Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Building The Ether Net

Adonis and Mariana’s current priority was building the Ether Net within them, as both possessed the required items: Beast Cores + Aether Silk.

So with that goal in mind, they returned to Flocky Village.

Early in the morning, they arrived back in the village.

The villagers, mostly doing farm work, gave them curious glances.

“Hmm, aren’t they the same Swordmasters duo who are investigating the bandits?”

“Yes. They are them. Let’s talk to them. How long will we have to suffer in their hands? Last night, they took Old Granny’s cow.”

“Yes, yes. Let’s go.”

The villagers quickly gathered around Adonis and Mariana near the central well, with their tools like hoes, sickles, wooden buckets in their hand. Their faces were weathered, eyes tired but burning with quiet anger.

A burly farmer with a thick beard stepped forward first, wiping sweat from his brow.

“You two are the Academy students investigating the bandits, right? The ones who came yesterday?”

Adonis nodded calmly. “That’s us.”

The man spat angrily into the dirt, “Then listen good. Last night they came again. Took Old Granny Mira’s only milk cow. Just walked into her barn like they owned it, cut the rope, and dragged the poor thing away. Granny’s crying her eyes out this morning. she’s got no one else to feed her now.”

A middle-aged woman clutching a basket of laundry pushed forward next.

“And that’s not all,” she said bitterly. “They hit the miller’s place three nights ago. Stole two full sacks of grain. Said if he reported it, they’d burn the mill next time. My boy used to work there, now he’s scared to go back.”

An elderly man leaning on a walking stick spoke as well,

“They’ve been circling us for weeks now. First it was small things, chickens, a goat here and there. Now they’re bolder. Last week they beat my grandson when he tried to stop them from taking our stored food for winter. They broke his arm. The boy’s only fourteen years old.”

A young mother with a toddler on her hip added, .

“My husband went out to check the fields two nights ago. Didn’t come back till dawn. They caught him, tied him to a tree, and told him if we keep ’complaining’ to outsiders, next time they won’t let him go. He still has rope burns on his wrists.”

The burly farmer crossed his arms.

“We’ve sent word to the local garrison three times. No one comes. They say the bandits are too well-armed, or the roads are too dangerous. So we decided to wait. But we suffered loses more every week. Our kids go hungry. Our old folk freezes because of cold. If you’re really here to help, do something. Please.”

The crowd murmured in agreement.

Mariana glanced at Adonis, then turned face the villagers.

“We’ll handle it. Tell us everything you know about their camp, their numbers, when they strike. We didn’t just come here just to watch.”

The villagers looked at each other, then back at the two Academy students.

Their eyes regained hopes they lost long time ago.

The burly farmer pointed to a volcanic mountain.

“See that. They usually stay beyond that mountain and strike at night. But be careful, they have large numbers. Not just our village, several nearby villages have also suffered at their hands.”

Adonis reassured them,

“We understand. But can you give us a place to rest first? We’re very tired.”

They nodded eagerly.

“Yes, of course. Since you two are here to protect us, why would we refuse?”

Afterward, they were taken to the village chief’s house.

The village chief was an old woman who welcomed them warmly.

She had a granddaughter who occasionally sneaked glances at Adonis.

But unfortunately, she was not his type.

Besides, if Mariana learned about this, she would definitely set out to kill the innocent girl.

Nevertheless, after settling into their room, Adonis began the preparation to build the Ether Net within their bodies.

For this, both of them had to get naked.

Then Mariana and Adonis stood kneeling on the wooden floor, eyes locked.

The Dragon Hearts and Aether Silks were ready before them.

Adonis controlled his lust and began to draw a ritual circle around them.

As the writer of the story, he had vivid imagination in his mind, which made everything far easier.

Within just ten minutes, both circles were ready.

Next, he placed the Aether Silk strands around them in specific points according to the formation.

Mariana carefully followed his instructions and prepared her formation too.

​Adonis reached forward and picked up the two Dragon Hearts. One pulsed with a violent, chaotic violet light that seemed to swallow the shadows around it.

This was the Core of Tiamat.

The other burned with a steady, scorching crimson, radiating a heat that made the floorboards groan.

This was Mariana’s Fire Dragon Heart.

​For a brief moment, both of them hesitated.

It was not a hesitation born of fear, but of profound understanding. They knew that once these cores were consumed, they would gain another identity.

​Adonis exhaled slowly amd said, “Once we begin, our bodies, our blood, even our fate will change.”

​Mariana met his gaze lovingly. “We already crossed that line long ago.”

​Without another word, they swallowed the Dragon Hearts.

Buzz!

​The moment the cores entered their bodies, a violent surge of energy erupted.

Adonis’s veins lit up in jagged streaks of violet chaos, while Mariana’s glowed with a blazing crimson heat that turned her skin translucent.

Their bodies trembled under the pressure, and their breaths came out in heavy rasps.

Yet, neither of them screamed. They simply endured the agony of being rewritten.

​

Adonis clenched his jaw and began to chant.

*#&%%#@&###&@!”

A low, ancient language flowed from his lips, consisting of words that did not belong to any known era of the Kingdom.

Each syllable carried a invisible pressure, that sent vibrations through the ritual circle.

Mariana followed shortly after, creating a harmonic resonance between their two forces.

​The Aether Silk reacted instantly.

Woosh, woosh, woosh…

The silver threads rose from the ground like living serpents, drawn to the heat of the Dragon Hearts.

The moment they made contact with their bare skin, they did not pierce, but merged.

​The threads sank inward, spreading through veins, arteries, nerves, and spinal cords.

Every internal pathway began to restructure itself around the silk. It extended like a biological web, forming intricate channels that reached every cell and every fiber of their existence.

​Adonis felt the transition clearly. The chaos was being organized into a system.

The Ether Net.

​All pathways converged toward a single point: the Dragon Heart.

As the silk fully integrated, the cores stopped acting as foreign objects and became the literal center of their being.

​Thump.

​Adonis’s heart beat once, but the sound was different. The Dragon Core pulsed in tandem with it, drawing in the surrounding Ether, refining it, and storing it with mechanical efficiency.

Mariana gasped as flames flickered across her skin before sinking back into her pores.

Her aura stabilized, becoming denser and more terrifyingly focused.

​The ritual reached its peak. The circles beneath them glowed with a blinding light before slowly dimming into cold ash.

[ Congratulations, Master! You have gained a new constitution: PROGENITOR DRAGON PHYSIQUE ]

​

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep