“Fuck, that bastard is too hateful,” Klaus muttered, rubbing his temple. He knew he’d been stupid this time. Sending his mind into something the senior had described as a Forbidden Relic was just plain reckless.
Still, he had to blame someone. The fact that he had run into the renegade monk again only fueled his frustration. He had learned the Nine Divine Soul Beads Art from that bastard, so if anyone was to blame, it was his past self.
“And how the fuck is he so damn handsome?” Klaus groaned, feeling an irrational pang of envy over Fruity’s good looks. It annoyed him more than it should.
He leaned back, not forgetting to take a sip of water before letting his thoughts spiral any further.
“I’ll wait until I’m strong enough to enter the bead again,” he decided, his jaw tightening with determination. He wasn’t about to give up on it, not after coming this far.
Klaus knew there was something more inside that relic—something worth uncovering—and he wasn’t going to rest until he found out exactly what it was.
“Dragons,” Klaus muttered, recalling what Fruity had said before sending him out of that strange space. For some reason, hearing the word from his past self as the Renegade Monk stirred something deep within him.
He didn’t know what it was, but he had a feeling he would find out soon. Klaus sat back in a lotus position and began meditating, clearing his mind while also pondering the strange sensation he’d felt when he heard “Dragon.”
Minutes passed, then hours, yet Klaus remained motionless, deep in meditation. He hadn’t had much time to meditate these past few weeks, so he took advantage of the quiet. Half a day drifted by, and still, nothing happened.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and a small smile tugged at his lips.
“That could work,” he muttered. With a flick of his wrist, a fireball appeared in his hand. He closed his eyes again, allowing the fire to rest in his palm. He wasn’t manipulating it or doing anything special—it simply sat there, flickering with a calm, infernal glow.
More minutes ticked by. The fire remained still, burning steadily in his hand, as Klaus continued his meditative state. Then, without warning, the flame shook—but almost immediately, it returned to its tranquil state.
Suddenly, Klaus’s eyes snapped open, flickering with an infernal hue. It was like those eyes of his were possessed by a fire deity for a moment.
The cave trembled violently and then exploded, sending debris flying from the mountain peak. From his back, a massive ring appeared—elegant yet imposing.
It exuded an aura of chaos. Within this grand ring, three star-shaped orbs that formed into a perfect triangle could be seen. Inside each orb, small golden, red, and white stars glimmered, each about the size of an apple.
The energy swirling around them was dense, capable of shattering mountains. Suddenly, the fire in Klaus’s hands shot upward, soaring into the air. He, too, was lifted, still sitting in his lotus posture.
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For a while, the flame just continued to flicker, shifting from red to black then dark gold, and then back to red. Klaus sat in the air looking at it with hungry eyes.
Suddenly, the star flickered and shot forward, entering Klaus’s forehead in an instant.
The moment it entered his forehead, his eyes rolled back, and he fell into a trance-like state while suspended in mid-air. The massive golden ring behind him moved, hovering flat above his head. From each star, beams shot forth, forming a triangular dome around him.
In an instant, Klaus found himself in his soul sea, but this time, he was far from the doors. He had arrived in a part of the soul sea filled with burning flames. His soul sea consisted of different types of elemental energies and this time, he was submerged in the fire-type space.
“What is happening?” Klaus muttered, his voice uncertain. But before he could get an answer, the sea of flames began to shake violently. He stood there, watching the fiery waves sway and crash against one another.
“What is happening?” he repeated his voice barely a whisper.
Suddenly, from the depths of the sea of flames, a huge egg formed, made from red and black flames. It shot upward, parting the sea just like the Eye of Malevolence did when it was awakening. The egg is massive, its surface adorned with swirling black markings, radiating intense flame energy.
The moment it surfaced, the entire soul sea trembled. Klaus felt his own soul boil with a terrifying, chaotic energy. A while later, the egg shook and then began to crack.
He watched in awe as the egg began to crack. He held his breath, waiting for what was next, his heart pounding. As expected, the crack widened, and before long, the shell fell apart.
Inside the egg was a ball of flame, roughly the size of five basketballs. The flaming orb suddenly vanished, and Klaus quickly sensed its presence shift. His consciousness was yanked from his soul sea, and then he opened his eyes to the outside world. There, floating above him, was the ball of flame, burning brightly in the air.
Suddenly, it began to swirl, growing larger until it inflated to the size of 50 basketballs. Suddenly, with a deafening explosion, it detonated in a blinding flash, sending a shockwave that blew the trees away.
Klaus, safely inside the protective dome created by the ring, remained unharmed. Instead, he watched curiously, waiting to see what would be left after the explosion.
As the smoke cleared, Klaus saw it. Coiling motionless in the air was a dragon, about the size of an adult human. Its body shook, and with a sudden boom, a wave of fire exploded from it, sending Klaus flying backward this time. He landed hard but never took his eyes off the dragon now hovering in the air.
This time, the dragon became enormous—about 20 meters tall—with four clawed limbs, a scaly red and black body, and two imposing horns on its head.
“Is this… a real dragon?” Klaus muttered, his eyes wide as he studied the creature.
“No,” the senior’s voice echoed in his mind. “This is a fire dragon made from your element. But it’s not just any dragon. It’s an embryonic elemental spirit.”
“Elemental spirit?” Klaus asked, confused.
“Elemental spirits are like you when you enter your soul sea, but they possess a unique nature. They can exist in both the soul sea and the physical realm. It’s not a real dragon, but it is a real dragon in a way.”
“So, it’s like a dragon spirit?” Klaus pressed, still trying to understand.
“Yes,” the senior confirmed, making Klaus smile.
Before he could ask another question, the dragon let out a deafening roar. The sheer force of it made Klaus feel like he was about to die.
“This…” the senior’s voice echoed in alarm.
“Brat, you’re awakening your fire element,” the senior said urgently. At that moment, Klaus felt his soul sea shake violently. Then from the back of the dragon, a large crystal, bone-like structure emerged.
It was the size of a person’s palm. However, soon, more began to follow. One by one, nine crystal bones appeared on the dragon’s back. Then suddenly, the form of the dragon began to change.
Its body stretched, growing larger. Klaus barely had time to register what was happening before he was lifted into the air again and stopped only when he was a few meters from the dragon. Now floating in front of the dragon, the nine-star tattoos on Klaus’s back began to glow.
A bone-shattering pain ripped through him as the stars lit up, but Klaus gritted his teeth, enduring it, knowing something powerful was happening.
As the transformation was completed, the dragon’s head began to shimmer. Like a mask shifting, its head changes, revealing another dragon’s head instead. Then that head also shifted, and another appeared. This happened eight times in total, giving the dragon nine distinct faces.
By the time the last head was revealed, Klaus’s mind went numb, overwhelmed by the intensity of it all. He was on the brink of passing out. But just before he lost consciousness, he heard the senior’s voice whispering inside his mind.
“The Nine-Headed Azure Dragon.”