The next day, he reported to where he was instructed to go without question. His journey to the designated training area was a quiet one, even with all of his summons currently in tow.

The training grounds were much better than the ones in his dungeon. There was ample space to run around, an obstacle course to test one's abilities, and a plethora of weapons and dummies to practice on with said weapons.

There were a ton of people present. For every dozen or so newbies, there was a trainer, and from Amon’s estimation, there were probably seven or so trainers present, not including Juno. She was dressed in athletic wear, a rather regal looking black and gold sweatsuit, and she stood menacingly as she observed all of the recruits.

I hope I’m not late…

“We have no time to waste. Leave your summons here and come with me.” She waved her hand and a portal appeared behind her. Without so much as a complaint, he followed her into it. His family would be safe without him if they were on Empire soil.

The portal closed behind him when he stepped through, effectively locking him inside. He didn’t pay it much mind and that was mainly because he was focused on the sheer magnitude of the void that they had entered. There was no real up or down, nor any solidity that he could make out save for the platforms that appeared wherever he decided to plant his feet. Even though there was nothing to reference in the dimension so that he could fully understand its size, he knew instinctively that its vastness was something akin to the deepest regions of space.

“Eldest sister, are our other siblings this kind?”

“To me? No, they’re not. They may have taken you into their folds had they met you before I did, though.” She crossed her arms over her chest and furrowed her brows softly as she looked off at nothing in particular. “I suppose they can be nice when you’re doing what it is that they expect of you, but I don’t think they would have taken so kindly to you having a mind of your own.”

“Why aren’t they friendly with you?” He was grateful for the fact that she didn’t have any real inhibitions that he was aware of when it came to talking to him. The more they communicated, the more comfortable he began to feel with her. She really did remind him of Mother.

“I’m too strong!” she blurted out, accompanied by a smile and a dry laugh. “It takes the three of them teaming up against me just to come close to matching my strength because their bloodline isn’t as pure as mine. Mother birthed me entirely on her own, like she did with you, whereas she reproduced with lesser lifeforms to bring them to life.”

He nodded softly. He was starting to understand what the landscape of the inheritance battle was like. The other three did everything that they could just to keep Juno at bay because she was simply that powerful. His presence would have been enough to tip the scales in the favor of either faction, especially since he was more similar to Juno in makeup than they were, which he felt meant that he had the chance to become as strong as she was.

What he didn’t fully understand was Juno’s intention. Did she want to bring him over to her side so that she could finally properly defeat their siblings, or did she simply not want him to join their ranks and pose a legitimate threat to her? He figured it ultimately didn’t matter much either way since she was objectively the better choice to support based solely off of what he could gain from her guidance.

“Don’t misunderstand, though. I have no desire to obtain the inheritance. Something like that is way more trouble than it’s actually worth. It comes with a lot of responsibility. None of them are worthy of it, not even as a collective. So, as the eldest sister, I took it upon myself to save my precious younger siblings from themselves and keep them from getting it.”

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“What if I want it?”

“Then you’d have to prove to me that you’re worthy of it.”

“I see… So what exactly is the inheritance?”

She scrunched her face as she tried to think of the best way to describe it. Judging based off of how long it took her to give him an answer, he figured that he may have asked a more complicated question than he initially thought.

“Well,” she finally said after a few dozen or so seconds. “You could say that it’s something like the essence of all life.”

That didn’t really answer his question, at least in a way that he could comprehend, but she didn’t seem like she was going to expound any further.

“Enough of that, let’s start training! You’re already familiar with your mana core, but your understanding of it is shallow. You were born purely from Mother’s essence, so your physical body is simply a vessel. We’re beings of pure magic, you and I, so we are capable of obtaining complete control over both our vessels and our real forms as well. To fully do that, you have to maximize the synchronization of both bodies until the point where your true form can actualize itself in reality.”

He was listening closely, but the concept was a bit vague for him. He understood the words that she was saying to him, but he didn’t exactly comprehend them.

“Unlike most other existences, we aren’t limited to having only one core. All dragons can develop a few cores over their lifespan depending on their lineage, but you and I are True Dragons. There are mana pathways filled with pressure points coursing through our bodies, and all of those pressure points can be turned into mana cores by us and us alone. Other dragons can only create extra cores near their original, and naturally, there’s only so much space there for them to exist without clashing with one another. When powerful kingdoms are too close to one another, they’re bound to go to war. But a little bit of distance can be the difference between chaos and an amicable relationship for some kingdoms.”

The longer she talked, the more he comfortable he felt with the concept. “How do I create more cores, then?” He was excited to grow. He still didn’t know how many rings a core could have, but even if they all had one, he could only imagine how strong he would be if he had dozens of individual cores in his body with their own rings as well.

“You can’t,” she said flatly. “Not yet, at least. Your physical body is too weak, it’d be torn to shreds if you used my core condensing method. Mother created your first core from scratch, but for you do gain more you’d have to condense them from the existing mana in the world around you.”

What she was saying made sense. That was basically what happened when he made his ring, he condensed the mana around him and converted it to his own.

“That’s why we’re going to start with physical training. I’m sure Mother taught you some useful things, but she doesn’t really understand what it’s like to truly grow from the bottom. She’s been strong her entire life!” Another dry ‘ha!’ came out. “Well, I’ve been strong my entire life as well, but not in the same way as her. You’re strong too, but you’re close to where I started off. Maybe a little bit stronger, since you’re more talented with magic than I am.”

If she truly started off where he did, then he really could make it to where she was with her help. It was difficult for him to wrap his head around just how powerful their Mother was for her to be an existence that completely outclassed Juno even from the beginning of her own existence though.

“Most of her training revolved around survival. She taught me how to overcome my own fears and fight with all I have to obtain victory regardless of the odds stacked against me.”

Juno nodded softly. “Sounds like her. We’re starting off without any active skills, so come land a hit on me purely with your body.”

He knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but it was training. He didn’t have to worry about dying or keeping up his image for others, so he planned to devote himself wholly. That was the only way he could maximize the benefits he could reap from this opportunity.

She said no active skills, but his WGI’s was passive. As soon as he acknowledged her as an enemy to be attacked, he found himself stunned in place. He had expected to see mostly red paths, but she was covered by a thick and imposing mass of pure blackness. There wasn’t a single opening to be taken advantage of. Going against her was to face imminent death.

“If you’re not going to attack, I will.” was all he heard before the sound of his own bones breaking under the force of Juno’s knee crashing into his arms that he barely managed to throw up in defense brought him back to his senses. He was sent flying an immeasurable distance until he eventually ran out of momentum and stopped in the middle of the void.

He knew his arms had broken, but for some reason, they were still operable when he looked down at them to check the damage. How did they heal so instantly?

“Taking your eyes off of me is bold!” shouted his sister as she brought his focus back to her. This time, she punched him in his chest, launching him away from her once again. “Come on, I need to know what your limits are!”