Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 1560  Somnia Clan

Hundreds of years ago, the youngest child of one of the venerable Elders vanished in the spirit world.

The disappearance threw the entire Somnia Clan into chaos. A prince of their bloodline did not simply go missing.

For a Mind Dragon, especially one born of an Elder, the spirit world was familiar territory. And the fact that he had vanished without a trace was deeply unsettling.

The Elder loved all her children. She did not favor one over another. The loss of even a single child was a heavy blow to her, and this one struck hard.

Warriors were dispatched immediately. Search parties combed the material world and the spirit world alike. Ancient Diviners were consulted, memory streams were traced, contacts were evoked, and portals were opened to dangerous regions others would never dare enter.

They found nothing. Just that the lost prince was alive. That was all.

Dragons were rare to begin with. Their numbers were small, their bloodlines carefully preserved. Among them, Mind Dragons were rarer still. They were few in number, and even fewer in each generation.

Losing one was not something the clan could simply accept.

They searched relentlessly. Decades passed, then centuries. The effort never truly stopped. Even when hope thinned, they did not abandon the search. They never stopped looking.

Zagho Somnia was one of the countless Clansmen dispatched by the Elder to look for her youngest son.

Thanks to one of his relatives consulting a seer, he was able to learn that the last known location of the lost prince was this unassuming citadel in the spirit world. Of course, he was not the only one privy to this knowledge.

Many other Clansmen and even the more powerful dragons within the clan, known as Regents, had visited this floating island in the past. They found no trace of the lost prince, so they continued their search elsewhere.

Some were even so enraged that they wished to destroy the island, as well as butcher its puny, serpentine ruler.

But Zagho Somnia believed otherwise. If this floating island had truly been the last known location of the lost prince, then he was certain that the prince would one day return. Sooner or later, the truth of his origins would draw him back.

A dragon was not like other beings. Even without knowing what it truly was, it would still sense that it was different, greater, set apart. That instinct would breed questions. And questions would lead the lost prince here.

Many in the clan dismissed Zaghoʼs reasoning. They saw it as passive and uncertain.

Yet as the years turned into decades, and decades into centuries, even Zaghoʼs conviction began to weaken. He had waited for so long. He had seen no sign, no trace, no disturbance that hinted at the princeʼs return.

And though he remained on the floating island, doubt had begun to take root within him.

The only silver lining was that the flow of time was erratic in the spirit world, and the more time passed, the stronger he grew. That was how dragons — and most beasts of magic — attained strength.

The dragon leaned back on the tree trunk, gazing at the purple leaves with his piercing yellow eyes.

I want to go back home, he thought as nostalgia filled his heart.

The dragons of the Somnia Clan were a rare branch of dragonkind whose physiology set them apart. Their bodies and souls were naturally aligned with both the material world and the spirit world.

Unlike most creatures, they did not merely visit the spirit world through spells or rituals, they could exist there as naturally as they did in flesh.

Their primary homeland lay in a Plane of Reality known as the Primal Wilderness, a harsh and ancient realm where only the strongest fantastical beasts endured. It was there that much of their kind resided openly.

But that was not their only refuge.

Deep within the spirit world, hidden from nearly all other entities, they maintained another homeland. Its location was guarded in secrecy, known only to the members of the clan.

Iʼll wait for another hundred years, Zagho thought to himself.

If the Prince hasnʼt returned by then, Iʼll leave.

He then turned to the citadel and scoffed.

But not before eating that little snake!

Suddenly, he sensed a disturbance in the air. His eyes narrowed, and he slowly turned toward the edge of the jungle, near the islandʼs outer boundary, where the shift had occurred.

Several moments later, the faint outline of an arched gate appeared. A second later, a raven-haired youth in dark robes emerged from it and set foot on the island.

A human? Seated on the treeʼs branch, Zagho glanced at the young magus with an arched brow.

Another little insect trying to court death in the spirit world.

He shook his head in mild amusement. But the expression quickly faded. His eyes narrowed when a small gray cat poked its head out from beneath the humanʼs robes.

And then…

Zaghoʼs eyes widened.

***

”Whoa!” Valerianʼs eyes flashed with fascination. ”So this is the spirit world!”

While the young dragon looked at the multi-colored skies of this otherworldly dimension, Adam quickly spread his senses outward, looking for any potential threats.

He had been to the spirit world several times and had even faced creatures far more powerful than him. He knew the threats of this dimension better than most.

A few moments later, he silently heaved a sigh of relief when he sensed that there was no other creature on this island except the serpent inside the citadel.

Huh, itʼs grown stronger since then, he mused.

The youth looked around the strange forest and thought, The last time I was here, I saw several shadowy figures prowling the forest. I wonder what happened to them.

Adam didnʼt sense Zagho Somnia.

It was expected. After all, the dragon was more powerful than him.

”Brother, is this where you found me?” Valerian turned around and patted Adamʼs cheeks with his paws. ”How did you know I was here?”

”I heard your voice in my head,” Adam said as he gently kissed the little guyʼs head. ”You guided me here. That was also the first time I visited the spirit world.”

”Is that so?” Valerian tilted his head. ”So where did you find me?”

Adam pointed at the dilapidated citadel in the distance. ”There.”

His expression turned solemn, and he said, ”Little Val, if you want to find answers, then you must defeat the creature residing in the citadel. This is your battle, and I will not be helping you. Understood?”

Valerianʼs expression turned ferocious.

”Myu!”