After having made it out of the Mushroom Forest, Adam found himself facing a great valley. Towering mountains full of greenery stood on either side. Furthermore, a long river flowed through the middle of the valley.
The moment Adam gazed at this beautiful scenery, his sour mood from earlier gradually vanished and was replaced by tranquility.
He involuntarily heaved a sigh and his lips curled up into a faint smile. "It took me a month to make it out of that goblin-infested mushroom forest, but it was definitely worth it."
Suddenly, he heard something strange. He raised his head and was greeted by another spectacular scene. Witnessing something so magical, his eyes shone with wonder and awe.
"So that's why this place is called the Soaring River Secret Plane!"
Adam could hear the rumbling and the splashing of waves coming from high up above. Countless streams of water stretched across the skies, intertwining with one another and floating in mid-air.
The blue skies of the secret plane were not only home to clouds but also rivers!
Just as Adam was admiring the magical floating rivers, Valerian mentally called out to him. He nodded, "Yes, Val, you can come out now."
The next moment, a gray light flashed and the young dragon appeared in front of Adam. The latter gently caught him in his arms and cradled him.
Valerian had tears in his eyes as he asked, 'Brother… are you okay?'
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Adam gently stroked the little guy's head and spoke with raised eyebrows.
'I… I'm sorry.' Valerian lowered his head and sniffled.
"Don't be sorry, you brat!" The youth flicked the young dragon's forehead. "It wasn't your fault."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})'But… but… If it wasn't for me…' Valerian sobbed silently as pearls of tears rolled down his furry face. 'Brother… am I… a burden?'
Adam wiped Valerian's tears and comforted him. "Val, don't you ever think you're a burden to me. You're not. You're my little brother and it is only right that I protect you. If anything, it's my fault that something like that happened in the first place. So don't feel bad, okay?"
"Myu…" Valerian put his small paws around Adam's neck and tightly hugged him.
Adam gently stroked the young dragon's back and consoled him. A few minutes later, he stated, "Now, stop crying."
"Look." He pointed at the floating rivers in the sky. "Isn't that amazing?"
Valerian turned his head and looked at the sky. Immediately, his eyes shone like the stars.
"Myuuuu!" He began clapping.
Adam found the little guy very adorable. They stood on top of the cliff and admired the magical view for a long time. Then, he looked at Valerian and said, "We're going to go down now, okay?"
"Myu~" Valerian, who had returned to his usual self, beamed.
Suddenly, Adam thought of something and said. "Oh, and it's better if you don't sit on my head from now on."
"Myu?" Valerian tilted his head.
"Instead…" The youth gently tucked him inside his robes. "Let's do this."
Valerian was now positioned in front of Adam's chest. His entire body was hidden inside the protection of the youth's robes and only his furry, little head was sticking out.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Myu!" The young dragon nodded his head excitedly. He felt that the view was not bad.
Adam patted Valerian's head and laughed. "Haha! Alright, let's be on our way then."
The next moment, Adam jumped off the cliff and activated the Ring of Light Fall.
According to the map, he only needed to follow the river snaking through this valley to reach his destination.
And that was the center of the secret plane.
…
At another location in the secret plane, there was a large patch of land that was full of trees that birthed only crimson-colored leaves. This area was known as the Red Forest, a place laden with ferocious magical beasts.
Deep within the Red Forest, inside a cave, blue lightning crackled incessantly, driving away any magical beasts nearby. The inside of the cave was bathed in a bright blue light and one could see a large boar fried to a crisp as a result of the lightning.
This cave used to be the dwelling of this magical beast. However, it wasn't anymore.
Judging from the aura and intensity of the lightning mana, one would have never imagined the source of it to be a Magus!
After all, currently, there were only Rank 1 Magi present in the secret plane and both the quality and the quantity of this mana were simply too great for such a Magus.
If one ventured deep inside the cave, they would see a male figure writhing on the ground, curled up into a fetal position as lightning danced across his body.
The intensity of the lightning continued to increase for a very long time, and then it slowly began to abate. When the lightning completely subsided, the figure lying naked on the ground finally opened his eyes.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Lightning flashed across his blue pupils as he slowly sat up and clenched his fists.
Feeling the raw power coursing through his body and the change in his mana, Edward grinned. "It increased again!"
The youth got to his feet and observed himself. His height had increased to a little more than 1.8 meters and his physique had become slightly bulkier than before. Every fiber of his being contained such great power that it left him speechless.
"My talent should be about A-grade now!" Edward muttered under his breath, unable to hide the excitement on his face. "My strength also seemed to have increased. I wonder if I can beat Adam now?"
But then he remembered all the training—no, the beating he had received from the drunkard in the past year. "Y-Yeah.. probably not."
He put on a new set of robes and exited the cave. He looked in a particular direction and started running. His speed increased and then he started to jump large distances, leaving behind a trail of lightning.
Enjoying his newfound increase in strength, Edward grinned.
I wonder how Adam will react, hehe!
Edward himself didn't know what bizarre mysteries his physique comprised of for him to increase his talent so frequently. But he knew that it was very advantageous to him.
Sometimes he even wondered if his talent would continue to increase for the rest of his life. But that was simply his wishful thinking. Suddenly, he recalled something Adam had told him the day he had come to cure his mother.
Edward landed on the ground and stopped, mumbling to himself, "Come to think of it, that guy told me he'd give me a present… something that would be very suitable for my physique."
He started to scratch the back of his head and squint his eyes, "But why did he tell me he could only give it to me after he had advanced to Organ Stage?
"More importantly, he seemed to know something about my physique. How does he know these things when even Father and Lord Bereger don't? How strange!"
In the end, he just couldn't see through Adam. The drunkard had always been an enigma to him.
"Forget it." Edward started sprinting again, making his way to the center of the secret plane.
"I'll just ask him directly when I see him."
