Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 224 - 223 - Phase two of the training begins.

Chapter 224: Chapter 223 - Phase two of the training begins.

Raven and his group were on a break because they were overcharged with mana, but that wasn’t the only reason.

After all, if they only wanted a break, they could’ve done it in Arietta’s domain.

The problem there was that Arietta, despite being the OPest god Raven has heard about, wasn’t someone with unlimited resources.

Yes, she had a lot of divinity, but the powers she used consumed just as much.

The domain she had been summoning them into—one where she could use divine laws—was the ability used either for serious fights or to address some very devoted believer.

In either case, this domain wasn’t intended for long-term use—minutes to hours.

Like those scenes in anime where a god or goddess summons the main character into their domain, where they inform them about the lack of time and that they should discuss everything quickly.

It was that type of domain.

When Raven asked how much divinity it charged and asked Arietta to provide a numerical value, the answer left him shell-shocked.

"Hm, around 1 million an hour in the domain for every person."

At first, Raven had thought that it was fine.

They were going to spend a month in the divine domain, which would make it cost around 8 billion.

He had one million himself, and his divinity was already equivalent to a lower god.

She was a high god—or maybe supreme; he never asked—so 9 billion probably wasn’t too much for her.

But then, she dropped another bomb. She told him that the domain charged according to the time spent in there, not by how much time had passed in the outside world.

He then realized that the amount was crossing the hundred billion checkpoint.

For a second, he had fainted.

Then, Arietta had assured him that she could sustain that much. She merely needed a break after every hundred or so days so she could regenerate her divinity.

That was why they had all taken a break and returned to the real world after a week.

After all, a week outside equaled 112 days inside.

In one day, Arietta had her powers recharged, so she sent the invite link to Raven, who accepted it. Then, while sustaining some mental damage from Argon’s dad jokes, he and his group teleported.

The moment the portal closed behind them, the group was greeted by a blinding flash of white light.

Then—plop.

They landed in Arietta’s domain once more: a sprawling, dreamlike field suspended over a sea of stars.

Clouds floated beneath translucent bridges. Cherry blossom trees shimmered gold. A lake sparkled in the distance with mana-infused koi jumping in and out like miniature dragons.

It was serene.

Peaceful.

Beautiful.

But all of that was completely overshadowed by the glaring presence at the top of the hill.

Arietta.

The goddess stood with a smile so radiant it could burn holes in steel—and eyes so sharp they could cut through tectonic plates.

"Welcome back, Raven~" She sang sweetly, completely ignoring everyone else.

Raven blinked, then smiled back with a subtle twitch of dread. "Hey, Arietta. We’re ready to start phase two."

She practically teleported to his side, clutching his arm with terrifying enthusiasm. "Of course we are~"

Then, her grip on his arms tightened as she added, "And you will be staying beside me the entire time."

Selena, Clara, and Siris all frowned at those words as they understood what she was trying to do.

Arietta was trying to keep Raven all for herself.

A mutual psychic sigh passed between them like a cursed wind.

Clara cleared her throat. "He is the instructor."

Arietta’s smile didn’t falter. "Instructor? Oh, of course. He’s such a wonderful leader. So inspiring. So dependable. So... not going anywhere."

Siris mumbled under her breath, "...We’ll see how long that lasts."

But then, she sighed.

They knew how much Arietta was doing for all of them, so this much was nothing for them to do for her, especially when, unlike them, the goddess couldn’t stay by Raven’s side when he was not in the divine domain.

Behind them, Alex stretched and cracked his neck. "Yo, I forgot how nice this place was. The grass is softer than my hopes and dreams."

"It’s artificially enchanted," Rufus replied, adjusting the glasses he had constructed using his nanoparticles. "Technically, we’re walking on stabilized mana constructs layered into a metaphysical aesthetic interface."

"...So grass," Alex confirmed.

Jake didn’t say anything. He just stared at the clouds. Possibly judging them.

Graye rolled on the ground once and immediately punched the air. "Let’s gooo! My mana’s vibrating. I feel like a spicy burrito of violence!"

Lia sighed beside her. "Don’t overexert yourself. We still need to stabilize first."

She did say that, but even she was already staring at Raven, wondering what they would be doing next.

Everyone was excited to know how much they had grown, and to test that out, they first needed to listen to whatever Raven had to say.

Raven, feeling their gaze, raised his hand.

"Alright, listen up!"

The group went quiet.

"As much as I hate to deflate all of your balloons, this second phase isn’t about fighting."

All of them groaned as they heard his words, but he continued, "It’s about stabilization. You absorbed more mana than you’ve probably ever handled in your lives."

Rufus raised a hand. "Except me. I’ve handled more when—"

Raven cut him off. "You passed out drooling last session, Rufus."

"...That was a strategic coma."

Raven ignored him. "You all have huge surges of unstable mana sitting in your cores. Think of it like boiling water in a cracked kettle. You can fight with it, but it’ll burn you and possibly explode."

Jessy raised an eyebrow. "So we’re kettles now?"

"You’re cracked kettles with destructive potential," Raven deadpanned.

Nibbles flipped up a sign: "My kettle has peanut stew."

"So, the goal," Raven continued, "is to calm that mana. Breathe it. Sync it. Let it settle."

Clara nodded. "So meditation again?"

"Yes. You’ll need to listen to your body and mana. Once the flow stabilizes, your body will naturally align with your attuned high element. That’s your awakening trigger."

Lia blinked. "Wait. That’s how we awaken our high elements?"

"Yep. It’s not flashy. It’s not loud. It’s precision."

Alex raised both hands. "Can I pretend it’s flashy though?"

"No."

"But like, just a little—"

"No."

Raven exhaled, then pointed to the divided sections of the floating field where golden sigils had formed individual zones.

"Everyone, pick a zone. Stay put. Don’t force anything. When it clicks, you’ll feel it."

The group slowly spread out.

Clara chose a field of shimmering lotus flowers, gracefully sitting with crossed legs.

Selena’s zone was darker, surrounded by swirling shadows—her element already syncing with her.

Siris flicked her daggers into the ground and sat between them, posture calm but alert.

Lia settled into a grove of jade vines that hummed faintly.

Jessy levitated to a meditative pose, iron filings orbiting her like moons.

Graye flopped into a kneeling squat, fists pressed together. "Alright, high element. Come at me, bro."

Rufus immediately began muttering equations about mana temperature and frequency.

Jake? Already sitting in stillness, like a monk made of daggers.

Alex tried to sit in a dignified pose... then immediately face-planted. "I’m fine! That was part of the process!"

As all of them settled in, Raven began walking toward a clear spot near them all, only for Arietta to immediately yank his arm and drag him into a silken seat beside her throne of clouds.

"Right here," she whispered with a warm smile that did not match the death glare she threw at Selena, who wanted Raven to be close to her.

Raven sighed but stayed seated. "I am overseeing this, so I do need to watch."

"Oh, I’ll let you watch," Arietta said sweetly. "As long as you don’t go running off to do more... hand-holding."

From afar, Clara quietly grinned and held Raven’s gaze with a single, slow wink.

Arietta twitched slightly.

Siris stretched and leaned forward with a little smirk, deliberately trying to let Raven peek into her top, but as she noticed Arietta’s jugs, she deflated.

Selena, on the other hand, deliberately tied her hair into a high ponytail, baring her neck like she was in a shampoo ad.

Raven, from his cloud seat: "...Please don’t start another war."

Arietta’s smile didn’t falter. "Oh, I’m fine. I’m not bothered by them... at all."

The training field filled with a soft hum.

Mana pulsed through the air.

One by one, their bodies began to glow faintly—silver, gold, crimson, blue—each person resonating with their mana, inching closer to the edge of something deeper.

Something purer.

Their high elements waited just beyond reach.

Raven watched silently.

For once, even with a goddess clinging to his side, he felt at peace.

And the storm was merely beginning.

However, he had decided not to move until everyone else had awakened their element, since they could all need help if something went wrong.

With the unique group he had, the chances of things going wrong were pretty high.