"I wonder if they're back", Ace thought as he remembered that he hadn't met any of his teammates for quite some time now.

For one, he doesn't even know if they are still alive or not, and the only person whose contact was with him was Anna, and she's usually the first to send a message whenever she's in the true world, but Ace did not receive any today, which meant she either had to be very busy with whatever she was doing in the true world or she wasn't even in the true world and was in another dimensional space like the alternate dimension and dungeons.

Either way, her name was still on his contact list and he had sent a message to her immediately after covering his traces as he went down the stairs to the real entrance that would lead him into the alternate dimension, his home.

His message was quite short and simple as he only sent hi with the cost being a few gold coins which showed that she was still in the true world and was in a faraway distance from the alternate dimension since the primordial chronicle would not send any form of a message if the sender and the receiver were not in the same world.

So if Anna was in the alternate dimension now or was in a dungeon, the message would have not been sent so for it to send now meant that Anna was still in the true world and seeing as she still hasn't replied to Ace's message even after a few minutes had passed as Ace continued to make his way down the stairs which were unlike Anna showed that she must be currently busy in wherever she was.

Ace was not bothered though since he was just curious about the situation of things over her side so he sent the message.

Whether she replied early or not did not mean much to him as he did not even have the physical or mental strength to be bothered with anything.

He did not even bother to consider how things might be on Emma and Chris' side as there was no use in doing so if he did not even know where they were or had their contact.

It would be good if Emma was alive though since it would be a loss if a strong teammate was to go.

Her healing powers were one of the things Ace valued about her.

For one, there was no future side effect that could happen from getting healed by her repeatedly, unlike with Ace pills where one's health and foundation were at risk for taking too many pills.

This was the reason why it had only been a single high-purity pill he took after acquiring his injuries from the den, but fortunately for him, his body's healing capabilities also healed a lot as the time where he stood somewhere doing nothing stressful or dangerous that would cause more injuries or affect his former injuries, Ace's body also healed on its own such that he was now able to walk normally without living ever so often.

Some of his combat powers had also been restored, but he was in no position to battle anything stronger than him.

For one, he was exhausted physically and could only fight with less than half his peak capabilities.

Thankfully, there was no need to even fight in the alternate dimension, as only Ace, his tamed beast, and his teammates had been the only living beings in the alternate dimension for the past few days.

Well, at least that was what he thought since he had not even explored 1% of what the alternate dimension could offer.

In any case, Ace was not bothered about this, nor was this even on his mind, as what he wanted to do now, above all the things that he had on his mind to do, was to sleep.

historical

He really needed it, so after passing through the bronze door to enter the alternate dimension, Ace immediately made his way to the magical building without taking any detours.

It was also dark in the alternate dimension, so Ace did not immediately feel the difference when he entered another world, except that the darkness in the alternate dimension was already disappearing as it got closer to morning in the alternate dimension.

When Ace entered the mansion, he did try calling out the names of his teammates, but he got no response whatsoever, which made him confirm that there was nobody else in the mansion and perhaps even in the alternate dimension.

Seeing as no one replied to him even after calling several names in a few seconds, Ace stopped his actions and just made his way into the basement with Blue in his arms.

Blue had not woken since the experience with Andrew Dawn's transformation but Ace was not too worried because all the observations he had done on Blue body since then showed he was all right but not just to the extent that he was going to wake up anytime soon.

To Ace, this was already a good thing since everything was all right if the little Gryphon wasn't dying.

This was Ace thought but he was unaware of how different it was from what he would usually be thinking.

After reaching the basement, Ace did not bother turning the magical building lights on and just made his way to his room where he placed blue on the bed carefully after buying a new pair of bedsheets from the store and collapsing on the bed himself where it did not take long before he fell into a deep sleep.

*******

"My king we'll see you in the shelter", Caleb said as he and his two other colleagues with their friends on their backs bowed to Andrew Dawn and turned back to make their way back to the shelter while Andrew Dawn just stood still in his location as he watched his men slowly disappear from his sight.

"They're gone", Andrew Dawn said a few seconds after his men disappeared from his sight and just after he spoke these words, he vanished from his location as the environment he was in before returned to its peaceful state.

Andrew Dawn had initially just wanted to head to the settlement with his men when his curiosity about the changes in his body got the better of him so after a few minutes of thinking about whether or not he should leave his men and check out his real power as they continued to make their way to the den, Andrew Dawn could not win against his curiosity and told him men to continue heading towards the settlement as it wasn't far again a d would only require a few minutes to reach.

It wasn't that he couldn't let his men see him using his power but Andrew Dawn did not believe he was capable of controlling his real strength should his men be beside him when he unleashes it in full force so he had to let his men go.

Apart from this and his curiosity, it was even dangerous for him to not have any idea of what his true strength was because apart from causing friendly damage in the future should a fight ever happen, he could also cause damage to himself so he needed to know his strength and his limit.

For this, he made sure to go to a very far place away from the settlement and to anywhere that didn't seem to have many lifeforms apart from ancient trees and some grassy hills in the distance.

There did not seem to be a monster in sight, so Andrew Dawn decided to use this location for his test drive.

"This should be a good place," Andrew Dawn muttered as he closed his eyes and concentrated on something within him.

Located just under his heart was a red little dragon that was currently sleeping, but all of a sudden, as if it sensed something, the sleeping dragon opened its eyes and released a roar that also sounded in the outside world.

The roar that sounded in the outside world did not come from the little dragon in Andrew Dawn but from Andrew Dawn's mouth itself as his body immediately began to have an earth-shaking transformation.

ROAR!!!!!

Andrew Dawn felt a particular sensation spreading through his body as his form began to change. His bones cracked and shifted, muscles bulging and reshaping. Scales sprouted from his skin, forming a protective layer that glistened with a fiery red hue. His hands and feet transformed into powerful claws, and wings burst out from his back, stretching wide with black lightning crackling along the edges.

As Andrew opened his eyes, he saw the world from a new perspective. He was now a dragon, a majestic creature with immense power at his disposal. He spread his wings and took to the sky, feeling the rush of wind against his scales. He let out a roar, a combination of fire and black lightning erupting from his mouth, lighting up the sky in a spectacular display.

Andrew soared through the skies, testing the limits of his newfound abilities. He breathed fire and unleashed bolts of black lightning, watching in awe as they obliterated trees and rocks in their path. He experimented with different techniques, combining fire and lightning in creative ways to create devastating attacks. He was in complete control, revelling in the raw power that surged through him.

After hours of flying and testing his powers, Andrew finally landed back on the ground, his dragon form dissipating as he transformed back into his human self. He was exhilarated and exhausted, but also satisfied with the progress he had made. He had gained a deeper understanding of his powers and had pushed his limits further than ever before.

"This is still not my limit, but I'm still too weak", Andrew muttered as he stared at his hands for a while before clenching them tightly as he then made his way to the shelter.

He still had responsibilities after all.