The creature closed its eyes. It tried to better sense what it could perceive. It felt the fledgling’s – really, a newborn’s – power and what it was capable of. So small. So weak. There were barely any droplets of mana within the newborn, even though they clung to him with affection. His words didn’t change the world around him, and his spells and Skills weren’t cataclysmic in scale. Even for a fledgling, he was extremely fragile. Yet, the fate of their kind rested upon his feeble shoulders. After all, the others were either dead or shackled just like the creature.
The Dragon opened its eyes in the heart of a black hole. Energy and spacetime strained themselves to contain his powerful body, a mysterious aura rendering his spellcasting abilities mute. This was a prison he could not escape from. That did not mean, however, that he was utterly powerless. He may be muted and restrained, but there was still one thing that he could do. One thing that the gods who imprisoned him did not expect, for they didn’t know of the fledgling’s existence. The Dragon thought to himself, focusing completely.
Heritage.
A unique system that belonged solely to the Dragons, made possible by their Dragon Words. Even though other mystical Races had systems of their own, none were quite like the Dragons’. Right now, the newborn was only just barely powerful enough to receive the smallest of blessings. The Dragonheart within the entity beat loudly, shaking the entire black hole. His golden scales glowed, turning into blinding sources of light. His wings seemed almost ethereal and illusory, being made of pure light. He knew he only had a few seconds before a god appeared, most likely one of the Gods of War. They wouldn’t be able to track the blessing that he was about to give, but he shouldn’t take any chances. The fledgling’s survival was of utmost importance on a multiversal scale. Michael Gray was the only one capable of avenging the Dragons.
The Dragon’s words echoed with a rumble, carrying a power that they alone had access to. Words that could change reality itself. The blessing was passed by in the form of unstoppable, uncontainable Dragon Words.
“System. I grant the newborn the Blessing of Light.”
The Dragon knew that the System would read his mind and know exactly who he was referring to. There was no need to risk even more by saying the newborn’s name. As the words left his throat, his shackles tightened around it like a leash. In front of him, space shattered like glass, and a man walked out.
The man was inhumanely good-looking and shirtless, possessing frigid blue eyes and navy-blue hair. His brown skin was covered by white markings that joined one another on his back, creating the image of four wings that shone with a blue hue. He had barely just walked out of the portal of his own creation when his fist lashed out, carrying the power of a thousand suns. Blue energy flowed out of it, hitting the Dragon’s face like a supernova. Despite that, the loud heartbeat didn’t stop, even though there was no air through which the sound could travel. Instead, it traveled through spacetime itself. If anything, it only got louder and more powerful. The Dragon opened its mouth as titanic amounts of energy and power gathered in its throat.
The god’s expression froze. Hurriedly, he emitted a blue symbol from his left hand, then grasped it in his fist. It took less than an instant for the shackles around the Dragon to multiply in number and power, forcefully closing his mouth. Chains pierced through his scales, attempting to wrap around his Dragonheart, but were destroyed as they neared it. The organ looked like a star, feeding its power to the Dragon. This struggle continued for a few seconds, which was an incredibly long time at their level, but eventually, the Dragon settled down. The Dragonheart hid its claws once more, acting only as an ordinary heart.
In front of him, the blue-haired god wore a frown. The Dragon thought it was a pity. Just a bit more, and he would have greeted his jailer with a Dragon Breath, the signature Skill of his kind. Of course, there was no hope of destroying his prison with a single Breath alone; even managing to use one was next to impossible, given the strategies that had been employed to limit him. He spoke.
“You have come, Hadar.”
Hadar’s blue eyes continued to stare at the Dragon. His frown intensified.
“It’s been centuries since you last tried anything, and now this? What are you planning?”
The Dragon laughed, letting out a deep rumbling sound that traveled through space, just like their voices.
“I have no plan. I desired to make one last attempt to escape this prison, and so I did. I expected you to come, naturally.”
“One last attempt? Do you really think you can fool me with that ridiculous excuse?”
The Dragon’s slit pupils gained an edge. His killing intent was palpable, but there was nowhere to properly direct it. The god in front of him couldn’t be reached because of the infernal restraints. He spoke.
“It does not matter what you believe. I wished to fire one last Breath before I could say that I had tried everything. That is the truth. Your beliefs are of no concern to me.”
Hadar shook his head.
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“I’m too busy to deal with this bullshit. I hope you stay there until you die, lizard. Of course, that is what’s going to happen.”
The Dragon narrowed his eyes.
“I did not know that a grand battle was occurring. To think that even the Martial God himself is busy.”
“The reason why I’m busy is of no concern to you.”
Hadar clenched his fist, intensifying his grip on the symbol. More and more chains dug into the Dragon’s body, tightening around it. A grunt escaped the Dragon’s mouth. The Dragon knew why the Martial God was so busy. The inclusion of a new universe into the Multiverse was a great event. There was no bigger opportunity to earn followers and therefore worshippers and servants. It was a prime opportunity for nearly every god, especially for those like Hadar, who had “become” gods and not been “born” as one. There was the possibility that the newborn would be discovered before it stood a fighting chance, but there was no other way. The universal integration would have drawn attention anyway.
Hadar scoffed at the chained entity.
“Just stay put. We both know there’s no way for you to break out of those chains.”
Spinning on his heel, he turned around and walked through the shattered space, which mended itself after he went through it. The Dragon narrowed his eyes. Ordinarily, yes, these shackles were capable of restraining even a Dragon and were being used to drain his power for the gods’ needs. For tens of thousands of years he had accumulated his power and tried to break free, but every attempt had failed, as had the one that had just happened. That didn’t mean there was no progress.
He only managed to send out a blessing through Heritage because of how much he had managed to weaken his restraints, even if only by a little bit.
It is in your hands now, Michael Gray. Do not disappoint us.
The Dragon curled up and closed his eyes, withstanding the pain that the ethereal chains caused him. His wings of light disappeared, and his scales lost their luster. If before he seemed ready to fight a war, he was now only a shadow of his previous state. This was the method he had found to preserve the most energy.
He could only hope that the newborn would grow well.
***
Michael drew a cross with his wand as he took a step back. A Mana Shield coalesced around him and was it by the incoming punch. The impact sent him reeling, but the Shield remained unbroken. The second Mushroom Warrior approached him quickly, lashing out with its right leg. The Shield cracked, but his attention was fully focused on the smaller mushroom caster in the back. Spores freely spewed out of the cracks on its wooden exterior, flooding the space. A thought crossed his mind in an instant.
I won’t be able to beat them unless I dismiss my Mana Shield.
It was an obvious conclusion. He needed to attack, but he wasn’t yet able to do so without lowering his defenses. Michael made the decision in a split second. As a third blow was about to rain down on his Mana Shield, he dismissed it and tilted his body, making the fist pass by his chest. At the same time, he drew a circle with his wand.
“Mana Sphere.”
The Mushroom Warrior moved as the Sphere flew through the air. It dug into its left shoulder, severing its left arm completely. Without wasting even a single moment, Michael put all of his weight, strength, and stats into a kick to the creature’s abdomen, pushing it backwards. However, he frowned. The movement hadn’t felt right. There was something holding him back. He jumped back the moment the second Warrior’s kick aimed for his head, avoiding it, and once again felt the same. It was as if his body weren’t properly responding to his commands. There was no time to ponder why that was the case. He felt a pang of pain rush through his lower body and lower back, but ignored it.
At that moment, he breathed in deeply. Foreign matter entered his lungs alongside the air.
Damn it.
The entire place was completely flooded with spores. The smaller Mushroom had stopped spewing them out, having likely hit its limits, but that no longer mattered. There were enough of them in the air for them to be considered utterly unavoidable. As soon as the spores entered his body, his blood roared and incinerated them to nothingness, but their number was seemingly endless. Every breath carried with it more of them. Michael’s Dragonheart beat faster and faster as his skin turned red. Almost invisible trails of smoke drifted up from his frame.
The two Mushroom Warriors approached him simultaneously. He drew a line in the air.
“Mana Wave.”
The Wave hit them square in the chest, pushing them back and almost splitting one of them in half. That was when it happened. A chill went down his spine as a foreboding feeling gripped him. Michael blinked, trying to identify what was going on, but was forced to focus on the incoming attacks. Just as he avoided another punch, a burst of light entered through the ceiling.
The blinding golden light dominated the space in less than an instant. All the spores in the atmosphere were burned into nothingness, while the Mushrooms tried to protect themselves from the burning light. Despite being shocked, Michael kept his wits due to Clarity. He hurriedly shot three Mana Spheres at the heads of the Mushrooms, one after the other, as the light gathered above him. The Mushrooms were dead before they hit the ground.
With the immediate enemies out of the way, Michael looked up with dread. The previously all-encompassing light turned into a pillar that shot into his body, covering him completely. There had been no time for him to even process what was going on. His Dragonheart thumped powerfully in his chest, as if it had received new energy. Every spore that still remained in his body was completely destroyed. The light followed a path to his Dragonheart, sinking into it and disappearing as suddenly as it came.
Michael blinked. Belatedly, worry and fear took hold of him as he cast a Minor Heal.
What the fuck was that?
He didn’t comprehend this situation. Some mysterious light had appeared, ended the battle, destroyed the spores, then entered his body and vanished. In the midst of his confusion and dread, Clarity helped him think clearly, despite his hurried breathing. Despair bubbled within him, but he forcefully suppressed it.
I don’t feel anything, so it must not have been an attack. No, I don’t know enough to rule that out. It could have been a different type of spell.
Silently, he waited for something to happen. Nothing.
He looked at the notifications in his line of sight.
[You have slain a Mushroom Warrior (Level 22.)]
[You have slain a Mushroom Warrior (Level 22.)]
[You have slain a Mushroom Caster. (Level 24.)]
[You have reached Level 18.]
Yet, the notifications didn’t end there. A few of them glowed in bright golden color. Michael realized their similarity with the golden light in an instant. His eyes zeroed in on their contents like a hawk’s.
[!!!]
[!!!]
[You have received the Heritage: Blessing of Light!]