Power of Runes

Time passed, around one hour had gone by.

Ash's naked body was lying inside a crater, the same crater which was previously filled with Dragon blood. His body stirred faintly, his fingers twitched, and his closed eyelids moved slightly before he slowly opened his eyes, gazing up at the ceiling of the dimly lit Dragon Tomb.

Ash thought in his mind, Now what was that just now...?

Back when he was deeply immersed in absorbing the blood during meditation, he had suddenly felt a jolt in his mind—like something had struck his Soul with such force that he couldn't even react before he blacked out completely.

Grumbling inwardly, he opened his status window, but what greeted him was far from what he had expected.

He slowly muttered in a low voice, almost as if talking only to himself, "Why is it that every time I lose consciousness, something happens to my body?"

Should I start losing consciousness more often or what...?

But anyway, it is what it is… still, what the hell was all that..? The Dragon Bloodline was playing tug of war with... what?

When the hell did I have two bloodlines inside me? This is getting out of hand…

Even this time, he felt a bit of shock—well, literally—because it was bloodlines, and not just one, but two... and more importantly, the question was why the hell did he even have a bloodline to begin with?

Covering his eyes with the palm of his hand, Ash thought to himself, My life is seriously turning into one of those cliché stories, where the protagonist has some mysterious parents and forgotten background. It's always the same overused trope...

I've always hated that kind of plot. But now it's happening to me? Me of all people??

Ash reached the conclusion pretty quickly, because he knew one thing for sure—bloodlines are something that can only be inherited from parents. What Ash did with the Dragon Bloodline was a special and rare case, but when it came to the other two unknown bloodlines, he knew very well that neither he nor Dark Ash did anything to gain them on their own.

Because even if something had been done to his body at a young age, Ash had already seen all of Dark Ash's memories from start to end, and there was no way he would have missed something that important.

That solves the mystery then... the original Ash was most likely abandoned by his biological parents. And the parents who died—they were the ones who had adopted him.

Ash felt a strange mix of emotions tangled inside his chest. On one hand, there was the idea of a family—something he had never truly experienced.

He didn't know what it felt like to be a part of one, not in this life, and not even in the previous one.

The very concept of being cared for, of belonging somewhere, remained distant and unfamiliar to him.

And on the other hand, there was this odd, nagging thought that refused to leave his mind.

Are they even alive...? If by some chance they are, should I even bother to find them? Do I need to care about people who once abandoned me? Or maybe... should I just continue living the way I've always done, as if they never existed in the first place?

He couldn't decide. The answer wasn't clear to him, and honestly, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what the truth was. Some questions were better left unanswered.

But instead of letting those thoughts weigh him down, Ash quietly pushed them to the corner of his mind. He took a deep breath, stood up slowly, and began to look around the area.

All empty, huh...

The once-overflowing Dragon Blood pool was now completely drained, not even a single droplet remained.

And as he looked at his attributes in the status window, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction rising quietly in his heart.

***

[Attributes]

Strength – 377

Agility – 377

Vitality – 377

Intelligence – 377

Stamina – 377

Charm – 377

Mana – 377

***

Jumping from 203 to 177, it was a huge leap. But these weren't stats he gained, they were time.

A massive chunk of time shaved from his training. If Ash had gone the normal route of step-by-step progress, it would've taken him nearly half a year of constant, disciplined, daily training to reach the same result.

But now, after enduring a kind of pain that he believed no sane person would willingly go through, he had gained power.

Well, technically, he had earned it by pushing through the kind of torment that would make even seasoned warriors scream.

Why does it feel like I've taken the slogan 'more pain, more gain' way too literally? I'm standing here, in pain, and yet I'm admiring the gains like a masochist.

Shaking his head, he turned his gaze toward the golden crystal that still sat quietly in the small hollow on the stone floor.

It wasn't absorbed, huh…

He had noticed it earlier, but his mind was too occupied—so many things had been rushing through his head at once that he hadn't had the time to deal with it.

Now, picking it up carefully, he observed the softly glowing golden crystal in his palm. Just by looking at it, he could sense the raw power within it,

Then he felt an illusion ripple through his mind—an ancient Dragon roaring at the heavens as if defying the sky itself, it's roar making the sky shudder.

Yeah, better not eat this one. I can literally feel how much energy it's holding... If I swallowed it now, my body would probably explode on the spot.

I'll have to figure out a proper way to absorb its energy.

Saying that to himself, he stored the crystal in his space ring and focused, willing his clothes to manifest.

In the next moment, his necklace glowed faintly.

A stylish black shirt with intricate white markings appeared over his chest, followed by a pair of sleek black trousers, solid black boots, gloves that fit like a second skin, and finally a long, flowing black cloak that covered his entire body.

A hood drooped over his head like shadows draping the night.

And then, with a flicker of light, an earring shaped like a skeletal mask appeared on his ear. It was technically a mask, but since Ash didn't want to wear it just yet, it remained disguised as an accessory.

Ash glanced around slowly.

There's no path forward anymore... Do I have to go back the same way I came? Isn't the treasury supposed to be here?

But no matter where he looked, there was nothing—only ancient Dragon bones and the crystallized blood.

Finding no new leads or hidden paths, he sighed and finally donned the skeletal mask. As soon as he wore it, his appearance shifted. With the hood casting deeper shadows over the mask, his presence turned almost ghostly.

His glowing blue eyes now resembled the soul flames of an undead creature, giving him an eerie, lifeless aura that may make others think him of as an undead creature.

Now, here's something important most people confuse—there's a very clear difference between a Skill and a Spell. Many might think they're the same, but no.

Absolutely not.

For a spell, Ash had to manipulate mana directly. Especially in his Runic Magic, he had to carefully weave and manage the flow so that it didn't drain all his mana at once.

Runic spells worked like a program—and without a stop condition, they'd keep running until his entire mana pool got consumed.

But when it came to skills, things were way simpler. He didn't need to control mana or balance anything.

He simply had to decide on what he wanted to do. Just a thought. That was it. And the skill would activate, perfect and complete.

Ash appeared exactly where he had been earlier, silently watching the two lesser Dragons that were still guarding the entrance.

Seeing them standing in the same place, completely unaware of his presence, Ash decided to move again.

This time, he ascended higher into the sky and teleported to a different region.

He repeated this process five times, teleporting from place to place, but everywhere he arrived, all he found were different zones, each seemingly designed for a particular Dragon to inhabit.

Despite his curiosity and determination, all the Dragons he encountered were still asleep.

He kept moving, roaming across the entire continent that once served as a home to Dragons.

Time passed, steadily. And finally, after nearly half a day of searching, Ash found something.

In front of him was a giant castle. It was very well hidden—or rather, you could say it was too well hidden. From the sky, it looked exactly like a normal mountain, but as he got closer, the illusion broke, and it turned out to be a castle instead.

There are so many of them...

Ash thought as he looked at the massive number of lesser dragons stationed outside. There were clearly more than two hundred, just on the side he could see.

This much safety means... there's definitely something precious in there...

With a wicked grin hidden beneath his mask, Ash knew deep in his heart—this was going to be fun.

***