The Captain of the Quinte stared at the approaching River Serpent with a narrowed gaze as he cursed, “Those damn bandits! Don’t they know who’s ship this is? They are going against the arrangement with this, they won’t have a good ending!”

Towards others the River Serpent was a natural calamity for merchant ships in these parts, it forced them to pay larger fees toward the nobles here for their protection as only the nobles in the Kingdom vicinity seemed to have a means to deal with it. 

The few ships brave enough to resist the extortion from the nobles all suffered greatly at the River Serpent hands, even those who had an incredible reputation, a number of experts and well crafted ships that should have been able to resist a River Serpent with such cultivation had all never been heard of again shortly after they had set off.

However, little did people know this was all to do with the former Kingdoms corruption and desire to monopolise the river channels, which all lead towards the famed Mage Academy and a popular adventuring town making it a frequented, high in demand route. 

The Kingdoms nobles involved with the port towns alongside the rivers channels had made a great deal of profit working with the main culprits involved, an organised group of River Bandits who happened to have tamed a powerful River Serpent. 

These River Bandits despite being those responsible for a large number of missing ships over the years had no reputation to speak of, it was as if they didn’t exist in the first place, instead, the River Serpent who was the tamed beast of the leader gained a notorious reputation for being a ship destroyer.

However despite this the beast was allowed to remain rampant in these parts of the Kingdom, with there only being a few expeditions in an attempt to truly slay the beast.

The nobles made the argument that the River Serpent was too cowardly and difficult to deal with when it used the advantageous environment to evade the experts who went after it. 

Normally a River Serpent of this cultivation although being far smarter than a normal beast it was by no means as intelligent as a human, it was the bandit leader who was able to scout out the potential targets that made it avoid all the traps of hidden experts. 

The Kingdom and nobles could deal with the beast if they decided to pore enough resources into it, yet it would have been an expensive endeavour with the River Serpent's camouflage and natural advantages in the water making it a troublesome task that they wanted to avoid. 

It was why they easily agreed to the bandit leaders' suggestion of throwing them a few easy targets now and then along the route to appease them, in return they would never face any trouble from the bandits and would also earn a certain sum of the profits. 

Therefore the primary cause of this problem in the first place was the noble's incompetence, they agreed to the first way out of dealing with the King's orders to exterminate the beast they could find.

The Duke himself probably never thought he’d regret his decision with the profits he raked in, after the Kingdom meekly surrendered to the new Empire they were able to maintain some of their wealth, unlike other Kingdoms that had been defeated, however, reforms to the Kingdoms leadership would be occurring eventually so loose ends like the River Bandits were planned to be dealt with.

After all the only evidence of cooperation between them was the River Bandit leader, and being known as an incompetent noble who failed to deal with a river serpent was better than a corrupt noble who worked with bandits all these years.

Nonetheless, the nobles were arrogant and farsighted and underestimated hidden underworld factions like the Gravenports and River Bandit, they were not fools who gained their status due to inherited wealth, they had clawed their way up through betrayal, craftiness and ruthlessness.

They were not going to sit still whilst the Emperor's enforcers eventually set their sights on them, which is exactly why when the River Bandits received such an opportunity to flee the new Empire, all whilst being able to bring a valuable High Elf that could provide status in many powerful Kingdoms making them decide to forgo all pretences with the nobles they had formerly cooperative relationship with.

It was their chance to take all the wealth they had obtained over the years and start anew in another kingdom as respected nobles. 

No longer would they have to hide in the shadows like rats! It was exactly this that motivated the criminal gangs to follow the Gravenports plan even if it meant provoking a powerful Druid, if the plan succeeded none of this will matter.

The Quinte Captain's eyes grew fierce as he realised the meaning of these actions.

He knew the River bandits fully intended to go after them even if it meant offending the Duke because there was no way they did not know whose ship this was. 

“Ready the cannons, and activate the ship protections, these bandits have grown arrogant! They think that defeating a few weak merchant ships with no status means they can deal with us, now let's blow that little snake into the sky!” The Quinte captain shouted with rage as the sailors responded quickly to his command. 

Even though the reputation of the ship was built largely from the secret agreement keeping them protected from the bandits, it did not mean the crew or ship was unworthy of praise, they were clearly a notch above any ship the bandits dealt with before and this was shown by the bright inscriptions on the ship glowing with great power as the weapons and defences were being readied. 

The Quinte sailors and guards showed no signs of fear as a monstrous form was revealed in the distant water moving at a ridiculous speed that was far faster than any ship they’d seen. 

“The River Serpent, the calamity!” A merchant screamed upon seeing it. 

“King of the Lake! The ship sinker… we’re doomed!” A noble whimpered in fear. 

Although the crew did not react to the serpent's fearsome reputation that did not mean the passengers shared their professionalism. 

There was already a fervour on the top deck as the guards made their presence known to calm down the panicking nobles and merchants who had already lost their minds due to the appearance of the dreaded serpent. 

“Look at the size of it!” A man said in fear as the serpent's full form was revealed amidst the movement of the water, it was still not in range of the weapons of the ship so this slow movement as it surfaced itself to reveal its bulk seemed deliberate as if to intimidate those onboard. 

And it boasted a terrifying figure, the River Serpent was well over thirty metres long which was almost the length of the ship itself, though far less bulky with it being sleek and lean-like snakes from Earth yet even still with its length it's girth appeared over seven metres. 

It also looked to have weighed an astonishing amount likely over three thousand kilograms. 

The River Serpent's head was massive, and even with its size its dark blue scales would make it hard to spot in the water if it wasn't for the Serpent itself revealing its presence so easily, the serpent remained still for a period as it forked its tongue in apparent provocation to the observers as its dark yellow eyes gleamed at the ship with the coldness and ferocity of a true magical beast. 

The passengers seemed to panic at the sight of it, yet the experienced men onboard knew better, despite the power of the River Serpent it would still be a task to capsize a ship of this size, quality and that was if they stood still without them firing back. 

After all the River Serpent was not the heaviest beast for its size, it excelled in speed and sharp, powerful bursting attacks, but for its class, it was not known for pure strength. 

Yet the River Serpent was not alone, soon enough a number of ships appeared in the distance behind it and although the quality of each was clearly inferior to the Quinte, the numbers they displayed was worrying. 

The passengers unaware of the connection between the River Serpent all cheered loudly shouting they were saved at their timely arrival however the crew who were not ignorant stared silent, as the flags unveiled of those ships revealed the familiar shape of a dark blue river serpent.

This signalled the arrival of the River Bandit gang behind the serpent, named after their signature magical beast, The Azure Serpents was here.