Chapter Text
Cale stood before the tranquil lake. The dappled sunlight cast shimmering patterns upon its surface, and a scattered azure sky peered through the sparkling ripples.
In the heart of the lake, a blue lotus stood.
It appeared to be an ordinary lotus at first glance, with the only exception being its somewhat rare color, if one were to overlook the lack of reflection of the lotus on the lake.
The red-haired man cautiously took a few tentative steps close, his shoes crunching softly on the damp, yielding soil, leaving a few shoes print behind.
The water around the lotus was shallow. It was more akin to a rain-puddled hollow than a true lake. The delicate petals of the lotus swayed with the gentle breeze, and the nearly transparent seedpod seemed to pulse with waves of light, resembling a heartbeat.
Bright green-black lotus seeds adorned the outer edges but Cale’s gaze was fixed on the center.
Raon followed, his wings fluttering with excitement, hovering just above the lotus.
"Human, is this the dew mentioned in the diary? Let's get it and save Golden Grampie!"
The old dragon Eruhaben had expended too much of his strength defending Puzzle City, leaving him in critical condition after the fierce battle.
Cale had handed him the jar that Eruhaben once rejected, and this time, the dragon had accepted it. He gulped down the liquid, enduring the searing pain that followed. Yet, it was not enough.
The jar was said to grant as much life as the user desired, but who would ever think to prolong the life of a dragon?
The human life force within the jar was insufficient to compensate for the life force of a dragon, a creature adored by nature and seen as a symbol of immense magical power.
Cale hadn't expected this outcome. Both he and Bud had used the jar, and as humans, it had worked perfectly for them. This success led Cale to believe it would be the same for Eruhaben.
However, the jar's contents were only enough to grant Eruhaben about half a year of his life.
The jar had shattered, and even Mila couldn't repair it.
"It's fine, Cale."
Eruhaben said with a serene smile. He seemed content with the result. His hair had returned to its usual golden color, though his face remained a bit pale.
"All I ever wanted before was to live long enough to defeat the White Star and now we even sealed a god. The extra half a year afterward was already more than I could ever hoped."
But that was not enough.
Cale wanted—no, needed—Eruhaben to see Raon grow up. Eruhaben had to be there to teach and guide the young dragon, even though more dragons, including Raon’s mother, were now around him. Eruhaben's presence was irreplaceable. He had to be there.
Raon shouldn't have to experience losing a parental or grandparental figure at such a young age.
No one should endure such a loss.
So Cale set his new goal to find something that would be enough for a dragon to live longer.
With the records left by the White Star, Cale found what he was looking for.
The immortal dew – a substance rumored to prolong life.
Cale didn't like the name of it, though.
Once, a legendary bard claimed that he had lived over seven centuries. Many verses and songs within his repertoire celebrated the existence of an extraordinary substance known as the immortal dew, purportedly extracted from the essence of a blue lotus.
The bard eloquently lauded how the dew rejuvenated both his body and soul, allowing him to live an immortal life that spanned the breadth of time, enabling him to explore everything worthwhile in the world.
And the bard could use magic. It seemed like the dew could somehow also boost or at least restore the magic power of its consumer.
The White Star didn't pay much attention to it since he was someone who could reincarnate and prolong his lifetime was useless to him. He simply recorded it as a possible water attribute ancient power and never did much research on it.
Cale decided to continue from there. Surprisingly, it wasn't very hard—much easier than he had anticipated—to locate the diaries left behind by this bard.
He had underestimated the influence he held as the savior of the world, the hero acknowledged by both the Eastern and Western continents. When he wanted something, those who had waited so long to repay the kindness and help he had offered finally got their chance.
What they found was a whole warehouse of diaries with dates spanning over seven centuries.
With "record" and an ancient translation spell cast by Lord Sheritt, Cale read through all the diaries in one day.
The bard had meticulously documented every day of his life. Every single day, without a miss.
There were even highlights and notes on certain events as if the owner continually revisited them. The mundane details were so intricately recorded that Cale found himself compelled to believe in the authenticity of the legend.
Page after page. Who would fabricate seven centuries of everyday life, from meals to outfits, and an abundance of poems and songs, all maintaining consistency in handwriting and tone?
Cale immediately began searching for the blue lotus.
And again, it was not as hard as he had thought.
Now, here he was. Eruhaben had only two months left.
This very lotus stood proudly before him, radiating an ethereal and transcendental beauty.
Cale took a deep breath and knelt by the pool, his fingers gently reaching for the slender stem of the blue lotus. The stem swayed gracefully at his touch.
The bard never specified what the dew actually was. Was it an ancient power, a divine item, something from the demonic or divine races, or something entirely unknown? Cale had no idea.
But again, he didn't have much choice. He could at least obtain the dew and then figure out what it could do.
It was common knowledge when it came to mysterious materials that the container mattered. Based on all the fantasy and adventure novels he had read, many legendary herbs or substances would diminish once removed from their container or treated improperly.
Cale decided to bring the entire thing to Eruhaben and then figured out how to let the dragon have it as he did not want to risk anything. The bard never mentioned how he used the dew, so Cale had to approach with caution.
As his fingertips were about to brush over the tangerine stem, a viscous mist, so thick that it was almost on the verge of droplets, exploded around him.
It felt as if he had entered a sauna, except that the steam was icy cold. Within this mist, vibrant colors twisted and swirled, creating a captivating dance that resembled the surface of a sunlit soap bubble. It was like he had stepped into the heart of a living kaleidoscope.
Suddenly, the voice of a young man echoed among the mist like a thunderbolt on a stormy night, and the surface of the water began to ripple from the lotus.
"Go away. No one can live forever."
'Oh. It can speak. So this may be an ancient power like the White Star assumed.'
Cale called for the ancient powers he had but they were all unusually silent. He allowed his nervousness, and his heart raced while a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.
To his surprise, the dazzling mist gradually slowed, and the voice ceased its torment. An amused tone replaced the previous sternness.
"Ah, you are the same as me. Do you wish to live even longer to reach immortality?"
'The same as? Is it talking about my life span?'
Cale's life force had indeed been strengthened after he stabbed himself in the heart with the branch of the World Tree and the Vitality of the Heart said he could live as long as a dragon with a power akin to immortality born inside him.
"No. I do not wish for immortality. I am just here to prolong the life span of a dragon."
Cale shook his head and replied as politely as he could.
The voice chuckled as the mist trembled with it.
"Dragons are not immortal. Prolonging the inevitable, hm? Meddling with time comes with its own price."
Cale's hand suspended mid-air.
Price.
He was not surprised, as nothing came without a price but he did not like how the word sounded from the voice.
Raon would have yelled for Cale to stop sacrificing himself if he heard this and the ancient powers would have been in chaos right now, but his surroundings were strangely quiet. Cale peeked around and found himself the only one here.
"What is the price?" he asked cautiously.
The voice's response was cryptic, dripping with amusement.
"It is everything you have experienced, but it is also nothing you have experienced."
Cale frowned. This sounded too much like the bullshit some gods liked to sputter.
But again, he did not have much choice, and that bard never mentioned anything about the lotus harming him.
Okay. Then let's do it.
Cale sucked in another deep breath and reached for the lotus. As his fingers traced the stem of the lotus, a peculiar hollow sensation surged through his entire body, like the weight you feel on your skin after hours of swimming and suddenly stepping out of the pool.
"No one can live forever. Not even immortals."
Cale couldn't help but frown at the sentence.
"But one can live again."
The voice declared with a hint of playful joy.
'Oh. I hate how it sounds.'
In an instant, a dazzling white light enveloped everything, wiping out all colors from Cale's field of view. He could feel a strange, almost ethereal pull as if the very essence of the lotus was intertwining with his own.
Raon's worried cries, the panicking ancient powers, the sense of emptiness, the moisture among the fog, and his hammering heartbeats. The world around Cale twisted. His surroundings shifted abruptly. His vision plummeted, and everything was lowering, and the lotus now appeared larger.
Was he falling? Was he going to faint?
As the disorienting sensation intensified, panic gripped him. However, the expected impact of hitting a hard surface or the cold feeling of water didn't come.
Cale blinked. And he had to blink again.
He wasn't falling.
He was shrinking.
"Wait. You are not... you're not the original soul in this body."
The voice tinged with confusion but quickly returned back to the amused tone.
"Is there anyone in this world that knows about the original you?"
Cale's heart sank further as the voice resonated with laughter, the sound echoing through as dread slowly crept in.
He really did not like how this sounded.
"You better contact them," the voice suggested, its amusement intensifying with each word.
Cale's mind raced. The meticulous and tedious documentation of everyday life, the notes as if being constantly revisited, the refreshment of soul and mind-
The realization hit him like a cold wave.
It is to remind himself.
The bard didn't become immortal.
He rejuvenated the body and the soul within the body and lost his memory, and lived again.
Fuck.
A surge of panic propelled Cale.
Those who knew his past as Kim Rok Soo.
Choi Han- No he didn't want-
"Raon, call Alberu."
His shaking voice now sounded young and vulnerable.
And the world turned dark.