Chapter 9 Regrets
Body Reconstruction Complete.
Dorian felt his eyes waver as he left the Evolution Space in his mind, flashing lights blinding him. A feeling of heaviness sank into his head, as if he had just comprehended a great deal of information.
He blinked, looking around carefully.
The world around him seemed to have transformed.
The colors of the tall, luscious green trees were richer, the sounds of the forest teeming with life louder, the fresh scent of the wild stronger. The world around him had become more beautiful, more potent, more full.
Something was odd, however. His perspective of this world… it seemed to be a bit off.
The tall trees he was looking at seemed to have grown enormous.
He twirled his head back and forth, looking about in confusion. Abruptly, he looked down at his body and came to a realization.
It wasn't the forest that had grown. It was him that had shrunk!
His body had transformed into that of a small, green scaled lizard, with a pair of tiny wings. He had a leathery, scaled hide that gleamed darkling, extremely appealing to the eye. He was around half a meter long, with an adorable face and small claws. His eyes gleamed a dark grey color, filled with mysterious light.
-Myyr Dragon – Growth Stage: (1/4) Myyr Hatchling-
– Growth Progress – 2,313/2000 –
He examined his status, looking it over in his head. As he read it, he noticed that his Growth Progress had exceeded the needed value. He also noted that the required value was much larger than the Red Salamander needed.
'Ausra? Why haven't I evolved into the second Growth Stage?' He queried.
'After Evolving, your Soul requires a short period of time to adapt to a new form. Your Soul is currently at the Sky Class Stage. Therefore, you will require roughly 30 hours for your body to fully adapt to this form. The stronger your soul, the less the adaptation period." Ausra's reply was cool and concise. The genie continued,
'After your Soul has adapted, you may switch freely between any forms you have previously Evolved from, and your present form.'
Dorian licked his lips. His tongue was much longer than it had been when he was a Red Salamander.
'Thanks Ausra.' He replied, mentally shrugging. It seemed he would just have to wait.
He walked over to a tree, tapping on it several times.
His claws easily pierced through it. However, with just the physical strength of his body, he was unable to snap the tree like he did when he was an Elder Red Salamander. If he exerted himself he could snap it, but it was close.
Though his Soul Spell Matrix had reached the Sky Class, he was unable to make up for the limitations of his body entirely.
'Ausra, what Class am I right now?' he mentally asked the genie in his Soul Spell Matrix.
'Myyr Dragons have 4 distinct stages of growth. A Myyr Hatchling is typically at the Mortal Class. However, with your Sky Class Soul Spell Matrix strengthening your physical form, you are presently an Earth Class beast. Once you achieve the 2nd Stage of growth, you should become a full fledged Sky Class beast." Ausra replied.
'Alright.' He shrugged. It seemed there was nothing he could do about it for now. He really would just have to wait out the 30 hours.
Well, there was one thing he could do.
His eyes gleamed. He could still hunt, and absorb more energy to add to his Growth Progress.
..
"Lord Henry." Hadrion gave a nod of recognition to the man before him as he addressed him by his Class title, his voice slightly respectful. Black energy floated around his head, vaguely taking on the shape of a halo as he talked.
"Lord Hardion. I have heard a great deal of your heroic exploits in the worlds of Mesor, Numel, and Tolantris. What, may I ask, brings you here to Hasnorth? And here, to my humble Kingdom?"
An elderly man wearing an expensive silk and lace black set of robes sat upon a throne, staring at the wizard in front of him. A powerful sense of authority rolled off his tongue as he spoke, his wizened eyes gleaming. He had a short head of white hair, and a very long white beard that added to his majestic appearance. A glowing, blue crown that appeared to be made out of water rested upon his forehead.
This was the Lord Class Wizard Henry Mallion, the Ruler of the Obsidia River Empire. His voice balanced his respect for the young talent before him with a sense of strength from his own age, experience, and might.
The throne was set in a large hall, where several dozen brilliant pillars made out of some blue rock supported a magnificently painted ceiling, a picture of an enormous river cutting through mountains visible. The hall had been cleared for Hadrion when he arrived. Only himself, some of his subordinates and the Fate Department Wizards they had teamed up with, as well as a few old men standing near the man sitting on the throne.
"I will not mince words." Hadrion's voice was gruff as he spoke, as if not used to interacting with other people,
"His Highness Telmon has instructed all the Departments to investigate anomalous signals in fate that have appeared in various locations. One of these anomalies appeared here on Hasnorth." Hadrion waved his hand behind him, at a plain faced woman standing with a few blue robed figures. Larah Consta, a Grandmaster Class Wizard who studied Fate Magic.
Larah nodded her head slightly, replying,
"The Fate Department has pinpointed the occurrences on Hasnorth to the western locale of your empire."
The Ruler of the Obsidia River Empire blinked, his eyes widening slightly.
If this was an order from the Wizard King Telmon… this was absolutely not something his empire could afford to refuse.
"We will, of course, cooperate with his highness Telmon." The Obsidia River Empire's voice contained a slight hint of shock. Behind him, several elderly robed men were currently reeling, staring agape at Hadrion. Faintly, Hardion could make out that they were all decently powerful Wizards, at least at the Grandmaster Class. Not bad for a random kingdom on a minor world.
Hadrion nodded, not expecting any less. A kingdom in a minor world like Hasnorth wouldn't dare ignore the word of the Wizard King. He turned to look at Larah behind him.
Larah stepped all the way forward, her eyes placid.
"After consulting with Fate, we have come up with a plan we would like to implement. We have 9 Master Class Fate Wizards here that will begin immediate Fortellings to locate the areas affected by Fate. However, due to the general nature of reading Fate, we would like to ask for your cooperation in expanding a search net, and deploying teams of Wizards to contain the anomaly…"
..
"Ssaauurrrr." Dorian's voice was raspy, hissing and nearly incomprehensible as he sat on a boulder, looking out at a distant sunset.
"Saaooouuuurrr. Soouuwwwrrr. Sooouuurre. Soouur. Sour. Sour." Dorian played with the word in his mouth, trying to properly say it. He smiled triumphantly as he got the word to sound out clear.
"That fruit was ssoouur." He muttered, his tiny draconic form turning to look at a mostly eaten Magic Herb lying next to him.
It had been an eventful day. After transforming into a Myyr Hatchling, he had decided to go hunting for beasts to absorb, trying to gain more energy to store.
He had already cleared out a large part of the forest he had spawned in at, so he'd made the decision to leave there, journeying back towards the mountains. The Mountain Deer he'd seen earlier looked mighty appetizing to him in his draconic form.
In terms of speed, as a Myyr Hatchling he was much quicker than he had been as an Elder Red Salamander. He was able to deftly move through the forest, jumping from tree branch to tree branch.
Before he managed to get the hang of that movement style, he'd smashed his face into several different branches, and even a tree trunk once. Once he kept at it, though, he managed to pick up a natural gait.
Unfortunately, when he arrived at the mountains, the only beasts he ran into were a herd of Iron Oxen moving through a valley, and an enormous Blue Furred Ape that crashed down in a hurry away from the mountain, fleeing towards the forest.
He wasn't too keen on trying to fight an entire herd of powerful beasts yet, and the Blue Furred Ape was a Master Class Beast, according to Ausra, and would crush him in a fight.
Thankfully, he'd found a Blue Onion Sweetberry on the way, another type of Magic Herb that added a small amount of energy to his storage, as well as keeping him fed.
He had returned all the way to the center of the mountains, to the valley between the two shattered peaks.
He was currently sitting on a random outcropping halfway up one of these shattered peaks, looking out at the sunset wistfully.
"Moooothraaa. Mottthheeey. Motthheerr. Motherr. Mother." He muttered softly, his voice quiet. Myyr Dragons, like most Draconic beasts in the 30,000 worlds, possessed the ability to communicate. It required a bit of practice, however.
"Fattherr. Father." He sighed, his heart all of a sudden feeling heavy. As he thought of his mother and father, memories he had suppressed ever since coming to this strange world began to flood into his mind.
The memories of his previous life flashed before him. His childhood, growing up with his loving parents as an only child. His best friends Jessica, Phillip, and Tom. Past girlfriends, past lovers. Thankfully he'd been single when he passed into this world, but he still grieved for the pain his parents must feel.
He wondered if he would ever see them again.
Dorian was silent as he looked out at the dying sun, his eyes glimmering.
You never knew what you had till you lost it. He regretted not telling his parents he loved them, just one more time. He regretting not taking that chance, asking that girl of his dreams out. He regretted not finishing his goals, earning his final degree, getting in shape.
As he lay on that deserted rock, tears began to fall down his face. He rocked back and forth, curling up slightly, his small claws clutching at his emerald scales.
A breeze rustled past the empty valley as the fading light of day passed, the tendrils of night slowly unveiling. The chaotic echoes of the forest began to fade, the world transforming into an abandoned maze of darkness, an eerie reflection of the once full day.
Leaving alone a small, green scaled dragon, gazing at a vast, empty sky.
Dorian sighed again, closing his eyes. He took several deep, ragged breaths, shaking the tears from his head.
He opened his eyes anew, a powerful, enthralling light filling them.
What use was there, of regretting the long gone past? To dwell on regrets was a path of harm, danger, and death.
He can't change what is already done. As far as he knew, there was no going back.
The Dorian of that world was dead.
He was still Dorian, but a Dorian born anew.
In this life, he would have no regrets. He would live to the fullest, however that would be, and wherever that would take him.
Life was too precious to worry about otherwise.
He nodded his head and shook out his tiny wings, his eyes sharpening as he turned around, moving down the mountain towards the small cave he'd discovered earlier, heading off to rest.