Chapter 375: A Divination
Whose memories are these? System, how did you get this?
-Pay attention. I won't be playing this a second time.
William nodded and continued to focus on the memory. He spent three hundred thousand Points on this, and he wouldn't know where to cry if he missed out on the answer.
The dragon whose body he was inhabiting descended from the sky, until it had landed in a cave system attached to an inactive volcano. There, dozens of other dragons with varying colors of mostly red, grey, and black were grouped.
There was even a juvenile dragon in the room, probably no less than a few hundred years old. Its red scales were much more vibrant than its counterparts, and the youngling seemed to be smiling as it chewed on a piece of wild boar meat.
"Little Uri, how have you been." William's mouth moved on its own, but the voice wasn't his.
Seeing the grey-winged dragon, Uri beamed with joy and ran up to it, "Grand Uncle Vivax!"
William smiled. Younger Uri was so adorable compared to his current serious self. Seeing such an innocent young dragon made him want to help out Uri even more.
Vivax spoke again, "It's good to see you. Where is your grandfather?"
"Grandpa Validus is in the flame tempering room working on his Dragon Fire. I'm so jealous, I still haven't learned how to use mine yet, probably because my Cultivation is low..." Uri looked down in shame.
Even though Magical Beasts didn't need to actively Cultivate, their breathing technique that absorbed the natural Mana of the World and converted it had strengths and weaknesses determined by one's talent.
Uri was a talented dragon, but not that far above his other peers. While he would probably reach the peak in a few thousand years, he was worried that he'd never learn Dragon Fire.
Vivax looked at Uri with a light smile, "You're still very young. Most of us don't learn how to use Dragon Fire until we are a few thousand years old. It's not about Cultivation, it's about spirit. I know you'll get yours eventually.
Even if you don't learn Dragon Fire, your ability to manipulate the natural Fire Element is quite good among the Clan. You should be proud of yourself." Vivax finished.
"Thanks, Grand Uncle." Uri nodded as Vivax walked towards the flame tempering room.
With a simple movement of his front claws, Vivax pushed open a pair of stone doors to reveal an intense red-orange light that forced him to squint. On the other end of the room, a spitting image of Uri was standing, though his Cultivation was in the Soul Formation Realm and he was thousands of years older.
The Flame Dragon was holding a crouched stance, his jaws open wide as the powerful jet of Dragon Fire flowed freely like lava. His expression was serious as he spat the flames, seemingly wanting to burn down the entire room with him.
"You're too serious, Validus." Vivax said from afar when the dragon had finished.
"As if! I lost to a mere human in the Soul Formation Realm. The entire Dragon Continent! It's shameful!" Vivax shouted angrily.
"Relax. You should know better than anyone else that the human clearly used underhanded means to fight us. Didn't you feel weaker than you are now? I wouldn't be surprised if he had planned for you to challenge him to a battle so he could pick the location." Vivax said.
"I know that just as well as you, but if I was stronger even those measly Arrays that humans use would be useless. It's still a matter of weakness."
Vivax nodded. He wasn't going to argue with this brother of his any longer, else their conversation go on for days. "Have you decided what you're going to do? Didn't he want dragon subordinates in exchange for winning the duel?"
"We can give them some rare dragon blood that we've collected over the years. The humans can do more with that than we can, they'll regard it as a precious treasure. Additionally... I think I'll send Uri out."
"Send Uri? With that human? Why?" Vivax was surprised. He didn't expect his brother to want to send his own grandson to serve a human for years to come. Who knew if Uri would come back in one piece?
"Uri is talented, but he's different from the rest of us. He needs stimulation that can't be found on the Dragon Continent. Also..."
"Also?"
"I've received a divination. From Duon."
"Duon? Yet another human? What is it with you and humans these days? I thought you hated them."
"I dislike their method of fighting, that's all. As dragons, we respect strength, but the humans can use lesser strength to create more. We should learn from them, it might make us even more powerful someday." Validus responded.
"You still haven't answered my first question. Why are you interacting with Duon The Timeskipper?"
"He visited me. I had no choice but to listen. You should know his strength more than I do."
Validus' words reminded Vivax of a scene from a few decades prior, when Vivax met with Duon in battle and was defeated before he could even open his mouth to use Dragon Fire. Facing Duon was like a Qi Refinement Cultivator facing a Tribulation Transcendence Magical Beast. One thought and he would be dead.
That's the power of the Time Element, though. How can you compete with it if you don't carry the Affinity yourself? Vivax sighed.
"I understand. So, what did Duon tell you? What kind of divination did you receive?"
"It wasn't entirely clear."
"Are divinations ever clear? Go on with it." Vivax snorted.
"Alright. It goes like this: A greed beyond what Heaven can stand, the World responds with an iron hand. Guard your lifeline with blood and tears, else find yourself with much to fear. The Dragon Continent's existence is at stake." Validus looked at Vivax with a questioning gaze. His brother was the intellectual, not him.
"Why does Duon always do this? Can't he just tell us what's going to happen?" Vivax became angry. He tried to break apart the divination bit by bit, but he could only come up with a guess. "Judging by the green and the Heavens' involvement, I'd have to guess someone pissed off the Heavens, but that's all I've got. It's too vague, it could mean anything."
"I felt the same way. Regardless, the only blood and tears we have are our own, so that's why I'm giving that Riyald some as a gift." Validus explained.
Enjoy new stories from empire
"That's why? I don't think it means literally..." Vivax didn't bother to explain. Blood and tears could also mean fighting. The divination clearly wants them to fight, but who?
Who in the World would be able to threaten the Dragon Continent so much that it would require them to fight? How long had it been since a battle of such scale was fought?
As he thought about the implications of the divination, Vivax became increasingly worried. How much time did they have? A thousand years? A hundred? ...Ten? But the longer he thought about it, the more he realized that no amount of time would be enough to prepare.
He only hoped that the divination wouldn't come to pass.