We teleported to the eleventh floor, ready to see what challenges it brought us.

The first room was a desert valley, the sun scorching the land below. At first, I couldn't find any monsters. Looking up, I saw a dragon-like creature, with two small wings and an arrow-tipped tail coming at us. From its mouth arose a great fire, threatening to turn us into ashes. It was a wyvern. Unfortunately for it, I just used > and water source runes to completely disable its attacks. Infuriated, it tried to lash out with its tail.

The tail could only hit me since I was in front. I didn't let it, though. I jumped up. It continued sweeping, and I continued jumping as if we were playing jump rope.

Bella said, "Let me join! I want to play, too."

I decided to stop, so I > Blackmail at the wyvern's head. I also > its back with persuasion, eventually causing it to lose the battle.

"It's not for fun. We must defeat the monsters," I told Bella.

"K," she replied.

I took out some rope and taught Bella and my daughters how to jump rope. They seemed excited and went to practice in Persephone. I, however, was left to battle more wyverns. Luckily, a spell book dropped.

Water whirlwind

Level: 1

Rank: B-

MP use: 550/use

Requirements: water affinity 75% (human)

Description: creates a whirlwind of water and hurls it towards an enemy, engulfing it in three hundred distinct streams of water.

I used this spell, and its power wasn't enough. Fortunately, I found that, by adding 1 HE and using spiritual water, the power increased enough to crush any attacks of the wyverns and allowed my swords to finish them off. The dungeon seemed oddly helpful, as a second water spell dropped from another wyvern. Soon after, I received a message. It was from Victoria, and she explained part of her present to me included randomly chosen spell and skill books from various monsters to help me. This one, however, was specifically chosen.

Bloody water spike

Level: 1

Rank: A-

DE use: 86/use

Requirements: be a vampire, water affinity 80% (human)

Description: summons a giant spike of thick water, infusing and intertwining it with blood

This vampiric spell was enough to pierce through wyverns, and I could even control its intensity and width.

Eventually, towards the end of the room, I got a third spell.

Humidity pierce

Level: 1

Rank: C

MP use: 350/use

Requirements: water affinity 40% (human), air affinity 10% (human)

Description: condense the water vapor around a target to attack it with mini needles of concentrated water. Works with other liquids as well.

I waited a bit for another wyvern to spawn, as I wanted to test a hypothesis. It worked, and I found I could disperse blood as a mist and then use that blood to condense the needles to attack the target. As my mist could not get high enough to damage the new wyvern, I had to control the blood to do it, but it was still effective.

My family returned around this time, seemingly having enjoyed their playful excursion. Now that we regrouped, we adventured further, going into the second room. Here, we arrived in a grassy plain. In front of us was a line of statues, as if they were demarcating the correct way to proceed. As soon as we began our advance, Krystal noticed the eyes of the winged statues seemed to be staring at us. Kylee, though, was the first to notice they were monsters!

"Gargoyles!" she exclaimed.

"Architecture?" I asked, confused.

"Flying monsters," Krystal began explaining.

"…Who hide as statues and quickly move to vanquish their prey," Kylee stated, finishing Krystal's sentence.

"They have a strong defense," Krystal, unperturbed, continued. "It will be difficult to defeat them without first melting the shell."

"Melting?" I asked. "I can easily melt them." I used > with double MP for a low-area, high-heat version. Using this and spiritual fire, I was able to break through one's defense. The other nineteen, though, didn't just sit and patiently wait their turn. I used > to restrict their motion, > to shake their souls and eradicate their defenses, and > to begin my attack.

This combination easily bested the gargoyles, as it directly killed their souls. I could also use my basic soul skills, such as ignition, to take care of them, but I wanted to test out my new skills. I got a perfect skill and spell for gargoyles out of this, as well.

Melt flesh

Level: 1

Description: attacks can melt flesh or other outer garment/shell/defensive dressing my using an appropriate amount of DE

Spiritual defense dissolution

Level: 1

Rank: A+

SF use: 450/defensive layer

Description: infuse SF into a defensive formation, barrier, or casing to weaken it and potentially cause cracks to appear. Does not work against absolute defenses

"As a deathly angel, why didn't you just use your skill to see the weak points in the skill and probe it?" Kylee asked after the room was finished.

"What skill?" I inquired.

"Deathly angel's probe," she said.

Krystal gave a further explanation, saying, "it's a skill to combine heavenly energy and death energy to probe an enemy's defensive formation and find weaknesses. It's a big reason deathly angels are so formidable in one-on-one battles."

"Here," she said, giving me a skill book. Sure enough, it was deathly angel's probe, which I learned.

There was even a spell in the book.

Heavenly revelation

Level: 1

Rank: B

HE use: 200

Requirements: heavenly affinity 300% (human)

Description: gaze into the enemy, finding a hidden truth their mind has locked away

Seeing my surprised expression, Krystal began to explain. "It's a common spell for angels, which is why we had the skill book with us. Only deathly angels can unlock its true power."

"Thanks," I said.

"It's just like this one," Kylee said, throwing out another skill book. "Only, there's no surprise here."

I learned it, and, in so doing, I found it to be an angelic skill that creates a horn of water with medicinal healing properties. Even though they didn't know, I found a hidden skill, as well. It created a misty veil of water, from the previous skill, that confused the senses of the target.

I was satisfied with all I gained so far, and we went to the third room. Here, like the first room, we were in a desert with wyverns flying above. The difference, however, is that other monsters rode atop them, making this part much more difficult to complete. Luckily, the fact we could all fly greatly assisted us. Soon, I could tell the monsters. They were fire-breathing lizardmen, armed with spears, as well as goblin archers, armed with arrows that froze on contact.

Quickly, the four of us discussed our strategy to beat them. Krystal and Kylee would focus on the lizardmen, while Bella and I fought the archers. A few wyverns, which had small, golden slimes atop them, retreated due to the effect of >. It was surprising, as, usually, non-intelligent monsters aren't affected by such a skill. Maybe, there was more to these slimes than we knew.

We didn't think too much about them, though, as we each had our own battles. On my command, we dispersed and flew into the sky. The arrows raining upon Bella and I were easily avoided or blocked by >. The archers were unrelenting, though, so it was as if we were flying through an obstacle course to get closer.

The wyverns didn't make it any easier to get closer. Ice arrows and fire breathing were a great combination that continuously tried to oppress us.

Unfortunately for them, my magic could fight against both the ice and fire.

[Mana manipulation level up! Level seven!]

With the announcement, I could now materialize my mana threads, which were so thin as to be razor-sharp.

Using these threads, I bisected archers, but the threads weren't able to penetrate through the entire wyvern. The injured wyverns were easier to deal with, so I was able to quickly finish them off. I even helped my daughters with a couple lizardmen.

Even though they weren't defeated, they plummeted from the force of the impact and eventually disappeared on the ground.

Like previously, I got a new spell.

Water splash

Level: 1

Rank: F-

MP use: 10/use

Requirements: water affinity 10% (human)

Description: splash forth water from nowhere. Water created this way will travel a maximum of ten feet and may make a small wave.

It was a useless spell, so I disregarded it. The four of us continued on past a few more rooms in a maze-like fashion. These rooms were much smaller, with at most three wyverns with riders. Skeletons also appeared riding some wyverns.

Eventually, we continued forward.

Here, there were winged monsters made of bone, bone vultures. They appeared to enjoy divebombing from high above. By flying high into the sky, their main attacks weren't as oppressive. The dungeon also wouldn't let us continue, with a message displaying in the sky.

「bone vultures defeated: 0/80」

The bones of these monsters were about four times as dense as those of the skeletons. It made it more difficult to get through them. They also weren't weak towards fire nor water. Constantly hacking away with > using Persuasion was the easiest way to go, especially since the monsters seemed similar to undead.

These vultures were spread apart within a vast landscape, so it wasn't easy to complete the quest. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we were talking about random stuff. We had finished with sixty of the vultures during the intervening few days.

We were soon going to return to Earth to set up for celebrating the holiday, but I noticed a large sand dune on the horizon. Quickly, we approached.

"There it is!" Bella exclaimed.

"What is it?" I asked, noticing a small red-colored bead.

"The entrance to the source on this floor," she responded.

"Then let's go," I said.

"K," she replied as the four of us flew down. On our way, we encountered and pulverized the sixty-first bone vulture.

Bella touched the bead, and it shined briefly before turning into a pearl. The pearl began to shiver, and an earthquake resounded before the vortex appeared, siphoning the sand until a large, bare-metal room appeared. On the floor was a drain.

"Let's go," Bella said.

Leading the way, Bella showed us a small stone. I pressed it, trying to crush it with my >, but it didn't budge. I found an elementary rune, unbreakable, written on it. Even without destroying it, a small door opened. I had to crawl to reach the other side, but, once I did, I was excited. It was a yellow orb that scanned me, with small lightning arcs coming off. Now, I was closer to Keith's level—drawing out the power of the source along with the eternal laws. I still needed to learn that part, though.

After that, I left the room. I had to quickly fly away. The walls receded, and the sand quickly filled the void. It would be very difficult to reenter this place, and Bella explained that was because the trick with pressing the stone was the real challenge to find the hidden source. If one couldn't find that, then the walls would recede. As such, they wouldn't get another chance.

Soon after, we went back to my house on Earth. Kylee and Krystal were playing jump rope in Persephone during this time. I also found the barrier slightly increased in strength.

On Earth, around the time I'd get back from school, my mom waited for us before she began cooking. Bella and I did the preparing, and she made the final touches and put the dishes in their respective places. Some were put in the oven, others the freezer, and others in the fridge—they wouldn't be cooked until tomorrow.

We next set the table. As my grandparents were coming over, as well as my two "friends," we also set up a foldable wooden table from the garage. For the celebration, we used good china for the plates and glasses. After we laid our black table cloths and set the dishes, I discreetly used the unbreakable rune to ensure the china wouldn't break.

That night, my father returned home. My sister, unfortunately, couldn't join us. After I told Bella about the demons while in Persephone, she wanted to see my transformation. Late at night, when I thought my parents were asleep, I began to show her my claws, eyes, nose, mouth, then ears. Once I activated my eyes, I was surprised to catch some of my parents' conversation.

"Five years," my father said.

"At least we have a little time to prepare," my mom replied.

"It could be a lot sooner. Five is just the maximum."

"Are you sure we'll be okay?"

"At least in the beginning. Hopefully, soon after, I'll get healed."

"But your injury is so severe."

"It's not affecting my everyday life. Maybe, Roberto, Emily, or Bella will rise to prominence. It will take time, though."

"Are you going to tell them?"

"I will, after the great," his voice faltered, "event occurs."

"I hope it won't be too late."

"I've prepared for this, and I knew it would happen eventually. I just wished I could see my kids grow older. At least Roberto's married. Hopefully, I'll be able to see my grandchildren. I know, at least in the first three years, no one can come near me. I even have some defensive equipment that can't be used without mana… some special things."

"Mana?" I thought. "What's he know about mana? And what are they talking about? How's he injured?"

"Let's finish our discussion later," I heard my father say.

I was still digesting what I heard when I suddenly became embarrassed. I realized they were talking about kids from Bella and I. I wasn't ready for that yet! Maybe, in a few years' time, I would be. Still, can a fairy and a deathly angel procreate?

Done with my thoughts, Bella and I went back to Persephone. I showed her my transformation on Earth because it was slightly less painful to transform back, but we still spent the night in my spiritual world. We even had a slightly-bigger house, made out of wood, where we slept. During the night, I discussed with Bella and my daughters how to behave normally. Especially since my daughters only knew military matters, it took a lot of questions and answers before I felt like they wouldn't embarrass themselves and confuse everyone.

At noon, Kylee and Krystal "arrived." In actuality, they just left my spiritual world while I was a few blocks away from home and waited a bit, so it didn't seem like they were following me back. With my speed, it barely even seemed like I left.

Soon after, my four grandparents also pulled in. By this time, we were just finished taking the turkey out of the oven. I next put some spices and gravy on top of it before my father moved it onto the center of the table. With my grandparents' memory edited, they conversed with Bella about memories that never actually happened. We all also talked about random things before it was time for our annual family tradition.

Using the internet, we had procured nine wishbones in advance. Each was dried out beforehand and soon passed around the table. We also took the wishbone of our turkey, which made it look a little odd. Once each person got one, we tore them apart, making a wish. I, personally, wished to always be together with Bella and my daughters. Bella told me that night that she wished for my happiness.

Everyone took the larger half of the broken wishbone and kept it with them until tomorrow. The shorter half would be used later on, so it was collected.

My father took a knife and cut the turkey in two, as he did every year. My grandfathers than cut three slices for each person, as was our tradition. We passed the plates around and each took our sides for the delicious meals. We continued talking and eating for the next few hours until we had finished dessert.

At around four in the afternoon, we finished. We drove the leftovers to a local food pantry, who were grateful for the gift. It may be random pieces of food, but it would at least feed someone.

Krystal and Kylee bade their goodbyes and left, as the final part of this celebration involved our black dragon religion. In reality, they were in my spiritual world.

My grandparents also left—they didn't partake in the tradition.

The remaining family members drove to meet up with the pastor. We all went inside, along with other parishioners, to hear the day's preaching.

"Thanksgiving, while not a religious holiday to many, is an important holiday for us. We are able to collect essence from turkeys during this marvelous period," he began.

When he finished, we each took out our small wishbone legs. One by one, we dropped them off in front of the altar, into a large basket.

We then followed the pastor outside of the congregation meeting location, where we arrived at a stone fire pit.

"With this holy fire, from before our religion was founded, before the first feast of the pilgrims, we offer up the essence of these turkeys to the almighty Black Dragon of Black Tower. May he bless us on this day and forever. Decan Daniel, please perform the rite."

My father went up, even though he didn't like the title—he preferred to silently be involved. He then took out a small vial, with fire stored inside.

I was very surprised, because looking at the vial, there were runes! I could make out energy trap, spark, unbreakable, and fire source, which was similar to the water source. Fire source was just a rotated water source! I secretly tried to turn it again, and, after a few tries, while my father gave a prayer, I successfully made the wind source rune.

I was even more surprised from what came next!

My father pulled the stopper off of the bottle, and the fire inside was not normal! It was slightly similar to spiritual fire, but it was not the same.

"This is the fire of a dragon, stolen from their breath. Even if not the source of their fire, it still contains the heat of the entire race. Now, with one drop, let the essences converge!" My father commanded while somehow pouring a drop onto the bones.

I was surprised by this fire—it definitely did not seem like it was from Earth! I wondered how it got here, especially if the barriers trapped those from other worlds, like Keith, from entering.

The paster continued, "Now that the bad has been burned, please bring the good, so that we may be blessed this year. May the strength of the dragon protect you all!"

My father took out the long half of the wishbone, and so did the others. They dipped them in a small vat of red, oily substance, which seemed similar to the fire. The large vat also, strangely, had similar runes engraved upon it.

I decided to appraise both the fire and the oily substance. The fire was actually the fire of a dragon's breath! As for the oil, it was normal oil with red food coloring. It wasn't anything special, but it was proclaimed to be the blood of a dragon. According to Bella, dragons, like fairies, don't have normal blood. Their power that's similar to blood was also blue in color—not red.

After throwing the long ends into the blazing fire, my father continued.

"Let the dragon blood act on the dragon's breath, bringing forth the might of a dragon for all eternity. May they soar once again on our planet of Earth!"

When he finished, he somehow recollected the fire. I noticed a suction rune on the bottom, so I thought that may be part of it.

The most surprising part was what lay beneath the ashes. It was an essence seed! Even though it was only a turkey, it still would take millions to make just one. I saw my father take it from the pile discreetly.

When we returned home that night, my father gave me the seed. "Hold onto it," he said. "You may find some use for this later."

I had a use for it that very night. By bringing it into my spiritual world, Persephone was able to begin nurturing it. Soon, we would have a spawner generating wild turkeys. With my mana manipulation, I could even bring the speed up slightly! I couldn't wait for the tree to bloom.

"Master, do you want to use the souls to quicken the process?"

"What souls?" I asked.

"There are numerous souls of the animal called turkey. It seems they were trapped in an oily substance for many years, but their decay has been minimal. Using all of these tens of millions of souls, we can create the tree and its first fruit overnight," Persephone explained.

Kylee seemed to know of this substance, saying, "How rare! You actually found some soul trapping liquid?"

Krystal also asked, "Where did you find an advanced-level soul refiner to create it? It would take at least fifty thousand souls to make ten liters, which would be enough to trap them all. They must be at least have it as a master-level class!"

"I don't know," I replied as the tree grew.

Soon, I saw a spawner appear—I could detect it from the mana it emitted. A few more came up. Luckily, they were already set to maximum spawn rate. Also, after the initial population was set up, the turkeys could procreate as normal.

I directed Persephone to place the turkey spawners in a large area far from us, about the length of the earth if laid flat.

The very first animal life forms created in this world. My turkeys would soon form. In this world, they can even evolve, and eating them would help mana, vitality, HP, and other properties! It would be like magical food!

Tomorrow, I still had nineteen monsters to deal with. I was ready!