The final heave required every ounce of strength remaining in my bones. I gripped the jagged rim of the upper cliff face, muscles straining under the raw tension of the Volcanic Breathing Technique, and pulled myself out of the vertical abyss. With a heavy thud, my boots met solid, grassy soil. I rolled onto my back, drawing in deep breaths of the crisp, open-air sweeping across the rugged borderlands. The dark, sulfurous haze of the depths was gone, replaced by the familiar silhouette of the towering stone spires and rolling hills surrounding the territory of House Vane. Beneath my ribs, the core of dragon flame pulsed with a steady, comforting rhythm. It radiated a warm, controlled heat that spread through my veins, assuring me that the abyss had not claimed my life—it had only forged a monster. I stood up, shaking the dust and dried blood from my tattered clothes. My physical frame felt completely altered, dense, and packed with explosive kinetic potential. The weak, hu
Last Updated : 2026-09-18 Read more