Above the turbulent ocean waves.
When Ian finally pierced through the last storm barrier and reached the core, he saw an island, shrouded in thick mist, seemingly isolated from the world.
As he slowly approached, the surrounding scenery became gradually clearer: towering trees, colorful flowers, and a strange fragrance permeating the air.
All of it made him feel both unfamiliar and curious. As Ian hurriedly landed on the island at the storm's core, he hadn't yet shaken off the rain from the storm or transformed back into human form.
"Splash~"
Just then, a round, plump stone ball "whoosh" flew towards his face. Of course, Ian couldn't let a fist-sized stone directly smash into his head when faced with an attack.
The stone ball wasn't fast.
Even if he was being ambushed by a kid, he could easily dodge, since after all, Ian wasn't some sixty-year-old man with reduced reflexes from cultivating the Lightning Five-Chain Whip.
He easily avoided the stone ball.
The stone ball rolled into the grass beside him. It hit a coconut tree behind him with a "crack," making the tree sway. It was clear the stone had considerable weight.
"What the heck! An ambush?"
The Raven Form instantly dispelled, and Ian saw a little girl with pigtails bounce out of the bushes, walking up confused to pick up the stone ball.
"Strange..."
The little girl mumbled as she emerged from the bushes.
She picked up the stone ball and examined it closely.
"Why didn't it work? Didn't they say this would capture Fantastic Beasts?" The little girl seemed to be incredulously puzzled by the knowledge she learned.
"..."
Ian held her head down with one hand.
"You think I'm a Pocket Monster, huh?" He was genuinely bewildered, and the kid's shock at seeing a bird transform into a person was by no means less than Ian's.
"Oh my god! You can transform into a human!" The little girl was utterly stunned, her small face full of disbelief as she gazed at Ian, her eyes filled with amazement.
"And you can speak!"
The little girl's eyes widened, and the stone ball fell with a "plop" onto the sand. She had no trace of magical aura, so she likely didn't know Ian used Legilimency to glean a new language system from her little head, enabling seamless communication.
Ancient languages are truly complex, and Ian had developed a habit of learning a language with every species he encountered, though such languages were largely useless in later generations.
These languages were mostly buried in the rivers of history as time progressed, existing as mere isolated linguistic systems without inherent power.
"I'm not transforming into a human; I am originally a human." Ian corrected the girl's misconception, even though to his eyes, she was also just a child.
About seven or eight years old.
This made it difficult for Ian to vent his frustration even if he wanted to give her a good thump — after all, as an elder brother who grew up in an orphanage, Ian possessed considerable tolerance towards kids younger than himself.
Living in an orphanage, there were plenty of mischievous young brothers and sisters, and Ian couldn't exactly hit them every day, so he developed a strong patience in this regard.
Of course.
When encountering truly unruly kids, Ian would still take action to teach them a lesson. But now was clearly not one of those times, as it was evident the little girl mistook him for a Fantastic Beast.
A misunderstanding.
Yet this misunderstanding gave Ian a strong sense of déjà vu. Just moments ago, he was in the storm, feeling the long creature resembled a Sky Splitter, and now entering the storm's core, someone had a suspiciously "Pokeball" object trying to capture him — it's just as well this world has no Hell, or surely a lawsuit would find its way to ancient times.
Simply outrageous.
"Wow, no wonder I couldn't capture you; you're not just any ordinary Fantastic Beast." The little girl didn't heed Ian's explanations at all; she seemed to have her own rationale in her young mind.
"Oh my! I've encountered a Legendary Level Fantastic Beast!" Suddenly excited, she began gesticulating wildly, her words making Ian feel dizzyingly surreal.
"Can you stop treating me like a Pocket Monster?" Ian reminded her for the second time, he wasn't a Fantastic Beast, yet she seemed cognitively incapable of understanding.
Perhaps it was because the inhabitants of this entire island had no magic and had never seen or heard of magic, so the notion of a person transforming into an animal just seemed impossible to them?
Even so.
What's with this overwhelming infringement warning? Such disorienting statements left Ian speechless. It was too absurd; he even felt like he was under an illusion technique.
"Huh?"
Upon hearing him.
The little girl blinked her large eyes, her face full of curiosity: "What is a Pocket Monster? I only know of Fantastic Beasts."
Hmm.
This confirmed for Ian, he likely hadn't traveled through some storm, undergoing another trajectory-shifting journey to another realm that exists only in Sister Hui's fantasy works.
"It's... a video game where you catch monsters... also an animated series."
Ian suddenly stopped.
"What's a video game? I only know hide-and-seek and peekaboo, and what's an animated series?" The little girl's confusion about Ian's terms was also apparent.