“Human, I have waited a long time to talk to you. We finally meet.”

As those words echoed through his mind, the light had finally dimmed down. When Ryther saw what it was, a gasp escaped from his mouth as he looked in awe. The appearance in front of him was one only talked about in legends as a sacred figure after all. A dragon.

The dragon was humongous with a length of forty feet and a height that easily reached over twenty feet. Its body was covered in white scales that seemed to reflect the light around it. The aura around it felt majestic and overbearing; Ryther had to resist the urge to immediately kneel down in front of it.

“Are… are you the beast soul that’s residing in me?”

“That is correct, boy. I am indeed your beast soul. You may call me Azuron.”

“Azuron, huh…”

Azuron had a deep baritone voice that sounded stern yet calming to Ryther. Even though the dragon’s face was very fierce, for some reason, he felt as if Azuron looked at him with a caring face; just like when a parent looked at their own children. Even though the dragon released a terrifying aura, he felt like he was being looked at by his father.

’How would I know how my father looked at me when I don’t even remember his appearance? I can’t even remember whether he loved me.’

While Ryther pondered this, Azuron once more began to speak.

“It is a pity that you cannot remember your past. Don’t worry though, someday you will regain your memories. Just know that even though you can’t remember it right now, your father did indeed love you.”

“You know about my past?!”

“Of course, child. I have resided in you since birth. I saw everything that you..”

“Tell me! Tell me about my past!”

While Azuron spoke, Ryther wasn’t able to help but burst in. The fact that he was able to learn about his lost memories was simply too exciting. Immediately afterwards though, he noticed he had stopped Azuron mid sentence and felt embarrassed; He had been carried away. As he looked at Azuron though, he felt the sudden emotion of sadness.

’Eh? Why would I suddenly feel so sad?’

“That feeling of sadness that you felt was from me. Since our souls are combined, after you went through the ceremony we are now able to sense each other’s emotions.”

“I see…. Wait, you can tell what I’m thinking?”

“Why yes, I can. This is also because of our souls are connected.”

“Why can’t I tell what you are thinking then?”

“Because it would be too much for you to handle, I have blocked my thoughts from reaching you right now. Anyways, about your question before, I am not able to tell you about your past. My mother, the water goddess Aqia, has told me that it is your fate to uncover it and thus I cannot tell you.”

Ryther’s shoulders hunched when he heard that Azuron wasn’t able to tell him about his past. As he sulked about the news, he remembered who Azuron said was his mother.

“Wait, your mom is a goddess?!”

“Of course, child. All dual elemental beasts are born from gods and goddesses. I just happen to be the son of the two High Gods, Aqia and Sylph.”

Even though they were inside his conscious, Ryther felt as though his jaw dropped when he heard the shocking truth. High gods were the first deities born from the world. They were the six beings who stood at the top and controlled all the other gods who had been born afterwards. While he thought about that, another question arose in his mind.

“Shouldn’t you be a god then? How were you born as a beast soul??”

“Actually, before the six High Gods created humans, their children were born as beasts. It was only after they had created humans after their image that they started to form their children in their image. The beasts and human born children don’t have any difference in strength though, so I guess you could consider us as gods and goddesses too.”

Ryther was marveled by what Azuron had just said. That meant the dragon in front of him was basically a God!

“Why haven’t I heard or learned about that then?”

He had noticed after the elder and Chang had left the room that even though he wasn’t able to recollect anything about himself, he was still able to remember the geography and history of the continent. He had retained his knowledge. Basically, he had only lost his memories about himself and other people related to him.

“The High Gods have made it so that none of the human retainers were allowed to leak this information. They felt that if other humans learned about it then they would use this knowledge negatively. Also, we were forced to make a pact with our parents where if we were to deem our retainers had ill intentions, we wouldn't be able to tell them.”

“Ah, that does make sense. There might be some people with dual elements beast souls who would try to use that knowledge with bad intentions, so that was the smart thing to do.”

Azuron looked pleased as Ryther figured out the reason why the High Gods had made that decision. Even though he had died thousands of years ago, he had not once chosen a host and had waited for the one he was fated to be with. He felt that he had been quite fortunate that his first host had turned out to be such a cheerful and smart child as him.

“Well then, child, since we have finally met, let me tell you my story. I was born during the period of the first Great High God War. Just like the other children of the High Gods, I was chosen to be one of the leaders of the army. During the hundreds of years that the war lasted, I was able to lead my army to numerous victories and was feared as the “Frozen Death” by the enemy. Even the enemy dual elements beasts were afraid to meet me in battle.

Though, as I gained more fame and recognition for my strength throughout the years, I became cocky and thought I was invincible. I slowly grew more reckless, taking on enemies that vastly outnumbered us. Finally, right before the High Gods stopped the war, I was ambushed and fought against an enemy army that had five dual elemental beasts. Even though my officers pleaded with me for us to retreat, I believed I was invincible and decided to fight them. As my army was being decimated, I ignored them and recklessly fought against the five dual elemental beasts.

Even though I was able to kill two of them, I eventually was overcome and killed. After I died and returned to being just a soul, I learned from my mother that in my final battle, all my soldiers had been massacred and that it had also the last fight of the war. If I had only retreated like my officers had pleaded, I could have saved the lives of many of my soldiers…”

Ryther saw that tears formed and fell from the dragon’s eyes while he spoke of his final battle. He also felt deep sorrow and regret from Azuron. It seemed as though even if he had gotten cocky, leading to his demise, he had truly cared for his soldiers and mourned for their deaths very much, even more than his own. Ryther couldn't help but feel pity for the majestic Azuron at that moment.

“In memory and tribute to them, I decided to name the sword formed by my powers as Azuron’s Requiem. I pray that you remember every time you use this sword that it was created in tribute of the millions of lives lost then.”

After Azuron had finished his sentence, bright blue and silver light condensed in between them. As the light subsided, a beautiful sword appeared in its stead. When Ryther looked upon the sword, he couldn't help but feel deep sorrow. He was able to tell how much pain Azuron had been in when he had forged that sword. Like he had stated, Azuron really had created it in tribute for his soldiers.

“This is the soul weapon that you can call upon. Before our souls had completely linked, you had to imagine the sword as you materialized it but now all you need to do is think of it and I will materialize it for you.”

While Azuron spoke, Ryther stepped forward and grabbed the sword. The moment he had touched it, an incredible sense of familiarity arose in him. The sword’s length, weight, and grip; everything felt comfortable and just right. It was as though the sword itself was an extension of him.

“Child, we do not have much more time left here, the ceremony is almost over. After you leave here know that we will be able to continue to communicate mentally. I will also assist you as much as I am able to, but know that, in the end, the most important thing is your own strength and will.”

As Azuron talked, his outline slowly began to blur and disappear. Still, Ryther felt warmth and care from his eyes. Even though a dragon couldn’t make any facial expressions, he could have sworn that Azuron had smiled.

“One final thing though. Know that I feel extremely grateful to have such a great child as you for my host and am very proud of you. Please don’t ever lose that kindness or bright personality. Even though you are going through a difficult time now and will go through others, always know that I will support you and cheer for you.”

With those final words, Azuron’s figure finally faded away and Ryther felt his consciousness being pulled. Shortly after, he slowly opened his eyes to find himself back inside the formation. As he looked around, he saw the elder who was breathing heavily at the southern point of the formation. At that view, Ryther felt rather apologetic to the elder who must have expended a lot of effort to power the formation.

Chang, on the other hand, wasn’t able to wait as he excitedly ran up to Ryther when he noticed him opening his eyes.

“So, did you meet your beast soul? How’d it go? Just what kind of beast is he?”

At Chang’s excited expression and bombardment of questions, Ryther just laughed and nodded his head. He then calmly explained what had occurred in the meeting. Of course he did not mention the portion about who Azuron or his parents were.

When Chang and Shin heard that his beast soul was a dragon, they weren't able to hide their awe. Even amongst all the beast souls, dragons were in the top tier and were generally very strong. The only beasts that could compare were the legendary ones. With just that information, they realized just how great Ryther’s potential was.

While he thought about that, the outer part of Shin’s lips curled upward as he said some terrifying words.

“Ho ho ho….. it looks like I got quite the unrefined diamond. Ryther, we will begin training tomorrow. Make sure you are well rested as you will need all the energy you have to sur… get through it.”

When he heard what Shin had said, Ryther’s face paled. Just what kind of crazy training was that insane man going to make him do?! Chang, who stood beside him, only shook his head while he gazed at him with sympathetic eyes and patted his shoulders.