Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 167 The Lost Land
Spacetime shifts, dimensions overlap.

After the compass was handed over, Hera Morley returned to her library—she was now certain that Dust carried a destiny, and unsurprisingly discovered that her junior had already taken the most basic, yet most difficult, step in the high wizard advancement ceremony.

magic.

"Very interesting magic."

"This magic is connected to fate."

Her fingertips brushed across the thousands of bookshelves in the library. The book marked 'Dust' was pulled from the shelf at her will and flew into her palm—the secrets she had glimpsed, which Dust had not deliberately concealed, were all recorded in the book, and with each valuable piece of information she recorded, her deliberately suppressed progress in the Archmage Trial would sway slightly.

The ascension ceremony for high-ranking wizards is the process of forging their own source theory and driving force. This allows them to stand out from the millions of mediocre individuals who are obsessed with worldly dreams and take an extraordinary and resolute step.

The ascension ceremony for a Grand Mage is about seeking out and transcending one's own destiny. It's about finding things that only the ascendant can do and taking on the responsibilities, and when this duty is fulfilled, the river of fate rewards the one who performs the task with the glory of their achievements.

This ritual was known in a certain era as the legendary destiny. The more the first destiny chosen and transcended by the ascendant aligns with their own ideals and path, the greater the achievements the ascended archmage will attain.

That's why Hera stopped here—she had already calculated and discovered the destiny most suitable for her. She was destined to step into the ruins of Satar when they were naturally unearthed, and only then would her ritual begin. Before that, she had to firmly suppress her excessive accumulation of knowledge, lest her achievements overwhelm her own ideals, resulting in the tragic situation where her legendary destiny was overtaken by carelessly reading an unfamiliar storybook.

When water is full, it overflows.

If she hadn't discovered the blank book within the ritual tower, she probably would have remained secluded there until the Satar ruins were excavated. Her core belief was the relentless pursuit of knowledge and the unknown; even at the risk of failing the Trial of Fate, there were certain things she had to do.

She thus took notice of Dust and poured considerable resources into him—from the first time she truly saw him, she realized that Dust's destiny was intertwined with her own and the ruins of Satar. This meant that within her legendary destiny, there were many things that only Dust could do!

If it were any other high-ranking wizard, their thoughts would likely be, "This child must not be allowed to live." After all, destiny cannot only be obeyed, but also defied or even surpassed. And allowing a stranger to participate in their legendary destiny would be unbearable for many high-ranking wizards.

But Hera wouldn't—she never would. She wanted the answer to the question more, and even if there was no answer, the question itself would satisfy her.

She immediately turned to the page in the book she was looking for.

“There is no record.”

She had a lot of information about Duster recorded. She was certain that, at least before he accepted the commission to collect alchemical materials, he did not bear any fate related to the 'Necromancer's Amulet'—she couldn't have misjudged him, because the cause and effect associated with every demonic artifact was complex. And it was precisely for this reason that, even though she knew there were plenty of treasures in the world that could satisfy her thirst for knowledge, she would not try to touch them.

Legend has it that a Daedric Prince wrote down an infinite tome containing a wealth of precious knowledge. It is said that this Daedric Prince left behind numerous books on Thorthrom, linking it to the court of knowledge. It is also said that somewhere on this land, many ancient scrolls are hidden. Besides those housed in the White Tower of the Imperial Capital, several more are scattered in the hidden corners of Skyrim.

She knew of their existence, but she never tried to seek out those treasures. She wasn't burdened with the destiny of possessing them, and the consequences of forcing them would often be severe.

however……

"Dust's Origin Theory magic actually allows him to forcibly establish the destiny he desires? This is truly a rare and unique idea... I really hope he succeeds soon." The necromancer's amulet's destiny is now linked to Dust. As long as he's willing to make the effort and take action, he's destined to possess that demonic artifact for a period of time, until this destiny runs out. The treasure will then find a new master on its own. But she also has a strange feeling that perhaps this destiny is deeper than she expected.

Just like Dust's dragon priest mask—the fate bound to it was so heavy that Hera didn't even want to touch it. She had no doubt that even if Dust threw that mask out of Nirn's Realm and launched it into some distant annihilation realm, the river of fate would forcefully stir up waves, and when Dust needed it, in the most unreasonable way, send that mask back to where he could reach it.

A person destined from birth to become a dragon priest—even now, Hera firmly believes in her initial assessment of Dust. That seemingly clumsy successor is most likely the complete reincarnation of an ancient dragon priest. And the entire world will propel him toward his destined place.

Hera closed the book marked with Dust's name and left a new note. She wanted to know more, to understand more. Dust's newly acquired destiny became the catalyst for resolving her doubts—after she recorded this new note, her primal instincts for knowledge provided her with clues. The knowledge related to Dust's destiny thus appeared in her perception.

Callisto was originally just an ordinary person, a mid-level alchemist and wizard with some skill and some savings, but not much wealth. Someone like him, after acquiring the necromancer's amulet, would naturally be easily corrupted and seduced by the power of this magical artifact, becoming its agent or servant. And a servant of a magical artifact obviously wouldn't easily fall into another new fate.

The transformation into a vampire requires resources and time. To reach a near-high-level vampire status from scratch in just eight days must have involved an enormous investment of resources—at least a vampire lord would have to personally oversee such a transformation and advancement. However, in Skyrim, there are very few vampire lords left with a name and reputation.

"It should be a vampire lord who disappeared from history a long time ago—it was no longer in the predetermined course of fate. But because of the 'accident' that happened eight days ago, it has encountered a change beyond its destiny."

"Is it Rada or Ramaya?"

Two powerful vampire lords who had left their mark on Skyrim Province came to her attention. The former was the strongest vampire lord on record, while the latter was the first Coldharbour Daughter, the prototype and source of the vampire lords—as her voice echoed in the library, an invisible impulse arose within her. And she was certain that she had not chosen the wrong path of investigation.

Hidden within Windhelm City lies an ancient and powerful Grand Lord-level vampire. It may be sealed away, slumbering in the depths. But the 'accident' eight days ago brought about a change, forcing this ancient being, who was originally powerless to wreak havoc in this era, to once again step into the current river of destiny.

Callisto happened to come into contact with it, and thus, while being chosen by the necromancer's amulet, he also gained the destiny of becoming a high vampire. Considering the dragon Milmonir, which shouldn't have been near Windhelm, a general conclusion can be drawn at this moment.

It is a dragon. A dragon from another realm, similar to, or even stronger than, the dragon-like creature from the 'Special Annihilation Dimension' that Dust encountered.

It appeared in Windhelm City during that information leak and made contact with the ancient vampire lord—considering that it had not yet received any reports of sightings of giant beasts, the dragon's current condition was probably not ideal. Seven days after the dragon's arrival, those pale creatures appeared out of nowhere throughout Windhelm City.

The dragon is the anchor point, the established gateway. Foreign beings cross the border, arriving in waves every seven days.

New knowledge surged through her mind, but this hypothesis still needed verification to be effective. Meanwhile, the feeling of intelligence resonance pulsed even more intensely within Hera. Until her finger was tugged, pointing to an old book categorized as historical miscellaneous matters.

Her gaze immediately returned to the book's cover, which came into view through her violet eyes.

The pages of "Natural and Man-Made Disasters in Windhelm" turned at her will.

Soon, she noticed an inconspicuous passage in the record.

The old town, sealed off by fire and plague—a lost land no longer accessible.

(End of this chapter)