Sword of Dawnbreaker

”Me?” The Dragonbranded Witch lightly smiled, ”I don’t have any opinions on you; I’m here representing my homeland, to aid another country in need, as part of the alliance’s ’Internal Assistance Act,’ that’s all.”

Carladore looked at the red-haired young dragonkin with some surprise, and only after a long while did he smile, ”I think I understand the reason why Chief Balogar sent you to lead this team.”

...

After a long voyage, Winter and its fleet finally crossed the sea where the Eternal Storm once roared; Talronde was no longer distant, and some sights hard to see around the Loren Continent appeared more frequently along the supply fleet’s course—a small floating iceberg in the distance, seals leaping through the ice to hunt, the Magic Aurora appearing in the sky, and the Eternal Day phenomenon constantly cycling between daylight and dusk, all these opened the eyes of the crew and even made Byron himself marvel at the wonders of nature.

Outside Winter’s bridge, Byron came to the railing of the open connection gallery, gazing at a glacier slowly floating past the fleet in the distance. Seeing unidentified seabirds landing on it, he immediately picked up the small Magic Web Terminal he brought from the cabin, using the Memory Crystal on the terminal to record the scenery of the sea.

A light swishing sound of a tail sliding along the ground reached his ears, followed by a slightly lazy yet magnetic voice from nearby, ”You’re recording the scenery of the sea again?”

Turning back, Byron saw a sea demon with long black hair and tear-mole at the corners of her eyes crawling towards him along the gallery, her long tail’s end wrapped around a small struggling water elemental. He smirked, ”I’m preparing to take it back as a gift for my daughter, Lady Cassandra—I promised to record these things before I left.”

”I can tell you’re quite fond of your daughter,” Sea demon Cassandra swayed her body like a snake; she seemed to have just returned to the ship from the sea, still adjusting to walking after leaving the water. She then suddenly thrust forward the small water elemental wrapped at the end of her tail, inserting a straw into its head with a casual motion, ”Want a sip? Just caught from the seabed, mixed with some chilled frozen water and polar-exclusive magic cores, it’s very stimulating.”

The struggling small water elemental immediately writhed more vigorously, a sharp and angry sound emanating from the flowing water, ”You’re switching people to sip me! You’re switching people to sip me!”

Byron instantly stepped back half a step, pulled his mouth awkwardly, and waved his hand repeatedly, ”No thanks, I really can’t handle that... and I suggest you don’t let other humans try this thing casually; it doesn’t match our digestive systems.”

”That’s quite unfortunate,” Cassandra shrugged, casually bringing the water element to her lips with her tail, inhaling deeply before letting out a satisfied sigh, ”The taste of water elements from the Arctic Region is indeed delightful... invigorating, ice-cold, directly blasted out from the depths of the elemental world by the gods... The water elements near the temperate and equatorial regions are much less potent—plus, most water elements no longer actively bother us after the peace agreement was signed, which is quite boring.”

The small water element immediately shrieked again: ”Shameless! Shameless! I shouldn’t have added ice when going out today!”

Even Byron, someone who is quite unusual within the military, couldn’t help but feel a bit stunned at this moment. After a moment’s reaction, he looked at the elemental creature wrapped around Cassandra’s tail with a somewhat peculiar expression, observing its body, which had shrunk by half and muttering, ”Maybe you should let it go; it seems rather pitiful now...”

”As long as its Surge Core isn’t destroyed, an elemental creature won’t truly die even if drained in the prime material world,” Cassandra glanced at Byron, ”And besides, if this thing grows hundreds of times bigger, you might not find it so pitiful... Regardless, there are plenty of these small rift creatures emerging from the elemental rift near Talronde, so fresh ones can be captured anytime.”

As she spoke, the sea demon lady flicked her tail sideways, forcefully throwing the small water element into the distant sea, where its sharp voice echoed from mid-air: ”I thank your entire family! I thank your entire family!”