Myths Reawakened

Wayne questioned the goddess’s purity. Based on what he knew about the idol industry, the goddess’s purity was merely religious propaganda to exploit followers.

Disregarding his personal prejudices, though, if the Goddess of Nature was pure and inexperienced, and after he became the Anointed One, she browsed through his memory and relived all the midnight shows he had starred in from the first-person point of view, with many a female star featured in the soap opera... Clearly, the church’s only Anointed One would catch a cold and meet a sudden death that night.

Wayne would never be the Anointed One. Not even he was bold enough to attempt that. He said to the grave-looking Senna, “You misunderstood, Master Senna. I’m too untalented to become the Anointed One. I’m only here as Veronica’s bodyguard. She is the star here.”

Then he brought up the dragon blood, too, asking Senna for a few more liters to ensure Veronica’s victory.

“Dragon blood is precious, so we only measure it by grams. Moreover, there is no great dragon in the Chosen Land, so one could only acquire dragon blood from Divine Realms.” Senna had no sense of humor and answered his request seriously.

“How did the Divine Realms acquire dragon blood?”

“By killing dragons!”

Wayne and Veronica both thought of Dragonheart Island. The knight order of the Goddess of Sun had once participated in a battle to slay a great dragon. Nine knights, including Valkyrie, had entered the land of the great dragon, and after a terrible fight, the dragon died, its heart falling to the Chosen Land along with Valkyrie.

“Although great dragons are not social creatures, each adult great dragon possesses enough power to rival a deity. It’s not easy to acquire one’s blood...” Senna explained the value of dragon blood.

“Master Senna, is killing a dragon necessary for acquiring its blood? Can’t we make a deal with a great dragon?” Wayne couldn’t help but speak up.

“No,” Senna shot down his naive assumption. “A great dragon can sense its blood from anywhere, leveraging its inherent dominance to render the Dragonblood helpless against it...”

“Moreover, a Dragonblood will never be more than that as long as the great dragon they got their blood from is alive. They won’t be able to evolve their bloodline.”

“Making a trade is not only unhelpful, but it’ll also create the potential risk of becoming at the mercy of the source of your bloodline.”

Veronica and Wayne nodded. As expected of a higher lifeform, even a drop of blood from a great dragon came with baggage.

Wayne made an analogy in his head: a Dragonblood had acquired a license to use a great dragon’s work, but the great dragon could take it back at any time, and its copyright would not expire. To fully acquire dragon blood with no strings attached, one had to kill the copyright owner.

He pressed, “Master Senna, do you know about the curse of dragon blood?”

“Why do you ask? Does Silvia sense her curse?” Senna scoffed. “Serves that foolish girl for betraying me!”

Veronica and Wayne frowned. Clearly, Senna didn’t intend to offer any help even if Silvia was meeting her death.

“Of course, if she comes begging and makes amends for her betrayal, I may forgive her past mistakes.”

What a troublesome old woman! Veronica thought.

Wayne could read her like a book. You’re a tsundere just like her.

In reality, Senna wasn’t a tsundere. She had only corrected herself when she saw how Wayne’s expression had darkened at her insult. She realized that the head of the Lando family, Auston, was disliked by his children because he had sold his morals for profit. Conversely, Silvia had generously taken in her husband’s son from his previous relationship as a student and treated him like her own son.

Wayne and his stepmother, Silvia, were obviously close. In Veronica’s perception, Wayne could kill Auston with a shot, not showing any hesitation, while he couldn’t even aim his gun at Silvia.

Senna narrowed her eyes. It was good for him to have a weakness. With the weakness in her grasp, Senna could keep it like a hidden ace until it became useful. It wasn’t yet time. She could get closer to Wayne as a parental figure.

Threats could not win any goodwill, and force would always be met with counterforce. Only kindness and genuine feelings could win loyalty.

Senna didn’t have genuine feelings, but she could act like she did, making it seem like she favored Wayne despite what she felt.

Well, she didn’t have to pretend, actually. She did like Wayne very much; Silvia had given her a great surprise.

It was a perfect gift!

Wayne frowned, seeing greed flashing in Senna’s eyes. The last time he saw that look, it was when Senna was staring at Veronica.

What, did she really want to make him the Anointed One? He didn’t understand what he had done to make Senna suddenly like him, even boldly dreaming about making him the Anointed One. It was a good thing to wash away the negative impression stemming from his connection to Auston, though.

“Veronica, you must be tired. Go take a bath in the bathroom. There’s something I have to talk to Master Senna about.”

Why should I take a bath now?

Veronica kept the question to herself, heading straight to the second floor of the mansion. She knew that Wayne was clever. He had to have asked her to leave so that he could have a private conversation with Senna.

Senna gave Wayne an appreciative look, stopping herself from wondering where his clever mind came from lest she found him disagreeable once more. She conjured a soundproofing barrier with a wave and said, “Transform into an elf, Wayne. Let me see your form when you merge with nature.”

Wayne nodded, transforming into a two-meter-tall elf with a thought.

The formula and magical gems Filomina gave him were a perfect example of why an older woman was a goldmine. For a poor, honest man to lead a good life, he had to take the sugar mommy shortcut.

So beautiful!

Senna narrowed her eyes to cover up her amazement. Wayne’s elven form was perfect. After close inspection, she said, “The faith of Nature alone can’t result in such a perfect form. Have you studied the faith of Moonlight and Sun, too?”

“Yes, studying makes me happy.” Wayne felt that keenly. Kristen and Filomina were excellent teachers who taught him with a hands-on approach, and Mona and Valkyrie were, too.

“It’s a good thing for you to be diligent, but don’t get too curious. Learning everything without discrimination will do you more harm than good.” Senna warned. Then she told Wayne to become one with nature, feeling a little impatient.

Wayne immediately extended his thoughts to communicate with nature, using himself as leverage to move and merge with the environment around him. By communicating with nature and borrowing its might, he could use powerful magic rivaling divine arts with thoughts alone, without applying formulas.

It wasn’t technically magic, but the result of Wayne reshaping nature with his thoughts, manifested in the real world in the form of magic.

As a masterful mage, Senna easily detected the change in his energy. She said in pleasant surprise, “Wayne, when did you learn to do this? Who gave you the idea?”

“I saw in a magical text that a mage is an individual of balance, and nature is an entity of balance. We exist within nature and within its balance, so we should be able to communicate with nature.” Wayne explained the source of his inspiration. He had to admit that it was someone else’s idea.

Senna’s lips twitched. “Avoid the nonsensical journals. They only contain lies.”

“Really? But I succeeded.”

...yeah, you succeeded, but others would’ve died!

Wayne’s unexpected response proved his talent once more. He read a random passage about a nonsensical theory and somehow succeeded without difficulty.

Senna couldn’t be more pleased with him. “How long did it take you to learn the skill, and who did you learn it from?”

“Two days ago, from you.”

“Me?!”

“Yes.” Wayne demonstrated the ring of thoughts as if it were the natural answer. “Before, I had the idea but couldn’t communicate with nature no matter how hard I tried, and for the past six months, I’d made no progress. It wasn’t until I received this ring, which can communicate with nature...”

Senna made a strange face. That wasn’t a function of the ring. Wayne had clearly imagined it. However, he was looking at her admiringly. She decided to let him think of her as a mysterious, capable master, so she didn’t clarify anything.

“Master Senna, this ring is amazing. I tried taking off the ring the past two days since I’ve memorized the mysterious feelings. I’m now able to communicate with nature without the ring...”

Wayne quickly went over the training he had done. “My new goal is to communicate with nature without transforming into an elf, becoming part of nature’s balance.”

“My next goal is to expand my Nature Domain to create a connection between me and the world. It’ll be difficult, but I believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way. As long as I put in more effort than anyone else, I will succeed.”

Alright, stop. Or I’m going to have to call you master.

Senna interrupted him and said with difficulty, “Wayne, as a legendary mage, I can guarantee you that your goal is unrealistic.”

“Yes, after all, I have such average talent that I only find the way to success thanks to the ring.”

Senna suspected that Wayne was acting. He had Auston’s blood, which would give him the inherent ability to lie. She put aside the unpleasant topic and warned, “Wayne, your extraordinary performance today made you a target of a hateful man.”

“Who?”

“Tubert.”

Tuba? Who’s that?

“High Prophet Tubert. Your ability to communicate with nature caught his attention, and he wants to make you do manual labor at the Prophet Sanctuary for your entire life.”

“Master Senna, is the ability to communicate with nature rare?” Wayne raised an eyebrow. “That can’t be. I manage to do it without putting in much effort. Isn’t that the case for everyone?”

“Don’t play dumb before me, Wayne. I’m not Silvia, so the innocent act doesn’t work on me.”

“Oh.”

My bad. But it doesn’t make sense. They are all Dragonbloods. Why does this particular one have a brain?

“Every High Prophet possesses the ability to communicate with nature, allowing them to receive divine oracles from the Divine Realm—not from the Goddess of Nature, but the Oracle, one of the three avatars...”

“Mirelle the Lark of Wisdom...”

“She can foresee the future!”