Dream and his battle maidens hovered above, peering down at the charred remnants below. Descending upon it, they found it impossible to discern whether it was a torso or a thigh, as the once-living flesh had been scorched and blackened beyond recognition. The intense explosion of plasmic power had left its mark, reducing the old man to this pitiable state.
Dream turned his gaze away from the charred remains and looked at his battle maidens. Selene, Luna, Atlas, and Nox stood beside him, their expressionless faces revealing no emotions. They had fought valiantly, and their existence had once again proven invaluable in this battle.
"We did it, girls," Dream said with a sense of accomplishment in his voice. "Sure, it was just a reflection of Durant, the Seventh Sage, but I guess that still counts as my first defeated Godsent, right? "Doesn't that deserve a round of applause, don't you all think?" Dream asked with a hopeful tone.
Following Dream's lead, the Battle Maidens clapped, but instead of an actual applause, their featureless faces gave Dream the impression of hearing just a series of subdued claps.
"Alright, alright. My apologies, ladies. That's clearly not your strong suit," Dream chuckled, acknowledging their unique form of support.
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Synergy initiated…
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Synergy completed.
In truth, the sages themselves didn't precisely and individually qualify as Godsents. However, since they collectively served a singular Godsent, the sole survivor of the four ravenous beasts, and the sages among their ranks had some that individually possessed strength that rivaled that of Suraxai's Lords of Old, he, in the end, for the sake of explaining things to Dream, decided to classify them within the category of Godsent.
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Absorption initiated…
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Absorption completed.
Among the eight sages, there was a man ranked seventh between themselves who wielded a greater aspect—an otherworldly power of arcanic origin that allowed him to create reflections, lesser copies of himself. That man was none other than Durant the White.
From the moment he detected traces of the DragonBanes Knights, Dream knew it was only a matter of time before he would encounter them. After all, Suraxai had specifically warned Dream about Durant's reflections. Durant was one of two sages closely linked to the DragonBanes Knights from their inception to their fall. Suraxai was certain that Durant would have several of his reflections on the southern continent to monitor the remnants of the Dragonbanes and, very naturally, the fallen Lord of Old, Ailward.
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Integration initiated…
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Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Integration completed.
Dream heaved a sigh of relief as the skill reached its final steps: integration. He had been worried that, since the man was just a reflection born of an aspect, there would be no absorption and even less integration possible. However, those concerns had proved to be unfounded.
This is it. This is definitely how it should be. Hard battle or easy one, there should always be a reward that ultimately makes it all worth it.
[ Nexus Alert]
Durant, reflection’s Lesser-Aspect [Elemental Arcana] Absorbed
H.P
A.P▲
W.P
231▲
4789▲
2▲
"So I really didn't get that other aspect... Sigh," Dream lamented. He looked at the charred remains on the ground, before summoning a spear and casually lodging it into the charcoaled remains.
"I guess that was to be expected. He himself didn't seem to be able to actually wield it in any sort of way." Dream nodded, determination burning in his eyes. "Anyway, that's just fine. I'll obtain that aspect the day I beat ass, his true ass. Just wait, Old Man," he declared, his voice filled with unwavering confidence, as he casually applied the aspect onto the odo spear that immediately began shimmering with unstable light.
Skill: [ Aspect ]
Photomorphism
[Morphogenesis]
500
Name
H.P
P.P
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Level
Dream
1626/1627▲
4127/4869▲
23001▲/23042▲
3765▲
7144▼/11833
19
Dream nodded to himself. "But for now, I guess I should dedicate a little more effort to raising my P.P, It's trailing behind both my A.P and O.P."
Dream walked up to Nox and climbed into her embrace. "You heard that, girls. We'll be focusing on hunting awakened beasts from here on out."
Simultaneously, Nox, Luna, Selene, and Atlas nodded in agreement. Nox flapped her wings, ascending into the sky, closely followed by the three other battle maidens. As they reached a reasonably high altitude, an explosion resounded from beneath.
As he overlooked the explosion down below, Dream finally believed that there could be no way for anything to magically recover from what was left of the old man's corpse. He felt a deep sense of satisfaction, knowing he had acted upon Suraxai’s maxim to leave nothing of a Godsent on the surface of the earth. Somewhere in his heart, he still wondered what could have injured the sage's reflection like he was. Nonetheless, he declared, finally content, to his Battle Maidens and mainly to himself, "We're done here. Further southward, a long journey awaits us."