By the time she opened her eyes again, the crow-masked man was on the mountain peak with her.
She looked at him from the ground. He stood there, unmoving, waiting for her to stand up.
She did. She looked at the boulder next to him and she looked back at him.
Her voice was dull as she spoke.
"I did it."
"You did," he responded with a nod.
"And for that, I applaud you."
Melania nodded. She didn't really care about any of that.
She had taken on the challenge not for affirmation, but for the rewards she had been promised.
Now that the crow-masked man was back, there was nothing in her mind but the desire to gain those things he promised.
The crow-masked man could sense her impatience.
"First, I will show you who you are."
Damien had preserved Melania's ego for the past two years to make sure that the weight of her actions didn't weigh on her too much.
She wasn't stable yet. Her mind was still in the state it maintained to help her climb the mountain.
Perhaps she wasn't ready to go back to her usual self yet. Or, maybe getting her memories back would be the perfect method to bring her mind back to peace.
Whatever the case was, she had earned her memories back, so Damien wasn't going to withhold them based on his own judgments.
"Khhh!"
Melania gritted her teeth to prevent a groan from leaking out of her mouth. She clutched her, feeling the same dull ache that she had when she first arrived in this place.
Everything that was taken from her was returned. The source of her desires, the experiences that made her unique, and all else contained within her memories flooded back into her system, melding with the memories of the past two years.
Melania's eyes had been cloudy ever since she lost her memories, but now, they had regained their clarity.
She looked down at her hands in shock.
"I…what have I been doing?"
She looked up at the crow-masked man, clamping her hands together to see if any of this was really real.
She remembered now. The reason for her arrival here was the creature she saw in the cavern earlier.
That happened in the real world, but this was not there.
"Was everything…a lie?"
The crow-masked man shook his head.
"It was not."
Melania was handling the fusion of memories far better than he expected. She didn't question their validity or anything of the sort. Rather, after comparing her past two years of memories with the ones that existed before it, she was more concerned with the supposed futility of her efforts.
However, nothing she did was futile.
"Do you remember why you started climbing this peak in the first place?" The crow-masked man asked.
"Because you promised me power if I did it."
"That is correct. I did promise you power, however, I did not promise it immediately."
Melania's eyes narrowed.
She wanted to rebuke the man and fight for what she earned, but he didn't let her speak.
"I will not give you power, for power must be earned. Instead, I will give you potential. Whether or not you can truly gain strength is up to you, but from now on…"
The crow-masked man reached forward and touched his finger to her forehead.
"...as long as you will it, you can become the most powerful."
VOOOM!
A foreign mana rushed through Melania's body and infested her blood.
It boiled as it responded to the foreign invader, causing searing pain throughout.
Melania gritted her teeth and took it, because through the pain, she could feel her blood changing.
It was becoming stronger, denser, and vaguely, it now carried the aura of something she didn't recognize.
Something familiar, yet far more powerful than she ever believed she could be.
"This is the blood lineage of Draga, the God of the Mountain. He is an ancestor to your earth dragon lineage, one who has been long forgotten. With his legacy, you can easily match the current Holy Clans if you so choose."
This wasn't a lineage Damien had access to.
Instead, it was one he had recreated through Qinglong's memories.
It was a perfect replica, one that even Draga's residual thoughts approved of.
It not only contained the bloodline memories his true descendants would have received, but other tricks and techniques from earth dragons of the past that Damien has been able to study through the lens of an Azure Dragon.
The bloodline was on par with what Valerie carried. It was more than enough for Melania to match the talents of those around her.
As the crow-masked man said, she had arrived at the same starting point as them. The rest was up to her.
"And…"
As Melania fell to her knees, adapting the last bit of the new bloodline in her body, the crow-masked man withdrew his hand and turned around.
"If you are still dissatisfied with what you have earned, then let me give you some advice. When you return to the outside world…well, just try punching something. I guarantee you'll enjoy it."
The crow-masked man's tone had changed entirely, becoming more playful.
Melania looked through her pain and saw his back.
It was clear that he was leaving.
"Wait!"
She yelled, reaching out as if to stop him.
There were too many questions in her mind for her to let him go easily.
But, had he chosen this moment on purpose?
Her body had locked up as it acclimated to the changes he'd made, so she couldn't do anything to stop him.
He did stop for a moment, though.
He looked back, seemingly with a smile on his masked face.
"We will meet again. If you can find me, then I will answer all of your questions. Until then, keep working to achieve your dreams. After doing something like this for two years, everything else will come easily, right?"
The rest was up to her to discover.
Nobody else could give it to her.
So, the crow-masked man disappeared, trusting such a stalwart genius to decide her own path.
The mountain started to break apart. The sky started to crack.
Melania's vision went black. She found herself standing again, but her knees still couldn't support her.
There was something on her body, keeping her in this position.
It was suffocating her.
CRACK!
She pushed her limbs outward and shattered the material that cocooned her.
GASP!
She took deep breaths as she fell back to her knees.
Crumbling pieces of dust and debris fell beside her. The damp smell of an underground space flooded her nose, and as her eyes found their sight again, she realized that she was back in the real world.
She stayed on the ground, still feeling the rolling waves in her bloodline that affirmed all of her experiences.
'It happened.'
It was an illusion, but everything that happened inside was real.
'Then…'
She didn't question how. Just as she didn't question the events that happened in the illusion, she decided to just go with the flow for her own health.
She staggered to her feet, ignoring the voices of August and Valerie who were calling out to her in concern.
'He said to punch something, right?'
She dragged herself to a nearby cavern wall and raised her fist.
She didn't have proper form, but it didn't matter.
All he said was to punch something, so that was all she was going to do.
Her fist slammed forward and made contact with the wall.
Perhaps that was the first time Melania realized just what she'd gained.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
An unbelievable sound.
And…
A wall that was now more of a tunnel.
With a fist alone, Melania had destroyed the entire cavern wall and created a ten-meter-deep hole that a person could easily walk through.
August and Valerie immediately went quiet.
Their jaws dropped to the floor.
"You…that…" Valerie stammered.
Melania grinned.
'It was worth it.'
Everything she had done was rewarded.
That was all she needed to regain her happiness.
By the time she opened her eyes again, the crow-masked man was on the mountain peak with her.
She looked at him from the ground. He stood there, unmoving, waiting for her to stand up.
She did. She looked at the boulder next to him and she looked back at him.
Her voice was dull as she spoke.
"I did it."
"You did," he responded with a nod.
"And for that, I applaud you."
Melania nodded. She didn't really care about any of that.
She had taken on the challenge not for affirmation, but for the rewards she had been promised.
Now that the crow-masked man was back, there was nothing in her mind but the desire to gain those things he promised.
The crow-masked man could sense her impatience.
"First, I will show you who you are."
Damien had preserved Melania's ego for the past two years to make sure that the weight of her actions didn't weigh on her too much.
She wasn't stable yet. Her mind was still in the state it maintained to help her climb the mountain.
Perhaps she wasn't ready to go back to her usual self yet. Or, maybe getting her memories back would be the perfect method to bring her mind back to peace.
Whatever the case was, she had earned her memories back, so Damien wasn't going to withhold them based on his own judgments.
"Khhh!"
Melania gritted her teeth to prevent a groan from leaking out of her mouth. She clutched her, feeling the same dull ache that she had when she first arrived in this place.
Everything that was taken from her was returned. The source of her desires, the experiences that made her unique, and all else contained within her memories flooded back into her system, melding with the memories of the past two years.
Melania's eyes had been cloudy ever since she lost her memories, but now, they had regained their clarity.
She looked down at her hands in shock.
"I…what have I been doing?"
She looked up at the crow-masked man, clamping her hands together to see if any of this was really real.
She remembered now. The reason for her arrival here was the creature she saw in the cavern earlier.
That happened in the real world, but this was not there.
"Was everything…a lie?"
The crow-masked man shook his head.
"It was not."
Melania was handling the fusion of memories far better than he expected. She didn't question their validity or anything of the sort. Rather, after comparing her past two years of memories with the ones that existed before it, she was more concerned with the supposed futility of her efforts.
However, nothing she did was futile.
"Do you remember why you started climbing this peak in the first place?" The crow-masked man asked.
"Because you promised me power if I did it."
"That is correct. I did promise you power, however, I did not promise it immediately."
Melania's eyes narrowed.
She wanted to rebuke the man and fight for what she earned, but he didn't let her speak.
"I will not give you power, for power must be earned. Instead, I will give you potential. Whether or not you can truly gain strength is up to you, but from now on…"
The crow-masked man reached forward and touched his finger to her forehead.
"...as long as you will it, you can become the most powerful."
VOOOM!
A foreign mana rushed through Melania's body and infested her blood.
It boiled as it responded to the foreign invader, causing searing pain throughout.
Melania gritted her teeth and took it, because through the pain, she could feel her blood changing.
It was becoming stronger, denser, and vaguely, it now carried the aura of something she didn't recognize.
Something familiar, yet far more powerful than she ever believed she could be.
"This is the blood lineage of Draga, the God of the Mountain. He is an ancestor to your earth dragon lineage, one who has been long forgotten. With his legacy, you can easily match the current Holy Clans if you so choose."
This wasn't a lineage Damien had access to.
Instead, it was one he had recreated through Qinglong's memories.
It was a perfect replica, one that even Draga's residual thoughts approved of.
It not only contained the bloodline memories his true descendants would have received, but other tricks and techniques from earth dragons of the past that Damien has been able to study through the lens of an Azure Dragon.
The bloodline was on par with what Valerie carried. It was more than enough for Melania to match the talents of those around her.
As the crow-masked man said, she had arrived at the same starting point as them. The rest was up to her.
"And…"
As Melania fell to her knees, adapting the last bit of the new bloodline in her body, the crow-masked man withdrew his hand and turned around.
"If you are still dissatisfied with what you have earned, then let me give you some advice. When you return to the outside world…well, just try punching something. I guarantee you'll enjoy it."
The crow-masked man's tone had changed entirely, becoming more playful.
Melania looked through her pain and saw his back.
It was clear that he was leaving.
"Wait!"
She yelled, reaching out as if to stop him.
There were too many questions in her mind for her to let him go easily.
But, had he chosen this moment on purpose?
Her body had locked up as it acclimated to the changes he'd made, so she couldn't do anything to stop him.
He did stop for a moment, though.
He looked back, seemingly with a smile on his masked face.
"We will meet again. If you can find me, then I will answer all of your questions. Until then, keep working to achieve your dreams. After doing something like this for two years, everything else will come easily, right?"
The rest was up to her to discover.
Nobody else could give it to her.
So, the crow-masked man disappeared, trusting such a stalwart genius to decide her own path.
The mountain started to break apart. The sky started to crack.
Melania's vision went black. She found herself standing again, but her knees still couldn't support her.
There was something on her body, keeping her in this position.
It was suffocating her.
CRACK!
She pushed her limbs outward and shattered the material that cocooned her.
GASP!
She took deep breaths as she fell back to her knees.
Crumbling pieces of dust and debris fell beside her. The damp smell of an underground space flooded her nose, and as her eyes found their sight again, she realized that she was back in the real world.
She stayed on the ground, still feeling the rolling waves in her bloodline that affirmed all of her experiences.
'It happened.'
It was an illusion, but everything that happened inside was real.
'Then…'
She didn't question how. Just as she didn't question the events that happened in the illusion, she decided to just go with the flow for her own health.
She staggered to her feet, ignoring the voices of August and Valerie who were calling out to her in concern.
'He said to punch something, right?'
She dragged herself to a nearby cavern wall and raised her fist.
She didn't have proper form, but it didn't matter.
All he said was to punch something, so that was all she was going to do.
Her fist slammed forward and made contact with the wall.
Perhaps that was the first time Melania realized just what she'd gained.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
An unbelievable sound.
And…
A wall that was now more of a tunnel.
With a fist alone, Melania had destroyed the entire cavern wall and created a ten-meter-deep hole that a person could easily walk through.
August and Valerie immediately went quiet.
Their jaws dropped to the floor.
"You…that…" Valerie stammered.
Melania grinned.
'It was worth it.'
Everything she had done was rewarded.
That was all she needed to regain her happiness.
