As Mashia woke up, the feeling of soreness pervaded her body, causing her to groan from exhaustion. She soon feels a gaze on her back. Straining herself to turn herself around, he was met with a wide smile Ryker, who dove at her before she could do anything.
Sounds of pleasure soon filled the room once more.
-x-
As they had breakfast, Ryker gave Mashia an apologetic smile, though the dragon girl did not spare the man a glance. In fact, she gave everyone the cold shoulder, except for the children.
Considering what they did to her last night, it was inevitable. As she talked to the children, Ryker decided to be more assertive. After she talked with Ilina, he wrapped his arms around her waist before pulling her into his arms.
She tried to not look at him, but Ryker easily turned her around and forced her to look at him.
"Don't give me that look," he chastised the dragon girl, who pouted at him, puffing her cheek like a child.
"I'm sorry for being so rough to you last night," he apologized, the face of the dragon girl softened as she buried her face into his chest.
"I am angry for last night, but I am not too angry with it. After all, I kind of enjoyed it too," the last sentence was spoken so lightly it might have been a whisper. But to him, it was clear as day.
"So, you want to be treated like last night," he asked, Mashia blushed as she realized Ryker had heard what she said.
Knowing there was no way for him to deny it, she gave him a shy nod. "Well," she continued, "I don't mind but not anytime soon. Maybe once 2 weeks or 3 weeks. Besides, some of the girls, deserved it, considering what I did to them, by your order,"
The glare she shot at him made him sheepishly laugh, as he could not deny her accusation. "Well, how about you join me in the outside world?"
-x-
"The energy here is so dense, at least compared to the other places we have been so far," Mashia commented.
"How it is compared to your old home?" Ryker asked. While the topic is still sensitive to her, Mashia could now talk about the subject, though anything related to her family will make her shut them up.
"It did not come even close," she said, and Ryker believed her. After all, her former home was at the Core Region of the Monster Realm, so it make sense that a backwater place like the Boluron Continent could not compare to it.
Considering her clan could produce a Source Realm expert, it spoke volumes of what kind of place their home is.
"Do you know why different places have different energy concentrations?" Ryker asked. The question had been plaguing him for quite some time.
He had almost forgotten that Mashia could answer it, considering her being a princess of a powerful dragon clan.
"It depends on where they are located and if there are any world veins in the area," Mashia explained.
"World veins?" Ryker asked, a new term revealed by the dragon girl.
"World veins are essentially veins, but for the world. It transmits energy from the core of the world to different parts of the world. Most of it went to the ground, forming different minerals and metals, energy stones, and energy crystals.
The world veins also absorbed energy as well, from outside this world," Mashia continued his explanation.
"Outside this world?" he could not comprehend it. Boluron continent is already massive in his eyes. For there to be things outside this world, he could not think of it.
"Yes. I learned from my father as the world's veins transmit energy, they also need to gain energy somewhere.
Most experts from the Academy Union proposed that it absorbed the energy outside this world before sending it to the core sending it to the surface and underground.
Of course, it is just a theory but it is the most widely believed theory. As long as there is no proof that tells otherwise, it is likely believed by everyone who knew the matters of the world veins,"
"But you still don't tell me about why different places have different energy concentrations," Ryker reminded her.
"Oh, right. Well, different places will have different world veins, and those world veins will vary in size. Some are small, and some are big. The big ones are founded at the Core Region of different realms, with the peripheral regions having small and medium-sized ones in it," Mashia told him.
"So, smaller ones will provide a smaller amount of energy while the opposite is true for the big ones," Ryker concluded, Mashia gave him a nod.
"The world veins at the Birak Kingdom is a small one or medium-sized one?" Ryker asked.
"It is a medium-sized one. While it is not necessarily true, as long accumulation could make the impossible happen, it's generally believed that a small one will only produce enough energy to make a Genesis Grand Realm expert appear.
The same is true for both medium and big ones, except it is for Spirit and Source Grand Realm respectively," Mashia explained more, earning another nod from Ryker.
"So, there must be a medium-sized one for the forest but this place is far from the world's veins, am I right?" Ryker asked again.
"Well, you are right and wrong," seeing the confused expression, Mashia began to tell him the more intricate details.
"World vein is a complicated subject, something even those apex experts at the very top knew very little about. However, they did confirm aside from the main world veins, those will often surrounded by minor world veins.
Essentially, they are smaller world veins that surround the major one. While the Birak Kingdom capital is likely located on top of the major world vein, its territory will have the minor ones in it,"
Ryker gave a hum of understanding. He could now understand why there aren't differences in power between the Core Region and the other regions. However, he could not help but question the distribution.
After all, should it not be more random, the big one scattering all over the place, similar to the small and medium one? He shook his head, there must be a reason for it, just that no one knew of it.
He does wonder if his parents have any ideas before shaking such ridiculous thoughts away, after all, his parents are amazing, but they could not be that amazing to the point of being able to control something as powerful as world veins, right?