Chapter 335: The Fate of the Strong
Early Morning - Late Summer : Remains of The Dungeon of Colossus | Western Sirathan Mountains
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-What if I.. forced his dragon sleep…- It was a thought that intruded my mind like the voice of a devil on my shoulder. -I've force-started my own more than once, even if it was accidentally, so.. wouldn't I be able to guide him through it?-
Scanning through his body again, I more closely examined everything I could, from brain activity to the volatility of the mana in his reserve, while trying to think of a better plan.
But, realistically, there wasn't a good option. -Though, this might not actually be too bad...- As crazy as it may have seemed, with my current knowledge and ability, forcing him into a dragon sleep actually wasn't such an insane thought.
As I looked through his body to see if it was feasible, one of the many things I checked was something Mother liked to call 'signals', which were essentially signs showing how prepared a dragon's body was for their dragon sleep, and while it varied quite a lot between the types of dragons, within Father, I found a thinned breath gland, thickened rear section of the skull, comparably softened bones and even a relatively elastic spinal cord.
In short, it meant that Father was probably about two or two and a half years from his dragon sleep. -Which, for the elder stage sleep, should be close enough for his body to handle most of it...-
But of course, this was not something I could risk taking any chances with. -Even if his body doesn't want to help, I shouldn't have issues guiding him through it. The only issue I can think of is how I will reform his reserve if it doesn't do it on its own...-
It was a complete grey area for me and was something I never had any success with in terms of experiments, the closest I got being a small mana battery that was identical to a mana core, yet somehow functionally different. -It was like I was missing a piece of the puzzle...-
However, I did have some ideas come to mind after I woke up from my own dragon sleep.
*tap-tap* Gently pulling my paw off Father, I took a step back and looked over my shoulder toward what looked to be a statue of mythril with the vague silhouette of a human before settling my gaze on the comparably tiny white cloud in its chest.
It was the woman who was with the ancients I dematerialized, still standing as if frozen in time, with the front of her body and her clothes completely atomized, now forming various stretched and tapered structures of mythril and crystallized mana on the back side of her remains. -To think her body was durable enough to almost survive the blast...-
She was of course, very dead, with her brain and most of her body being reduced beyond nothing, but to my benefit, her reserve and soul survived, even if it was thanks to a pinch of divinity that wasn't hers. -That must mean she was fairly high in the church though; even if she wasn't an apostle...-
Casually scanning through her body to see if I could find any identifiers, I eventually found a necklace-like piece of jewelry buried under a layer of crystallized mana with a symbol I knew very well, and the engraving, 'Deacon Arca - of the Church of Peace'. (Freya's Church)
It brought a sour taste to my mouth instantly. -To think I would find her here...- It was the wretched bitch that was behind the atrocities that happened at the academy. "You're lucky you're already dead, or else I would've skinned you alive..." She was someone I wanted to personally slaughter, but unfortunately I didn't have that chance anymore.
-Since I only have you to experiment on, I have to be gentle...- Quickly trying to move past my distaste, I let out a cold breath and walked over to her, more closely inspecting her reserve and soul, before sticking my paw up to it and slowing my divinity. *fwoom* *tink-FWO-BAAANG* With a light tap, the top half of what remained of her body instantaneously disappeared, with her reserve being totally eviscerated in the process.
But what lingered behind was what I wanted; a small white fuzz that listlessly floated in the air. -Perfect.-
Without much time to waste, I quickly began my experiments, creating a core and moving it around and through the soul in hopes it would attach to it, as well as supplying the soul with as much mana as it could ever desire.
But while the soul did seem to accumulate at the center, densest point of the mana, it still refused to control it in any fashion, and rather than causing the mana to flow, it caused the soul to flow, chasing the densest parts of the mana. -How odd...- In theory, I believed the soul was my missing piece of the puzzle, but now it appeared it wasn't so simple. -Do I need to make the soul denser for it to accumulate mana? Maybe the soul's density needs to exceed the mana's density?-
Deciding to just give it a shot, I moved the pool of liquid mana away and created hundreds of rings of space mana, similar to when I would compress mana to create divinity in my reserve, centered around the soul, before suddenly compressing it all to a single point. *vwoop*
But nothing happened. -Shit...-
At least.. that was the case when only looking through your eyes.
Just as I got ready to move on to another experiment, I noticed something I almost missed in my aura. -For a split second, did it try to suck in the ambient mana?- Although my spell would move the ambient mana in a similar fashion, the tiny suction was like a reverberation of it, coming after the rings had already passed.
To check if I was seeing it right, I quickly redid the spell and immediately found it was the case. -Then.. does it need more mana to kickstart it?-
Quickly doing a few more experiments, things started to click. The soul was like a reactor, and the mana was the fuel. With too much mana and the reactor wouldn't be able to hold it, and with too little, it wouldn't be able to start.
But when it was just the right balance, it would start up like an engine. *crackle-vwWOOM* In an instant, a small core, almost identical to what she had, was created, and as if it was a living creature, its soul stayed in a denser state and started absorbing mana into the core even though it was already full. -There it is...-
It was a reserve by every definition, the start of a new life and, in a way, a reincarnation.
At the time, I didn't quite realize just what I had done, but of course that would come with time. -Let's do a few more experiments before I try it on Father...- *tink-VWOOOM* Shattering the core, I immediately tried again.
And again.. and again... Until I eventually understood it enough to feel comfortable. "Hooh..." -Just the thought of messing with his soul makes me nervous...- My hopes were that I wouldn't have to do much, but deep down, I knew things never ended so simply. -All I can do at this point is pray there aren't any adverse effects of fucking with the soul...-
In a way, it was a shot in the dark, but at the same time, it was the only shot I had if things came to it. -Its a risk but its the best option I have...- *fwip* *tink-tink-tink* Tossing the core I made to the side, I turned back toward Father and let out one last stiff breath.
"Hooh... Okay..." It was finally time for me to start, but the nervousness was hard to suppress.
This time, I wouldn't just be dealing with the soul of some bitch I wanted to skin, but my own Father. One slip-up, and he would really be dead, perhaps without the ability to reincarnate. -But I'm as prepared as I can be...- Plus, no matter how much I wanted to avoid messing with the realm of souls, just looking at the direction I was headed made me rethink whether this would truly be a one-time thing.
But the hardest part was the first step. -I have to destroy his reserve.. and his body...- My chest ached with just the thought of it, but I didn't have a choice. "Alright... Then.. here goes nothing..." Gently setting my paw on his shoulder, directly over his reserve, I forcefully calmed my nerves before sending a shockwave into his body that shredded muscle and shattered bones. *CR-RAAACK-VWOOOM*
His already damaged reserve exploded instantaneously, spreading the damage through his body and essentially destroying everything I spared except for his brain, which I actively protected.
In the following moments, his body quickly started to adapt to the sudden blast of mana, similarly to earlier, and kickstarted a more extreme evolutionary process, beginning to rid his body of unnecessary organs, pushing the waste from it out between shattered scales, and reprograming his cells to fit the blueprint of the next stage.
It was generally what I expected, but, as I worried, after shattering, his reserve didn't immediately start reforming itself, even though his soul was desperately trying to. -Fuck...- But it was the situation I prepared for. -I just need to be gentle...-
However, the moment I started preparing my spell and gathering the mana, a presence I faintly felt above me darted down. *FWOOOM*
It was Grace, wearing a look of absolute panic, standing between me and Father. "~STOP!~"
Then, in an instant, my mind assumed the worst, and all composure I had vanished.
"~His soul isn't strong enough to contain the amount of mana his body will need!~"
My chest felt like it was being ripped apart as my gaze turned up to match Grace's.
"~If you do this now, it will only hold until he wakes up.. then his reserve will explode, and he will die...~"
It was the exact fate Mother taught us about when we were young, the inevitable end to those attempting to reach beyond their limits.
Reserve collapse.
-His soul.. isn't strong enough for a dragon sleep?- While I wanted to deny it, it was the way fate laid its cards.
Father was simply never fated to reach the stage where he would need such a volume of mana.
Like most normal dragons, he was fated to die during a dragon sleep.
The next thing I knew, an agonizing pain ripped through my head. In an instant, all sense of emotion was purged in the place of calculative brain power.
I had to think.. fast...
All until the idea came to mind.
"Grace." My voice was cold and devoid of emotion. "How well can you clean a soul..."
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