They were something Achilles had never controlled before as they came without warning, with the first one rising from the depths of his subconscious on a random night when sleep claimed him.
But ever since he had obtained the quality of Lineage Memory V through the Organic Dracona Assimilation... things had changed.
He could initiate it.
As the Kingdom of Neon soared across the skies, Draconic Hybrids coiling around it like legions preparing for war.
Within Neon itself, a colossal bridge connected Titanfall Mountain directly to its base. Titan Dwarves moved steadily across it, King Darrun Flamewake at the helm. After surveying Neon's technology and structure, he'd told Achilles there was so much he could enhance- so many things he could fortify.
And Achilles gave him the freedom to do it.
Dr. Shaw remained vigilant, his reach extending through other Dynasties, pulling information of anything he could. Meanwhile, Achilles steered Neon faster through the skies, ever alert for any sudden appearance of Phoenixes seeking revenge.
And once things finally settled…
He took residence at the top of the Primal Neon Tower, preparing himself.
Though even that tower, like everything around him, had changed in just a few hours.
Now, only those with the highest clearance and power could climb the spire made of crystalline vines, a structure taller than any within Neon. And if they reached the top, they'd find something unimaginable.
Half the tower's peak had transformed into a small incandescent forest.
It was a breathtaking miracle- born of Forest Generation V and something far grander, carved from his own hands.
Perched atop the tower, Achilles created a sanctuary- a vision of untold possibilities and the unrelenting hope of a future unbound by fear.
The forest pulsed with impossible beauty. Trees shimmered in waves of gold and violet, their trunks threaded with living light, veins coursing with Primordial and Evolutius Energy.
Some trees breathed white flame- not burning, but singing, as though whispering a melody only the Nirvanic Sun Moon Phoenix could ever understand.
The air trembled with power. It was thick, humming low with energy from Primordium Evolutius Fruits hanging from branches that reached endlessly outward- fruits so drenched in ancient essence that even Astral Core Ascendants would descend into madness to possess them.
Hundreds of such trees surrounded the forest.
And in the heart of that radiant grove bloomed what he called...
A living masterpiece, born of his creativity and powered by the Organic Life Spring Assimilation and its near-ridiculous attributes.
Its surface glowed with golden ripples, waves of heat gliding like sunlight across a distant star. Beneath the surface, violet pulses throbbed gently, as if they opened into another world entirely.
Steam and mist clung heavily to the spring. The temperature was searing, but not unbearable.
Time itself seemed to bow around it- slowing, reverent, and breathless!
The air bent inward, drinking from its mixture of old and new!
It wasn't just beautiful. It was sacred. A gift he'd forged with his own hands.
He couldn't build a skyscraper. But he could raise a towering spire, cover half its summit in a mystical forest, and place in its center a Life Spring imbued with the qualities of Purification III, Renewal III,Youth Manipulation III, Biological Nurturing V, Aeonic Empowerment, and Ancient Empowerment V.
A single dip in its waters?
Immediate elevation and wonder!
Now, at the edge of those golden waters, steam curling around him, Achilles sat with serene eyes. His upper body was bare, his lower half clothed in a soaked Primordium Evolutius Magitech Suit.
Rose wore the full suit, her form hugged by the material as she sat half-submerged in the Life Spring. Incandescent waves surged around and into her, power flooding through her being.
She stood terrifyingly at the Sky Dharma King level.
Because of him- because of what he'd gifted her- she had crossed both Land and Sea, and now…
Now her power soared toward the sky.
And if she conquered that sky?
The stars would be next.
Astral Core Ascension waited.
Her hair danced with green flames as she lifted her hands, twirling through the golden waves. She flicked water toward him with a playful pout.
"You should've stayed in longer. Why'd you get out?"
The spring's sensation was so stupendous, even the True Magitech Throne herself would see her power rise in madness if she dared enter.
Achilles stared at the wet, flaming green locks floating around her face as he stood.
Then he walked into the spring again.
His steps touched the surface- light, sure- as if the water had no say in the matter. Whether liquid or solid, it bent to him.
He moved across the golden waters, coming to where Rose floated. Then, with surreal calm, he lay down atop the surface itself like it was bedding spun from mystical brilliance.
He simply… reclined above a body of water like it was nothing!
Weightless. Commanding.
And then he turned to the woman whose head peeked out of the golden waves beside him.
"I need to dream," he murmured. "I don't think anything as crazy as last time will happen, but… can you watch the other me?"
She cradled his head in her arms, her wet hair falling over his face, her lips brushing his forehead.
"Dream. I'll be here when you wake up."
His head rested in the arms of the woman he loved.
Mist swirled around them, gold and purple, while the Life Spring surged beneath them, nestled in a fantastical forest atop a tower that crowned a floating Kingdom in the skies.
From that tiny, broken apartment…
But Rose had been with him then.
And she was here now.
Even with the chaos he knew raged all around them, in this moment- this fleeting, perfect moment- Achilles felt peace.
And initiated Lineage Memory V.
Energy burst faintly around him, and his consciousness began to retreat- slipping into the very blood flowing in his veins.
And there, in the quiet depth of memory, he peered…
Into the Adrastia Emperor King Lineage.