Several minutes earlier… as Immortal Flame was battling Yamaru outside the vicinity of the den, another battle continued to rage on within Liam's body.
His entire body felt like it was going through a grinder. How many cycles had it been now?
Three? Four? He couldn't remember but each on felt like the pain alone would kill him. His organs, his bones, skin and muscles all of it was mercilessly broken and rebuilt as though his entire body was a metal being heated in the fires of a forge and the blacksmith repeatedly struck his body with a hammer to shape and refine him.
That was how Liam felt except he was feeling every waking moment of it.
His senses to the outside world were entirely cut off. He didn't even know that Immortal Flame had long left the den and was out there battling to keep his identity hidden.
Liam had scream so much in the past several minutes alone that even with his Self-Healing stepping up again and again to heal him, his throat still felt sore and dry. He could hardly let out a sound.
Then there was his brain. His thoughts had stopped moving for a while now.
It was to the point that even as the integration process began to slow and simmer down, he didn't notice. It was only after several more minutes of laying there that his brain finally registered.
'Huh?' he tried to raise his hand to his face. For some reason his arm felt heavy as lead, it shook as he tried to hold it up with his muscles.
His vision was blurry but slowly it began to clear
'Is it…over?' the forearm covered his face as he took heavy breaths. Now he could feel it with clarity. The pain had stopped and what's more… 'Everything feels clearer'
It was like a fog had been lifted from his body. His senses were heightened past a certain point. He could perceive the Aether with more clarity than before.
Thump! Thump!
The sound of drums echoed in his ears.
'What is that sound?' his eyes widened
Was that the sound of his heartbeat?
Indeed when he pressed his other hand to his chest, each Thump corresponded with the beating of his heart. Still this was a problem. Did that mean he would have to continue listening to the beating of his heart constantly. The corner of his mouth twitched.
'That would be inconvenient…wait'
Closing his eyes, Liam decided to try something else. He took deep breaths, and focused his attention to his ears. It shouldn't have been easy but for some reason he felt he had far greater sense of control over his body than before.
He could even isolate his five senses…six if you include Aether sense.
Focusing on his ears, he pulled back on his senses and then the sound of drums faded. He opened his eyes in a wide smile.
"I did it!" he said aloud. He turned his head to the side where he remembered Immortal Flame first stand. "Did you see…" his voice trailed off his excitement dimming a little.
'Where did the dragon go? Well considering that he helped me calling him 'the dragon' doesn't seem right…but he also didn't tell me his name. Did dragons even have names?' Liam shook his head. His thoughts were trailing too much.
For now, he would respectfully call him 'master'. That seemed more appropriate.
Liam slowly stood to his feet. He almost fell forward but he managed to catch himself. With all the changes that his body had gone through, it didn't feel like it was his. For starters the ground felt like it was further down than usual.
'No way. Did I get taller?'
Well, it wasn't that exaggerated. When people grew taller, they usually didn't feel it, after all it was a more gradual process so one would just realize 'oh I got taller'
However, for Liam it was different. He didn't gradually grow taller. His assimilation with the dragon essence thus far had added an extra 3 inches to him. He had gone from being 5'3 to 5'6"
On paper it wasn't that big of a deal but to Liam it meant the world. This confirmed that his body now had the capability to grow and Liam couldn't have been happier. He wondered what other changes had taken place. He wouldn't know until he looked in the mirror though.
Pushing those thoughts aside he shifted his attention to something else.
"Where did he go anyway?"
As if to respond, the mountain suddenly shook. The ground beneath his feet swayed almost tripping him over, even the runes alone the walls dimmed.
'What was that?'
More shaking. 'Its coming from outside'
Liam looked towards the empty spot in the center of the den. Only then did he notice the broken chains laying on the floor.
What happened? Did master go out? What was going one?
Without even thinking he raced towards the tunnels he had used to enter this den. His every step followed by a quake in the earth. It was like an oscillation. The shaking would start then stop for a second then start once more.
For some inexplicable reason, Liam felt his heart beat erratically within his chest. An ominous feeling clawing at the back of his mind and it only made him ran faster.
Several times he lost his footing and fell to his knees but he got up just as quickly and continued. Using the wall for support, he could feel the vibrations intensifying the closer he got to the entrance of the cave by the lake.
Then he heard them. The sounds of what felt like explosions going off ones after another.
Sweat fell down his brows. Uncertainty shadowing his heart.
He paused.
Should he really be going out there?
His fists clenched as something stirred within him. This was not the time to hesitate. He continued to trek forth. Until he finally he reached the entrance of the cave.
But where he expected to see a crystal-clear lake, there was nothing but devastation. The lake had disappeared replaced by a crater that seemed to go down almost 15 meters. Trails of magma flowed here and there and the rocks in the surroundings were covered in a layer of soot.
What really stole the show though were the two beings that stood at the center of it all. One was a man with skin covered in layers of white with veins of black spreading all over his body. His eyes were completely black.
There was another man as well with a muscular physique, scales of red that surrounded most of his body. A pair of horns pierced upwards through his flaming red hair.
The two exchanged blows. Each causing the world around them to quake and the crater they stood in to deepen.
Liam watched, pale and frozen. His mind failing to process what he was seeing before his very eyes.
Was this real? He had never seen something like this, even the destruction wrought by the hobgoblin and the dungeon break back home paled in comparison to this. He had never seen such a display of power before.
He thought he was looking at two gods battling it out.
'I can't follow their movements but they seem equally matched' is what Liam thought before something unexpected occurred.
A wound was torn in space behind the dark eyed man before a huge ball of fire emerged.
Liam's eyes widened. From where he stood, with his new enhanced senses he could feel the density of Aether within it. The levels of destruction such thing would cause wouldn't be on the level of nuclear bombs but it certainly wasn't far off.
There was a flash, followed by an explosion. A sweeping force spread from the attack together with a wave of heat that knocked into him sending him sliding backwards into the cave.
"Argh!" Liam groaned. The air was knocked out of his lungs as though someone had thrown a fist straight to his chest. His breath hitched and his ears rang for a moment. From where he lay, he raised his head and looked towards the mouth of the cave.
It was completely covered by a wall of smoke that made seeing difficult but he made out the silhouette leap out of it.
It was the man. He stood just ten meters away with his back to him and this close Liam could feel the man's aura more clearly.
Before the blood essence ritual, Liam had barely been able to perceive the dragon's aura but he had felt that the air about him was different. Here and now though, he felt it more clearly.
Liam felt his heart beat accelerate. He had hurried to stand up.
He approached the man slowly and as he did ,he could hear it more clearly. The man, who was also the dragon and his master and benefactor, was breathing heavily. Worse than that an iron smell filled his nostrils.
'No…no that can't be. The dragon and master he knew was imposing and seemed to embody the world itself. How could such a being be injured like this?'
Even though he could clearly feel his blood stirring as though to confirm a bond and kinship between them. Liam refused to believe that.
His throat dried up as a clamp seemed to form.
He hesitated for a moment but gathered up his courage.
"M-master?" Liam's voice came out half choked.
His master turn to look at him over his shoulder. When he saw those draconic eyes and the slight smile, Liam knew it was him and when he spoke the authority and rumble in his voice confirmed it was so.
"You broke through the initial stage. My successor"