Chapter 172: Truth

I could feel the newfound power overflowing through my scales. The Phoenix's heart had tempered and made them, stronger, harder, and more durable. I wasn't sure what the whole minor resistance to the fire element thing was, but I was already satisfied with just the physical boost aspect I got.

Breta lay gasping for air by my side. She turned her gaze to glance at me with an annoyed expression before clicking her tongue, "You dragons and that absurd body of yours are ridiculous."

"Haha, you're just jealous," I said with a wild grin to which Breta rolled her eyes.

We both simply sat there for a while in silence, neither of us speaking a word as we glanced at the distance. After the clash of two powers inside my body, I needed time to recuperate. Breta seemed to be the same.

It was then that the corpse of the Phoenix suddenly turned into ashes that flew with the wind. The large flaming corpse was no more which made me frown in surprise. I turned to Breta who nodded as if what happened was normal.

"That's what happens without the heart," She explained.

"Hmm, so it's the heart that keeps everything together," I mumbled to myself.

Bored, I once again turned my attention to Breta. "Say, what was the reason behind the war of dragons and gods?"

Hearing my question, Breta's body stiffened for a second as she glanced back at me. After a long moment of silence, she finally asked, "You really don't know anything?" I slowly shook my head.

"Are you familiar with a dragon called Amanita?" She suddenly asked.

"The poison dragon? Yes, he's my great uncle I guess?"

Hearing that, Breta's eyes widened as she glanced at me in shock. "Are you mocking me? Your great uncle is Amanita and you don't know what happened!?" She asked in an agitated tone.

"I really don't. I only know that he was betrayed by the humans before and the gods?"

Clicking her tongue, Breta grumbled, "Betrayed? How idiotic."

Hearing her say that a frown made its way to my face, yet before I could speak, Breta continued.

"That poison dragon was a menace. He wished to destroy the entire human race for his petty reasons. Of course, we couldn't stand by idly ad let that happen."

"Hmm," My frown deepened as I waited for the goddess to continue. I do recall grandmother telling me about a meeting that was held between the dragons on how to handle the human situation in concerns of the way they handled mana.

Grandfather had apparently wished to guide them, something I still find hard to believe to this day. Grandmother didn't want to intervene and wished to remain neutral. While Amanita on the other hand wanted to destroy them.

Father also said something about how the humans played a part in what happened to Amanita, and how they were responsible for his fall to the gods. But then again what was It exactly?

"Why did Amanita hate the humans so much?" I asked hesitantly.

"That dragon doesn't only hate the humans, he loathes all of the mortal races and gods. The reason for that was, his mate died protecting them. She was one of the dragons that fell during the old invasion of the Shades on the main continent," Sighed Breta.

"The invasion of the Shades on the main continent?" I asked, the confusion clear in my tone.

"Yes, a long time ago. Before I was born even, all of the mortal races and dragons, apparently lived together in what you now call home. A massive-scale invasion by the Shades, however, messed everything up, destroying everything and turning the mortals into mindless monsters," Letting out a sigh, Breta continued.

"Amanita's mate fell during that battle fulfilling her duty as a guardian of the plane. The old poison dragon, however, didn't see it that way. He always blamed the mortals for it. If not for them she would have survived. Or so I have been told."

"Still, that doesn't make much sense. How did he fall for the trap of the Gods?" I asked. Father was agitated about this particular fact and insisted that the humans played part in this.

"I don't know what you are talking about. The Gods won fair and square," Breta answered with a scowl.

"Yeah, I doubt it. I think our definition of fair and square is a tad different, especially when dozens of deities ganged up on a single dragon, most losing their lives to take him down," I shot back with a smirk.

The goddess's face turned crimson as she harrumphed and averted her gaze. An awkward silence soon descended as neither of us said a word. After a while, the goddess silently stood up and floated back to the top of her mountain.

I glanced at where she disappeared before shaking my head with a sigh. I wasn't sure how much truth was in the story she told me about Amanita, but at least it was something. I could always head over to grandmother and ask for her to confirm. Amanita was, after all, her brother.

'Problem is getting out of this damn realm first,' I inwardly muttered in annoyance. No matter how hard I tried, my connection to the cosmic mana was simply cut off. This made it impossible for me to teleport out of the astral plane.

My mind slowly drifted into various thoughts as water mana subconsciously seeped out from within my body. It danced about joyously around me, as I thought over to possible ways I could try to re-establish my connection with the cosmic element.

My gaze slowly drifted to the abnormally large mountain peak behind me, where the goddess with fiery temper had disappeared off to. "Maybe she can help?" I quietly muttered to myself.

As much as I hated to admit it, she was quite powerful. And as things stood at the moment, it was almost impossible for me to succeed on my own. I need someone's help to break the 'veil' of the astral plane granting me a single second when I can make that connection to the cosmic mana.

"I only need one try..."

My gaze locked on the mountain peak for a few seconds before I resolved myself and shot upwards like an arrow. The ground cracked underneath my feet as I immediately arrived back in the white field of flowers.

'I mean, she needs help as well...'