Flying around with Sky’s Dream was an exhilarating experience. I soared through the air, the wind in my face, flying just above the treetops of Gloom Mist Forest. Laughter bubbled out of me as pure joy filled my body. My laughter echoed through the air, scaring a flock of birds that had been resting nearby. I must have sounded like a madman to anyone watching me.

Aurora’s laughter joined my own as she poked her head out of my shoulder.

Oh ancestors, I had forgotten what it felt like to fly, untethered by gravity. It felt like true freedom.

At first I took it slow and easy, keeping low to the ground, relatively speaking, as I put myself through my paces. It had been a while since I last used a flying sword, and I wanted to get used to it again. Back on Spirit Earth, after reaching a certain cultivation level, I never bothered with any flying magical items since I could fly on my own without them.

However, like the proverbial bicycle, once I got started, I remembered how to do it with ease. My body wasn’t used to the sensation, but my mind and soul remembered. That was all I needed.

Once I got used to it again, I shot off like a rocket. My speed increased by several factors, and I soon pulled away from Sturm Hill Hall. I headed west, to avoid being seen by anyone from Icefall City. I also didn’t want to accidentally wander too close to the Icefall Mountains and encounter a flying magic beast too powerful for me to handle.

“This is amazing,” Aurora said out loud. “I love it.”

As a former World Serpent, this was probably her first time experiencing true flight.

‘Let’s see how fast I can go,’ I said to her.

Due to my low cultivation level, I couldn’t go as fast as I wanted to. I was limited to subsonic speeds. When I reached the Foundation establishment stage, this would change. I grinned as I thought of everyone’s reaction when I flew off with a sonic boom.

Still, I could go pretty fast, especially if I used flying movement techniques.

[Wind Arts: Roc’s Wings]

A pair of wings made from mana emerged from the sides of Sky’s Dream and my speed doubled. I let out another laugh.

Instead of continuing west, I turned south for a bit before heading back to Sturm Hill Hall. While I was having a lot of fun, I didn’t want to wander too far from home.

“Aw, come one,” Aurora said. “Is that it? I want to keep going.”

I gave her a mental chuckle.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I want to be closer to Sturm Hill Hall before trying out something else I had in mind, just in case.”

“What?”

“This!”

I suddenly changed direction and flew straight up. Thanks to the Spider’s Feet technique, I didn’t fall off Sky’s Dream. I climbed higher and higher, heading for the clouds. After I reached a certain height, the air grew thinner. This wasn’t a problem yet, due to my cultivation level, but I would hit my limit soon enough.

Only Immortals, or Immortal Ascension cultivators with powerful magic items, could fully escape the mortal realm and travel in the void between worlds. Void, in this case, referred to either the vacuum of space or the space between planes of existence.

The threshold between the planet’s atmosphere and the vacuum of space also marked the boundary between the mortal realm and the heavens. It was a liminal space in both the physical and metaphysical sense.

I was too weak to even get close to that threshold. So for now, I would see how high I could get.

It also grew colder the higher I went, and I had to use Water internal magic to keep the lower temperatures from affecting me.

After several minutes, I reached the clouds. They were cold and wet, but filled to bursting with water mana and air mana. If I could find a way to set up a mana gathering formation up here, or a mana gathering magic circle, this would be a perfect place for me to cultivate. The temperature and thin air were problems, but I could easily deal with those.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, flying among the clouds refreshed me. It nourished my soul, feeding something within me that had been long neglected.

“I love this,” Aurora said, sounding content in a way I have never heard before. “I wish I could stay up here forever. It feels like I’m close to home.”

I chuckled again. It sounded weird this high up.

“That’s because we’re not too far from the boundary between the mortal realm and the heavens,” I said. “I’m guessing that the part of you that remembers your previous existence knows this.”

Aurora let out a sigh.

“Is there any way we can get closer?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “We’re close to my limit. Any higher, and I’ll have trouble breathing. That might not be an issue for you, since you’re a spirit, but us flesh and blood beings have to take things like this into consideration.”

“Tsk,” she said. “Bodies sound so troublesome to deal with. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about one.”

“Says the spirit that spends all of her time inside mine,” I said in a wry voice.

“Hey, that’s just because of our contract,” Aurora said. “Besides, it’s not my fault that your body is so nice and warm and comfortable. It’s the perfect vessel for housing a radiant soul like mine.”

I just shook my head, before looking up.

“We’ll reach the heavens one day,” I whispered. “I promise to bring you back home.”

Aurora nuzzled my cheek.

“I am home,” she said. “I believe the saying goes ‘Home is where the heart is.’ You are my heart and soul, so therefore you’re my home.” She paused. “In a literal sense too, if you think about it.”

I laughed at that.

“That just means that I need to become an Immortal,” I said in a joking tone. “So your home is among the heavens again.”

Aurora laughed at my rather poor attempt at a joke. After that, we fell silent and just flew among the clouds, enjoying ourselves.

Since I hadn’t reached my limit yet, and wanted to test myself, I flew straight up again. The sun’s light was brighter up here, above the clouds. Stronger. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go much higher than that. That was fine. As I grew stronger, I would be able to go higher and higher. There wasn’t any need to hurry. Besides, it was time to head back home anyway.

Rather than fly back down, which was the boring way to head back, I closed my eyes and let myself go. For a brief moment, I felt weightless, before gravity took a hold of me once. The sensation of falling from this height was both terrifying and exhilarating. The wind rushed past me, roaring in my ears.

However, I didn’t fall very far before I landed on something hard, hitting it with a thud. The impact caught me off guard, knocking the wind out of me. I struggled to breath.

What the hell?

“Gabe!” Aurora called out.

My eyes flew open as I sucked in air, trying to breathe. The thin air up here made it difficult, but I managed to catch my breath again.

“Are you all right?” Aurora asked.

“Yes,” I croaked out. “What happened? Did we land on something?”

“I don’t know. All I can see are clouds.”

I sat up to look around. It was as Aurora said. There were only clouds around us. There was no floating platform or island or anything that would explain what had happened. It seemed as if I had hit a solid cloud. My divine sense didn’t notice anything either.

I reached down to touch the surface of this “solid” cloud, but my hand went right through it. Instead, I touched something hard and smooth. Okay, I hadn’t landed on a cloud, I had landed on something beneath the cloud. While I couldn’t see it with my eyes, or my divine sense, I felt it.

Whatever it was, it felt familiar though I couldn’t quite place it just yet. My hand reached an edge. Beyond that edge was more of the same hard and smooth surface. Were there layers to this platform, or whatever it was? I touched the edge, taking care not to cut myself since it was sharp. The way it transitioned from the first layer to the second one reminded me of-…

I froze as the realization hit me. Oh, we were in trouble.

“Gabe?” Aurora asked. “What did you find?”

“Scales,” I whispered. “We’re sitting on scales.”

An inhuman chuckle filled the air, rattling my bones. It was so loud and deep, I felt it rather than heard it.

“So,” a deep, rasping voice said. “You are my lord’s latest favorite.”

----------------------------------------

A gargantuan being filled my divine sense as it revealed its presence and stopped concealing itself from my divine sense, though it remained hidden within the clouds.

The being was so large that I looked like an ant in comparison. Two wings protruded from its scaled body. Every time it flapped its wings, they produced a strong gust of wind. The being had a serpentine triangular head, with horns protruding towards the back. Spikes jutted out of its back, running down its spine. It had four legs that ended in claws. The smell of ozone filled the air, and lightning crackled through the cloud that concealed it from visual sight.

While I had never seen a creature like this before during my time on Lumina, I had encountered beings like it on Spirit Earth. While its physical form differed from the ones on Spirit Earth, it exuded the same power and majesty. I also read many myths and legends about them, and saw various artists’ depictions of these creatures.

Actually, no. I had seen a creature like this before. Rather, I had seen the silhouette of one when I repaired my First Circle.

A dragon. A storm dragon, to be specific. The smell of ozone and the lightning were dead giveaways.

The storm dragon held me in the palm of one of its massive front claws. It lifted its head from within the cloud, revealing itself. It looked even more majestic to my eyes.

The storm dragon’s scales were silvery-blue, reminding me of the sky on a cloudy day. Its eyes were the color of storm clouds, dark and foreboding. Its pupils were white vertical slits. Sharp teeth, each of which were several times larger than I was, filled its mouth.

When most people were confronted with a creature this massive, they could scarcely comprehend how something this large could be alive. Thanks to the memories of my previous life, and my divine sense, I didn’t have this problem.

This just made me even more terrified.

“Gabe,” Aurora said, staring at the storm dragon’s head. She was just as shocked and afraid as I was. “That’s a dragon. That’s a fucking storm dragon.”

“Yes, Aurora,” I said. “I can see that My eyes work perfectly fine.”

The storm dragon studied me with obvious disinterest. There wasn’t any contempt or disdain or malice in its gaze. I was far beneath its notice for anything like that. Rather, it studied me like I was an interesting insect that it had picked up. Small, weak, and insignificant.

Considering its level of power, I couldn’t even feel angry about this. The storm dragon was a high-rank Ninth Circle magic beast. It stood at the peak of the mortal realm, right at the threshold of divinity.

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Guildmaster Sinclair once told me that I smelled like the storm. Ha! I was a gentle breeze compared to an actual storm dragon. Its aura felt like a raging hurricane, the kind that could devastate entire civilizations.

For a creature like that, someone like me was an insect. While I was powerful when compared to beings at the same level, I was nothing compared to the storm dragon that literally held me in the palm of its claw.

Under normal circumstances, a creature this powerful wouldn’t even bother with me. I was too weak for that. However, its words earlier gave me a hint.

Well, I had asked for storm dragon blood and Master Tempest delivered. Of course, I hadn’t expected him to send a fucking storm dragon my way, but I guess beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Rather than continue gaping at the storm dragon like a mute idiot, I stood up and bowed to it.

“Greetings, mighty storm dragon,” I said.

There was no way in hell I was going to show disrespect to this creature. It was so powerful that even a stray breath from it could kill me. While I wouldn’t act with excessive humility, which would only invite contempt, I wouldn’t give it attitude either.

“Hmm,” the storm dragon said. “I can never understand why my lord is so fascinated with you creatures. Except for a rare few, you humans are all so weak and fragile. A stray breeze is all it takes to blow you away.” As if to emphasize its point, a strong breeze almost blew me off the storm dragon’s palm. I had to use the Spider’s Feet technique to remain in place. “Still, you are polite and respectful. You know your place. That is a point in your favor.”

I raised my head and looked at the storm dragon.

“I am honored by your words,” I said, and meant it.

A compliment of any kind from a creature this powerful meant that it was less likely to obliterate me from existence.

“As well you should,” the storm dragon said. “Now, unless you’re particularly dim-witted, you must know why I am here.” It tilted its mountainous head. “You aren’t dim-witted, are you? My lord has a soft spot for the stupid ones. His Chosen tend to be reckless, and often live short lives.”

I wasn’t sure if its question was rhetorical or not, but I answered it anyway.

“I have been known to be reckless, yes,” I admitted.

There was a brief pause.

“I see.”

Despite its serpentine features, it was easy to read the storm dragon’s expression. In this case, I could tell that its opinion of me had lowered.

Oh well, there went my hard earned brownie points.

“If you’re talking about the blessing I asked from Master Tempest,” I said, going off of its earlier statement. “Then yes, I know why you’re here. I asked for storm dragon blood. You’re a storm dragon. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”

The storm dragon snorted, producing another strong gust of wind which sent me flying off, despite my Spider’s Feet technique. The storm dragon’s palm was so large that I didn’t even come close to falling off the edge. Even if I had, I still had Sky’s Dream. I could have just flown back up. Still, to avoid completely embarrassing myself, I made sure to land on my feet.

“Yes, storm dragon blood,” the storm dragon said. “My blood, to be specific. I can’t tell if you are bold, an idiot, or a bold idiot.” It leaned in a little closer, until its head filled my vision. “Tell me, mortal. Why should I give you any of my blood? From what I see, you’re nothing special. You have a strange power inside of you, but otherwise, you’re a weakling of little note.”

While I didn’t want to disrespect this storm dragon, I wouldn’t back down either. Master Tempest owed me a blessing. I wasn’t going to let this creature try and browbeat me into giving it up.

“You should give up your blood because Master Tempest commanded it,” I said, crossing my arms. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t even be here. I doubt a creature as powerful and majestic as you would voluntarily give up your blood to anyone, let alone someone like me.”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed at this.

“You’re right about that,” it said. “I wouldn’t voluntarily give my blood to a pathetic weakling like you.”

“Careful,” I said. “That’s twice you’ve insulted me now. You might be a powerful storm dragon, but I am Master Tempest’s Chosen. To disrespect me is to disrespect him.”

The dragon chuckled in amusement.

“You think you deserve respect just because you’re my lord’s Chosen? Respect is earned through strength and through deed. You have earned none of mine. Keep up that attitude, and I shall give you nothing.”

“You would disobey Master Tempest?”

“So what if I would?” the storm dragon scoffed. “I doubt he would punish me that severely if I did. I have served him for countless millennia. You are merely the latest in a long line of Chosen. There have been countless before you, and there will be countless after you have long since turned to dust. When you are nothing more than a distant memory in Lord Tempest’s mind, I will still be here.” It let out a low growl. I felt it in my bones. “I suggest you watch your words, mortal.”

Throughout this conversation, I picked up two key pieces of information. One, the storm dragon knew nothing about cultivation. It noticed my cultivation base, but didn’t recognize it for what it was. Two, the storm dragon didn’t know what kind of relationship I had with Master Tempest.

Well, neither did I, if I was being honest. Master Tempest had concealed his identity from me, so I didn’t know exactly who we had been to each other back on Spirit Earth. I assumed we had a good relationship, considering everything he had done for me, but I didn’t know for certain. Still, I doubt we were enemies back on Spirit Earth, unless this was all part of some long and twisted revenge plot.

Regardless, it seemed as if this storm dragon didn’t know that I was more than a mere Chosen. Since that was the case, it looked like I needed to be a bit of an asshole if I wanted to get the storm dragon’s blood. Otherwise, it was going to make me do something dangerous and stupid to prove myself, I just knew it. That’s how these sorts of things often went.

I let out a disdainful laugh.

“You should watch your words, dragon,” I said in a haughty tone. “You might have served Master Tempest for countless millennia, but I am more than a mere servant. I am Master Tempest’s disciple. That means he favors me more than you. I am like a son to him. You would do well to remember that.”

Lightning crackled as the storm dragon’s aura exploded out. It was so powerful that I almost fainted on the spot. If it hadn’t held back, I would have fallen unconscious. In fact, if it hadn’t held back, I would have just died. That was how powerful the aura of a high-rank Ninth Circle magic beast was.

I still ended up crumpling to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. The storm dragon’s aura had damaged my body, including my internal organs.

“Arrogant mortal,” the storm dragon roared. The sound was deafening. “You would presum-…”

Aurora burst out of my body and roared at the storm dragon. Her roar sounded pitiful when compared to the storm dragon’s voice, like a drop in the ocean, yet it was enough to give the storm dragon pause.

“You!” it exclaimed in shock.

“Leave my Gabe alone, you overgrown lizard,” Aurora yelled. “Otherwise, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Before the storm dragon could respond, the world turned white as a lightning bolt exploded across the sky above us. It didn’t even originate from a cloud. It was as if it had just burst into existence. It was accompanied by thunder so loud that it rattled my bones.

My poor bones. They had endured a lot of abuse during the course of this conversation.

A stunned silence followed the lightning bolt’s passing. I still saw white, though my divine sense worked just fine. The storm dragon was staring up at the heavens, a shocked expression on its face.

“It can’t be,” it said. “You would favor this mortal over me, my lord?”

Thunder without lightning echoed across the sky.

“I…Yes, my lord,” the storm dragon said in a subdued tone. Well, more subdued than before. It retracted its aura.

I let out a chuckle. It sounded wet, due to the blood that filled my mouth.

“Told you,” I said, or tried to at least.

The storm dragon looked back at me, and leaned in to get a closer look at me. Aurora, who remained hovering in the air between us, roared at it again.

“Stop right there,” she said. “If you get any closer, I will bite you.”

To my surprise, the storm dragon stopped in place.

“Who are you, mortal?” it asked, a tad more respect in its voice. “Not only are you favored by Lord Tempest, but you have one of Lady Terra’s World Serpents as your familiar. Dusk is less than a shadow of her former self, but I would recognize her anywhere. The two of us have known each other our entire lives.”

“That is none of your concern,” I said through a mouthful of blood

“Tsk. I didn’t hold back enough. My aura caused too much damage. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

The storm dragon lifted its other front claw, reaching for me. True to her word, Aurora bit it when she saw this. However, she didn’t do any damage. While she might have been a divine being in her past life, she was much weaker now.

“Be at peace, Dusk,” the storm dragon said. “Lord Tempest’s disciple is in no danger from me.”

Aurora stopped biting the storm dragon.

“Fuck you,” she snarled. “You hurt my soul mate.” She snorted. “And my name is Aurora, not Dusk.”

The storm dragon paused at this.

“Regardless, I promise not to hurt him further,” it said. “I am merely healing the damage I already caused him, nothing more.”

Aurora squinted at it in suspicion. It was actually quite funny to watch. A tiny dragon spirit facing off against a massive storm dragon.

‘Let him heal me,’ I told her through our bond. ‘At the moment, I can’t move my body.’

But Gabe, what if he hurts you again? Aurora asked

‘If he intended to, you wouldn’t be able to stop him.’

Aurora paused at this.

Fine, she said. I don’t like it, but fine.

She flew into my body again. The storm dragon took that as permission, and reached towards me again. The tip of one of its massive claws touched me. Holy magic that felt like lightning filled my body, healing me.

In less than a second, the storm dragon healed all the damage it had caused me with its aura.

I stood up again and faced the storm dragon.

“You are more interesting than I expected you to be, mortal,” it said. “Not only are you Lord Tempest’s disciple, but Dusk is your familiar. Something like this is unprecedented. Who are you? Why are you so favored?”

“My name is Gabriel Sturm,” I said, ignoring the second question.

The storm dragon blinked in surprise at me.

“Sturm?” it asked. “That idiot’s bloodline still exists? I thought it would have died out by now.” It paused. “Unless you are descended from someone else named Sturm.”

It inhaled through its nostrils. The force of it was almost strong enough to take me off my feet. Once again, the Spider’s Feet technique came to the rescue.

“No,” the storm dragon said. “You are Sturm’s descendant. I can smell his blood in you, though it is so thin that it is almost nonexistent. Still, it is impressive that Sturm’s bloodline managed to survive this long. He was reckless, and so were his children.” It chuckled. “However, that boy was always rather resilient. I shouldn’t be that surprised, now that I think about it.”

There was fondness in the storm dragon’s voice when it spoke of Sturm, my ancestor. Wait, a minute. Could it be…?

“Was the first Sturm your son?” I asked.

“Yes,” the storm dragon said. “I was Sturm’s father. Out of all my progeny, he was the most…interesting. While he wasn’t the strongest, or the brightest, he was the most driven. When that boy wanted to achieve something, he would let nothing stop him.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I suppose this makes me your ancestor as well, Gabriel Sturm. I see why Lord Tempest commanded me to be the one to give you blood. If you’re about to attempt what I think you are, mine is the most compatible with yours.”

Well now, wasn’t this interesting?

“Honored Ancestor,” I said, giving the storm dragon another bow. “May I have the honor of knowing your name?”

The storm dragon let out a laugh.

“Oh, now you act formally with me again,” he said. “Very well. I have many names, but you may call me Shattering Thunder.”

“It is an honor to meet you, Honored Ancestor Shattering Thunder.”

Shattering Thunder let out another snort.

“Enough of that,” he said. “Continue to act like this, and I shall question your sincerity.”

“Very well.” I paused. “Now, about that storm dragon blood…”

“Yes, yes,” Shattering Thunder said. “We should get that over with. Lord Tempest woke me up early from my slumber, and I am keen to return to it. The sooner we finish here the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that. The sooner I got my hands on the storm dragon blood, the sooner I could enter the Second Rank of body cultivation and increase my magical aptitude.

Not only that, but I couldn’t wait to see the look on my family’s faces when I gave them the storm dragon blood. I grinned just thinking about it.

Shattering Thunder reached for his chest with his other front claw and pierced it. He didn’t go deep, just enough to draw a little bit of blood. The blood flew up, until five drops of the stuff hovered in the air in front of me.

“As commanded,” Shattering Thunder said. “Enough storm dragon blood to revitalize your bloodline.”

I frowned.

“I…” I started to speak, but shut my mouth.

This was too much. Of House Sturm, only Father, Kaylee, Roland, and I had storm dragon blood running through our veins. I should have received four, not five. Still, I wasn’t going to point this out.

“What’s wrong, Gabriel Sturm?” Shattering Thunder asked. “Is that not enough? I was told to give you five drops of blood, one for each member of your family.”

“No, this is fine,” I said, resisting the urge to grin.

It seemed like Master Tempest had bent the rules in my favor again. I wasn’t sure if there were any rules against something like this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were. Oh well, I wasn’t going to complain. Storm dragon blood was a rare and powerful resource. I wasn’t going to complain about having too much.

“Thank you, Honored Ancestor,” I said.

I emptied out five vials of low-grade healing potion and cleaned them out, before collecting the drops of storm dragon blood. Each drop radiated an astonishing amount of power. Like Shattering Thunder, they smelled of ozone and crackled with lightning.

To keep the blood fresh, I used a common spell that Luminan alchemists used to preserve ingredients.

After I put the blood away, I faced Shattering Thunder once more and bowed to him again.

“Thank you, Honored Ancestor.”

Shattering Thunder snorted.

“Begone now, Gabriel Sturm,” he said. “This will be the last time we see each other, so I will say this. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. If you’re anything like Sturm, you’re going to need it.”

I nodded in thanks, before hopping onto Sky’s Dream. Shattering Thunder lowered his claw, before turning and flying away. The beating of his wings buffeted me. Despite his immense size, Shattering Thunder was fast. In seconds, he was out of my divine sense’s range.

“That wasn’t so bad,” I said out loud.

Aurora poked her head out of my shoulder.

“You say that,” she said in a sardonic voice. “But he only started being nice to you after Lord Tempest yelled at him for a bit.” She sighed. “We need to get stronger, Gabe. That way, fuckers like that asshole won’t be able to bully us anymore.”

“That’s the plan,” I said. “Also, what did you mean when you called me your ‘soul mate?’ We need to talk about that.”

“What is there to talk about?” Aurora asked. “It’s not romantic or sexual, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s a statement of fact. I am you, and you are me. We are one. That makes us soul mates. You don’t have to be weird about it.”

I…suppose she had a point. I had never thought of it like that before.

“And my relationship with Annabelle won’t be a problem for you, then?” I asked.

I didn’t think it would, but it never hurt to ask.

“Of course not,” Aurora said with a snort. “I am a bit miffed that you haven’t told her about me yet, but otherwise I don’t care. You love her and she makes you happy. That’s enough for me.” She paused. “The whole Ghost Phoenix Lily part is a bit weird, but you’re a reincarnated Immortal with a dragon spirit living inside his body. You aren’t exactly normal yourself.”

I chuckled at that.

“I suppose not,” I said. “Let’s head back. The others must be worried about us.”

With that, I dived through the clouds and headed in the direction of Sturm Hill Hall.