Naturally. His attention had already returned to the floating crimson relic before him. Now that the barrier was gone, the pressure pouring from the Heart-shaped relics became far clearer. No, Pressure was the wrong word. It felt alive. Like standing before the chest of some enormous sleeping creature. The relic pulsed once. His own mana responded immediately.
Amos frowned slightly.
“That feels weird.”
Elena’s eyes narrowed.
“Do not touch it carelessly.”
“That is a bit late to said.”
Before she could stop him, Amos reached forward.
The moment his fingers touched the crystalline heart.
THUMP.
The treasury shook. Golden veins of light exploded across the relic’s surface. Mana surged violently into Amos’s body.
“!”
His eyes widened. It did not enter gently. It flooded him. Amos staggered back a step as torrents of mana poured directly into his core.
Every single one of enchanted accessory hanging off him immediately activated in panic.
Rings glowed. Protective barriers flickered. One necklace outright cracked from sheer overload.
“Elena”
His voice came out strained. Something was wrong. Very wrong. His mana pool is expanding way too fast. Amos felt it happening in real time. Like an endless void suddenly opening inside him. His already abnormal mana capacity due to the Kyros bloodline swelled at a horrifying rate.
And then empty, completely empty.
Amos froze.
The sensation nearly made him nauseous. It felt like every drop of mana inside him had been stretched across an ocean.
“What is happening? I am having such an intense feeling of hunger!”
Elena’s expression sharpened immediately.
“The relic is restructuring and reshaping your mana circuits.”
“That sounds like bad news.”
“Young Master.”
“For the first time in my life, I think I may actually die.”
The Heart floated quietly above his palm translucent as if only he can see it. Still pulsing and hungry.
Then Amos’s gaze slowly lowered toward the silver vial beneath it. The Dragon Blood Elixir shimmered temptingly. A realization dawned on him.
“Oh.”
Elena immediately understood what he was thinking.
“No.”
“It’s paired.”
“No.”
“The heart enlarges the mana pool.”
“You do not know that.”
“And the dragon blood fills it.”
“You absolutely do not know that.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“It does not.”
Amos was already grabbing the vial.
“Elena.”
“Young Master.”
“This is a deal of a lifetime.”
“A one terrible deal.”
He uncorked the vial. The moment the seal broke, a monstrous aura burst outward.
For an instant, Amos could almost hear a dragon roar. The scarlet liquid glowed brighter.
“This feels like a terrible idea.”
“Because it is.”
Amos drank it anyway.
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
The elixir burned down his throat like molten metal.
GHK
Pain exploded through his entire body; his knees hit the floor. Mana erupted violently around him, whipping through the treasury like a storm. The crimson light from the relic merged directly into his chest while the dragon blood spread through every vein.
And suddenly, the world vanished.
A battlefield. Ash. Mountains split apart. Storms covering the sky. Amos stood frozen within a vision not his own. Then he saw him.
A man standing alone before a colossal dragon.
Golden hair.
Sharp golden eyes.
A black coat stained with blood. The resemblance was unmistakable.
A Kyros ancestor.
The dragon towering above him was enormous enough to blot out the heavens themselves. Its roar shook the world. Yet the man merely raised his sword calmly. Mana unlike anything Amos had ever imagined erupted around him. Pure gold mixed with crimson.
Dragon fire descended upon him.
The ancestor walked through it.
Then with one strike. He split the sky.
The dragon fell.
Amos’s breath caught.
Because of the eyes of his ancestor. Those same golden eyes looked directly toward him through the vision as if noticing him across centuries. Then the ancestor smiled faintly and spoke.
“I will prepare this path for you, just as the other who have in the past and those who will do it in the future, in preparation for your existence.”
The vision shattered.
Amos gasped sharply. Mana exploded outward from his body.
BOOOOM.
The treasury trembled violently. Elena immediately stepped forward, multiple defensive spells appearing around her. Then she stopped. Her eyes widened slightly.
“Young Master?”
Amos slowly lifted his head. His eyes had changed. The usual gold now carried thin crimson rings around the pupils. Amos could see mana itself. Clearly.
Streams of energy flowed through the air like rivers. The magic circles throughout the treasury became visible down to their smallest flaws. Even Elena’s mana pathways faintly shimmered before his eyes. The world suddenly looked simpler, clearer. Alive.
Amos blinked slowly.
“Oh.”
A distant crack echoed somewhere nearby. Amos casually glanced toward one sealed artifact across the room and understand the value.
Silence.
Elena stared at him.
Then at Elena.
“I feel like I am better than everyone.”
Elena finally calmed down and looked fine now.
“Then it's just the usual you.”
Amos slowly stood.
The Heart floated obediently beside him now. Like it had always belonged there. His enlarged mana pool no longer felt empty. It overflowed. Dense dragon mana coursed through his entire body.
Amos touched beneath his eye thoughtfully.
“Do my eyes look better?”
“Yes.”
A grin spread across his face.
“I knew it.”
BRGHHH
A low rumble echoed throughout the treasury. Ancient magic circles carved across the walls began lighting up one after another in response to the overwhelming mana now radiating from Amos’s body. Golden lines spread across the floor like veins.
Elena’s eyes sharpened immediately.
“We need to leave.”
Amos looked around.
“Is the treasury going to explode?”
“No.”
“Collapse?”
“No.”
“Then why are we running?”
“The defensive system has recognized you as a foreign threat.”
“That sounds slightly offensive.”
“Move.”
The Heart beside Amos pulsed again.
THUMP
Amos’s face paled.
“Oh, that is not good.”
Elena had already grabbed his sleeve.
“Young Master. Run.”
The two immediately dashed out of the treasury halls. The moment they crossed the doorway; massive layers of protective barriers descended behind them with deafening force.
BOOOOM
Golden walls of mana sealed the treasury completely.
“THAT DEFINITELY SOUND BAD!” Amos shouted while running.
“It means the emergency suppression system activated.”
“That sounds like being discovered.”
“It is.”
They rushed through the enormous corridors at alarming speed. Servants barely had time to move aside before Amos flew past them with Elena directly in front of him or rather dragging him.
“You are pulling too hard!”
“You are slowing down.”
“I absorbed an ancient dragon heart five minutes ago!”
“And yet you are still having time talking.”
“That is because I am one of a kind!”
The two disappeared deeper into the estate while alarms continued echoing faintly behind them.