Izo carefully bypassed the fast-asleep Vivian.
Stepping out into the snow, he saw the bright moon still hanging high outside the cave. Pure, clear moonlight shone down on the snowfields, casting a silver veil over the world.
Small mounds swelled across the snowy ground, where the Snowrot Birds nested quietly, glowing with a soft, warm yellow light.
They looked like wishing stars buried beneath the snow.
Without disturbing them, Izo silently walked to the very center of the flock of Snowrot Birds and slowly lay down.
He intended to examine the Dragon Inheritance deep within his soul here; after all, as a nesting ground for one of the top apex predators in the Northern Territory, few creatures ever dared to disturb this place.
If any foolish creature truly dared to come close, the Snowrot Birds would be able to alert him in advance.
Just as Izo was thinking this, he suddenly felt something struggling beneath him.
He hurriedly stood up to look.
Like an angry chicken, the queen of the Snowrot Birds flapped her wings to shake off the snow and wriggled out from under him.
Furious, the queen of the Snowrot Birds flew onto Izo's head and began pecking at it viciously!
Izo shielded his head with one wing and shouted:
“Ah? Sorry, I didn't see you just now...”
“Alright, alright.”
Timing it right, Izo used the wing shielding his head to cover her in one smooth motion, then gently coiled his body around the queen of the Snowrot Birds to nestle her in the center. Only then did she gradually calm down.
“Phew~ Finally over...”
He only thought these words in his mind, knowing full well that the Snowrot Bird beside him could most likely understand what he said.
Then, with a sweep of his tail, Izo spread the surrounding snow over himself. Now, just like a Snowrot Bird, he was completely buried under the snow.
His consciousness gradually sank toward the depths of his soul.
Izo slowly opened his eyes to total pitch-black darkness, with a giant, ancient book floating before him.
Looking from afar, it resembled a magnificent skyscraper; Izo's tiny consciousness floating nearby was no different from an ant.
The book shimmered with a brilliant golden light, its outer cover bound by layer upon layer of iron chains.
Izo carefully examined his greatest treasure: the Dragon Inheritance.
Legend had it that it contained all the knowledge and experience of the dragon race, along with secret history, vast amounts of dragon spells and techniques, and even allowed one to personally comprehend the battle journeys of ancestral dragons.
However, none of that mattered to current Izo, since he couldn't even open his Dragon Inheritance right now...
“Hmm... There really is a crack.”
On the outermost chain binding the Dragon Inheritance, a large section was visibly broken, leaving only a tiny portion still holding it together.
It seemed as if a gentle application of force could easily tear it apart.
Adhering to the mindset of "since I'm already here," Izo naturally wasn't going to give up so easily.
He floated forward, wrapped both claws around the chain—which was as thick as a whole dragon—and pulled with all his might!
“Ahhh!!!”
An agonizing, tearing pain echoed through his mind, as if Izo were not pulling on a chain, but tearing at his own brain.
Clang—
Drenched in sweat, Izo ultimately had no choice but to let go of the chain.
“It's completely impossible to snap it using pure mental power...”
This was not because his willpower was weak, but because he realized the chain before him could not be shaken by pure mental power alone. If he truly forced it open using raw mental power, his head would probably split open right along with it.
“I get it!”
“The key is the state of mind—that state of intense hyper-focus, of breaking through my mental limits time and time again.”
Izo recalled his state when the chain had cracked earlier.
That state of intense focus: the "flow state."
If he could enter that self-forgetful state once more, he would definitely be able to shatter the remaining link of the chain.
At this thought, Izo lined himself up with the cracked section of the chain and took a stance once again.
His spirit, energy, and mind converged.
At the peak of that convergence, he struck with a fierce punch.
Thud—!
The chain trembled, and ripples vibrated across the entire pitch-black space, like a calm lake disturbed by stone.
The pain brought by this strike filled Izo's mind just as intensely, but he acted as if he didn't even notice, following up immediately with his next claw strike.
Buzz—!
Then another punch!!
Gradually, his speed grew faster and faster, until eventually, Izo's entire dragon form vanished, leaving behind only silver afterimages dancing in the pitch-black space.
The soul space became battered and tattered under Izo's bombardment. Fortunately, his talent, Adaptive Evolution, continued to exert its power, supporting the space alongside his willpower so that it did not collapse.
Izo once again entered that state of total self-forgetfulness—he had successfully entered the "flow state"!
The soul space began to continuously repair itself, and his mental power climbed step by step until it reached a critical threshold.
Crack!
That sharp, piercing noise sounded from the depths of his soul, making it impossible for Izo to maintain his flow state.
Forced out of the flow state, Izo refocused his vision on the Dragon Inheritance.
The outermost chain on the Dragon Inheritance had shattered completely!!!
Afterward, it dissolved into specks of starlight.
Strangely, the starlight did not disperse; instead, it began to slowly coalesce.
Two dragon silhouettes, visibly much larger than Izo, stepped out from the starlight.
Their appearances were blurry and indistinct. Yet from their shape and those shining scales, one could still tell they were two silver dragons.
Izo felt a faint sense of intimacy from their presence.
“Are they the parents of this body?”
The dragon silhouettes formed from starlight rapidly drifted over, circling Izo again and again, as if observing him or trying to confirm something.
Izo could clearly feel the emotions carried within the starlight. They were complex—resembling the joy of a long-awaited reunion and recovering what was lost, yet mixed with deep sadness and regret.
Yet Izo felt little emotional resonance. After all, to him, they were merely the two individuals who had birthed this body. He had never even seen their faces and didn't even know whether they were dead or alive, so naturally, he couldn't stir up any special feelings.
Once the starlight dragons came to a stop, the slightly larger one slowly spoke:
“My child, by the time you unlock the first seal, we are already dead.”
“Please do not blame us...”
As if looking through Izo's eyes, they seemed to see endless sorrow and hardship.
Tears welled in the eyes of the female dragon beside him; she opened her mouth, but couldn't bring herself to say anything.
“Who killed you?”
Izo didn't waste time on superfluous emotions; he could feel that their soul remnants were rapidly fading, so he had to gather useful information as quickly as possible.
“The Abyss.”
“They are in...”
“...You will become... the world's... savior...”
The fragmented souls continued to dissipate, answering fitfully until they shattered completely and merged into the pitch-black space.
“Hey! Explain things clearly!!”
“Don't just leave behind a pile of mess on your own and vanish!!!”
Rate on N.U.
