The three of them quickly moved to leave, now moving through the Thunderspike Expanse. Albedo was walking, lightning crackling along his shoulders and arms.
Beside him, Ember walked tall and proud, her body swathed in ethereal flames laced with black lightning. And above them, gliding with slow, elegant coils through the charged air, was Nymarielle.
The newly awakened Leviathan radiated ancient grace. She moved not by flapping wings or undulating through space, but by sheer dominion, an aura of water and lightning forming invisible currents that carried her through the air with supernatural ease.
They were close to leaving the area, but were still surrounded by unstable mana storms, twisted monsters, and elemental anomalies.
But none of it posed a threat.
"You're quiet," Nymarielle's voice echoed softly above, a melodic hum that rippled through the air like waves over glass. "You used to mutter to yourself more."
Albedo chuckled, brushing a burned strand of hair away from his eyes. "I'm still in awe, honestly. You're… not what I expected from a 'Mid Bronze' companion."
A distant screech tore through the sky. Seconds later, a Thunderclap Raptor, easily the size of a house, dove down at them from a nearby cliff. Its talons sparked with lightning, its beak wreathed in wind.
Nymarielle didn't even glance at it.
A single wave of her tail sent a spear of compressed water laced with black lightning through the air.
The Raptor exploded into mist mid-flight. Blood and feathers rained down, but nothing touched them. A watery dome shimmered briefly above the trio, catching every drop before it dissolved.
Albedo didn't even flinch.
"...See what I mean?" he added, deadpan.
"I am Leviathan," she said simply, her tone carrying no arrogance, only truth.
Ember neighed in agreement, or possibly indignation. Albedo wasn't sure.
"She says you're smug," he translated for Nymarielle with a smirk.
The Leviathan turned her gaze toward Ember and offered a wry glance while Ember snorted again, tossing her mane.
Sparks leapt from her hooves with each step, carving glowing lines into the cracked earth.
"...Can I ask something?" Albedo said after a moment, his tone quieter now, not commanding, but genuinely curious.
Nymarielle lowered her head slightly, her glowing sapphire eyes meeting his.
"You mentioned Luna before. That she… found you? Recognized you?"
A hum, neither vocal nor elemental, but something in between, passed through the Leviathan's body. Her coils slowed, the aura around her dimming just a little.
Albedo waited, sensing she wasn't finished. Nymarielle turned her gaze forward, watching the landscape roll by beneath her.
"I was not always in that orb, Crimson Moon. Once… I roamed the depths. Not of this world's oceans, but of the Echoing Deep, a plane that exists where time folds and water remembers. It is the place all Leviathans are born, and the place we return to when forgotten by the world."
Albedo's brows furrowed. He'd never heard of such a realm in the original Novel, not even hinted at.
"The Echoing Deep?" he repeated. It was another place he hadn't heard of in the Novel, and it once again reinforced just how little the novel prepared him for this world.
"It is a sea of memories and power. The birthplace of all water that has, does and will ever exist. I was there, I don't know how, but the Abyss tampered with my birth, I was weak, lacking vitality, and all I could do was sleep there, dormant, until she came."
"...Luna?" Albedo asked.
"Yes." Nymarielle's voice grew softer. "She came not in body, but in dream. She walked barefoot across the surface of my world, untouched by its weight. She called to me with her power warped in moon power."
Albedo's eyes widened slightly. He looked at Ember, who was now watching Nymarielle with quiet attention as well.
"She found me," Nymarielle continued, "Brought me back and placed me in that orb to save me and then, you know the story from there."
Albedo nodded, thinking deeply. Nymarielle called Luna the 'Moon Touched Tamer,' a title she never had in the Novel, and all he learned about her made Luna seem more mysterious, more powerful.
For instance, how did she even know about The Echoing Deep? Albedo was certain from the Novel that none of the main characters ever knew about it, but Luna not only knew, she could access it.
"So…are you just gonna stay with Professor Luna?" Albedo asked.
Nymarielle didn't answer immediately, thinking for a moment before finally replying, "Yes. I will stay with Luna Evervale."
"She saved my life, and did so much for me, a Leviathan will not forget something like that," she finished.
"She gave me life. Pulled me from the brink of nothingness. Even if she does not remember the dream, her soul did. Her Gift did. That is not something a Leviathan forgets."
Albedo nodded slightly, his hands in his coat pockets, walking quietly beside Ember as she sniffed the charred air with casual disinterest.
Just as they were near the exit to reopen the portal, a roar of monsters echoed in the surrounding area.
This time, a pack of Aetherfang Stalkers, lightning-element wolves with distortion abilities, rushed them from the shadows. They phased through space, warping in and out like ghosts, aiming for Ember's flank and Albedo's blind spot.
Nymarielle narrowed her eyes and stared at them. Then, the air stilled, and a pulse of pressure replicating the deep gravity born from the ocean's darkest depths rippled outward.
All of the Wolves were pinned mid attack, floating helplessly in the air as gravity and pressure wrapped around them like a noose.
Then, with a faint whisper of water, each was torn apart, dissolved by pressurized water so fine it sliced on a molecular level. Not even bones remained, just nothingness.
Albedo whistled as he saw that. Compared to him, Nymarielle seemed to be able to control magic at a fundamental or conceptual level, even at Bronze Rank, her true power was astronomical.
'I guess that's the difference between Mythical Primordial Beasts and regular Humans' He thought, wondering how any individual Human would ever be able to beat a monster at the level of Nymarielle at a similar rank.
Finally, after walking for a while, they reached the perimeter of the Thunderspike Expanse, back where they started so they could re-open the portal back to the Academy.
Albedo pressed the activation sigil, and a portal shimmered into existence, looking identical to the one they took to reach this place.
Albedo and the others stepped through, and just like the last time, the world twisted and turned for a couple seconds before they popped out the other side.
They returned back in Luna's office, and immediately spotted her sitting behind her desk, her eyes locked onto Albedo, and then Nymarielle intently.
"You succeeded," She said breathless, taking a deep breath as though she truly hadn't believed he would've.
Albedo offered a tired smile, "You sound surprised."
"I am," she replied, rising to her feet in a single fluid motion, "Even though the Mirage creates monsters relative to your rank, the challenge isn't small. Most die, and those who don't fail."
"I'm not most people thankfully," Albedo responded and Luna gave out a soft, charming giggle, patting him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I guess you aren't hotshot," Once she finished that sentence, her gaze once again returned to the Leviathan, her breath caught in her throat as she saw it in its glory.
"It's the first time I've seen your true body since the Echoing Deep," Luna said.
"Tis the first time I have been able to truly thank you for saving me," Nymarielle also said, quickly moving closer to Luna, who after a short bout of nervousness, also moved her hand to touch the mythical being.
The two of them chatted for a bit whilst Albedo just kind of stood around, waiting for them to acknowledge him once more. After a couple minutes, Luna finally looked up at him.
Then, as if releasing a breath she didn't realize she held, she bowed her head toward him.
"Albedo Neverwinter… You have my deepest grace."
Her voice, normally refined and aloof, was soft, genuine, "I cannot thank you enough for what you've done,"
Albedo blinked, caught slightly off-guard by the intensity of her gratitude. Luna had never showed this side to her in the Novel after all, "I just followed your instructions," he ended up relying with a half-shrug.
"You've earned more than praise," she said, standing straight once more, "I'll make sure you receive your Merit. But more than that… I owe you a favor. A personal one. If there is anything you wish from me, anything I will listen."
That wasn't something lightly said by a high-ranking Elven noble, and certainly not by a Professor at Zephyr Academy.
He was already calculating the best way to not cash that in too early.
"I'll keep that in mind," he said evenly.