This should be more than I need to evolve, so I cram the corpses into my pouch. I am expecting the thing that has been following me to attack me, but nothing happens. I manage to put all the corpses into my pouch, but then I have a decision to make.

  Do I do the smart thing and leave, or do I listen to my curiosity and find out what’s hunting me? If I just leave, I won’t have to deal with the bends again, but my curiosity won’t shut up. In the end, I decide to do the smart thing, mainly because the bends are more annoying than my curiosity.

  I head up to the surface, throw myself into the air, and fly straight back to my island. Oddly, the feeling of being followed doesn’t go away, even when I fly at top speed. It only finally stops when I cross the barrier that I put around the island, but I am still a little worried.

  If it managed to follow me all the way to the island, then the barrier might not be strong enough. Oh, I just realized that the barrier doesn’t extend underground, so something could burrow under it. I don’t know of many aquatic lifeforms that can burrow, but I think there were a couple on earth.

  Well, it looks like I found my next project, it is time to upgrade the barrier and make sure the island is secure. I modify the existing barrier so that it also covers the underground, but that is all I do. Instead of modifying it further, I decide to add a second barrier just inside of the current one.

  This way is much easier and also makes the new barrier stronger thanks to the increased capacity. Besides, it is not like I only have a few obelisks, or can’t easily make more. However, I am not sure if just barriers will be enough, but I can’t decide between using enchantments or making golems.

  I want something to attack anything that tries to break through the barriers, but I can’t decide between the two. Enchantments are easier and take less time, but golems are more fun and more versatile. A perverse part of me wants to make golems that when resting look like Easter Island heads.

  As amusing as that idea is, in the end I decide to not go with the golems because it would take too long. Crafting and enchanting some larger obelisks would take a lot less time, so that is what I am going to do. Since it is what I am best at, I am enchanting the bigger obelisks with lightning damage.

  They will blast anything that breaks through the outer barrier, even if they don’t attack the inner barrier. Since it is lightning, the water will turn it into AoE attacks without me needing to do anything. Luckily, not many things are immune to lightning, so it should be pretty effective.

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  If something that is immune attacks the inner barrier, an enchantment will inform me through the network. That should be enough to guarantee the safety of the island from anything short of a full on invasion. Considering its position, the only ones that could launch that kind of attack would be the demons.

  However, considering that this is going to be a vacation spot, I doubt that they would bother. That is even if they have spies capable of finding out about it since I don’t plan to advertise it. It is going to be for the higher officials of the government, not the general public.

  Although, I will probably let Emperor Amn and his family use it as well, but they should be able to keep it secret. Then again, when the war starts this place would probably be useful since it is close to the land bridge. It would make a good place to keep supplies or to treat the wounded, it will depend on how things go.

  I will worry about that when the war starts, for now the island is safe enough and I can move on. I sit on the beach, take out the dragonfish corpses, and remove their cores. Then I put the corpses back into the pouch before absorbing all of the dragonfish cores.

  Absorb Activated: 29 Evolution Points gained!

  Evolution Points: 410/400

  Evolution Ready! Would you like to Evolve now? Y/N

  “No!”

  Now the only question is, do I go talk to Lin now, or do I grind some exp first? After checking, I currently need just under five million exp to level up to level twenty. However, I really want to evolve if there is enough time before the wedding, so I need to talk to Lin.

  I haven’t been keeping track of the days so I actually don’t know when the wedding is. I don’t really have to worry about it, someone will tell me when I need to show up. That is why I don’t know if I have enough time to evolve and why I need to check in with Lin.

  However, before that, I head up to the roof of the lodge and add a small platform. Then I add an enchantment to hide it from everyone but me and leave the recharging crystal on it. After that, I open a gate back to the castle and head through to look for Lin.

  When I enter the castle, not only are Lin, Myria, Brightfire, and Bella there, but so are all my kids. Of course, the kids swarm me as soon as they see me and the girls just laugh at me. The kids don’t settle down until they have told me about everything they have been up to.

  Since this includes their adventures while placing obelisks I make sure to listen closely. I also make sure to praise them and give them attention while they are telling me their stories. From what I overhear, the girls are talking wedding stuff, so I am thankful to the kids for saving me from that.

  With nothing to distract them, it takes a little over an hour before the kids run out of steam. As soon as the kids set me free, I head over and kiss Myria, Lin, and Brightfire. Bella makes a snide comment about being ignored, so I give her a kiss too.

  Luckily for me, the girls find Bella’s stunned look hilarious, otherwise I would be in trouble. However, just to be safe, I move to put my girls between us before Bella gets over her shock. Me hiding behind them just makes the girls laugh even harder, but I can’t really blame them.

  After all, a big dragon-like creature trying to hide behind a human woman has to be entertaining to watch. I am actually hoping that Bella will get up and chase me around the table, but she doesn’t. When she finally gets over her shock, she just joins in on the laughter.