Chapter 173: Dragon"s Descendant
A question crossed Lin Jie"s mind. Are the dragons of Azir dinosaurs or actual dragons from legends?
It had been three years since Lin Jie transmigrated here and he felt he had a good grasp of the general situation of this world.
At least, integrating into this world wasn"t a problem for him and he knew what most people of this world knew.
This wasn"t because he had a good memory, but because Azir’s history was just too short and uncomplicated.
Information about this world from official sources included the Primordial Age, First, Second and Third Eras, spanned over a hundred million years and it was comparable to Earth"s own history.
Generally speaking, this amount of information ought to be enough to write a few thick volumes of Azir"s History.
The spread of the "Great Pestilence" in the Second Era that ruined a certain ancient nation and the birth of the "Wall of Fog", which caused all civilizations to collapse after multiple disasters meant that all history before this period was fuzzy.
In the end, only a small portion of history remained, that was from when the huge city nation of Humans, Norzin was built over the ruins in the Third Era.
This portion covering the complete industrialization was thin and the only thing worth studying was a period of resistance during the process of separating Norzin into the Upper and Lower City Districts.
Of course, this resistance was from those who became mutated from being afflicted by the great Wall of Fog, a time of chaos and bloodiness. This dark history was also destined to never be studied openly by the majority of people.
Therefore, in this world, history, like art, was like an elective for students of this world, with only one lesson a week, and no need for examination...
It was only when he started reading Dark Ages: Rise & Fall of Alfords did Lin Jie finally discover the truth of the Second Era"s history.
There really were elves in this world, as well as some extraordinary powers!
Although Lin Jie had heard rumors about some supernatural powers, he remained skeptical, for he had never witnessed them personally.
But now, he believed it.
The unknown nation destroyed in the Second Era was actually the kingdom of Elves. So, it could be possible that an ancient dinosaur fossil from the First Era could really be a dragon from legends!
As for whether this history was deliberately concealed, or because of some other factors—for example, the people who read this book had all gone mad, according to Hood—no one knew for sure.
These doubts that Lin Jie had didn"t linger. His attention was soon drawn by the translucent heart in front of his eyes that had completely "broken out of its sh.e.l.l".
The outer pale stone sh.e.l.l layer had completely vaporized.
The entire heart was beating nonstop on the groove of its base. The core of it was like an obscure ma.s.s of energy that expanded and contracted as it beat whilst emitting a continuous white glow.
Tiny blood vessels gradually lit up, just like a new shoot sprouting out of an old withered tree and filled with vitality.
The originally pale and rigid heart fossil had come "alive" and it seemed like it was getting larger.
Lin Jie"s hand was still on the heart, and all of a sudden he sensed a distinct change. Originally cold and stiff, this heart fossil had become warm and soft, and was constantly wiggling.
Lin Jie"s hair stood on end.
"Huff... Calm down, calm down..."
Lin Jie took deep breaths as he felt the rapidly hastening heart beats. He first had to get away from this glistening heart that was flickering like a time bomb about to explode.
But when he tried moving a little, he realized that there seemed to be an invisible force grabbing onto his hand and not letting him go.
"?"
Then, a bright light shone from its core as thin bands of energy emerged, winding up his arm like little long snakes before coiling together as it started to "inch" towards his heart.
"What the?!"
Cold sweat trickled down Lin Jie"s forehead and he shouted decisively, "Blackie!
“Blackie help! I"m in trouble!”
As if ready to grant a request, Blackie appeared, his blurry shadow converging on the windows.
Lin Jie was overjoyed.
However, the black shadow hovered for a bit, as if turning to look at Lin Jie, then vanished.
Vanished.
...
Lin Jie"s struggle was in vain. His aid had forsaken him, and for a moment he felt as if he had been abandoned by the entire world.
Lin Jie might be smiling, but he was cursing deep down. Gritting his teeth, he tried his utmost to pull himself free.
Fortunately, Silver"s recent dreams reflected reality and his strength was much greater than before.
The invisible force seemed to loosen.
I need to keep this up.
But the converged energy bands seemed to be much faster and he couldn"t keep track of them.
In the blink of an eye, it went through his chest.
Lin Jie had a strange feeling that "something" had been transmitted to his heart, but besides that, it didn"t hurt and it actually felt warm and soothing.
Is this... the aether I"ve sensed in my dreams?
A faint halo of light burst forth from his chest and he vaguely heard the sound of wind from afar.
It’s resonating with me. It feels intimate, as though seeing an acquaintance once more after a long time…
Lin Jie"s movements became slower as he inexplicably came up with such a thought. He glanced at the rapidly withering heart.
Wait no, why are you resonating with me?
Do you think I"m descended from a dragon?
Wake up. We aren"t the same kind…
Lin Jie was stunned. On his own, he didn"t seem to have any reason to resonate with it, but his body had indeed undergone a strange change before.
After eating Sliver’s gift, that seemingly ordinary fruit, Lin Jie had grown eight extra teeth and became the image of a so-called "perfect human".
And he remembered the tree in Sliver’s dream. Its thick trunk and forked branches were obviously shaped like a huge dragon spreading its wings.
He had always thought that it was just a strange tree, but the heart fossil before him had inspired him to look at it from another point of view.
What if that tree was transformed from a dragon?
What had he eaten then, and why did it change his body structure... But he wouldn"t be able to get the answers to these questions for the time being.
Right now, his best guess was that the fruit was the reason behind his body"s transformation, which then resulted in this revived heart a.s.suming they were of the same species and wanting to bestow something onto him.
This also explained why Blackie left after a mere glance. It was because this heart was of some use to Lin Jie.
But still, why didn’t he take a closer look?
It was difficult for Lin Jie to think such thoughts now, for he could feel the heart had given him so much that he felt bloated and almost overflowing.
All the extra energy surged through his body like a wave, numbing his skin, his chest, throat, and the left half of his face and eyes, and especially around his chest area.
It was as if the "heart" had finally found a place to vent its wrath acc.u.mulated over millions of years.
Fortunately, this heart seems to finally be dying down.
He watched as the energy bands on his arm fell off in turn, turning into specks of light that dissipated.
This time, the heart turned completely into a dry stone.
Lin Jie ma.s.saged his stiff arm and took a deep breath whilst suppressing his inexplicable desire to hit someone. Just as he was about to put the heart down, he heard the jingle of the bell as the door opened.
Lin Jie turned and saw a young golden-haired youth that had entered as well as noticing his seemingly plastic smile and the conspicuous long red cross in his hand.
Shiing!
The handsome golden-haired youth drew out a long sword from his cross-shaped sheath, like some sort of a heroic dragon slayer.