A Victory Moving Forward

"He's dead." Hadrion's voice was quiet, tinged with a hint of shock as he felt Eren's presence disappear.

Eren was a brutal opponent, extremely focused on physical combat and spells that involved that, as were many members of the Sundering Department. Even Hadrion, if he were to face up against him, would be unsure if he would come out on top. In his Condensed form, he was physically as strong as a Pseudo-Lord Class beast, at the least.

"Lo-Lord?" Larah's voice showed her shock deeply, her normally placid appearance nowhere to be seen.

The battle had started and ended in an instant, from Hadrion's point of view. He had sensed Eren let loose, releasing his Aura fully. Just moments later the Sundering Titan had landed on the World Bridge, and attacked the disturbance in fate, somehow knowing what form it had hidden itself in.

A devastating, overpowering King Class Aura had been released, slamming into Hadrion a split second later.

Just moments after that… Eren's presence disappeared completely.

He was killed, without so much as a whimper.

"Signal to everyone. We are leaving, immediately. Right now, tell them to drop everything. A full scale retreat." With a wave of his hand, Hadrion canceled the electric field he had been maintaining, taking one last glance at the World Bridge. Off in the distance, several miles up the bridge, he could just barely make out the scene of Eren's death.

"Let's get the hell off of this godforsaken planet."

..

'Evolving to Myyr Dragon's 4th Growth Stage.'

Dorian felt his body flex and elongate, blinding light flashing around him. His body stretched, growing from three meters tall to a hulking four and a half meters tall. His green scales took on an even more luscious color, glimmering and shining as his arms and legs lengthened. His wings expanded, growing into the full, several meter long wings a grown Myyr Dragon possessed, incapable of flight, but capable of long distance gliding.

He felt his bones grow outward and then seem to shrink in on themselves, condensing. The muscle fibers throughout his body grew tougher, and tighter, growing in power. He felt a raw, virile sense of strength in his body.

In his head, a mental screen popped up.

-Myyr Dragon - Growth Stage: (4/4) Elder Myyr Dragon-

Growth Progress – 6,232/0 -

Quickly followed by another screen:

-

Ability: Emerald Flames (3/3)

Description: Emerald Flames that sear through metal with ease, an Ability found only within members of the Draconic Tribe. The flames are aspected to the being that released them, and cannot damage oneself. Fully mastered.

-

He pulled up his mental status first, before fully reading over the other updates.

-

Dorian - Soul Status

Soul Stage: Grandmaster Class (Middle)

Health: Perfect

Energy: 82%

-

After his body Evolved, reaching the fully grown stage of a Myyr Dragon, he had healed from his injuries. It seemed that anytime he evolved forms, any physical injuries he sustained were rejuvenated.

His soul had expanded as well, his Soul Spell Matrix reaching the Grandmaster Class.

What separated a Master Class beast from a Grandmaster Class beast?

As Dorian looked around him, he instinctively realized the difference.

It was a matter of perception.

His body had become stronger, he could feel that. The power in a fully grown Myyr Dragon was substantial.

But as he looked at the world around him, he realized his perception had changed.

It was like the world was running at a slightly slower pace. He could make out finer details in his surroundings, the clarity of reality had increased. His perception of time had directly been sped up, vastly increasing his reaction speed, and his own personal abilities.

He couldn't put a direct number to how much his perception of time had changed. But it was at least half again what it had been previously.

He raised one of his green scaled arms in front of him, glancing at the gleaming claws for a second. The sharp edges looked intimidating.

His Lesser Emerald Flames had grown with his body into the full fledged Emerald Flames of a Myyr Dragon, a powerful fire that was effective in melting metal. He didn't know how strong they were now, but he figured he would test that when the time came.

What was most on his mind, however, was the large red orb that had settled next to his soul within him.

'Ausra,' He said mentally, his eyes cool,

'What is it?'

Ausra was silent for a moment before replying,

'I am unsure. I do not have enough data to reliably make a statement of fact.'

'Okay, but if you had to guess, what does it appear to be?' He frowned.

'It appears that you have managed to remove the soul and Soul Spell Matrix of a human being at the Master Class. Not only have you safely removed it, you have stored it next to your own soul, using the remnants of a Lord Class Titan's soul and energy to shield it from decay.' Ausra's voice rang out in his head.

Dorian clenched his claws together, a grim smile appearing on his snarling visage.

'How can I move the soul into a new body?' He queried.

Ausra was silent for a moment once more, as if trying to come up with a response.

'The data I have leads me to no reliable conclusi-'

'If we had to guess, Ausra.' He cut the genie off impatiently.

'To restore a physical form to a being that is only a soul and Soul Spell Matrix would be difficult. Creating a body that matches the wavelength of a creature's soul is not easy. The circulatory, endocrine, muscular, lymphatic, and nervous system must be perfectly in tune with the being's soul. A single mistake will lead to Discordancy, and the soul rejecting the body and perishing.' Ausra began,

Dorian paused, thinking over what Ausra said.

'But it is something I can do?' He asked.

'Your Soul Spell Matrix is specialized for transformations of flesh and bloodlines. It is entirely geared towards your own unique soul, however. With that said… it should be feasible to use your Soul Spell Matrix to create a new body for this Master Class lost soul.' Dorian's heart flipped as heard this. Ausra continued,

'However. This was not the intended purpose of your Soul Spell Matrix. Creating such a form would require you to completely remove any trace of your own soul from it, and painstakingly craft it to match the wavelength of the lost soul.' Mentally, an image of the pale, white orb appeared in his mind.

'Something cannot be created from nothing. Creating a new Master Class form and cleansing it of your own presence is something you would need to do manually, and would require a gargantuan amount of energy.'

Dorian nodded, unsurprised,

'How much energy?'

'I cannot currently compute a reliable figure. You currently have 6,232 units of energy stored in your soul. Evolving a form to the Master Class normally would require around 3,000 - 15,000 units of energy, depending on the scale of the bloodline.' Ausra continued,

'To completely create a brand new form to match this Master Class Soul Spell Matrix will require at least a thousand times this amount of energy.'

Dorian's eyes opened wide in shock as he learned the total value.

Taking 3,000 to 15,000 and multiplying it by a thousand… would mean he would need millions of units of energy to bring William back. And even then, it could still cost more than 15,000,000 units of energy if Ausra's estimates were off.

'This range of energy is more than the cost of Evolving a Grandmaster Class beast to the Lord Class by using one's bloodline. Evolving to just the Grandmaster Class alone, the same class as your Myyr Dragon's 4th Growth Stage, only costs approximately 50,000 to 100,000 units of energy. '

Dorian had completely skipped over the Myyr Dragon's 3rd Growth Stage, and hadn't gotten a chance to see the energy values he'd need to Evolve. He'd assumed that the third Growth Stage would be Grandmaster Class, but apparently he'd been wrong.

'What class was my 3rd Growth Stage at?' He asked.

'The Pseudo-Grandmaster Class. Between each Class, there is a stage where one has almost reached the peak, and is close to stepping into the next Class, but not quite equal to a beast at the next level. These levels are known as Pseudo-Classes.' Ausra shared more information.

Dorian focused back on the massive amount of energy he would need. Achieving such a substantial amount was incredibly daunting.

Without asking, however, Ausra added an extra note,

'The energy barrier protecting the lost soul from decay is a temporary measure that will dissipate in around 13 months. It is impossible to replenish. I will be able to make a more accurate estimate as time goes on'

His eyes widened at that, and he asked the obvious question,

'What happens when the barrier fades and it's not protected from decay?'

'The soul and Soul Spell Matrix will slowly dissipate, falling apart and vanishing from this world. What happens to it after is unknown.' Ausra answered.

Dorian exhaled sharply, air blasting out of his draconic snout. He took a deep breath and then sighed, rubbing his forehead out of habit, though taking care not to stab himself this time.

Eating Magic Herbs or hunting low Class beasts wouldn't get him that much energy in time. He needed to obtain a huge, massive amount.

'Ausra, how much energy would I get from hunting and absorbing a Lord Class creature.' His eyes were calm as he asked, contemplating his future.

'Roughly 50,000 to 65,000 units of energy, though this can vary wildly for beings that study magic. If you use your last Absorption, you should obtain roughly two to three times as much energy from the being, based on your past metrics .' The genie replied coolly.

If he chose to get the energy by hunting, he'd need to hunt down and kill dozens of Lord Class beasts, powerful creatures that were extremely rare in the wild.

He had already almost died facing down a single Lord Class Titan, though one that was a Wizard. The only reason he survived at all was because he used one of the Absorptions he had come into this world with.

And now he only had a single one left.

Even Ausra didn't quite know what his Absorptions were or how they functioned, so as far as he knew now, there was no way to replenish them.

Dorian sighed. He took a break from asking Ausra questions, looking over at William's dead body.

He walked up next to it. Blood had pooled all around it, the massive hole in the chest causing the rest of his torso to cave in. A gruesome sight.

He slid a claw into the pool of blood, absorbing it in case he needed it to create William's new body.

He then stabbed his claws into the ground next to the body, ripping up a large chunk of earth with a casual wave. Dust and debris shot up into the air, temporarily blinding him. He shook his head, clearing his eyes.

He picked up William's body respectfully, and placed it in the grave. He looked down at William's body one last time.

He bowed his head, and stayed bowed for a full ten seconds.

And then slowly rose, his eyes glimmering. He shoveled the dirt he'd scooped out over the grave, burying William's corpse, and then smoothened out the top.

Gently, he unleashed a small stream of Emerald Flames, melting the earth together into a tough, rocky surface. He carved a small English W into the ground, and bowed his head one more time.

"Just wait a little while, friend." He said, his voice quiet, "I won't thank you now."

"I'll thank you later, face to face."

As he finished making William's makeshift grave, a spark of an idea lit up in his mind.

It might be impossible to gather all that energy by hunting beasts... but what if he tapped into a massive store of treasure? He could absorb energy from magic treasures, and things of that nature.

The map the ancient Wizard had planted in his mind appeared again, knowledge about a massive, gargantuan store of magic treasure, locked away on a forbidding planet, in a place called the Ember Gorge.

A grim smile formed on his face as he looked up at the World Bridge he was standing on, a plan forming in his head.

"Just you wait."

- The End of Book 1 -

- Stats -

Number of Chapters: 27

Word count: ~65,000 Words

Avg. Word/Chapter - ~2,400

Total Views - 1,250,000