Chapter 216: Learning the Dragon Tongue

Vlad sat cross-legged before the slab once again and turned his eyes to the second symbol. After a few seconds, the voice echoed in his mind.

Aera.

This time, the feeling was different from before. He felt himself being pulled out of his body, stripped of everything, yet he didn’t feel any discomfort, pain, or fear. It was as if he was being turned into his original form.

He remained calm, allowing himself to be embraced by this newly found feeling.

The world around him changed. The sky was dark, filled with countless beautiful stars, illuminating the darkness in different colours. An endless sea stretched before him, completely still, reflecting the ethereal cosmos.

In this vast, still sea, a tree with golden wood stood just behind Vlad. It wasn’t too tall. It was divided into numerous branches, each one dividing into further branches. A golden energy calmly moved through its roots in the sea, spreading into every branch like a heart pumping the blood to the body.

The leaves sprouting from the branches were equally enchanting. They were silver-coloured, with flickers of crimson lightning dancing across them at irregular intervals.

’So beautiful...’ Vlad murmured inwardly, his gaze fixed on this heavenly scenery. ’H-huh? Is this me?’

He looked at himself in bewilderment. His body was translucent and colourless, a faint dark energy covering his silhouette. With just a little focus, he could feel his entire form.

He was small, no bigger than he had been at three or four years old. Two tiny protrusions jutted from either side of his forehead, each barely half the length of his pinky finger.

He instinctively realised what his current form was.

In a calm tone, he whispered, "AERA."

The next moment, he found himself sitting cross-legged before the stone slab. "It means soul."

The second symbol on the stone slab flickered before spreading into a faint golden glow.

Although he understood the concept of the word, there was still a question in his mind. Why was his soul so small and looked different from his original body?

He didn’t dwell on it further. For some reason, learning these alphabets was building something within him. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he was sure that he would find out once he had learned all the alphabets on the stone slab.

He continued his comprehension of the next symbols.

"VARETH. It means life."

"MORAK. It means death."

"KAEL. It means power."

"AKHRA. It means flame."

"AEVRA. It means ice."

Each symbol gave him a deeper comprehension and a newer understanding of these words.

Within a week, he comprehended 127 alphabets, reaching the last one. He had already realised what these symbols had built inside him. But he decided to use it only after learning the last symbol. Otherwise, his comprehension would remain like a puzzle with a missing piece, fragile and incomplete.

If he tried using the Dragon Tongue without learning the last word, all that he had learned might collapse in an instant.

His gaze shifted to the only symbol on the stone slab that wasn’t glowing.

Morzael.

In an instant, everything turned blank. His sight, sense of smell, ability to speak or hear, all of it was gone. It was as if he had been thrown into a void with no bottom.

Vlad merely chuckled inwardly. He immediately realised the meaning of this alphabet. He was very familiar with it, after all.

"MORZAEL. It means abyss."

The feeling of the ground beneath him returned. He was lying with his limbs spread, his entire body covered in sweat.

"Hah... hah..." His chest rose and fell, his breathing ragged. Just the brief encounter with the abyss had left him completely exhausted mentally.

His eyes grew heavy, and he didn’t even realise when he fell asleep.

---

"Chloe... eat your veggies," he muttered, his eyes opening. The dark ceiling of the dungeon was the first thing he saw. "A dream?"

He raised himself into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes. "Oh right, the stone slab."

His gaze shifted to the centre of the room, but there was no slab there, just crumbled pieces of rock. It had shattered the moment Vlad comprehended the last word.

It was only then that he saw the system screen hovering beside the stone slab.

[Congratulations! You have learned the Dragon Tongue and cleared the third floor of the Ascension Dungeon!]

[Would you like to return to the overworld?

{Yes} {NO}

Note: If you proceed to the fourth floor, you would not be able to return until you finish it.]

Vlad gave a brief thought to the system’s question. He moved his finger towards the screen and touched the No button.

As much as he wanted to return and meet with his friends, he knew this wasn’t the right time.

His meridians were gone. Once he returned, he would reach the second cave in the dungeon, filled with thousands of monsters. What if they had already awakened after he destroyed the array?

Even if they hadn’t, travelling through the Forest of Death without any powers was nothing more than courting death.

Clearing the Ascension Dungeon was his only hope of survival.

The system screen vanished, turning into small particles.

"Now then, let me use this new power that I have learned," Vlad murmured, rising to his feet.

He took a nervous gulp. If it didn’t work, there would be no hope for him at all. His fingers trembled slightly at the thought.

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, then extended his hand toward the broken slab, his palm facing it. When he spoke, his voice was deeper than usual, like the growl of a beast.

"ZHAEKOR!"

A bolt of crimson lightning suddenly descended upon the debris, followed by a loud thunderclap. Some of the pieces turned to dust, while others were hurled outward in every direction.

When the dust settled, the scorched floor was revealed, fumes of smoke rising from where the lightning had struck. Spiderweb-like cracks had spread across the floor in every direction.

Vlad’s hand slowly moved to his mouth, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Fuck! It really worked."