"It's a sacrifice, not an inheritance ...The headache that is constantly hunting you and the black marks on your body, all of them are signs of obsession; the soul of the black dragon has already started devouring your soul."
"Come to think of it, you already told me; it turns out it's literally attacking...." he said, trying to keep his calm, looking at the ground, playing with the black ring on his left thumb, but suddenly realized what she said. He quickly looked up, "...what black marks?!?!"
Serenity gave him a surprised look, totally confused.
"The ruin marks on your back, of course. Don't tell me you haven't seen them yet?"
"Ruin?!"
Ash quickly removed his black shirt, showing his perfect figure. Standing in front of the mirror, he brushed his long, dark blue hair away and couldn't believe what he saw.
"What in God's name is that?!?"
His back has a complexion of ruins forming the shape of a black dragon swallowing his upper back.
wrapping both claw and tail around his head leaving the wings tail and the rest of the body to cover the back. In a state of disbelief, he turned at Serenity.
"I assure you this wasn't here yesterday."
Serenity nodded. "I know...normally you're not supposed to see them, but surely feeling the pain of them engraved in your skin is another story."
'Pain?...' He put his hand on his neck in a daze. 'Don't tell me the sting I've been feeling lately was because of this, and here I thought it was normal neck pain from overwork...'
Ash wore back his shirt and got back to where he was sitting, asking,
"What happened?!?"
Serenity explained, "Because of the eternal flame, when I used its true form before you, you had a direct contact, which irritated the dark magic in you, which resulted in the ruin of the black dragon, which is now visible on your body."
Ash frowned, hearing those words again.
"Dark magic?…that's..."
"Oh!..." Serenity realized his concern and quickly explained, "Not literally, of course...the king's soul that is attacking you is a raging dead soul, which makes it corrupted...souls like that are an open gate for dark forbidden magic."
"..."
Ash was stunned beyond words; he just couldn't process all of it and had no idea if he should believe it or not.
He kept playing with his ring, totally unfocused. Serenity noticed and quickly placed her cold hands on his cheek .
"!?!"
"Let go of the ring."
Her calm, strict tone saying those words made him unconsciously obey. The surge of cold energy on his cheek distracted him a little; his expression softened. He placed his big warm hands over hers, nuzzling in between, slowly opening his eyes.
"I know you won't answer, but at least ...just let me throw it all out of me."
Serenity saying nothing, an expressionless face reflects his image, listening in silence.
"You know me so well, even the things I never say, habits I never shared...it makes me question myself...why?..."
He extended one of his hands and touched her face, standing while holding her hand on his cheek as if he was holding on for dear life.
He pumped his forehead into hers, looking straight in her eyes. "Just why are you so special?"
"Because it's me."
Those simple yet full of secrecy words made Ash's confusion grow even more, but knowing he can't get the full answer, 'I know and get it whether I wanted it or not; she just can't tell me...but my patience isn't as deep as the sea. I hope she will disclose the secret before I am really out of options.'
Ash brushed her hair back and let go of her going back to where he was sitting again, with his serious, calm, unmoved face.
Serenity touched her face where he touched her; she was about to say something but hesitated at the last second, but it didn't go unnoticed.
'What in the world is chaining you...' Ash thought, looking all frustrated for her. He clenched his arms till he injured his hands and blood came out. Serenity noticed the smell and was startled.
-sniff, sniff-
"Blood?...Why is there a smell of blood in here?...Are you injured?"
Following the smell, she pulled his hands,and kept touching them strangely before asking anything,
"Open your fist, now!"
"!!?"
He loosened his fists for her but only when she touched the blood directly and smelled it did she confirm his injuries,
"Why are your hands injured?! They weren't like that before…"
Ash's eyes widened at her questions; an uncomfortable thought ran through his mind.
"You still can't see...even now?!"
Serenity froze in her place but quickly regained her composure and started chanting,
[Per nomen fontis vitae quem tecum communicavi, verum papilionem invoco ad rimas temporis reparandas.]
A handful amount of butterflies started coming out of her hands quickly, covering the injuries on his hands, but Ash's eyes didn't turn away from Serenity's eyes.
After the injuries were healed, she noticed Ash staring at her. She raised her gaze for him to grab her head from the back, resting her face onto his chest.
Serenity, although surprised, didn't resist in the slightest, but hearing his concerns made her heart beat like a drum.
"I tend to let my guard down around you ,maybe it's still early for that ...i should wait a whild longer"
"I take it as what you see isn't what I...see."
"According to what I used to see even without using anything, but generally it's a yes...we see the same thing, but it's still different."
"Is it permanent?"
"Something like that."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You already did."
Serenity gently pulled him away, then patted his head gently, saying, "There is nothing more we can do...I am just...born like this; it's my fate, Your Majesty."
Feeling this helplessly weak against someone was a first for Ash. 'I'm depressed just thinking about it, yet you're living with it your whole life.'
Ash pulled her waist till she ended up sitting on his legs, hugging her tightly while apologizing.
"I am sorry."
She patted his back, resting her other hand on his head.
"You don't need to...this is just who I am...what I am."
Ash couldn't say an extra word. 'I shouldn't have asked her anything...it's my fault.'
Mid his thoughts serenity suddenly said ,
"It's not your fault."
"I didn't say it was."
Pushing him away, she looked into his eyes. "I know, but I also know you way too well to guess what's going on in that little head of yours." She squeezed his face between her hands. "I say it's not your fault, so it isn't any further, and I will get angry."
He nodded his head. Only then did she let go of his face.
"So can you get up now?"
"What?!"
Confused, Ash pointed down, and she finally noticed she was sitting on his legs and on the bed; her face turned red instantly, and she jumped from there right away.
The face she was making was clearly that of a pissed person, yet Ash found her anger cute. 'An angry rabbit,' he thought.
"I am so, so sorry; I didn't mean to," she said.
"Don't worry about it."
He was enjoying it, but Serenity realized something was off.
"Wait, weren't you the one who pulled me in the first place? Why am I the one apologizing now?"
Ash, realizing it himself, didn't wait for her to think and quickly changed the subject.
"So what's with the eternal flame?"
"Huh?! Eternal flame?"
Ash finally let go of the joking, and the atmosphere turned dead serious.
"What does it have to do with the ruin appearance?!" He asked.
Serenity took a moment of silence to settle down her thoughts and then started explaining while moving around the room.
"Getting in contact with the eternal flame is no joke, especially for your people. Just like the Vastator and Vulgate, the black dragon king and the mother of flames are old rivals and easily irritate each other, forcing the other to activate and surface. That's why you had that unbearable heat before."
Ash got confused at the mention of heat,
"What heat?"
"Huh?!...The contact between those two powers made the king's soul attack you, and hence your body temperature rose. Don't tell me you didn't notice any of it?"
She scratched her head in confusion, while he felt awkward not noticing such a thing.
"I...didn't."
"Then why were you at the pool of water?"
"Stop right there…" The memories of the kiss rushed into his mind like a flood; he quickly explained himself.
"I felt uncomfortable from the headache, and I was covered in sweat, so..."
"No wonder...maybe a pain swallowed the other; either way it's good you're alive."
"You think?...no, wait...what were you doing in my bath?!"
Serenity paused for a second, then turned to him.
"Didn't we already agree on meeting here?"
Ash tried to take a reasonable explanation from her,
"Yes we did but not in my bath...How did you get in exactly?!"
"Using the crystal on your neck, of course," she said, pointing at the crystal on his chest.
Doubtful, he asked, "Why not use the butterflies as a cover like last time you were here or chant your way here like you did with Daniel?!"
"My brother is here."
'Wasn't astrum here last time?' Dumbfounded, he asked, "Seriously, is that supposed to be a convincing reason?"
She shook her head. "It is. I can vaguely feel it, but I am certain that when he came back this time, something on him is no good, so I took a detour in case I was discovered."
Ash gave her a strange, 'I don't believe you' stare.
She asked him, "What?!"
He replied, "Something can actually scare you?!"
"There is always someone who is stronger than you, no exception, and..." Her face turned dark; her next words weren't randomly picked. "I am not afraid of being noticed, but if it's you, then it's another story."
'She's warning me; if someone I can't beat found a trace of me, I am dead, but doesn't that mean i offended someone i shouldn't?!' The thought made him cautious and angry. He looked at Serenity in dead-serious eyes.
"Can't I really beat whoever it is?"
"Don't mention a fight, not even a single move."
Serenity stared him in the eyes unyieldingly, confirming her words even more. Looking at the ring on his finger, he felt furious ,'iam the one known as the strongest king yet she labeled me weak?...am i supposed to let her go just like that?'
"Why?!!" he asked ,'she should tell me the reason at least'
"In your current state not only will you lose, but you can't even put up a fight...I am sorry to inform you, but using your full strength you will still die; that's why I am here."she said.
Her words caught his attention; he looked up. "What do you have in mind?!?"
"What's the hurry?! He's not knocking on your door itching for a fight or anything. "
Ash explained his view on the topic saying ,"From the tone of your voice, I can tell that whoever it is, we will eventually cross paths whether I like it or not, so if you're so sure he's stronger than me, then I'm sure you have a way to make me stronger than him."
"Your trust is questionable; we only met less than 72 hours ago."
"And yet in just 72 hours I've probably seen from you what nobody has ever seen. While you're a mystery, your strength and information are proven with evidence as unquestionable."
"Just like that?"
Ash nodded his head, thinking, 'Come on, young lady, you almost suffocated my entire elite guards to death just by your killing intent alone, and the eternal flame incident...if after all that I still doubt your professionalism, then I am an idiot beyond saving.'
Serenity sat on the chair crossing legs; full of confidence, she asked,
"You want my help. Does that mean you will follow my arrangements even if it's near impossible to achieve?"
Ash strongly confirmed his attitude.
"Since I asked, I definitely will follow till the end."
Serenity made intense eye contact with him, saying,
"Even if it meant iam forbidding you from training either your magic or bloodline any further…"
An intense silence covered the entire room for a while, but in the end he still nodded his head. Without losing the eye contact with him, she asked,
"Why?!"
"You won't hurt me either... You already know I am a ruler of a nation; telling me not to use my powers is an unreasonable joke, but you said not to move any further with my training, so I guess it's related to you guiding my training or that sword art"
Only after hearing that did the eye contact between the two stop; she leaned on the chair, shaking it back and forth, looking at the ceiling, saying,
"You're not wrong...I want you to train using the dragon sacrifice instead of your usual magic and for that my sole focus will be your soul and physique your magical powers are useless at this point. In one hand not using it prevents any further attacks on your soul which will be needed in full shape , and on the other hand it gives your body a chance to adapt to what's next."
She suddenly stopped moving and extended her right hand, saying in a voice that echoed throughout the entire room
[ mare memoriarum]
What seemed like a drop of water fell from her hand; the next second, serenity disappeared, and ash was flying in an unknown space of stars.
An enormous eye-like vortex suddenly opened in front of him. In it was a man with stern crimson dragon-like eyes and white snow hair in black armor, a dragon-like head on his left shoulder, holding a black sword made of a strange black metal completely covered in ruins and another on his back.
The man was standing in the middle of a great forest, swinging his sword casually, cutting both earth and space. Ash, who was watching, dropped his jaw from the surprise, unable to either think or speak till he heard Serenity's voice in his head.
[per inane cum chaos secans]
The scene in the eye played once more before Ash, but this time he was swallowed in, and was the target of the man's attack.
He opened his hand, trying to summon his sword, but it was all in vain. 'My sword isn't following my orders....and my magic isn't responding, where the hell am i?...am i going to die just like that?!'
Looking at the attack about to hit him, he raised his hands before his face certain of his death, but nothing happened.
'No pain?!!'
He slowly opened his eyes to find he wasn't even the target but rather a woman in a long fur coat, a white shoulderless open dress, and long silver hair standing right behind him, wearing a crystal crown and a viel hiding her face. That exact woman was the real shock for him; apart from stopping his sword slash by one wave of her hand, she herself felt so familiar, just like the woman in his dreams.
"What are you doing here?" she said.
"It's you!!!"ash said
He thought she was talking with him. In his daze the woman kept moving forward until she passed through his body like a ghost, going to the man with the sword.
"Teacher?!" The stranger said
he quickly placed his sword back in his sheet and ran twards the woman face full of genuine happiness.
Ash curious about what was going on wanted to see more but he was dragged back to his room, still sitting across from Serenity.
[de profundo]
"Huff...huff...huff...just...just now...What was that just now?"
"Breath"
Serenity quickly sat next to him, rubbing his back and pressing some of his pressure points, helping his muscles relax.
"Take a deep breath…inhale, exhale...again, take a deep breath...just like that, you're doing great. Keep going."
"Haa..hoo...haa...hoo.."
Ash kept staring at Serenity all the time since he came back to his room; he grabbed her hand first thing after his breath stabilized a little.
"What did you do to me?!"
"What you saw just now was one of the five final forms of the dragon sacrifice, the weakest form, if I may say, cutting through the void with chaos."
"Who was that woman in there? No, exactly how did I get there?!?"
His grip on her hand kept getting stronger; clearly what happened just now left a shadow on him. Serenity pulled his hand away by force, saying while rubbing her sore hand,
"When you reach his strength, you will naturally know; till then my mouth is sealed shut."
After hearing her words, he thought it through for a while before he finally calmed down. 'If that just now was the weakest move, then what about the strongest? But that woman is hiding way too deep for a 16-year-old kid.'
Seeing her rubbing her hand ash felt guilty because of it, so he genuinely apologized.
"I am sorry."
"Don't worry about it; I am just a bit sensitive. I will be okay in a minute."
Ash stood in front of Serenity; with his right hand, he lifted her chin up so she faced him, looking at her with the eyes of a monster. After what he just saw, his patience has reached its limits.
"Tell me what I need to do to get the answers I am looking for."
Serenity pushed his hand away and stood right before him, saying in a tone full of power and superiority,
"You must get stronger; there is no other option."
"What kind of strength?...the kind like that man?!"
"Yeah, just like him."
"How?"
"Sit down first."
Serenity sat on the bed and patted beside her. In the beginning he didn't want to, but seeing her all silent, he finally gave up and sat next to her, and she started explaining.
"Fangs, wings, tail, head, horns, claws, blood, and bones are the eight stages of establishing a strong base for this art. I only gave you the fangs this afternoon. When you master it, your sword could pierce through anything."
Surprised he turned at her as quickly.
"Wait a second, didn't you say five just now?"
She crossed her arms.
"Five final forms, we are still explaining the first step . I clearly remember what I said."
Ash asked, feeling impatient and curious to the max.
"What about those then?...and why is the heart, the most critical one, missing?"
She tilted her head with curled lips and smiling eyes.
"Eh?!...I didn't mention it on purpose, but still, how did you know?"
"The parts you mentioned are fangs, head, horns, wings, tail, claws, blood, and bones; when gathered, they form a dragon, and a dragon's heart is his most important vital, whether it's his mana or life. Not to mention, the name itself has the word 'dragon' in it, and..... you're not that surprised; you're clearly smiling."
Serenity got up and walked toward the window, saying, "It's you, so it's not a surprise."
She turned around, the moon shining brightly behind her.
"Call me, Teacher, and I will tell you."
"Teacher"
He answered her immediately, leaving her stunned.
"That was fast...you agreed just like that?"
He got up, walking towards her, looking her straight in the eye, saying,
"You said you would guide my training, so you're my teacher unless you changed your mind..."
"Of course not."
Both standing face to face, smiling at each other, both amused by the other...