“Just as I guessed, I can read some of the blank pages.”
While he was turning the pages with one hand, Mel could not stay in his place and began to roam around the fighting room. His eyes were widening and shrinking. Then for some reason, he calmly came near the tree by the river and sat under it.
“Buddy, I have news for you!”
He didn’t speak for a while, as if he expected the tree to ask ‘what is it’.
“Our days in the forest are ending. But don’t be afraid, you can come with me if you want. Actually, it is also possible never to leave this place. Everything depends on your choice!”
Mel fell back into silence again. But unlike him, the tree wrapped its branches on the young boy’s body as a reply.
“Ever since I stepped into the deep heritage, I have gained the right to absorb this cave into my Spirit Palace. We must start the preparations immediately!”
When Mel returned to the book, he saw the instructions for the purification of the cave. The requirements were not so many, and he was able to meet the most important requirement.
“Having the dragon lineage is the most important thing. Other ones consist of substances that will be used to provide the necessary energy.”
Within two and a half years, Mel had acquired nearly a thousand creature cores, but he only stored them because he did not know their function. Now it was time to use them. He got out of the cave and set up an order.
It was a five-pointed star figure, and at each point, where the two lines met, there was a small pile of creature core. Mel came to the center of the figure consisting of ten hillocks and sat there cross-legged. A few minutes later, he cut his wrists and dripped his blood onto the nearest creature core mound.
After this moment, the lines forming the order started to tremble. Not before five seconds had passed, they started to release their energy towards the sky.
The same symbol on the ground also appeared above the cave, energy arcs formed between the two shapes.
Mel did not spoil his calm stance. His wrist wounds were healed. Apparently, he was focusing on refining the cave and taking it into the Spirit Palace.
As the minutes passed, the arcs turned into a storm, the laws of nature changed in an area of ten kilometers in diameter where the cave was the center. The whole order turned upside down.
Mel was naked. To perform the ritual, there had to be no impurities on the body representing the sacred dragon body. The young boy opened his eyes, and a coral-green beam burst into the storm.
During these moments, there were some changes in his back. Two dragon claw drawings began to appear in the area under his shoulders. They seemed alive. Anyone, who looked carefully, could see them move slightly.
“Come back”, Mel shouted.
A vortex appeared in the middle of his chest. The cave was quickly drawn into this vortex and it disappeared by entering into Mel’s body.
The tattoo on his back dissolved into nothingness with the cave, while the symbols that appeared on the ground and in the sky also slowly dispersed.
Mel kept looking blankly where the cave used to be. He spent the most important times of his life here. It was his shelter where he threw himself after facing countless death risks. While inside, he thought no one could do anything to him.
“It’s time to hit the road. I have to follow my grandfather’s instructions to access the bottom legacy!”
He began to walk in a plain robe. By giving his back towards the sun setting down, he left the dense forest behind.
His physical development had exceeded human limits. Mel, who was almost fourteen years old but didn’t look younger than seventeen, continued his walk by resting two hours a day.
On the night of the second day, he left the borders of the forest, went down a cliff, and stepped into a seemingly endless plain.
When he looked back, he noticed that no one without a specific purpose could afford to climb this steep slope. Although he didn’t realize it while going down, this slope was high enough to almost touch the clouds.
“My village, my grandfather, and all my past have remained behind this high slope. Now it is time to hold tight to the task given to me. Wait for me, Green Shadow Academy!”
“Green Shadow Academy is where my grandfather asked me to go. He marked its location on the map. I estimate that I have two months of travel to reach there.”
When the young boy opened the book, he saw a map drawn on two pages. Aside from the Green Shadow Academy marked with a circle, many names and figures were on it. In the lower-left corner, the inscription Remote Realm was highlighted in capital letters. The place where he descended from the cliff-like high chasm was visible in the lower right corner.
By looking at this map, he discovered that the village where he was born was quite distant from other settlements. Maybe people didn’t even know that such a place existed. His grandfather must have chosen their village on purpose. He was hiding from everyone and was staying far away from humanity.
He did not get lost at night. The map was indicating the position of the stars and the ways to read them. Close to sunrise, he wanted to rest in a cave. Every day, when the night met with a light, he was having a two-hour rest.
He stopped at the entrance of the cave for a while. After being sure that no airflow was coming from inside, he entered. He walked looking around for a flat wall to lean against, but the darkness inside prevented this.
Then a flash caught his eyes and swung himself to the right. Mel realized that this was not something occurring naturally. Then a snarl resounded and he saw the huge chin coming to his head.
He got attacked before his eyes got used to the darkness. He was narrowly escaping the attacks by only relying on his instincts.
“Ahhh!”
Mel groaned with pain because of the giant claw that stroke his arm. He threw himself on the ground and began to roll until hitting a wall. But what he hit was not just the hard wall. He felt something soft on his back. When he turned in panic, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“So, that’s why!”
Four creatures were staring at him. They were as big as a one-year-old kid. Mel understood what was happening. He had unintentionally disturbed them.
“Calm down, I won’t hurt your juveniles!”
The drooling black shadow appeared one step ahead of Mel. Its furry body was over three meters high and the size of the claw that had just injured Mel was four times bigger than the size of a normal human hand.
The creature let out a threatening roar. By keeping its enormous jaws open and being on alert, the creature was standing as if it was going to sever Mel’s head at any moment.
“I said I won’t hurt your juveniles!”
Seeing that the danger had not passed, the young boy once again spoke the same words. But this time, he also released his own desire for war. The furry creature took a step back. The energy overflowing from the boy, who had a body at the half size of the creature, was activating its instincts.
Seeing that his adversary was retreating, Mel slowly stood up, left the cubs, and moved towards the entrance of the cave. As he stepped outside, he saw the garment that was covering his right arm was torn. The cut on his arm was passing through his skin and reaching his muscles.
“We entered in a death cycle, but you had a valid reason. I forgive your life today!”
When he came down from the cliffs to the plain, he took off his clothes and threw them away. He took one of the healing herbs from his ring and poured it over his open wound. After a second or two, smoke began to come out of his arm. The flesh was filling in the cuts and the area around the wound was returning to its former color.
He clothed the cut and wore a light top. The sun was reaching to the top and there was nowhere on the wide plain to hide from it.
