"Here, Gwen." Kai tossed Gwen the dragon core and told her to have fun.
She gasped, excited to see a real dragon core in her hands. "I-I can evolve! I can become a true dragonkin!" She couldn’t contain her excitement and ate the core right away.
The other looked puzzled as Gwen chomped on the core as if it were her last meal.
"Awkward." Kyana scooted to the side.
"So, since the dragon is dead, are we going back now?" Sasha asked
"Yup. I just wanna see if-" Kai turned his head toward the center of the forest, noticing that the magical signature he sensed wasn’t gone.
"The fuck?" He thought it was the dragon and maybe Rudolph, but not even his nose could give off a magical signature that large. This meant that something else was there. As for what it was, he didn’t know.
"You guys can sense it too, right? The magical signature in the center of the forest." He asked
They all focused on the center of the forest and confirmed that they could sense the intense magic that came from the area.
"I’m guessing we’re going there." Sasha assumed.
"Uh, duh! There must be some sort of treasure there."
"Or a strong enemy." Kyana chimed in.
"No one is stronger than me?" Kai smiled.
"Remember that one demon lord who attacked us back in the Labyrinth?" Gwen smirked, poking Kai in the side.
"That was ONE time! And I made sure that wouldn’t happen again."
"Sureee."
"Whatever. I’m going to go check on our friends who are fighting that reindeer." He teleported away.
"Reindeer?"
---
The old man slammed into a tree, snapping it in half as he tumbled to the ground. His arm was broken, and blood pooled down his face. He looked around, spotting two of his companions dead, and the final two, Emerald and the guard, barely holding on.
"Hahahahaha! Don’t tell me that’s all you got, old man?!" Rudolph slammed the staff into the ground, and a mini earthquake split open the earth, nearly swallowing the old man.
"Frozen Flame!" A gust of ice so thin it resembled fire froze everything in its path as the spell made its way to Rudolph.
"Please, don’t embarrass me with that weak ass spell. [Flame Wall]" Fire erupted from the ground, blocking the [Frozen Flame].
Emerald waited for the fire to disappear so she could attack again, but a streak of lightning pierced her arm, and she dropped her wand.
"Ahhnngg!"
"Young Miss!" The old man jumped at Rudolph, his anger rising, but he was swatted away like a fly.
"If you think that weak ass power of yours can save your family, then I feel so sorry for them. You’re nothing but a pathetic little bitch." Rudolph stood over Emerald, drew the sword from the staff, and prepared to stab her right in the chest.
"Need a hand?" Kai asked, casually walking up to her.
"K-Kai!" She shouted, slightly happy to see him. But that happiness turned to worry. "Get out of here! He’ll kill you!"
"Hahahaha! Too late!" A storm of the elements surged around Kai and began to pulse with power.
"Woah! This is cool! I’m so going to copy-"
*BOOOOOOOOM*
"Nooooo!"
"Hahaha! What a dumbass. Not even defending the spell."
"Why would I do that?"
Rudolph turned to see Kai completely unaffected by the spell. Not even his clothes were damaged.
"W-What? How? That’s impossible!"
"Impossible? Your feeble brain simply can’t comprehend the vastness of my power. After all, how can you comprehend something when your brain is in my hand?"
Rudolph looked down to see a bloody brain in the palm of Kai’s hand. He couldn’t even think or understand what was going on. How could he? The man literally had no brain to think in the first place.
He simply fell face forward, and the staff tumbled out of his hand.
"I believe this belongs to you." Kai kicked the staff over to her and tossed Rudolph’s brain somewhere into the forest.
"T-Thank you." Emerald stood up to bow.
"Yeah, no problem." With a wave of his hand, Kai healed the survivors. "Hmmmmm. That staff is the one thing that can bring your family back to its former glory, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"So people would try to steal it, right?"
"P-Probably."
"Hmmm. Here, I’ll give you this." He pricked Emerald’s hand, taking her blood and merging it with his crest. He then took the bloodstained crest and placed it on the heriloom. Once he was done, Emerals’s hand and heirloom both had crests on them that disappeared as if they weren’t there in the first place.
"W-What did you do?" She wondered, feeling magical energy enter her.
"Since you’re the rightful owner of the heirloom, I’ve bonded you with it. The staff...the sword...the swaff? The stord? Whatever, the heirloom can only be wielded by a person of your bloodline. Also, if it’s stolen, you can recall it at any time, place it in a pocket dimension, and no other person can use its power other than you and your bloodline."
Emerald was amazed. She didn’t know he could do something like that. She started to think that maybe he was as strong as he was letting on.
"Also, here." Emerald was a Tier-3 mage, so he increased her power to a Tier-4 and also used his mana network ability on her so her potential would skyrocket.
"You should be stronger now and have a lot of potential. Also, learn how to use the sword. Don’t just stick to magic."
Emerald started to cry. "T-Thank you! Thank you so much! How can I ever repay you?!"
Kai gave her a kiss on the lips, one that she didn’t decline. "Don’t worry about it."
’I’m just ensuring the well-being of my future baby mama.’ Kai smirked.
"Our doors will always be open to you! If you ever need something, don’t hesitate to ask! My family never forgets a debt!" Emerald bowed, and her remaining subordinates did as well.
"Like I said, it’s all good. By the way, is your house in the capital?"
"Y-Yes, why?"
"Here you go." Kai waved his hand and teleported them back to the capital.
"Now that they’re gone, let’s go see what that mana signature is."