Deep within the Great Forest were all sorts of predatory monsters that stood above all else. Inside the territories of those predators, they were undoubtedly the top of the food chain, or at least one would think.

A Lion, standing around ten feet tall, with a white goat’s head growing from its back and a red snake for a tail sprinted forward. It moved with a complete focus almost as if it were hunting prey, but nothing was in front of it, that’s because it was the one being hunted. Behind it a dark silhouette lept forward, each time covering a considerable amount of distance.

The Chimera roared and once again increased its speed while the snake coiled up preparing to strike at any time.

“Listen, I just need like--a little blood, only a little.” It came as no surprise that the silhouette was Ira. He closed in on the Chimera with little effort but didn’t attack.

As if voicing its disagreement the goat opened its mouth and spat a fireball out. Ira quickly teleported out of the way and reappeared right above the Chimera.

“Fine.” He said as he landed on its back.

Before it could react, Ira grabbed the goat’s head and snapped its neck, eliciting a cry from the Lion. It stumbled heavily and fell, crashing into the ground and sliding into a nearby tree. Ira had long since hopped off and landed in the snow.

Ira sighed deeply out of boredom and moved toward the Chimera that was still crying out in pain, all the while resting a hand on the pommel of his sword. When he moved into close range, the cries stopped and the Lion’s eyes showed fierceness, the snake struck lightning fast. Ira tapped the pommel causing the gravity to increase in his vicinity, smashing the snake’s head into the ground. Although it wasn’t a continuous weight pushing down, a single moment was enough for Ira to raise his leg and stomp on its head, easily shattering its scales. The Lion seemed to feel every bit of it as it whimpered heavily.

“I told you.” Ira shrugged as he moved closer to its body. Without wasting any time he drew his sword and made a small cut on the Lion’s body, causing it to cry out again. A small stream of blood poured like a faucet and dyed the white snow red. Ira cupped his hands and caught some before drinking it.

“Yeah--No, that’s...That’s not good at all.” He voiced his distaste for it but continued to gather several more handfuls.

After finishing them, he felt his body temperature increase as his entire body throbbed bringing on a numbing sensation. Ira closed his eyes and inhaled before exhaling, he opened his eyes and stared into the Chimera’s eyes with a smile. Ira wasn’t consuming the blood of an animal just for kicks, his sole purpose was his genetic mutation. It was possible for him to gain some traits of other living beings so long as he consumed something of theirs, be it blood or flesh. Without bringing any syringes, Ira could only drink blood, much to his disapproval. The Chimera could be described as the perfect predator in some aspects, magic, poison, and pure strength. The only thing Ira was likely to receive was a resistance to poison. To gain resistance or an increase to magic, his body would have to be able to utilize mana. To gain more strength, the Chimera would have to be far stronger. Ira seemed to realize both of those things to some extent, so he wasn’t putting his full effort into hunting it.

“Was that so hard?” Ira asked. While the Chimera had considerable intelligence, it wasn’t able to understand human speech, so it could only look at Ira cluelessly. Ira’s bloodline was lycanthropic in nature which allowed him to somewhat communicate basic intentions through animals and others with similar bloodlines, but complicated things were impossible to share.

All of a sudden a branch snapped, which caused the Chimera to focus elsewhere. A group of large wolves, the size of grown men, slowly crept up with a ravenous look. The winter in the Great Forest was hard for all predators since the competition was fierce, those that were even slightly weaker than the rest could only suffer. If there was a chance to take out a fellow rival they wouldn’t hesitate to rip them apart like...well, like hungry wolves.

The Wolves kept their distance, not out of fear from the Chimera, but for Ira. His Bloodline seemed caused their blood to stir instilling discomfort and fear into each of them. The leader of the pack stepped out and lowered its head in a show of surrender, the rest quickly followed. They waited for Ira to eat his portion and hoped that they could perhaps get a portion.

Ira looked at the Wolves that were far thinner than normal and immediately understood what they wanted.

“Not my problem anymore,” Ira said as he gave the Chimera a look as if to say it was out of his hands.

Seeing, or rather feeling, Ira’s approval the Wolves moved in, carefully avoiding Ira and encircled the Chimera. Seeing the Wolves that would normally never go near it, move in to attack the Chimera roared angrily, but its attempt at a show of force did nothing to stop the starving animals from going closer. The Wolves nipped at its exposed areas and were met with swipes of its claws, but eventually made way. They rushed it and began tearing into its body without it being able to resist at all.

“Seems fine to me.” Ira nodded his head with a strange satisfaction before continuing on his way. Other than potentially destroying the balance of an ecosystem, he still wanted to find something else that could contribute to his genetic mutation.

….

Elsewhere.

The three new Valkyries, Ustia, Lua, and Myr sat down over a cup of tea with Lauren and Avery.

“Your mother was the greatest warrior I’ve ever known,” Ustia said with a nostalgic gaze as she thought of the days before and after the collapse. It had to be said, The Collapse didn’t happen all at once. It was like a small fire in the middle of a dry forest. Right up until the end, the Higher races fought tooth and nail to survive as the world somewhat literally fell apart.

“My mother…” Lauren started, “...How is it that you became separated?” she asked.

Ustia and the others showed a shift in expression with a flash of untraceable hostility.

“We had differing views on how we should proceed as the last of our race. We gathered with a few other races while she went out on her own.” Ustia explained as all traces of sentiment became wiped away. Lauren’s question served as a reminder as to why she even traveled to the Kingdom in the first place.

“As much as I could speak of the past, I’m here about another matter,” Ustia said.

Though Lauren wanted to ask more she could only acquiesce and let Ustia continue.

“Not so long ago, there was an event that caused the undoing of the shackles that were placed on every living being in this world. Since you were a lot closer to where it took place, we were wondering if you know the one responsible for it.” Ustia finished and then took a sip from her cup. She didn’t believe that Lauren had any idea, so she wasn’t hard pressed on finding any real answers. Then it was the fact that Gicae had already predicted the most likely location of the person showing up.

Avery’s body jolted ever so slightly, it would be nearly impossible to see if one had normal eyesight. For Valkyries who could track movement at incredibly high speeds? Not so much. Lua, the brown-haired Valkyrie who was already unsatisfied by Ustia lack of aggression, immediately caught it the movement. Instead of saying anything, she sported a light grin and slightly inclined as if she were watching a performance.

Lauren maintained her composure but was thinking of a response. She now knew the reason Ustia sought them out was to find Ira, that much was obvious. The problem was whether she would lie or not. To lie to them would most likely cause a hostile relationship, but to tell the truth would be to betray Ira, and that something impossible for her to do. So now she was faced with the choice of trying to find a middle ground.

“My husband,” Avery spoke up for the first time causing all eyes to fall on her. Lauren seemed to have briefly forgotten about her while she was evaluating the situation.

Ustia, Myr, and even Lua, who expected something totally different to transpire, showed confusion.

It was impossible for Lauren to steer the conversation elsewhere so she just waited for Avery to explain.

“My husband was the one responsible for the Red Moon and the Golden Aurora,” Avery said plainly. She saw her Grandmother’s hesitations and decided that she had to make the choice herself.

“What?” Ustia nearly dropped her jaw at the revelation.

“You’re telling me a human did that?” Lua asked with an undisguised disdain.

“He’s not a human,” Avery replied, ignoring the impolite tone Lua sported.

“Then what is he?” Myr questioned.

“We don’t know. In fact, I’m not even sure he knows.” Lauren interrupted.

A few moments of silence passed before Ustia spoke, “Where is he? The one who leads us, and the remainder of the Higher races, wants to speak to him.”

To Ustia, it seemed Avery held the safety of her family over her own lover as she easily gave up information. At that moment she suspected the marriage was out of convenience and that they wanted to attach themselves to someone strong.

“I can’t tell you,” Avery said.

“You don’t know where he is?” Ustia asked as she began to suspect she was right and that the marriage was only in name.

“No, I mean, I won’t tell you,” Avery said sharply, shattering all of Ustia’s suspicions. Avery didn’t even think about betraying Ira, she only gave the smallest bit of information to separate her family from any future consequences. As Ira continued to grow it would be incredibly hard to hide their connection and to blatantly lie would cause enmity between those higher races seeking him out and the Valkyries.

“What did you say?!” Lua almost shot up from her seat as her eyes brimmed with aggression.

“I’ll pass a message along to him, but I will not let him be forced into anything.” Avery maintained her stance unflinchingly.

“That choice isn’t up to you,” Myr said as she too showed aggression.

Only Lauren and Ustia stayed silent as they sized each other up silently.

“And you share the same thoughts as her?” Ustia asked.

“If that’s what she chooses, then yes,” Lauren replied.

Ustia looked into Lauren’s eyes before standing up.

“Ustia?” Lua asked with a tone that implied she was waiting for confirmation.

“We’re leaving,” Ustia responded much to the surprise of Lua and Myr.

“Ustia?” Myr questioned with clear confusion.

“I said we’re leaving,” Ustia repeated.

The two could only reluctantly stand up and follow after her.

Ustia turned to look at Avery and then Lauren before speaking, “It’s not a matter of ‘if’ we find him, it’s when. Tell him that we hold no hostile intentions…” Ustia said before she turned away. “...Yet,” she added. Whether it was seeing the Black Forest in person or being reminded or Kara, Ustia’s earlier spark had died down somewhat. For a moment she could see why Lyra no longer acted invincible and haughty.

The three departed and soon disappeared from sight within a matter of moments.

“Avery.” Lauren turned toward her granddaughter with no hint of disappointment or regret.

“Yes, Grandmother?”

“You made the correct choice.” Lauren nodded. Now there was no need to pretend they weren’t aware of Ira’s existence and possibly cause conflict, even if they were met with disapproval for sheltering him.

“Thank you.” Avery gave a small nod as she thought of Ira. She couldn’t help but wonder what Ira was doing at that very moment.

…

Hanging upside down. Ira was hanging upside down, a thick green vine was wrapped around his legs as he hung in the air.

“What the hell is this?!” Ira shouted as his body swayed. Even though he had sharp senses, he didn’t notice the vines hidden under the snow and leaves, and for some reason the more he pulled the tighter they got. Up until that moment, Ira was mostly unfamiliar with traps, so he flailed about aimlessly in the air. As for teleporting? He was in direct contact with the vine and whatever it was tied to, so he would have to pull it with him if he wanted to teleport and such a thing was impossible for him to do. It was the same reason why he never teleported with someone in hand, that and only his body could withstand it due to being ripped apart and put back together in the Void. In the end, none of that was a problem since Ira could easily lift up to 15 tons, on a good day. At least, he thought it wouldn’t have been a problem. The vines showed no sign of breaking as he exerted strength.

“Weird,” Ira muttered as he continued to swing back and forth. An incredibly light sound entered his ears, albeit barely.

“Why do you trespass on these lands, human?” A voice cut in.

“What do you mean--I’m sorry, hold on.” Ira couldn't even see the speaker as he was facing another direction. He tried to spin, but still couldn’t quite face the right way.

“Hold on,” Ira said as he continued struggling to find a way to spin around. “Why is this so hard? Are you still there? Gimme a second--this is really... It's hard to turn while I'm up here and then you're over there somewhere-- You could at least help, but instead, you want to look cool so you're sitting back and watching me…” Ira trailed off as he muttered under his breath.

“Enough games, human!” The voice grew angry.

Ira soon found himself rapidly descending toward the ground.

“Hey! You better have a good reason for-” Ira spit out snow as he raised his body before he froze.

Instead of seeing the one who caused him to be strung up, he was met with the sight of a dozen pale humanoids with pointy ears, green eyes, and pale blonde hair and even paler skin. They all wore armor that looked to be a mix of leather, wood, and thick leaves. While it looked like it wouldn’t offer much protection at a glance, there were some trees and plants in the Great Forest that were more durable than steel. In their hands were all sorts of weapons, from bows to spears and daggers, each one of them looked extremely ready to use them if there was ever a need to.

A man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward with a scowl and spoke, “I ask again, human. Why do you trespass on these lands?”