Chapter 15 – Starpath Descent
Ashen stared down at the rotating celestial diagram beneath his feet, the pulsing star-paths forming patterns that seemed to breathe with life. The ruin wasn't just a burial ground or a forgotten legacy—it was a gateway. Something ancient had just awakened in response to his presence.
One of the paths lit in a soft silver-blue hue, drawing a spiral pattern that led to the edge of the chamber. The floor shifted subtly, revealing a descending staircase beneath an arched archway that hadn't been there moments ago.
He hesitated.
Everything in his instincts screamed caution—but there was also something pulling him forward, a faint echo in his soul. The egg pulsed once inside his chest, subtle but clear.
"Guidance?" he muttered.
No response, of course. The Stellar Chaos Dragon's presence hadn't spoken directly since the soul merge, but it stirred more now than ever before—as though reacting to whatever was below.
Ashen took a deep breath and stepped forward.
The air grew colder as he descended the stone steps. Faintly glowing runes traced the walls, illuminating a spiraling descent that seemed to stretch further than it should have. After what felt like hundreds of steps, the stairs ended in a small chamber.
It was entirely circular, its ceiling domed like a planetarium.
In the center stood a black monolith.
He approached it cautiously.
The monolith had no writing, no engravings—only a single crack down the center that flickered with chaotic energy. As he stepped closer, an invisible force pressed against his skin—like pressure from the ocean depths.
Then, the voice came—not in words, but as a ripple in his mind.
"Heir of Dissolution…"
His breath caught. The egg had never spoken so directly.
"You stand where the first blood was spilled. The chaos that sleeps here… is not yours to command. Not yet."
Visions slammed into his mind—civilizations torn asunder by raw energy, stars collapsing under dragon breath, time itself cracking in the aftermath of battle.
"This fragment remains… sealed. You may glimpse it. Nothing more."
A wisp of silver light shot from the crack in the monolith and touched his forehead.
His knees hit the ground instantly as a surge of chaotic comprehension flooded him—just a glimpse of what true Chaos entailed. Concepts, not skills. Fragments of thought that tore at the edges of reason.
Then it ended.
Ashen gasped, drenched in sweat, clutching his temples. His mind reeled, trying to stitch back what it had just experienced.
No power. Just knowledge. Just enough to survive what's coming.
His breathing slowed after several minutes. Something had changed, though. His connection to the dragon egg felt more sensitive now. He could feel minute pulses in its dormant energy, and with it… a distant call.
Not of power. But of kin.
He slowly stood and turned to leave the chamber.
Yet the moment he ascended the stairs, the monolith behind him cracked a little deeper—unseen by Ashen.
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Back at the surface, the ruin's entrance was now a scar on the land, its aura much thinner. Ashen's face was pale, his eyes hollowed with exhaustion. The clone usage, the Scarabs, the vision from the monolith—his spirit and mind were near their limit.
He kept the entire encounter hidden.
His classmates believed he had merely gone missing during the ruin collapse, perhaps trapped beneath debris. One of them—a lean boy named Vale—seemed too curious for Ashen's liking, but no one questioned him too deeply.
After all, he had always been the quiet, forgettable student.
The days passed.
Ashen returned to his usual schedule at the academy in the outer zone of the empire. Sparring, cultivation practice, and lectures on spiritual veins and dantian tempering resumed as if nothing had happened. But for him, everything had changed.
Inside his room at night, he sat in cultivation posture, eyes shut.
He extended his spirit sense slowly toward the egg's resting point inside his soul. What was once a silent core now throbbed gently, and when he focused… the clone technique shimmered more sharply in his mind.
Clone Refinement: Second Stage
He could now form a temporary phantom double with shared senses for a brief time—not combat effective, but excellent for recon and misdirection.
It was a small step. But real.
No leaps, no divine gifts. Just effort, comprehension, and patience.
And most of all—secrecy.
He had no intention of revealing anything. Not until he understood what kind of war he had stepped into.
The academy's elder had once said: "The higher you rise, the more eyes fall upon you."
Ashen intended to stay low for as long as he could.
But fate, as always, had different plans.
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Preview : The next morning, an imperial envoy arrives at the academy gates—an armored figure bearing a decree. A new secret training program had been activated by the empire, and a list of names was called.
Ashen's name was among them.
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