"You're not letting this old heart rest," Akk muttered with a grin that gleamed unnervingly bright, even through the blood smeared across his face. It made him look less like a scholar and more like a lunatic drunk on his own experiments.
Inside the chamber, the [Knight] body rose from the cuboid. As Vikram stretched, his joints cracked like fireworks, echoing through the room. He smiled, but unlike before, when his breakthroughs had been met with genuine joy, this smile carried something else. A shadow beneath the brightness. A pressure that pressed into the bones of everyone who felt it.
It wasn't the [Knight]'s emotion. Vikram realized it instantly. No, this came from the slumbering presence that had now taken root within him.
A Dragon.
Or at least, something that carried its regal essence.
ROAR!!!
The sound exploded from within his chest. His very blood rumbled, vibrating with power, as though the dragon itself had opened its maw.
"Heh," Vikram chuckled, his expression caught between wonder and exasperation. "The little guy has quite the attitude."
He stirred his consciousness around the dragon-like figure coiled deep in his heart. It responded with irritation, roaring again in defiance, making his blood surge hotter through his veins.
"Living inside my body rent-free and still snarling at me... just my luck," he muttered, shaking his head. But even as he complained, the corners of his lips tugged upward. The outcome of the breakthrough exceeded his expectations.
To think the whispers of the Blood Immortal would actually bear fruit…
His gaze shifted to the towering shelves of Akk's chaotic library. "This time, I'll truly use this place to its full extent."
The Martial Inheritance of the Demi Asura was still carved into his soul, but that legacy leaned toward the [Barbarian] body. He could use it, but never wield it at its peak. What he needed now were Aura Arts tailored for Blood, techniques that could let him fully command this new, volatile element.
Meanwhile, in a Planet that had been totally abandoned. Jake lazily chewed on a stalk of grass, trying to pretend it was food, while Jay carefully worked at stripping sinew from what little meat they could salvage.
"When are we going inside the castle?" Jake mumbled.
Jay paused, mulled it over, then shook his head. "No rush. This planet isn't completely uninhabitable. The atmosphere doesn't corrode the mind or the body. We can afford time."
He tapped the polished silver of his gauntlet. His sharp gaze scanned the treeline before settling on Jake. "Let's be clear, we need each other to survive. But don't misunderstand. If you do anything suspicious…" He let the weight of the words hang, unfinished.
Vikram only smiled faintly. "Same sentiments here."
Jay nodded curtly and turned his focus back to the forest. "First, we need a map of this area. We'll explore-"
But before he could finish, Jake stiffened. His pupils dilated, his face went slack. Something unseen slammed into his mind like a hammer striking glass.
Vikram saw it instantly.
A key, coiled in living vines.A painting of a man smiling maniacally with hollow sockets where eyes should be.
This was where Jake felt that his Mana was running low, but he saw a additional vision... Something that disturbed him to no end.
He... he was killing... some girl. Which one, he didn't know, but he felt an uncanny familiarity that he had seen this shilloute from somewhere in his memory.
'Is it the women that the [Knight] was seeing?'
Jake collapsed, coughing blood, his body writhing as if his skull was being split open from within. His senses burned with chaos.
Jay's expression sharpened. He recognized it for what it was.
A vision.
A prophecy had descended upon Jake.
+++++++++++++++++++
When Jake regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the stiffness in his body. Every joint ached, every muscle screamed, as though his very bones resented him for waking. He was lying on a rough mat inside a makeshift camp, the smell of charred wood and damp earth heavy in the air.
He forced himself to sit up slowly, wincing at the pain that flared through his ribs. This was the price of prophecy.
The so-called Transcendent Technique he had inherited in this body. A gift that had reached perfection in the path of divination, yet still carried a cost sharp enough to leave him half-dead each time.
In the past, it had devoured his lifespan. He remembered those deaths vividly. The quiet rot of years stripped away in a single moment, until his body collapsed like crumbling ash. It had happened to him more times than he could count.
Now, at least, he had solved that flaw. His lifespan would no longer be consumed.
But perfection was never that simple. The pain, the collapse of his body, the way prophecy tore through flesh and spirit alike, these remained. A reminder that divination was never meant to be wielded so freely.
And he knew better than to think himself unique. Somewhere ahead on his path, he would cross others who had carved out their own "conveniences." That was inevitable. All he could do was prepare for the day he met them.
A shadow fell across him. He looked up.
Jay stood nearby, frowning deeply. His metallic gauntlet shivered as though it were made of liquid, rippling unnaturally with each subtle motion. His fingers tapped and slid across its trembling surface in precise patterns, like a man both controlling and restraining something dangerous. The sharper the tremor, the sharper Jay's frown became.
Jake swallowed, his throat raw from blood and fire. His voice was hoarse when he forced the words out.
"What… did I say? During the prophecy?"
Jay's gaze flicked toward him. For a moment, his voice carried no warmth, no intent, only a detached echo, as though something else still lingered inside him.
"For the key is forward, and for within. All those who are worthy, find it. The painting is like a canvas, forever incomplete, like the blind."
Jake rubbed his forehead hard, fingers digging into his temples. Useless. The words slipped through his grasp like smoke. He had seen visions, yes, fragments of vines, hollow eyes, blood, but there was no thread, no meaning to stitch them together.
Meanwhile, Jay finally exhaled. The gauntlet's tremors eased, the glow fading as he straightened. He tilted his head back, gaze drifting up toward the murky sky.
"My device caught the mana fluxion," he said flatly. "The interface readings from outside… it's a lot."
For a heartbeat, the strength drained from his face, leaving him looking older, decades older. The weight of exhaustion clung to his shoulders, as though every brush with prophecy gnawed at his soul even if it didn't take his years.
Jake wiped the dried blood from his lips, his expression grim. He didn't need anyone to spell it out for him. His interference with the Tome of Prophecy had always been measured, carefully restrained. For it to flare violently, suddenly, without his will...
It meant something else was moving. Something unseen.
Something dangerous.