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After the meeting with his aunt, Edward headed over to the World Gate outside of this universe' Source Wall where he placed the two Dragon Kings to prevent tracking from their race.
After entering one of the rooms, he saw the yellow behemoth lying with closed eyes on a pile of gold and jewels. Albion seemed to have detected someone who intruded on his lair and opened one eye.
After seeing that it was Edward, he ignored the latter before closing it again. However, a few seconds later, he opened both of them; he even moved his head to stare at him, his serpentine pupils full of shock and wonder.
"You're already Tier 6? How is that possible."
"Huh, you can detect this?" He was perfectly controlling and hiding his mana, so he did not expect the dragon to discover.
"No, no, this shouldn't be possible–especially with all the life span you have. Even if you used the Elixir of Life to replenish it, there would still be signs."
"I would never use the shoddy magic systems that sacrificed life spans for higher Tiers," replied Edward calmly.
Meanwhile, Albion seemed to be having an existential crisis. There are not many races in the universe with the potential to reach higher Tiers with their mana–especially since the Divine Path is easier in the universe in terms of use.
And amongst all the races with that talent, the Dragon race is considered one of the best if not the best. However, even he–as a noble dragon with the most powerful bloodline–could not reach Tier 6 in such a short time.
"This does not make any sense," muttered the Dragon King out loud. "Unless…Unless you did it."
"Did what?"
"You found a way to travel to other universes like you originally said you wanted to do."
In the early days, their relationship was decent so Albion knew that this wizard was trying to find a way to break through the Source Wall and find another universe.
However, he sneered at him because that was something that no God has even succeeded in. Even their Dragon Races have concluded that this might be an impossible thing.
The last time that they met, Albion thought this wizard found a way to travel through the Astral Realm and maybe even discovered another plane. However, even Plane Conquest cannot allow someone to reach Tier 6 in such a short time.
Not to mention the grave danger and luck requires for this kind of endeavor.
"You're wrong. I'm just naturally talented," replied Edward. This dragon could not be trusted yet, and this kind of secret had great ramifications if discovered by other civilizations.
"Maybe you're right," replied Albion. "So, to what do I owe the visit this time?"
"I want to ask you a question."
"And what I do I get in return."
I'll provide you with enough mana to reach Tier 6."
"Fine, ask away."
"Is there any Tier 11 Gods or other individuals in our universe? And if so, who are they?"
"From what I know, there has never been a Tier 11 individual since the Magus Race."
"The Magus Race? What's that?"
"I have answered your question."
"Common on, you and I both know that your information is not worth the price I'm going to pay."
Albion paused for a moment, "I cannot say anything about the Magus Race."
"Cannot, or will not?"
"Cannot," replied the dragon with a serious look on his face. "However, I can add something else as payment."
"What is it?"
"Intermediate and Advance Dragon Chant knowledge. I'll even add my understanding of countless years."
Edward frowned after hearing this. "Why are you suddenly so giving?"
"You can think of it as an investment."
At its peak, Albion was a Tier 10 Dragon King, however, he died during a great battle involving the Dragon Temple and had to use his bloodline to reincarnate.
However, he also dreams of reaching higher tiers, and if that wizard managed to leave the Source Wall, this might be his chance.
The dragon pointed his massive claw and a crystal was condensed before handing it to Edward, who then proceeded to acquire enough mana for the dragon to absorb.
As soon as Albion was brought to the room full of the energy he needed, he said a few words, and powerful enchantments surrounded the room to protect him. Then, he closed his eyes, entering a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, in another room, Edward was observing the entire process of the dragon's evolution. The first thing he noticed was that Albion broke the magic core inside his body and controlled all the mana to his heart.
"Is this the Mana Heart?" muttered. The dragons in the Empire seemed to have adapted to the environment and created a magic core. However, based on information previously gathered from Albion, he knew that the magical system of the dragons focused on their Dragon Hearts or Mana Heart and did not have cores.
Edward focuses on observing and recording the entire process to see if he could learn something from it, and he did.
"Fascinating," he muttered. The Mana Heart involved the DNA and cells in the body. The DNA of a single cell is about 2 meters long, and the human body has about 37.2 trillion. As such, all the DNA in a single human body would be more than twice the diameter of the solar system.
And the dragon race used this fact as part of their magic system. Their hearts have at least 100 times more cells than the human body, and by storing mana inside their DNA, they can quickly reach higher tiers.
Moreover, the mana is not only stored in their hearts but also in their bodies; this is one of the reasons that they are massive in size.
'This might be the way for me to quickly reach Tier 10,' thought Edward. However, there was some issue to deal with before this method was used. One, the human heart is completely different from dragons, plus, a powerful body would be required to bear such a powerful heart.
Another way to fix this problem is to increase the size of the human body to be as large as stars or the solar system.
'This is not a problem as the dragons even have shrinking spells, so it would be no major problem.'
Despite coming to this conclusion, Edward did not like this method as he felt that there might be better ways.
The last issue with this method is the requirement for the soul and control over mana.
'Wait, I overlooked something. Albion's soul should be more powerful than displayed. Plus, even with enough mana, without a soul strong enough to control it, there is no way to reach higher tiers.'
So, he immediately checked the latter's Soul Dimensions and he discovered a large amount of soul energy coming from somewhere to increase the strength of Albion's soul.
Additionally, that soul energy is also slowly eradicating the Soul Enslavement that Edward placed on both his soul and bloodline.
'How sneaky,' he thought as he observe the entire process to better understand.
'The soul energy did not come out of anywhere; it's more likely that it already existed but only release a certain amount based on Albion's requirement and desires.'
Edward's eyes flash ruthlessly as he observed everything.
'The best way to deal with this situation is to use the Floating City and the Death Staff to reinforce the Soul Enslavement.'
He did not immediately do so as it could interrupt Albion's advancement, so he decided to wait. Based on his calculation, it will still take at least 57 years before the spell can be broken by the soul energy.
Plus, even if Albion managed to free himself, he was currently in the Void. Without Edward's help, the only outcome for him is to be wiped out by void energy.
As for controlling the World Gate and using its power? That's not possible as this thing was programmed to self-destruct at the slightest sign of someone else other than Edward trying to interfere with its main operating system.
After making a decision, Edward proceeded to deal with the Ice Dragon Queen. Just like Albion, she was trying to break free from his spell. In fact, the reason that she never woke up after being born was to concentrate on freeing herself.
As such, she was outraged when the spell was reinforced to a Tier 9 level Spell.
"Alright, let's go talk with Dumbledore to understand why the Milky Way is so turbulent."
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As you all know, I have been setting up the Akashic Records for quite some time now. My original purpose of this plot was to ensure that Edward has a way to choose the worlds/universes that he can go to instead of relying on luck.
However, I realized that things would become complicated if he got access to it. After all, I have described it as a place with limitless knowledge. Even if I placed some restrictions on how to acquire this knowledge, it does change how OP that place is.
For example, Edward could just acquire the knowledge of a particular world from the Record instead of going there to get it.
However, that would make the story very bland or create a significant plot hole. After all, he could literally get the knowledge he wanted to deal with any situation.
Any ideas on how to fix that?
Title: Trouble Brewing
