Parallel Memory

Chapter 517: Teleportation

Boom... Crack, crack... As the arrow came into contact with my ice wall, it pierced through like a hot knife through butter, continuing its path toward me.

Unison Attack:an extremely powerful technique used by the elves, where two to five of them combined their mana into a single potent unit, multiplying the power several times. Being a high-level skill, it was difficult to master—only a few hundred had managed to do so, even after centuries since its invention.

This technique was their trump card, used against overwhelmingly strong enemies during the war to protect the kingdomʼs borders. It was invented centuries ago by an elven genius during the Devilʼs Raid. Relying on Elaraʼs ability to see the future, they would locate the strongest enemy and use the Unison Attack to annihilate them.

Amidst the incoming attack, I was preparing to infuse my dark energy into my sword and parry it—when suddenly, a bright blue light began to glow around my feet. Intricate designs blinded me with their intensity.

I recognized it instantly. I clearly remembered seeing it during theory class—it was a rune, but not just any rune. It was lost magic, said to have been used by ancient people before the discovery of arts and skills.

Unlike arts and skills, which could be activated at will, rune magic required the user to carve or create runes and then release mana into them to cast spells. One rune equaled one spell. Because of this complexity, skills and arts proved much easier to use in battle—possibly the reason why rune magic was lost over time.

A few seconds later, I found myself in a strange place. I couldnʼt tell where I was. It was dark, like the night, but thorn-like gemstones—resembling jagged icicles—reflected a cold, bright light that illuminated the space.

It wasnʼt a part of Eldoria—I was certain. The darkness here was unlike any Eldorian night. After a few minutes of searching for an exit, I suddenly sensed an overwhelming pressure—an immense mana aura that forced me to my knees.

I had felt the aura of Nock Fletcher, who was ranked SS, and I was certain that this one was many times stronger.

”Welcome to my domain,” a voice echoed.

The voice echoed through the air. It was deep, ancient, and oddly calm. I staggered to my feet, the pressure in the air thick and heavy, as if the world itself were breathing down on me.

”Whoʼs there?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

”I am Valor, the Verdant Flame,” the voice responded. ”Last of the ancient Dragons… guardian of the First Forest.”

I froze. An ancient dragon? Iʼd heard of them in old legends—beings said to control plant life itself, tied to the lifeblood of the world. But they were supposed to be extinct, wiped out centuries ago. And yet, somehow, Iʼd stumbled into the mind of one.

”Why me?” I muttered.

”Because you triggered the rune, one of the few remnants of ancient magic still echoing through this world. To exit my domain, you must find my true body.”

A glowing trail of moss slowly lit up before me, winding through the forest of twisted trees and thorny crystal. As I entered through the trail, it was as if a new world had opened up underground

I sighed and rolled my shoulders, still feeling the fading weight of that pressure.

”Of course itʼs never easy,” I muttered. Then smirked to myself. ”Still… Itʼs been a while since I stretched my legs.”

The first few hours were a blur of motion. Packs of mana beasts—wolves with roots for tails, insects bigger than horses, and strange deer-like creatures with glowing antlers—rushed from the shadows the moment I stepped close.

I didnʼt hold back. Raijinʼs Edge hummed in my hand, a familiar current of lightning racing down the blade. Every strike felt clean, instinctive. The wolves fell with minimal effort, and the forest began to feel more like a testing ground than a death trap.

I didnʼt mind. I welcomed it. It was much easier than in the tower of Obelisk.

Lately, things had been too quiet—politics, lectures, posture. But here, in this raw, untamed space, there were no rules. Just instinct, speed, and strength. I missed this feeling.

By the end of the second day, the air was thicker with mana. The creatures got faster, stronger—an S-rank mantis nearly sliced my cheek when I dropped my guard. That one got a little too close for comfort.

But I grinned like an idiot through the fight.

”This is what Iʼve been missing,” I said to myself.

Each night, I crashed under the glowing trees, letting the mana-rich atmosphere restore my strength. I didnʼt dream—at least, not of anything I understood. Shapes swirled in the dark. Roots twisted in the sky. And somewhere in the distance, I kept hearing that voice, murmuring things I couldnʼt make out.

Mana base came in handy during the night I could use it to camouflage while resting so the animals in the dark wouldnʼt notice me

By the third day, the forest gave way to something stranger.

A valley stretched before me, wide, glowing softly in shades of green and gold. Waterfalls hung sideways in the air, their streams flowing like art. Everything shimmered, as if light and time didnʼt work the same here.

At the center stood a single, massive tree—no, not a tree. A colossus. Its bark glinted like scaled armor, and from its roots came a steady thrum, like a heartbeat echoing through the ground.

”Thatʼs gotta be it,” I whispered.

As I stepped into the valley, the pressure returned—crushing, humbling. My knees nearly buckled under it.

But I didnʼt fall.

I clenched my jaw and kept walking, one slow step at a time.

The base of the tree shifted, then peeled open like a blooming flower. Inside was a cavern—alive, glowing. Vines wrapped around glowing crystals, and in the middle of it all, nestled among the roots like a sleeping titan, was the dragon.

Even still, his presence was overwhelming. His horns curved like a crown of thorns, and his massive form radiated life, raw, unfiltered nature.

Then… he opened one eye. Then a mist surrounded his whole body and took the form of a human.

It was unlike anything Iʼd ever seen. A glowing Red iris, with long orange hair with top knot.

”Youʼve done well,” Valor said, his voice quieter now, more personal. ”No mortal has ever activated the runes.”

I stared at him, sword still in hand, but lowered. ”So… what now? You going to test me again?”

Valor let out a chuckle.

”No. Youʼve fought enough. I wished only to see who had awakened the rune. And now that I see you… I am curious.”

I tilted my head. ”Curious?”

”You do understand that dragon heart of yours belonged to one of my kind,”

”Thatʼs that and nothing to be curious about,”

”No mortal could survive for so long after consuming the heart of an ancient Dragon of Chaos, whose power came from the dark energy.”

”So I am meant to die soon?”

”That is what puzzles me, you should be dead already, but your mana and dark energy are balanced almost perfectly.”

That was new because before I got the dragon heart, my dark energy was unstable; according to the dragon, it should have been the opposite. According to my memory from the novel, the one who discovered the dragonʼs heart died. This must be the reason, and the dark guilds were said to be the cause, as they might have found traces of dark energy.

”It could be because I could use dark energy before I got the dragon heart.”