On the same day of Eldon and his classmates’s arrival in the Valis Institute, business was just as usual in the Erdanian Forest during the morning. The stronger, more powerful beasts laid deep in the forest, where the abundance of magical energy was greater. A couple of experienced students wandered around, looking for beasts to kill. The teachers of Valis Institute took great care of protecting the students, and only about a dozen or so students had been killed in the year so far. Usually, if a patroller finds a student crossing a boundary in the forest that led to an area full of beasts stronger than the student, he/she will warn them. However, they will not force the student to comply. If he or she dies, then it is because of their own foolishness, and the Valis Institute does not need people who will grow up to be reckless with their power.

Somewhere within a few miles away from the Valis Institute, a small stream flowed in the forest. The trees around this stream curved around it, as if trying to block it from the sun. It was rather shallow, and contained no fish. The water was crystal clear, and many stones and rocks could be seen through the water. A few particularly large rocks were partially submerged in the water. There were quite a few pretty pieces of stone. Some were round, others were oval, and some had strange shapes. Nevertheless, they were all of a different color. However, under a few of the rocks in the stream was a particular stone. This stone was very strange. It was significantly bigger than the rocks covering it, but if one did not observe closely, then it would be easily missed. It was about the size of a human fist, but what was extremely abnormal about this stone was that it was perfectly round; it was too round to be made of from nature’s hands. The color was strange too. It was a dull grey color, making it seem even more lifeless than the other rocks surrounding it. Other from its spherical shape, there didn’t seem to be any particular value in the stone. However, if word of its existence got out, then even the most powerful experts in the entire world would come out of their hiding, and fight each other to the death just to get their hands on this stone. Because this stone was a Dragon Core.

Not only was it a Dragon Core, but it was also the core of the most powerful dragon that had ever existed in the moral world: Ladriath. Although the core seemed lifeless, it was still unimaginably precious. To have this core could potentially mean to control the entire world.

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Ladriath’s core had laid in that stream for untold years, before the continent Praxus even existed. Once a dragon’s mortal body was slain, its consciousness would be left in the core. However, those who are able to slay a dragon can easily deal with the core. If a dragon managed to survive and exist in its core, then its lifespan could be easily extended for countless years. A Dragon Core can do very little by itself when compared to when it was within its body; its true power could only be shown in the body of the original dragon. However, the only way Dragon Cores were ever removed was by killing the dragon or literally ripping the core out of its flesh. How Ladriath’s core was removed from its body is unknown, but it is unlikely that it has survived till this day. An extremely long time had passed since Ladriath’s core separated from its body; his consciousness surely was gone, and his soul must have long passed. It’s such a shame, for the most powerful mortal dragon to somehow pass away in his sleep. How his core was separated from its body would probably never be known.

…

The day grew into the afternoon.

…

Suddenly, a faint flicker sparked in the middle of Ladriath’s lifeless core. It was of a bright azure-green color, similar to the color of Ladriath’s scales in the past. The flicker increased in intensity a bit, before weakening. Soon, the flicker was small that it seemed like even the slightest brush at the core would end the flicker’s life. Whatever was trying to emerge from Ladriath’s core would be lost.

The flicker grew smaller and smaller, before condensing into a tiny ball, the size of the period at the end of this sentence.

“Whoosh”

Suddenly, the azure-green ball expanded in size. It spread out frantically, as if it were gasping for breath. Eventually, the ball’s glow covered the entire core, and continued to shine, growing brighter and brighter. Soon enough, the entire area around the part of the stream the ball was hidden in was lighted up in a bright azure-green color. At the rate the intensity was growing, it was bound to attract magical beasts and the Institute’s patrollers. Eventually, the light stopped growing, and began to shrink, as if it was being absorbed by the core. A few minutes later, all the light was contained inside the core, swirling about. The azure-green color started solidifying, spreading evenly across the core. Soon enough, the light faded, but this time, the once dull grey colored core became azure-green.

Ah. That was a good nap.

Ladriath had awoken.

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After lying dormant for so long, Ladriath’s mind was extremely sluggish. Slowly but surely, however, his memories began to come back.

Have I not passed into the void? He thought. He stretched his wings out. However, they didn’t obey.

Hmm?

…

WHERE IS MY BODY!?!?!?!

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After a while, Ladriath calmed down.

Good news is, I’m not dead yet. But what can I do with just my Core? Although a Dragon Core contained all of the power of the dragon, it was extremely fragile, and could collapse and implode with the slightest disturbance. Using its power, Ladriath could cast some dragonic techniques and move around. It did not change the fact that Ladriath was extremely vulnerable now, however.

I don’t know how long I’ve slept. Why I slept. But I need to check my surroundings for now. Ladriath scanned the area with his powerful soul. He had no fear of being noticed, because although his power was greatly weakened by the long slumber, that did not affect the ability of his soul scanning.

This doesn’t seem to be the Niandre Forest, although it feels familiar. This place is overrun with beasts, though. Ladriath paused. For some reason, although my body is gone, my core still feels attached to it.

Perhaps my body is still out there? A dragon’s body could exist for a very long time. Even after a dragon dies, as long as it dies of age and not from grievous wounds, then the body would remain. Ladriath felt his weakened power continue to grow smaller.

This is bad. I must have slept for eons. Normally, Ladriath’s Dragon Core would have a seemingly limitless amount of energy stored within. However, virtually all of that energy had escaped. Ladriath began to absorb energy from the air.

Hmm? What is this crap!? Ladriath thought, bewildered. How can there be so much impure qi in the air?

…

I can barely absorb any of this energy...It takes too much effort. Ladriath could feel his power weakening.

I need a body, and fast. In the past, Ladriath would have had no problem, but the energies in the air were too impure for him. Once he merges with a body, he can connect their souls and sustain his life; then, he could concentrate on increasing his core’s power. Ladriath was forced to accept that the only way he was going to survive was that he had to merge with another organism’s body. However, who was Ladriath? He was a mighty and proud dragon. It showed how desperate he was that he had to lower himself to fuse with an inferior creature’s body.

To think that I’ll be forced to do this...Should I just enter the void? Ladriath thought.

No! I’ve been gone for so long. There might be some interesting things that I can experience in this world. Ladriath began to search for a suitable body. However, it has to be known that Ladriath cannot possess the body; he would have to destroy the soul, and that would not help him at all.

Ladriath found a wolf-beast with three eyes. No, I don’t want that…

He found a rat-beast. Definitely not that...It’s too weak.

Ladriath continued to search, but the more he searched, the more time that passed. He grew increasingly frantic. I won’t last till the next day.

…

Argh! I don’t want to possess any of these beasts! With an internal roar, Ladriath expanded his soul sense to over 10 miles.

!!!

Humans! Ladriath grew slightly wary. He doesn’t know how far humans have come after so long. Merging with a human would grant him greater chances to explore the world, but how could Ladriath possibly trust a human? If he merged into a body of a human, then as long as he stayed quiet, then the human would never notice. However, Ladriath did not want to remain forever passive. He knew that if the human ever revealed Ladriath’s existence, then both of their lives would be over.

Ladriath’s scanning passed over the library, where Eldon was currently reading. Suddenly, Ladriath stopped his search, having felt Eldon’s soul.

This sensation...It’s extremely similar to Aevas’s. Aevas used to be one of Ladriath’s closest companions when he was younger. Aevas was probably the strongest demon Ladriath had ever met; he was even stronger than Ladriath himself, albeit Ladriath wasn’t as powerful as he was when he was younger. However, Aevas had suddenly vanished one day; Ladriath did not know whether he died or Ascended. How can this be possible, for a human to have a soul virtually identical to Aevas? Ladriath hesitated. He remembered what Aevas had told him during one of their conversations before a battle.

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“Ladriath.” Aevas had said, looking up at the dragon.

“Hm?”

“If you ever meet someone with a soul extremely similar to mine, just know that…” Aevas paused.

“Continue?”

“Just know that you can completely trust that person, even if it means entrusting your core to him.”

Ladriath snorted, spewing out a bit of gas. “What makes you so confident? Think that it’s going to be you reincarnated? I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works. Although I have no proof, I’ve learned from ancient knowledge that my mother passed down to me. Souls are cleansed after death, and are completely reborn.”

“Oh.” Aevas paused. “Just trust me. You may not have any other options.”

Ladriath yawned (Author’s note: This was before he was at the peak of his power, so he still has worldly needs). “I trust you, my friend; there is no reason for you to lie to me. I doubt I’ll ever be forced into that kind of scenario, though.”

“You never know.”

“Meh.”

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Was Aevas a psychic or something? Ladriath thought in the present. Screw it. I have few other options, and this one seems to be the best. Ladriath marked Eldon by leaving a bit of his soul within. Hmm...There are still other people around. I can’t just teleport...Humans sleep at night, so I’ll wait.

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It’s time. Mustering his remaining energy, Ladriath teleported into Eldon’s room, where everyone was currently asleep. His teleportation was silent and quick, only leaving behind a flash. Suddenly, a figure arrived at the location Ladriath was just at before. It was Ganon, who was punished by his sister and was forced to patrol.

Huh, must’ve been my imagination. Ganon shrugged, and disappeared into the woods.

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Exhausted, Ladriath could barely float his core over Eldon’s still form. Eldon and Nikolas had managed to fall asleep, despite of Brien and Angus’s unceasing snores. Too...tired…

Slowly, Ladriath approached Eldon’s chest. With a flash, the core then sank into Eldon’s chest, as it would in water. A few seconds later, Ladriath’s core had disappeared. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Eldon turned onto his side, mumbling.