Power of Runes

Ash listened to every word exchanged between Kristos and the young dragons, his posture still and quiet as he remained hidden above.

Their conversation stretched on for a while, with Kristos carefully instructing the younglings on what needed to be done and how to execute it.

Ash heard everything. About a baby dragon escaping. About the increased surveillance and the order to find the hatchling.

But despite all that information flooding his ears, his focus latched onto just one sentence with an intensity that blocked everything else out.

He is going to the egg chamber... A chamber where the dragon eggs are stored...?

His closed eyes slowly opened, and within that darkness, a glint of something sharp and calculating passed through.

Those lifeless eyes gleamed faintly, the light of a buried instinct surfacing, like a predator catching the scent of something rare.

The eggs... They must be precious. Then the treasury, the true vault, must be equally important. And considering the dragons are few in number, with most of them in hibernation, they wouldn't have the manpower to guard everything with equal force.

His mind churned furiously as he continued to think, piecing the logic together.

If I was a dragon, I would place everything valuable in one secure location and then assign all my available strength to protect that one place rather than spreading my forces thin across multiple points.

Could it be...?

As the thought fully formed in his mind, his head rose ever so slightly, his gaze now fixed on Kristos, who was slowly walking away from the crowd of dragons.

His retreating figure was regal, quiet, yet every step held weight.

Kristos was heading toward the large portal.

Ash had seen that portal earlier when he had first arrived at the underground chamber.

But he had chosen not to enter it back then. After learning it led to the resting grounds of the hibernating dragons, he had immediately retreated.

He had no interest in clashing with sleeping dragons, not when his objective was something entirely different.

He had come here for something else, and until he found it, he had wanted to avoid any kind of conflict.

By the way... this is my first time seeing him in human form.

Ash thought quietly as his eyes lingered on Kristos. Earlier, he had witnessed Kristos's true dragon form, but back then, Silver Dragon's body had not released even a trace of power.

Now, standing at a distance away from him with long flowing robes, silver hair cascading like moonlight, and eyes shimmering with a silver hue, his presence was different.

His entire being radiated an aura that spoke of raw, unfiltered power. And Ash could feel it deep within himself; the source of that power was unmistakable.

Bloodline.

When Ash had first woken after absorbing the dragon's blood, his body had not emitted any aura, which he believed was because the bloodline was still dormant.

But, even then the simplest gesture Ash made seemed to carry overwhelming strength more than he had ever imagined possible.

Luckily, his new armor and clothes had a special function: they increased weight on him while supplying mana.

And Ash liked it.

This was not because Ash enjoyed pain or was some kind of masochist, but because he still lacked precise control over his newfound strength.

He used the added weight to prevent himself from accidentally breaking the floor or causing any disturbances that might alert the dragons nearby.

This was also why his mana was running low; he was juggling three extremely mana-consuming tasks all at once.

I have to hurry…

Ash glanced toward the massive portal ahead, then looked down at the three stones resting in his hand. These were his anchor points, little safeguards he had crafted during whatever free moments he could find.

Kristos stepped through the portal.

At this moment, one of Ash's mana cores was completely drained, while the other core was continuously using mana to maintain Absolute Concealment and the color-changing feature of his clothes and armor.

It might just barely work…

What he was going to do next was filled with risk, but there was no other way around it.

If he wanted to enter, then he had to do this. There were far too many eyes watching the portal area, and he could not just casually walk over to it without attracting attention.

He placed the two stones in his left hand, making sure to keep them steady, while the effect of Omni Thought was still active within his mind, keeping his thoughts focused and clear.

With his right hand, he picked up the third stone, and without wasting any more time, he threw it with full strength directly toward the portal.

The stone shot forward like a rocket, tearing through the air with incredible speed.

Swoosh.

A soft sound rang through the wind as the stone disappeared from sight. A few of the more sensitive young dragons nearby twitched slightly and looked up toward the sky with puzzled expressions.

One of them tilted his head and quietly muttered, "Did something just pass above us…?"

But no one else had noticed anything, and since there was nothing visible in the sky, they all assumed it was just a trick of their imagination.

No one reported it or said anything more, and the moment quietly passed.

Meanwhile, the instant the stone crossed through the portal, Ash activated Transcendent Step.

He vanished completely from where he stood.

The world around him changed instantly, shifting like a dream breaking apart.

He now found himself high in the air, with the very same stone he had thrown now firmly back in his hand. His body was in free fall, pulled down by gravity as he descended rapidly.

As he looked down to gauge where he would land, a sudden chill crept up his spine, stirred by the sight that unfolded beneath him.

Damn, the crazy dragons...

Ash cursed inwardly as he felt the air resistance crashing against his body. Yes, he was incredibly high, so high that the world beneath him looked distant and surreal.

He could feel how thin the air had become at this altitude, and even the simple act of breathing required effort.

The lack of oxygen pricked at his lungs, and to his shock, he could actually make out the faint curve of the planet, the soft glow of the boundary where the sky met the edges of space.

I knew the dragons were crazy, but this... this is on another level. If anyone who didn't know how to fly got teleported here, they would have died before they even realized it.

Ash thought bitterly, his eyes locking onto Kristos, who was gliding ahead with practiced grace. He also noticed that the large portal had vanished behind them.

It was a one-way passage. If Ash wanted to return, he would either have to rely on Transcendent Step or find another portal altogether.

I wish I could ride him, just once…

Ash thought silently as his eyes followed Kristos's distant figure, which was slowly shrinking against the backdrop of floating clouds.

"Well, it's fun though. Skydiving… I always wanted to do it one day," he whispered to himself with a small smile. His voice, barely louder than a breath, was immediately swallowed by the furious wind howling past his ears.

He waited, letting himself fall through the open sky, watching Kristos drift farther away. When the dragon was nearly out of sight, Ash activated Transcendent Step once again.

His figure vanished and reappeared high above, even farther in the sky than Kristos, still falling with gravity pulling him downward.

As Ash looked ahead, a quiet laugh echoed in his thoughts.

Haha, so here it was.

Spread out before him was a colossal floating island suspended high in the sky. It wasn't just a simple patch of land. The island carried several towering mountains, and nestled right at the center stood a massive black castle, dark and elegant.

A long waterfall flowed from one of the cliffs, its silver stream falling endlessly into the clouds below.

The place was vast. It was hidden. And it was beautiful in a way that felt unreal.

Crazy… to think they had something like this hidden here all this time, and no one outside ever knew.

Surrounding the floating island were four cube-like constructs, each roughly the size of a normal car, hovering silently and without any visible source of power.

Ash didn't know exactly what they were, but the design and placement made it easy enough to guess their purpose.

There was nothing here before. But as Kristos approached, the island revealed itself. It must be protected by some kind of concealment artifact or illusion formation.

The moment his feet touched the bark and his senses adjusted to the new surroundings, a shift in the air made him pause.

The mana here… it's even denser and purer than what I felt back on the dragon continent.

Ash thought with a slight sense of shock, his eyes narrowing as the sensation settled into his bones.

For a brief second, a small flicker of light returned to his otherwise lifeless eyes.

I feel like I've stepped into the land of treasures...

The thought echoed in his mind, and for the first time in a long while, the silence within him felt just a little less empty.

***