Time passed, on the outside world, the rumours of the Red Prince fighting an unknown creature and failing to kill it, allowing it to escape circulated. Effective his otherwise perfect reputation.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ved had just turned 21. After that fight, he entered a 5 year long coma where he remained completely unconscious while his soul healed itself.
During this time he couldn’t feel or hear anything, it was a blank period for him, he only knew how much time had passed due his mysterious internal clock.
When he first woke up he found it hard to move, the extent of his soul damage was huge. Not only had he severely damaged his soul but according to the vessel spirit.
Using dragon pride as a mere drake also burnt his source blood. Regenerating his source blood was not easy, it was impossible for it to regenerate on it own.
Fortunately the vessel spirit taught him how. He had to hunt and extract the source blood of other creatures. Ofcourse he couldn’t do this himself since source blood was just a drop of golden liquid that existed in the soul.
Infact calling it a liquid was not accurate, it was closer to pure DNA in an energy form that contained the bloodline information of that particular creature.
He had no control or influence over souls at all. So the vessel spirit did it for him. Although it was still sealed, it was able to do this much.
So he spent the past two years trying to regenerate his source blood while also allowing his soul to heal completely. However it wasn’t all bad.
Like the first time he suffered soul damage, it made his soul stronger afterwards, much much stronger. His will had grown significantly more powerful than before.
Not only due to the strengthening of his soul but also because his desire to preserve his life had grown much stronger as well but there was something else troubling him.
The pride that came from his bloodline had also grown which was not good for him at all. After spending the last two years hunting none stop, his points had grown much higher than before.
Species: Juvenile Sea Drake (21 years/ 2300 years) ( 9.7m/15m) Peak Sky grade
Rank: 3 The source of thɪs content is 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽
Abilities(3/3): Traits assimilation, Soul force, Aspects intergration
Traits(7/8): Poison secretion, Herculean strength (460x), Aquatic, Flash (340x), iron scale ( 30 000x), Web Secretion, Electric Discharge
Evolution points: ( 23/ 40)
Ved had come a long way, he was more than half way to his next evolution. However, Ved was now facing an issue, there were not as many high rank prey in this part of the waters anymore.
However he had learnt the sea was divided into territories, he was currently in the south which was rules by Ursela, this place was the safest for him.
She had warned him against going east and he fully intended to listen to her so his only other options are either going west or go north back to the island.
The island didn’t have as much food as the sea so going west was the best option but then again west was a complete mystery, he didn’t know the ruler of that place.
But if they could rule a region alongside Ursela then they must atleast possess power not much different from her’s.
If a being that powerful turned hostile the only thing he could do is beg for his life. This was truly a hard decision but he still chose to go west.
Firstly because he really needed to grow stronger faster, secondly, because he thought being fearful of everything will not get him anywhere but hinder his growth instead.
He swam west at a leisurely pace. What he didn’t know was that this decision was influenced by his bloodline, although the pride of his blood couldn’t overcome his fear of death.
They managed to reach a middle ground. He was both cautious and daring. Daring enough to make decisions that might lead to danger but cautious enough to make sure those decisions are within reasonable bounds and have the possibility of a positive outcome instead.
A few months passed and he finally left Ursela’s territory. He felt it, the aura of the ocean itself changed.
It nolonger felt vast and heavy but it felt dark and damp like thick tar. Ofcourse this was merely an illusion induced by the powerful aura he felt.
He took a breath and entered this new territory. He swam for a few days, constantly checking his surroundings for danger.
His vision was somehow not as clearer here. He could barely see a few a dozen metres forward as if the sea was actually darker.
But he was certain it was not, it looked exactly the same as the one he left so this must be artificial, he concluded.
Suddenly while he was swimming in this dark sea he felt slight danger to his left. Without a second thought he swung his hand to block and something grinded against his scales.
A sound of metal grinding against metal echoed across the ocean. Sparks flew and he saw what attacked him.
It was a starfish with blades on each end of it limbs. It was spinning like a shuriken, grinding against the scales on his palm.
However this was merely a rank 3 low earth grade beast. It was not a threat to him at all. He closed his palm and grabbed it, his claws dug into it flesh but no blood came out.
Then something he probably should have expected happened. The starfish detached it limb and escaped from his grasp, then the limb grew back almost instantly.
It spun like a wheel and tried to swim away. It was fast but he was faster. He fired a bolt of lightning which lit up the sea and electrocuted the starfish, killing it immediately.
Ved grew excited. He knew the starfish’s regeneration was not an awakened ability at all but a natural trait like the eels lightning.
Ofcourse the original thing was not this ridiculously exaggerated, regenerating a limb instantly was straight up fantasy type thing. He devoured the starfish in a few gulps and the notification came.
( Obtained 0.43 points) He ignored that, he didn’t care about the minuscule points it gave him, it was the next notification that he was waiting for ( Obtainable trait detected. Regeneration. Does host wish to absorb trait?)
Ved’s breath grew heated, he could barely contain his excitement. This would increase his survival chances by magnitude. ’ Absorb’ he issued the command.