The Lone Dragon

Eluraa noticed that she had already grown so much and hoped she wouldn't have to succ.u.mb to any further sleeping spells.

Thanks to these slumber parties, she felt completely rejuvenated and refreshed. However, broken things are not so easily mended.

It had taken a tremendous effort from her part to break free from her imprisonment. It had literally cost her everything and almost nearly damaged her entire cultivation base.

Eluraa's cultivation base was actually a gold standard for anyone from her era. She had an infinite energy availability in the soul prison and managed to reach the supreme pinnacle of cultivation.

She had attained the legendary mana core stage, in which her internal mana reserves were regularly cycling and regenerating, without any external intake.

This was the hive core stage. This stage was the ultimate pinnacle every cultivator aimed for and yearned for. But, they could only dream about it, no one in millions of years had ever attained it.

Even the great demon king, the rumored badass of her era, had not attained it and at least was one step shy of it.

Now, that she was a bit more conscious and aware, Eluraa slowly peered at her cultivation status. And just as she had expected, everything was a complete mess.

Her entire crystalline hive, typically brimmed with thrumming mana waves, was empty and devoid of any energy.

In fact, the hive had numerous cracks and looked like it would collapse and disappear at any time.

And this would be the ultimate demise of her cultivation base.

But for now, it looked like she could still salvage things and not have to start from scratch.

There were two parts to a cultivation base, and one was required to increase the other. Soul shackles were boundaries around the hive, which needed enlightenment and understanding to break.

Only the person, who had completely broken down all soul shackles can even dare to attempt cultivating mana cores to form the entire hive.

Each mana core formed a part of the hive, and the more soul shackles you conquer, the more mana cores can be assimilated, and you can attempt to consolidate your final cultivation nase into a hive structure.

This was important because, only at the hive stage, your mana cores are self-sufficient and can regenerate to supply mana energy endlessly.

This stage can even be compared to a deity, which is able to produce power and energy infinitely.

With her understanding of the divine elemental, Eluraa had been barely able to reach this stage, when she broke out of the prison.

But now, all of that had disappeared ...

Well, at least not entirely...

Her hive remained, but it was more like a container now, with nothing inside and totally empty.

She could feel her injured soul slowly healing, and all the soul shackles she had previously broken stayed broken.

So, it looked like the only thing she needed right now was mana .. lots and lots of it.. tons and tons of it.

But unfortunately, that is a scarce and precious commodity in this era. It was no longer freely circulating, and the air was dry and decrepit of any mana.

It looked like she had to focus and work towards hunting and assimilating mana specifically.

And more importantly, the mana she assimilates should not be used lightly. It was a better strategy for her to keep absorbing mana and full heal her hive core, to restore the endless replenishing nature of the base.

So, she still had a long way to go if she needed to reach her former strength, but she had time. After all, she was still a toddler...

On the other hand, Eluraa's parents were overjoyed that she was finally healthy, like every other child, and nothing was wrong with her.

That night they had invited their family relatives and friends and held a feast to celebrate their beautiful daughter.

Eluraa looked really cute in her matching blue floral patterned toddler outfits and smiled brightly at all the guests playing with her.

Everyone was so happy to meet her and praised their parents for having such a pretty baby.

Her mom and dad were completely elated, and that night Eluraa's mom sang her a lengthy good night lullaby and put her to sleep.

Before leaving, she kissed Eluraa on her cheek and whispered that her baby would grow up to be the most beautiful woman on the planet.

Eluraa suddenly jolted up and realized something. "Oh no! I am not going through this again."

She desperately needed to cast a shape-shifting spell or at least a lower grade disfiguration spell.

She silently tried her best to reach out to the elemental energies, but only to be disappointed. There absolutely was no mana presence anywhere near her.

Thinking about it for a couple more days, she decided that it was worth it and sneaked around the house in the middle of the night.

She found a sharp object lying in a corner, and using all her force, she jammed it into her face, dragging the serrated knife across her face.

She then gave out a blood-curdling scream, instantly waking up her parents. Her mom shivered in fright and lamented at the plight of her precious daughter.

Her dad could only silently take a cloth and wipe away all the blood. They then haphazardly bandaged her and prayed that the injury wasn't too deep.

They could only sit by and watch their baby daughter suffer and cringe in pain. If only they had more money. Right now, they couldn't afford to see the village healer for minor injuries like this.

Since she was only a toddler and couldn't use much force, the injury was not grave and only left behind a superficial scar.

It was painful for them, but this pain was nothing compared to what Eluraa had suffered through in her lifetime. She was fragile and vulnerable at this moment, and she couldn't afford to stand out even a teeny tiny bit.

Eluraa no longer looked beautiful or cute. She instead looked not so pleasing even for a chubby toddler.

Her once enchanting smile, looked more scary and disgusting now, leaving behind only the deep blue eyes, which could peer into one's soul.

Satisfied with the changes, Eluraa slept peacefully that night.

Surprisingly, her mom and dad didn't really treat her differently after that incident. She was labeled clumsy and accident-prone, but otherwise, they showered the same amount of love on her.

Of course, parental love is unbiased. However, the neighbors did notice but kept quiet about it. And thus, the ugly duckling was left alone to grow in peace.