His grandfather was an imposing man.
With waves of blue-gold hair drifting in the incandescent sea, his entire figure radiated a profound sense of majesty woven into every inch of his being.
So when he shouted, even his shout was majestic.
But even such a being had his eyes widen in surprise at what Achilles had just said.
"You can assimilate… within your Dreams?! Are you sure? You were able to do this before?!"
The endless blue ocean buzzed.
An unfathomable power, one Achilles couldn't begin to imagine, leaked from his grandfather as Achilles nodded.
"In my last Lineage Dream, I assimilated a shred of a feather from a Nirvanic Sun Moon Phoenix that was presented to Father. But because my complexity is too low, I could only take in a sliver of that small feather before my Existence Corruption Value got too high…"
He offered more of himself, more truth, than he ever had to anyone else. And to this unfamiliar man who felt at once like an older version of himself.
He trusted him deeply… and yet he felt foreign.
Achilles didn't quite know how to describe it.
But the eyes of his grandfather, Thalsian, were impossibly bright at this moment, glinting with both pride and disappointment.
His booming voice echoed like thunder across the sea.
"As the Ninth and Last Adrastia Emperor King, I'll say this, it's stupendous you're capable of such a thing. It opens boundless possibilities for you. But if you're already hitting the Existence Corruption cap from a measly Phoenix feather… Boy, I've devoured entire Phoenix Lineages without corrupting even a tenth of a percent! You've been walking around like a cripple without the Lineage Refinement Technique."
He'd been praised and insulted in the same breath, and could only blink.
But the smile on his grandfather's face was greater than anything else as he waved his right hand, and in an instant, the sea buzzed as golden light streaked from the distance and slammed into his palm.
Shockwaves tore through the waters as Achilles' entire being buzzed. His eyes widened as he saw a dazzling golden trident now in Thalsian's grasp.
A trident that blazed with tremendous waves of existence. One so potent, so fantastical, it pulled at Achilles' very soul, as if it whispered that, with even a sliver of assimilation, he could strike down Luminblood Astral Core Ascension beings like chickens.
"Don't even think about it, Boy. If you try to assimilate anything, this Dream will likely shatter. What matters now is the inheritance of the Adrastia Emperor Kings,what your father failed to pass down. My All-Sea Trident is just the key… the key to what holds that inheritance."
As he said this, he pointed the three prongs of the majestic trident ahead and turned it clockwise, as if unlocking a door.
A golden portal bloomed into view.
Thalsian gave a single nod, then grabbed Achilles by the head, and threw him into the portal, following close behind.
In a flash of brilliance, Achilles found himself standing in a scintillating realm of light and color.
The pressure around him hinted at an unfathomable number of treasures.
Waters parted with reverence as he stepped forward into a deep sea cave.
Behind him, his grandfather's voice followed like the tide.
"This is the Vastvault of Aegeryth, named after your grandmother."
The Vastvault of Aegeryth.
An underwater cavern so immense it could've housed the ocean itself. Bioluminescent crystals pulsed along the walls like living heartbeats, casting a silver-gold glow over floating relics and monuments of power.
Gems and crystals towered like mountains on either side. At the center, a golden path shimmered, guiding forward.
Pulsing treasures floated through the water like dreams made tangible.
Thalsian, the 7th Adrastia Emperor King, stepped forward, his voice rippling with age and reverence. "This, my grandson, is the legacy sealed beneath my name—the throne beneath the sea. Every treasure here remembers who we were… and what we were never allowed to become."
He gestured to a radiant, star-forged blade hovering midair. It hummed with power.
"That is Ocearion, the Depthwrit Oathblade. It once split a Leviathan, strongest in the Star Seas Plane—into memories."
"Beside it, that heart-shaped crystal nebula is the Soul of the Aetherdyne Phoenix. They say it weeps stardust when touched by sorrow."
"And there, The Crown of Realms Undreamed. Unclaimed by time. Untouched by king." His gaze turned sharply to Achilles. "All of this waits for you, if you ever return. Whether through Dreaming again or through the real thing. But ignore it for now. What you truly need… is this."
His grandfather moved to a blue throne glowing with soft brilliance, lifting a luminous blue object that pulsed like a living singularity.
Thalsian's weathered hands cradled it like it was the most sacred thing in this vault, as if everything else paled beside it.
"This… is the Heart of Thalassara."
The Heart of Thalassara!
His grandfather held it with a reverence Achilles had never seen before. The treasure gleamed like a living sapphire, pulsing in perfect rhythm with the ocean's heartbeat.
As Thalsian raised it, the chamber dimmed. The water around them swirled in silent awe.
"This is no mere relic," he said, voice softened. "It wasn't forged—it was born. The Leviathantide gifted it to the Atlana Seas before even the stars remembered our names."
The crystal throbbed, whispering ancient echoes that tugged at Achilles' soul.
"The Heart remembers," Thalsian said, his voice now layered with haunting harmonies. "It holds the grief, joy, and wisdom of a drowned empire and its billions… and if you truly listen, it will speak. It shows what was, and what might still be. When I obtained it, I sealed the Adrastia Imperium Vitae Ascension Codex within it. If you can assimilate it… you'll gain what my father passed down to me."
"It's not the complete Adrastia Imperium Vitae Ascension Codex, it's been diluted and lost over generations. But what remains is still essential for every Adrastia Emperor King. And since you claim you can Assimilate within your Lineage Dreams… when your complexity is high enough to dream the memories of the First Adrastia Emperor King, then—and only then—will you gain the full Codex. Now come, take it… and assimilate."
His grandfather swam toward him, presenting the terrifying gem pulsing with a heartbeat of its own. Its heat pressed against Achilles even at a distance- stifling, immense.