Realm Wars

Ryu shook his head and the water droplets flung to the sand. There were ringing sounds, and he tilted his head and tapped her ears to get the water out from it.

After that, he shook his head one more time and looked over at his surroundings.

W-where am I? The light was scorching hot and glaring. Ryu hovered his hand to block the blaze and swept his surroundings. 

He saw a beach with gentle waves and soft flour-like white sand. Getting to his feet, he looked at the horizon. There was nothing there but an endless sea, and when he turned back, nothing greeted him but the lush forest.

"You're awake?"

Not far from him, a woman was casually sitting in the sand with her palms on her cheeks. She then stood to her feet and dusted the sand from his butt as she smiled.

Her face was beautiful with overflowing waves of golden hair and tantalizing eyes of blue. And when she flashed a sweet smile, it was like the backdrop blurred, and all focus went on her.

"Remember me?" she asked with her tiny pinkish lips puckering a little.

Ryu was hypnotized. Yes! He remembered! She was that lady he met in the forest when he chased the wild hare and stumbled into her.

"You." Ryu couldn't believe that he was meeting her again. What were the odds?

The woman beamed. "Thank goodness you remembered. I thought you had already forgotten since it was a long time ago."

She wiped the sands on her dress and casually walked near Ryu. Ryu's nose flared, and she smelled the same scent that reminded him of a refreshing ocean with none of the fishy smell.

She placed her hands in her waist and pouted. "You've just disappeared before we get the chance to introduce ourselves." 

Ryu leaned a little to the back when she zoomed in on him, but then she straightened her stance and smiled. "My name is Seraphina. What's yours?"

".. . Ryu."

Seraphina clapped her hands. "It's nice to meet you, Ryu!"

Ryu was confused. Should they really be getting acquainted and be happy at a time like this? 

"Where are we?" Ryu shifted his eyes, searching for Cecily. But he couldn't spot a single soul with them. It was like the island contained only the two of them.

Seraphina placed a finger on her lip. "I don't know. The last thing I remembered is, this giant hole swallowed our ship, and I wake up next to you on this island."

Ryu blinked. That was precisely what happened to them! And then Ryu realized that Seraphina could have killed him in his unconscious state if she wanted to. 

And since he didn't, Ryu somehow developed a level of trust in her words.

"Are the others?" Ryu was hoping that he could at least spot Cecily and Rosa.

Seraphina shook her head. "I'm afraid I woke up just five minutes before you did." 

Her gaze then wandered into the forest. "Do you want to explore the forest? We might find mortals there."

Ryu was hesitant. Although Seraphina didn't have any killing intent in her, she was still a stranger to him.

Sensing his thoughts, Seraphina looked at Ryu with her smile not lessening one bit. "Don't worry. I'm a mercenary trying my luck in the scavenger sea. I don't have anything against you. I just wanted to find the captain of my boat and thought that you were the same." 

Seraphina pointed at her head, indicating Ryu's seal. "You wanted to find your master, right?"

Ryu took a while before he nodded.

Seraphina grinned. "Then we should look together! Two is safer than one."

Ryu wanted to go alone but. .. looking over the vast forest, he felt that going alone was reckless. He also didn't mind if Seraphina tagged along. If she did something suspicious, he'd just kill her.

Ryu nodded.

The two of them went inside the forest. They hadn't even taken ten steps past the trees when they were teleported above the waters.

Ryu panicked, and he was about to leap to a safe distance when he noticed that he was not sinking. The blue ocean reflected his shocked face, and when he raised his head, he saw Seraphina and a bunch of unfamiliar faces.

"Ryu!"

Ryu looked at the guy who was frantically waving at him like crazy. His eyes were shedding tears, and water ran from his nose. He was smiling from ear to ear, and Ryu took a step back when Kai attempted to hug him, and the latter fell face first onto the ocean.

"Agh!" Kai groaned and rubbed his injured nose. The water felt like glass than anything. He then jumped to his feet like nothing happened. "Ryu! I'm so glad to see you!"

Ryu smacked a palm on Kai's head when he attempted to come closer to him the second time around with his snout-drenched face.

"I thought I was all alone in this sea of people!" Kai shifted his gaze left and right. Then his eyes shone at the sight of Seraphina not far from them.

"Oh-la? Who's this?"

"That's not important. Where's Cecily and the others?" Ryu hadn't finished talking when Kai zoomed past him and stopped in front of Seraphina.

Kai rubbed away his tear and snout-soaked face before he swept his hair and flashed a dazzling smile. "Hello there, pretty lady. My name is Kai. Single. Male. Twenty years old and a Rank-A merc. I have no house and property, but I promise to take care of you for the rest of your life."

".. . Egh. . ." Seraphina looked over at Ryu with her doe-like eyes before she said in a hesitating voice, "H-hello. My name is Seraphina."

Kai's face brightened. More so than the blazing morning light.

Ryu dragged Kai by the collar and growled. "Where's Cecily and the others?"

Kai blinked like his soul just returned from his body. His dreamlike face warped in distress as he said, "Right! I can't find them! I can't even find darling, Fifi!"

That was all Ryu need to know before he let go of Kai. His eyes zeroed on the faces of the people present. There were hundreds of them above the ocean, but the water still appeared endless.

Ryu didn't know a single one of them, and he wondered what was happening.

"Welcome!"

A voice, playful and sing-song, rang in everyone's ears, and everyone's mouth flung open when a little pink creature hovered in the sky.

"Welcome to the lost Islet of Tethyt!"