Dorian came awake slowly, blinking his eyes blearily. He struggled to his feet, looking around.
He was still in the underground cavern. He nced off to the corner where the discarded pouchy.
The chalk white bones were nowhere to be seen.
He felt at his body, closing his eyes. In his mind he visualized his soul. The visualization itself was something that came naturally to him in this world despite not being told how to do it.
His soul was a soft, floating bubble of white light. In his soul, the golden bead that had a countless number of symbols represented his Soul Spell Matrix. Next to that golden bead was a much small red bead he hadn’t seen before.
‘You have sessfully stored the Aura of the fallen human, degraded to the middle of King ss. The Aura itself is not permanent, and will be used up slightly every time you activate it. The amount you have stored is enough to draw on it 4 or 5 times.’ Ausra’s voice rang out in his mind, coldly informative.
Dorian let out a smile, shaking away the bleariness of his mind.
He then turned towards the exit and swam his way out of the cave.
As he emerged from the underground cavern, be looked around at the night sky, a hint of worry on his face. Nighttime was the most dangerous time to be out.
The night sky of this world was different than his old world of earth. Instead of millions of stars dotting the guy, there was only a single,rge pale white moon, identical in size and scale to the sun that appeared in the daytime.
His stomach grumbled reminding him of how badly he needed food. Absorbing that Aura had taken an enormous amount of energy, and he needed to get something to eat now.
As this thought ran through his mind, his eyes slipped to the side, where a few fish were resting in the river.
..
After eating his fill of some random, low ss fish, Dorian snuck back into his underground cavern, spending the night there. The hiding spot was very out of the way, and the safest ce he’d discovered thus far. Far safer than hiding in a tree.
Despite having been unconscious for several hours, Dorian easily fell back asleep, still recovering from exhaustion.
Several hours passed and it was soon morning again.
Sunlight gleamed into the valley, filtering through the trees. Dorian took onest wistful nce around before turning back, headed towards the forest he’d originally appeared at.
His journey back was uneventful. He ran into a few Earth ss beasts, but nothing dangerous. His luck seemed to be in ce as he managed to avoid any of the fearful beasts that lived in the mountains, making it out unharmed.
He also managed to snag another Magic Herb on the way out. He ate it down greedily, feeling the energy flow through him.
-Red Smander – Growth Stage: (4/5) Mature Adult-
– Growth Progress – 812/956 –
He was rapidly approaching thest bit of energy he needed to grow into a fully fledged Red Smander. He nodded his head sharply at that, pleased.
ording to Ausra, the power structure of this world was both simple andplex.
The difference between each ss wasrgely centered on the Soul of each beast, and their Soul Spell Matrix. A Sky ss beast had a Soul Spell Matrix developed to the Sky Stage.
An Earth ss had their Soul Spell Matrix at the Earth Stage. A Master ss reached the Master Stage, and so on.
Soul Spell Matrixes were what allowed beasts to draw energy to form powerful abilities, like Dorian’s me ws, to pull energy to regenerate from injuries, and to draw on energy to strengthen their attacks and be physically stronger or tougher.
There wasn’t too big a difference between an Earth ss beast and a Sky ss beast. A Sky ss beast would usually be physically stronger, and have a higher ability to regenerate, but the gap would not be toorge. At such a low level, the amount of energy in a Soul Spell Matrix was too small to have a significant effect.
Dorian’s own natural regenerative abilities as a Red Smander already outweighed the amount he could regenerate using his Earth ss Soul Spell Matrix.
The difference between a Sky ss beast and a Master ss beast, however, was significant, by at least a factor of three.
The difference between a Master ss and a Grandmaster ss was at least a factor of six.
At higher levels, the differences became even more extreme.
Legends had it that beasts at the highest ss of all, the Ascendancy ss, could have their entire body destroyed, and would still possess the ability to regenerate from a single molecule.
At the minimum, if Dorian wanted to survive in this area, he needed to reach the Grandmaster ss as quickly as possible.
Thankfully, he already had a n to achieve that.
Leaving the mountains proved much easier than entering them, and he made excellent time. Soon he managed to arrive near the zone where he had originally spawned in at by midday.
As a Red Smander, he seemed to have gained an innate sense of direction, which helped quite a bit.
Since he was about to achieve the full culmination of a Red Smander’s growth, it would be time to pick a new beast to Evolve into.
‘Ausra, can you tell me more about the beasts I have bloodlines for? Ignore all the fish and the m.’ He’d absorbed the bloodlines of the Brown Treasure im, but was disappointed in its very weak growth potential. As for the fish he’d eaten: none of them had anything other than ordinary bloodlines.
‘Certainly.’ Ausra’s voice responded in his mind. A momentter, and a screen appeared in his mind.
-Bloodlines Stored-
Red Smander
Forested Ancient Snake
Hollow Lizard (Degraded)
Myyr Dragon (Degraded)
‘The Red Smander has a maximum growth reaching the Sky Stage. The Forested Ancient Snake maxes out at the Earth Stage. The Hollow Lizard’s potential reaches the Sky Stage, while the Myyr Dragon’s potential reaches the Grandmaster Stage.’
Dorian’s eyes lit up. One of his bloodlines had the potential to reach the Grandmaster Stage! It was the one with ‘Dragon’ in it’s name.
He frowned, however, remembering that the bloodline was degraded.
‘Ausra, how much more of the bloodline would I need to gather for you to recover the bloodline, and allow me to use it?’ He queried.
Ausra was silent for a moment before responding,
‘Going by the amount found in the Red Smander… Approximately 18 more Red Smanders at at least the Earth Stage. Roughly 13 if chosen at the Sky Stage.’
Dorian’s eyes glinted as he nodded. It made sense. He then sniffed at the air, making a decision.
It was time he went hunting.
..
Several days passed.
Over those days, Dorian underwent a transformation, not only in strength, but in mindset as well.
Red Smanders were amon beast in this area of the forest. It was no coincidence that he ran into a Red Smander on his first day here. All of the Smanders in this area seemed to share simr bloodline origins, including the degraded Myyr Dragon bloodline.
The first time he tried to hunt one down, Dorian had almost died in the fight. Despite having taken the Smander by surprise, and pouncing down on it from above, the Smander had managed to sink its ws into his chest, almost ripping him apart.
While Dorian was in the body of a Red Smander, he did not have most of the natural instincts and fighting capability of one. At his core he was still a human being.
That said, he had activated his me ws ability, and turned the tide, smiting the Smander. He was careful to not torch the body, however, saving the blood for him to absorb. It seemed not all Red Smanders had the me ws ability.
The grievous wounds he had sustained were vanquished almost immediately as he gained enough energy to Evolve into the final stage of growth for a Red Smander, bing an Elder Red Smander.
His body was now a full 2 meters long, with heavy, ted red scales covering him, and a line of sharp spikes down his spine. His ws had grown an inch longer, and his teeth half an inch longer. Physically he was stronger, able to break a two foot thick tree with a swipe of his ws.
He felt his regenerative ability increase a small amount, adding to his natural ability to heal as a Red Smander. He felt like he could take on two of his previous self ande out a winner in a fight. The change in physique and strength made him recognize a bit more what the difference between a Sky ss and an Earth ss beast were.
After killing one Red Smander and evolving, Dorian had a much easier time taking out the other Red Smanders. He also hardened himself to the violence, bing inured to it. This was something he needed to do for his survival.
It was very rare for any Red Smander to be old enough to reach the Elder Smander stage. Before Dorian, no beast could simply devour another beast or Magic Herbs to directly Evolve into its next growth stage. Instead, they had to wait for an umtion of time for their Soul Spell Matrix to slowly grow stronger, maintaining their peak condition.
Over the course of the next 3 days, Dorian hunted down 18 Earth ss Red Smanders. He didn’t manage to find any Sky ss Elder Red Smanders.
-Red Smander – Growth Stage: (5/5) Elder Smander-
– Growth Progress – 2,313/0 –
He mentally looked over his Growth Progress, nodding his head. The excess energy he gained from hunting down and killing various Red Smanders had been stored in his Soul Spell Matrix, none of it going to waste.
Eating and absorbing the energy from other beasts was different than eating Magic Herbs in that he could keep on absorbing over and over. When he’d tried to eat a second Magic Herb while on the mountain, he felt an overwhelming feeling of sickness, as if he was already stuffed full and eating anymore would be dangerous.
‘Ausra, I’m ready.’ After killing thest required Smander Dorian had decided to sleep, the exhaustion of searching through the forest for the beasts he required taking its toll.
It was now the morning of the fourth day since he returned to the forest.
‘The Myyr Dragon bloodline has been fully restored. Further, you have enough of it to sessfully evolve into a 1st Stage Myyr Dragon. Do you wish to Evolve?’ Ausra’s voice rang out in his head.
‘Yes.’ Dorian’s eyes shed.
A sh of light surrounded him, and he abruptly found himself in a misty whitendscape. The Evolution Space he had appeared in before.
A ball of light appeared in front of him. Ausra’s form.
‘The Myyr Dragon is a creature renowned for it’s lustrous green scales. It is a draconic creature, with a draconic form. As a fully grown adult, its height reaches roughly 4 meters tall, not including its flight-incapable wings. At its highest potential growth stage, it reaches the Grandmaster ss.’
A visualization of the Myyr Dragon appeared in front of Dorian. He grinned as he stared at it, his blood pumping.
It was an actual dragon!
(Author’s note: Imagine this
‘Evolve me into it, immediately!’
-Absorbing Myyr Dragon bloodline-
-Body Reconstruction in progress-
..
Meanwhile:
Roughly a thousand miles away from where Dorian was, an enormous World Bridge connected the Hasnorth to the Mesor.
The appearance of a World Bridge connecting to a was mystifying. It looked like an enormous, three hundred mile wide pir ofnd shooting off into a portal of spatial storms high in the sky.
Gravity operated in a mysterious fashion around this connected area. Instead of everything on the bridge simply falling down, gravity shifted as you walked to the enormous tract ofnd. You could walk in a straight line to the bridge, and then straight up, and it would feelpletely normal.
Down on the bridge was always towards the center of the World Bridge, no matter where you stood on it.
(Authors Note: Here is a (poor) rendition of what I mean for those confused:
The World Bridge here was filled with severalrge forests, and an enormous river that went all the way down to the, and continued on the. These swathes of forests were dominated by beasts, and a designated danger zone on the and bridge.
The enormous river, however, was home to one of the Three Great Powers on the Hasnorth Continent, the Obsidia River Empire.
The capital of the Obsidia River Empire was located just a few miles from one side of the World Bridge, the side containing the nearly 80 mile wide river.
The capital city, Obsidia, was an enormous city spanning a full twenty six miles, almost a small nation by itself, just off the side of the enormous Obsidia River that ran up the World Bridge. It was teeming with more than 3 million human beings, crowded into various shops, homes, a few castles and pces, and a few outer viges that existed on the edge of the capital.
Obsidia was one of the centers for trade on the, and one of the few ces where one could find a trading caravan that journeyed to others.
The leader of the Obsidia River Empire was a powerful Lord ss Wizard, studying High Water Magic. A full cohort of eight Grandmaster ss Wizards served as the Royal Wizards, making the Obsidia River Empire one of the most powerful forces to be reckoned with on the.
It was a massive empire that spanned more than 3,000 miles.
Currently, however, the capital of Obsidia was trembling in fear.
For, overhead, an enormous dragon made of ck Lightning had appeared, sending out an incredibly dangerous aura.
Hadrion smiled as he looked down at the fear-struck capital, his eyes aloof.
“We have arrived.”