Although significantly later than intended, together with Aurelia and her guards, we leave Ugernum for the Capital, Maia. According to Aurelia, the trip should take a couple of days, not including the time we spend on detours. Since the road to the Maia is a direct one with no other stops from Ugernum, it has more patrols to keep travellers safe, which means we will have to go offroad to be able to test the recreation of the prototype design.
Even though it hasn't been long since leaving Ugernum, we take a fork in the road moving off the path towards Maia, heading south. Eventually, we move off the road entirely as the carriage takes us over an open plain.
"We can take a break here," Aurelia says while looking over the group, "this should be a suitable place for that weapon testing of yours. You should be able to find some monsters wandering around here somewhere and we can use whatever you catch as lunch. Oh, look, way over there, there's a big bear over... wait, there shouldn't be any bears around here, unless..." Aurelia says trailing off, squinting her eyes in the bear's direction.
In a panic, Aurelia continues, "why is he here! Everyone get moving, we need to leave, hurry!"
With the monster in the distance still out of range of my Draconic Insight, I'm not entirely sure what that bear looking thing is, but if even Aurelia is worrying over it, it's probably bad news.
As everyone is safely on one of the carriages we all run away as fast as the horses can take us, but turning my head back I still see the bear... and it running at us. Having closed much of the gap, it's full detail is much more visible compared to the vague silhouette from before. I knew it was a big bear, but it's a really big bear. Although not as big as me, it's still clearly just as big as a house. Its body is covered in black fur with large patches of white in a shape resembling a thunderbolt. His eyes seem as if they're on fire as they glow with an intense red. And as it enters the range of my Draconic Insight, I quickly realise who this bear is and why it's chasing us. The Ursine Lord, Gaoh.
"This is your fault, isn't it?" Lia asks.
"... probably."
"And just what are you two talking about so calmly while one of the Sacred Beast is chasing us?" Aurelia asks.
"The reason it's chasing us is probably because of one of Cory's Titles, Seed of Calamity."
"Seed of Calamity? I remember seeing that the last time I looked, but for some reason, I couldn't see its details. Tell me about it, this seems important and depending on the details we might be able to talk it out with Lord Gaoh... assuming he hasn't caught us by the time he calms down."
"I think the reason that you aren't able to see through it is because of its relation to a certain annoyance. The Title's main purpose is to denote my capability to evolve into the Ourobouros, one of the Heralds of the End." I say.
"Ok, I get the picture now. Lord Gaoh is trying to prevent a potential Herald, and I completely understand why I couldn't see into the Title. My suggestion is that you don't evolve into the Ourobouros and look for a different Legendary path to take."
"Why's that? The Ouroboros seems like a pretty strong choice, strong enough that I could fight against Akkre."
"That last part would be true if it wasn't for the for one key factor. You're rather lucky to have met me, as I know a good portion of the Eithgar history, and the original Ouroboros was a calamity that the Eithgar faced before. I can fill you in on the history later but, basically, the Ourobouros is an artificial creation made by Akkre and is bound to his will. That evolution is a trap, the same goes for the other Heralds, you may still have a sense of self, but any action you take can be limited or completely restricted by Akkre. Also, Lord Gaoh is a rather amiable person when he isn't in his berserk state, so if you can convince him that you won't become the Ouroboros then he will probably leave you be."
"Fuck! It really was too good to be true! What the hell am I supposed to do now!"
"Lord Gaoh might be willing to give some insight once his berserk state drops, we just have to wait it out until then. Thankfully among the Sacred Beasts, he ranks among the slowest, with the riding skills of our coachmen we should be able to hold out for another minute or so, his berserk states don't usually last very long."
With little choice given the situation, we end up running in circles for a couple of minutes, but despite saying he was slow, this is only compared to the Sacred Beasts, he still caught up to one of the carriages in practically no time at all and his roar alone was enough to send it flying. Aurelia was able to protect the guards and coachmen riding on it, but the horse, unfortunately, met the same end as the carriage. But over time the intensity of his firey eyes lessen and eventually reveal simple black eyes.
"Looks like he finally calmed down. Everyone, halt!"
Despite Aurelia words, I couldn't help but worry as the carriages all gradually come to a stop. But my worries were thankfully pointless as Gaoh too, slows down, eventually coming to a stop and sitting near one of the carriages.
Walking over to the bear, Aurelia gives him a very courteous bow as following it with, "this Sovereign greets the Ursine Lord, Gaoh. It has been a while."
*sniff* "This scent... the young Eithgar. You have grown, but I am disappointed to see you mingle with one who walks the path calamity and ruin."
With him right before me, I can kind of understand how people feel when they see my true form. How did those kids say it before... this is one chonky bear... no, I don't think I'm using that term right, but this is a really big bear. Although his stats are a step down from the Legends of Eon like Cetus, Gaoh's stats still surpass the trillion mark.
While I was overlooking his status, Aurelia explained the situation to the big bear. Having come up with an answer he turns to me, "Agree to my covenant lest I kill you here to prevent any accidents in the future. I will see if it is possible to assist you in attaining Legendary status, but depending on your true form, I may not be able to be of direct assistance."
Before I can respond I receive a notification from the System saying, [The Ursine Lord, Gaoh, is trying to establish a life and death covenant with you. Breaking the terms of the covenant will result in the termination of your soul. The terms are as follows, 'Cannot evolve into one of the Four Heralds of the End, cannot assist others in evolving into one of the Four Heralds of the End.' Do you agree to the terms?]
Do I agree? Of fucking course I agree, I don't have a choice unless I want to die on the spot, this bear is several times stronger than everyone here combined!
And within seconds I feel an oppressive pressure on me as it brings me kneeling to the ground, and just as quickly as it came, it dissipated, allowing me to stand once more.
Seeing my reaction, he nods in satisfaction, saying, "wise choice. I will not go back on my words, show me your true form, I will see if I can be of assistance."
Thinking of how I've been in humanoid form for so long, I quickly agree and return to my true form. In a flash of light, I now stand tall, towering over everything, even Gaoh. Aurelia doesn't seem to be surprised, but her guards are another story as they didn't seem to fully understand what we had been talking about previously. Seeing my true Dragon form, a few of Aurelia's guards fall over in surprise and manage to remain standing but retain the same astonished look as those who fell.
retaining his proud and stern voice without a hint of surprise Gaoh says, "an Elemental Spirit Dragon, you are much bigger than the ones I remember. But since this is the case, I should be able to help. The requirements for each Legendary Monster or Class are all different, but there is one common point between them all, the completion of a System Quest. As I am sure you're aware of, you have to further evolutions, the Tier 9 Elemental Spirit Dragon Lord and the Tier 10 Spirit Dragon of Primordial Elements. To evolve into to Lord, you must gather the Essence of Light and Dark, and to further evolve into the Spirit Dragon of Primordial Elements, you must gather the Essence of at least two Primal Elements in addition to all of the Basic and Greater Elements. But what you won't be told by the System is that the Evolutionary line of the Elemental Spirit Dragon has a hidden Legendary Path, although in your case, I believe it is being hidden from you on purpose by the Creator."
"Ah, I can definitely see him doing that to try and push me towards the Ouroboros. So then, what is this other Legendary path I can take?"
Continuing, Gaoh says, "The path is rather unorthodox compared to others as it will not start at after reaching Tier 10 like many others, rather, it has already begun. The path will lead to you becoming what was once known as the Cosmic Spirit Dragon. A Dragon with the power of the Void, upon evolution, the only things that can be of threat are mid-tier gods and above, as well as a handful of beings from Spirit World. In essence, this race of Dragons is the opposite of the Ouroboros as one who consumes the stars, for you would be the one who creates the stars."
"You have officially sold me, how can I achieve this?" I ask.
"For being twice lived, you certainly lack patience. The first step is to avoid evolving into your 9th and 10th Tier options. However, you still need to accommodate certain essences. You need the Essence of Light and Dark, but you mustn't gather the remaining Basic Essences or you will trigger the evolution process. That, however, is the simplest part, you will also need to gather several Primal Essences, these are the Essence of Gravity, Space, Void, Divine, Dark Energy, Dark Matter. None of these is easy to obtain, but upon the accommodation, you will forcibly evolve much like you would for any other in the Elemental Spirit Dragon line."
"That sounds hard, it was much easier for me to become the Ouroboros. I just had to level up and eat things."
Hearing my words I get strange looks from everyone, even the bear is looking at me what a face that clearly says, 'the hell is this idiot saying'.
"Since when has stepping into the Legendary Domain ever been easy!" Aurelia yells.
"As much as I don't want to disagree with you, Cory, but Aurelia's right. Normally it should be difficult to obtain the status of Legendary," Lia says.
"Stupid Dragon, it's just as the two say, to become Legendary isn't easy. This is how it is supposed to be, you just got off easy since you were being tricked into trying to become a Herald. Now then, I am obligated to hold up my end of the covenant, although I hate to give it away to someone as spoiled as you, follow me, I have been safeguarding some Roots for a few thousand years now, and a couple of are what you need."
With a loud roar, storm clouds gather and lightning falls, striking the air, creating clouds of smoke. And as the smoke starts clear, the silhouette of a massive staircase is revealed, but once all the smoke has cleared there is no such staircase within sight. Despite this, Gaoh begins walking, reaching where the silhouette was and suddenly begins ascending as if he's walking up a flight of stairs.
"What are you waiting for, hurry up!" Goah roars as he continues to climb the invisible staircase.
Hurrying to receive my compensation for the covenant and not wanting to be left behind, I quickly slither up the unseen stairs as Lia jumps on my back to follow.
"So these are the Stairs of Wind, I've heard of them in the old stories, but I've never actually seen them in person until now," Aurelia says before turning back to her guards, "you guys should stay here and watch over the carriages, wait for us to return and then we'll head to the Capital."
Rushing up, Aurelia jumps onto the back end of my tail and eventually climbs up to where Lia is. Taking a quick peek at the guards we left behind, they look of surprise from when I transformed is gone and replaced with an expression of envy.
After we near two hours of continuous climbing we pass by a large gateway, arriving atop a mountain and in the distance is a cave large enough for several copies of me to fit into. Looking over the entire place, we can see nearly the entire continent from our position.
Like me, Aurelia looks around, but her face holds signs of awe as she says, "so this is the residence of the Ursine Lord, just as the old stories tell, the view is outstanding."
"What's this place called?" Lia asks.
Although the question was directed towards Aurelia, Gaoh turns back and responds, "welcome to my abode, the House of Winds."