To the young man, it was merely about completing his mission, but to Aleron, it was a matter of revenge.
He had not done anything wrong, yet Jerry had already tried to kill him twice.
Both times, he had only escaped by a hair's breadth.
No man could take that lying down.
Especially not Aleron, who was already consumed with hatred toward this godforsaken world.
Aleron swore in his heart, "The next time we meet, I swear I will crush your skull to pieces. But before that, I will let you know how it feels to have your body riddled with holes."
Due to Aleron's regenerative capabilities while fused, most of his wounds had already healed.
Yet he couldn't forget the pain in the slightest.
Letting go of his clenched fist, he flapped his wings repeatedly and quietly retreated into the distance.
Time flowed gently, and soon, several hours had slipped by.
Aleron finally arrived at a forest far removed from the city's boundaries.
Based on his calculations, the Genesiscoil wouldn't be on his trail for some time, so he could afford to cool off and gather his thoughts.
"Fusion mode deactivated," Aleron muttered silently in his heart, just as he swept low to the forest floor.
In the next instant, he split into two figures. One of his forms rapidly shrank in size, and he returned to his previous human shape.
Meanwhile, Ashkar emerged fully from within him.
The dragon flapped its wings in excitement, its golden eyes glowing faintly beneath the moonlight.
"Dad, we were so amazing together!" Aleron could feel the joy bubbling in the dragon's voice.
He responded with a faint smile, pleased by the praise.
"It's only natural for a man and his dragon to dominate the world."
Hearing Aleron's confident words, the dragon let out a joyful roar and flew around in rapid circles, soaring with exhilaration.
Because he existed at a higher cultivation realm than Aleron, Ashkar showed no signs of fatigue from the fusion, unlike Aleron, who now felt a slight exhaustion creeping in.
Aleron smiled again, then turned his attention to the system interface.
Although it wasn't much, he suspected his strength had improved.
[Congratulations! You have slain 10 Tier-3 Abominations.]
[You have received 100,000 experience points.]
[You have leveled up once.]
[Origin Initiate Level 12: 5,400 / 204,800]
[Strength: 36]
[Agility: 37]
[Defense: 36]
[Origin Energy: 60/60]
Aleron wasn't impressed. "Why is it taking so long to reach the Origin Apprentice realm?"
As the worry began to settle in his heart, his eyes caught sight of additional system notifications.
"There's more?" he asked curiously.
[Congratulations. You have received a key from killing an Abomination.]
[Congratulations on collecting a unique item. The System Space is unlocked.]
[The key is stored within the System Space.]
Aleron blinked in surprise. "A key? When did that happen? I didn't see any key when I was tearing through those monsters."
"System, quick, explain what this means."
He asked internally, while also praying silently.
"I hope you don't demand an absurd amount of Origin Energy for an answer."
To his surprise, the system answered immediately.
[Due to the increasing presence of Abominations in this world, the Tower of Heaven has descended.]
[Climb the tower. Ascend and become the master of the tower to explore the starry skies.]
"What?"
Aleron felt his breath catch in his throat. What did the system mean by becoming the master of the tower to explore the starry skies?
Although Aleron had a guess, he didn't dare to trust it. He forced himself not to fall into hopeful speculation.
The system flashed again.
[The host is correct. The starry skies refer to other worlds similar to the Origin World.]
The confirmation froze his thoughts. His suspicion was now a truth.
He sighed and turned his focus back to the next line of system messages.
[Keys obtained from Abominations are divided into different grades depending on how long one can last in the trial.]
[Since your key is a C-grade, you may only remain in the Tower of Heaven for one day during your trial.]
Aleron was stunned. Still, he trusted the system's words.
His breath quickened. Yet, as a new thought entered his mind, he asked again.
"System, how many levels or trials are there in the Tower of Heaven? You keep mentioning ascension. That means there are stages, right?"
He asked with a furrowed brow, his tone tinged with anticipation.
The system answered swiftly.
[There are one hundred levels in the Tower of Heaven.]
Hearing this, Aleron rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a frown forming on his lips.
One day clearly wouldn't be enough to ascend the entire tower.
He had no doubt that each level would become exponentially more difficult.
Aleron fell silent, deep in contemplation.
He could not be hasty.
He needed a strategy.
Since he had earned one hundred thousand experience points from ten abominations, he knew that slaying twenty more would help him step into the Origin Apprentice realm, just like his son.
His eyes gleamed with determination as another question struck him.
"System, how do I access the Tower of Heaven?"
The response came at once.
[You can find the Tower of Heaven in the major cities.]
Aleron nodded slightly in understanding.
"My next goal is to reach the Origin Apprentice realm. Once that happens, my strength will increase drastically, and when I fuse with Ashkar, even a horde of Tier-4 Abominations won't be able to harm us."
"Besides that, I still need to find a way to slay ten thousand Abominations to unlock my Origin Ability. I wonder what it will be."
"Heading to the Tower of Heaven with this C-grade key is a good step. At the very least, I can see the tower with my own eyes and experience it firsthand."
Aleron planned carefully, visualizing his path forward.
After finalizing his thoughts, he yawned, climbed a tree, and sprawled out along a thick branch.
The ground felt too cold to rest on, and the wind up in the branches carried a sense of calm.
Ashkar, still hovering in the quiet sky, could sense Aleron's exhaustion.
"I'll watch over you then," the dragon decided silently, his gaze protective.
To be continued…