The Villain's Story

Chapter 917: The path to transcendence(3).

Dreams held a special meaning to all races that used magic; they were considered ‘signs’ brought upon their mana. To the Elves, dreams they could vividly recall were prophetic visions, and often meant prosperity was coming their way.

Of course, the nightmares you could clearly recall were signs of turbulent times, but you at least had a chance to prepare for them. Mana is a special energy, and one that is more ‘attuned’ to the universe than one expects.

What about Dragons, however? Who were designed for this energy by The Creator? Previously, almost all of Alan’s dreams were visions of the previous iterations, each one a harrowing memory of battles far beyond his ability, or holding truths about the various beings involved in the previous iterations, mainly Supreme Beings.

Thanks to those ‘dreams’, Alan knew quite a lot about the current Supreme Beings, of all species, not just the Prime Species. However, these experiences were anything but pleasant. After the seal on his existence was removed, these memories became more complete, and Alan no longer had to suffer from nightmares of destruction and oblivion.

To a Dragon, an actual dream is an important thing, as the perfect being for mana; a dream is basically a prophecy. They aren’t like the dreams of Elves and other species well versed in mana, that could have a million different variations; the dreams of a dragon are always exact, they never, ever change, and no dragon has been able to change the course of their ‘prophecy’.

Alan awoke, half-submerged in water, the world was dyed an astral blue, with faint clouds in the sky that somehow obscured everything. They were present everywhere, but nowhere at the same time. Alan sat up and observed his surroundings.

This was his first dream, his actual dream. One that was not a remnant of a previous iteration, but a prophecy of what was to happen. It was a special dream, for it was his actual dream, unmanipulated by anyone. It was a mark of his existence.

Alan found the place in his dreams to be similar to his Soul Sea. The ground and the surrounding area were the same, but a thin gray-blue fog obscured everything, one that could block his vision almost perfectly.

He silently waited for his mana to stir and show him something, anything. A part of him was excited, hopeful, and another was drowning in fear and disarray, repeatedly asking the question.

‘What lies in wait?’

Would his first-ever dream be the same as his nightmares? Or would it be something new? Something nice? If Alan were ever granted a wish, he would wish to have the ability not to dream. Many a time, his sleep had been disrupted by his nightmares. Although Dragons could survive months without sleep, Alan was a baby dragon, and he had far surpassed the limits of even an adult dragon.

The bloodline of the Phoenix was his lifesaver, in more ways than one. It kept him at somewhat of an ‘optimal’ condition all the time. Liorathen was saving him from the grave. Alan had pushed his body to the brink of destruction many times, and the blood of the Phoenix always reverted him to normal. But even Alan knew this had a limit.

He wondered what would happen if he ever encountered a situation where his regeneration was completely nullified. Not restrained, nullified, as if it never existed. He suspected his brain would bleed, and his organs would burst from within. Since he was a dragon, he would likely survive something like that, but he would be out of commission for a long, long time.

Truly, his regeneration was his most powerful ability. Without it, Alan wondered what would have happened to him.

His dreamscape did not change for a while, and so, Alan began to wander. Although this wasn’t reality, Alan felt at peace in here; there was something in the ‘air’, one that calmed his nerves. He felt tranquil.

He wondered how long it would be until something happened, but he didn’t mind if this was the entire experience. It could be considered a leisurely walk in a scenic place. As long as it didn’t disturb his sleep, he was alright with whatever it may be.

Anything was better than a freaking nightmare, after all. He didn’t mind walking in this dreamscape until morning came.

But then again, when did fate ever listen to him? Alan sighed as he noticed the mana in the dreamscape stir.

The ground quaked and produced a set of stairs leading to a door. Space cut itself in half, the first where Alan was, and the other behind the ‘illusory’ door. Something within him urged him to ascend that staircase, and Alan obliged.

He walked towards the staircase, wondering what it meant and the significance of the illusory door. He could faintly see beyond the fog, obscuring what was behind it. Whatever it was, it was dark and big.

The colors of the dreamscape did a complete one-eighty in the space behind the illusory door, leading Alan to be afraid of the space behind the door. But he could not stop; his body moved towards the staircase whether he wanted or not.

Driven by an unseen force, Alan put his foot on the first step and then noticed a big change; his body ‘reverted’ to its first state.

His stomach growled in hunger, his arms were as thin as bones, his cheeks sunken, and his body as frail as a twig. Alan frowned as he looked at his thin figure and understood the contents of this staircase.

What it meant, and what the door represented.

His body moved onto the next step, and Alan felt drowsy before feeling a sudden surge of strength. The aura of frost permeated the area, and he felt… awakened.

“…”

‘The path of awakening.’

He thought in his mind. The steps of the staircase represented the path of awakening, from before it, as a normal human being, to the multiple stages after it. The first step represented his state before awakening, where he was a malnourished child struggling in a cruel orphanage.

The second is his awakening. How he fell unconscious and awoke as a strong talent. The sudden surge of strength… and the fast movement of his body to the next two steps.

The second step represented the F-rank status, the first step represented an awakened, the third represented E-rank status, and the fourth represented D-rank status. Alan climbed these steps quickly, and slowly, he gained muscle.

He was slowly going back to his actual appearance, his current appearance, and Alan knew the oddity that awaited him.

The next step, the fifth step, was C-rank, where Alan had lost his malnourished state completely and resembled an extremely fit human being, an athlete with slightly bulging muscles. The next was B-rank, where he only grew bigger.

The seventh step was A-rank, widely considered to be the peak of what a Human being not blessed with talent could achieve. A-rank was the ceiling for most. The eighth step was S-rank.

The ‘super’ awakened of Earth, all of them were celebrities, all of them were in important positions, and all of them were important assets. In S-rank, a Human being was able to tap into the ability of his race, the formation of a nascent domain, though full materialization took years, and even needed another rank up.

The ninth step was SS-rank; only a few human beings existed who were at this level, and they could be counted on both hands. They were the leaders of Humanity; in charge of the major guilds, the biggest corporations, and the strongest families. Alan’s body continued to grow in size and strength at the SS-rank, and then he moved forward once more, arriving at the tenth step.

SSS-rank, the gateway to the Epic Realm. His body did not grow in size, but rather decreased, but his strength did not wane; it increased several-fold. Alan was now back to his original appearance, but there was no way to move forward.

He had not reached the door, the final step, the platform upon which it stood was nowhere to be seen, and Alan could not move towards it.

‘The Epic Realm.’

The first step of transcendence, of shaking off your mortal limitations and achieving Godhood. The complete reformation of the physical self into something even better. But no matter how long Alan waited, that step never appeared.

The eleventh step did not appear, the platform never appeared, but the Illusory door remained.

Alan focused on the door and noticed its peculiarities now that he was close. It repeatedly glitched, certain parts of it vanished and reappeared, but Alan was still unaware of what the other side contained. He reached out with his hand, but the door never appeared closer.

It was still the same distance; it was still just as far away. And then, he noticed the ‘keyhole’. A certain part of the door was filled with something, the key. It wasn’t like an actual key, but rather an item he was familiar with.

The Ichor of Tiamat, Queen of Chaos, and the being of the Abyss was created to Imprison. That drop of blood appeared to be the key to achieving the state of Epic, but it was not safe. Alan was certain of that.

The signs were already apparent, and he had already been warned against hurrying to the Epic realm, and then…

His hand began to move once more, towards the drop of Ichor in the door.