Chapter 201

Nick instinctively wrapped himself and his mother in a , feeling the heat rise.Whatever was happening, it wasn’t over yet.

His father was barely recognizable. His skin was burnt, flaking off, and blood painted his bare chest.

Yet, no signs of an entry wound were visible. And slowly, ever so slowly, he was pulling himself up. Mana roiled around him, wild and chaotic.

It felt angry, fiery, and vaguely draconic in nature, and Nick’s could sense that something more was unfolding on the astral plane.

In the material world, Eugene appeared as a wounded, albeit still standing man; just one layer of reality away, the truth of things was laid bare.

A massive figure, hazy among the eddies of the ether, towered over him. Yet, it was not threatening. No, it stood over him protectively, as if waiting to see whether he would make it.

The chaotic swirl of mana there was even greater, as more and more of it was drawn into him through the hole in his astral form’s chest.

His physical body had already healed, but his soul remained wounded. Yet, it was not deteriorating. If anything, Nick could see it growing, both in size and density. More and more power was funneled into its hungry maw, as if collapsing into a black hole.

In fact, it was happening so quickly that he started to worry about being too close. “We need to pull back,” he said, grabbing his mother’s arm, who had made to approach.

“I need to help him,” she whispered, her eyes wide. It was clear that the sight of her husband so injured had affected her deeply, but Nick couldn’t wait for her to regain her composure.

Eugene’s draw from the astral plane was increasing with every passing second, and they wouldn’t have much time before it became too big to escape.

Deciding that asking for forgiveness was better than waiting for permission, Nick sent a into her, charging it with feelings of sadness and fear, just enough to send her into shock.

Elena froze as the foreign mana overwhelmed her, completely unprepared for such an attack. He seized her waist and used both wind and kinetic magic to launch them away.

It was not a moment too soon, as the draw shifted from being isolated in the astral plane to starting to affect the material world. It wasn’t as bad, but Nick could see the remnants of what had once been an ice elemental melt down and hiss as they were swallowed.

He only touched down for a moment outside the crater before jumping back once more. Again and again, he repeated the same action, suddenly realizing that everyone’s insistence he stay away from this fight hadn’t been as senseless as it had seemed.

Eventually, he ceased to feel the pull in the astral layer and halted his frantic dash backward.

What had once been a wide area covered in grass and a few trees, located at the edge between the two ecosystems, was now on fire. Flames raged within as everything was broken down and consumed.

Nick gently dispelled the magic holding his mother captive, and she gasped, heaving for breath. He wanted to help her, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the roaring inferno, especially from where he sensed the presence he recognized as his father’s, which was still growing, absorbing more, and roaring in defiance of the heavens.

“It is always a sight,” a voice drifted from behind him, causing Nick to startle so badly that he almost fell.

He had not been snuck up on while his senses were active since Akari, before the dungeon. And yet, someone just had.

Admittedly, he had been very focused on the majestic spectacle of his father’s rank-up, but that didn’t mean he had lost sight of everything else.

Turning around, he saw a man dressed in exceptionally fine clothes, yet somehow still subdued in his presence. He seemed to glide through the tall grass, parting it like water.

“Not that it’s always that impressive, but every Prestige is memorable.” The man he knew to be the King’s Shadow continued, his eyes never straying from Nick’s.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“We live to serve the crown!” Elena had the presence of mind to say, though her voice was rough, still coming out of the shock Nick had induced.

Her hand forcefully pushed his head down in a half-bow, and he didn’t resist, mumbling the same words.

The Shadow didn’t seem to mind his behavior. If anything, his dark eyes glittered with amusement. “It is acceptable to be overwhelmed before such a spectacle. I won’t take breaches of conduct personally.”

Elena sighed and stood straight. She shot Nick a look that indicated they would speak about what had happened later, but her eyes kept slipping toward the fiery blaze. “So this is normal, my lord?”

“That it is, Lady Crowley. All Prestige rank-ups are an involved affair. This is simply slightly more chaotic because of the battle your husband fought just before, but rest assured that he will come out of it perfectly fine,” the Shadow answered.

Nick nodded silently, watching the bright outline of his father’s soul in the ether.

It was uncertain whether he could maintain that level of growth much longer, but Nick noticed some rough similarities in how he performed his absorption rituals.

Eugene’s fires were burning everything, not just physically, but also in essence, transforming everything into basic energy he could then ingest. It was instinctive; that much was obvious, yet somehow it was superior to what he did.

Nick briefly wondered if he could replicate the same level of growth by devising a ritual to turn everything into basic mana, but he decided there was likely a reason why this process was limited to the rank up to Prestige.

A closer look revealed why that was. Eugene was doing the burning, yes, but the absorption? That was happening almost automatically, and at a level of efficiency Nick sincerely doubted his father could attain.

No impurities were left; only pure power was absorbed. This was the work of the System, as nothing else could achieve such perfection.

Unfortunately for Nick, he couldn’t see any deeper, as the light emitted from his father’s soul obscured everything else. Yet, his instincts told him he was right.

“I have to admit, I had almost thought he wouldn’t make it.” The Shadow said, somehow startling Nick again. It wasn’t that he had forgotten he was there, but his presence was so slight that the moment he focused elsewhere, it slipped away, becoming unnoticeable in the surrounding chaos.

“What do you mean, my lord?” Elena asked, biting her lips. She was clearly torn between her urge to shake the man and demand answers to her questions, and the awareness that doing so would be very unwise. What came out on the other end was a strained attempt at diplomacy, only acceptable due to the circumstances.

“The ice elemental almost had him. If he’d been a regular flame swordsman, as I’d believed him to be, he should have lost. But somehow, he survived having his heart ripped out.” His tone was casual, as if discussing the weather, but the implications were many.

First, Nick had seen right. There had been a hole in Eugene’s soul. Secondly, even though his class was that of a flame swordsman, there was clearly something else special about him that they had all overlooked.

Considering the towering figure he had seen in the ether, several things fell into place, and Nick barely restrained himself from saying so out loud.

He sincerely doubted that Eugene himself had been aware of it. There had to have been a System notification about it, but that was more than two decades ago. He could be excused for having missed it amid all the excitement his class change had caused.

“His heart?!” Elena choked on the words, swinging back toward the fires and nearly taking a step closer.

“It’s fine, Mom, he’s almost done,” Nick said to stop her. Indeed, their growth had halted, and the suction from Eugene’s soul had slowed down.

Elena clenched her fists so tightly that her bones creaked in protest, but she restrained herself.

The Shadow said nothing else, but Nick could feel his gaze upon him. For whatever reason, he seemed interested in him.

Eventually, the fires died down completely, and Eugene’s soul solidified. The drake’s presence vanished into him, breaking apart but not before leaving a scale-like imprint on his soul.

“You can go now,” the Shadow said, “Take him back to Floria and inform him that the King will be notified of his success. I will return in a week to speak of his new duties.”

And with that, he was gone. He didn’t speed away or try to hide his presence. One moment he had been there; the next, he wasn’t.

The sound of his mother rushing forward drew Nick back, and he quickly hurried to join her across the charred grassland.

When they arrived at the center of the crater, only Eugene remained. The Ice elemental had long been sublimated, and even his armor, sword, and clothes had all disappeared.

Nick didn’t know why he had expected anything different. It wasn’t as if draconic fires would care about modesty. Still, he hurried to remove his cloak and drape it over his father’s shoulders, immediately noticing that he had to reach higher to do so.

In fact, Eugene had grown. Not only in stature—though that was quite noticeable as he’d shot up at least a couple of inches—but also in musculature, and more importantly, in presence.

Before, he had felt like a contained blaze. A cutting implement heated enough to face no resistance. Now… Now he was wildly more powerful.

To , he appeared to be both the searing heat of a volcano and the concealed edge of a blade. Like violence wrapped in velvet. Both wild and restrained.

“Eugene?” Elena asked as she reached him, extending a hand but hesitating at the last moment before touching him. “Love, are you alright?”

Silence answered her for a moment before Eugene slowly turned toward them. Nick noted that his eyes were now a fiery garnet, similar but very different from Marthas’.

He did not speak, but his lips tilted up, and then he moved.

Before either Nick or Elena could react, both had been swept up in a hug and lifted off the ground.

Eugene laughed, a deep, echoing rumble that shook their bones; yet Nick couldn’t find it in him to care.

His father was alive! And better than ever if that speed was any indication.

“I love you both so much,” he murmured in their hair from the new height provided by his rank-up.

Elena melted into his bulk, gripping him tightly and hugging him with all her strength. If a few tears slipped down her cheeks, neither Nick nor his father acknowledged it.

Indeed, both suddenly discovered an infestation of pollen in their eyes and were forced to rub at them to avoid excessive irritation.

When Nick pulled away, a massive smile stretched across his cheeks, and his heart felt lighter than ever before.