"Where have you been, Commander?" Vera had noticed my disappearance. She was pretty threatening in a passive-aggressive way.
From the last two weeks of working together, I noticed she was earnest and demanded the same from me. There was no slacking when she was near.
On the one hand, it helped keep the guards in line, but I couldn't slack off either. I didn't dislike it; I thought it was an admirable quality, but I sometimes think she could lay off a bit.
"It's nothing Vera, just a thing I had to check out," I shook off the question.
"You haven't been slacking, have you?" She said menacingly. If she had glasses, I imagine she would push them up now.
"No." I played it off.
"If you say so, commander." She walked away, not entirely satisfied with my answer.
I let out a sigh of relief. Vera lectured me once, and it lasted until the night. I was not ready to experience that again.
As I saw Vera walk away, I could not help but stare at the guards training.
'We need a uniform.'
I still needed to report to Garth, though. It would be a mess if someone else came across the lizard and got hurt.
-----
The rest of my week was peaceful. Garth was a bit stressed over the rank ten, but at worst, we'd just escape through the teleportation circle and start somewhere new.
That was the nice thing about having a small population. Relocation was easy. As for the lizard itself, I never saw it again. I, of course, stopped all scouting and activity in that direction. We were at a disadvantage until I broke through to the tenth rank.
Other than that one incident, the other thing on my schedule was helping Rex breakthrough. He'd been reaching the limit of eighth rank and was about to break through. I couldn't help when he broke through, but I could give him advice and pointers.
As such, I had Rex's team join the guards in practice. It was an excellent opportunity for them to practice fighting other races.
Many of the enemies we encountered around our location were aerial. The eagles were our central defense against them, but working together would improve relations and strengthen units.
I also taught Rex everything I went through and how I prepared for the eighth rank. He was ready, but I wanted to ensure nothing would go wrong. In a way, he was my child and the precious reward I got from the dungeon.
No parent would ever put their kids in harm's way, and I wasn't different. I wasn't Rex's father figure anymore; he was only a year old. It reminded me of when he was little and would always cling to me.
Now, Rex had matured and enjoyed the freedom of the sky. I couldn't and didn't want to keep him contained, but I also wanted to protect him. The world is a harsh place with good and bad things.
You just have to do the best you can in a random world. I wanted to protect Rex from the worst parts of life. He'd matured fast, but I could tell he wasn't an adult yet. I technically was, the traditional age of maturity being 17 in the Aeulus Empire.
Right now, Rex was simply cultivating to the max. You'd get a head start in the next rank by cultivating to the max in the previous level.
The guards were training like normal, and I was relaxing by reading a book. I'd recently returned from the city, and this book had caught my eye.
It was a book of myths and legends, recounting many well-known tales and types of literature. In the middle, there was a poem that I found interesting.
"The King of Salem looked at the Sky,
'Why are you up there, Sky?' He asked.
'Because God placed me here,' the Sky replied.
'Why do you follow God?' asked the King.
'Why does anyone?' The Sky said.
'What do you mean, Sky?' The King asked.
'God holds the future, and we are only part of it.'"
It was a short poem translated from an ancient tongue. The notes mentioned that there was a second half to the poem, but it was never found.
What I found interesting was that a figure like the King of Salem was also here. I didn't know if it was the same King of Salem as on Earth, but the names were the same.
As I continued reading, I felt a mana fluctuation next to me. When I looked over, I saw an abnormal mana flow in Rex.
His normal refined flow was disrupted. Mana was erupting and being absorbed simultaneously. I put my book down and moved over to check his condition.
I put my hand on his head, using my mana to calm the rampage. I followed his flow and saw that his mana core was full. It was almost like he was breaking through, but he shouldn't have done it so soon.
As I noticed his mana core getting smaller, I realized he was breaking through, but not of his own will. It was like he was stuck in a trance.
I feared that breaking him out of the trance would provoke a backlash, so I did my best to ensure his breakthrough's success. Rex was at the acme of the eighth rank, so he needed to get it right.
The bigger the mana core was before you broke through, the bigger the backlash would be if you failed. I was never too concerned with failing, but I didn't know what or how Rex was feeling.
I sat next to Rex for the next hour as he curled up. It seemed like Rex was sleeping, but that was because I was holding back the mana outburst and helping him through it. Garth had helped me contain my mana when I broke through to the ninth rank, and in the dungeon, I always prepared defenses before breaking through.
The mana outputted during a breakthrough tended to draw a lot of attention, and in the wild, it was a sign that the prey were at their weakest. That's why people and even beasts often had trusted people covering them while breaking through.
I'd never needed anyone in the Duchy because I was always in a safe place when breaking through. Even if anything wanted to attack me, my parents were powerful and influential; they wouldn't even have the chance to come close.
After an hour, Rex had made significant progress, and his core was halfway condensed. Based on his rate, it would take another two hours to finish and a night of recovery.
The last parts were always the hardest as you forced denser material together, taking more effort. I took around four hours to break through, but it looked like Rex was a bit faster. I felt a bit of pressure he would overtake me after this.
-----
Rex woke up at dusk. He was still groggy after breaking through but had successfully done it.
("What happened?") Rex communicated telepathically.
"You broke through." I spoke out loud, looking at Rex.
("What? Why is father here?") Rex continued.
This time, I spoke telepathically. ("Your father is here, Rex because he loves you.") It warmed my heart that Rex still thought of me as his father even though he knew I wasn't his biological parent.
("You can understand me?") Rex put on a shocked expression.
("No, unfortunately not. You've gained the ability to talk.") I gently pet Rex. I didn't know why or how it happened, but almost every magic beast would gain the ability to speak after a certain level. You could train them to write beforehand, but only after a breakthrough would magical beasts be able to communicate.
This communication skill worked with most things. The magical beasts could talk with humans, other animals, and races. They could already speak with their race, so nothing changed there.
I hypothesized that it was translating magic, which would translate their thoughts into the language of whoever was listening.
("I can talk now!") Rex said, both questioningly and excitedly.
("Yes, you can, buddy.") I continued petting him.
("What about the others?") Rex asked.
("I don't think so? They haven't broken through yet. But you should be able to communicate with them more easily.") I answered.
Rex spread his wings and wanted to test his new power, but he quickly discovered the fatigue that came after such an arduous task. I let him jump in my arms and put him to bed. It was awkward because Rex was almost twice my size, but again, he was my child.