Kael sat in the quiet clearing, the three scrolls he'd chosen resting gently by his knee—
Blazing Fist Strike, Voidstep Movement Art, Twin Flame Sword Arc.
His entire path reduced to three weak martial skills.
But they were his path.
Everything else… he couldn't touch yet.
He inhaled softly and opened the ring again with a thin thread of mana.
One by one, he put everything back.
The special weapons he wasn't ready for.
The rejected Arcane tier cultivation manuals.
All except:
the three weak martial skills
Everything else vanished behind golden light.
Kael let the space fade and ran a hand over his face.
He forced himself to look over what remained inside the ring for only a heartbeat—
just a quick sweep:
Formation plates arranged neatly,
brushed tools,
sealed scrolls of arrays,
strange ores with molten lines,
ingots humming faintly,
talisman blanks,
bottled liquids sealed tight,
cloth woven with faint sigils.
He didn't understand any of them.
And he didn't need them now.
Azreath hummed.
"Good. Greed kills faster than hunger.
You cannot carry everything with strength you do not yet have."
Kael ignored the jab and reached into the weapon shelf again—
to the back, where the cheap items lay untouched.
He pulled out:
A sturdy iron dagger
A plain straight sword
No glow.
No runes.
No special aura.
Just honest metal—good enough for rank 1 monsters, and maybe a Rank 2 forest beast if used well.
He strapped the dagger to his belt and slid the sword into the makeshift sheath across his back.
The rest of his preparation was simple.
He filled a small backpack:
a strip of dried meat
a handful of herbs for treating small wounds
an extra shirtflint stones
some extra clothes
and the three scrolls
Nothing else.
He refused to attract attention.
A storage ring—especially one like this—would get him killed the moment he stepped into a real town.
"I'm not using you publicly," he muttered.
"You'll get me killed before I can do anything."
Kael stood slowly, backpack slung across his shoulders.
Only then did the emptiness inside his chest creep forward again.
He had only one lead.
A single name.
His mother's sworn sister.
A name without direction, without clan, without history.
Just a name passed to him once, years ago.
"…How do I even find her?" he whispered.
The wind didn't answer.
But Azreath did.
His voice was lower now, almost patient.
"Names carry weight.
Her name will open doors, even if you don't yet understand why."
Kael swallowed.
He looked at the three scrolls in his hand.
"…I still don't have a cultivation technique.
None of my mother's are usable. Not even Arcane-tier.
What am I supposed to do?
How am I supposed to grow strong enough to find her?"
His voice cracked.
Azreath did not soften—but he did explain.
"Human techniques fail because you are not only human."
Kael froze.
Azreath continued, tone flat and absolute:
"Your body is human.
Your core is beast.
Your blood is dragon.
You carry a divine flame.
If any of them grows faster than the others—death is your destination."
Kael felt the air leave his lungs.
"Is that… why she never taught me cultivation?"
"Maybe. She had nothing safe enough to give you."
Kael looked down, jaw clenched.
"Then what should I do now?"
Azreath answered plainly:
"Become strong."
Kael rubbed his face. "But how . I don't have a cultivation technique. Everything Mother had… it's all incompatible with me. What am I supposed to cultivate with?"
"If you can help me , then—please teach me. Give me something."
A calm, heavy silence. Then:
"I cannot teach you."
Kael stiffened. "…Why not?"
Azreath's voice dropped into something deeper, like embers awakening beneath stone.
"Because everything I know…
all my cultivation methods…
all my flame arts…
all my soul-forging techniques…
are sealed."
Kael's heartbeat stuttered.
"Sealed… where?"
Azreath answered without hesitation:
"In my Knowledge Codex."
A name that felt like it had weight older than the mountains.
Kael whispered, "Then how do I unlock it?"
Azreath's presence thickened.
The silence scraped something raw inside Kael.
He snapped.
He threw his hands up and barked out a frustrated, broken laugh.
"Ah—of course! How could I forget?" he hissed.
"You're sealed. Everything useful about you is sealed. All your knowledge, all your techniques, all your wisdom—locked inside some ancient thing I can't touch!"
Azreath shifted, but Kael wasn't done.
"You don't know anything right now! You can't guide me, can't teach me! You're just—just a loud voice with a big attitude!"
Azreath's tone dipped low. "…Mind your tongue, brat"
"No!" Kael shouted.
"I am done being polite!
Why—WHY is everything around me always locked?!
Weapons out of bound.
My flame doesn't obey me.
And now YOU—your entire brain—locked inside a Codex!"
His voice cracked.
He paced, breaths coming in sharp bursts.
"And WHY," he stabbed a finger into the air at nothing,
"if you HAD to seal your consciousness—why did you make it LOCKED?!
Wouldn't it be simpler if you kept it OUTSIDE that giant stupid head of yours?"
His anger broke into exhaustion.
Kael slumped, whispering:
"…Why leave me with nothing? Why make every choice impossible?"
The forest wind rustled the leaves.
Azreath finally spoke—slow, deliberate, ancient, unyielding.
"Whether it was wise or foolish is not something you will hear today."
Kael blinked, confused.
Azreath continued:
"The seal has nothing to do with you.
It is tied to my past—and I will not share those reasons."
Kael exhaled shakily.
There was something in the dragon's voice—something old, wounded, dangerous. He trembled instinctively.
"What you must understand is this:
the Codex is not a box of techniques.
It is a trial for worth—for Legacy ."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"A trial?"
"A layered one."
A faint rumble followed.
"Each layer only opens after you overcome a specific challenge."
Kael swallowed.
"So unlocking it isn't a single test…"
"No.
Every layer demands a price.
Every page holds a trial.
And each trial grows harder—because each layer contains deeper knowledge."
Kael stared at the ground.
"And what's the first trial?"
Azreath's answer came like stone breaking:
"Kill ten beasts… each at least two realms above you."