58 Merfolk Legend

When he repeatedly referred to this place as his own and that he created it, hundreds of questions raced through their heads as they looked at him in disbelief. How were they supposed to react? Stay silent, listen, and watch, hoping for answers? Bury him in questions until they were satisfied? Laugh at his incredibly not-funny joke and go into denial about the whole thing?

The three girls besides the twins all wished to ask him about his time away from Irona and what he could've possibly done in such a short period of time but words, or any sounds at all, just wouldn't leave their agape mouths. They were forced to go with option one and pray that everything made just a little sense after awhile.

Kyren approached the door and it made a stone-like *RUMBLE* as it slowly opened when he got close enough, "Now Maya, if you don't like this present, please tell me so I can find you something better because I definitely will. After all, you're totally worth it~"

"!!!" An imaginary plume of smoke puffed out of her head as her face turned a glowing deep blue.

He internally hoped that he wasn't acting racist by stereotyping all Merfolk into liking aquatic creatures. At the time, he thought a powerful Kraken would be a wonderful gift for her hard work, but after realizing that he made a potentially big assumption of her, he got a little nervous. There was no receipt for this gift so he just had to cross his fingers and hope that he didn't look like an ass two times in one day.

As the doors finished opening, they were greeted by a beautiful sight that further stunned them all.

For the aquarium, Kyren and Leo implemented a similar design to what you would see at some zoos, theme parks, or actual aquariums where a tunnel was surrounded by glass and water. Rough white stone arches were placed at intervals across the long tunnel. Instead of glass, a transparent magic barrier that prevented any water from crossing it separated them from the outside, making it so one could reach through. Rocky and coral decorations along with additional under the sea stuff made the scenery look vibrant and majestic.

Memories of Maya's life in Gruta Lake briefly crossed her mind as she remembered her parents. She pushed them to the back of her head and came back to reality, not wanting to think about them and what they did to her.

A few moments later when nothing happened, Kyren got a little impatient as he said in a magically amplified voice, "Alright now!! Stop being so shy and come out already!"

Before the girls could react, eerie sounding sirens and monster roars combined into one sound echoed throughout the entire area. A behemoth-rank creature's aura chilled everyone to their very core, even if it was purposefully weaker and non-aggressive as to not harm them. A massive figure that was previously using some sort of illusions finally started materializing a few inches away from the barrier.

All of them have witnessed a behemoth at least once in their lives but all from extremely far and safe distances. Fear was settling into their hearts as a gigantic and menacing squid traveled so close to the mana barrier that they could see every terrifying detail. Its middle eyeball on its forehead was opened abnormally wide as it stared at Kyren, making everyone hold their breaths from the atmosphere. Just the eye alone was almost equally as big as any of them.

Maya was also as scared as the others, but then she recognized some key features about it. The three large dark yellow eyes, the lightning patterns, the countless tentacles that exceeded the norm for any regular squid. She knew this was a Kraken, but something felt familiar...

"THE TYRANT OF THE FOUR SOUTHERN SEAS!?!?!"

This wasn't just any Transcendent Realm creature, but one of the long-forgotten legends! Its origin and story was a sacred and ancient folktale passed down throughout the entire Merfolk race, practically text of worship.

There was a continent out in Irona, most likely close to Lumeria, that had very little land but was covered in twelve different vast and unique seas. This is where the true capital of the Merfolk race resided before the Void Armageddon. Every four bodies of water had an apex predator, titled a tyrant, which were each at around the behemoth rank. The Kraken before them was the most prominent, profound, and mysterious out of all of the tyrants throughout the entire known history of the twelve seas. It was said that it was the only tyrant that was yet to be usurped from its throne within its entire lifespan and reign of power while the other tyrants alternated more regularly.

This legendary creature was known for its sure-fire hunting style which has become a bad omen to its locals. Hurricanes, storms, and thick fogs would cover four to six of the seas as it randomly appeared and disappeared to abduct vessels or other creatures like a ghost, even going as far as raiding populated mainlands.

"You like it?"

"L-Like it?! You mean she's... th-the present???"

"If you want it- or her, then she's all yours."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. If Kyren actually subdued a creature that dozens of transcendent beings simultaneously failed to try and capture or kill in an ancient story...

Maya began shaking as a shadow crossed her face, making her surging emotions unreadable. The other girls around them didn't even hear the conversation as they were all still frozen in fear.

What he didn't expect was Maya to lunge and pull him into an embrace, "I love her!! I'll treasure her forever and ever! Thank you so-so-so much!!

She let go quickly and came up to the edge of the barrier and reached her hand out to the creature through the water. The Kraken overheard Kyren gift itself to the little girl and was a little frustrated that it was being treated as a pet for such a weakling. It looked away from the mermaid in hesitation and disgust, noticing the dragon's expression on the way.

[True Killing Intent]

It went into a daze as it imagined getting each of it tentacles ripped off, three eyes gouged out, gutted, and chopped up as it was getting prepped to be cooked. When it came back to reality, it noticed Kyren's death-like glare and it literally inked itself, covering the area in a smokescreen of black as it subconsciously attempted to escape.

"Tch, damn squid!!"

Hydrokinesis gathered the ink into a ball and yanked the squid back in front of Maya to try again. The wrecking-ball-sized blob of compressed ink disappeared into Kyren's Dimensional Storage, 'I wonder if I can sell this?'

The Kraken now thoroughly understood the consequences of disobeying and gave in. It unwillingly reached out a tentacle to the small mermaid's little hand and touched the palm. Maya acted like a fanatic meeting her favorite idol and firmly grasped the squid's limb in excitement. Something weird tingled deep within the creature's soul and an overwhelming fondness for her mysteriously grew.

<Looks like their souls are pretty compatible. How truly lucky of you.>

'Eh, what do you mean?'

<Pet compatibility is a tamer term that tells whether or not a creature will be able to become their pet. Those two's compatibility has reached the point where their souls can be paired, giving her special abilities such as storing the creature into her soul realm or changing it into a more appropriate and visibly appealing size.>

'Woah, that was a close one. Looks like I did good after all.' He secretly thanked the provider of his divine level luck and turned to the four recovering girls to the side, 'Leo, create three lists of all of the behemoth materials I obtained, except for the cores, using my dimensional powers. Also, make sure to sort them so they're easier to read and give them brief descriptions.'

[Personal Dimension: Dimensional Creation]

Two ludicrously large hardback books appeared in his hands and he walked towards them, leaving Maya to play with the squid. As soon as he came up to them, he handed these books to the twins and Krista, "Here is your compensation, and here is your reward for doing such a good job with my personal force."

They all looked confused as they fiddled with the books. He explained how they could choose a small number of items from the list. More confusion grew in them as they began to skim through the first couple of pages. Disbelief was their initial reaction so he proved his words were true by taking a random item on the list out.

There were too many world-shattering shocks for them to handle in one day so they ignored everything else and excitedly browsed.

.....

A few hours later and the scene didn't change all that much. Maya was playing or speaking with the Kraken in a crisscross position while the twins and Krista were finishing up their final decisions. Rayna had nothing to do so she was allowed to explore the palace on her own.

The twins were the first to completely decide on what they wanted. Miley was the one with green eyes, an affinity for life magic, and a talent for the bard class with gifts in both voice and magical instruments. Riley was the one with shadow-grey eyes, an affinity for death magic, and a knack for the classes charmer and dancer.

They both chose materials that could be made into gear and items which were helpful to them. The limit for how much they could choose was decent enough for one or two items each which were far more than enough in their eyes. Kyren offered to introduce them to a good forger that he would pay for, making them as giddy as children while they tightly hugged their arm-full of materials, resulting in them completely forgetting about his earlier actions.

Krista on the other hand was given a much more generous limit with even the option of a few of the weaker behemoth cores so she took considerably more time to decide. As an adventurer, she was overly thorough with each choice as it could be the difference between life and death. With these many resources, she could change out and add to all of her current equipment so she acted far more delighted than the twins. The joyous and unrestrained expression on her tough and beautiful face was of a tremendous rarity for anyone to see without her usual cold facade guarding her true emotions. He admired it closely with a warm smile as though he was looking at a setting sun that could disappear at any second.

She noticed his stares out of the corner of her eyes and pulled the materials she chose close to her as though he was about to snatch them. Her brows knitted close as she glared at him for witnessing her soft side, "Humph, what are you looking at you damned lizard?!"

"Someone far more stunning than any sunset I've ever seen~"

"Mmm!!" Her guard was still down due to the huge mound of precious materials she was previously sifting through so her cheeks glowed a faint red as she quickly turned away from him. She unconsciously searched for a retort to salvage her dignity and a barely audible murmur escaped her lips before she could properly process what she was saying, "Then clearly, you've never been to the peak of the Vilvetan Mountains during sunset..."

It was a given that he overheard every meek whisper with absolute clarity, making him smirk warmly, "You mean the mountain range near Kassio right? Then we'll have to go there together as a date sometime~"

Now her blush was considerably more evident with a much deeper red hue because of the intense embarrassment of what she accidentally said and how he responded. She kept her mouth shut this time and escaped through the aquarium doors "in search of Rayna".