“So that’s how it is…” Ira looked at Rhys’ darkened expression while thinking. He didn’t have much to say on the subject.

There were a few moments of silence before Cecelia wiped her tears and spoke, “It was our fault Rhys. No matter how you look at it and for that reason, we never even thought of blaming you.”

Piers saw that Rhys’ face didn’t lighten and began to speak, “Sorry, we were inconsiderate of you and your guests by bringing up bad memories. I’ll go look for your brother and sister, they'll be happy to see you.” He stood up and excused himself with a bitter smile.

“...You should know that you saved many people with the money you gave us, Rhys. You’ve noticed how the town looks, right? Your father invested heavily in different trading companies and helped the town grow to where it is,” Cecelia said as she reached out to touch her daughter's hand.

Rhys’ expression eased, but she pulled her hand back quickly before her mother could touch it. She hesitated a few moments before writing, [I don’t want to hurt you.]

Ira watched the scene with detachment, something felt wrong to him. He couldn’t imagine having a family like Rhys’ no matter how much he tried. The only thing that came to his mind was the day his parents killed him and his time in the Void. Certain images flashed through his eyes and he entered an odd state. That’s why his surroundings became muted and transpired without his attention.

As Rhys and her mother continued their heartwarming exchange, it was Harper who noticed something was wrong with Ira after ten or so minutes passed.

“Ira?” Harper called out to him.

Rhys looked over to see Ira’s empty expression with completely indifferent eyes, his face was so still that he seemed dead. It was nothing like his usual self and was more than alarming. Just by observing his face, Rhys felt a sense of pain and wanted to help him.

“Iraaaaaaa.” Harper poked his face in annoyance.

Ira blinked a few times before laughing as if nothing happened, “What?”

If Avery was present her anger would’ve gone past the point of what she could control and she may have even killed Rhys on the spot. She was oddly sensitive to Ira’s emotional state and would be able to tell what caused his brief change. He had told Avery about his origins and even if she couldn’t imagine his experiences, she understood what it meant to him. That being so, she wouldn’t be able to tolerate someone causing those old memories to surface.

“You made a weird face,” Harper poked his cheeks again. She was worried about Ira but was unaware of how to describe it.

“I was just thinking about stuff.” Ira smiled, but his words weren’t convincing.

Cecelia picked up on the mood and assumed Ira had experienced his own loss, “Do you have any other family members, Ira?”

“A wife...and a daughter who isn’t born yet.” Ira smiled brightly at the mention of his daughter before lifting his teacup and drinking the rest of it.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what about your parents?” As Cecelia finished her question she watched as the teacup in Ira’s hand shattered while he maintained his smile.

Ira didn’t even seem to realize what happened as he answered, “They’re dead.” His voice was devoid of any real sorrow or grief and was distant as if it didn't relate to him in any way.

“Oh,” Ira looked at the cup that was crushed to small pieces in his hand and shook his head apologetically, “...I didn’t mean to break it, I’ll pay for it.”

“N-No it was quite alright, forgive me if I brought up something unpleasant.” Cecelia slightly bowed.

“Then, I’ll be stepping out for a few moments.” Ira placed the small bits of the cup onto the table before standing up.

Harper began to rise but Ira stopped her, “You can stay with Rhys, I won’t be too long.”

In response, Harper pouted, but Ira didn’t wait any longer and vanished from sight much to Cecelia’s surprise.

Rhys wanted to call out to him and even attempted to write something down in order to stop him, but he was gone before she could finish the first word.

“Sorry, Rhys.” Cecelia didn’t know how to react and could only voice her regret. She could tell that Rhys cared for Ira a great deal, but due to her own actions, he left.

…

Ira appeared in the Great Forest and exhaled a long sigh before he leaped forward. The ground under him shattered, but he paid it no mind as he continued forward. In a few minutes, Ira had traversed deep within the Great Forest but showed no signs of stopping. He jumped into the air and black mist surrounded him and shifted into his Wolf form before landing heavily.

Ira continued on for some time before he noticed the scenery shifting. The somewhat plain Great Forest became brighter and more vibrant.

Ira, as the Black Wolf, looked around and realized that he was in the territory of the Elves. Little forest sprites flew around freely while majestic Elk drank from a clear spring. That was until they noticed the yellow eyes of a giant wolf staring at them. They scurried away but Ira appeared in front of them with wisps of black mist drifting away from him. He lunged forward and grabbed one between his teeth before crushing it.

The unfortunate Elk wasn’t able to make a sound before it turned into a red paste and absorbed by Ira. He wasted no time in consuming the other Elk who were too slow to escape before he moved on.

In the Elven Territory, the Great Forest looked more like a utopia and Ira found it strange that he made it in without notice.

“Bad dog!” An incredibly small person with wings flew in front of Ira with an angry face.

Vines rose from the ground in order to restrict him and wrapped around his body.

“You can’t hurt them!”

Ira looked at the fairy in front of him without much of a reaction. He opened his jaws and moved toward it, but even more, vines appeared and wrapped him up.

“No! Stupid dog! Bad dog!” The Fairy landed on his snout and shook her finger.

Ira took a step forward while using his nullification and the vines began to rip causing the surrounding trees to shake.

“Stop!” The fairy cried out, but Ira no longer paid her no any attention.

“You would do well to leave, Evil Spirit.” A woman’s voice rang out as a woman with pale greenish skin rose from the small spring. Dark leaves covered her body and a pair of branches that looked similar to antlers stuck out of her head. She fit the description of the legendary dryads that were the protectors of the Great Forest.

Ira turned to look back at the woman but didn’t seem fearful at all.

“Get away from it,” The Dryad instructed the fairy who nodded before flying to her side.

“I was a little hungry,” Ira laughed which caused the Fairy and the Dryad to look surprised.

They assumed that Ira was a spiritual being which made sense considering the circumstances. The deeper area of the Great Forest was protected by what was a sort of detection barrier. Anything that wasn’t of the Forest or was harmful couldn’t enter without raising the defenses unless it was a powerful spirit.

Ira undid his Wolf form and removed the large vines around him.

“Human...No, Lycanthrope? No...What are you?” The Dryad asked with visible caution.

“Appeased,” Ira said to himself.

He planned on killing a lot of things while in the Great Forest, but the Fairy and the Dryad provided him a brief distraction. His desire to kill was satiated for the moment so he decided there was no need to continue.

“...Why do you trespass here?” The Dryad sensed the implications behind his words but still wanted to know his true intentions.

“Stupid dog!” The Fairy stuck her tongue out at him.

“You remind me of someone.” Ira thought of Harper who displayed childish behavior from time to time.

“You can see her?” The Dryad was shocked as she realized something.

Unless a fairy revealed themselves, most people would be unable to notice. Those who were evil would never be able to see them. Since Ira killed a few Elk it should’ve meant he wasn’t a good person, at least by conventional standards.

“I can see her just fine and is it really trespassing if no one told me that this was private land?” Ira shrugged.

He looked around and smiled, “Is it true about the World Tree?”

As the Dryad looked into his yellow eyes that stirred with interest she felt as if she was facing a huge threat, without a word of warning, the scenery shifted and thousands of vines turned into a makeshift wall and surrounded them.

“Those who covet the World Tree are a threat to every living being on this planet!” The Dryad became angry and was ready to attack Ira who didn’t even blink at her display of aggression.

He laughed cheerfully as he scratched his head in a harmless manner, “It was just a question, I don’t need it after all. I’m in good health and I don’t think it’ll make me stronger.”

It was clear he wasn’t worried about the Dryad at all and if she wasn’t aware of him killing several Elk a few moments ago she may have been convinced by his demeanor.

“Aren’t you giving some of that sap to humans? No need to become so hostile over a simple question.” Ira approached with no sign of attacking.

“Plus, if I really wanted it, you couldn’t stop me by yourself. Though there’s probably more of you around and this forest…makes you stronger. I could kill a few but it’ll probably get tiresome. I bet if it was Avery she might be able to burn everything but there’s probably some defense for that too,” Ira mumbled aloud as he stopped at the edge of the spring.

“This Forest will never burn.” The Dryad said confidently.

She knew that unless it was the flame of an Ancient Dragon or something of a similar level most of the plant life wouldn’t catch fire.

Ira chuckled at her optimism as he shook his head, “If you didn’t appear I might’ve killed a lot of things around here, so if your goal is to protect life then you should be happy...Well, those first few Elk died before you popped up but you can’t save them all, right?”

“You’ve been here for far too long, intruder. You should leave now.” The Dryad said in a tone of warning.

“I was going anyway.” Ira smiled before he vanished from sight.

The Dryad looked relieved as the vines slowly retreated back into the ground. She had no confidence in stopping Ira if he chose to attack so it was good for her that he left without much of a fuss.

“He’s just like the humans who constantly destroy everything.” The Dryad said to herself.

“No…” The Fairy shook her head, “He’s not bad...but he’s bad.”

The Dryad didn’t understand her words but knew that Fairies were difficult to understand so she shook her head, “You should go back to your home, child.”

The Fairy responded with silence as she looked at the place where Ira last stood.

…

Thessia stood on the barren island and looked up at the clouds. If Ira’s words were true about the First-Flame’s disappointment with its descendants then it would be the end of her pride as an Ancient Dragon. She growled angrily as her scales appeared and her surroundings became hotter.

At some point, Gicae appeared behind her and approached with audible footsteps.

“What do you want?” Thessia spat.

“I’ve just come to inquire about your progress,” Gicae said as he reached for the spot where his other arm used to be.

“It’s finished, I’ve called all of them here.” Thessia slowly calmed herself before pointing to the clouds.

Gicae narrowed his eyes before he finally saw something. A silhouette of a flying beast broke through the clouds and lowered its altitude. It was obviously a dragon which roared to announce its attendance before circling the island.

A few moments later and another dragon appeared behind it, followed by another until there were dozens of dragons in the sky. Some were small in size and weak to the point where a few hundred humans with proper equipment could take it down. Others held the capability to raze cities and were only able to be stopped by Valkyries or something at a similar level.

Gicae had a look of satisfaction as he watched dragons fill the sky above him. His clairvoyance let him know that something was to happen soon and Ira would be there. If he showed a sign of reaching a point they couldn’t contend with then an ambush would be waiting.

“Good, if you need food then ask Kesver to capture some fish.” Gicae retreated back into the cave as Thessia remained silent.

She formed her own plans, she wanted to contend with Ira and prove the First-Flame wrong and to restore her damaged pride. It was something Gicae or the others wouldn’t understand. To be spoken ill of by the First-Flame was the highest disgrace she could be given.

Thessia clenched her fist as a breath of fire escaped her mouth, the dragons seemed to sense her mood and roared loudly.