"Th-that's… a Thunder Emperor…" Edna stuttered, she couldn't believe what she was witnessing before her very eyes.

Dragons are ranked by their age, the older they are, the stronger they are, it's pretty simple. Volterra holds the Emperor Rank, which is the third highest Rank any Dragon can obtain. A Dragon that has reached such a rank, is said to be at least 10,000+ years old. According to experts, a Dragon so old holds the power to devour the world. 

"Wohhhh! He looks so cool!" Vivian marveled. 

Pointing at each person, Ken introduced everyone "Volterra, that's Grandma Edna, Uncle Mark, Big Sis Vivian, and you already know Grandpa August. Everyone, this is Volterra, his a Thunder Emperor Dragon."

"Greetings, humans" Volterra spoke, although a beast, Volterra was very well-mannered and polite, but for someone who has lived so long, something like that shouldn't be surprising. 

"Never thought I'd get to see an Emperor Dragon so close… its frame is truly intimidating" Mark commented, looking up at the mighty dragon. "How did you manage to befriend an Emperor Rank Dragon?" 

"Well, a few years ago, Volterra fell from the sky crash-landing on this island. He was riddled with scars and open wounds, so I tried my best to heal him. A few days after that I told Grandpa about it and asked him to heal him properly, but he said-

"This is a great time to teach you about responsibility. Since you saved the dragon you take care of it."

At this point, Edna had her hands balled up tightly, her veins beginning to show, a woman her age should not be this angry, but can we really blame her? Her sweet Grandson was left with an Emperor Rank Dragon, a beast that would bring nations to their knees with its mere presence.

"He even calls you Young Master" Vivian was more awestruck than she was terrified.

"Well after several months I was able to completely heal him, but he didn't want to return to Dragonhiem, so instead he suggested we form a Companions Pack- 

Cutting off Ken, Edna clutched August by the ear, pulling it to the point where it almost seemed like she was going to tear it off… let's hope it doesn't come to that.

In anger, she roared, "August Aelrindel Cliffered! why the hell didn't you tell me this earlier!? It was already bad enough that you were raising a child on such a dangerous island, but you let him keep an Emperor Dragon too!? At such a young age!? Do you know how dangerous that is!? You don't know how much I want to kill you right now!"

Wincing at the pain of his ears being pulled, August begged "Ow! You're going to rip my ear off!" 

"I'm going to rip off more than just your ears, you irresponsible idiot!" 

"August might be considered one of the strongest mages in the world, but his might is no match for Edna" Mark scoffed. 

"Well, Edna can be scary…" Vivian added on.

Speaking extremely fast, bringing up an excuse for Edna not to tear off his ears, August blurted out, "Thanks to this, he's become a more responsible person, plus when I'm not around, Volterra has become company so he's not alone, and the dragon has improved Ken’s magic capabilities!"

"Ouuu, I'd like to see, what did Volterra teach you?" Vivian spoke with excitement.

"Sure, I'll demonstrate something for you all," Ken responded.

Edna held on tight to August's ear, not loosening her grip for even a second.

Ken took a deep breath before letting out a deep exhale to relax himself. Taking a sturdy stance, he put his hands out in front of him, as if he was holding a broadsword.

"Volterra's–" 

A crimson-red magic circle appeared underneath his foot. From the magic circle, red lightning is generated from it. Everyone stood back even further but kept their eyes on the boy. The lighting lashed around destroying the ground and everything else it touched. Ken tightened his grip, in doing so taming the wild lightning, causing it to slowly mold itself, taking the shape of a broad sword within his hand.

"—Crimson Edge!"

The lighting soon stabilized and became calm, no longer lashing about blindly. Ken reinforced his balance by taking up a sturdy stance like a swordsman.

The Young Mage swung his newly formed broadsword towards the blue sky, in doing so he released a huge discharge of red lightning in the shape of a crescent. The lightning crescent tore through the sky at high speed, splitting a large cluster of clouds in two. But it didn't stop, it continued to travel a good distance reaching several hundred meters above the clouds before dissipating.

Ken relaxed his body, making the broadsword he molded from Red Lightning disappear along with the magic circle.

"That was better than the last time you tried it, Young Master," A praise from Volterra.

"Yeah, I think so too."

"Holy shit… that was incredible!", As if seeing an Emperor Dragon wasn't enough, now he just witnessed a 16-year-old pull off a high-level spell with little to no difficulty.

"You've become so strong!" Vivian cheered, embracing Ken in another hug.

"Well, Edna, what do you think?" August asked, looking at the still very angry lady.

Edna pulled on August's ear even harder after witnessing what Ken just performed. "I think you're an idiot!..." 

Realizing that she didn't have the energy to waste on the old fool, she shifted her attention to her Grandson, "Ken dear, when taking the entrance exam for your new academy please hold back okay?"

With a smile, he replied, "I'll try my best." 

"Well then, he better get going, before he misses the train" August spoke as he rubbed his ear, still very much sore from all the suffering Edna put it through.

"Volterra I'll be leaving now, be good and don't cause any trouble," Ken spoke as he rubbed the dragon's nose.

"I'll be awaiting your return, Young Master," The loyal servant replied.  

"I'll see you all again later okay? Bye for now" Ken said his goodbyes to everyone else. 

With the goodbyes out of the way, it was finally time to head off. Ken and August took a small boat out to sea, heading towards the continent of Elenora. 

"It's so amazing out here!" Ken spoke as he looked around the vast sea.

"Huh? It's just the sea, you see it all the time from the island" August replied looking at his overly excited Grandchild.

"Right, but I've never been this far out into the sea, my curiosity is firing up.”

"Okay, well, we are making our way to Cardino Port, where you will take a train to Belthon City-”

Cutting off his Grandpa, the Young Man’s excitement got the better of him, "Belthon City! The capital of Vaevalon Queendom! I've read so much about that city, man I can't believe I'm going there…ahmmm hmmm hmmm–”

August covered his Grandson's mouth, making him mumble the rest of his never-ending excitement. "Just listen damn it. So when you get to Belthon City, you need to take a cab to reach the Academy? Just tell the cab driver where you need to go and pay him the money I'm going to give you got it?"

Ken nodded his head, showing that he understood. Once he did, August removed his hand from his mouth.

"You're giving me all these instructions, I take it you're not coming with me?" 

“Argh… if I accompanied you, we would never reach the Academy in time for the Exams. Every person that saw me would want an autograph or beg me to take them in as my pupil.” As arrogant as that sounded, he was right, August was a well-known celebrity amongst both mages and non-magic users.

 “I guess that's for the better.” 

"When you arrive at the port, don't wander off, or get distracted, because if you miss the opening exam, you're going to have to wait until next year to apply again, so head straight for your destination." 

“Got it!” 

After a few minutes, they had finally arrived at Cardino Port, docking bay. Ken was standing on the docks waving to his Grandpa who was sailing back before anyone could recognize him.

"Remember Ken, show them what your magic is made out of!!" That was August's final farewell to his Grandson.

"I will!" 

With his heart beating with exhilaration, Ken walked up the stairs of the docking area arriving at the shopping district of Cardino Port. There were several small shops placed around the port, occupied by a large handful of people. Behind the shopping district, was the train station. It was big enough to be seen from any part of the island.

Ken's face lit up with stars as he gazed upon the shopping district, this was the experience he starved for. It was as if he walked into a whole new dimension, an alien in a new world.

Out of sheer bliss, he unconsciously shouted "Awesome!" 

Nearby people looked at him awkwardly as they walked past him, Ken didn't care, he was too busy being amazed at what others would call mundane. 

Growing up, Ken had only been surrounded by other humans… and Volterra. He had only ever read about the other species that walk the face of this earth with humans, and seeing them in person made Ken's heart skip a beat. 

"That's an Elf! And she is a Dwarf, that dude over there is a Rhino Beastfolk, and over there she is an Orc–”

"Mom, is that boy okay?" A small beastfolk asked her mother.

The mom held her child close as they walked past Ken "Don't look at him, he must be ill" Seeing as how Ken was acting, that was a fair statement.

Taking a deep breath to stop himself from overloading with all the new experiences that were rushing at him, He focused his gaze on the train station.

"I shouldn't get distracted, I need to head to the station.