Crimson blood covered Lucifer as he sat on a scaly white carcass. His breathing laboured and strained yet a small smile on his face made all the exhaustion he felt worthwhile. His wings lay battered and torn behind him as he sat. His tail lay limp over the round body he sat on.

The Styxlion leather outfit he previously wore under his Aqua Fang armour was completely shredded. The armour lay scattered and broken around the battlefield. Along with the limp and unnaturally bent corpses of giant Serpente Beasts, Lucifer’s gear lay broken or stuck among the Beasts.

Over 35 different corpses lay strewn over the bloody scene of the death match Lucifer held with the Beasts. Ranging from the 3rd Low Order to the 4th Mid Order, the corpses numbered many. Only a legion of troops could match the combat power of those 35 different Beasts. With their mighty size and dangerous bodies, the Beasts truly held the statistical advantage over the sentient races. But against the monstrosity that is Lucifer? These fear inducing serpents became the sacrificial offering for Lucifer’s baptism of blood!

With exhaustion and being truly baptised, Lucifer allowed the warm rays of the sun to warm his tired body. Seemingly without care he lounged amid the corpses on the body of the most troublesome foe he faced. The White Quad-Horned Mamba. A champion and lieutenant of the Serpente familia. With a savage four horned head and a ivory white scale hide, the Mamba was a deadly serpent. With poison that literally ate through steel, and a body that could rival even the most robust defence, the White Quad-Horned Mamba lived up to its deadly reputation.

“Thank you Serpente, for being the first sacrifice to my Wrath.” Lucifer muttered as he raised his hand to block the sun from his eyes. He lazily opened his eyes and gazed at his scaled hand outlined by the sun's light.

“Soon the rest of the world will follow you.”

Lucifer proceeded to casually rise from his rest. With his usual set of stretches he examined his body's damages. Torn wing membrane, 3 cracked ribs, sprained ankle, and a dislocated shoulder. He checked his Mana and noticed he only had enough to bring his body to travel condition. But not enough to enter his peak state. Sighing bitterly, he began his Mana Reconstruction, his version of the Light spell: [Light Healing].

His remaining Mana instantly began to course through his body, beginning to repair his battered body. Prioritizing his wings and limb damages, he slapped his shoulder into place with a gruff snort. Within minutes his body became healed save for the crack in one of his ribs.

“Luna! Where the fuck is that pup now?” Lucifer cursed as he prepared to leave the battleground.

“You should at least take the Snake Neidan from all these corpses. It is the most valuable and sought after rarity of the Serpente familia.” Luna's voice chimed in his mind as she sauntered out of the shadows of one of the corpses.

“The Snake Neidan is the accumulation of their poison and vital essence. You know reptiles live longer than any other species because of this Neidan?”

“Where is it in the body?” Lucifer questioned with keen interest.

“Next to the poison sacs.”

Soon Lucifer held 20 fist sized pearls of different colours. Some were green, some were red while others were blue. With a few simple instructions from Luna, Lucifer began to swallow the neidans one after another. Starting with the red first, followed by the green, Lucifer finished the blue pearls last.

As he finished swallowing the Neidan pearls Lucifer felt a warm soothing feeling spread throughout his body. Like a drop of nectar, the neidans gave Lucifer a rush of power and helped recover his exhausted Mana.

Recharged and now fully healed, Lucifer felt ready to continue his self waged war against the Anguis Chain.

“Luna give me more targets to attack. I'll give you half the neidans as compensation.” Lucifer bargained as he flexed his wings making sure they were flight ready.

“Fine. But we have to make it across the mountains within the next two months for your Academy exam.” Luna sighed as she shook her head.

“What use is the Academy for me now? I have an Apex Core and it is not the kind of thing I can hide. Levin and the Trade will instantly catch me once I make an appearance for the exam.” Lucifer with a dull voice.

“It is totally unrealistic to make the journey there now.”

“Read the letters you got from the two-legs then. They should have some sort of direction advised within them.” Luna tried to reason with him as she prayed that he would at least get some sort of purpose from them.

“Fuck! I hope the letters survived the battle!” Lucifer began to scramble as he began to pat himself down.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. Fucking stupid Lucifer how the fuck could you forget the letters!”

“What?”

“Fuck fuck fuck.” Lucifer continued cursing as he desperately searched each of the remaining pockets of his gear for the letters.

“Oh my fucking lord, you actually forgot the letters.” Luna screamed as her pent up stress blew up.

“Watch it pup! I had to deal with a lot of fucking shit lately. Your passive aggressive, antisocial bullshit. The fucking death of my loyal minion, thank you for that by the way. The creation of my primal magics. The damn well near impossible act of forming an Apex Core. And now we get to here, the place I stated I'd wage war and leave my everlasting mark. So I have a bit of a problem right now.” Lucifer snapped back as he finally found the letters that were slightly burned and very crumpled.

“Well I'm sorry you let your fucking emotions control you. Fuck Lucifer I am sorry I acted the way I did. Just let it go and let's move forward.” Luna snorted as she once again apologized for her previous behavior.

“It ain't that simple sunshine.” Lucifer sighed while shaking his head. He then glared at Luna from beneath his thin eyebrows.

“I am going to make this fucking crystal clear right now. You. Are a wolf; albeit a very powerful wolf, a wolf nonetheless. I will never see you as a mate, unless you grow scales and walk upright. If anything you are only my little sister. Please for the love of Gaies, understand that!”

“What the fuck do you mean by that!”

“You fucking know what I mean! Don't think I can't smell the pheromones you release just like Yue and Ethel did! You all just want my fucking seed. Well fuck that.” Lucifer shouted in disgust and anger. He toned down and gently continued.

“You will always be family to me but not my mate Luna.”

“Like I want to release those scents! It's only your strength that attracts me, so get a grip already.” Luna sobbed as her biggest secret was exposed to the world.

“Whatever. Just stop fucking scenting me, it's a pain in the ass to constantly purge myself of them.” Lucifer sighed as he saw no further need to scold the young Shadow Queen before him.

With a scoff he took flight with his large and powerful wings beating towards the west. Luckily Luna had already entered his shadow or else he'd have left her behind in his anger. As he flew he took out the letter addressed from Eric with nostalgia sweeping his mind.

Opening the parchment as he glided through the air, Lucifer began to read the precious penmanship that Eric had left him.

“Lucifer you probably forgot about this paper eh? Well I won't laugh at you but I am smirking my boy. How are you holding up? Eating well? Making friends yet? Not destroying ecosystems?”

Lucifer couldn't help but cringe as he read the first few lines of the letter.

“I bet you are only eating well you big brat. Well you're old enough to make your own decisions. Most leave the house at 18 but you, you are much greater than those late bloomers. You have survived since day one on your own. You are truly ready to take your place in Gaies if you ask me.”

Sentiment welled up in Lucifer as he continued reading after a cursory scan of the sky for any predators.

“I bet you don't see the point the point of going to Academy anymore. Now that Yue, Jasmine and I are not there to constantly hound you about it. But I still strongly urge you to go there, while your location will become known to the Trade, it will also protect you. A genius is always protected by those old codgers in the Academy. I have pulled some strings and got my senior brother to come to Muselpine for the academic exam. I know you'll head there if you still have any sense left in that brain of yours.”

Eric seemed to foresee everything and made in depth plans for Lucifer. And the thoughts and care he did were not lost on the young boy.

“Another reason for you to head to Yulrig, is the rumor of the Nephilim’s having people there. While I can't verify the truth of that it is still highly likely. They probably intend to find any long lost descendants among the student body. But still the biggest reason for you to go is because it is your father's last spotted location. Four years after your birth he stayed there and taught the way of the halberd for an entire year. That was when the assassins finally became too troublesome to continue his tenure there. So go find some answers there. I'll send a letter to the Academy if I find any news while I am out dealing with my business. Boy you better write back to me! Just give your letter to my senior brother or master, they know how to reach me. I promise I'll only stop replying once I'm dead, and didn't you swear to be the one to best me in combat? If I die before you do you'll never be able to beat me! Ahhhh I can just picture your face right now! Boy go learn in the Academy, I'll find you there in 8 years.”

Lucifer closed his eyes and began to allow his body to free fall, while it clutched the letter to his chest. With the wind ripping at his ragged clothes and threatening to tear the rest of it off, he lost himself in the memory of Eric. He plummeted like a rock towards the ground without care nor worry plaguing him. Only the longing he felt for the human that raised and befriended him was present in his mind.

“Will you survive in this cursed world long enough to meet me again?” He whispered as he spun his body and opened his wings, catching the air and drastically slowing down his insane drop.

“Fine then, I will go to the Academy and see what exactly there is for me to see and experience. You better be there in 8 years Eric, or so help me I will raze Farror to ashes if you aren't.”

Lucifer continued to fly unimpeded through the Anguis Chain even after he initiated two more massacres. Luna shared her suspicion that the Serpente must obviously have some heaven shaking event happening, why they didn't lead a hit squad to retaliate to his self made war.

With that sneaking thought in mind Lucifer flew for 10 days before finally seeing the end of the Anguis Chain. A journey that would normally take months if done by foot.

Landing gently Lucifer stood at the exit of the mountains covered in a makeshift black leather cloak that had an open back to allow his wings to be free. He had skinned one of his many serpentine kills for the hide to make the cloak. Only allowing his wings and tail to be visible he walked along the main road to Zanigan, where he would sell his excess neidans and then head to Az Citadel. With over 100 of the fist sized pearls wrapped in a bag of the same black leather slung over his shoulder he walked. With the intent to see how passerby’s reacted to him he completely restrained his power.

Soon though he caught sight of a group of men suspiciously standing around the road. Smirking to himself, Lucifer showed no reaction other than spreading his massive wings out as far as they'd go. Lucifer could see the group's intentions slowly change from offensive to apprehensive as he moved closer to them.

“Fucking hell! What the fuck is a dragon spawn doing here!” Lucifer heard one of the men curse out. But that only elicited a slight chuckle from him as he began to flex his clawed hands and whip his tail back and forth like an excited cat.

Lucifer’s seemingly harmless chuckle came out far more sinister than he ever meant. The group of highwaymen instantly became terrified and began to back away into the underbrush along the roadside. Though this only made the urge to hunt them grow in Lucifer.

With a savage roar the hunt began as Lucifer took off in the direction of the majority of bandits! With ease he threw out Dark [Elemental Spears]. Like falcons diving for their prey, the spears sailed through the air and into three of the now running bandits.

“So weak and you planned to rob me even after seeing my wings? Pathetic.” Lucifer scolded the dead as continued to hunt the remaining bandits. Lucifer threw a single spear for every single prey he marked, none needed a second strike to die. Precise and deadly was Lucifer while he hunted.

In seconds he had annihilated the would be bandits. Bitterly shaking his head full of disappointment, Lucifer pressed on with his march. Days full of boring walking; with the occasional Mana boosted sprint, Lucifer made his way to Zanigan.

The City of Steel, Zanigan. Where the metal ores flowed like salt, the city was built upon solid bedrock and the second largest natural mineral vein in the entire continent of Farror. If not for Muselpine's insane trade regulations, the city would be the most ideal location for Alchemists besides the Trade Headquarters.

Many orcs and humans could be seen among the draconic population. The orcs and humans come from Lovita to buy the precious ores of Zanigan. The orcs do it for their shamans and chieftains to have materials for their Alchemy. While the humans are constantly using metals for their never ending wars and conquests. With most of Lovita being human land, the orcs and elves of the continent are under constant threat of war. If any human country began to attack their lands, the rest of the human countries would take over theirs. This created a powder keg of diplomatic issues for Lovita.

So the lands of Farror capitalized on the ever growing tension and began trading precious resources to their neighbor continent. With Muselpine, Bolstadt and Levin Empire leading the charge the rest of Farror; save Fogra’stol, began sending their excess minerals, lumber and even slaves to the land across the ocean.

Lucifer now stood at the gates to the great Zanigan of Muselpine. With the surrounding people kneeling before him as he stood with his cloak still over his head. Just seeing his large, muscular frame and giant golden wings was enough to send the people into hysteria. They knew that the cloaked draconian before was of royal blood even with his hood. While they couldn't understand the reason for his drab and wild clothing, they still could only remember to kneel in his presence. Even the city guards stood at attention with soldier's salutes and weapons readied.

Lucifer only cast a glance at the sight of the multitudes of people kneeling before him. It then he truly knew why his second Sin was Pride. The entire situation of strangers he never even met kneeling before him, felt comfortable and natural to him. It was as if his body and mind knew it was meant to rule and stand above all others, and it was only Lucifer who did not yet understand that. It was also then that Lucifer realized why Luna behaved the way she did before. It was the pride of an Apex that coursed through her veins. The same way he felt completely at ease before the kneeling crowd, she too felt like she stood above all.

“Leave.” Lucifer snarled as he realised that nothing could have changed what had happened between Luna and himself. With emotion filled steps, he entered the City of Steel.

The people scrambled out of his way as his Mana infused voice shook the very air around the city gate. Even the guards trembled at the pressure of Lucifer's power, they were all warriors of the Brown or Red Mana Purity. There was no way Lucifer's Yellow Purity would not rattle and shake their bodies, even without the added power of his Squire level Core.

“You there,” Lucifer called out the guard with the most ornate armour that appeared to be in charge. “Take me to the Trade outpost here.”

And with that simple command Lucifer's stay in Zanigan began.