Chapter 29: Gifts

Akash was still lost in his thoughts, wondering about this mysterious Primordial Beast.

"A beast so smart that he had been able to almost kill 3 other Primordial Beasts. I thought Ancestor Turtle was the only one that was this wise and crafty.

He had made a huge system specifically created for cultivating a worthy successor yet even then, he waited until he found a suitable person, not willing to settle. He waited until the perfect person could inherit this peerless system.

Then, he finally gave it to me to complete the mission

However, unlike Ancestor Turtle's wisdom, this Abyssal Raven seemed far more sinister in his wicked plans, lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. This kind of unpredictable and sly person caused fear to sprout in Akash's heart."

"Don't overthink it, son."

The Omni Dragon who was watching Akash spoke.

Akash looked at him and sighed.

"Is there a way to hide my thoughts from you all?"

Omni Dragon laughed.

"Haha, yes, when you've reached our level."

A dragonkin flew towards them and knelt.

"My Kings, the carnival is ready."

The dragon loosened his grip on the temple and descended towards the land before changing into a human form. A 1.83 meters-tall man. Neither overly muscular nor too slender. His squinted almond eyes adorned with curvy black eyebrows and long eyelashes. Black curly hair contrasted his pale jade skin.

Akash looked at him scrutinizingly and asked.

"Is this your human form?"

Omni Dragon nodded.

Akash continued

"You could have taken a better, more handsome look, like Ancestor Sparrow."

The former humphed in irritation.

"First of all, didn't I tell you to not call my wife Ancestor? What a bad son. Secondly, a person does not necessarily have to be handsome to be loved by his dear ones.

Personality and overall behaviour mainly determine that. Outside looks, on the other hand, can be changed just like I did now yet a person's inner look cannot be modified so easily and precisely, not even by a Primordial Beast."

Akash eyes widened at the words of Omni Dragon.

"Well said, father."

Dragon replied with a grin.

"Why are you worried, by the way? You've already got all the necessary spices of beauty, brain and brawn. The only thing remaining is benevolence."

As these two were talking, the 10 Dragon Kings flew and took on their human forms as well before landing near The Omni Dragon.

"Alright, let's enjoy the feast."

Said the Omni King.

All of them then went to town. The dragonkins and grakkoths brought them scrumptious meals one after another with seemingly no end in sight. The dragons had insatiable appetites after all, and even Akash kept up with them.

After the feast, the dragonkin and drakkoths performed their cultural dances as the Dragon Kings recounted their tales of war to Akash. He silently listened to them with admiration blossoming in his heart with every new feat of theirs he learned of.

Akash calmly took it all in until he was informed that all ten of them were at the Cosmic Emperor level causing him to look at them all in bewilderment. There were supposed to be only 7 Cosmic Emperors in our cosmos as per Ancestor Turtle yet there were 10 of them in a now fallen cosmos.

He asked Omni Dragon out of curiosity

"Father, how many Cosmic Emperors were in your cosmos?"

"There were thousands of them, but they all perished in the war."

Akash eyes widened as if they were trying to pop out of his head.

"But... Ancestor Turtle said we only had 7 in our cosmos' history!"

"That's because Wise Turtle didn't pay any attention to his cosmos and spent all his time on finding the origin of everything. These other beings, who've been able to reach the Star God realm, are valuable warriors to Primordial Beasts like us.

At that point, we help them along their journey of cultivation but Ancestor Turtle didn't do that and that is why all those 7 Cosmic Emperors tried to kill him and take his position."

Akash was silent as he slightly doubted the wisdom of Turtle.

Omni Dragon replied to his doubt.

"Don't even try to think that Turtle was stupid. Even though he did not pay attention to everything, he is strong enough to wipe your entire cosmos out if he so wished. Even in a one-on-one battle, he is the strongest of us 11. His research opened countless doors to power, but he hated war and wanted us all to live in unity. When he realized that peace couldn't exist until all the cosmoses were united, he planned to choose a successor, which was you."

Akash cussed himself for even thinking such a thing about Ancestor Turtle.

"Indeed, I am just a frog in a well, unaware of the minds of giants beyond my feeble comprehension. For now…"

They talked about numerous topics afterwards until finally, the time of parting came, ending this fortuitous encounter, seemingly as quickly as it began. A wise man once said, 'Happy times come and go, but happy memories stay forever'.

Omni Dragon stood up and declared.

"It's time."

Within a second, all the dragons turned back into their original forms and started to fly towards the temple.

"Enter the temple."

Hadda told Akash as all the dragons sat on their pillars and Omni Dragon wrapped himself around the temple.

Akash simply nodded in reply as he looked at Omni Dragon once and moved in. He saw a square sea of blood. 10 different types of blood in a single container and they were all perfectly separated from each other akin to oil and water. Akash took a deep breath and dived into the first one and used 'Blood Feast'.

It was green and as thick as a swamp. Akash started to feel an itch all over his body until eventually, it turned into a terrible sensation of hot needles piercing his skin non-stop. It was the blood of the Poison Dragon King Duran.

After that, the second blood came towards Akash as a giant wave. Yet it felt more like lava rather than blood, Akash screamed as his skin was burnt off of his body. He could feel that his bones were exposed as lava went into his mouth and eyes, boiling everything. The blood of the Fire Dragon King Roro was excruciatingly painful.

Subsequently, came a flashy burst of water towards Akash, his body wasn't in pain yet his eyes were exploding with a bright light. Covering them with his hands didn't change anything at all. The blood of the Light Dragon King Daki had played its role.

Next, A chilling liquid froze Akash's body, he couldn't move nor feel as sheer frost numbed his body. That was the, aptly named, Frost Dragon Queen's blood.

Following which, a meteor fell on Akash's body and crushed him to the pit of the sea, he took hold of that meteor as it slowly permeated into his body, slowly relieving the bone-crushing weight atop him. The Forest Dragon King's blood was in solid form.

~THARAROMB~

With an ear-piercing explosion, thunder followed, leading a purple wave behind it and striking at Akash. That was the overbearing blood of the Thunder Dragon King.

Akash Tagar entered the zone of the 7th blood and immediately, he felt a cool breeze. Akash sighed as it rushed inside his pores. Suddenly, he felt like his entire body was struck with a blade, slicing it apart as if assaulted by countless of them. The blood of the Wind Dragon Queen was cruel.

Then, blood in the form of black smoke wrapped around Akash's body and engulfed him. He couldn't hear or see anything. He felt like he was slowly losing his sanity until that torture finally ended.

9th was the Blood King Dragon, his crimson blood entered the body of Akash, only making him feel slight pain, nothing else. He felt as if his blood got a huge boost in its absorption speed.

Until finally, an off-white thick and pasty blood invaded his body and his bones cracked once again. It was the same when he feasted on the Proud Sabretooth's blood, except this one was significantly less painful.

Last was the blood of the Omni Dragon King, azure coloured. As Akash touched it, he fell into a deep sleep, so calm and peaceful that he couldn't remember a time that even rivalled it.

~ 8 Months Later ~

Akash came out of the temple, his appearance hadn't changed much except his hair which now reached his feet. He looked at the temple and pillars but only The Omni Dragon was there, giving him a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Father, are the rest…"

Akash thought Sabretooth and Dawn vanished because they gave him their Chaos Dwellings but he hadn't gotten any from the Dragon Kings. So, he asked the Omni King.

"They are already gone… Those with Star Dwellings die right after they pull out their dwelling gem unlike us with Chaos Dwellings."

Evident pain on his face as he uttered every word despite his succinct explanation.

"They left some mythical gifts for you on their respective pillars."

Akash remembered the jolly times he had with them and gritted his teeth.

"All this suffering is because of those 8 greedy beasts, especially Abyssal Raven."

He murmured.

Akash eased his mind and jumped on the 1st pillar. A voice came

"Welcome back, New King. Take my Star Dwelling and this Poisonous Spear, made from my own body. You can give it to someone worthy, I wish I could fight beside you just like we fought together with Omni Dragon King. Alas, luck was not on our side. I wish you success, my new king"

Akash didn't reply, as he was controlling his sorrow, listlessly picking up the items before putting them into his inventory.

On the next pillar, he saw a yellowish-orange gem and a Pill Refining Pot as a voice came with the same message.

On the 3rd pillar was a bright white gem with 2 Dual Khopeshes.

The 4th pillar contained some Icy Pearls and a whitish-blue gem.

Reaching the 5th pillar of a gigantic dragon, he saw a mud-covered gem and two one-handed weapons, a hammer and an axe.

The sixth one contained a flickering long blade and a thunder gem, glittering in the trio coloured lightning.

After that, on the 7th pillar, a gem of a Star Dwelling and a long, extremely sharp sword, shining in a light green colour. It was so sharp that Akash had to pick it up carefully as opposed to the others.

The 8th pillar had a black smokey gem, and 6 short swords, with slim and invisible strong wires attached at the hilts. Tailor-made for an assassin.

Akash heard the voice and will of every dragon on their respective pillars before he stepped on the 9th pillar, where he heard the voice of Zidiro.

"My King, please forgive me for what I did earlier. I know you are here because of us, to avenge us. Please, accept my Star Dwelling gem and this blood staff that I made from my flesh, bones and blood. It will show its real worth in the hands of either a Blood Law expert or a Summoning Law expert. Farewell, and thank you for avenging us, in advance."

Akash looked at the staff and replied.

"No, I have to thank you, Lord Zidiro, for your gifts."

On the last pillar, he saw an egg-type dwelling gem, and an armour made of bones.

"Greetings, New King. This is the armour from my bones, nothing can shatter this armour, except the Primordial Beasts.

Give this armour only to one, who fights barehanded and prefers the Martial Law over others. It's my only request to you. We all wish you the best of luck in the future."

A sole tear rolled down Akash's cheek.

"I will find the one who truly deserves this gift, rest in peace, Lord Hadda."