Upon exiting the cave, Donovan and Sylvia were met with the fresh, bright sunlight.
And they were just in time for the humongous dragon to fly back to its usual resting place.
The dragon's shadow loomed over the two for a moment.
Right after that, Donovan activated his Flight spell while Sylvia activated her umbrella's flight ability.
Donovan reached the top of the cliff first, while Sylvia arrived thirty seconds later.
Upon arriving at the waterfall, they saw Vilvatore staring down at them.
"Impressive work, Visitors…" said the dragon.
Sylvia bowed in a formal manner, and so did Donovan, though he was a bit late.
Donovan wasn't aware of it, but the gigantic dragon was staring at Donovan.
"You, human…" suddenly said Vilvatore.
Sylvia and Donovan both raised their heads, confused on which one of them the dragon wanted to speak to.
"The male one."
Donovan tensed up. "Yes, Sir Vilvatore?"
The dragon stared at the male human, a bit of fondness and softness in its eyes.
"Do not stray far from your destined path…"
The dragon lowered its head, now at eye level with Donovan. "There is something odd about you, something I do not have the knowledge of."
"Protect those you hold dear, and if you may fail, do not go gentle into that good night."
Its roaring voice that was full of authority resounded across the forest.
Donovan quickly nodded. Sylvia watched all this happen with eyes that had slightly widened.
"You may go now," said Vilvatore.
Umbrellas, Portal Chamber.
Sylvia waved Donovan goodbye with her back turned as she walked away.
"You said you weren't going on a mission today. Oh, have you already ranked up to Storm Rank?" Tiero's voice resounded from behind Donovan.
Turning around, Donovan said, "Yes."
"Well done." Tiero patted his shoulder. "I saw Sylvia with you, did she help you with the advancement?"
Donovan nodded.
"Sylvia is a very talented woman. She's very strong, too. She's one of the few who ranked up to Storm Rank in just a single year."
"Almost every handler was fighting to have her. Of course, I also tried to get to be her handler, but I failed."
"But I have high expectations from you, Donovan. Make me proud, eh?"
Tiero gave a small pat on Donovan's back before walking away.
Mr. Tiero is counting on me…
Donovan sighed. He then flew towards his home.
***
6:07 p.m., upon taking a quick shower to freshen herself up, Sylvia went to the sofa, and sat down. She opened up the TV, and grabbed her phone.
She then thought back to Donovan.
Fond memories started to flood her mind. A voice coming from a male resounded in her mind.
Memories of when she was just a little child, watching a certain someone say goodbye to her and walk away.
She once again felt sadness destroy her body and soul.
Suddenly, a loud noise coming from the TV woke Sylvia from her stupor.
Shaking her head, she rid herself of thoughts of Donovan.
With a sigh, she focused on the TV.
Midnight, Donovan's apartment, at exactly 1:00 p.m.
Donovan woke from his slumber with a cold sweat.
Ah, damn… Nightmare…
Strange, I already can't remember what it was about…
He got out of bed, and went to the kitchen.
The blue light coming from a billboard outside was shining into his apartment room.
Donovan didn't bother to turn on the light, as the blue light coming from outside was enough.
Then, he tried to get himself a cup of coffee. Suddenly, he paused in his steps.
In his previous life as Leon Valentin, he always went to get a cup of coffee every time he awoke at this hour.
But now, he was Donovan Volgard. And having a cup of coffee in the middle of the night wasn't very healthy.
He needed to change his habits.
Coffee… Uh, what's a replacement for coffee…
Milk?
No…
Actually, I'll just go get something cold.
Donovan opened the fridge. But to his horror, and to our laughter, there was nothing to drink in his fridge.
Cursing silently, he closed the fridge and went to get his watch, as well as his phone.
Then, he stepped outside through the balcony.
The cold air struck his body, and Donovan was immediately reminded of Tosla.
With his watch, he activated his Warmth Barrier. Leaning on the balcony railing, as he was about to open up his phone, he heard a commotion coming from below in the streets.
Cars were in flames, roads were destroyed, and the sound of sirens was approaching in the distance.
Donovan's eyes slightly widened. From below, two Visitors were fighting.
The thought of going down and attempting to stop the commotion appeared in his mind, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Everyone in this city was a Visitor after all. If not even a single one was attempting to stop them, then what could he even do?
They were all just standing from the side, and some were floating in the air.
Donovan quickly went back inside, grabbed his umbrella, and jumped down from the balcony.
Activating his Flight spell, he flew down so he could get a better look at the fight.
From Donovan's eyes, the two Visitors were at least Storm Rank. One of them was a Tank-type while the other was a Fighter-type. The former was quite tall, and had the build of the average bodybuilder. The latter looked young, probably in his teenage years.
The Tank barely had any wounds, but he was severely exhausted. Meanwhile, the Fighter was full of wounds, but he didn't seem to be out of breath at all.
The sound of sirens was getting closer.
The Tank stayed still, playing defense. The Fighter circled him, on the offensive.
"Come on! Go beat his ass!"
"What the hell are you doing?! Charge already!"
"You can't even break a Tank's shield? How weak are you?!"
"Hey, do something, Tank!"
The voices from the crowd resounded across everyone's ears.
The Fighter-type stopped. And then, just as he was about to take a step forward, four strange devices suddenly dropped down from above, landing around him in the shape of a box.
The Fighter's four limbs were suddenly restrained by what seemed to be chains, but in the form of electricity. In a split second, he was brought to the ground, laying down while his limbs were restrained.
Upon seeing this, the Tank immediately turned around in an attempt to run away. But not even a second had passed when the same four devices also dropped down from above, surrounding him in four corners.
He was also restrained, and brought to the ground.
Donovan looked up, and saw a flying vehicle. On the outside of the flying vehicle was the word "BOOTS" in uppercase letters.
Ah… From the original Donovan's memories, they're the SWAT of this world— no, this city.
Multiple figures dropped down from the flying vehicle, and landed with ease from such a tall height. They seemed to be wearing armor. From Donovan's eyes, they looked similar to the armor that SWAT often wore.
He overheard a conversation coming from the two people floating beside him.
"Bunch of killjoys, these boots… We were just getting to the good part!"
"Oh, come on. We already have a sh*t ton of Annihiliths on our plates, and you want to watch Visitors fighting each other?"
Donovan sighed.
BOOTS… If memory serves me right, it stands for "Bio-Optimized Operations and Tactical Squadron…"
The heavy-armored figures surrounded the two Visitors, and pointed their technologically advanced guns at them.
Donovan looked to the left, and saw that the official cops of this city had arrived.
Damn, this is a really eventful night… Uh, what are the cops called again…?
Right, the UBPD. Umbrellas Police Department…
They arrived in floating cars. They were wearing a dark blue uniform consisting of a collared cape and an officer cap decorated with the logo, or emblem of Umbrellas.
"Well, looks like it's over. Those two aren't putting up much of a fight anymore," said the man beside Donovan.
He's right. The Tank is exhausted, and the Fighter is too injured to fight.
The eight floating devices that were restraining the two Visitors floated up, pulling the two of them up.
Some of the Visitors that were watching started to clear away, bored and disappointed that it ended so quickly.
But Donovan stayed. He watched as the police captain talked with one of the BOOTS people. Then, a few minutes later, he watched as the two Visitors were carried away into the air, heading straight towards the police station.
Donovan yawned. Now that the commotion had ended, he was feeling sleepy.
He returned to his apartment balcony. Behind him, the authorities already left, and the road was back to normal. "Commotions" in Umbrellas would always be swiftly dealt with.
In the first place, why were the two Visitors fighting, anyway? Eh, I'll think about it some other time.
After a quick pee, he went to bed and slumped down. He grabbed his metal ID on the desk beside his bed.
Visitor.
Donovan Volgard.
Mage-type, Storm Rank, Category 1.
Current spells in possession:
Flame Ball, Barrier, Flight, Light Beam, Light Chain, Blinding Light, Light Spear, Light Blitz, Holy Light, Eyes of the Sun, Lightning Strike, and Lightning Bursts.
Current traits:
—Mana detection.
—Using spells that belong in the fuel-heavy category will decrease the amount of Umbrella Fuel consumed.
New trait:
—Faster spell activation, and Barrier spell can now be used while flying.
Umbrella Fuel: 3,500.
1,800 Canopy needed for next advancement.
Seeing this, Donovan smiled. Hehe, nice… New trait, bigger fuel capacity, and my spells have improved in strength…
His thoughts started to wander. I wonder how different things would be if I instead transmigrated into the body of a Drizzle Rank at Category 1… The original Donovan took a long while to get to Category 4 of Shower Rank…
Yeah, no thanks…
I have to fix my sleep schedule soon… Tomorrow's Friday…
After a few minutes, sleep claimed him.