*CRUNCH*

Dorian smacked his lips as he finished swallowing the Brown Treasure Clam, pleased with its taste. He spat out a few pieces of shell, licking his lips.

Defeating the clam had proven easy once it was cornered, unable to escape. Unfortunately, he hadn't found any rare treasure within it like he had with the other clam.

-Red Salamander – Growth Stage: (4/5) Mature Adult-

– Growth Progress – 757/956 –

As he mentally checked his Soul Spell Matrix, he noted that his Growth Progress had advanced once more. He wasn't far off from reaching the 5th, fully grown stage. It seemed the clams were pretty nutritious, as far as energy was concerned.

-Brown Treasure Clam (Growth Stage 2/2) Venom-

Stored Amount: 63 mL

He'd also gained some more of the venom from the Brown Treasure Clam. He didn't have a use for it yet, so he mentally set it aside, focusing on what was in front of him.

The bones of the old, dead mage, and the pouch beneath them.

The first thing he grabbed was the pouch before him, assuming it would contain any treasure that existed.

His sense of touch wasn't as adept as it used to be when he was a human, but as he picked the pouch up, he could feel a rough, leathery feeling. Despite its appearance as an old and withered bag, it was still durable and tough, undamaged.

There was a clasp on one end. He slowly worked it open, using his claws carefully. He wasn't as adept at handling things as he would be if he had human hands.

The pouch began to tremble as soon as he opened it. Abruptly, a small gush of air blasted out, and the pouch fell down to the ground, where it lay still. Dorian stared at it in confusion, slowly picking it back up again.

'This appears to be a damaged Storage Pouch that was looted long ago. I can detect remnant traces of powerful artifacts and tools that once existed within it. The pouch itself appears to have had a lock on it that was damaged many years past, most likely in the process of looting it.' Ausra's voice popped up in his head,

'The space in the pouch fully collapsed when you opened it. Someone or something appears to have cleared out this treasure before your visit here.'

Dorian stared at the pouch, crestfallen. After journeying all the way here, he didn't even manage to find the treasure the ring had mentioned. Someone had already found it, and a long time ago too.

He sighed. It seems he couldn't always be lucky.

He looked back at the bones, staring at them curiously. They didn't seem any different than a regular set of bones, chalk white and aged. It seemed the mage that had died here must've died a long time ago. The people that looted his corpse hadn't, apparently, felt like burying him. He tapped on the bone, deciding he would at least bury the man, as thanks for the energy the ring he found gave him.

As soon as he tapped on the bones with his claw, his Soul Spell Matrix flashed. Abruptly, Dorian felt himself tremble, stumbling backward in fear.

The bones before him gave off an overwhelming sense of power and awe. Even though he only felt it for a heartbeat, it nearly caused him to faint from fright.

'You have discovered the remains of a Near-Ascendant human corpse. The remnant Spiritualized Aura is still imbued within the bones, but the Soul Spell Matrix and bloodline has long since left the body.' Ausra's voice appeared in his mind, informing him.

Dorian looked at the bones in awe. Just touching the long dead body of a powerful human for an instant was already enough to nearly knock him unconscious, even in this powerful, Red Salamander body. It seemed the peak of strength in this reality was far higher than possible back home on Earth.

'Can I absorb it, or make use of it at all?' He asked Ausra, staring at the bones intently.

The genie in his head was silent for a moment before responding,

'A full absorption would be impossible. However, by using the complex enchantments His Holiness created in your Soul Spell Matrix, it may be possible to condense the remnant Spiritualized Aura and store it. However, the process of doing so will cause the aura to fall from the Half-Step Ascendancy Class down to the middle of King Class.' The genie continued,

'The aura itself will contain no real strength or power, but could serve as an effective deterrent. Your physical strength will remain unchanged, and you will not have truly reached the King Class.'

Dorian's eyes lit up as he heard this. This was excellent news! The strongest beast he'd seen in these mountains was Grandmaster Class. A King Class beast was two classes above that! He didn't exactly know how strong each Class was or how they worked, but he was sure that possessing an Aura like that would be like a get-out-of-jail-free card to avoid dying!

'I want to store it, immediately!' He announced, walking forward next to the bones. It seemed he still had at least some luck left!

Immediately, a complex series of symbols flashed before Dorian's eyes. Hundreds, thousands, and then tens of thousands of symbols all interlocked, interlacing in a complex, mysterious pattern. Soon, these symbols began to form a long, wavy circle, and looped downward towards the white bones.

He watched carefully as they slowly settled, covering every inch of the corpse.

*FLASH*

An enormous blast of light shook the cave, blinding Dorian as the bones began to rattle and shake.

The next second, when he blearily managed to open his eyes, the bones had vanished, disappearing completely. A heavy feeling of tiredness settled in on him, crashing down relentlessly.

In his soul, the golden bead of light that was his Soul Spell Matrix flashed. Abruptly, next to that beautiful golden bead, a much smaller red bead formed.

As all of this happened, Dorian fell to the ground, exhaustion taking over him as the effort of absorbing the bones drained far too much energy from him, forcing him asleep.

..

The 30,000 worlds encompassed the entirety of existence. Each world was massive and complex. Some of them were paradises full of trees, mountains, rivers and valleys, beautiful lush forests surrounded by teeming oceans full of life.

Others were inhospitable, full of magma and fire, death and destruction.

Each world had two things in common, however.

The first: no matter the world, there would always be rare Magic Herbs or Plants spawning in them, due to the mysterious laws of magic, and, alongside that, powerful or mysterious beasts.

The second: All worlds were connected through World Bridges.

World Bridges, sometimes labeled as Half-Worlds of their own, were massive tracts of land, usually stretching thousands of miles long, and hundreds to thousands of miles wide, surrounded by spatial tunnels, that physically connected one world to another. They were incredibly mysterious, and a popular field of study for many wizards focused on Space Magic, or Spacetime Magic, or their various branches.

Every World had at least one World Bridge connected to it.

The World Bridges were like regular worlds in that Magic Herbs or Plants would spawn here, and many beasts and races would inhabit them. They were far more dangerous than regular worlds, however, due to the nature of the spatial tunnel surrounding them. Naturally occurring spatial storms were a rare danger that could wipe out tens of thousands of lives in seconds.

Three such World Bridges connected the world Dorian was on, the planet Hasnorth.

Flying through one of these World Bridges right now was an enormous black dragon. The behemoth was gargantuan in size, stretching more than a mile in length, and half a mile in width.

If one looked closely at the dragon, one would realize that the scales that made up the dragon seemed to shimmer and vibrate with strange power. If one was more astute and talented, they might even realize that this enormous behemoth was no beast at all, but instead, a construct of magic.

An enormous black dragon made purely of Black Lightning.

The dragon flew forward high in the sky of the spatial tunnel, twenty miles up, bordered the region of space where the spatial tunnel ended, and the chaos of the Untamed Space began, a region where spatial storms destroyed all possibility of life.

Occasionally, spatial fractures would appear, and snap towards the dragon, drawn by the concentration of magic.

Each time, the fracture would fizzle out and stop, just a few dozen meters away, unable to draw close.

Sitting atop this enormous dragon was a large black platform, where several dozen people sat on various couches or chairs, conjured up by magic. Most of the men and women on this circle were dressed in grey robes or grey leather outfits with an insignia of black lightning emblazoned on the front. A few others wore blue garments or outfits, with no insignia on them.

10 of the mages were sitting in a complex formation, black energy floating in a circle above them, and then streaming downward, connecting with the enormous black dragon and energizing it.

One man in particular stood out, standing at the edge of the platform, looking up at the space around him. He had long, wild black hair, with a muscular physical appearance. A strong chin and jaw complemented his rough smile, giving him a gruff look.

Small, black energy particles seemed to flow around this man, giving him an awe inspiring appearance.

A woman wearing a set of blue leather garments walked up, her long red hair floating slightly. She nodded at the man, her calm face and rigid green eyes, while not beautiful, gave her an imposing aura.

"Congratulations on your breakthrough Hadrion. To have become a Lord Class wizard at 26 years old… Very few can compare." Her voice was cool, vibrating with energy.

Hadrion shrugged, his eyes still calm as he looked out at space beyond. A light breeze streamed past, a result of the energy whipping about around him. No breeze could make it past the magic guard the enormous dragon emanated, protecting its riders.

"The Black Lightning Department has always had talented figures. I am merely slightly more lucky than the others." His voice was rough, as if he wasn't used to talking.

The woman shrugged, her eyes unmoving.

"Be that as it may, you are still the youngest Black Lightning Wizard to reach the Lord Class in the past 500 years. A most impressive feat. I've seen recordings of your battle with the Tsel Sundering Titan, a fight that wiped more than a dozen mountains out of existence. "

The man shrugged again, his eyes collected. He turned to look at her briefly before responding,

"We should arrive at Hasnorth in three more days. Inform your Fate Magicians to ready themselves for Foretellings. We are to hunt down the anomaly before the other Departments arrive. We were lucky to be in the area when the orders came down."

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