(At 15 years and 6 months old)
(Nephelont's Dreamscape)
(3rd person PoV)
It was at the end of a long struggle that he met someone different, someone not from this dark pit of hell. The person he met was white and somewhat glistening, wearing a crown made of their own bones.
He could not clearly hear what that other person asked of another, yet he knew. He had to accomplish it without fail, for what the other person said was the purpose for which he was created.
After an arduous journey, he stood at a precipice, finally reaching the end of a long-standing mission that has claimed the lives of millions. He raised his blade in challenge, and a blinding light shone upon him, an acceptance to his challenge, a wrathful acceptance of the battle to come.
(In the Real World)
Nephelont woke up feeling perplexed, as if he had forgotten something very important, something that he should have never forgotten.
'It's not important until I can remember it. I also could just ask Uncle Henryk to make me remember it anyway' Nephelont thought as he slowly shifted his gaze toward the window, now letting in some rays of sunlight as morning started rolling up.
Nephelont glared at the sun like it owed him an apology that could not be accepted without giving up its existence, then got out of bed. Eucleia woke up shortly after sensing his disappearance from their bed.
Once they were both done with their turns in the shower, they raced to see who was first to reach Henryk and slap him up the head before running away. They were dashing and taking sharp turns until Henryk was in their sights. That was when Nephelont "cheated" and activated {Ariel}, gaining an unfair boost to his speed. To even the playing field, Eucleia's skill activated in turn, giving her a boost to her stats, barely bridging the difference, as Nephelont did not suffer from the drag against air while running. Nephelont won this one and was promptly slapped back before he could blink.
Henryk sensed them coming but let them be. 'Kids should be allowed their games, just with some of the consequences settings turned on'
"Um!" Eucleia was stifling a laugh at Nephelont. She got used to reading his stoic expression for finer details, allowing her to pick up on his stupefied expression underneath. Nephelont's neck snapped in her direction; that was her cue to fly away.
"Catch me if you can! Bunbun!" Eucleia said with a grin before assuming her dragon form and taking flight.
Nephelont sat there, debating whether he should or should not take the wind from under her wings like he does with Fey on a regular basis. He shook his head. She dared him to catch her, not to fell her out of the sky. He got only one option; that was to chase her in the air. He transformed and chased after Eucleia.
Now that they are all grown up, their dragon forms were at their largest, stretching 17.35 Ottars (36.444 meters) long from nose to tail-tip. The sight of such large dragons flying around did not disturb Orario's atmosphere, however, as Henryk's children and tamed monsters were already a common sight, including in the city's skies.
They spent the entire morning chasing each other back and forth, taking turns on who is "it", before Aria joined them. She did not want to disturb their personal playtime, but she also wanted to play with her grandson, so she conceded by giving them time alone before joining. Ais followed that same train of thought, also joining them in a few minutes after Aria did.
The game of chase turned into a chaotic affair, everyone chasing and escaping from each other randomly in every which way. It was fun, nonetheless.
Once that was done, it was time for lunch.
(At the Twilight Manor's mess hall)
While they mainly spent their time at the Hearth Manor, they also sometimes spent some time in the Twilight Manor. It was Ais's previous home, and where most of her friends and comrades still lived today.
"How have you been lately, Ais?" Riveria said. She was talking to Ais, Nephelont Eucleia and Aria. The rest were busy today, so they did not come as they usually do. Ais did bring Ludwig, however.
Ludwig and Rhea were now 2 years old, and they were very stubborn, spending time tirelessly pestering Nephelont to play with them. He always entertained them. He was fond of those little children who were so cutely asking him to play with them all the time. Not to mention, they felt like they were somewhat his children as he helped in raising them when their mothers and father were tired and urgently in need of some sleep. That happened a lot.
"Good" Ais said as she stabbed Loki with a fork to the face at an absurd angle. Loki never repented for her antics. Ais, ignoring Loki's failed attempt, directed a questioning look at Riveria.
"I did well myself, and the familia was fine for the last few weeks" She said as she cut some small pieces of meat for Rhea. She put in more than she could handle alone since she knew Rhea tended to hand-feed Ludwig sometimes (more like violently shoving the food into his mouth).
"Da!" Rhea grabbed Ludwig's hand and dragged him to Nephelont, showing her older brother her handiwork. Nephelont had an unnoticeably small smile at this. It was adorable to him how Rhea was proud of having fed their youngest with her own hands.
Nephelont patted their heads, which they responded to by leaning in for more.
"Good work, Rhea, Ludwig" He praised them for eating their meal.
It was a happy gathering, exchanging stories of what happened during the week. There was one story where a member of the Hestia familia attempted to recreate Bell's feat of defeating a minotaur to rank-up to level 2 and failing in a most embarrassing way. The safety net was a higher-level member, who was nearly incapacitated with laughter as he watched the lower-level member run in circles shouting for help, his face panicked beyond what was humanely possible.
"How many does that make?" Tiona asked as she helped Nephelont wipe the food from the children's mouths. It felt good to hear that people admired and copied their hero's, Bell's stories. There were also many that sought to blast a goliath's upper half away in one hit, with only some minor successes that failed to kill the monster rex.
"Among those accounted for, that makes the 2045th adventurer who dared to attempt the deed and returned alive" Eucleia said.
"They should value their lives more" Riveria sighed defeatedly. There was no stopping fans of this era's hero from attempting to replicate him in whichever way they deem fit. Though, as was said, the vast majority of them failed to do so. It was left unsaid how many tried and never returned.
After the meal, Nephelont, Henryk and Riveria went into the dungeon to experiment with magic. Eucleia decided to stay behind to train her cooking skills. She wanted to surpass Ais's cooking skills, which still brought a smile to Nephelont's now-stoic face
"Nephelont, would you like to try to mold red lightning into a shape of your imagination?" Henryk said. He slung an arm over Nephelont's shoulders. "That's how Ancient Dragon Lightning spells were made. They were molded into shape then adapted by humans. They were not spells when Ancient Dragons used them, but pure manipulation of lightning"
"Free manipulation of magic..." Riveria mulled over it with her eyes shut. "So, that was why it felt weird seeing Nephelont cast his spells. They were not really spells"
"I'll give it a try" Nephelont said before promptly starting to channel red lightning with Henryk's arm still slung over his shoulders, electrocuting him in the process.
"Nice try!" Henryk said, withstanding the lightning with some ticklish spots here and there around his body. "I have resistance to lightning, kid!" He patted Nephelont for trying to hit him with static red lightning.
A moment later, as Nephelont kept channeling greater amounts of red lightning, a bolt struck him from far above. The sight of the bolt as it struck Babel and seeped deep below it shocked people. The result of such a bolt striking Nephelont was a coat of red lightning covering his form, arcing around him. It lasted for a few minutes before fizzling out.
"Do it again" While looking at him, Henryk remembered the Dragonbolt spells. He wanted to test whether this new spell increased Nephelont's defenses or not. He clenched his fists.
Looking at Henryk, Nephelont understood what was going to happen. He channeled this new spell again, giving everyone a heart attack via very loud thunder for a second time that day. Some would later complain about losing their hearing temporarily because of it, but that is beside the point.
Once Nephelont was clad in red lightning again, he braced himself for a hit and was glad to know that Henryk's fist felt around half as strong as it should. Nephelont wanted to do a little more, and, having compressed the wind a little before letting it go, stimulated the area where Henryk's fist connected with his lightning armor. That area produced a miniature electric explosion, which by turn made Henryk's hand and forearm feel somewhat stiff afterward.
"Congratulations! You got lightning armor with a touch of debilitating paralysis to it!" Henryk said, his fingers spasming and refusing to do as he wanted them to for the most part. The feeling persisted for 3 seconds at most. 'It would have lasted more had I not had my resistance and accelerated recovery rate'
(Later)
Nephelont used this in a melee brawl against Eucleia, which triggered her long-anticipated ability to shoot lightning out of her body. They held their own celebration then and there between the two of them. Nephelont insisted that they made sure to shock Henryk with the news, literally so.