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Early Evening - Mid Winter : Elafos Family Estate, Eikasía | Eastern Bahamut

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Bahamut.

It was a name that always held significant meaning to me, whether as the god of the dragons, a friend, or a misled god, unable to shake off his human origins after being reborn.

However, as I sat there, listlessly floating in an ocean of mana, that name's meaning warped.

As my mind created an image out of the lines I drew around the cavern, I subconsciously laid it over the static-laden projection of my aura's space mana before suddenly, the vague shapes of ribs and vertebrae showed through the static...

And I found myself floating in the chest cavity of a creature too large to fathom.

It was Bahamut.

The real Bahamut.

A titan who could cause earthquakes with its steps, carry a mountain range on its back, and roam the surface like a continent with legs...

Yet somehow was completely lost to time.

No records.

No myths.

No legends... Just a bed of lost prayers.. a name that found a new owner.. and a memory...

A memory I had lost in the depths of my soul.

Feeling a sense of pity as I looked around the cavernous cavity, my mind raced to search for the rest of the memory, but even as seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours, I had nothing to show for it. -Is the only way for me to figure it out.. to reincarnate myself?-

Thinking back to the endless years I spent with my brother, repeatedly reincarnating myself, my expression darkened.

But nothing came of it. "Haah..." -Who am I kidding...- Letting out a heavy breath, liquid mana rushed over my tongue and instantly sharpened my pupils. -Now isn't the time for that...-

Quickly shifting gears, I looked back up at the ceiling again, envisioning the colossal skeleton making up the walls of the cavern while taking a moment to sort out my thoughts.

After all, countless questions that had been dwelling on my mind ever since I looked at the first facility with Keras finally had answers.

The place wasn't a mana well Bahamut buried. It was a grave that significantly predated him, hidden from the world by someone else. -Bahamut didn't have the strength, even at his peak, to sink suck a huge mass of earth this deep...-

Being the grave of an ancient god, what I believed to be an oversized mana well was actually the remnants of the mana that was once compressed into a single being's reserve, and as such, the ribcage I floated in must have accompanied it.

And while I could only vaguely make out its general shape, especially at range, it was easily twenty or thirty kilometers long.

-And that's just the ribcage...- Assuming the legs and tail accompanied it, the amount of rock that needed to be sunk underground was, at a bare minimum, the size of a massive island.

-I can't even fathom how hard it would be to just move such a huge mass of rock.

. let alone do that while keeping everything intact. ..-

But while I certainly wondered who could possibly make such a feat possible, I simply didn't have enough information to give it any thought.

Finally shifting my attention back toward where the Acardi tunnel connected to the magma chamber, my mind continued shifting gears. -Well, in any case, it's not a wonder why the Acardi built things here anymore...-

After being.. enlightened to the reality of the 'well'.

. it quickly became more clear that the Acardi were here for research purposes, likely researching the skeletal remains of the god while using its excessive mana to fuel advanced, mana-hungry facilities like the one that deciphered a space rune.

-If I had to guess, the facility that was closer to the ceiling was probably similar. ..-

However, despite concluding that they were there for research purposes, I still hadn't found an actual research facility. -Is that what that other cable connected to?-

Eagerly wanting to check it out, I finally started making my way out of the endless mass of mana before it began blending with the viscous magma again, and the blinding static that blinded my aura cleared.

-Wow...- It honestly felt like I peeled off a blindfold and was seeing the world for the first time again.

-I'll never complain about my aura again. ..-

Continuing out into the main magma chamber, directly beneath the space rune facility, I dove down, trying to track the set of thick cables through the wall with my aura as I descended.

But it didn't actually take too long for me to find where it led. -There it is...-

After descending another thirty kilometers below the entrance to the grave, the cables turned toward the magma chamber, however, they never reached the magma chamber, instead, meeting some sort of block and stopping. -Looks like there really was another facility down here...-

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Being considerably larger than the laboratory off the coast of Siratha, it was most certainly a research facility, embedded in the wall some sixty kilometers below the surface. -To think they'd hide it under our nose...-

Finally making my way up to the edge of it, where I found what looked like a gate for ships to enter, I used my aura to scan what I could of the facility in hopes of turning it back on and opening the gate normally before realizing that was a bit overzealous.

-The condition of this place is good.. but there are a ton of systems I don't recognize.

..- Mainly those operating the gate since this facility was dealing with scorching hot magma as opposed to some high-pressure water.

However, if an inoperable door was enough to stop me, I never would have learned anything about the Acardi.

*Vwoop-Tink* Casually cutting a hole in the wall of the facility, I used my aura to keep the magma out before squeezing my massive form inside the docking bay and patching it back up. *Vwoop*

Shockingly though, while I still had to be quite hunched, unable to lift my head above my shoulders, I could almost stand up inside it with my full-size form, with plenty of room for my tail and neck.

That was if there was nothing in the way.

*Clang-Clang-Clang* Unable to keep my tail from wagging and smacking something behind me, I hastily shrunk my form to about thirty meters, and whipped my head around with a gleam in my eyes.

It was an old Acardi ship; A large crawler-like craft nestled between six legs like a resting spider while also having an area to curl the legs into, giving it a generally aerodynamic look with what appeared to be the intakes of a jet on its front, and clear outtakes in the back.

-Compared to the facility, it's definitely a bit on the outdated side.

..- But even still, it was considerably more advanced than the ships that attacked Hera during the war.

Quickly looking through it, it didn't take long to find that it sat about fifteen people and carried a huge variety of storage, with everything from gyroscopically stabilized storages, to a variety of controlled temperatures, humidities, and air densities.

However, rather than the storages containing vials, equipment, or even general scientific supplies that required those conditions, I found piles of gunk that seemed to be the remnants of organic matter as well as vast quantities of water, not just in their intended containers, but scattered throughout all the storages in quite a haphazard fashion. -What the...-

Although it was certainly possible that I just misunderstood what I was looking at, at the time, I couldn't help but think that it was all.. a bit odd... -What is all this about...-

Taking a moment to try and diagnose what the gunk came from, I used my aura to break it down more, but besides finding traces of minerals like iron and calcium, there wasn't much I could actually recognize or tie to any purpose.

-Huh...- Turning to look toward the door leading into the facility, I felt like my ears perked up with curiosity.

-I wonder if.. this ship wasn't actually abandoned here. ..-

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(Same time, on the surface)

- Hera Monachikós ~

"Mmmmhh..." Letting out an angry grumble as she rested between my legs, Krystallo shot me a glare.

It was a scene that repeated itself more than daily ever since Vasilias left to investigate the Acardi facilities and mana well beneath the Elafos family estate.

It had only been a few days since then, but in that time, he missed one of Krystallo's fights, and that was something that made her.. more than a little upset.

As the scene of her absolutely decimating her opponent in fit of anger came to mind, I felt a mix of nervousness and fascination. "Krystallo, he'll be back soon-"

"And how do you know? Every time Mom said he'd 'be back soon', he took months."

"Haha..." -He does get sidetracked pretty easily...- But this wasn't one of those times. "I made sure he knew he couldn't burn too much time. At the latest, he'll be back tomorrow or the day after, okay?"

"Hmph..." Pouting, she quickly laid her head back down on my leg before continuing to angrily thump her tail on the ground.

"Haah..." -So hopeless...- Warmly smiling, I was quick to look back up over the silent training grounds. -I don't think it'd be bad if he takes a couple extra days though...-

The thing was, even though she seemed constantly distraught that Vasilias wasn't around, her training never stopped outside of 'rest hours' that were enforced by the Elafos estate.

While they were only doing one day of free training per dragon, I 'swayed' the knights with a bit of gold so she could stick around and continue to spar and reattend the lessons the knights gave to other dragons, and because of it, she was progressing more than steadily.

However, while she didn't quite realize it, as time passed and her anger about Vasilias wandering off without her grew, she started training more and more aggressively, to the point that even the knights had to be careful sparing her at times.

Overhearing the knights cleaning up the training grounds gossiping about her, I wanted to laugh.

-Hoho~, she really did go for the kill in some of her spars though. -

But that kind of training was just what she needed, where nothing was on her mind except thinking about how to hurt her opponent, even if it was unknowingly, just to vent her own frustrations.

Granted it wasn't perfect, since, unlike Vasilias, she simply didn't have the talent to mindlessly perfect techniques, but her improvement was more than visible.

At least to everyone but her.

Pouting as she looked out toward the horizon, thoughts raced behind her eyes, but rather than being clouded by worry for her brother as they would have been previously, there was the fear of inadequacy woven in as well, a worry of whether she was really making the most of the training she was subjecting herself to.

But that fear was also an immense driving force for her. -Even though she lacks talent compared to her brother.. compared to the rest of the world she's a genius beyond words...-

However in her mind, no matter how much the rest of the world called her a genius, it meant nothing... She couldn't escape the massive shadow her brother unknowingly cast on her, a wall of talent a mortal creature couldn't dream of overcoming.

However, that shadow was also where she found her solace, and her motivation, not in hopes of climbing to the peak of the mountain before her, but rather just climbing high enough to peek over the trees...

Rather than wanting to overcome him because of something as petty as jealousy, she just wanted to see the world that he saw.

She just wanted to find an excuse to spend time with him without feeling like baggage, regardless of how light or heavy she might be.

But little did she know, that search for an excuse would lead her over taller mountains than regular dragons could see the peaks of.

To a place where she could not only see over the trees, but over the horizon.

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