With father's speed, the trip back was relatively fast. I felt as It must have been a couple of hours max before the familiar plain extended before my eyes, after which the dragon king's temple came into view. It seemed like we were going to stop here first

With curiosity getting the best of me, I asked as my father's large figure landed with a loud thud in front of the temple's giant door. "Are we not going back home father?" Hearing my question, father nodded before he replied. "Yes, but before that, you must report the success of your rite of passage to the king and get the second part of his blessing,"

'Oh! So reward of sorts!' Hearing that, I was inwardly excited as I looked forward to It. With father taking the lead, we slowly made our way towards the temple, what greeted us at the entrance was the familiar king's statue to which both I and father lowered our heads respectfully.

After that, we made our way back to the large but desolate room with the dome-shaped ceiling. Once inside, I raised my head to glance at the drawing or the dark blue river with interest, somehow, this time I was able to better sense the cosmic mana that seeped out of It.

Making our way into the middle of the room, we stood right below the river when my father unleashed his mana causing a pillar of flames to rise towards the ceiling before It was completely swallowed by the strange drawing.

This time, I was able to clearly see what happened. As the cosmic mana in the painting ripple, a portal of sorts seemed to open, following that, the king's intimidating aura descended upon us. Although It was hard to keep my head high faced with such pressure, I was too fascinated with the cosmic mana as I watched It move in a strange way with curiosity.

It was very faint, I would have easily missed It had I not been paying attention, I could sense the king's presence willing a small part of the cosmic mana as It twisted and churned before It eventually formed an extremely small, almost impossible to see circle, with various strange runes within.

Once my gaze fell on those odd symbols that were made with the cosmic mana, my vision suddenly began to swim as I felt the mana in my soul space stir violently. The tiny amount of cosmic mana I had seemed to resonate with the one in the painting and I could feel It struggling to leap out of my body and join the large stream In the ceiling.

I did not know how, but I somehow knew that I should not let that happen. I tried to forcefully repress the rebellious cosmic mana that caused the unfinished dragon statue in my soul space to glow brightly. Just as I was struggling against It, an extremely deep and ancient voice resounded in my mind shocking me to the core.

"So you are the future pillar of cosmic mana," Said the aged voice with a hint of interest. 'Who?!' Shocked I glanced about in surprise, I was in my soul space and the voice easily invaded It and I was unable to even feel where It came from. Gulping down fearfully, only one entity should be capable of this.

As if to answer my question, a familiar pair of reptile golden eyes suddenly blinked opened in the middle of my soul space, the gaze was extremely piercing carrying an undeniable pressure that forced me to avert my stare as I hastily dropped to my knees.

"My King!" I shouted respectfully. The King remained silent while his gaze seemed to study me with curiosity, It felt as If all my secrets, everything was laid bare before him as If I could hide nothing from his all-knowing eyes.

"Interesting, I look forward to seeing how much you will grow Aether," He said before a large stream of cosmic mana abruptly rushed towards my soul space, It quickly made its way to the incomplete statue causing It to materialize halfway through before It stopped. Now the only thing that was missing was the upper part of my body for the statue to be completed.

I looked at It in surprise as I felt myself growing closer and more familiar with cosmic mana after the sudden change. I turned my gaze towards the King's golden eyes only to stop in surprise, he was already gone. This caused me to be momentarily disappointed for a second before I resumed studying the half-complete sculpture in the middle of my soul space.

'What were those strange runes he used?' I found myself wondering as I observed the sculpture in interest. It was constantly emitting cosmic mana causing the space that surrounded It to turn a bit hazy, almost as If the sculpture itself was in a completely different plane of existence.

It was then that I felt a vague pulling sensation, bringing me out of my soul space. My eyes blinked and I found myself faced with my father's expectant gaze. He nodded in acknowledgment and started to make his way out of the large room. Surprised, I hastily moved to follow after him.

'Was he not curious about what happened to me? Or did he already know?' I wondered as we left the large temple behind. A question suddenly appeared in my mind and I couldn't help but ask. "Father is It possible for you to invade my soul space without me knowing?" I asked to which he paused and turned to look at me with a frown before he shook his head.

"That's impossible, the second I forcefully invade your soul space, your mind itself will collapse and you will die," He said causing a shiver to run down my spine. 'Just how great is the King's control over his strength and mana?' I found myself wondering in surprise.

'I didn't sense him using any other type of mana other than the cosmic one, does that mean I can also use It to invade another dragon's soul realms?' I thought, If I could, then that would truly be an overpowered attack.

According to father, the only way a dragon could invade another's soul space was by forcing themselves inside, which in turn shatters the soul of their target. But with the cosmic mana, I had an inkling that I would be able to keep the soul intact while I invade my target's mind.

'So It seems like one of the functions of cosmic mana is to open portals between the realms, and even towards the minds and soul space of dragons, that should come in handy,'