1novels Chapter 31 Prelude to Awakening
Chapter 31 Prelude to Awakening
Arthur looked down at the autopsy report. The seed pattern, enveloped in flames, deep within the ventricle, resembled some kind of ancient seal in the candlelight.
Meanwhile, the edges of the seal are being slowly eroded by the light seeping from within.
What will happen after I wake up?
Morgan did not answer immediately. She closed the book, put it back on the shelf, and then stood by the window with her back to Arthur.
The twilight outside the window had sunk below the city walls, and the candlelight in the tower cast varying shades of light and shadow on her long, silvery-white hair.
"Your mana reserves will increase to at least three times what they are now, and your regeneration speed will also double."
You will possess the true power of the British Red Dragon.
Your Dragonheart is no longer a dormant ember, but a fully awakened, living dragonheart.
She turned around, her icy blue eyes reflecting the candlelight and Arthur's face.
"But the awakening process will be very dangerous. The awakening of the spark means that your heart structure will be reshaped by the dragon factor."
From "human heart" to "dragon heart".
This is not a metaphor; the ventricles will thicken, the heart walls will harden, and the rhythm of the heartbeat will change from a human rhythm to a dragon rhythm.
If this process is unguided, your heart may not be able to withstand the remodeling and may stop beating altogether.
Arthur remained silent for the duration of a single breath.
"How to guide them?"
"Use my magic," Morgan said.
"The activation of the Dragon Factor is essentially a 'transformation of life form,' a migration from the human to the dragon level."
If left unchecked, this transformation will proceed along the most violent and unstable path.
My fairy magic can intervene in this process, 'weaving' the activation path of the dragon factor.
Like weaving vines, wrap it around a stick and guide it to climb in the direction you want.
She took out several bottles of medicine that Arthur couldn't name from the medicine cabinet, as well as a small bundle of dried, dark purple flower petals.
"But my magic alone is not enough."
When the Dragon Factor is activated, it releases a lot of heat and shock. Your heart wall needs a layer of protection, otherwise it will be torn apart before the reconstruction is complete.
Meryl's Avalon power can do it.
"Use Avalon's blessing to lock your heart's state at the level of 'being alive,' so that no matter how much the dragon's essence churns within, the heart wall will not rupture."
She laid out the potion and flower petals on the stone table, then looked up, her icy blue eyes staring directly at Arthur.
"This isn't something you can solve alone. You need me, and you need Meryl."
Arthur stood up.
"When will it start?"
"The sooner the better. The spark has already been infiltrated, and its awakening is irreversible. The longer you delay, the greater the risk of it getting out of control."
Morgan turned to look out the window. Dusk had completely fallen, and the tower window was now just a deep indigo blue.
"Tonight, I'll go prepare the materials needed for the weaving technique. You go find Melly."
"Have her bring back at least three vials of the essence of the lake from Avalon; her blessing needs that as a medium."
Arthur walked toward the door.
"Arthur".
He stopped and turned around.
Morgan remained standing by the window, her long, silvery-white hair gleaming coldly in the candlelight.
Her expression remained indifferent and calm, but her right hand had somehow gripped the cuff of her left sleeve, her knuckles turning slightly white.
"You won't die," she said softly. "Mordred can't live without her father."
Arthur looked at her, the candlelight dancing in her icy blue eyes, reflecting two tiny, warm flames on the perpetually frozen plain.
"I will not die," he said.
Morgan's eyelashes trembled slightly.
She didn't speak again, but turned around and began to crush the deep purple petals one by one, preparing the materials needed to weave the spell.
Arthur pushed open the door and stepped into the twilight.
As usual, Mary sat on her usual rock by the pond, holding a half-eaten apple in her hand.
"Arthur..." she said without turning her head, "Did Morgan send you to find me again?"
"Yes, my Dragon's Hearth is about to awaken."
Arthur sat down beside her.
"Morgan said that to awaken the heart, I need your Avalon power to protect my heart walls, and I also need the essence of the lake, at least three bottles."
Meryl didn't answer immediately. She looked at her reflection in the pond, her own face, and the blurry outline of the blond boy beside her.
The evening breeze rippled the water's surface, causing the reflection to shatter and reassemble repeatedly.
"Do you know what it means for the Dragon's Heart to be fully awakened?" she asked, her voice not as flippant as usual.
"The kings who possessed the Dragon Factor throughout history mostly had their furnace cores naturally activated at birth, and their Dragon Power was complete from the very beginning."
But yours is different. The fire deep within your heart was taken from the dragon veins of Avalon by my own hands and implanted into your heart when you were born.
It wasn't the complete dragon power from the beginning; it was a 'seed'.
The seed is alive; it will take root, sprout, and grow with every battle you fight, every time you let the dragon's power flow through your body, and every time you dig the riverbed deeper.
The dragon's furnace core is naturally fixed, its size is fixed, its quality is fixed, and its upper limit is fixed.
But yours is different. A seed has no upper limit; how big it grows depends solely on how much nutrition you give it.
She turned her head, her amethyst-like eyes staring directly at Arthur.
"But this would also be more dangerous, because the natural core of the furnace will not backfire on the holder, but the seed will."
If it grows too rapidly and aggressively in your heart, it can rupture the walls of your heart.
"That's why I need you," Arthur said.
Mary stared at him for a long time, the twilight deepening in her amethyst eyes, then she stood up and brushed the grass clippings off her skirt.
"Wait here, I'm going to Avalon to collect the essence of the lake, I'll be back soon."
She walked toward the forest, took a few steps, and then stopped.
"Arthur".
"Um?"
Mary didn't turn around. The last rays of twilight dyed her silver hair a deep indigo, flowing down her shoulders like a silent light.
"You're not allowed to die. If you dare to die, I'll sleep in Avalon for ten thousand years and never wait for you to come back."
Her voice still had that light and cheerful tone.
Then she walked into the shadows of the forest.
Arthur sat by the pond, watching her figure disappear into the twilight.
His right hand was pressed against his chest, and the Dragon's Furnace Heart was still beating heavily and powerfully, each contraction pumping the reviving heat throughout his body.
The heat flow was so weak that it was almost imperceptible unless one consciously tried to perceive it.
But it was there nonetheless, like a seed that had been buried for over a decade, finally feeling the water seeping down from the ground.
Arthur gripped the front of his shirt tightly.
Tonight, that seed will sprout.
What he had to do was ensure that when the soil broke, it wouldn't be torn in two by its own heart.