Chapter 109: Ascent Imprinting

Zishan continued staring at the broken System message for several seconds, as though keeping his eyes on it long enough might somehow force the missing words to appear.

[Silvy, the Black Dragon, is a Primordial Dragon of &$*$@^&^]

’System.’

No response came.

’Don’t play dead now. What exactly is a Primordial Dragon?’

[Host’s Authority is insufficient.]

Zishan’s eyebrow twitched. ’Then what does the part after "Primordial Dragon of" say?’

[Host’s Authority is insufficient.]

’How many Primordial Dragons are there?’

[Host’s Authority is insufficient.]

’Is Silvy one of the strongest ones?’

[Host’s Authority is insufficient.]

Zishan stared at the same answer appearing over and over while Silvy remained comfortably curled against his lap, completely unaware that her Papa was currently trying to extract information about her from an uncooperative System.

’Can you at least tell me why she’s called Primordial?’

[Host’s Authority is insufficient.]

"Damn it."

Silvy raised her head at his voice. "Papa?"

"It’s fine, baby." Zishan rubbed between her horns again. "Papa is just arguing with someone who likes repeating the same sentence."

[The System provides answers according to the Host’s current Authority.]

’Yeah, yeah. Whatever.’

There was no point continuing when the System had already decided that every useful question belonged behind the same restriction. Zishan dismissed the subject for now and leaned farther against the headboard, keeping one hand on Silvy while his thoughts shifted toward something he could actually do something about.

Level 99.

He had reached the very edge of the Unascended stage.

The next Level would put him at Level 100 and officially place him in the First Ascent, yet despite everything he had learned since arriving in Cyrune, Zishan had never personally gone through an Ascent. He knew the broad idea from hearing others talk about it, but knowing Ascents happened every hundred Levels and how to actually perform one were two very different things.

’System, how do I properly reach the First Ascent?’

This time, the answer came without any annoying warning about his Authority.

[Upon reaching the limit of the Unascended stage, the Host must undergo Ascent Imprinting.]

Zishan’s fingers continued moving against Silvy’s scales. ’And that means?’

A small panel appeared beside his Status.

[ASCENT IMPRINTING]

[Gather.]

[Imprint.]

[Temper.]

[Ascend.]

Zishan waited. ’That’s it?’

[Would the Host prefer an unnecessarily complicated explanation?]

’No. For once, I appreciate you keeping things simple.’

More information appeared.

[Gather: Consolidate the power accumulated throughout the current stage.]

[Imprint: Form a permanent Ascent Imprint from that accumulated growth.]

[Temper: Allow the newly formed Imprint to reinforce the Host’s body and Mana structure.]

[Ascend: Stabilize the completed Imprint and enter the next Ascent.]

Zishan nodded slowly.

So there was no mysterious wall he needed to punch through or some invisible barrier floating inside his body. Everything he had accumulated from Level 1 to Level 99 would be gathered together, formed into something called an Ascent Imprint, then used to temper him so his body could handle the next hundred Levels.

’And every Ascent gives me another Imprint?’

[Correct.]

’So someone at the Seventh Ascent has seven of them?’

[Correct.]

Commander Holtz came to mind.

’Makes sense.’

Zishan was about to ask when he could begin his own First Ascent when a different thought entered his head. He had spent enough time sitting around inside the estate, and there were several things he wanted to see in the capital while he had the chance.

He glanced down at the little dragon resting across his lap.

"Silvy..." Zishan lowered his voice so he would not wake Ollie. "Papa has somewhere to go right now."

Silvy’s eyes remained closed, though a long little groan escaped her throat as she pressed herself harder against his leg.

Zishan smiled. "Stay here with Ollie and behave, okay? Papa will bring you something tasty when he comes back. Maybe some candy if he finds any."

That got a reaction.

Silvy slowly opened her eyes and raised her head. The silver-gray eyes that met his were already beginning to look watery, her expression making it seem as though Zishan had just announced that he was leaving Cyrune forever instead of going outside for a while.

"Papa..."

Zishan held his breath. ’Fuck.’

He lasted another two seconds before releasing a defeated sigh. "Damn it... you are a natural persuasion master! How dare you use your cuteness to bribe your Papa!"

Silvy crawled higher on his lap and pressed her little head against his stomach.

Zishan was beginning to reconsider the entire idea of leaving when a familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

"Zishan? Are you there? We will go to the military right now so you can receive your insignia. It’s ready. Also, I will introduce you to our facilities there."

Silvy’s entire mood changed the moment she heard Elinox. Her head shot toward the door. "Mama! Mama! Mama here!"

Zishan stared down at her. ’Wow. Papa gets the crying eyes when he tries to leave, but Mama shows up, and I’m forgotten in half a second.’

"You may enter, High General..." he called out.

The door opened, and Elinox stepped inside, only for a tiny black figure to launch from Zishan’s lap.

Silvy’s wings spread as she flew straight toward her. "Mama!"

Elinox caught her against her chest with both arms, laughing softly as Silvy climbed higher and started rubbing against her cheek. The commotion also woke Ollie, who blinked several times from the bed before noticing Zishan beside him.

"Big Brother!"

The boy pushed himself up and wrapped both arms around Zishan’s waist.

Zishan rested one hand on Ollie’s head while watching Silvy cling to Elinox. ’These kids...’

He could not even complain.

"Are we going right now?" Zishan asked after Ollie loosened his hold. He glanced down at himself and remembered that he had been sitting around his room since returning from the Registry. "I have yet to wash myself. Let me at least prep myself up. Do you mind if you wait for a while?"

Elinox adjusted Silvy in her arms and nodded. "I don’t mind. Let me just play with Silvy and Ollie for now. You can wash up yourself just fine."

"Okay..."

Zishan got off the bed, grabbed what he needed, then entered the bathroom carrying a body towel.

Behind him, Elinox remained with the two children.

It did not take long before Ollie somehow convinced her to join another round of hide-and-seek.

Silvy had already grown fond of the game despite being terrible at it.

Whenever it was her turn to hide, the little dragon chose places that might have worked if she were capable of remaining in one position for more than several seconds. She hid beneath a table, crawled out because something on the floor caught her attention, then tried hiding behind a curtain while leaving half her tail visible.

Elinox found her every time.

Silvy seemed increasingly offended by this obvious injustice.

Ollie had to cover his mouth several times to keep himself from laughing whenever Silvy stared at Elinox as though Mama were somehow cheating.

Inside the bathroom, Zishan knew none of this.

He had already sunk into the large bathtub and rested his arms along its edges while warm water surrounded him. For some reason, the conversation about Ascents had caused his thoughts to drift farther backward than Cyrune.

Earth.

He had been a medical student there, already approaching the point where becoming a physician no longer felt like some distant dream. He had spent years studying things that seemed completely useless in his current situation unless a monster someday needed someone to explain human anatomy before being killed.

His old life had also been very different from the one he somehow inherited here. Zishan had not been an orphan on Earth. Quite the opposite, actually.

He had been born into an extremely wealthy family that controlled several major companies, the kind whose family name appeared on buildings and business deals large enough that money had never been something he personally worried about.

Yet the longer he tried thinking about them, the stranger the memories became.

His parents existed in his mind. He knew that much. He remembered having parents. He remembered growing up with wealth, studying medicine and living the kind of life most people would consider extremely privileged.

Yet when he tried picturing his mother’s face, the memory refused to become clear. The same thing happened with his father. Even something as simple as whether he had brothers or sisters became strangely difficult to answer.

Zishan frowned while staring at the water. ’Did I have siblings?’

The question should have been easy, but somehow, he found it very difficult to answer.

There were pieces of his Earth life that remained perfectly clear, even useless details from medical school that he would have gladly forgotten. Yet some of the people who should have been the most important to him felt covered by a strange fog whenever he tried reaching for them.

Now, he had somehow ended up in another world, inside the body of someone who had been adopted into a noble family, with only a supposed ’grandmother’ mentioned in his past before she died prior to his military service.

"Fate really is fucking weird..."

Zishan stared at the water for a while longer.