The journey to the Blood Caves was fast.

At the Empress of the Night, the night sky was Ambrosia’s to rule. That meant most avian night hunters did well to steer clear of the rather large procession.

Soaring through the sky on the back of the {Argent Amphithere}, Cain had a serene expression on his face.

All around, he was surrounded by the terrifying {Blood-Curse Bats}, enormous winged atrocious that looked like they belonged in any nightmare.

Flying to the side in the back of Shadow, Ambrosia had a displeased look on her face. Seeing this, Cain could only let out a wry chuckle.

She had offered to let him ride on Shadow as well, but he had declined. When she had offer to climb upon the {Argent Amphithere}, the usually tame beast has exploded, hissing and shrieking at her violently.

That had resulted in the both of them having to ride separately.

Cain let out a sigh,

"The view is nice."

"It sure is."

His expression changed almost imperceptibly.

The view of the forest floor from up above was truly something else. From such heights, he really got to witness first hand, the results of the changes that had happened in his world.

Everything about the island hand changed so much.

In the past, it had been just a smaller portion of the entire university compared to the central, eastern and western quarters.

It had a large amount of untamed land filled with wild creatures in the past. Maybe that was why there were so many Mutant Creatures now, even after what had happened with the Devils.

Compared to before, it was much larger as well. Dozens of times larger.

The difference in size and land mass was so much, it didn’t make sense at all.

Then again, nothing made sense anymore so at least that much was constant.

The wild life had changed quite a bit too.

The very existence of mutant beasts was rather perplexing in its own right.

These were beings that due to the recent changes, had all been thrown into the path of optimal evolution. Their violent nature had increased tremendously, and some of them had even begun to develop incredible intelligence, much like the {Blood-Curse Bats} and the {Willow Direwolves}.

However, at the end of the day, they were still beasts.

Cain suddenly frowned and shook his head.

He glanced over to the side. Staring, at Ambrosia’s die profile, he couldn’t quite agree with that sentiment any more.

Not even just appearance wise, but also behaviorally, she seemed far more human than she was beastly.

’In that case, what is the dividing line between human and beast. Intelligence?’

He frowned. Surely, it was something more than that...

Right?

But no matter how much he thought so it, there was nothing he could think of to prove that wrong.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

It should be the same with the Celestial Beasts. Ultimately, even if they were beasts, they were far superior to humans and every other race below the heavens. The act that they were beasts did nothing to change that.

’Then, could it be, perhaps, the drive of instinct.’

His brows furrowed,

’Yes. That might be it.’

He recalled what Roc had told him previously.

Beasts, were creatures bound to their base instincts. No matter what they did, they were forever burdened by their own nature.

’Aren’t humans the same?’

Cain sighed.

He lay down on the Silver Serpent’s back, eyes fixed on the starless sky, even as the night wind threw his long hair back and turned into a black river flowing with the breeze.

"No use thinking about such things now."

About an hour later, the forest gave way to clear earth layer with hundreds of arching cave entrances.

The {Blood-Curse Bats} began to descend and make their way into their caves.

"Follow me." Cain heard Ambrosia’s voice cut through the howling wind as Shadow made its way through one of the cave entrances.

Naturally, he followed.

The freezing wind was cut off almost immediately and was instead replaced with a stuffy chill that would have been suffocating, perhaps even lethal to an ordinary man.

The Silver Serpent continued to swim through the narrow cavernous corridors until eventually,they arrived at their destination.

Swirling in the air one last time, it slowly landed onto the ground with a dull thud.

Cain huffed as he jumped down its back and gave it a lit pat.

The creature let out a hiss then disappeared.

’It’s a good thing I can still make use of my abilities even if I cannot use mana at the moment’ He thought.

Then he turned forward.

Shadow had assumed his position at Ambrosia’s side once again.

This time, however, the Night Empress had not taken seat in her stone throne. Instead, she say on the stairs leading up, her dainty legs crossed.

"So? What next?" She asked, her lashes fluttering.

Cain left a little uncomfortable, so he cleared his throat and pulled an object from his inventory.

It was a metal sphere; the same kind he had used to make the anchor that now sat in the jaws of Sentry’s statue.

Ambrosia raised a brow curiously,

"What is that?" She asked.

"It is a normal ball made of Dark steel. I will be using it to make a spatial link to the anchor."

Ambrosia leaned her chin on her hands as she stared intently at him,

"Why exactly can’t you just make another anchor?"

A bead of sweat slowly slid down Cain’s forehead.

He averted his eyes,

"That is a secret."

Roc was an intelligent beast. But he was nowhere as intelligent and cunning as Ambrosia. He had no doubt the Night Empress would be able to see through him if he gave her even the smallest window of opportunity.

He couldn’t let her know that he couldn’t use mana for the time being.

Ambrosia’s eyes narrowed,

"Is that so..."

Cain nodded then turned forward, Magic Brush already in hand as he began to inscribe runes onto the smooth metallic surface,

"I shouldn’t be long. I’ll be out of your hair in no time."