Chapter 213: The successor

Ten days ago...

"I can use my authority to return you to the time before your meridians were damaged. Your location will be changed to the academy as well," a mimicking voice echoed in the darkness, carrying a mocking tone. "Since when did the Dragon of Abyss gain the power to manipulate space and time?"

"Shut up, bird," the dragon’s deep voice growled, clearly irritated. "A bird brain can’t understand the profundity of a dragon’s thoughts. I needed to see the character of my successor before bestowing my teaching."

"Hmph, you lizards are just too uptight," the Thunderbird shrugged. "Didn’t the child already prove his character when he decided to stay behind to save those he called friends?"

"Anyone can make such a choice in the heat of the moment," the dragon retorted. "The true nature of a being comes out when death is imminent. Even the bravest of warriors shiver in fear when their soul is about to be pulled from their body. This is when they show their ugly side. I gave my successor the choice to revive without any consequences when death was about to claim him."

He released a long sigh as he continued, "I have to say... he really surprised me. The fear of death and the regrets of an incomplete life were clear all over his face. Yet he still decided to make the same choice. It has been over twenty years since I last saw such clarity of mind."

"Hmph, I don’t understand a thing you’re saying," the Thunderbird scoffed. "But I’m telling you in advance. Next time, it will be I who bestows the teachings upon the child. I’m already furious enough that he didn’t use lightning to slay the enemy."

---

Vlad fell to the ground after channeling all of his mana into the final blast to destroy the array.

He saw a screen glowing before his eyes, but his vision was already too blurry to clearly make out what it was.

He felt his heart taking longer to beat with each passing interval. He parted his bloody lips and murmured, his voice barely a whisper.

"R-Ren... enter... As-Ascension... Dungeon."

And everything fell silent.

.

.

.

"Hah... hah... hah...." Vlad breathed heavily as his eyes shot open.

The ceiling was dark before him, with glowing stones embedded at regular intervals along the walls, illuminating the dark room with a moonlight-like glow.

He rose to a sitting position and looked at his body. His armor was completely broken, riddled with numerous holes. But beneath it, his skin was completely healed. There was no visible injury on his body, nor any residual pain. Even his severed hand had been restored.

He pressed his forehead and took several deep breaths.

"So this is how it feels to be truly dead," he muttered, his chest rising and falling from the lingering effects of what he had just experienced. "I definitely don’t want to feel it again."

He tried to summon his mana into his hands. Nothing came out. It was as if he had never possessed mana to begin with.

"The Bracelet of Eternity healed my physical injuries," Vlad murmured, a hint of sadness in his voice. "But it couldn’t heal the connection with my core that I lost during the battle. I have been turned into a normal human. So this is the price I must pay for using power beyond my abilities."

He pushed himself to his feet and took off the scrap of armor that was doing nothing other than adding weight to his body.

"I hope Sera and everyone else reached the Academy safely," he spoke to himself as he moved toward the iron door on the opposite wall of the hall.

He had been teleported to the first floor of the Ascension Dungeon.

"Oh right, I saw the system screen before fainting," he remembered, stopping in his tracks. "I should check it out."

[Congratulations! You have completed the Main Quest Part I: The Abnormalities.]

[Main Quest Part I: The Abnormalities.

Description: Eliminate the reason for the sudden surge of monsters in the Forest of Death.

Status: Completed

{Click to claim the reward}]

"So the dark energy being released by the array in the second cave was the true reason for the monster surge," Vlad concluded as the pieces came together. "Daemoth created that monster farm close to the real Genesis Artifact to make the academy believe that it was the cause of the monster surge. It had its effects, but the main reason was the array in the second cave."

Now, Vlad had even more questions. Why was Daemoth farming the monsters? Was it just to obtain high-tier undeads, or was there something else going on?

The fact that Daemoth did not claim the Genesis Artifact in the first cave was proof enough of how far he had gone just to avoid the academy’s attention.

"Well, now that Daemoth is dead and the array is destroyed, the academy will investigate whatever he was plotting," Vlad shrugged to himself. He had already done enough, and now there were more pressing concerns demanding his attention.

He drew a hand-sized mirror from his storage pouch and looked at the reflection of his face, or more accurately, at his right eye.

It seemed completely normal. The same crimson red, with numerous small particles lying dormant within it.

"I thought my eye would change after absorbing the Genesis Artifact," he sighed, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He found the visuals of the cosmic eye really cool.

But again, he was also relieved that both of his eyes looked the same. Otherwise, he would have appeared quite creepy with completely different eye designs.

He didn’t know the effects of the Genesis Artifact. He had taken the gamble of absorbing it while everyone thought he was unconscious on Shadow’s back. He thought it might come in handy to defeat Daemoth.

After the absorption, some information about the eye appeared in his brain. It was the Eternal Eye. It had many abilities, but Vlad could only use its most basic ability for now.

Soul Shock.

It was a direct attack on the soul that momentarily dazed the enemy. After getting stronger, he could directly kill lower-level enemies with Soul Shock alone.

But that was assuming he could get stronger. Could he even regain his ability to use mana?

All of that depended on the last gamble he had taken.

"Ren, claim the reward of the Main Quest," Vlad ordered, a hint of nervousness and anticipation in his voice.

---

Volume 3: Rise of the Dragon of Abyss

Begins!!