"Vision of Everland." He whispered, his vision shifting away from his own eyes, things so ancient they barely worked anymore, and settling down upon a certain cave very, very far away.

He couldn't see particularly well at this distance, his spell only allowing for a maximum of 1000 kilometers of distance for perfect vision. This was far, far beyond that.

Still, he was able to get a general picture of the situation. When he'd felt his spell activating and then collapsing, he'd worried something might have gone wrong, but luckily, it seemed as though everything had gone off well.

The spell had a day-long lag until it reached him, meaning that if something went wrong, there would be very little he could do. And even if he knew in time, he was still too far away, and way too old to go help out his little Shelly.

When he saw what could only be a Colossal Serpent within his dear daughter's cave, he felt his heart seize in panic. Although it was only a first stage, first evolution monster, it was still exceedingly dangerous even for hardened veterans of war. For his little girl who'd been asleep for so long, it would mean certain death.

However, fate seemed to smile down at him. Instead of finding his little girl within the monster's stomach, he found her silently sitting upon her bed, just as untouched by the claws of time as she had been twenty years ago.

He didn't regret what he'd done, but he desperately wished there would have been another way. Something that wouldn't have doomed his beloved daughter like this.

The Colossal Snake slithered around his daughter's room, curiously poking her toys and shells with it's nose. It's eyes were a gloomy yellow, as typical of the snakeling genotype. However, these eyes, much to his suprise, weren't the eyes of a mindless monster. Although well hidden beneath a veil of emotionlessness, it's eyes contained an unmistakable intelligence as it prodded things, moving with a grace and purpose that normal beasts simply couldn't match.

This was different. Sure, he'd seen intelligent monsters. Lots of them, in fact, but never so low in the evolutionary chain, and never were they as friendly as this one seemed to be.

This was only further proven when he saw his dear daughter approach the snake with little to no caution. Instead of reacting violently, the snake simply lowered it's large head down to her level, and allowed his daughter to cast her telepathy spell.

The telepathy spell Shelly had learned oh so long ago was the most basic of basic communication spells. Through his own spell, he could see her trembling mana being held firm by the monster's soulpower. He couldn't hear whatever they were telling each other, but seeing just this much was enough.

He silently thanked the Sea God for his kindness in providing his little one with such a protector. Monsters might be unreliable and brutal, but they were rarely treacherous, and he knew firsthand just how easily his daughter could wrap even the most hardened of men and women around her little finger without even meaning to.

Feeling his mana begin to run low, he cut off the spell, wincing as his vision returned to his own eyes. With his age, his mana supply was drastically falling year by year. Even though he might have been the single highest-levelled merman around, he never did manage to cast off the shackles of time like some other old monsters did.

He sighed, feeling his whole body trembling from the difficult and tiring spell he just cast. He limped off, feeling curious presences approaching. He didn't wish to reveal himself. Not yet. Not when his last reason for living was so close to casting off the shackles he himself had been forced to put on her.