Memory scape

Dax inhaled deeply, the thick scent of blood saturating the air—metallic and raw, a mix of iron and salt. It was intoxicating, pulling him forward like a predator drawn to fresh prey.

His vision shifted.

Suddenly, he was no longer just an observer.

A brutal battle unfolded before him. Ten Gagarion warriors stood against an army of ten thousand.

They moved like specters of war—silent, efficient, devastating. Their bare hands carved through flesh and bone as if slicing through mist. No weapons. No armor. They didn't need them. Giving them weapons would have been overkill.

Something inside Dax stirred. An ancient hunger. His blood surged, calling him forward. The Gagarion instincts within him demanded carnage.

He didn't resist.

Like a beast unleashed, he tore into the battlefield, cutting down enemies in a blur of movement. Every strike was precise, every kill effortless. The battlefield became his canvas, painted in streaks of crimson.

Then, an instinctual thought slithered into his mind.

*A blade.*

Dax shaped his hand like a sword, his strikes becoming even deadlier—limbs severed, torsos split apart. He moved with unnatural grace, his pulse syncing with the rhythm of death.

By the time he stopped, his entire body was drenched in blood. He raised his trembling hands, his golden eyes gleaming.

"Powerful."

The battlefield had fallen silent.

The ten Gagarion warriors had stopped fighting. They stood still, watching him. The only sounds left were the dying groans of the fallen and the slow, rhythmic dripping of blood.

A female warrior stepped forward. Her voice was sharp, each word cutting through the silence.

"Rackla urlcatu zalamin. How dare you, human? Do you wish for death?"

Dax turned to face them, gripping the severed head of a fallen soldier. He knew the Gagarions well. He understood what came next.

They would try to kill him.

He muttered under his breath. "Abyssal Scales."

Black and gold scales erupted across his body, shimmering like molten metal. The air around him warped as he vanished from sight.

"He's coming!" one of the warriors barked.

In an instant, Dax reappeared beside the largest Gagarion, driving his scaled palm into the creature's ribcage. Bone cracked. Flesh tore. The Gagarion roared, swinging a massive fist in retaliation.

The impact sent Dax hurtling through the air. Blood filled his mouth, but instead of pain, he felt exhilaration.

Two more warriors lunged at him. Their speed was terrifying. But Dax was faster.

*I need speed.*

A whisper echoed in his mind. *Use me.*

"Predator," Dax breathed.

Time slowed. The Gagarions came at him in perfect synchronization, their claws and fists aiming for fatal strikes.

But he was already gone.

Dax reappeared in front of the female warrior who had spoken earlier. His fist connected with her jaw, sending a shockwave through her skull. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Sur ilak!" Dax growled in her tongue—a direct insult.

For the Gagarions, pride was everything.

Her hesitation cost her.

Dax's palm speared through her jaw, splitting it apart. In the same motion, he drove his foot into her stomach. She trembled as she looked down, disbelief freezing her body.

But she wasn't dead yet.

She clenched onto Dax's leg with an iron grip, refusing to fall.

The others were closing in.

*I have to act fast.*

Dax's heartbeat slowed. The world moved at his pace now—every motion clear, every path laid bare.

In a swift, decisive motion, he split her skull.

Gagarions were resilient—he knew this. But if you destroyed their brain, they wouldn't recover.

Bloodlust radiated from Dax like a storm, suffocating the battlefield in its presence.

One of the warriors tried to flank him. Dax *smelled* him before he saw him.

Boom!

The Gagarion's strike landed. But Dax barely flinched. His Abyssal Scales absorbed the force with ease.

"Very sturdy," he muttered, pleased.

These weren't mere armor. They were part of him. The Earth Dragon Technique had forged his body into something beyond human—something unbreakable.

And the more they struck, the brighter the golden edges of his scales glowed.

The largest Gagarion roared and charged, landing a devastating blow. Dax crashed into the earth, dust and blood rising around him.

But this time, he didn't cough up blood.

His body had already adapted.

His scales pulsed, golden veins lighting up like molten circuits.

A slow, chilling laugh escaped him.

"Hahahahaha…"

The battlefield trembled at the sound.

The Gagarions hesitated, uncertainty flickering in their eyes.

Dax exhaled sharply. A golden surge erupted from his body, a blinding light consuming the battlefield.

And then he moved.

He was a blur.

A ghost of death.

One by one, they fell.

Dax decimated them with Killing Strikes—precise, absolute, final.

He grabbed a severed head, tilting it to let the blood pour into his mouth.

He savored it.

"Just like wine."

The last Gagarion roared. His muscles swelled, his body growing larger.

Dax smirked.

"Oh? A berserker?"

But he was growing bored. This fight had already been decided.

"For this experience, I'll make your death swift. Thank you."

He stepped forward.

And ended it.

—

A chime echoed in his mind.

**[Assimilation 100%]**

The battlefield vanished.

Dax blinked, finding himself back in his lab.

The memory felt distant, like a vivid dream slipping away. But he was used to this. In his past, he had fused his brain with different species, allowing him to experience their memories firsthand.

Some lasted mere moments. Others stretched for centuries.

The longest he had endured was 500 years.

He called this phenomenon the **Memory Scape.**