Rivers of the Night

The momentum of the reformation of the Alpha's body only grew greater and greater until it was a mesh of pulsing muscle as tight as steel coils. But even then, that only lasted a brief moment before a tough, leathery black skin bloomed into being, all before being swiftly covered by blooming, luscious crimson fur.

Its mane practically shimmered like the sun, its tall limbs pulsing with power as its retracted claws left the sound of echoing, sharpening blades in the air.

Its size didn't seem to have grown. If anything, it had shrunk just the slightest bit.

After nearly reaching the middle realms of Gold Resonance, the Alpha had grown to nearly two and a half meters tall, the length of its body superseding three meters.

Now, it was closer to two meters tall, but it was sleeker, its aura more compact, its presence far more radiant.

There was no doubt. It had become an Arcane Beast—one with a legacy that far surpassed its previous roots as a Lightning Blood Hound.

That drop of blood within the crystal had the density of the entire legacy within it. Swallowing it would have completely restructured Theron's body, and this was probably the opportunity the unknown cultivator had spent a lifetime trying to gain.

Unfortunately, of all the legacies within the blood, he had only managed to just barely comprehend one of them.

If one wanted to successfully integrate the blood, it required having a general understanding of them all.

This wasn't to say that Theron had already mastered all of these techniques—far from it. Instead, it was more accurate to say that he had a grasp of the general Mandate they were trying to evoke, and because of that, he knew how to guide the blood toward acting as it should.

This was also because of Theron's unique bloodline, though he wasn't sure if he should be thanking his parents for that, or Alauna. He still didn't know who or what he was.

What he did know, though, was that his body was uniquely designed to control its own Life Mana, something that this legacy seemed to try to mimic but wasn't quite capable of.

As for the Alpha, it had mutated into a creature that had never existed before, all because of Theron's bloodline. So, it too had these characteristics in its body.

Once it could take advantage of Theron's comprehension to improve itself, everything else fell into place naturally.

The Alpha raised its head to the skies and howled, its powerful aura radiating out in all directions. Sparks of lightning spontaneously formed beneath its might, fogs of black and crimson creating what almost looked like dense clouds around it.

The Alpha had officially stepped into the Fourth Resonance of Gold Mancy. But the fact it had only improved a single Resonance Realm even after absorbing the power of a Treading Cloud Realm expert didn't surprise Theron at all.

That was because the Alpha had undergone a qualitative change down to its very talent. This was worth far more than a mere cultivation upgrade.

After it vented, the Alpha lowered its head and walked to Theron, nudging at him.

Feeling the warmth of another living creature, Theron frowned a bit, not quite understanding why it was his heart liked it so much. Even so, he found himself petting the Alpha's head.

Maybe it was because just the two of them remained. And in some ways, the Alpha was his only kin now. After all, the two of them shared the same blood.

Maybe this was just his fate now.

"What have you understood?" Theron asked.

The legacy seemed to have dozens of techniques within it, but after distilling them and sifting through the odd entries, they could all basically be combined into nine powerful techniques.

These techniques were completely out of Theron's expectations. That was because he was used to learning Spells, but these didn't feel like Spells. At least, most of them weren't.

The first technique was [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils]. This was basically a Mana Control technique, and it was the foundation the rest was built on, only adding increasing complexity.

The second technique was [Entangling Silence]. It was a unique concealment method and practically an assassin's wet dream. If [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] allowed you to entangle your Mana with atmospheric Mana you hadn't primed yet, then [Entangling Silence] allowed you to entangle your Life Mana with the atmospheric Mana of the world, making it difficult to distinguish the two.

Someone would have a very hard time telling the difference between nature and yourself.

The third technique was known as [Entangling Clouds]. This was only the third most complex technique in the legacy, and yet it was already designed for Treading Cloud Realm experts.

It seemed that there were two methods of flight: flight that just relied on usual Mana Control, and flight that relied both on Mana Control and movement techniques.

Any Treading Cloud Realm expert could fly, but according to what Theron could tell, a flight movement technique was a different beast entirely.

Most have movement techniques designed to be used on the ground. A movement technique that could be used in flight… well, that was a different matter entirely.

Theron wasn't actually sure if he was capable of transferring his personal water movement methods to the sky. Water simply felt out of place in the air. But… it shouldn't be impossible.

Either way, what Theron didn't know was that flight movement techniques were highly sought after and incredibly rare. Especially one like this one… one that could aid one to fly before reaching the Treading Cloud Realm.

And it was when Theron reached this point in his thoughts that the Alpha replied, raising its paw and softly clawing at the air.

The clouds of black and red around it gathered up around its paws until it formed a layer around its lower joint.

Then, the Alpha suddenly stepped onto it as though it was solid ground and lifted itself into the air.

Theron's gaze shimmered.