A/N: Sorry for disappearing for so many days. I had exams, and after barely studying the entire semester, I at least wanted to put in some effort before getting cooked by reality. But the exams are finally over, and the updates are resuming from today.
Only 1 Chapter today, but starting tomorrow, I’ll consistently upload 2 Chapters daily again. That little break helped clear my mind a lot... though this heat is trying its absolute best to evaporate my soul out of existence. Truly amazing weather. Very enjoyable. 10/10 experience.
Stay hydrated, everyone, unless you also want to become roasted chicken under the summer sun.
Anyway, enjoy the Chapter. ✨
****
According to Snow, getting the Sacred Trident of the Mermaid race was not that hard, what truly made things difficult for her was finding the place where they lived within that vast sea, where everything stretched the same in every direction and even the sense of distance slowly lost meaning the deeper she went.
And with powerful sea monsters dwelling at the bottom of the sea along with countless broken dungeons scattered across those dark depths, the ocean itself was an extremely terrifying place to travel, because danger was not something that appeared occasionally but something that followed her at every step without pause.
She needed to increase her rank if she wanted to move faster and feel more confident while carrying out this task, which was challenging at first as she had to face one threat after another without rest, but the more she faced those threats, the more easier it became for her to grow stronger, as if each encounter with monsters were making her strong.
Her bloodline abilities, coupled with the passive effects of the runes, made her growth far from normal, allowing her to adapt and become stronger at a very fast rate with every fight she went through, her strength rising in a way that did not slow down even for a moment.
In fact, her growth rate was even more astonishing than Ash, because within just a few years she rose from the very bottom to the Overlord rank, which is equal to the Mythical Rank for humans.
And the reason behind her fast rise in rank was nothing but her overpowered abilities.
════════ " STATUS " ════════
[Name] – Snow
[True Name] – Keeper of Endless Dream
[Title] – Dream Harvester, Second Dreamer
[Race] – Eternal Dream Serpent
[Biological Age] – 5 Years
[Soul Age] – 5 Years
[Rank] – Overlord (SS)
[Bloodline] – Bloodline of the First Dreamer.
[Lifespan] – 1,00,000 years
[Potential] - ∞ (Infinite)
[Gender] - Female
[Affinity] - Life • Death • Space • Time • Dream • Void • Water • Aether • Poison.
══════ " BLOODLINE ABILITIES " ══════
Absolute Magic Immunity (Attacks of Same rank and lower) • Spatial Step • Soul Scent • Toxin Adaptation • Soul Bound • Clairvoyance • Night Vision • Telepathy • Telekinesis.
Illusionary Dream • Dream Manipulation • Dream Seed • Dream Devour • Dream Walking • Dream Collapse • Dream Veil • Dream Sovereignty • Dream Rebirth • Nightmare Ascension • Dream Vault.
Flight • Hibernation • Size Manipulation • Shapeshifting
══════ " RUNE BOUND ABILIIES " ══════
Blind Authority • Immortal • Void Born • True Equilibrium • Mirror Growth • Unified Self • Crown of Thought • Immutable Vitality • Truth Sense • Arcane Foresight • Singularity Lock
══════ " MASTER "══════
-The Forsaken One (Ash Burn)
═════════════════
When Ash first saw the Status Window of Snow after her recent Evolution, he was left speechless, because her abilities were truly something far beyond his expectations.
From Primordial Serpent to Eternal Dream Serpent, Ash had no idea what to even say when he first saw that change, because the difference between those two was not something that could be explained with simple words.
Even the Status Window had not been able to show the true abilities of Snow in the past, which meant that many aspects of her had always remained hidden from him, things that only now were slowly becoming visible.
From Divine Serpent to Primordial Serpent and then to Eternal Dream Serpent, it was one hell of an evolution, a path that was defying all Evolutions, if Ash was left out, of course.
From the looks of it, Snow had always been destined to have some connection with dreams, because he clearly remembered that one of her affinities had been completely filled with question marks, something that had not made sense to him at that time, but now it was not hard to guess that it was related to Dream affinity.
It had not awakened back then, but it seemed that once Snow managed to awaken it, her abilities underwent a noticeable change, shifting into something far more complex and dangerous than before.
Although Ash still had no clear idea about what exactly had changed in Snow after her recent evolution, because even before this, he had not been able to see such detailed information about her abilities the way he could now.
Even Snow herself did not fully understand it, because according to her, she had only acted on instinct, planting Dream Seeds into every weaker enemy she encountered, and then using Dream Devour to harvest those dreams, slowly strengthening herself with each successful attempt.
She continued doing this while searching for the mermaid kingdom, not leaving behind any monster or beast that could be used to fuel her growth.
Of course, she had her limitations, because her abilities could only work on targets that were around her level, and if she tried to use them on someone significantly stronger, she would be discovered instantly and get killed.
How did Ash know this?
Because Snow had already died a few times.
But each time, with the help of the Rune of Death, she managed to escape death.
And Ash was really guilty for that.
**
[True Name - Keeper of Endless Dream]
[Primordial and boundless, where dreams stretch into infinity and time dissolves into nothingness. Reality melts into illusion, and illusion becomes reality, as dreams and nightmares of all intertwine, holding the fragile edge between what is and what is not.]
**
Tsk, tsk, I don’t understand it completely, but it certainly feels powerful, and at least it gives me some idea of what to expect in the future huh....
Ash thought as he stood on the rooftop of the shop, his gaze fixed on an invisible screen that only he could see, his eyes moving slightly as if following lines of information.
To anyone looking from the outside, he would appear still, simply standing there while the streets below carried on with their usual movement and the high rise buildings stood quietly in the distance, the city alive in its own rhythm while his attention remained completely elsewhere.
After taking the Rune from Snow, he had left her with Eva to play, knowing she would be fine and that Eva would keep her occupied, because what he needed to do next required his full attention, as he wanted to absorb the Rune, but more than that, he wanted to properly understand the changes Snow had undergone.
Thus, he began going through everything once again, he carefully read the description of every unknown detail that appeared before him.
**
[Race – Eternal Dream Serpent]
[An evolved existence that transcended its origin to become something born between dreams and reality. Illusion and truth flow as one within it, growing stronger as its dream awakens and takes form.]
**
[Title – Dream Harvester]
[One who gathers and devours dreams, turning fragments of slumber into strength and shaping them into power.]
[Title – Second Dreamer]
[The one who walks the path of Dreams and Nightmare after the First Dreamer, touching the same endless dream yet never becoming the origin.]
**
[Bloodline of the First Dreamer]
[A bloodline born from the origin of all dreams, where thoughts take shape and illusion breathes like reality. It grants dominion over dreams and the power to shape, enter, and consume them, growing stronger as the Dreamer’s dream deepens.]
**
Ash fell into a very deep thought after reading through everything, and as one could expect, he was deeply shaken, because what he had just understood was not something that could be ignored or taken lightly.
The Dreamer felt like a very ancient existence, something that stood at the very beginning of its kind, almost like the first being who had ever dreamed, or something close to that, and even though the idea was difficult to fully grasp, the weight behind it was clear enough for him to understand that it was not ordinary.
It was confusing, yet at the same time, it carried a strange clarity, as if the meaning was simple but the scale behind it made it hard to accept completely.
Whatever it was, at least Ash knew one thing for certain, which was that something significant was bound to happen in the future, something that would not be simple, and certainly not safe.
With my damn luck, the more good things I get, the more dangerous, ominous and horrifying things I will have to face in the future...
At this time the words of that Old man come to my mind.....
{With great good luck comes the greatest bad luck.}
"But if I look at it, when it was the last time I talked with him. Was it not? Who knows where he is now. Also if one looked at it, nothing that bad has happened to me after the Old man said those words, right..??"
For a brief moment, thoughts regarding all those things lingered in his mind.
Alas, if only Ash knew that he had already lost Elysia, only then would he realize that his bad luck had already begun to affect the people close to him in ways he had not yet seen.
Unicorn Family, Academy Students, Akumia, Elysia...
"But I guess, I don’t need to fear about luck anyways, I am free from luck right?"
"Right??"
Ash asked this question to himself, his gaze unfocused for a moment as the thought circled in his mind without an answer.
His luck was 0, and even a normal person had at least a few points in luck, while those considered unlucky had negative values, making his situation something that stood completely outside the norm, something that could not be easily defined as good or bad.
It doesn’t matter, no situation is good or bad, it depends on the person to make even the worse situation good....
Shaking off those thoughts, Ash moved forward and went through the abilities of Snow one by one, and most of them were within his expectations, because their functions could be understood just by their names without much effort.
Though there was one thing that truly caught his attention, and that was the Dream Vault.
Because this was an ability that could literally store even Runes within it, something that should not have been possible under normal conditions, making it stand out immediately.
If one recalled properly, Snow could also access Ash’s Soul Vault and store items within it, but the reason she had chosen to store the Rune inside her Dream Vault instead of the Soul Vault was because storing something inside the Soul Vault required time.
Due to the vast distance involved and the heavy drain each use caused her, it was not practical in urgent situations, and when she realized that she could store it inside her Dream Vault without facing much backlash, she naturally chose the better option without hesitation.
Anyways, it’s a good thing for me....now with Snow in the picture, I have another ace up my sleeve....against the unknown future.....
Ash knew that there would come a day when he would have to face enormously powerful beings, and not just them but also their considerable armies, because the path he had stepped onto was not one that allowed retreat.
After all, he needed to find the other Runes as well, and retrieving them might require force, and there could even be people who had already absorbed those Runes, making conflict unavoidable.
He could not back out from it.
That’s why I need to become as strong as possible no matter what....
Ash clenched his fists tightly as a steady flame of determination and ambition burned within his eyes.
And with that, he slowly closed his eyes and entered his Soul Space, summoning the Sacred Trident without any hesitation, though its presence paled in comparison to his Soul Tree, but Ash paid that thought no heed.
Then, after letting a drop of his already stored blood fall onto the trident, he muttered softly, his voice calm, but carrying a quiet anticipation.
"RUNE OF ....."
***