Adventures of the last Wild Dragon

Chapter 261 261: Understanding & How to Advance

The two companions stood in silence for some time. Violet especially needed this time to come to terms with the horrifying reality of the fact that she very nearly lost her sense of self, if it wasn't for Luna's quick intervention she had no idea how things could have turned out.

An involuntary shudder ran throughout Violet's body as her mind flashed through the final moments of the elderly dragon unbidden. The feeling of all encompassing loss and rage, emotions that eclipsed the culmination of every emotion Violet has felt in her entire life combined.

The sheer magnitude of that beasts emotional capacity is staggering.

Then she found herself beginning to fall back into the darkness of recollection as her vision began to narrow. A sharp pain in her side snapped Violet out of that state, she looked down to find that Lina had decided that smacking Violet in the side was an apt way to snap her out of the memories.

Despite wanting it not to have worked, Violet knew that the sharp pain was key in awakening her from the accumulated memories.

"T-thanks." Violet managed to get out after several shaky breaths. Her words were simple yet contained the weight of her own emotions.

Luna smiled up at her draconic companion, butting her head against the neck of Violet's own in a show of her affection. "Silly Violet, I'll always be here for you, just as you will always be there for me." Her words were like a balm to Violet's frayed emotions, allowing her the chance to begin truly centering herself.

She continued. "But how are you actually doing? That was… something unlike anything I have ever heard of. I-I felt you begin to disappear. But. You came back to me." Their was a gap before the very last sentence that displayed the fear that Luna felt during that moment at the prospect of loosing her Violet.

Violet was silent for some time as she simply basked in the comforting presence of her companion. Eventually however, she spoke, her voice hesitant at first yet steadily gaining solidity the more she expressed herself.

"It, it was scary at first. Their was just so much to process, so many lives I lived. They became my everything, I lost track of me in the mess of memories. Then their was the final memory, of the old dragon and his final moments. I, I don't know exactly what it was that he did, but I think it was him that caused this ball of memories to form."

She took another moment to gather her thoughts before continuing. "I think he wanted his people's memories to be remembered, for their sacrifice to not be for nothing. And it was only through another dragon that these memories could be accessed."

She shook her head slowly, as she once more thought back on the sensations ran through her mind. "But, it wasn't just parts of their lives that I experienced, it was more."

As she paused once again Luna took that moment to speak up, understanding where Violet wanted to go with her words. "It was knowlage, it contained the knowlage and insights of those ancient dragons. Knowlage about sovereignty and how to both advance through the tier and how to best utilise one's strength."

It was true, whilst some of the memories were of young dragons, their was enough memories of older more powerful dragons showcasing how they utilised and developed their domains.

From the dragon that swam through the water, expanding her domain to become one with the world around her. To the elderly dragon who utilised his domain to encapsulate the collective memory of all of his dead kin.

It was a condensed and highly informative packet of information about the next stage of their strength. A stage that they would be required to advance through if they wanted any chance of dealing with the dangers that awaited them in the near future.

Their current strength, whilst truly impressive for ones as young as they, was not enough to deal with the challenges that awaited them going forward.

They had Experian ed that first hand during the siege of Craigkieth where the simple presence of tier 5 foes had upended the entire battlefield and left them as naught but fish being swept away in the current. Whilst their group had managed to assist in finishing off one of those Tyrants, they had only managed to even damage it thanks to the being already been so injured and being held down by another sovereign.

So they knew that they needed to advance, they needed to reach that level if they ever wanted to stand tall when faced by similar foes in the future.

Now, thanks to the impartment they had a greater understanding of exactly what was needed in order for them to advance.

Tier 5 was different from those that came before, experience alone is no longer enough to advance through the tier. You had to develop your domain in order to breach certain thresholds, their were 3 main thresholds, the first was forming an actual domain.

This aspect was required to even enter sovereignty, unless someone could form a true domain they would never be able to surpass level 150.

The second was at level 200, here one would need to be able to expand their domain to a certain point whilst maintaining control over its effects. This could be done in a number of ways but was primarily done by being able to selectively control who or what was impacted with their domain. Similar to how one could limit who was effected with your presence the same was required with a domain to surpass level 200.

Then came level 250, here one would need to be able to begin to internalise their domain. Before this point a domain was entirely external, now they needed to effects imbue their domain into their bodies.

The final and unofficial threshold was at the peak of the tier, this was the next step in advancement and involved developing a realm within themselves.

The girls didn't know exactly what that meant as none of the memories came from dragons beyond sovereignty, but the elderly dragon had been approaching this threshold so held some basic understanding of that aspect.

The fact that the girls now had access to this magical library of knowlage was a true blessing. With it they could streamline their advancement, Luna even had a slight advantage over Violet in this aspect as she already had to basic building blocks of an actual domain.

Granted her domain came from a skill so her Arctic Manifestation skill could only be called a pseudo domain at best. Still, the simple fact that she had such a skill would aid her greatly when it came to developing a true domain of her own when the time came.

Violet however, was facing a slightly different issue. How was she supposed to form a domain of void? Void was the absence of existence, how would one develop a domain when the very nature of her domain was the antithesis of existence?

She was unsure, and not currently in the best state of mind to delve into such mysteries at the current moment.

The silence lingered as the two girls processed their thoughts, their heads swimming with the lingering emotions and memories that would flicker through their minds.

The silence was eventual broken by Luna as she slightly pulled back from Violet and looked up into her companions vibrant purple eyes.

"Come on, let's leave this depressing cave and go do something fun. How do you feel about visiting the beach and maybe going for a swim in the ocean? It seemed quite fun from that memory!"

Luna's words snapped Violet out of her introspection and a faint smile grew on her lips. "That sounds nice, I, I think I could do with something to focus on for now. I still feel strange, like my body is not quite my own, despite knowing that it is. I think moving about some would help put those lingering doubts to rest."

"Sounds like a plan, come on then ya big lug let's go swimming." With that Luna turned around and playfully batted Violet's head with her fluffy tail as she practically pranced away with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Hey! I'm not a lug!" Violet replied after she managed to process the comment. "I don't even know what a lug is!" She continued with some confusion as she chased after Luna's retreating form.

And so the two companions raced down the tunnel that would lead them out of the cave that had changed so much for them.

It had burdened them with painful memories of a once ancient family and their final moments of life. Yet had also blessed them with the cumulative knowlage of their existence, a gift that could cause the grandest of kingdoms to wage war over.

Still for now, our two companions only had a single thought on their minds, that of a vast ocean their desire to delve into it's depths.