CHAPTER 183: ALLIANCES

Lucy and Lucius managed to reach the third floor of the Array. That was already way more than Darian expected. Their blessing had insane potential, but everything depended on their opponent’s karma or how important their goal was. Against the illusionary enemies from the Array, they pretty much had no blessing power to use.

Even so, they made it to the third level by relying on their brains and raw ring power. That alone already showed how skilled they were. The main thing was that both of them were pretty smart and figured out the clear attack pattern those enemies had.

When they got back home...

After that scene Lucy witnessed in Darian’s room, she pulled Niara away from him and had a good talk with her. Lucy knew her brother, and she also knew a bit of Niara’s story from their time in the other universe.

She quickly figured out that Niara had zero social skills, and even less idea how to deal with the opposite sex. So, there she was... a 14-year-old human girl, having to sit down and give a proper talk to a woman who had lived over a hundred years.

Truth was... mentally, Niara was still kinda stuck at the same age she was when she got taken from her family as a kid. Dragons naturally lived for a crazy long time, a thousand years was basically newborn stage for them.

But this whole thing with her powerful bloodline being mixed with humans, like the Mannaz, had some weird side effects. Their mental development had strange curves. And Niara clearly got hit harder by this than most. Even after all those years, her mind was still kinda simple and childish sometimes.

Days went by calmly. Darian and the twins stayed home, prepping for the big mission ahead.

It didn’t take long to notice that Niara’s new body needed to feed on Yang every few days. Darian bought her some crazy expensive Yang-rich stuff... but for some reason, the effects were tiny, and she needed a huge amount to feel satisfied.

But getting it straight from his blood... she stabilized with just a little and really fast.

Darian was pretty confused. He wasn’t anything special, and a High Human’s body wasn’t supposed to have above-average Yang.

Then he remembered what his master had told him: the technique she gave and taught him was just a base. As Darian evolved his rings, the technique would naturally reshape and become something of his own.

Depending on everything he went through and learned, even without noticing, the technique would absorb and adapt. He had fully evolved his rings for the first time. And now that he was back in his real body... something strange had happened.

Darian checked himself internally and didn’t take long to find hints. He realized he had a bit less white power than he should. After a few tests... his eyes widened with the discovery.

The Seven Elemental Stars Physique was now fully connected to the two rings on his fists. That changed the stars completely, making their effects alter his body even more.

For anyone else, that physique would just increase resistance and control over the seven natural elements. But now, the stars were active all the time, trying to attract and nourish Darian’s body with elemental power.

Since this universe had basically nothing for the stars to absorb and nourish him... his own natural male Yang was being used. The stars could take a bit of his existing Yang, move the white power from the ring, and use it to make the Yang much denser and stronger.

That was insane! He didn’t have control over it yet, but in the future, he might be able to use his white power to create powerful elements.

After the Yang got absurdly pure, it fused into his body. That’s why his blood now had abnormal levels, with crazy high-grade Yang. Niara had sensed that instinctively before, since her body was starving for it.

’So... if I get more elements... is my body gonna turn into some kind of super medicinal herb? What’s even the point of this for me?’

Darian wondered, full of doubts. But there was no one to explain it to him. He’d have to figure it out the hard way.

After that, Darian didn’t really mind Niara drinking his blood anymore. In fact... now she was way more behaved about it, always doing it in dragon form and keeping things less awkward... which kinda gave Darian a weird feeling of loss... something he decided to hide.

Of course, he failed at that. Niara could feel it perfectly. But even so, she didn’t do or say anything wrong.

Lucy had done a good job, he thought... but after a while, he’d realize the mistake he made.

Lucy had been teaching way more than he imagined.

***

On the morning of their departure, Darian put on his bluish hood and went down to the front door.

There, he saw the twins waiting. Niara, who was being held by Lucy, jumped out, flapping her short wings and latching onto Darian’s chest.

He caught her gently, seeing the excitement in her eyes. The two had spent a lot of time together. Niara learned a lot, but, surprisingly, Lucy had been taught as well.

Niara actually managed to pass on a bit of her fighting style. She didn’t like to think too much, but when she put real effort into something, she could actually pull it off.

Lucy didn’t have that powerful dragon bloodline that gave Niara supreme defense and let her fight fully focused on going all out without fear. But when Lucy’s blessing was fully active, she got so much healing and offensive power that it made up for it. So, Niara’s fighting style turned out to be a really interesting base for Lucy.

Lucius had stayed close too. His biggest job... was cooking for Niara five times a day. Even with her small, different body, she was still the same as always, and food just vanished inside her.

Niara nestled inside the hood, sitting above Darian’s hair. She’d stay there, protected by the special outfit during fights. She’d only come out when Darian said so. After all, her power had a pretty strict time limit.

Darian turned to the twins. Both were dressed for combat, wearing the highest-level gear they could find that fit them.

Lucy was wearing light clothes, built for mobility, in yellowish tones. The set was completed with gloves on her wrists and guards below her knees, made from metallic materials from another universe, bronze-colored, incredibly tough and lightweight.

Lucius wore a purple robe, richly decorated with golden metals that doubled as small useful artifacts in battle. At his waist, he carried two light swords.

"Let’s go."

The three left calmly, taking a car.

In the center of the capital, they stopped in front of the massive building shaped like a pentagon fortress. At the entrance, Leander, Matteo, and Veyle were waiting for them. Leander came as the clan’s representative to see them off.

Veyle had been completely isolated during those days, studying alchemy knowledge day and night. She still wasn’t able to create anything great, but she’d asked to buy all kinds of potions and pills.

She had tons of ideas and ways to use all that stuff—things only someone with real knowledge would know how to do. An alchemist using these things was a whole different story compared to someone who just bought and drank them.

When they entered, a soldier guided them to the Celestial Altar. In that large area, several people from the highest levels of the empire were already waiting.

Darian recognized that same Supreme Judge from before. The guy locked eyes with him.

"Two rings already... very good."

By now, Darian didn’t need to hide that anymore. The Supreme Judge’s words made everyone there take a deep breath. Darian’s growth rate had already passed that of the greatest talent from the Nayara Empire.

"I’m gonna give an important briefing. But first, I need to give a critical warning." The Supreme Judge spoke, his eyes turning serious.

"This special mission is totally different from the last two. Planets ranked 1 through 7 in the universe decided not to participate. Meanwhile, all the allied races and planets are forming alliances. We don’t know what’s gonna be so amazing this time, but... one thing’s for sure: a bigger opportunity always comes with astronomical danger."