change.
According to legend, a Draconic Human named Overgeared Dragon once used ten divine equipment in a fight against his ancestors and emerged victorious. This event inspired many dragons to start creating their own treasures for their hoard. Looking to her left, she noticed a treasure that was close to having divinity, which meant that the dragon in front of her was capable of something that not many in this galaxy could do.
Right at that moment, the dragon opened her eyes for the first time. With shades of black and gold, she unleashed something hard to grasp for mortals. Water stilled, her presence rejecting laws that enveloped her, while also embracing her. From the descriptions, it was Divinity that was in the process of finalization. This meant this dragon was already a Demigod! However, even though she was at this stage, the Apotheosis, which is the ascension process to Godhood, was not so easy.
The Immortal stage was a strange phase for cultivators because it pushes them to rely on themselves. They became self-sustained. In the beginning, it would start with no longer requiring air or breath to sustain themselves, to being completely self-sufficient in the last stage, being immune to the effects of time and space.
Barut, when they met in the abyss, for example, had already taken half a step into the 9th stage of the Immortal Realm, the Eternal Independence, after comprehending the necessary Time Element that left the Space Element to fully become one. Normally, others would start with Space, then Time, but this showed Barut had something that made him comprehend Time first! And he was not so far away from comprehending Space and becoming Peak Immortal at the Eternal Independence, with only the Demigod stage in between achieving Divinity! This showed how talented he was.
As this being that frightened Derin peered into her soul, she had second doubts about how to get benefits, but it was all ruined with the last realization. She knew his father-in-law was powerful, but he definitely wasn’t near the peak of the Immortal stage, let alone the Demigod stage at that time.
She could only make the dragon define the outcome. This was why strength matters, no matter the situation! You can never have too much strength! She, at the 3rd stage of the Mortal Realm, Unity of Mind and Flesh, finally noticed this, which put the last puzzle on her psyche that was lacking in terms of Mind, to reach the 4th stage, Essence of Vitality!
The Dragon, upon noticing the changes, raised an imaginary eyebrow, which in her case, meant one millimeter of her eyes widening with whiskers dancing. Not even noticeable to Mortal eyes, with exceptions to very special ones. Like the future Arslan, Derin, and their team.
The Dragon seemed to have changed her mind about something, as she began coiling and uncoiling while waiting for Derin to take advantage of this opportunity. Despite being only 16 years old, she had already reached this stage in her cultivation. From now on, progress will be faster as the upcoming stages required more accumulation than comprehension. This was why cultivators who reached the 4th stage were considered talented enough to at least reach the 8th stage, while others do not have a chance of surpassing the 4th stage. Although there were other methods, nothing beats the natural talent one was born with, which determined how much progress one could make.
After Derin regained her senses, the Dragon stopped coiling and proposed, "Let's make a deal!"