Sister Alexandria looked unsurprised at the question. SHe had already see how unsettled he was after that st question he'd been asked, and now after that private conversation between the padin and the young dragon, it was clear that Richard was having some sort of doubt.

  Casting a sound-blocking barrier, sister Alexandria continued to walk as she contempted the question. The barrier wasn't meant to block the hearing of the padins so much as to politely tell them that it is a private talk, with the same being directed at the serpents who served her.

  A privilege of the strong, to put up a barrier not as a sign of worry, but merely as a polite request.

  She asked him. "Does it have to do with what happened earlier today?" she asked tenderly, seeking to affirm whether this was more than a simple worry, and indeed it was more for he shook his head.

  "No, this has been something that has been bothering me for a while." he admitted, not only to her, but to himself. "I've been thinking about leaving these mountains once I'm strong enough, but I don't know when that is." he said, contempting the issue.

  "And why do you feel the need to travel down the mountain. Do you wish to explore the world? Or perhaps you wish to see someone?" she asked.

  Richard admitted to the tter. "I have people to see. I know that they're probably worried. I want to go see them, I want to go reassure them that I'm fine."

  He paused, before admitting.

  "I miss them."

  From the perverted adventurer Lana who used to chase Shota all over the temple. From the old elven mistress, who in spite of all her fws, was still always there to talk to him

  Countless names poured through Richard's mind, but none stood out moreso than the dragonewt sister who had watched over him his whole life.

  Sister Lyssandra.

  The two had not parted on good terms.

  Richard could only imagine the regret she had, the pain he had left her with.

  Perhaps Leo had told her of his survival, but he suspected that leo had not, given the importance of his existence.

  "Then go. "

  "If you want to go and see them, then we can leave the mountains and go see them any time you want." she said abruptly, and she could see the difficulty on Richard's face.

  Alexandria cold already guess why Richard was having difficulties with the idea of leaving, but she wanted him to say it. For him to push himself to put it out there.

  ANd he does, with some difficulty. "I don't think I'm ready yet." he admitted. "I'm not strong enough to survive out there." he said, expressing his uncertainty, as Alexandria nodded, knowing this was likely the issue.

  Richard as she had seen was the careful type, making sure to never verste, and to use numbers and tactics to outmaneuver his foes.

  He was smart and knew how to use his mind to survive.

  But he was insecure. Even as a B-rank monster with all the blessings that he had, he was unprepared in his mind.

  She wished he had a little more confidence.

  "Richard," she began, making up her mind. "you seem to think you're not strong enough to survive out there, but I disagree. You are strong. I've seen you. You're a smart child, and you're careful."

  She praised him and yet Richard felt unsure.

  Was he smart? He was careful sure, but even when he was careful, he still managed to run into a drake and nearly get himself killed, and had he not been lucky, the encounter with sister Alexandria should've gone so much worse.

  SHe said smart, but RIchard couldn't quite convince himself of this.What had he done exactly that made him stand out as smart?

  Being careful could only get you so far. What if he went out there, and being careful wasn't enough?

  He was a dragon, and his familiars valuable. If he wasn't careful, he could get himself in serious trouble, and even endanger the lives of his familiars.

  She knew that despite the honest praise she had given, that RIchard was unable to see what she saw

  He wasn't confident in his own strength, so she did something else instead.

  Pcing her tail on the head of the young dragon, Alexandria reassured Richard.

  "I know you're not sure. Just know that if you need me, I'll be there for you. If you can't trust in yourself, you can trust that I'll protect you." She said, and although he didn't feel completely reassured, he was thankful for her support.

  "Thank you." Richard responded graciously, as he went back to the room, filled with anxiety about the thoughts he was having.

  Walking into the room, he saw that Leo had already gone to sleep, which was a shame, as he was going to ask Leo more about how he felt about Copernicus.

  The others had also gone to sleep. Panda had already went to sleep on the back of the young apprentice, and Achil was curled up in the corner. Karkinos and Krackle fell asleep on another bed, with Karkinos looking over before going back to sleep(?)

  He knew Copernicus liked his student, and would likely show the child greater understanding, but he also wanted to make sure Leo wouldn't be to harsh on the man.

  It wouldn't be bad to take his mind off the idea of leaving the mountain.

  The young dragon ended up drifting to sleep uneasy that night as his mind swayed back and forth on the thought of leaving.

  Achil had also coincidentally rolled over into sister Alexandria's embrace once she settled into sleep, being a bit more dependent than the other hatchling she was watching over.

  She did enjoy that.

  The next morning, an interesting surprise awaited Richard and Leo, courtesy of the padins.

  "A duel?" Panda said skeptically, clearly with more words to say.

  "A spar" Scave corrected, with Copernicus looking well enough, and Devis looking a little annoyed.

  Apparently a padin went rogue recently, and just disappeared, something he had just received a report about recently.

  It had dampened his mood, but the rediscovery of the location of Karkinos seemed to outweigh this negative piece of news, as he was still happy about that.

  The next day Richard had received this suggestion, which confused the young dragon.

  Scave expined. "We wanted to test how far you've grown in the months since you've been reborn as a monster, as a way to test the rate of growth a person reincarnated as a monster undergoes, and how they adapt, so we thought you sparring with Galileo could be beneficial."

  Copernicus added in. "Besides, I'm sure Galileo would like to show you how far he's grown since he st saw you, right Galileo?"

  This brought Galileo around as he spun around with a gleam of eagerness within his eyes.

  Looking at how excited the young man looked to show Richard how far he'd grown, Richard didn't have the heart to tell him no.

  Seeing Richard's reluctant look of agreement, sister Alexandria spoke.

  "Very well then. We have courtyard that would be good for them to spar with. I should still have some wooden weapons that Galileo could use to practice."

  She paused.

  Actually, steel should be fine. Richard's hide is hard enough for it, and we have three adept padins here to supervise. It should be fine."

  Although Richard acquiesced, he still needed to know the conditions of the fight that he had been inserted into.

  "Should I use my familiars or should I fight on my own? There is an argument to be made for them counting as additions to my strength, or as separate."

  Devis responded. "Separate. We're trying to gauge the growth a pyer would undergo individually. Although you've managed to gain familiars, on average I'm left to assume that most "pyers" will not have the same opportunities as you, nor the insane luc to contract a demigod."He said, still unable to comprehend how a child could get so lucky.

  Richard could agree with this, though he was sure this assumption was a bit off, since it operated without the inf of the familiar gacha, which would heavily influence the outcome of the experiment.

  Then again, the odds of a demigod being gained was still likely astronomically slim, so he still saw merit in subtracting his familiars from the equation.

  And this was his chance to show off a little too, to show how far he'd come.

  his thought excited Richard, as he clenched his fist in excitement.

  Alright, he could get behind this.

  It was called a courtyard, but it was rather dark and grim for a courtyard, being practically barren, like much of the nd surrounding the mansion.

  It was well designed however, as it was not merely dirt, but id with bricks that had seemingly stood the test of time well, being firm and unmoving.

  The area that was designated for the spar was hardly any different from the rest of the nd surrounding it.

  Was the whole courtyard meant for fighting? Or was the courtyard not meant for fighting, and merely designated as such?

  Whatever the case may be, it would be the site of the sparring match.

  Entering the arena, Richard saw Leo wielding a simple steel bde and shield.

  It was a standard form of fighting, but that was fine. Galileo was still a young apprentice, unlikely to specialize anytime soon.

  As a padin, he would eventually take up an artifact of Isis as his main form of combat, something dependent upon what was avaible at the moment and untouched within the vault, as well as his own developing preferences.

  As for Richard, he was using nothing, which unfortunately included Ats.

  Or fortunately, as RIchard wasn't sure how hard he wanted to fight. Even knowing that his young friend had padins on standby to protect him or heal him/ Richard should things go too far, this did not erase Richard's worries regarding the fight.

  Even as he knew the intended purpose of the test, he could not imagine fighting him to much, lest he hurt the boy.

  Seeing Richard enter the field, Leo revealed a genuinely excited smile.

  "I've gotten stronger since you st saw me!" he proudly excimed, causing Richard to chuckle a little at the determined face of the young man.

  Richard felt a subtle desire to reciprocate, to show Leo he was different now.

  That he could take care of himself now.

  That he wasn't weak anymore.

  The others watched from a distance, though not far enough that they could not interfere should anything go wrong in the fight.

  Despite his rexed look, Pandemonium was watching the arena intensely, as his tail twitched with worry.

  Krackle eagerly cheered their master on, while Karkinos was drinking from coconuts prepared by coconut crabs.

  Ats was being held by Achil who stared intently standing by sister Alexandria.

  The padins stood not far away, with Copernicus standing proud, sure that his student would put up a good fight, while Devis was more indifferent, focused on the output of both younglings.

  It was important to grasp how talented the next generation of the other temples were after all.

  Scave had been stuck with the job of fg bearer, as he zily held the fg, while resting on top of a wall zily, waving the fg.

  Once the two of them entered the field, Scave waived the fg.

  "Begin!" He commanded, with RIchard and Galileo charging towards one another.

  The duel was on!

  There are 10 levels of kaiju that roam within the hollow earth, designated by these levels to help people determine their disaster level, and depending on the level of kaiju approaching the surface, the Federation of Australia will respond accordingly.

  A level one kaiju is along the rank of an A-rank monster, as the people of the romanan empire would designate them, though this is merely in power level, as the level 1 kaiju, while dangerous, are hardy intelligent, more akin to mindless animals. They are strong due to their size, and little else.

  In stark contrast, level 10 kaiju are something you would only hear of in mythology, monsters that are walking camities that even the Gods would struggle to fight.

  Such creatures are thankfully few in number and even fewer in the number who come to the surface, but the number is not zero. The appearance of such kaiju is usually only once in a century, and any more than one time is something akin to extremely bad luck.

  Prime amongst them is the level 10 kaiju, known as Dominion, a axolotl like kaiju that destroys everything in its path. It is a pitch bck creature, with it's skull wreathed in dark blue fmes, and it's back covered in it's protruding spines. It walks on 6 limbs, though know to use a centaur like stance when necessary

  Using it's devastation cannon, this creature fires a concentration of energy that is capable of mowing down S rank monsters with one shot, it's mere appearance is enough to cause other kaiju to flee in fear. Only kaiju of the 7th rank and above are shown capable of resisting Dominion, though even then they will choose to avoid Dominion if possible.

  It's a result of this fear-mongering nature that whenever Dominion approaches the surface, multiple kaiju above the level 6 will appear, when mot waves will only consist of one kaiju above the level 5, with most being 2-3.

  Like axolotl's, he heals at an arming rate, even able to grow entire new limbs, something it uses to it's advantage, using it's limbs to impale it's enemies, before breaking these limbs off and using them to keep its foes in pce.

  Dominion when standing up is easily 250 meters tall, though it prefers to stay on 6 legs for the most of it's life.

  For such a monster, the Australian Federation really only has one consistent solution.

  The shackled god, mecha orochi.

  - Hell is called Australia, by Australian native, Que M. Ongas.