Chapter 10: Between Choice and Fate: Whispers in Mind and Heart
Yet another question lingered in my mind during this time.
What happened to Aislin's father and mother? She wasn't truly my sister, but a relative on my father's side. And why did Mother always avoid speaking about Aislin's father, describing him as not a true dragon, claiming that he never had been?
Still, I felt that something was missing. Something was wrong with me—something lost.
As time passed, this feeling grew stronger, until I began to hallucinate that someone was speaking to me constantly. Urging me to change my behavior. Sometimes I swore I could hear a voice in my mind telling me that if I did not change my thoughts and actions, I would lose everything. It was like a warning from the future.
It was as if a voice whispered in my heart, saying, "You are not the chosen one—you are the victim."
Still, I clung to the idea that I was the chosen one. I am the hero of this world. I am the being that no one can destroy. My fortune is immense, and I am surrounded by the aura of a hero.
Why fear what the future holds? I will face it with a broad smile.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, ten thousand years had gone by.
During these ten thousand years, I learned much about humans in this world. There was only one way to train here:
To awaken the Spirit of Battle and walk the path of the Spirit Master.
This path required a spirit pearl from a slain spirit beast.
But on this path, there were only two ways for a human to become powerful.
The first was to kill spirit beasts and absorb the energy and essence of the spirit pearl they left behind, forging their own spirit essence.
The second was to form a voluntary spiritual contract with a spirit beast. In this way, the beast would not die, but would become part of the Spirit Master, allowing them to create a spirit essence.
In any case, neither method worked for spirit beasts. Both required consuming spirit beasts as a fundamental element to strengthen humans—they had to be killed.
Even if forming a spiritual contract allowed the spirit beast to continue living, it was pointless for it to exist within someone else's body.
There was a third path, but I had found no information about it. It seemed as if it did not exist.
In any case, I had learned that all the information I once had about this world was either wrong or distorted.
The truth was completely different from what I had believed. Everything I thought I knew about this world was nothing but myths or fabrications.
All those stories Mother had told me about the history of the dragon clans were based on false information.
In reality, it seemed that we were not just the last dragons—we were part of a much larger story than I had ever imagined.
It wasn't merely about survival or having enough strength to face humans. There was a deeper secret—one concerning how we interact with this world and how we could reclaim our place at the top. What I had been missing was a deeper understanding of the true power hidden within this world.
I had become certain that if I wanted to change our fate, I had to learn more about this world, about the forces that controlled it, and about how to deal with the dark secret that surrounded us.
In fact, the place I lived in was part of a world called "Ralu Ryru," which contained a third continent.
Thousands of years ago, when I was born into this world, the person who had killed my father at that time rose to power, and another continent merged with this one to form a single landmass. In short, the two continents had fused, leaving one continent still unknown to humans to this day.
This led to the formation of the current world and the shrinking of the forbidden regions.
I live in the Extreme North, one of the areas also classified as a forbidden zone. There are three other forbidden regions as well.
Spirit beasts dominate these regions, known for their vastness and their diverse and rare resources.
The closest area to me is the Starfall Forest, controlled by spirit beasts. The Starfall Forest serves as an important habitat for spirit beasts, which is why humans classify it as a forbidden zone.
Within the forest reside nine ferocious beasts, including a black dragon about eight hundred thousand years old, approaching the one-million-year milestone.
There are many species in this world, some classified as unknown, and others yet to be discovered.
Humans rely on hunting spirit beasts to obtain the spirit pearls and essence, which are the very origins of a spirit beast.
Yet, over these ten thousand years, I had a great deal of fun, especially as my relationship with the Emerald Star Ice Scorpion Empress developed significantly, as well as with the Heavenly Snow Empress—though she regarded me merely as a relatively well-known figure, unlike the deep connection I shared with the Ice Scorpion Empress.
During this time, my way of thinking changed greatly, to the point where I began imagining Aislin as my future marriage partner.
As for Mother, she had already reached one hundred thousand years and was now preparing for her next breakthrough.
In any case, my research into why humans had exterminated the dragon lineage had made no progress; I could find no information on the matter.
Even the Heavenly Snow Empress and the Ice Empress held no knowledge regarding this issue.
So, I decided to set it aside for now, waiting until I could uncover something that would illuminate the path to the truth.
To be honest, over these ten thousand years, my hallucinations had grown stronger and more intense. These voices had become bothersome, playing with my mind and emotions.
I even began to experience nightmares, where someone would kill me and absorb my soul alongside a spirit from another world, seizing and taking control of my body.
Not only that, but I also began seeing Aislin—my future wife.
To be honest, for me, it felt natural to think this way, especially since she had been my childhood companion, like a childhood sweetheart destined to become a wife.
Yet these voices continued to whisper in my chest, saying: "You are not the chosen one, not the hero. You exist in this world only to serve as a resource for the true hero. You are merely an opportunity, placed here to be discovered by the fortunate boy. Wake up before you regret it—go to Aislin and make this heroine your first wife before the hero takes her."
Still, I kept convincing myself that it was nothing but hallucinations, that I was overthinking. I believed I was still influenced by the novel The Villain that I had read in my previous life.
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