From a pit of seemingly endless darkness, Henry and Iluna were suddenly swallowed by a gulf of light and thrown into a seemingly endless pit where their freefall would be eternal. However, that was not the case. The bright lights that surrounded them disappeared in the next moment, a world of lush forests and colossal rock spires floating around them without any physical assistance. It was day but stars could be seen adorning the gentle blue skies along with pink clouds that were ever-shifting in their shapes.

Their attention and curiosity were momentarily enthralled but as they felt the air violently brushing past them, they remembered they were still falling and this time, they could see the bottom of their fall.

Iluna screamed at their predicament and held on tight to the small spikes protruding all over Henry’s back. “We’re falling!” she cried.

“Not for long,” Henry replied dryly as he brandished his wings and easily stopped their fall.

When Iluna no longer felt the air rushing past them from below, she heaved a huge sigh of relief and slumped on Henry’s back. “I lived…” she gasped softly, panting.

“Were you expecting to die?”

“I expected the worst to happen,” Iluna answered in between her breaths. “My responsibilities as a High Priestess come with many dangers. In order to not be caught off guard, I’ll have to constantly expect and prepare for the worst.”

“And what exactly does a High Priestess do?”

“Ensuring the wellbeing and perseverance of the Lavans.”

“You sound more like a guardian, a protector, more than a symbol.”

“My responsibilities are varied. I also occasionally provide guidance and answers to those who are lost. But enough about me, Henry. Where are we now, do you know?”

“I am at a loss too,” Henry said. He looked around, taking in the foreign and exotic scenery. He spotted a group of large creatures that closely and uncannily resembled Manta Rays, causing his eyes to narrow. These Manta Ray-like creatures weren’t swimming in the water but the air. They were flying but their motion looked more like they were swimming but with air as the medium.

“Are those flying fishes?” Iluna asked as she pointed in a certain direction.

Henry followed her finger and found a large school of Koi Fishes swimming around the floating rock spires. Speaking of the rock spires, they were all hovering high above the ground, suspended by only god knows what. “We are certainly no longer in Ulrum,” Henry muttered.

“Fishes… swimming in the air… How is this possible? Murux? No, I can barely feel any traces of Murux. This is, for certain, not Ulrum.”

Henry smiled wryly. He was more concerned about Iluna’s mental state than their current predicament. He could see Iluna was not taking their situation well. Her gaze was trembling and her lips were shivering. She couldn’t stop glancing around, as if wishing she had seen everything wrong.

“L-Lord H-Henry…” Iluna stammered. “Please tell me you know a way we can return to Ulrum.”

“Unfortunately, my dear lady, I do not.”

Iluna cast her gaze down. “I see… What are we going to do now? We don’t know where we are. We don’t know how to return to Ulrum. This is terrible, Lord Henry.”

“Calm down, Iluna. We’re not dead yet. We’re still alive. We’ll find a way. If worse comes to worst, we can just live here.”

“I can’t do that, Lord Henry! My people are waiting for me back in Ulrum. They must be so worried right now. My absence will surely throw the Lavans into a tumult.”

“I was just joking, Iluna.”

“Now’s not the time for jests, Lord Henry.”

“What’s with the ‘Lord’? Didn’t we agree to drop each of our titles when we converse?”

“I’m not in the right frame of mind to be leisure, Lord Henry. How can you be so calm?”

Because this ain’t my first rodeo, woman.

Henry wanted to retort as such but he held his tongue for a more amicable response. “Panicking won’t solve our quandary, Iluna.”

“Then what do you propose we do, Lord Henry?”

“Well, we should find shelter, first and foremost.”

“Yes… we should find shelter first,” Iluna repeated Henry’s words in a daze.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them, hiding from the glare of the sun. Henry looked up and found himself staring at a shark-like fish darting towards them with its mouth wide open, revealing its rows of razor-sharp teeth.

You gotta be kidding me!

“Hold on tight!” Henry shouted. He rolled out of the way as the shark-like creature rushed past them, snapping its jaws shut. His fight response would have been triggered instead of his flight response had it not been for Iluna who was nestled on his back.

“T-that’s a shark! I don't believe it! How can a shark be flying in the sky?” Iluna exclaimed. “Careful, Lord Henry!”

“I don’t really like shark fin but you attack first,” Henry muttered dryly to himself before unleashing his Fire Breath at the shark.

The tattoos around the shark’s head glowed and he unleashed a strong gush of water in response to Henry’s breath.

Oh, what the fuck...?

The clash of their breaths ended in a draw. The shark charged towards Henry as soon as the clash ended. The glow spread, tracing the tattoos that covered the entire body of the shark. From these glowing tattoos, bolts of water were conjured and shot towards Henry.

Holy shit!

Henry shot those water bolts down with a flurry of Firebolts but the shark immediately followed up with a swing of its tail, sending out blue beams of light that bore huge semblance to his Aura Blades. Henry responded in kind, throwing his own wave of aura blades with a swing of his claws.

The clash of the aura blades ended in another draw and the shark was already preparing its next attack.

“Have a taste of physics!” Henry shouted and manipulated the gravity around the shark.

Just as it was about to unleash its water breath, the shark was abruptly pulled to the ground. It still ended up firing its breath but it was way off the mark. The shark seemed to be screeching as it fell but no voice or sound came out of its open mouth. Since the trees were abundant and dense, Henry couldn’t see the shark hitting the ground but he did hear it making a “splat” sound.

I wonder if it has a Murux Core or something like that.

“Did you kill it?” Iluna asked.

“Not sure but I’m certain it’s at least gravely injured,” Henry answered.

Iluna sighed. “Thank the goddess and I begged your forgiveness, milady,” she muttered a hushed prayer. “May the poor creature find the peace it deserves.”

Before Henry could catch his breath and reorganise his thoughts, his sense of danger assailed him from all sides. A small group of giant shark-like creatures were converging on him.

“By the goddess…” Iluna gasped.

“I hope you’re still holding on tight,” Henry said and took off into a sprint of flight. The sharks chased after him, streaking through the air as their aquatic counterpart would in the water. In his flight, Henry would periodically glance behind and spat Firebolts at his pursuers.

Each of the sharks chasing after him were a few sizes smaller than the one he just flattened but they were barely any less powerful. The sharks each spat a bolt of condensed water in return, nullifying his Firebolts. If he used his Jetstream breath or Corrosive Breath, the sharks would dodge instead and their evasive manoeuvre did not slow them down at all.

“Iluna, do you know any spells or tricks that can slow our pursuers down?”

“I know a few but I doubt it would be effective against monsters of those sizes.”

One of the pursuing sharks suddenly surged forward at a neck-breaking speed, instantly surpassing Henry and arriving in front of him. It faced Henry and opened its mouth to unleash an attack.

“Idiot,” was all Henry said before promptly slicing the foolish shark in the half with an Aura Blade. As its blood spewed from the two pieces of a corpse, a glittering reddish stone fell from the bisected body. Henry’s eyes gleamed at the sight of that shimmering crimson stone. Without a warning, he made a descent, going after the red stone falling through the air.

“Lord Henry, what’s wrong?!” Iluna screamed.

“Just keep holding on tight,” Henry responded vaguely and sped up, diving after the glittering stone. He managed to snatch the stone out of the air before it fell out of his reach and he swooped back up into the skies.

Henry had yet to get a look at the stone but now that it was in his hand, he could feel that this was essentially this world’s equivalent of a Murux Core.

“What is it that you just obtained?”

“Power,” Henry gave another vague answer and popped the red stone into his mouth. He felt the effects immediately after consumption. He felt a small amount of his vigour and stamina being restored. While he was relishing in this discovery, the sharks behind him were preparing for their next assault. His danger perception pulled him out of his celebratory stupor. “Oh, give me a break,” he groaned and folded his wings.

Iluna let out another scream. “Lord Henryyyy!!”

Together, the sharks unleashed a large beam of blue energy that cut across the air, slicing through the breeze, and veering towards Henry. If he had not made that sudden descent, he would have been bisected. A small floating spire in front of him wasn’t too fortunate.

Henry did not unfold his wings. He let himself continue to fall. The sharks followed vehemently in his tracks. They dove after him as they prepared another attack.

“Lord Henry, we’re falling!”

“Just keep your grip tight on me!”

Henry plunged right through the dense trees and he made another shocking discovery. He had presumed the trees’ height to be average but he was wrong in that presumption. The trees were tall, taller than the height of two or even three average trees combined. There was a long drop from the branches to the roots.

The height of the trees wasn’t the only surprising factor. There were also a lot of giant mushrooms and plants that were otherwise small in Ulrum. He also saw bugs and insects the size of a horse. Shivers ran down his spine but he turned his focus away from those creepy crawlers. He had a group of sharks to deal with first.

Henry continued in his descent, shoving all of the bizarre discoveries into the corner of his mind.

The sharks followed Henry right through the leaves and branches. They were hellbent on catching up to him.

Iluna glimpsed over her shoulder out of trepidation. “Oh goddess… Lord Henry, they’re about to—”

“I know.” Henry unfolded his wings when there was only less than eighty feet between the ground and him. He made a sharp turn and ascended upwards. The sharks following after him did the same thing but as they were not prepared, their turn wasn’t smooth. More than half of them smacked right into the ground, turning themselves into a gory splatter of flesh and blood.

Henry turned around again in his ascent and caught two sharks with his claws which flew right into his grasp. He snapped their necks with ease and tossed the carcasses at the two remaining sharks. The sharks were unmerciful with their dead and they blasted their beam attack right through the carcasses of their brethren.

With only just the two left, Henry met their attacks with an attack of his own. His strongest attack yet, was the Inferno Breath. The two paltry beams of blue energy were completely overwhelmed by Henry’s vortex of flame. The two sharks tried to run but they were far too slow in escaping their doom.

The inferno exploded and the two sharks were swallowed by the rampant blaze. Henry didn’t care about the damage he would do to the forest. This was not Ulrum. He felt disinclined to care about the forest of a world he was abruptly pulled into. Unlike with Ulrum, he had no intention of staying here.

“You’re alright back there?” Henry asked.

“...I am,” Iluna answered in a small voice. “Can we find somewhere where you can land? I think I might faint…”

“Of course,” Henry said and took to the skies, leaving the blaze continuing to spread without an end.