Free Web NovelChapter 19: Chapter 19 — The Dragoness.
Kael was in a deep, heavy sleep. Having deposited his seed in his aunt’s bowels earlier that day, he felt a strange, lingering sense of satisfaction that allowed him to rest with an empty, drained body.
It was the dead of night, and Kael lay alone in his room, but slowly, he began to stir with an inexplicable restlessness.
A faint, rhythmic pulse of light began to emanate from his chest.
Had he been awake, he would have realized the glow was radiating from the very same green gemstone he had analyzed earlier—a stone that was growing searingly hot with each passing moment.
"Where am I?" Kael heard his own voice, though it was surreal; he could feel that his mouth had not moved.
It feels as though this voice is being projected directly from my mind into this space, he thought, his consciousness grappling with the sensation.
He tried to look around, but the darkness was absolute.
He couldn’t see a thing, even though he could sense that his faculty of sight remained intact. Panic began to set in.
"Don’t tell me I’ve managed to die again," he exclaimed internally, his mind racing with horror.
He couldn’t afford to die now—his adventure in this new world had only just begun. He had found a comfortable life, a family, and a path toward influence that he was loath to abandon.
Though he had only been in this world for two days, the connections he had forged and the potential for power he had discovered made him desperate to stay.
"Quit the whining, brat," a heavy, resonant voice growled.
As the words echoed, the absolute darkness shifted, bleeding into a deep, ethereal purple.
A luminous green glow began to outline a towering figure before him, its silhouette unmistakably resembling the ancient, jagged head of a dinosaur.
"Are you some kind of messenger of death?" Kael asked.
The scene was pulled straight from the pages of a macabre horror story, yet Kael remained unbothered.
If he were truly dead, there was nothing left to lose; if this were merely a nightmare, then this creature likely held no power to actually harm him. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Why be afraid when there was no stakes left to play for? That cold, analytical logic allowed him to address the entity with startling confidence.
"Hahaha! Grrr... Hahaha! I told you, brat: you are not dead, so be done with this talk of death," the entity chuckled, her voice deep, guttural, and undeniably female.
"Alright, I’ll take your word for it," Kael replied. By now, he was fairly certain this was some sort of mental or dream space, and that this entity had pulled him here specifically to communicate.
He had read enough novels in his previous life to recognize the tropes of an awakening or a hidden mentor.
"Listen, brat, I don’t have much time," the heavy, growling voice resonated through the void.
"I am going to circulate my mana through your body, and you will memorize the pathways to channel it yourself."
Kael was prepared for such a possibility, but he wasn’t about to proceed without gaining some leverage.
"Well, that’s all well and good, but don’t you think it’s a little awkward to continue this conversation when I don’t even know your name or what you are?"
"Just refer to me as ’The Dragoness.’ The rest of your questions will have to wait for our next meeting."
With that, The Dragoness began channeling her mana through Kael’s body, over and over again.
Once, twice, thrice—ten times, twenty times. By the fiftieth cycle, Kael could sense the entity’s energy beginning to wane.
As the final cycle reached its completion,
The Dragoness spoke again.
"Brat, you may not realize it, but you are very important to us, so do not die. Live well and do not lose the stone. It is the only thing that allows our connection to remain."
Her voice grew increasingly faint, losing its resonant power with every word.
By the time she finished her final sentence, the booming, growling command had faded into the soft, fragile tone of a meek human, a stark contrast to the majestic presence of a dragoness.
She had been telling the truth. It felt as though she had poured every last ounce of her remaining strength into teaching him that specialized mana-channeling method.
And she must have been referring to the gemstone resting against his chest.
At that thought, Kael jolted upright in bed, only to realize that he, his clothes, and the bedding beneath him were completely drenched in sweat.
He hurriedly stripped off his damp garments and scanned the room, searching for any suspicious objects that might have triggered such an intense vision.
The only thing that remained even remotely suspect was the stone still hanging around his neck.
He leaned over to inspect it, trying to analyze the gemstone once more to see if there was anything truly extraordinary about it—beyond, of course, its ability to manifest visions of a dragoness.
He tried everything: pinching it, pressing it, rubbing it against his skin—but nothing worked. It remained as inert and mysterious as ever.
While experimenting with the gemstone, Kael made a startling discovery: he was successfully channeling mana.
Based on the knowledge he had absorbed since arriving in this world, he knew it was nearly impossible for anyone to manipulate energy without first undergoing the formal Awakening Ceremony.
"It must have been that Dragoness," he mused, his mind racing.
"She must have left a remnant of her own mana within my body so I could continue practicing her specific technique. That was incredibly thoughtful of her."
Kael sat cross-legged on the floor, closing his eyes to test the circulation technique he had been shown.
He found that he could recall every nuance of the path the mana had taken during the dream, as if the memory were etched into his very nerves.
After practicing the cycle several times, he took a deep, steadying breath. He felt no adverse effects; in fact, his body felt revitalized.
Deciding that he had endured quite enough supernatural encounters for one night, he lay back down, his mind already spinning with the possibilities of his new advantage.
Kael headed to the washroom to bathe, feeling significantly refreshed after spending the second half of the night tossing in his sweat-drenched bed.
Deciding to forgo clothes, he made his way to his mother’s room. His mother was sleeping soundly, completely nude—likely finding it more comfortable given the hotness of the climate and the lack of any cooling appliances.
He climbed into the bed, nestling himself in Amber’s embrace and finding comfort in the warmth of her arms.
Truthfully, Kael felt a mounting frustration with his situation. While he couldn’t be entirely sure, he now suspected that his arrival in this world might not have been a complete coincidence.
A lingering instinct whispered that he was being drawn into some form of significant power struggle, whether he liked it or not.
Kael was no warrior.
He had no desire to be a hero or a pawn in someone else’s game; he simply wanted to live, indulge his desires, and enjoy his existence for as long as it lasted.
With these heavy, uncertain thoughts swirling in his mind, the exhaustion of the night finally caught up to him, and he drifted back into a deep, dreamless sleep.
****
Advance Chapters of this Is now Available on Patreon. Together with Exclusive Character Arts.
100 Powerstones For A Bonus Chapter.
Check it out
patreon.com/ITz_DeaD
