The water passed by my body that was swimming at a speed most fish couldn't rival. I really enjoyed diving around in the giant lake of the forbidden forest. Today, I was accompanied by Natalie although I was way too fast for her to catch up to me while we swam.

The past year I had exercised a lot by either doing training sessions with Gabe or going hunting and exploring the forest. We didn't meet a single human except for members of the night serpent clan. Every time we saw one of them they bowed reverently.

The Naga siblings had become quite famous as well in the village and everybody even the children grew fond of them and no longer feared them. Gabriel and Natalie even took some sessions of a Lecture by the village elders called . It was very effective and they now were able to speak the human language without their former snake like, hissing accent. When we went hunting we even found a few Sabre teeth black bears and for that reason I now had quite the arsenal of sabreteeth daggers in case one or two might get stuck in my pray and a complete set of black leather armour. I was clad in black and became the worst nightmare for my prey.

When we hunted at night I brought honour to my name. The night serpent's fangs killed with almost each and every single strike before hiding in the darkness without the slightest trace.

But now I was diving around in the lake together with Natalie. I obviously wouldn't wear clothing if it wasn't necessary. I had only equipped my twin daggers the sabreteeth. They didn't hinder my swimming speed in the slightest.

I couldn't explain it very well but one day drake's instinct simply took control of my swimming style and I used my legs as a tail to propel me forward. This swimming style was great for marine combat.

I didn't even need to use my daggers or my hypnotic ability against the aquatic creatures.

A single punch would suffice to blow them to a bloody mess if I used my full power.

I came to the lake at least twice a week because the tasted better when it was fresh.

This wonderful plant improved my body even further.

My body would now even cause Michelangelo's a piece of art that defined male beauty and musclemass to go green in envy.

I had no doubts that if there was a one on one fight between me and a soldier of this country that I could defeat them without breaking a sweat even without employing my assassination skills.

That was probably thanks to the training with Gabe who introduced me to a variety of weapons.

I was quite adept with a lot of them but I disliked slow moving big weapons. The problem wasn't that I was too weak to use them but instead that they didn't suit my battle style. It was fast paced. I preferred short swords and daggers over great swords.

I also quite liked dual spears because they could be used against many enemies at once even if they have long weapons and they were faster if swung around at full speed.

We also found our that I had absolutely no talent as an archer. I once accidentally shot Gabriel in his tail while aiming almost in the other direction.

Fortunately I had quite the talent as a weapon thrower. I could use many weapons as a throwing utensil. My Spears and daggers precision was quite good but when I was handed a throwing knife or throwing needle I did not miss the bullseye a single time when aiming for the stationary targets.

While I was swimming around I saw a shark that was as giant as the one that Natalie had slain on our first encounter. When it swam past me I used my (skills, spells and probably items will most of the time be marked as such like this from now) to propel myself forward like a water snake and slice it with my twin daggers. The sabreteeth penetrated its skin but were soon stuck. I switched my battle style and employed the close combat Naga battle style that Gabriel had taught me.

Under water this style suited me even more because it didn't use the feet to attack because it was a hereditary battle style of the Naga who don't have legs. I brought my fists forward without end and when the giant shark was almost unconscious I used all of my force and chopped downwards with my hand.

I couldn't believe it. How strong had I become?

The daggers were barely enough the leave wounds on the shark but my bare hand left a seven centimetre deep cut on the neck of the shark.

I smiled and said to Natalie: ?I guess I need better weapons."

She replied: ?yes. If you continue hunting bigger prey each time you need better weapons. Take my dagger for example. It was built by an ancestor of mine. Its blade was made from the bones of my ancestors while the handle was carved from an everlasting oak. These trees grow stronger the older they become." she paused

?But there are even some metals that can't carve the bark off that tree. And even if you were able to carve a handle using your abnormal strength this tree is very rare and you would still need a blade."

?Hm... is the bark the hardest part of said tree?"

?No" she answered immediately ?but it is the only part that can be used because the rest of that tree is too hard. Why do you ask?"

I grinned ?simple if you can even make a durable handle from the bark and the closer you get to the centre of this strange tree... imagine how durable the heart of the tree would be! Normally the heart of a tree is very delicate but for this everlasting oak it could be of an unrivaled hardness."

We had hunted something so we left after I took some of the and commanded one hundred water snakes to guard this treasure.

When we left the lake I put on my black leather armour that was guarded by Little Racer.

Natalie was still a Nudist so she didn't have to put on some clothes but during the past year I grew accustomed to this behavior so I didn't mention it.

We took the shark's body back to the village to skin it and when we arrived we saw Theresa sprinting towards us. She had trained furiously after she was almost defeated by the hunters a year ago and her muscles could testify that. She trained as Gabriel's disciple on the path of a warrior. The entirety of the night serpent clan underwent drastic changes after the incident at hunters creek. The scouting unit was made to have their members train how to effectively assassinate someone without causing a ruckus, a mistake that was made by Max and Moritz which forced me to execute plan B back then. Those who didn't manage to achieve these basic assassination techniques kept the name of while the best of their Tier formed the elite scouting unit: . The third unit that was also created during the past year was the warrior unit. They didn't have a special name and every adult tamer was allowed to join after having participated in a basic combat training led by Gabriel. He was the commander of the warrior unit.

When Theresa finally reached us she panted.

?I ... searched ... for ... you"

?Calm down" I said

?Liz... it is time." she answered

I understood and took off towards the village hall at a speed that rivaled Little Racer and my berserk mode didn't even activate.

There was a single reason for my and Theresa's behavior: after two months Liz laid four eggs and they were finally about to hatch.

When I entered there were three little racer lizards lieing besides Liz and when they looked at me immediately took effect. There were two females and one male young racer lizard. I named them Leroy Lisa and Liana.

But then I wondered: wasn't there a fourth one? Indeed, right at this moment I heard a shell splitting as a very tiny racer Lizard clawed its way out. I was the first existence that this Lizard had witnessed and once again took effect. The others were cat sized but this one actually was the size of an ordinary lizard. I was a little disappointed but nevertheless it was one of my familiars and I chose to treat him like his siblings ?your name shall be Lincoln"

?A magnificent name but a pity that it is such a weak Racer Lizard" I heard the village chief say. ?Lord Valentinus. I still owe you for saving my daughter and destroying our nemesis hideout. Furthermore I have heard from my daughter that you recently became 20 years of age. What more reasons do we need to celebrate? The least I can do is to make your time here as pleasant as possible. Tonight we shall feast and celebrate your deeds"