The Dragon Realm, as the name suggests, is where the Dragon Kin live, a land of scales and sky.
It sits in the world's far north like a frozen crown, its gateway set upon the Northern Abyss Continent.
It's the largest independent plane, a wide canvas, yet poor in resources like a stony desert.
Because of that, the Mizumi Clan’s supplies became the Realm’s lifeblood, like rivers feeding a thirsty plain.
You could say no one holds better ties with the Mizumi Clan than the Dragon Kin, bonds braided like cord.
Among the Four Great Races, the Dragon Kin rank third in might, yet they are few, a scattered constellation.
Their fertility isn’t as dire as rumor paints, but their numbers barely climb, sometimes dipping like a receding tide.
Take the Dragon God Saint Cole: over twenty thousand years old, and only a century ago he had a daughter—one spark in the dark.
Besides, the Dragon Realm’s environment ranks decent among the four planes, not the Elven Realm’s lush forest, yet kinder than the Demon Realm.
Its heat runs year-round, like a banked forge.
Mountains dominate, with volcanoes as the backbone, fumaroles breathing like sleeping beasts.
A few great dragons still keep caves, but most shift to human shape and live in buildings, finding human ways soft as quilts.
Yet with scarce resources, living standards sit middling, like a bowl half full.
Thanks to the Central Continent’s supply lines, life improves year by year like dawn creeping higher.
So nearly every Dragon Kin feels grateful to the Mizumi Clan, and the tribe treats that bond as paramount, a pledge carved in stone.
The most honored place in the Dragon Realm is, of course, Dragon God Island, a jeweled sanctuary—largest, richest, and finest in all the Realm.
Residents there include those tied to the Dragon God Saint Cole, the clan chief’s line, high elders, and prodigy youths, bright as fresh embers.
Saint Cole dwells in the Dragon God Court, set in the island’s deepest heart like a hidden chamber.
Without his leave, only his wife Celia Maya and his daughter Hill may come and go freely, like swallows to a nest.
Overall, the Dragon Realm carries an easygoing air, much like the Mizumi Clan; laziness runs in Dragon Kin nature like cats in sun.
But scenic spots are scarce: beyond volcanoes lies endless sea, a wide blue emptiness, not much for travel or play.
On the other hand, it’s perfect for cultivation, with many sacred sites, like the famed Lava Sea, a red ocean of power.
So many other races come, humans most of all; the Realm is free, and unless you cross Dragon Kin interests, they hardly care, like clouds drifting.
...
Days after Hill’s last injury, the Realm had barely cooled when a thunderclap hit—the Dragon God’s Token was used!
The Dragon God’s Token is Saint Cole’s personal badge; there’s only one in the Realm, singular as a lone star.
When he sent Hill to the Central Continent, he gave it to her as a just-in-case, to use only in mortal peril—a last-resort flare.
Inside the token lies a teleportation array linked to the Dragon God Court; from any corner of the world, activation opens a door in an instant.
Saint Cole had believed it would never be used, more a talisman than a tool; yet so soon after Hill’s injury, used again—could it be…?
Panic spiked like ice in their veins; Saint Cole and Celia Maya dropped everything and blink-teleported back to the Dragon God Court.
Their hearts hammered prayers that Hill was safe—their one precious daughter, a jewel they could not lose.
Outside, the Dragon Kin’s clan chief Dilosdo and a circle of elders waited in respectful stillness, ready for Saint Cole’s orders, like soldiers under a banner.
...
