Chapter 315: Thawing A Frosted Heart

Name：The Dragon of Dreams Author：
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Chapter 315: Thawing A Frosted Heart

N/A - N/A : The Mallory Area | Lunar Derelict District

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One hundred and three years—just over a century.

For a creature barely over twenty, it was an eternity—an amount of time I couldn't fathom.

-But.. even if I want to deny it... How else would I have grown this much...- Now towering nearly 61 meters, I grew nearly 23 meters taller, with my wingspan growing to match and my tail growing far longer with some frills appearing on the end. With the additional height, I also seemed to grow out of my young, stocky stature, looking far more balanced while still maintaining a more muscular form.

-It seems my scales are somewhat metallic now, too...- Although they were far from mirrors, considering they were completely matte previously, any hint of sheen was quite a change, even within the fog of hydrogen surrounding me.

Among other changes, my horns had grown quite significantly, with many more spikes sprouting around my body as well.

But somehow, even though I looked like an entirely different dragon, my looks weren't the part that changed the most.

That award, at least then, was held by my aura.

Now stretching outward almost a hundred kilometers in every direction, I went from having complete control of my aura to essentially nothing, only being able to roughly control it out to about 12 kilometers and read it for about... "ACK-FUCK!" I yelped in pain the moment I tried to read my aura out to just a kilometer.

-Holy shit, that hurt...- Before my dragon sleep, I had no issues reading my entire aura, spanning about a kilometer in every direction, but now, the moment I tried even half of that, it felt like my brain was overloaded with information. -What the hell?-

Momentarily slowing my thoughts to let my aching brain catch a break, I isolated a microscopic portion of my mana to read, but the moment I looked through it, my confusion only worsened. -What am I even looking at?-

On a scale much smaller than atoms, I was seeing an inexplicable fuzz, sort of like static, that seemed to originate from nothing. -No fucking wonder it hurt when I tried to read it out to a kilometer... But why?-

I was at a complete loss, but the moment I tried to look at it with some space mana, it became extremely obvious.

-It's.. space mana?- I furrowed my brows in confusion as I pulled my head back.

All throughout my aura, there was now space mana present, constantly exuding from my body, just like normal mana. -The hell?-

Quickly looking toward my reserve, I tried to find my attribute nodes but only found 6, all tightly clumped while now touching my reserve itself. -What the.. where even is my space mana node?- But after seeing the space mana within my aura flowing straight from my reserve, I noticed it. -What the.. did my reserve itself blend with it?-

To some, it was a change that may not sound like it'd do much, but it was actually quite the opposite.

On one hand, space mana was so fine that even when spread into a thin layer like it was in my aura, it would increase the detail of whatever I was reading to such an extent it hurt. -I can't hardly read any of my aura anymore without feeling like my head is splitting apart because of it...-

But on the other hand, with space mana now integrated within my aura, I could create gates and spells that used it with unrivaled speed and efficiency. -It's a bit of a monkey's paw.. a curse with a blessing.. but just having to figure out a new method to read my aura feels a little cheap for such a benefit...-

Looking to the horizon, I got ready to test it out by creating and detonating some antimatter, but before I could even start, I was stopped by an odd hint of discomfort. -Huh?- It was a discomfort I hadn't felt in a very long time, but I recognized it instantly, regardless of that.

-Is this.. my third form?-

Fresh at the forefront of my mind was a transformation spell nearly identical to what I used to switch to my true humanoid form, with only the smallest of details differing. -It's a natural transformation spell?- Essentially, it was a spell that followed genetics like the true humanoid transformation spell. -But don't dragons only have two sections to their genetics?-

Deciding to simply go for it, I fed the spell mana just as my instincts instructed and closed my eyes.

*LIIIIIICK* He immediately cut me off as he licked my comparably huge nose before pressing his nose back into it and staring deep into my eyes with a seemingly limitless excitement.

A wave of relief so immense it made tears come to my eyes instantly washed through my body. -He's.. really back...- "You're really back!" Using my aura to pull him closer, my tail began to wag uncontrollably. "I thought I lost youuuu!"

As I nestled my snout against him, he climbed up, licking away the tears streaming down my face as if to tell me I shouldn't cry.

But in that moment, nothing else mattered.

I was lost in the moment, wrapped up in the emotion of having him back. His familiar presence, his warmth, and even the rhythmic wagging of his tail brushing against my belly comforted me in a way that words could hardly capture.

But after just a moment, he suddenly pulled back slightly, his piercing gaze analyzing mine with a sense of relief, longing, and.. mischief?

The next thing I knew, he hopped up in the air before slamming his face into my chest, nuzzling his head into my fur like a fox trying to burrow before playfully rolling onto his back.

"Haha." My chuckle immediately lifted the weight of a mountain range off my mind. "You like my fur?"

He immediately rolled back over after squirming for a moment before looking me straight in the eyes and nodding with determination, only to continue rolling around again immediately after.

"Pfft, you little-" *Fwip* Rolling over, I moved him off of me before rubbing my face into his belly as he did mine. "Now it's my turn!"

But rather than simply letting me get away with it, he reached up and started gnawing on one of my horns. *knack-knack*

"Hey! Those aren't for chewing!" Quickly standing up, I picked him almost completely off the ground while he held onto my horn before looking at him with a pout.

But rather than feeling any negative desire, I was thankful, limitlessly thankful to have him back. -And well.. I guess even if this form doesn't end up having many real benefits.. at least Ilios likes it...-

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