How much time had passed?
Yujin felt his mind slipping into a haze. Echoes filled his ears, and it seemed as if hallucinations were dancing before his eyes.
As he moved his magical power to construct and maintain a massive magic formula, his limbs began to twitch.
While he avoided mana exhaustion by drawing power directly from Tiamat’s heart, his physical and mental state began deteriorating beyond what magic alone could remedy.
[Are you okay?]
“…It’s getting a bit difficult.”
Normally, he might have hidden his true feelings behind a calm demeanor, but he didn’t have the luxury for that now.
If Tiamat hadn’t kept speaking to him or soothing his mind through their spiritual connection, he might have already collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
Even so, he wasn’t at his limit just yet.
He had barely managed to inscribe a third of the visible bones, and when considering the remains buried deeper in the cave, there was still a long way to go.
Fortunately, Yujin was an Awakener. Unlike ordinary humans who would die after just three days without water, he was a superhuman.
Moreover, Tiamat occasionally forcibly separated his consciousness, allowing him to use other magic even while writing the formula.
Using that, he created water through magic to stave off dehydration and sustain himself.
And so, he poured himself into the creation of the magic formula for a long time.
…
More time seemed to have passed.
By now, the enormous cave was densely filled with inscribed magic formulas on every visible bone.
“Hah… hah…”
Yujin was on the verge of collapse.
How long had it been? Having lost all sense of time, he didn’t know, but Tiamat told him that several weeks had passed.
He hadn’t eaten for weeks. Luckily, the energy required to sustain his life was supplemented by Tiamat’s magical power, and his water needs were continually met using water magic.
Waste accumulating in his body was broken down by magic, and his withering mind was forcibly kept awake by Tiamat.
It couldn’t be helped. If he fell asleep while working on the formula, everything he had done so far would come to nothing. Worse, the accumulated magical power might spiral out of control and lead to disastrous consequences.
And so, several sleepless weeks went by. Yujin stared blankly into the void as he continued to write the magic formula.
His exhausted mind begged for rest, pleading for him to stop and take a break.
Why was he clinging so desperately to life in the first place? His mind whispered that he could simply close his eyes and find eternal rest, free from all this suffering.
Yujin, who was writing the magic formula in a trance-like state was almost tempted by the voice for a moment.
But then—
[Yujin!]
A voice jolted him back to awareness.
After several weeks of constant interaction, the familiar voice of that presence reached him and pullied Yujin’s consciousness back.
“…Haha, thank you, Lady Tiamat.”
[…Is it hard?]
“…Yes, it’s hard. But…”
He answered Tiamat and continued his reminiscence alone.
He remembered the time when he lost his parents.
At that time, he had mistakenly believed that he was the most unfortunate person in the world.
Who could blame him?
To a mere twelve-year-old, his parents were everything. The day his parents died was the day his entire world crumbled.
But as he continued to live on alone, he came to realize something:
He wasn’t special.
Everyone carried their own pain. Some lost their parents, others lost their children, and some lost their loved ones.
He wasn’t unique.
Everyone bore the weight of their suffering and lived on.
Yes, they lived.
That was life itself, the greatest blessing and responsibility of being alive. To think that only he could abandon that responsibility and still go on was nothing but arrogance and cowardice.
So then…
“I’ve already made a contract; what choice do I have?”
Shouldn’t I bear with this much?
Yujin muttered with a wry chuckle. His voice was cracked and dry.
He had already entered into a contract with Tiamat, binding their souls together. If he died, so would Tiamat. His life was no longer his alone.
And what would happen if he broke the contract? He didn’t know for certain, but there might be something far worse than the hardship he was enduring now waiting for him.
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t known it would be difficult. He had anticipated it, at least to some extent.
If so, he had to carry the burdens that were his to bear.
Yujin resumed his work, continuing to inscribe the magic formula. Crimson circuits were etched onto the bones buried beneath the ground.
[You’re almost there. Just a little more.]
“Haha, of course.”
Yujin regained some composure and replied lightly. By now, the completion of the magic formula was in sight.
Wooong…!
Soon, the magical power was inscribed onto all the bones like crimson circuits. Tiamat spoke.
[Now for the final step. Inscribe the formula onto your body.]
“Whew…”
Following her instruction, Yujin used Tiamat’s magical power to etch the circuits of the formula onto his own body. Tendrils of dark red energy spread across his form.
Soon, something that looked like a bundle of nerves or a magic circle made of circuits was engraved into his body.
[Next, activate the magic as I guide you with the knowledge I’m providing.]
“Yes.”
Then, countless magic circles of dark crimson energy overlapped around Yujin, forming a three-dimensional hemispherical magic circle.
These magic circles were intricate and beautiful, composed of letters and circles that sparkled like a galaxy. Gradually, the magic circles expanded and engulfed the surrounding area.
Fwoooosh…!
It was great magic Yujin could never have cast before. But the insights he gained from constructing the formula, the awakening of his mind by Tiamat, and the magical power contained in Tiamat’s heart had made it possible.
Layer upon layer of magic circles stacked beneath Yujin’s feet and all around him. Then, finally—
[It’s done!]
Rumble…!
The magic activated.
Wooooooong!
The magic formula engraved on the enormous bones began to glow. Soon, they started to disintegrate into dark red magical power.
A furnace made of pure magical power appeared around Yujin and imprisoned his body.
The preparations were complete.
Now, everything depended on him.
The disintegrated remains of the bones began to flow into the furnace. Massive flames rose up and consumed Yujin’s body in their scorching embrace. At the same time, the dark red powder of the skeleton began to rebuild and regenerate his body.
Pain. Pain. And more pain.
He felt a pain unlike any other, as his body was relentlessly burned and regenerated over and over again.
It was as if his very flesh was being tempered like steel in a furnace.
The overwhelming pain caused Yujin’s vision to flicker white.
Yet, even amidst this torment, he smiled.
He was accustomed not only to hiding his emotions but also to concealing his pain.
If anything, he felt a strange sense of relief that this long, grueling ordeal was finally coming to an end.
With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes…
***
It was a strange sensation.
A feeling of floating endlessly in the void. In the midst of my hazy consciousness, a scene unfolded before me.
I saw my father’s face.
I saw my mother’s face.
The two of them sat together. They were smiling warmly in my direction as they ate their meal with utensils in hand.
Before I knew it, I was smiling too as I joined them in their meal. I continued eating alongside them. And then—
“So, son, when are you planning to wake up?”
“Yes, son. It’s about time you got up.”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, their voices reached me.
No, perhaps I had been hearing them all along.
Or was this the first time?
Come to think of it, was this the first time I had spoken?
“Yujin, wake up.”
At that moment, I heard another voice from beside me.
It was a voice as beautiful as it was gentle, so sweet it seemed to melt both my eardrums and my mind. It was familiar, yet strangely unfamiliar.
Turning toward the source of the voice, I saw a woman with cascading black hair and crimson eyes looking at me.
Her beauty was as breathtaking as her voice… no, it surpassed even that. I was momentarily captivated when the woman spoke again.
“Come on, wake up.”
“Huh?”
Thump.
With those words, the woman pushed me.
As I sat in the chair, I toppled backward.
And then, I fell.
Endlessly, endlessly, I plummeted.
Down below, into the abyss of the depths.
That’s how my consciousness faded to black.
***
“…Ah.”
And then, I opened my eyes.
[Yujin! Are you awake?]
“…Tiamat?”
What appeared before me was Tiamat in her spiritual form, visible only to my eyes.
When I saw her face, I realized that everything that had just happened was a dream.
“…Ugh… What exactly is going on?”
[You lost consciousness while your body was being reconstructed. For quite a while.]
As I murmured while sitting up, Tiamat spoke. Quite a while, she said…
“How much time has passed?”
[About a month.]
“…Well, that’s not as long as I expected.”
I had assumed that Tiamat’s idea of a long time might be around a hundred years.
[I based it on your perspective, so naturally, it’s shorter.]
“Haha, I wasn’t expecting that level of consideration. Still, it’s quite surprising that I’ve been unconscious for an entire month. Especially since my body and mind still feel incredibly refreshed.”
In fact, I felt clearer than ever before. My body didn’t feel just normal… It was bursting with vitality like never before.
I asked,
“So, how did things progress while I was out?”
[The reconstruction of your body was completed successfully. Try moving around a bit.]
“Hmm… Alright.”
At her suggestion, I got up.
Boom!
“………”
The problem was that with just that small motion, the ground beneath me shook violently as if it might shatter. No, the cave actually reverberated heavily.
“…Huh, it seems like I’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
[Do you think it’s just strength? Although you haven’t obtained a heart yet, and your body hasn’t fully transformed into that of a dragon, your current physical abilities are far beyond anything a human could compare to.]
“…Hmm, it’s going to be difficult to control my strength.”
I moved my hand cautiously, and just that small motion caused a thunderous bang! as a sonic boom echoed around me. Tiamat saw this and said.
[Don’t worry. Once you become a full dragon, you’ll adapt to your physical abilities perfectly in an instant.]
“So, you’re saying I’m not a dragon yet?”
[Of course not. A dragon needs a core heart, after all. Besides, your current body is incomplete; it can only be perfected with a heart. As for your physical abilities now… they’re on the level of a lesser dragon. You know, like wyverns or drakes.]
“…Hmm…”
Wyverns and drakes… On Earth, they’d be considered disaster-level monsters.
Even in the Labyrinth Academy, drakes and wyverns were portrayed as extremely powerful creatures. And yet, from a dragon’s perspective, they were only considered “lesser”.
[What you just underwent was the first phase of reconstruction. Once you acquire the heart, the second phase will begin. In the first phase, I simply imbued your body with my remains. In the second phase, your form will be reshaped more efficiently and properly to match the heart. When that happens, your physical abilities and senses will become incomparable to what they are now. The magic formula was designed for precisely that.]
“Hmm…”
With that in mind…
I glanced at Tiamat’s heart which was held in my hand.
“So, what do I need to do?”
[It’s simple. Swallow my heart whole.]
“…That’s all?”
[Yes.]
It seemed surprisingly anticlimactic. Thinking that, I looked down at her heart.
For being the heart of the enormous creature that had left behind those massive remains, it was surprisingly small. Just about the size of my fist.
I brought it to my mouth and took a deep breath.
And then,
Haaap!
I placed it in my mouth.
Gulp.
I swallowed it whole.
Boom!
“Gah!”
The reconstruction of my body began anew.
Leave a Reply