Serum

1 week until the Advent of the Dark Dragon. 

For the past two weeks, Dirk stuck to his schedule, and his skills improved in every way. He grew into the accumulated elemental comprehensions, bringing his power to another level. 

His main focus though was on his muscle destruction. After two weeks, Dirk was able to completely destroy and refine the his hip flexor. 

But he was not happy about that time frame.

"Too long. A single muscle took 2 weeks. I destroyed it every day."

[Two solutions.]

Spyte chimed in as he frowned. 

[You can either increase the amount of muscle you destroy every cycle, or you can destroy the muscle more thoroughly. You only destroyed about half of it each cycle. You could destroy up to 75% and be safe. There's a downside though. You wouldn't be able to use the muscle at all while it heals. 15 hours of healing may not be a lot, but in enemy territory, you need to keep your weakness to a minimum. I suggest the first option.]

"...I agree."

Dirk nodded after giving it some thought. He wouldn't like not being able to use his muscles at all after destroying them. Depending on the muscle, he would have a hard time just going about daily life. At least if he did things normally he would retain some function, however weak. 

"So let's destroy more at a time."

[You can do it by muscle groups. I've categorized 13 that cover all sections of the body from your chest to your calves. If each group takes two weeks to fully destroy and refine, then that would be 26 weeks of daily destructions, or half a year.]

"...What if I tried to destroy them all? Instead of going by muscle groups, I could do full body destruction cycles. In theory, It would only take two weeks to complete muscle destruction."

[That would be hard for your Restoration skill to handle. Recovery would take much longer. You would also need an ample anima supply. And then there's the issue of properly refining the muscles. There might not be enough anima to go around if everything is recovering, leading to lesser results upon healing. So in actual theory, it would likely take much longer than two weeks, and you would remain in a bed for all hours of every day.]

"...Could I at least try?"

[Ask your mother first.]

"Fine."

Giving in, Dirk went and found his mother. She was a powerful warrior, so she knew all about body refining. 

"Absolutely not!"

And she didn't like Dirk's idea.

"You know there is such thing as anima overload, right? Just like you can strain yourself with mana accumulation, you can potentially permanently harm your body if you overdo the refining. Body refining is a gradual process that your body must adapt alongside, steadily bringing it to a higher level. It's not just a matter of shoving anima inside yourself and expecting to get stronger. That's how you cripple yourself for life. And no, your restoration skill wouldn't be able to heal from it. If you cripple yourself with anima, it's absolutely permanent unless healed by an extremely strong anima potion. Do you understand?"

"...Yes, mother."

"Good. Never attempt something like that! And thank you for coming to me first. Please do so when you have more crazy ideas like that. Spyte, you'll be in charge of reminding him and alerting me."

[I understand.]

"Mm. Love you."

Cecilia smiled and kissed Dirk on the forehead after the cat nodded from his shoulder. Dirk sighed inwardly.

'Well, 6 months it is then.'

[That's already moving plenty fast. You'll be fine. Besides, I wouldn't wish to serve a crippled master.]

'Did you just call me master?'

[No.]

'You did. Well, I guess you are my underling.'

Dirk scratched his chin with a smile, stopping when Spyte pawed his face.

[Am not. I'm a part of you. We're equals.]

'You were created from my soul.'

[So I was birthed from you. Are you my father? Should I call you daddy?]

'Please don't.'

Dirk's eye twitched. Spyte seemed to enjoy his shame. 

[Well, I guess you being my father is giving you too much credit. You do give me energy though, so you're like a sugar daddy.]

'Stop.'

[You're right. Just daddy is fine. What's the matter? Don't like it?]

'You will become a tattoo before I hear any more of that.'

[...Fine. You're no fun.]

Spyte finally huffed. She liked her cat form and its freedom. Not being able to explore and operate a body was boring. 

Thankful that he shut that down, Dirk moved on with his life. 

.........

3 days until the Advent of the Dark Dragon.

Dirk had thought that his mother would bring him out to hunt any asura assassins before this big outing, but since he had such a busy schedule with forging and all, she just let him be. It wasn't a bad thing to accumulate much needed power anyway. 

And before Dirk knew it, the time for the holiday came. It was at this time that Ryker finally appeared. He had been gone with work all the time. Being an envoy, especially one at his level, wasn't an easy responsibility to handle. His voice was now that of the Empire's.

"We're going to leave for a frontier city tomorrow night. We'll take a teleporter there and then embark for the capital of the Dark Kingdom. We should arrive by mid-day the next day. After that, we hold some preliminary discussions and get ready for the holiday. We'll be participating in it alongside the royalty there."

"We need to bring dresses?"

"No. It'll supposedly be prepared for us. I would bring at least one set just in case though."

"Of course."

Cecilia nodded at her husband's words. Dirk just ate the dinner in front of him. He was hungry from all the healing his body was doing. 

Seeing this, Cecilia was both happy and worried. Dirk had refused to drink so much as a drop of potion. She left it out for him, but it went untouched for the weeks that he was doing destruction cycles. She knew he could handle the healing just fine, but she wanted to ease the burden on his body. 

But she knew he was tough, so she didn't insist. She trusted in his judgment and didn't want to force him to do something that might bring back bad memories.

After that night, Dirk spent one more day in the capital. He was a bit more relaxed as he just focused on forging. He also told Tobasden that he would be leaving. Because of that, the dwarf pushed him harder that day. 

Come night, Dirk cleaned up before he was called by his mother. Having already prepared, he went down with the clothes on his back and pocket ring filled with items. 

Before they left though, Cecilia grabbed his attention. 

"Two things."

She suddenly held up both her hands. In one was a necklace made of two black metal strands that were twisted together, holding a crystal pendant at the bottom. 

In the other was a weapon, a long knife that was almost a shortsword. 

"The necklace has defensive magic as well as an alert beacon. You can also use it to send me messages after infusing your dark mana and speaking into it. This knife is an enchanted weapon. It's designed to channel your Aura. Technically you can only channel Aura into weapons when you're a Rook class, but enchanted anima weapons like this bypass the skill restriction and do it for you. In exchange, it's not compatible with mana. But you have your Stigma, so that shouldn't be an issue. With this, you have your strengths boosted."

"...Thank you, mother."

Dirk nodded pleasantly as he took the knife. Cecilia also put the necklace on him. The cold metal warmed on his body.

"Let's go then."

With that, the two left the house and made their way to the city's teleportation platform. There, Ryker was waiting, along with a small group of people. 

There were 3 men and two women. Two of the men and both the women didn't have much power in them, being as strong as or weaker than Dirk. 

The third man though caused Dirk to narrow his eyes. He couldn't sense much of anything. He looked ordinary besides the luxurious clothes. But Dirk's hair stood on end. His gut was telling him to not believe the lack of power. 

The man also looked at Dirk after greeting Cecilia. He smiled, exposing two long and sharp fangs.

"So you're Dirk? I've heard a lot about you. You really do have sharp senses."

"Dirk, this is Marquess Desmodious."

Ryker suddenly introduced the man. Hearing the name, Dirk tilted his head. 

"Desmodious..."

"He's Alec's father."

Dirk's eyebrows raised. He then smiled when he saw a figure approaching. 

"Dirk!"

Dirk turned his body, sensing a man flowing with a magnificently bright presence. In Dirk's mana sense, he drove away darkness and purified his surroundings with divine light. 

It was Alec, a fire and light mage with sky-high charisma. 

"Hello Alec."

"That's a bland greeting. I haven't seen you in years! Come here, guy."

Alec put out his hand. Dirk smacked it with his own and went in for a hug. They pat each other on the back, a truly manly greeting. 

Dirk smiled. The two hadn't been super close, but it didn't seem like Alec cared. He was happy to see a friend. 

"Sheesh, I had worked hard and formed a party that could keep up with you, and then you go and vanish! We're going on a trip now though, so maybe I can get a taste of your current power. Who knows, maybe I've become stronger than you."

"Heh, we'll have to fight and see."

Dirk chuckled as he looked at Alec. Like Dirk, he had grown a lot. He was actually an inch or so taller, his golden hair flowing down to his broad shoulders. His muscles were also a bit more pronounced, not as compact and lean as Dirk's, so he was definitely containing a lot of power. He looked like a grown man if one looked past the youthful face.

And it looked like he was at least Tier 4, if not Tier 5 with how bright his mana was. 

'Puberty hit everyone like a truck, huh?'

Dirk laughed, and the two talked a bit more. The others in the group lingered around for a while.

Then, the teleportation platform suddenly glowed. A man appeared, bristling with an aura of sheathed violence. He looked mean and stern, gazing at everyone with narrowed eyes. 

Duke Kyre, known as the bloody sword of the Empire and the highest general under the Emperor. He's as ruthless as he is wise, and he holds vast authority. There weren't any others who held more power than him under the Emperor. 

He stood taller than all others in the group, being nearly 7 feet tall. His black and red robes radiated imposition as if demanding all others obey his every command. Still, his sharply cut beard and hair made him look valiant. To have this man stand beside you on a battlefield would inspire undying bravery. 

"Are we all here? Then let's go."

Duke Kyre activated the teleporter with a deep voice. With his word, everyone stepped forward. Within moments, they vanished. 

The next thing Dirk knew, he was inside a large stone building. Everyone walked out, and they appeared within a city. 

The frontier city of Brazyr, a city similar to that of Calaba which occupied land along the border. Only, because the Empire was much less friendly with the Dark Kingdom than the Dwarven Haven, this city was fully outfitted for war at all times, maintaining a huge standing army. 

This was especially so right now. Citizens and soldiers alike were moving with haste. Two armies were in a stalemate not far from here, so they had to be on high alert. 

Duke Kyre led them through the city, and every soldier bowed in reverence as he passed. Dirk felt a bit weird. He was walking with really high-profile people. He could be considered one of them as the son of a Marquess. His status was showing its benefits.

It wasn't long before the group approached a huge raised platform. Dirk almost tripped when he saw what was on the platform.

"There's the airship."

Alec mumbled. Standing at 120 meters long and 20 meters tall, an airship glowed with enchantments, air mana, and even some dark mana. There were no sails or anything of the like, and the ship looked shockingly similar to a modern plane from Earth with wings and fins. It was only a bit larger and bulkier.

Curiously, the body of the airship looked like it was made from some kind of crystalline material. The body was sky blue in color, seemingly constructed from opaque fragile glass.

Alec spoke as the group boarded this ship, entering its large body.

"This ship is made almost entirely from Aeralite. As an air element metal, Aeralite is both strong and light, allowing the mana engine of this thing to lift such a large ship off the ground. It's also fully compatible with the air element, allowing it to fly through the sky at high speeds. Of course, it's an extremely expensive item, and there aren't a whole lot of these in the Empire."

Dirk took in the sights around him. Since his dark mana vision had improved greatly, he could make out black and white images, albeit not perfectly. It still gave him a good look at the corridors, machines, and people they passed while walking through the ship. 

They quickly arrived at the bridge of the airship. There was already a man waiting, and he saluted Duke Kyre.

"Leave when ready."

"Understood, General. Commencing takeoff in 5 minutes."

Dirk felt the mana around him fluctuate. Although he wasn't attuned to air mana, he could still sense its wild movement. 

Then, several minutes later after strapping into a seat, Dirk felt the ship lift off the ground. It gradually flew upward, then leaning forward as the captain increased the speed. They rapidly flew off as Dirk was pushed back into his seat, air mana streaming past the wings as if there were invisible thrusters on them.

[30...60...100...180...250...340...420...]

Spyte gauged the speed based on the g-force Dirk was experiencing. He was shocked at the numbers. 

Finally, they settled at around 510 miles per hour. There was a tiny amount of turbulence as they flew, but nothing that shook the ship. Dirk felt weird as he sat in his seat. 

[Do a HALO jump out of the side door.]

"No thanks. I don't have a parachute."

[Maybe when you finish muscle destruction, you can survive terminal velocity falls with your body.]

"Maybe."

Dirk smiled a bit as he looked out the window. He could make out vague images of the landscape. Of course, everything was dark, so there wasn't much to see. 

With that, everyone just had to wait. Their destination was the capital of the Dark Kingdom. Dirk laid his head back to rest, wondering what the place would look like. 

...........

After the sun rose over the horizon, Dirk felt the airship jolt a bit. They were slowing down. 

"We're making our approach. You should see it."

Alec came over as Dirk woke up. Because he had a cloth covering his eyes, nobody could be sure when he was sleeping. Dirk looked like he had been awake for a while when he nodded and walked to the bridge. 

There, he was able to get a bird's eye view of the capital. Only, when he did, he recoiled in shock. 

There was a hole. A massive hole that was 6 entire miles wide. There was a large city built on the land around the hole, and a city floating above the hole. 

A city around 5 miles wide was floating above this colossal hole in the ground. From this massive city rose hundreds and thousands of buildings that extended hundreds of meters into the air. There was a tower in the center of this floating city that stood above all, one that rose 1000 meters in the air, piercing above the clouds. It was blood red in color, looking like a needle. 

Dirk was baffled by this city that floated above an abyssal pit in the ground that seemed to have no end to its depth. There were also 10 bridges that extended across the mile long gap between the edge of the hole and the city. The airship lowered itself to land near one of these 10 bridges. Dirk also saw 3 utterly massive chains that extended from the thick city platform and anchored it to the walls of the hole, as if to keep it from drifting around. 

But the floating city wasn't the main reason why Dirk had a violent reaction. The reason for his reaction was due to the horrifying amount of dark mana that bellowed out of the bottomless pit, making it seem like the gateway to hell itself. Luckily, due to the insane amount of dark mana, he could see everything around the hole with shocking clarity using his dark mana sense. Even from so far away, he could see all the short and tall buildings in the floating city. He felt nice, getting such a clear view. 

The airship quickly descended onto a large platform, docking on the hard ground with extended legs. All the soldiers within the ship marched out in formation, placing themselves between the ship and the Dark Kingdom's soldiers that were waiting for them. 

Then, Duke Kyre stepped out, along with the two Marquesses and the delegates. Dirk and Alec walked beside their parents. Dirk could feel Alec's nervousness as he felt the tense atmosphere between the soldiers. 

A man standing in front of the Dark Kingdom's soldiers looked at Duke Kyre with a smile. He radiated a no less imposing atmosphere than Kyre, though he was shorter so people couldn't help but compare. 

'That person is definitely powerful. Probably as much as the Duke.'

Dirk thought as the man spoke. 

"General Kyre. Her Majesty welcomes you to our Dark Kingdom."

"General Salice. It's been 50 years. I'm glad our meeting isn't happening on one of those bridges like before."

"Hm."

General Salice merely let out a humph. His momentary frown only remained for short though as he waved his arm. 

"Allow me to escort you. We have residences prepared for all our honored guests as well as quarters prepared in the outer city for your soldiers."

"Appreciated."

Kyre nodded and walked beside General Salice. The others followed as they went to cross the bridge while the soldiers handled themselves under the directive of a captain. 

A large carriage was prepared, and the group boarded at the behest of General Salice. Like that, they rode across the mile long bridge. Dirk looked at the abyssal hole under the bridge, feeling a bit queasy at the supernatural formation. 

They rode into the so-called inner city, otherwise known as the floating city and true capital of the Dark Kingdom. It was completely filled with tall and high class buildings, and excited people walked the streets making preparations for the coming holiday. The entire place radiated wealth, and despite being called the Dark Kingdom, the city was vibrant with plant life and even native animals. The atmosphere wasn't dreary in the slightest. Dirk was shocked when he even saw mechanical machines in some of the shops and buildings. It seemed almost out of place, the modern hardware that Dirk only knew to exist on Earth. 

They rode all the way to the massive spire in the center of the city. It was there that they exited the carriage and were led inside. 

Ascending the tower was done my magic elevators, all of which used dark magic and its spatial aspect. Cecilia didn't seem that surprised by it as if she had experience, but she was still impressed. 

"Gravity magic. Always amazes me."

"Indeed. Nowhere in the world will you find greater applications of dark magic or smarter practitioners."

"Mm."

Cecilia didn't deny General Salice's comment. That was a generally agreed upon fact. The Horizon Empire surely didn't have anything like this. 

In fact, Dirk was beginning to think that the Horizon Empire was primitive compared to this place. They were on a floating city! Dirk had never seen such fantastical structures in either of his lives. 

As they rose in the elevator though, Dirk suddenly started to frown. 

He noticed an odd feeling coming from his soul. It wasn't the eternal pain due to his soul injury. It was something else. Something... familiar, yet foreign. He got a bit restless as they stopped on a particular floor.