The heavy, leather-bound book felt comfortable in Taryn’s hands. A cool summer breeze floated through his hair, carrying with it the smell of pine needles and soil. The two smells filled his nostrils as he opened the Mourner’s journal to the first page.

He’d tried for hours to fall asleep. But every time he closed his eyes, he was back inside that tunnel. The dreaded wall of water and bones hot on his tail.

Eventually Taryn decided that if he wasn’t going to sleep, at least he could do as the Mourner suggested and read the journal. Which was made easy by the flickering firelight at his side, and the dazzling silver light of Dawen shining from above.

Taryn observed the words for a moment- a part of him wondered if they’d jump off the page at him. But the more logical side, the one responsible for the burning curiosity in his gut, only made him eager to begin.

So, he did… He took a shallow breath and began reading.

***

Hello, successor. If you’re reading this, then one of my wishes was finally granted. By now you should have realized that things are changing. You now know things you shouldn’t and are dreaming of places you’ve never been. I would just like to assure you that this is nothing to be afraid of. I would never harm you. However, to prevent history from repeating itself, I have taken steps to ensure that you do not make the same mistakes that I have.

Within these pages are my observations of the various worlds I’ve been to. Some of them may even relate to yours. But within the journal, the very binding that you now hold, are my memories. And even now, you are absorbing them.

In a few days, you will have taken in every bit of experience I acquired over my four thousand years of life. What you do with it is entirely up to you—when I did things my way, I failed, so I’m not going to tell you how to live your life. I don’t have that right. However, I would ask only one thing.

Live with no regrets.

— The Mourner.

***

Taryn traced his fingers over the raised letters on the page. This is what started it all. He looked at the page for a moment longer before flipping to the next one.

***

1/13/759267

As I return to the early pages of my journal and read the ramblings of my younger self. I cannot help but reminisce over how simple everything was back then.

I was naïve to the ways of the world. A fact that was used to take advantage of me on more than one occasion. But if I were given the opportunity to go back and change my past… I don’t think I would.

The past I’ve recorded in these pages. They’re what makes me, me. And I like who I am… But I am not what is needed. I am the product of a failed cultivation method, and my soul is too far gone to cross the threshold to the higher realms.

I’ve failed- as a husband, as a father, and now, as a cultivator. But as I sit here- contemplating ending it all- I cannot help but wonder; what if I used my knowledge of Eco to change things?

I knew I possessed the ability. Small scale testing had proved it. Of course, I’d done nothing on the scale this would take. But the possibility was there.

If I decide to do this. The calculations alone would take decades, maybe longer… Which leaves me with a single question.

Would the world be better or worse off if I’d never existed?

I don’t know the answer.

I’ll start working on the calculations soon. Hopefully, by the time I’m done, I’ll at least have made up my mind. I’d hate to think I wasted all that time for nothing… Then again, it’s not like I have anything else to do these days.

Who knows; maybe focusing on a new project will be enough to keep my mind from wandering off again. I lost twenty years last time.

***

Taryn frowned at the page. It was smudged in several places, almost like someone had soaked it with water… Taryn forced himself to take a second look- individual splash marks littered the page from top to bottom. But the droplet groupings grew closer together near the middle and bottom of the page.

It has been soaked with water. Just not intentionally…

Taryn sighed and flipped to the next page— Though he froze at the sight of smudged ink on the reverse side of the page.

***

4/63/770425

It’s been a while since my last entry. And I really struggled with whether I should even bother writing this or not. But in the end, I couldn’t help myself.

Avarice and pride always were my greatest weaknesses. And the thought of not saying something- anything- before I activated the script was… terrifying. If this works, then I’ll be erased, body and soul. At least, that’s the theory.

I’d once heard legends of cultivators who could transmigrate their souls into the body of their descendants. Such an idea was tempting… Far more than I’d like to admit.

Which ultimately brought me back to a question I’d asked in my last entry.

Will the world be better off without me in it?

Well, I have my answer.

Yes. It would.

It pains me to admit it. But in order to build a future I can be proud of; I can’t be a part of it. My presence is like a virus- slowly infecting those around me and pulling them closer to their deaths.

So, no, I can’t be the one to change the future. I’ll have to take a leap of faith and leave that to my successor.

I don’t — if it’ll work. But I plan to —— ensure my successor will not repeat my failings— I will not interfere. Th— are free to make their own choices —— own mistakes.

What remains of my legacy is now in their hands.

— Tian Jin—

***

Taryn scowled at the barely legible text in the last paragraph. He knew he couldn’t really get mad at the Mourner. The man was clearly distressed— But possibly the most important paragraph was all but ruined by the wet paper.

And there’s that name again; Tian. That’s what Iddrai called the man in his memories.

Before meeting the mourner in his dreams, Taryn wouldn’t have known whether it was coincidence or not. But now, now he knew that they knew each other.

But why didn’t the Mourner— Sorry, the least I could do is call him by his name. Why didn’t Tian Jin mention that he knew the dragon when he sent me to get the egg?

Taryn seriously doubted it’d merely slipped his mind. Tian Jin was an unfathomable existence. There was no way he just forgot.

Suppose I could always ask Iddrai. He’d probably appreciate the company anyway.

Taryn gently closed the journal and returned it to its place in his rucksack. He carefully wrapped the book in a length of linen cloth to keep the elements at bay, then tied the bag up tightly.

With that done, he folded his legs in front of him and turned his attention inwards- focusing all that he was on the energy inside him.

Iddrai lived within Taryn’s mind, in a place he called the “soul space.” The only way Taryn knew to open the path to get there, was to cultivate.

So, that’s what he did.

With every inhale, Taryn pulled ambient Eco into his nostrils. The energy traveled into his lungs, and from there was pushed outwards, into Taryn’s muscles, vessels, and organs. Every new intake of Eco reinforced Taryn’s body, making it healthier and more resistant to sickness and injury.

With every exhale, he expelled a dark mist comprised of the impurities within his body- toxins, harmful bacteria, and any parasites he’d picked up from swimming in a strange lake. All was turned to dust under the onslaught of Eco flowing through his body.

This was the first steps towards the body refining process. Normally, Taryn’s only concern would be to push the Eco through already established channels, where it would take care of the body purification process on its own. The channels were also used to quickly guide Eco to its proper destination and aid in the use of the powerful energy.

However, due to the method he’d used in the core construction phase, Taryn didn’t have Eco channels. Instead, a protective layer of Eco located just beneath his skin served as his Core- containing his energy and allowing him to use it without channels… But therein lay his problem.

Without the channels to guide him and his Eco. He was forced do everything manually. And that was taking far longer than he would’ve liked— The technique he’d used to construct his core reappeared in his mind as a three-dimensional image of himself performing the technique.

There has to be a way to improve efficiency… Except I don’t know how I’m supposed to fix something I’ve already created. Eco cores aren’t like walls, you can’t just tear it down and start over if something happens that you don’t like… Wait a minute. Maybe there is a way to fix that. I can’t change an already established core, sure. But there should be nothing stopping me from building a secondary core and using it to construct channels that could serve as the bridge between the two cores— Right? One core for drawing in Eco, and a secondary core for refinement and control. The more he thought about the idea, the more sense it made— to him, at least.

Minutes turned into hours as Taryn remained motionless and focused his all on cultivating. He’d been focused for so long that he actually forgot the reason he’d started cultivating, instead of doing something else… Like sleeping. So, it was certainly a surprise to Taryn when he heard a voice reach out to him from the depths of his subconscious mind.

“While I congratulate you on possessing such a… Unique core. You’ve only made it more difficult on yourself. How do you plan to focus your energy without channels?”

I was actually just thinking about that. Taryn admitted. But that can wait for now. I didn’t come to visit you to talk about my core, Iddrai. At the mention of the voice’s name, a vision appeared in Taryn’s mind.

He was suddenly standing on a mountain’s peak, surrounded by clouds the color of liquid fire. Despite the fact that he knew this place didn’t exist. Taryn was once again mesmerized by the color of the clouds and the warmth that permeated his bones.

Taryn cautiously looked down at the cloud layer and inhaled a nervous breath as he awaited the arrival of his “passenger”, who appeared moments later.

A giant, five fingered hand erupted from the clouds. Its size was such that it easily wrapped its fingers around the mountain’s peak- silver scaled digits ending in wickedly sharp talons flexed as Iddrai; the last light bringer of Otholla pulled himself into view.

A pair of long, slender horns emerged first, each one so dark they it seemed to suck in the light around them. It took several seconds for the head they were connected to break the cloud layer, but the moment it did, Taryn’s eyes locked onto a pair of crimson orbs and refused to look away.

The thing rose through the clouds and continued to rise until it dwarfed Taryn’s Mountain.

Iddrai lifted a scaled brow and openly appraised Taryn. “No? Then is this about your other passenger- the man in the porcelain mask?”

Suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you saw that. Taryn sighed as he realized just how little privacy he actually had. But I guess that saves me some time. If you could see him, could you hear him as well?

“No.” Iddrai replied with a shake of his massive head. “The most I can do is see what you see, and even that requires more effort than I care to expend… So, fear not, human. I will not intrude on your private dreams of the silver-haired female.”

Taryn’s face flushed scarlet, and he thought about blustering his way through a response— but gave up almost immediately. He knew denying it would do him no good, not if Iddrai could see his dreams basically whenever he wanted. Instead, he relayed Tian Jin’s words to Iddrai and asked if they meant anything to the ancient dragon.

But Iddrai merely shook his head. “I don’t know how we’re connected either. We dragons inherit our ancestor’s memories at birth, and they mix almost perfectly with ours as we age. And eight of my ancestors knew, or knew of, someone with name Tian.”

But he knew your name—

“And I’ve said I don’t know how.” Iddrai sighed. “He also knew where to find me, correct?” At Taryn’s nod of affirmation, Iddrai continued. “Then it’s possible that he was someone from the old city- maybe even the one responsible for sealing me.”

I don’t think he would’ve done that. He seemed… I don’t know; protective, I guess.

“Then your guess is as good as mine.”

Taryn sighed as he realized that the conversation was going nowhere. Furthermore, he had a feeling that his time was running out- soon the others would wake, and they’d begin moving once again.

Taryn offered a slight shrugging of his shoulders and sighed.

Then, you won’t mind if I ask you something; It’s related to my cultivation.

Iddrai revealed a toothy grin and shook its massive head. “I thought you weren’t here to talk about your cultivation?”

Changed my mind.

“I see… Very well, you may ask. But I reserve the right to not answer any question I choose; deal?”

Taryn nodded his head, took a steadying breath, and just asked the question. I think I’ve come up with a way to fix my control problem. But it would require me to create a second Eco core for it to work. Have you ever heard of something like that?

“No… But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work- only that you’d be the first mad man to try it. I’m curious how the addition of a second core will affect your cultivation— or if you’ll even survive the experiment.”

Oh- right- this could probably kill me…

“Has that changed your mind?”

No, I’m almost positive the idea will work. But I don’t want to go into this blind; I need to be extremely careful, and thoroughly prepared before I try so I don’t screw it up… Any idea how I can improve my chances?

“Possibly...” Iddrai muttered. “But first, let me ask you this— Why risk it? You have your entire life ahead of you— Why risk it all for the chance that this works?”

Taryn opened his mouth to respond- but realized that he didn’t know. Why was he willing to risk his life for something that was, ultimately, unnecessary. He could use Eco without the second core, it just required a bit more effort… So, why?

I guess… I don’t really have an answer to that question.

“I think you should meditate on your answer before moving forward. If you go into this with any doubts, or if you get distracted during the process, there’s a high chance that you’ll only end up killing yourself— And me by proxy, definitely keep that part in mind.”

I will. Thanks, Iddrai, you’ve really given me something to consider… And probably saved my life.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m hoping you’ll go through with it- to sake my own curiosity if nothing else- but if you die; I die. And I didn’t spend the last thousand years trapped in a dark hole just to be killed by a teenager’s stupidity.”

Taryn sighed as he opened his eyes. His shoulders sagged as mental and physical exhaustion hit him like his grandmother at sparring time.

“Taryn, are you okay?” Xia Wei asked from behind Taryn. He came over and gently patted Taryn on the back while watching him through concerned eyes.

Taryn didn’t trust himself to speak just now, so he settled for nodding his head and offering Xia Wei a weak smile.

“You sure? Should I get you a bowl of mushroom soup, or—”

“Divines no— Er, I mean, I couldn’t rob grandma of the opportunity to eat your soup again.” Taryn groaned as his stomach ached for a reason not tied to his Eco. “How about some water.”

“Sure. I’ll go grab your waterskin.” Xia Wei enthusiastically slapped Taryn’s back and moved to grab the waterskin near Taryn’s bag.

Is it really that bad?” Iddrai chuckled.

Taryn gagged at the memory of the taste and thick, pudding like consistency Xia Wei had somehow created out of mushrooms, water, and a bit of salt.

I’ll put it this way. Either those mushrooms mess up everything, or Xia Wei’s cooking is Alchemy.

Iddrai let out an amused snort and spoke. “As amusing as this conversation has been. You need to get ready for the day. I eagerly await your answer. Come see me at midnight, tonight. Whatever you decide, I’ll try to help you find an answer to your problem.”

Thanks.

Taryn sighed as he felt the dragon’s presence retreat from his mind. His body sagged as whatever energy was keeping him upright vanished. He collapsed onto his back with his eyes closed. It was finally time to get some much-needed sleep—

“Here’s your water.” Xia Wei said before tossing a full waterskin onto Taryn’s chest. The breath was knocked from Taryn’s lungs, causing him to devolve into a coughing fit.

“Sorry.” Xia Wei muttered. “Oh! Elder Shun asked me to remind you about your training session with her in fifteen minutes. You probably don’t want to be late. Elder Shun looked annoyed about something.”

Taryn didn’t bother to verbally respond. He just curled his body into the fetal position and let out a loud sigh.

So much for getting back to sleep…