A short moment later, all eyes snapped open and trailed towards the rectangle opening of the cave-dwelling. Mistress Hana arrived while carrying the star of the day, the ball-like Lord Piko-piko. Lord Brother Kuro was dangling over the Mistress’ neck like a necklace. At the same time, their most recent enemy turned ally, Lady Eagle, trailed behind the Mistress. She was too big; hence, only her head was perched over the rectangle ‘door’.
Alpy’s other three clansmen, who were in the same boat as him, gasped audibly after seeing the ferocious spirit eagle. Alpy signaled them to calm down and be quiet, lest they attract everyone else’s attention. Although Alpy still had reservations over the Silver-banded Eagle, he knew those were residual fear from the previous altercation. He had personally overseen the Blood-bestowal Ceremony performed by the Mistress on the she-eagle to welcome her into their folds. The eagle had accepted it willingly. By now, the eagle would have detected the clear connection between their souls and naturally understood what it implicated.
The creatures congregated loosely within Hana’s sojourn, giving way to the Mistress as she walked toward a spot beside Lord Brother Shiro, and finally sat cross-legged. The baby bird innocently squirmed while making ‘pi-pi’ sounds, acting cute. At the same time, an especially brawny Elemental Fiend scurried over to stand beside her without saying anything.
The Mistress patted the Elemental Fiend’s head. “Can you see, Q-chan?”
A soft droning sound came from below. The Primordial Queen Mother of the Elemental Fiends was too large; she stayed downstairs. But the Mistress had asked her to join the ‘family meeting’ through the Elemental Fiend beside her using hive telepathic connection between the two. Although there were many Elemental Fiends present illuminating the edges of the abode, the Mistress seemed to prefer this same Elemental Fiend to stand beside her at all times.
Alpy pondered for a moment and summed up that the Elemental Fiend must be extremely lucky since it didn’t have any distinguishing criteria compared to the rest. It also emphasized their Mistress’ whimsical actions.
This shows that one didn’t have to be the best to receive the Mistress’ affection. One only has to catch her interest in some way, just like Saras. He heard from the dolphin that Mistress had a fancy over her just because she was a dolphin and she was pink! Nothing else. It so happens that the Mistress loved dolphins, and the added pink shade was the cherry on top.
...
Hana observed the crowd deeply before taking a deep breath to calm herself.
Many things happened, and she obtained new pets and even a second vassal clan. It was true that within danger lies opportunity as long as one grasps it well. She envisioned so many things, and with enough manpower, she knew she could make it happen. She owed these creatures a proper explanation to be on the same page. They will live and die with her from here onwards.
Due to the nature of the Soul-link, these creatures will have no chance of betraying her. Hence, she wasn’t going to treat them as expendables. Instead, they will be the future pillars of the Serpent’s Lair with the right nurturing and investment of resources.
Hana turned serious and spoke.
“Alright, let’s start. Let me introduce myself to the newcomers. I am Mistress Hana, the leader of the Serpent’s Lair. And no, contrary to your belief, I am not a Lightning Serpent. The name of our clan does not reflect who I am, but rather, I made a temporary dwelling in my guardian’s territory, Lord Kuro, who is a Lightning Serpent.”
Although it did not come as a surprise that the Mistress was not the notorious Lightning Serpent’s kin, her revelation made one think deeply since her powers were a carbon copy of an actual Lightning Serpent.
What did it actually mean?
Were Lightning Serpents’ racial traits transferrable?
Or was she a unique entity with unknown abilities that somehow looked similar to the rare Lightning Serpents’ skillset?
A few of the more acute ones took note of the word ‘temporary’ within Hana’s explanation. It meant that this mysterious creature was an outsider! It seemed that she might not plan to stay permanently in this territory. What was her motive?
Their interest was definitely piqued!
Although the interior of Hana’s sojourn was so silent, the public telepathic channel was filled with animated discussions about the Mistress’ mysterious origin.
“My two personal guardians, as well as my right hand and left hand, are Lord Kuro and Lord Shiro.” Hana proceeded to introduce her two most loved pets.
“I want to make it clear that no one here is enslaved. Instead, we are all one big family, tied together by an unbreakable bond. These two are the seniors of the family. They helped me so much and received my absolute trust. In my absence, you may listen, request advice and guidance, and receive tasks from your Lord Brothers for the betterment of the family.”
First and foremost, Hana planned to establish a hierarchy within her’ family’. No matter what, Kuro and Shiro will just be slightly below her. They will be given high power to control the family together with her. This was important for the future development of the family as she planned to expand her forces aggressively. As her’ family’ grows bigger in the future, she will add more ‘big brothers’ or ‘big sisters’ into the family to manage everyone more efficiently. These ‘big brothers’ and ‘big sisters’ will function like an officer to lead her people so that she could slack off when she wanted to and not to be tied down by managing the family. This was the only way to achieve her new objectives faster.
“Everyone of you who is present right now is my people. Get it clear; from the moment you accepted my blood and relinquished part of your soul to me, you and I share the same fate permanently. I know you can feel it. Hence, most importantly, you are here to listen, understand, and finally work towards the Serpent’s Lair objectives, short-term and long-term goals. In return, I will help you cultivate faster and sail through bottlenecks with ease, reaching new heights in your life, utilizing your full potential.”
Many of their eyes lit up. Regardless of whether they were willing or not, once a Soul-link was formed, there was no way back. The spiritual beasts were prepared to be used without mercy, hence, the promise of benefits made them glad. The allure of advancement were strong amongst the spiritual beasts.
Hana took a deep breath and gazed into her pets’ eyes steadily.
“I came from another world.”
Hana relayed the information calmly. It wasn’t new information, but she had expanded her faction quite fast. Most of her new pets didn’t know about this matter. Only Kuro and Shiro knew about her background and accepted her as she was. She proceeded to project the image of her hometown inside everyone’s minds. It was her favorite go-to locations; morning and night markets, nature parks, anime conventions, and heavy traffic dimsum outlets.
“We are known as humans.”
The majority of them gasped at the sheer number of creatures who were similar to the Mistress. There were so many! It looked like the Mistress’ clansmen were more than the Elemental Fiends’ nest-dwellers! With the sheer number of ‘humans’ present, it was impossible not to meet any of them!
Some sweated at the sights of humans chopping chickens and beef ruthlessly without any emotion. Some shivered at the sights of humans gutting living catfishes who was still moving, crabs cut to pieces, and large fishes’ head cleaved to two. These creatures performed the deeds with smiles on their faces as they bundled the bloody parts and pieces into soft reddish materials. The clansmen who received them returned a big smile while engaging in small talks. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary to these creatures.
This... The Mistress’ clansmen were ruthless people!
Even Kuro and Shiro were speechless with the ‘graphic’ examples shown by Hana to the others. They now understood how Hana could become so ruthless when she manhandled meat! It was part of her daily life! Was this a veiled threat purposely revealed to the others to intimidate them?
Alpy narrowed his gaze in shock! He had seen these kinds of creatures somewhere before! However, he looked down and quickly controlled his turbulent emotions and thoughts. He needed some time to think deeply, weighing the pros and cons of informing the Mistress about this matter. These creatures weren’t particularly friendly, and he had bad blood with them.
The majority of Hana’s pets were infants or young spiritual beasts; hence they lacked exposure. Although Kuro was more than 300 years old, he was only considered a juvenile who bordered on being a hikikomori. He minded his own business and only attacked a specific location for their resources.
Alpy, on the other hand, was an outsider who traveled far and wide before he entered the Waterwave Marine Clan once he gained a fruitatious encounter to become a spiritual beast. Because of rivalry, his future had been cut off as he stagnated without reaching Noble status. In time, although his advancement was halted, he had quite an influence, especially amongst the servants. He was known to be a creature with great wisdom and excellent judgment.
However, he hid well from the upper echelon. Alpy wanted to prevent trouble, especially when his old rival had transcended its servant status to become someone important. He was nearly driven to his death due to this. However, his old rival’s tragic death invoked a complicated feeling in Alpy since he died at the very hands of the notorious Lightning Serpent. In a way, Lord Kuro had inadvertently helped him before, and he owed his life to the Lightning Serpent unknowingly.
His eyes coincidentally met with the Mistress’ meaningful gaze as he looked up. The Mistress was scrutinizing him with undisguised interest; her eyes were sharp and imposing as if they could peel away all his deepest darkest secrets.
Had she been observing him? Did she notice? He tried his best to control the increased heart rate and calmed down after a few seconds.
The Mistress took a deep breath as she continued.
“I wish to find a way to return home.”
...
