Farrox grinned in delight at the sight of the Druid being dragged into the river by his serpent. 

He couldn’t believe his fortune at everything seeming to fall in place, before the Gravenport informed him of this opportunity he felt a great deal of frustration at his time here being forced to come to a close by the ongoing circumstances involving the Empire. 

His serpent was close to ascending and achieving its full potential he felt it, yet just as this was about to come to be the Kingdom finally caved in towards the Empire and surrendered.

He knew the nobles would likely now turn their eyes towards his bandit gang who had been living comfortably all these years, after all they all were hungry for merits to try and restore their lost status. 

Therefore he knew he had to leave here sooner or later before the Empires enforcers came out to deal with him. 

At the time he felt extremely incensed, after all his serpent was so close to progressing towards new heights, yet all this was about to end? 

However none of this mattered now, not only had he been able to finally vent his anger on those pretentious nobles, but the problem for finding suitable resources for his Serpent ascension was resolved, and additionally on top of all that the problem of him returning to his lands would be dealt with far more simply with the capture of the High Elf. 

Nonetheless it was now time to make a move himself.

He did not intend to work with the Gravenports who gave him the information in the first place. 

Even the Azure Serpent, a bandit gang he had formed to quickly gather resources for his serpent was now expendable to him. 

With the Druid absent from the ship it was time to make his presence known.

Suddenly Farrox eyes revealed a strange light as his face began to consort and change. 

His skin changed becoming a green tint, where there was the pale skin of a human now there was scales, his eyes resembled the slit eyes of a snake as his true figure as a member of the Snakekin race was revealed. 

“Finally I can breathe a bit…” the eyes of the surrounding bandits didn’t even appear surprised instead they just blankly stared ahead. 

Snakekin tamers were different to normal ones, they entered a deep bond with their magical beast which was usually a serpent-type magical beast of some kind. 

Farrox and his magical beast due to the unique bond gained a portion of their most significant attributes from each other but it came with significant costs.

The first being it was incredibly difficult to break the bond, once made even if the bond was willingly broken it would permanently weaken both parties, usually making them drop tiers in cultivation, there was also significant consequences if one member of the bond was to meet their end once the bond has been made therefore a Snakekin would only choose their bond wisely. 

Farrox was considered nobility among his race, therefore him forming his bond with a River Serpent was greatly mocked at the time, and this was despite the River Serpent not even being that weak for a magical beast, yet for an individual of his standing it was still not considered top-class.

He was originally considered a top genius among his race however those who previously were equal to him began to outpace him after forming bonds with superior magical beasts, bonding was major for a Snakekin and usually their potential was greatly influenced by it no matter how talented one was. 

Although he was still not weak among his race he could tell his family was dissatisfied with him for bonding with the River Serpent, however now he would come back in triumph after being proved right.

The odds of awakening the Flood Dragon blood was considered too low by his clan and a waste of resources yet he had done it.

It had taken him over a hundreds years of time to finally do it but now things were finally looking up.

“I will show those who exiled me how wrong they were when I return to the clan not only by bringing the beast they scorned now a Monarch but I will also bring a rare High Elf brat in tow!” Farrox grinned extremely pleased.

His people despised the Elves extremely, he was sure the High Elf would restore his comfortable life as a noble among the Snakekin even if the promotion of his serpent was not enough to smooth over the problem he had caused.

His intentions from the beginning was never to gain some nobility in a blasted human Kingdom, those people would give you nobility always if you had enough funds and gave it the right people under the table, how else would those useless Gravenport fools somehow be considered nobles here. 

His people despise such means however it would be a great honour bringing one of their hated enemies nobility to them, the Elves had suppressed the Snakekin easily whenever conflict arose over the years, their technological and magical superiority was above them by far, although he was proud even he could admit this, they rarely caught sight of the noble High Elves and when they did it usually led to their defeat. 

The Human Kingdoms in other continents was always a last resort for him, he always wanted to return home to the comfortable life of nobility, but to be honest if that doesn’t work out he just wants to use his strength to live luxuriously, therefore those dirty Human Kingdoms was not the worse idea if things don’t work out.

Which is why he prioritised getting ahold of that High Elf brat, they rarely left the cave of protection the Elven community provided, so when else would he ever get an opportunity like this one? 

“Bring the ship closer men, it’s time we board ourselves!” Farrox commanded.

His crew knew long ago he was no ordinary human, and these bunch of misfits don’t care.

A good deal of them are mix-bloods, beast-kin, rejects of society in human lands, he specifically recruited these people for his crew the most as he knew they would be the easiest to manipulate. 

His crew were awed at his ‘trust’ to reveal his origins as a Snakekin, and a few honeyed words that it was time for them to make something of themselves where they had been repressed all their lives had won them over the years easily making his gang rather loyal. 

He only wore this human mask when he would interact with other humans since they trusted their own kind more easily. 

In fact he only retained this human mask as he was concerned the Druid might hone on him from the ship if he discovered anything, it was rather paranoid since the Druid was land beast but Snake-kin were always paranoid since they often schemed against their own kind just as much as their enemies. 

It was common knowledge if you end the life of a Snake-kin tamer his magical beast would significantly weaken, which was why he safely remained out of the battle until now as he grew concerned the Druid had the means to threaten him.

However with the Quinte severely depleted, the Druid about to be disposed of, and the powerful Mage from earlier well-spent after such a battle he held no fear, he was a proud Snake-kin noble, the elite of his race and was already at the peak of tier nine only one step away from becoming a Monarch like his Serpent.

Who on that ship could even threaten him now?

Soon enough the Quinte noticed that the largest ship of the bandit fleet approached them alongside multiple others. 

Seeing the flag ship approach they knew it meant one thing, the leader of the Azure Serpents was about to make an appearance. 

The ship was now close enough to the Quinte for Farrox to board, his flagship was the closest to the Quinte in size and as a Snake-kin he shared a similar racial advantage over humans like all Beast-kin do, they are naturally far stronger than humans. 

Taking a big leap Farrox soon find himself landing on the ship deftly with the humans shouting and screaming straight away at his presence. 

Farrox just gave a big grin, Snake-kin were natural warriors like their Beast-kin counterparts, although they focused more on agile, speed based movements, they held a great advantage as Warriors compared to the average human. 

His bond with the Serpent greatly increased his Warrior capabalities allowing him to hone his magic more, though his magic was more support based focusing on buffing his magical beast like most of his race would use magic for. Shake-kin were not the best mages but they were good at support magic primarily having access to the water attribute and were good tamers. 

The two human warriors approached him fast as he easily side stepped them taking out his weapons casually. 

He smirked at them, they were fairly good, better than most of his rag-tag lot anyways, but against a well trained Snake-kin warrior? 

They might as well be wooden puppets, his speed was a blur as both men heads went flying in the air as they were detached from their bodies.

Both of the human warriors were tier four at the very least, very respectable in the continent yet they were not even able to react to the attack that beheaded them. 

The rest of the human guards visibly recoiled at the sight whilst the bandits fought even more fiercely at seeing their leader defeat the enemies giving them such a hard fight so casually. 

They believed no one could beat their mighty leader!

Farrox was satisfied with the reaction, now none would waste his time as he went on to retrieve the child.

Yet just as he was about to approach the entrance to the cabins down below a bloodied elf approached him from the front. 

Flicking his tongue out he quickly determined what she was.

“Mmm Elf Mage… I would enjoy sinking my fangs into your flesh if I had the time, but well, a High Elf brat is expecting me and I can’t disappoint them, she will be the guest of honour for my future arrangements after all.” Farrox spoke in a carefree manner, however although it would appear to the observer that he was relaxed and completely unbothered his left hand was already sneakily reaching for something.

Like a snake Farrox was coiled, predatorily eyeing the female elf with the corner of his eye, waiting for one moment of weakness where he could end her in one strike. 

Althaea just ignored him as she replied, “I’m sorry to disappoint you but that’s not going to happen...” 

Althaea already knew she was screwed from the beginning. 

Even at her best she was not confident in fighting against such a tricky opponent. 

‘Damn Snake-kin always sinking those greedy fangs into everything.’ Althaea thought grumpily. 

Beast-king were usually known for their upfront, honest nature, they were warriors through and through, direct and open to their actions, even if they didn’t like you, they would be upfront about this and are not known for back-stabbing, treacherous tactics.

But the Snake-kin on the other hand? They were an anomaly, a scourge on the Beast-kin race. They were even more cunning and devilish than most humans, resorting to all sorts of means to achieve their goals. 

They were predators through and through, always looking for an edge they can get over their opponents, there was a saying, ‘Snake-kin are never truly an ally, it is merely temporary when they are the beneficiary, they’d sink their fangs into you the moment you show weakness.’ 

So it was no surprise when an accursed member of that race was involved. 

She already had her fair share of experience with them and it always seemed to end with the other trying to backstab her in some way. 

However it also meant she knew the weakness behind their tamers. 

‘If the River Serpent is his bonded creature…’ Althaea thought with hope, ‘Arwen don’t worry, I will save you like you saved me all those years ago!’

At that moment without warning Farrox had already made his move yet Althaea was relying on this.

She knew a Snake-kin had no qualms against going for the kill against a seemingly weakened opponent.

However from the start Althaea had been pouring everything she had in one final spell. 

“Wood Prison.” Althaea managed to speak out just as the Snake-kin was within reach. 

Farrox eyes widened for a moment before he tried to reach towards the elf before the first encasement of wood sent him reeling back. 

She chugged multiple recovery potions to have the energy to cast such a spell, and now the spell she had been holding since she saw Farrox approaching on his flagship was all released with him as the target. 

Condensed beams of Wood Qi began forming on top of each other as the swift and elusive Snake-kin soon found himself encased in multiple barriers of wood.

The spell was destructive and Althaea continued pouring all her Qi to continuously maintain the spell as she pumped everything she had left into crushing the Snake-kin to death in an encasement of wood. 

Farrox screamed in annoyance as he tried to tear himself free but his screeches were soon muffled as he was being covered in a dome of wood and more and more barriers began forming around him. 

Althaea found her Qi draining at a rapid pace as she tried to maintain the spell, she was constantly having to reinforce the wooden prison as the Snake-kin was constantly trying to tear his way through. 

Althaea felt the drain was severe as her face began to grow pale as she was struggling with all her strength to contain the Snake-kin. 

However she felt great hope feeling the resistance from the Snake-kin was fading.

She had little means of troubling a peak warrior in the first realm, especially a Beast-kin knowing for being particular strong for their rank, Farrox would be way too agile for most of the offensive magic at her disposal, therefore this was her only chance, she had to drain him of his Battle Qi and crush him to death. 

She could not lose any concentration for a moment because the Snake-kin would be a nightmare to close down once he was free, Snake-kin excel at speed and one of this cultivation was sure to be extremely quick. 

However right at that moment the Snake-kins aura suddenly exploded as it rose considerably, Althaea did her best to stop him but she could not hold the magic any longer.

Through an explosion of wood Farrox soon emerged, covered head to toe in small wounds the Snake-kin looked enraged. 

“You… you cursed Elf!” Farrox hissed.

Althaea could do nothing as the Snake-kin approached gripping her by the throat as he hoisted her into the air. 

Althaea was already spent so was barely resisting at this point, she had already mostly drained her elemental Qi pools in the ongoing battle beforehand, and had once again done the same after using priceless recovery potions to restore her lost Qi. 

She felt extremely weak and lethargic already and was now deprived of air as the Snake-kin squeezed her throat. 

Althaea felt everything going black as her vision was becoming dark. 

Farrox looked over her smugly as he whispered, “No!!! No, you can’t die yet, I will let you watch as I take that High Elf brat, I will let you watch as my serpent consumes your Druid friend, I will let you watch as I butcher every single living person on this ship…” 

Farrox was truly enraged this time, he came here smugly thinking there was no one present who could threaten him yet right after he was about to cruise around on his victory lap he was almost crushed to death by a dastardly Elven Mage. 

Althaea could do nothing at this time but meekly look up as she felt herself making gurgling noises from the lack of air. 

At that time the Snake-kin released her but not before she felt a sword slide deep into her chest.

“Now now, don’t go dying on me, wait for me… I hope you won’t bleed out by the time I come back…” Farrox said cruelly as he discarded her body like a  piece of garbage after he gutted her with his blade.

He ensured it wasn’t in a lethal area, he merely wanted her to experience just a small amount of the pain that is to come. 

“I really do hate elves…” Farrox found himself muttering as he preceded to kick open the reinforced door into the cabin areas.

Now it was time to find that High Elf brat and afterwards burn the ship to the ground.

Maybe that will make him feel better.