"The power of a true dragon?" John repeated, shocked to hear such a thing. Even for someone as powerful as him, obtaining the might of a true dragon was irresistible. While he didn't know exactly how that was possible, his mind swirled with the pros and cons of accepting such an offer.
‘The power of a true dragon? That could mean many things, as dragons vary greatly, from ice and fire dragons, to lightning and earth dragons, and I'm sure there's even more. If its not lightning, I doubt I have much affinity with it, and it might not be worth the burden this voice is talking about,' John mused internally, debating on whether or not to accept the offer.
For a voice as powerful as this, the burden must be something monumentally challenging to accomplish, if not impossible. He didn't want to recklessly accept something that would lead him to death, at least not if the rewards were not worth it in the first place.
After thinking it over, John spoke out again to the voice.
"Before I accept your offer, I want to know what this ‘Power of a True Dragon' is? While I have affinity with lightning, I don't have affinity with the other elemental dragon types. If its not lightning, then I'm not sure its worth accepting," John voiced his opinion truthfully. With the protection of the ‘Mark of the Divine', he no longer worried too much about the voice taking action against him.
A guttural snorting sound rang out throughout the temple, containing overwhelming disdain for what John had just said.
"Do not dare mention the Fire and Ice Dragons before me ever again" the voice boomed disdainfully, as if the mere mention of those dragons was the voice's most hated thing. John raised an eyebrow in surprise upon hearing the disdainful tone, as he had been expecting the voice to be allied with dragons, based on everything it had said so far, and the inheritances up to this point.
The temples were lined with dragon statues, the inheritances were dragon blood and bone thus far, and the ancient dragon corpse lingered behind the final temple, and yet this voice had such disdain for the Ice and Fire Dragons.
"You still haven't answered my question," John replied, shifting the topic away from the Ice and Fire Dragons, and towards what type of inheritance he would receive should he accept the burden of the Jade Dragon legacy.
"Power!" the voice boomed loudly.
"Power?" John asked, but was interrupted immediately.
"Strength!" it boomed out again, the words causing John to frown as that still didn't answer his question.
"Since you are so dense, I'll explain it clearly," the voice said after noticing John's frown, its insulting words causing John to frown even more.
"The power you will receive is the power of a Jade Dragon. Jade Dragon's have no need for Ice, or Fire, or Lightning, because our very bodies are the source of our power. Just a casual swipe of our claws can shatter worlds and snuff out stars!" the voice boomed triumphantly.</o>
"We Jade Dragons…are the Dragons of pure physical might…the strongest of all Dragons!"
John's eyes widened upon hearing this, as he had not known that such a type of dragon existed.
‘I thought all Dragons specialized in some elemental Dao, but I guess I was wrong. The Dragons of physical might! This is exactly what I've been looking for all this time. The durability of my body has fallen behind where it needs to be to utilize my Asura Transformation and Bloodline Ability, so this may just be what I need!'
John thought over the offer for a moment, before his eyes went wide as he realized something about what the voice had said.
"We?" John repeated out loud. "You just said ‘We Dragons'!…Are you?"
"I am," the voice replied calmly, while a white mist began to materialize before John. It took a second to form a shape roughly the same size as him, a shape which turned into that of a dragon. John's face remained surprised as the soulform of a dragon appeared directly before him; a soulform that was exactly the same as the ancient dragon corpse resting nearby.
"You…are you?" John asked, his question clear without even asking it.
"I am the dragon you saw before you entered this temple," the soulform replied.
‘No wonder the energy was so strong! It came from a True Dragon!' John mused internally.
"But…how? Haven't you been dead for thousands of years?" John asked, as it was easy to tell that the dragon corpse behind the temple, while still regal and projecting a mighty aura, had been dead for a long time.
"Hundreds of thousands of years," the dragon spirit corrected.
"Hundreds of thousands of years! Then how are you here?" John asked. He could tell that the spirit form before him was made of remnant soul power, but soul power faded over time. For it to last for hundreds of thousands of years without a formation protecting it or enhancing it…just how strong had this dragon been?
"The how is not important," the dragon-spirit dismissed his question, "the only important question is will you accept the burden of the Jade Dragon legacy? I will be upfront with you, as we Jade Dragons do not partake in trickery and lies. The burden is something that is almost nigh-impossible to accomplish, but the power you will be bestowed will be greater than any bestowed by the Jade Dragons before. With this power, the burden just may become possible for you!"
John's approval of the dragon-spirit climbed as he appreciated its straightforwardness and honesty. It would have been easy to lie to him to trick him into accepting it, but instead the dragon made the dangers of such an opportunity apparent upfront.
‘There may be great downsides to accepting this offer, and the ‘burden' this dragon-spirit mentions could be more than I can handle, but…my journey requires me to climb to the very peak of the martial path, or perish. An offer like this is not something I can afford to refuse,' John thought it over internally, coming to an eventual conclusion.
His gaze refocused on the dragon-spirit while his face hardened with resolve, and he nodded his head with firm acceptance.
"I accept!"
