As Alister narrowed his gaze on the ring, his hand instinctively curled into a fist. The moment he focused, a glowing yellow system window materialized before him.
Item Info Window
Name: Ring of Focus
Rarity: Epic
Description: A ring forged from the core of the 7th Dragon Overlord, Aloria. Known for her immense focus and unmatched ability to remove unnecessary thoughts from her mind, Aloria wielded this skill to dominate in both battle and strategy.
Effect: The player can designate a specific thought or memory to temporarily forget. The chosen thought will remain inaccessible until the ring is unequipped.
Alister’s eyes read the description, his expression hardening.
“The core of the 7th Dragon Overlord…” he murmured.
His clawed fingers hovered near the ring as if testing the decision he was about to make. Terra took a cautious step closer, her gaze fixed on him. “As I said, my lord…”
“That ring may be the very key to crafting the elixir without sacrificing the heirloom or our people’s future.”
Alister didn’t respond immediately, his thoughts racing. The ring’s faint glow pulsed as if it were alive, almost as if it could sense his hesitation.
“And what if those memories were suppressed for a reason?”
“Obviously, I was the one who put on this ring, although I’m unsure of the reason at this point.”
“For me to want to forget something… must mean it is something I am not prepared to face.” “Or perhaps something hunting my thoughts.”
Terra adjusted her glasses again. “Then face them, you must, my lord. You are the Overlord. Whatever truths await, you have the strength to bear them. Besides…”
“…do you truly wish to remain in ignorance, knowing the cost could be the future of our race?”
Alister sighed deeply, his clawed hand hovering over the ring. “Ignorance has never suited me, Terra. But if what you’re saying is true…” He trailed off, his yellow eyes darkening as he steeled his resolve.
He wrapped his fingers around the ring, then poked it again.
“Then it’s time I remember what I decided to forget.”
His scales slowly began to dematerialize around his hand, revealing the ring.
Then, with a sharp tug, he began to pull the ring off. The moment it left his finger, a surge of energy rippled through the mind space, causing the cosmic glow around them to intensify.
The glyphs Terra had conjured flickered and dimmed momentarily as a wave of raw, unrestrained mana erupted from Alister.
The ring hovered in space, along with the other items present, pulsing faintly, as Alister staggered back slightly.
His eyes widened as fragmented images and sensations flooded his mind… a kaleidoscope of memories, emotions, and truths that had been buried within him.
A silent system notification chimed.
[-?- has increased to 30%]
Terra stepped forward cautiously, her voice steady yet gentle. “My lord, what do you see?”
Alister gritted his teeth as he felt the memories from his second awakening… ones he never saw due to the ring suppressing them.
Alister stood in a wasteland, the Overlord’s heirloom embedded in his chest, changing hues. Around him, his dragon generals stood, and behind them, his massive dragon army. “Stay my dragons, we stand together!” Alister’s voice roared. “We are the last line!”
Befir them was the encroaching darkness writhed, a monstrous, amorphous force with eyes hands and vosces of this it had consumed screaming from it’s depths, a creature that devoured light itself.
A searing cold overtook the battlefield.
Alister’s body shimmered, the heirloom took on an icy blue glow.
Slowly, his appearance began to change. His silver hair grew longer, his eyes took on a blue hue, his horns as well, and the air around him became cold.
He transformed, his body encased in glacial armor, his breath freezing the air.
“Ancestor Fryst… lend me your strength!”
Alister whispered to the Overlord of frost whose essence he had borrowed.
With a wave of his hand ice storms raged, freezing the tendrils of darkness in place, but they shattered free.
He and his dragons surged forward.
“Lord ####! It’s breaking through!” roared K###ith, the Thunder Storm Dragon, lightning crackling from her claws.
FIZZLE
The memory splintered.
A scream echoed.
“K###ith!”
Alister turned just in time to see her impaled by spikes of darkness.
“No… NO!” His shout fractured the scene, a surge of water enveloping him.
Alister’s form changed again.
“Ancestor Gu’Razen. Let me borrow your seas!”
His hair became a short, deep blue, his eyes bright blue, his scales now shimmering like liquid sapphire. He raised his hands, summoning hyper-hydro spells.
Massive waves roared to life out of nowhere, in the form of multiple dragon heads, crashing into the darkness with relentless force, proceeding to freeze again as his form changed back
to Fryst.
“Hold the line!” bellowed Drkuen, his fiery breath carving temporary sanctuaries in the abyss, he and the other dragons of the Abkis void clan breathed flames from the sky above.
FIZZLE
The memory splintered.
“My lord, it’s not enough!” shouted Aeryn, the Sky Dragon, his voice strained as he sent gusts
of razor winds toward the darkness.
The darkness retaliated, tendrils lashing out.
“Drkuen, behi## you!”
He turned, too late. He was engulfed, the tendrils shooting out, pulling more of his clan members into their depths, a look of dread could be seen on Alister’s face, his eyes widened in
shock.
FIZZLE
The memory splintered.
Another scream tore through the battlefield.
“Not again… not AGAIN!” Alister growled, his voice shaking with fury and desperation, this time he was in his true dragon form, his towering body launching all sorts of attacks but none
were effective.
“What… a## you?” Alister’s voice trembled as the darkness formed a faint shape, humanoid
but grotesque. Its laughter echoed in his mind.
“A shadow ## your fail #res, Overlord,” it hissed.
FIZZLE
The memory splintered.
The battlefield collapsed into chaos. One by one, the remaining generals fell. Aeryn’s wings
were torn away, his screams silenced as the abyss swallowed him. Kaelith’s electrified roar
was snuffed out.
“Fight! D#n’t stop f##hting!” Alister roared, his voice ragged.