Shock and disbelief were written all over Rio's face. He couldn't wrap his head around what he was seeing.
"Rin, are you telling me you've become human?! And you can actually speak now? That's truly amazing!" Rio said, growing excited. Finally, he had someone to talk to.
Rin merely smiled at him, offering no reply, since he still did not fully comprehend human emotions.
"So, how did this happen to you, Rin?" Rio asked, wondering about the cause of this transformation.
Rin simply pointed to the apple he was eating. "This. I just ate it."
Rio's face filled with curiosity as he stepped closer to the apple. "That apple... I saw you eating it right before I left. What kind of fruit is it? System, analyze."
The System analyzed the fruit and replied:
[Analysis Complete: This is a fruit that contains the collective knowledge, skills, and energy of a human named Yuratsu. After Rin consumed it, he inherited that human's intellect, which is why he is now capable of speaking human language. As for his physical form, it appears to be a specialized transformation skill belonging to that individual, which Rin acquired after eating the fruit.]
Rio focused intensely on the apple before asking the System to run a full analysis on Rin to see the exact changes that had occurred. "System, analyze Rin and give me everything about him."
The System began its scan. After ten seconds, the analysis was complete, and a massive screen projected before Rio.
Name: Rin
Age: 6 years old
Race: Ancient Dragon (Descendant of the Dragon Emperor)
Level: 1
Core Abilities :
Flight: [Max Level]
Blue Fire Emission: [Level 17]
Fire and Ice Manipulation: [Level 10]
Elements :
Fire Element
Ice Element
Skills Inherited from Yuratsu :
Shape-shifting and Physical Reconstruction: [Level 60]
Amplification: [Level 2]
Enhancement: [Level 100 - Max Level]
High Regeneration: [Max Level]
Void and Spatial Structure Control
Magic:
Water-Air Magic
Rio looked over the status screen with great interest. It was clear that Rin had evolved tremendously.
"System, after consuming that human's knowledge, what is Rin's intelligence quotient now?" Rio asked, deeply curious.
The System responded:
[System Notification: Since Rin did not consume an ordinary human's intellect, but rather that of a genius, his IQ is now approximately 180.]
Rio's eyes widened in sheer amazement. That was an incredibly high score.
"That's incredible... I wish I had that kind of IQ in my past life."
A week passed after those strange events.
Rio said with great excitement:
"Come on, Rin, pack up quickly! We're leaving now." Rio was bursting with enthusiasm for something.
Rin replied with a deadpan, exhausted look:
"Wait, Rio, there's no need to rush... Don't worry, we're going on the journey now."
Rio and Rin unfurled their wings at the exit of their fortress, preparing to take flight. After living in this sanctuary for an entire year, they had finally decided to travel and discover the world.
But suddenly, Rio looked back at his castle with anxiety. "Wait, Rin... what about our fortress? What if someone breaks in and destroys it? What should we do? And that Tree... nothing must happen to it, otherwise every single living inhabitant on this planet will die."
Rin looked at Rio with a sigh, whispering to himself: "This idiot... he completely forgot that he can literally raise mountains around them and create a massive wall unique to this territory."
Rio suddenly remembered that he was capable of doing the impossible.
He extended both of his arms.
Suddenly, crows and wild birds took flight in panic, as if sensing an approaching cataclysm. The earth shook violently—a powerful tremor that reached the very core of the planet, vibrating across a quarter of its surface.
The ground around the fortress and the Tree began to fracture deeply. The massive fissures raced through the terrain until they completely encircled the territory. Then, with a deafening rumble, the earth broke away and rose high into the sky, forming a colossal mountain range that completely sealed the fortress from all directions.
"Now it looks like it will be perfectly fine," Rio said, finally feeling reassured.
Rio and Rin launched themselves into the sky. They began to soar through the wind, breathing in the fresh air. Their primary destination was a great kingdom known as Valorii.
Rio raised his hand, spreading his wings wide with absolute excitement as he shot higher into the clouds. "Our journey officially begins now... Rin!" Rio laughed with pure joy.
"Wait up, Rio!" Rin called out.
Rin paused in mid-air for a brief moment as Rio forged ahead. He clenched his fist tightly and muttered:
"This world... it is incredibly cruel, Rio. You haven't left the forest since you were born; you know nothing of this world that holds no mercy in its heart. I wish I had never eaten that apple... Because of it, I saw the life of that human, and the harsh reality of this world."
After flying for some time, Rio and Rin descended near a small, impoverished village.
The villagers were incredibly kind to them, even sharing what little food they had despite their own severe poverty. Rio and Rin felt at peace with them and decided to stay for a while.
Rio genuinely loved the children there, playing and laughing with them constantly. Everyone treated him with immense kindness, as if he were part of their own family.
One day, Rio turned to Rin: "Rin, let's stay here for two weeks."
Rin asked, "Why?"
Rio smiled, "It's a wonderful village. I truly love the people here. I want to stay with them for a bit."
Rin murmured, "I wish I understood what love means, or why you are so drawn to them. Very well, no problem. Just two weeks, and then we resume our journey."
Rio jumped with joy, throwing his arms around Rin in a tight hug. "You are the best friend in the world!"
Rin initially tried to push Rio away, but he froze for a few seconds. For the very first time, a flicker of genuine human emotion passed through his heart. He smiled, feeling Rio's happiness as if it were his own. Rin snapped out of reality for a brief moment, bewildered by the sensation, until the shouts of the children playing woke him from his thoughts. He tried to brush the feeling aside.
One afternoon, while Rio was playing cheerfully with the children, an elderly grandmother called them over to tell them an ancient story. Rio joined the group, sitting down quietly to listen.
The grandmother began to recount a tale so old it bordered on myth:
"A hundred years ago, during the reign of the First Great King, in what was called the Era of Openness following the Black Epoch... the First Great King ruled over the entire world—"
One of the children interrupted, asking, "Grandmother, what do you mean he ruled the entire world? Shouldn't a king only rule a single nation?"
The grandmother replied, "Let me explain to you, little one. This world holds many secrets that have yet to be revealed. A century ago, there was a young man named Thanis. This youth dreamed of ruling the entire world, but no one believed his words or cared, thinking he was just a foolish dreamer."
"But after a time, he achieved his dream. He ruled the entire world, uniting all of humanity under a single banner, ending the era of injustice and strife, and spreading peace and prosperity everywhere."
"But the question that always remained was: how did he manage to unite the entire planet? Thanis didn't just unite humanity; he brought the whole planet together until the world felt like a single small city, and the other rulers and kingdoms were merely governors of its districts."
"But how?"
"I will give you your answer. This planet consists of six continents: the Continent of Ice—Thrice—/ the Continent of Humans—Vina—/ the Continent of Monsters—Tartarosa—/ the Great Continent—Lafitilia—/ the Continent of Mages—Baryl—/ and there is another continent whose name remains unknown to me. In the dead center of these six continents, there floats an island in the sky. No one knows where it came from or the reason for its existence."
"But what we do know is that it appears only once every year. Above it stands a gargantuan, beautiful palace, and inside it lie the secrets of the entire world. No, not just the world—perhaps every single question your mind could ever conceive, you will find its answer there."
"It is said that whoever reaches that place becomes capable of uniting the world if they wish. It is believed that because Thanis ascended to that island, he was able to unify the world."
"And anyone who ever reached that place was later called the Great King. There was only one other person who reached it, but strangely, after he arrived, he completely cut off all contact with humanity. Even when anyone asked him about the place, he remained silent, as if humans had no right to know."
"Eventually, he vanished from existence, and no one knows what became of him. After his disappearance, rule reverted to the Ten Great Kings. But due to the sudden fragmentation, nations began trying to seize control of the world, launching a brutal war against one another that lasted for nearly ten years."
"The world plummeted into darkness and war, as if the Black Epoch was about to return. Though the war was shorter in duration, those who fought in it were no ordinary rulers at all. Historical texts say that during that time, no human dared to step outside their home, even if they were dying of starvation. Those who were fighting were the Kings themselves—not ordinary humans. These were individuals who, with a single breath, were capable of shattering stars as if they were mere pebbles."
"In the end, after ten years of bloodshed, ten rulers emerged victorious, and they are the ones who rule the world now. However, most of the originals have already died, and none remain from the first generation except Infernus, the Ruler of Fire... and the Ruler of Lightning."
"A massive portion of history was erased during that time, and the reason remains completely unclear to this day. And also, do you know of Zaris? That tyrant who was called the Uncrowned Great King. He was a tyrant in every sense of the word, single-handedly challenging the Ten Great Kingdoms."
"He wiped out nearly their entire, seemingly endless armies. His goal was to rule the world, but he did not follow Thanis's path of peace; he chose to rule through sheer force and destruction. Alone, he was an unbelievable tyrant upon the earth. But later, he too vanished from existence. It is as if this world hides great figures by its own will, which is profoundly strange."
"It was said that the reason for the disappearance of Thanis, the First Great King, was that he discovered a truth forbidden for humans to know, so the world hid him to maintain the silence. It is as though someone is trying to control everything, and anyone who gets close to the truth... disappears."
"The floating island... it was said that Thanis was the one who created it to serve as his celestial headquarters, coming to it every year to look down upon the affairs of humans. But there is another tale that says the island appeared out of nowhere above the Continent of Ice, Thrice."
"The people at the time thought it was a miracle... but they soon noticed something bizarre. The island did not move. It did not shake. It was entirely unaffected by storms or raging winds. It was as if... it was suspended by something invisible. Or more accurately, as if it were a projection screen."
"Then they began to notice something else: anyone who stared at the island for a long time began to forget something vital from their life. Some forgot the name of their mother. Others forgot their dreams. And one individual... forgot himself entirely, walking out of his village into the unknown, never to be seen again."
"The rulers decided to ban looking at the island, and they built a massive stone tower to block it from view. But even after that, the legends never stopped."
"And one of the ancient legends says: after that island appeared over the Ice Continent, something bizarre descended upon it. It was a light so incredibly powerful that it illuminated the entire planet. The light manifested with such intense force that some believed a god had descended upon the world. The light was so bright that it illuminated everything between the heavens and the earth, to the point that for those few moments, not a single shadow existed anywhere due to its sheer intensity."
"And then, a cataclysmic blizzard exploded across the continent like a massive tidal wave. Following that storm, a horrific human massacre took place. The continent was left entirely barren."
"And now, anyone who attempts to go to that continent hears a strange weeping voice... and returns the next day horribly dead, as if they had been subjected to the most brutal methods of torture."
"There was a surviving adventurer from that continent who said: there is a girl sitting in the midst of the ice, weeping. If her crying is out of sorrow, a beautiful, mesmerizing snow falls that lures everyone in. But behind that beauty lies a monster; with a single touch, the ice destroys a human from the inside out. First, the person lives for ten years in agony worse than burning, and then they die as a solid block of ice. Strangely, all of those corpses disappear, and no one knows what happens to them."
"It is said that a man named Niz built a primitive glider out of wood and feathers, ascending toward the island alone. But he couldn't fully land on it; he only managed to stand at its outer borders without entering. He vanished for an entire week, then returned... walking. He was completely silent, his features frozen, as if he were no longer entirely human."
"The people asked him: 'What is up there?'"
"He answered with a single sentence: 'The truth is, there is nothing... save for reality. Who exactly are we?'"
"The very next day, he was found dead near the river, a smile carved onto his face. No one understood what he meant. Did he see himself? Did the island reflect what was inside whoever reached it? Since that day, no one has dared to approach it again. It is said that Thanis reached the island... but he never told a soul what he saw or what happened to him there. He only said: 'Humans must not know everything.'"
"As for Zaris, he attempted to ascend by sheer force, but he fell before reaching it. It was said that he saw what should never be seen... losing his mind completely and beginning to destroy everything in a chaotic frenzy, until he ultimately committed suicide by hanging."
"The island can only be seen in the sky on a single night each year, disappearing immediately afterward."
The moment the grandmother finished her tale, an army consisting of 100 soldiers suddenly breached the village perimeter.
They began shouting commands for everyone to halt what they were doing. Launching a sudden assault on the village, they unleashed fire magic, incinerating everything in their path. Rio roared at them, thrusting himself directly in front of the vanguard.
"What do you think you're doing?! Stop!"
Rio could not tolerate the cruelty any longer. He lunged at the army, completely binding the movements of every single soldier. They stood absolutely no chance against his power. Rio demanded to know the reason for their assault, but their solitary response was that the villagers had learned too much.
Rio extended his hand toward the heavens.
Suddenly, the sky transformed into a fiery, apocalyptic red as the massive tail of a colossal meteor materialized through a violent rift in the atmosphere.
Yet, the soldiers' expressions remained entirely blank and indifferent, as if they were nothing more than mindless automatons.
"Rio, stop!" an old village elder screamed, imploring Rio to hold his hand.
Rio, his face twisted with rage, bellowed: "What are you saying?! I will burn every last one of them to ashes!"
Rio looked entirely on the verge of losing control. Rin stepped in, firmly grabbing hold of Rio to restrain him. Then, to Rio's absolute shock, all the villagers voluntarily surrendered themselves to the soldiers.
Rio, his voice a mixture of deep sorrow and fury, shrieked: "What are you doing?! You need to run, not hand yourselves over to them!!!" He screamed with every ounce of strength in his lungs.
The grandmother looked at him softly. "This is our punishment. Anyone from the common folk who attempts to know what should not be known has their memory completely wiped. We are merely ordinary people."
"Where are they taking you?! Stand still, I will save you!"
They gave him no answer as the army dragged them away toward an completely unknown destination.
However, the soldiers made no attempt to arrest Rio or Rin. They were fully aware that these two were no ordinary citizens; Rio was a prince of the kingdom, albeit an exiled one, granting him the inherent right to knowledge. As for Rin, he was a descendant of the Dragon Emperor, and the same absolute law applied to him.
But how the army had acquired such highly classified information regarding Rio and Rin remained a total mystery.
Rio couldn't comprehend any of it. He collapsed heavily onto the earth, watching the villagers being marched away into the distance. He let out a desperate, broken cry, weeping bitterly: "Please, don't leave!"
He felt entirely devoid of hope, the crushing weight of sorrow nearly driving him to the brink of madness. Rin tried his best to comfort him, but since he still did not fully comprehend human emotions, there was little he could do.
Rio stared in the direction of the departing army, his eyes narrowing with a sharp, burning hatred and absolute malice. When he spoke, his tone was deadpan, chillingly firm, and authoritative: "I will make you pay a devastating price for this... Whoever took them away from me, I swear I will drag your existence down into absolute ruin."
Rio raised his fist high into the air and slammed it into the earth with the entirety of his rage and power. The cataclysmic impact ripped a colossal crater into the ground—measuring 20 kilometers in depth and 30 kilometers in width.
Rin sat quietly by Rio's side. He had no idea how to handle such situations, so he simply wrapped his arms around Rio in a tight embrace.
Rio, his voice cracking with sorrow as tears cascaded down his face, whispered: "I lived with them for barely two weeks... yet those were the absolute best days of my life. They were like a real family to me, Rin... and so much more than that."
To be continued...