Chapter 438 Seeking The Path



A few hours later:

POV Vesuvius:

The dragon submerged within the infernal hell of the solar corona moved his long neck in agreement.

The reaper-turned-small-boy widely grinned, revealing their tightly packed needle-like teeth as they raised their hands and politely bowed. The pale-bluish flames burst and devoured the small childish body as they vanished.

The dragon quietly looked at a single book lying on the floor of his lair. Ominous black shadows seeped out of it, spreading throughout the stone and metal of the floating island.

'Was it truly worth what I got out of this deal?'

The book wasn't free. It had the price tag of millions of lives on it. The cost was so terrifying that it would inspire horror and legends for millenniums.

Ding!

//

Name: The Book of Souls 2: The Death (copy)

Category: Divine Reaper Artifact

Grade: Legendary

Item level: 200

Effects: Contains the ancient and esoteric knowledge of souls. The second part, The Death, focuses on the transformations of a soul at the moment of its vessel's death and death of a soul. Read it to discover the other effect. ?

Warning: There is something extra sealed within it

//

'The Book of Death... ' Out of all the services he was offered, including enchanting his claws to have the deadly effects of reaper scythes, he chose this single item. The item that was part of the legends.

The book sought by many, the book that brought death and massacre with it.

'I am still even surprised they traded it. Millions of lives... was truly worth only that much?' Even though, at first, the prices sounded staggering to Vesuvius, he inwardly knew it wasn't that much.

Even though he could choose immediate gains in power, such as powerful and deadly weapons forged by reapers or even their death notes. However, that would be just wasting the potential of greatness to live just another day.

Instead, he chooses the book of nothing but knowledge. There would be no immediate surge of power, but he would gain access to the knowledge that would otherwise be almost unreachable.

'Phh, in legends even a few pages of this book was enough to bring chaos, and I have its full copy. With how restricted is the soul magic there is almost no information on it.'

The souls always carried the mystery and secrets of the true power. Without the knowledge of them, it would surely bite him into the ass in the future.

Sadly with soul magic being one of the two most forbidden magic schools together with time magic, there were low to no chances of finding any advanced knowledge on the subject.

'Maybe I will even find a way to enchant my power with this book, or possibly destroy souls and protect my own. No, maybe there is also a way to imbue my soul with new affinities or empower them.'

The possibilities were endless, which was why he took it instead of anything else.

'There are more parts, and with reapers having the part about death, I wouldn't be surprised if we dragons had the part about the life of a soul. Maybe reincarnation of a soul?'

As for its location Vesuvius had his suspicion, 'We have all the knowledge in our souls and DNA from the moment we are born. It is just that large portions of it are sealed or trigger only on specific stimuli.'

He was sure he already had another volume with him, but he couldn't just access it, 'Maybe I have to become a dragon king to do it...'

The dragon closed his eyes, focusing on the gold within his armor. He poked it with his domain, but there was no response. It just remained there, shiny, glittering, and beautiful as ever.

After finding the gold of the former dragon king, he was sure the path forward lay within the gold.

'There is nothing in my memories. So maybe the temple again?'

The book vanished, and the dragon flapped his wings as he raised from the burning solar corona he was submerged in. The scorching solar matter splashed everywhere, showing the black islands in their destructive force.

Instantly the dragon disappeared with a golden flash.

POV ?:

A player wiped away sweat from his forehead with his hand. A heavy stone brick strapped to his back weighted him down, but he paid it no mind. He hung from a ladder, high above the ground before him, only the smooth stone of the wall.

Determined, he climbed higher and higher, 'I can save people. My work will make the difference.'

No matter how evil the dragon was, he was determined to help them this single time. Until now, he quietly played within the kingdom, not wanting to have anything with the overlord ruling it.

He didn't support their wars or the regime in any other way.

'The dragon might be evil, but if I can save some innocent lives, it doesn't matter.' For the first time, he was ready to work for the evil regime.

He took another step, climbing up the tall ladder step after step. The ground quickly grew more distant, the workers running below him looking like tiny ants.

"Damn, move your ass! I have XP to farm!" An angry voice made him speed up, rushing upwards from the cursing skinny fellow below him. He could already feel his fuming on his ass.

'They think only of an XP when the lives of so many are at risk. Truly despicable.'

Usually, the mages or contraption were needed to carry the building stones to the top of the constructed wall, whereas, with his robust body and the other players, they could easily do the same, speeding up the entire construction.

He looked around in awe. Winged players were flying everywhere he could see, hauling stones in the expensive storage rings on their fingers. The soil shifted, and dozens of rocks flew upwards as the players with staffs waved their sticks around.

'This is like having a bunch of supermans running a construction company, simply incredible.'

"Where are you looking at? Keep climbing, or I will bite your ass!"

He sped up again, this time with fear, as he could already feel the warm breath on his ass.

POV Vesuvius:

The mountains and lakes quickly passed below him until the austere cylindrical temple appeared on the vast green plain.

The verdant green nature, without any sign of a touch of a human hand, calmed him down and soothed his mind.

With a flap of his wings, the dragon slowly glided towards the temple, his body quickly shrinking and compressing under the artefact that was now part of his body.

A thud resounded as he landed before the temple and folded his wings.

'It is the same as always. It is as if only a day passed since my last visit.' The plain stone walls remained without a single crack or indications of ageing, with the pillars tall and imposing as always. The golden statue of the dragon in the middle was lustrous, as if it was brand new, making the temple look like time paused inside.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward beneath the shadow of the temple's ceiling.