Erik's POV
As I entered the forest, I took my time to look around carefully and observe my surroundings. The place was incredibly dark and dreary, as if someone had deliberately and intentionally made it that way for some specific purpose.
I'd made the decision to enter this mysterious place alone, without any of the girls. After I finished whatever this task or investigation was, I would bring the girls along with me. As I walked deeper and deeper into the forest, I noticed something quite interesting and unusual.
There were strange creatures everywhere I looked—they were clearly alive but they were not human or dragon, nor were they any species that I'd encountered before in all my travels. Maybe they were something completely new and unknown.
If that was indeed the case, I'll have to make sure to add them to Novus at some point. I can't have anything that might be threatening to the people running wild and uncontrolled throughout the lands.
I suddenly sensed a strong and powerful magic signature emanating from somewhere nearby.
"Hm, around the 6th rank, I would estimate," I muttered quietly to myself.
Not bad at all. Someone with that level of power would be quite valuable to have as an ally or to keep an eye on. I rushed toward the presence with urgency. Soon enough, I found them.
When I finally saw them with my own eyes, I realized that something was definitely off about this situation. There were two people standing there—a young girl with beautiful golden hair and a mysterious woman with prominent horns protruding from her head.
Quite an unexpected and surprising find, to say the least. The girl seemed to be cursed with some kind of dark magic. I'll keep watching them carefully and observing from a distance to see if she's dangerous or poses any kind of threat.
As they talked and conversed with each other near the small pool of water, I continued watching intently and listening closely to their conversation. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a crow cawed loudly behind me, breaking the silence.
The witch instantly and immediately turned around in my direction.
"A man," she shouted with alarm and immediately cast a spell without hesitation.
An orb of green light rushed toward me with incredible speed and hit me head-on with full force.
Boom.
I blinked in surprise and mild confusion. The magic was unique and different from anything I'd seen before, though it had absolutely no effect on me whatsoever. The smoke cleared gradually, revealing that I was completely unharmed and standing there without a scratch.
Her eyes widened significantly in shock and disbelief.
"H-how is that even possible?" she asked with a trembling voice.
I walked forward slowly and carefully inspected her from head to toe. Then my eyes froze and locked onto her staff that she was holding.
That's one of the ancient artifacts I've been searching for. I looked up at her face. Seeing her instinctively protect and shield the girl behind her, I started thinking deeply about my options.
Should I just take the staff by force right now? I don't know exactly how strong the subjects and followers of the sorceress Vor actually are. Should I risk it and engage in combat?
Decisions, decisions. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully a few times, weighing my options, and she suddenly covered herself defensively. My mouth twitched slightly in annoyance.
Did I really look like that kind of person who would harm them? Well, whatever the case may be. Since she isn't proving to be that dangerous or hostile at the moment, I'll leave for now and figure it out later when I have more information.
I turned around and left the area. Maybe I should place a summon here to watch over the staff and monitor the situation. I don't see any harm or risk in doing that.
With that plan in mind, I summoned a saber. I pointed directly to the woman, and it nodded in understanding of its mission.
It's just a rank one summon, but with my near-infinite mana reserves it would never truly die permanently—it would recover and regenerate immediately no matter what. So if she tried to kill it or destroy it, it would do absolutely nothing in the long run.
The summon walked beside her calmly. She looked surprised and startled and tried to attack it, but the saber just stood there unflinchingly and took the hit without any reaction.
It exploded into particles, then reformed and reconstructed itself and stood there like nothing had happened at all. Well, I'd better get going and continue with my original mission.
Leaving the scene behind me and heading back to camp where the others were waiting, I started cooking and preparing food. The sun was already rising over the horizon, so I needed to hurry up and finish.
Luna suddenly ran out of the tent with a big smile on her face.
"Mate, look at this!" she shouted excitedly.
I put the food down carefully and turned to face her. My eyes widened significantly as I looked at her stomach and noticed the change.
"W-what, but how is this possible?" I stuttered in complete shock.
How was this even possible? We just did it last night and it's already showing. The two others came out of their tents, and seeing Luna's bulging stomach, they were equally surprised too.
"I forgot to tell you something important—dragons normally have a pregnancy period that lasts for a month or two before the eggs leave the body and need to be laid. Then they need to be incubated carefully. With the increase in speed from god energy and strong bloodlines, the already quick pregnancy is even faster than normal," Diastasi explained in detail.
I paused at her words for a moment, then laughed heartily. My grand plan to spread my children throughout the world can truly be restarted and continued.
I rubbed my hands together eagerly and excitedly. Then I felt a sharp smack against my head. I turned to face the culprit and gave an embarrassed smile.
"What's wrong, my dear?" I asked innocently.
She looked angry and upset.
"I also want more children of my own," she said seriously and firmly.
"Me too, I want more as well," Elsa joined in and added her voice.
I froze at their words and demands. Is there any good reason not to have more children? No way—the more the merrier, right?
"Alright, let's have more children then," I said excitedly and enthusiastically.
But I might have to stop my adventures and explorations if I'm planning to have kids and be a responsible father... or I could just go on quick adventures and return every day with my teleportation ability.
I rubbed my hands together again in anticipation. But what if the kids turn out like Claude or Rune with their problematic personalities? Remembering them and their behavior, I froze and my mood soured considerably.
Hopefully that won't happen and they'll be better.
"Should we go to Berk and visit?" I asked them.
I wanted to return to Berk and visit my parents after such a long time away. I'd barely spent any quality time with them recently, and they must miss me terribly.
"Why not, that sounds good," Merida said agreeable.
Elsa nodded in agreement and Luna looked confused and uncertain. After we finished eating our breakfast, I stored everything away in my dimensional storage, grabbed them all, and teleported directly to Berk.
Appearing back in the central square of Berk, a Viking nearby noticed our arrival.
"Erik has returned home!" the man shouted in excitement and joy.
Everyone else in the vicinity heard the commotion and ran toward me eagerly. In just a few brief moments, hundreds of Vikings surrounded me completely.
"Erik, you look so big and strong now," one person said admiringly.
"Look how much you've grown and matured," another person said.
I just smiled warmly at all of them.
"Okay guys, give him some space to breathe," a familiar voice said.
The crowd moved aside and let him through the masses. It was Hiccup, my old friend. I smiled at him warmly and gave him a big hug.
"You finally decided to come back to visit us," he said.
"Of course I did," I smiled back at him.
I hadn't been back in several years now. Because of my new status and responsibilities, I'd made Hiccup the new chief of Berk to lead in my absence. He was a natural leader and got the hang of things quickly and efficiently.
Toothless was standing behind him loyally. Noticing Luna's presence, he bowed respectfully. Luna saw Toothless and walked forward with a warm smile on her face.
"Little one," she said affectionately and petted him gently.
Hiccup turned to her and smiled to himself knowingly.
"It looks like you were quite busy during your travels."
I scratched my head in embarrassment and awkwardness. I didn't know how to explain the situation with all these people here listening—it would be far too awkward and uncomfortable.
"Well, how are Mom and Dad doing these days?" I asked, changing the subject.
He sighed deeply and shook his head.
"They've been busy with their own activities," he said in a resigned tone.
I smirked to myself knowingly. Ever since they reunited years ago after being separated, they've been all lovey-dovey and romantic, so I expected something like this.
"Mom is actually a few weeks pregnant at the moment," he said casually.
My eyes widened at the surprising information.
"What? At their age and stage in life?"
"Yeah, I thought the exact same thing when I found out," he gave a slight smile.
Damn, they sure got busy indeed.
"Erik," a loud and booming voice called out.
I turned to see my father and mother approaching. They both looked remarkably young and youthful, probably because I'd given them the magical sun-kissed flower previously.
I gave them both a warm and loving hug.
"Have you two been fine and well?" I asked with genuine concern.
"I've never been better in my entire life," Father said with a broad smile.
"It seems like you're planning to have more children of your own," Mother said plainly and matter-of-factly.
I nodded in confirmation.
"It won't be long until you'll have to meet your new grandkids and welcome them," I smiled.
Clyde's POV
"Clyde, let's try that one over there," she said enthusiastically, pointing to a stall.
I turned and, seeing the stall she was indicating, I sighed wearily.
"Come on, Ariel, we've been playing games and wandering around for the last entire week. Let's just do something else for a change," I said.
She looked hesitant and uncertain.
"But I haven't played that particular game before," she said.
I sighed again.
"Fine, we can try it, but after, I need to set out to sea. The sea has been calling out to me recently for some mysterious reason," I said.
She looked happy at first, but then her mood dropped suddenly.
"What, do you really have to go away?" she asked sadly.
"I mean, not really necessarily. But the sea has gotten pretty demanding and insistent," I said.
She paused for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"Then, can I go too and come with you?" she asked hopefully.
"I don't see why not, that should be fine," I replied.
She smiled brightly.
"Alright, then let's go over there," she said and walked to the stall eagerly.
I followed behind her at a steady pace. The stall looked pretty new and freshly set up. I'd never seen it before in this area. Maybe it was just newly made and opened.
I walked up to the stall and waited patiently for the man's explanation. The man smiled cheerfully and presented a wall with a bunch of colorful balloons attached.
Then he gave us a bunch of darts to throw.
"Pop all the balloons successfully and you get a prize," he said, presenting a beautiful-looking pendant that gleamed.
He then pulled the pendant apart carefully.
"Woah, it's two pendants that can connect to each other perfectly," I muttered.
Seeing this, Ariel's eyes brightened with interest and excitement. I noticed her reaction and decided to get it for her. If she likes it that much, then it would be no problem at all. Besides, I'm an expert marksman with years of experience. I smirked to myself confidently.
I grabbed a dart firmly and threw it right at the balloon with precision. But it missed completely. I blinked a few times in confusion and tried again. And again I missed the target.
"Maybe I'm just unlucky today," I muttered and tried again with more focus.
This kept going repeatedly until the 20th dart. My teeth ground against each other in frustration as not a single dart popped a balloon successfully.
I grabbed the last dart and with a forceful swing it flew and missed the wall completely, going off to the side.
"God damn it!" I roared in anger and took out my trident and threw it right at the stall with all my strength.
Boooom
A huge dust cloud enveloped the entire area. After the dust dispersed and settled, the stall was revealed to be completely destroyed and in ruins.
The stall owner looked absolutely petrified and just passed me the pendant without saying anything at all.
Calming down and regaining my composure, I sighed to myself. Good thing I held back at the last moment or else something really bad would have happened.
I took out a pouch of gold coins and threw it to the man.
"Sorry about that outburst, here's some compensation for the damage," I said.
The man's lifeless eyes slowly moved to the pouch. Then his eyes widened dramatically and he started laughing while crying at the same time.
Damn, is he okay mentally? I felt a gentle tug at my sleeve and turned around. Ariel looked quite stunned and speechless.
"Cough, sorry for the outburst and display," I said and gave her the pendant.
Her shock turned to happiness as she carefully separated the two pendants and gave one piece to me.
I took the pendant into my hand and looked back at her. She was slightly blushing and didn't look me in the eyes directly.
"Is this a confession of feelings?" I asked.
She nodded affirmatively.
Erik's POV
"I want to eat giant crab right now," Luna raged, jumping around the village frantically.
"Luna, I told you repeatedly that I don't know where the giant crab is located," I said.
I ran to her quickly and grabbed her. It was dangerous for her to be running around like this while pregnant with eggs.
"Giant crab!" she shouted insistently.
"Erik, I strongly suggest you fulfill her request. During pregnancy, women need to get their needs met properly," Diastasi said.
Sigh, fine then. Give me information on this crab creature.
—Giant Man-eating Crab—
Rank-50
A massive crab over 50 feet tall. Only one is left in the entire world.
Only one remaining? And why was it so far away from here? Sigh, this is going to take a long time to reach. Looking at her now, it seems like she's going to give birth any day now.
I stood up with determination.
"I'll go now and find it," I comforted her.
She seemed to calm down gradually. She rubbed her red and puffy eyes. Damn, hopefully she matures soon and becomes more reasonable. But since she's already so old and still isn't mature, it might take longer than expected.
I sighed and flew into the sky at high speed. Hopefully the crab isn't hiding somewhere difficult to find.
A day later
As I flew through the clouds at high altitude, I frowned. I'd been flying continuously for a whole day and night and had only reached two-thirds of the destination, but I guess it's better than nothing at all.
I suddenly felt one of my summons being destroyed and its connection severed. I stopped midair and looked through my mana pool to investigate.
It was the saber I'd left with that witch two days back. I frowned deeply. I should check it out immediately. It might be something important or dangerous.
Without a second thought or hesitation, I teleported to the forest. Looking around carefully, I couldn't sense her nearby in the immediate area. Neither did I sense the girl anywhere close.
I extended my reach and finally sensed them in the distance. I flew into the sky and turned toward the direction where I sensed them.
Hopefully it isn't the underlings of that powerful sorceress Vor causing trouble.