Chapter 5: A New Path

Several more messages continued to appear before Aiden’s eyes, but these weren’t new skills anymore. These messages were to help with generally understanding what he had just gotten into.

[The System: This is meant to guide you on the path towards becoming the Dragon King. The system is a magic from the future, it will only make sense in due time.]

[Authorities: This is more than simple magic. As the host of the Dragon King, you have full control over Destruction, Space and Replication. However, your powers are still limited as a Hatchling]

[General skills: You will continuously unlock powers befitting of a Dragon]

[Experience Points(EXP): This is a key factor to your growth as the Dragon King. Complete your assigned quests to gain points and in turn use these points to level your growth even further]

[Dragon Curse Meter: This rises each time you use the powers of a Dragon. At a certain point you start to lose your humanity, human form and taste for human food. When the meter fills up, you will truly become a dragon and can never go back to being human.]

[GAINING EXP]:

-Daily Missions: New Tasks will be assigned to you at Dawn

-Side Quests: New Quests to be assigned

-Special Quests: New Quests to be assigned

-Permanent Quests: New Quests to be assigned.

[EXP Requirements]:

-200xp required to go up to Level 2

-5000 XP required to raise Host Magic to SSS

-15000 XP required to raise Destruction Authority to Ex-Rank

-15000 XP required to raise Replication Authority to Ex-Rank

-15000 XP required to raise Space Authority to Ex-Rank

These were the messages that kept flashing before him, but his mind’s processing speed had somehow assimilated it all quickly, and even this was an improvement compared to a few seconds ago. Then sudden when suddenly a new notification appeared:

[Syra’s Lair will be sealed shut in 10 minutes]

“I have to go!” Aiden exclaimed. Strangely enough, life wasn’t feeling unbearable any longer. He didn’t feel worthless anymore, and suddenly he had a renewed hope about living, something that had been totally dead earlier.

He looked at the vast pile of gold coins and luxurious items that lay scattered throughout the lair, but he felt no desire to take any of it, for all he had ever wanted for the longest time was magic worth recognizing.

He immediately turned back the way he came and quickly hurried toward the entrance of the cavern, with his footsteps pacing faster every second. He eventually left the lair and less than a minute after his departure, the lair began to shut itself.

The earthen structure slowly patching itself together was a truly remarkable sight, as though someone with powerful Earth Magic was actively shaping it.

The opening that gave way into the lair was shaved away entirely, as though there had never been a cavern there in the first place. The surface of the earth that sealed the cavern was so smooth and the entire surface was now a complete whole.

Aiden watched this incredible transformation unfold, then turned back to face the pathway leading away from that place.

But first, he closed his eyes, then reopened them, and yes, his senses weren’t deceiving him. This was not a dream, not at all. Then he thrust his hand forward, and from it poured a vast torrent of flames.

“So this is actually happening,” he said to himself, staring at the hand that had just produced such an incredible amount of fire magic. If he was assessed as having magic ranked at SS level, every guild in the kingdom would be competing fiercely to recruit him immediately.

Additionally, since he was already of age, every head of a noble family would have already started speaking to King Jarius, offering up their daughters who were ripe for marriage. An S-rank magic user was rare enough, even Dragonhold only produced one per year at most.

An SS-rank magic user, however, had not been seen in such a long time that it was difficult to calculate exactly how long it had been. Aiden had transformed from being the ultimate disappointment for a royal into a walking rarity.

He took one long look toward the path that would lead him home, back to Dragonhold, but then shook his head firmly and simply said, “No.”

No, he was done with that life. Done with consistently trying to prove himself, done with continuously seeking approval from people who had never valued him.

The kingdom that had always despised him and made him feel worthless, a kingdom that placed so much importance on magical level that one’s entire quality of life depended on that single factor. There was classism in most kingdoms, true enough, but Dragonhold took it to an entirely different level.

Then memory flashes of earlier that day, came rushing back into his mind. His face had his grim look with his teeth gritted, and right then and there he made a firm resolve: “I will burn down this magic division, and you, Jarius, will be the last Crowley on the Wyrm Seat!”

At this point, he was convinced that he had been given this incredible power for exactly this reason, to burn it all down. It was a resolve, part filled with hatred for the classist system and part filled with contempt for the family that governed over it.

Something fundamental in Aiden had changed, no, perhaps this might have been that part of him that secretly wished for this, but could never be voiced out

….

Within the throne room of Dragonhold, King Jarius and Queen Helena Crowley sat upon their throne seats, positioned on a raised circular platform.

There were massive crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and tall arched windows allowed natural light to filter through. There was also red carpet from the entrance leading all the way the throne.

A knight in polished armor walked into the throne room, and upon reaching an appropriate distance from the throne, he dropped to one knee, and addressed them with deference. “Your Grace, My Queen.”

King Jarius spoke, with his tone still somewhat irritated from the earlier events of the day. “Yes, what is it Baran?”

“Your Grace, Prince Aiden left the city gates on horseback,” the knight reported quickly.

“What? Where would he know to go outside these walls?” Jarius said.

Before the king could continue, the knight added urgently, “Your Grace, there’s one more thing.”

“What is that?” Jarius asked, his voice already growing furious.

“Your Grace, we found the prince’s horse wandering back without the prince on it,” Baran reported.

“Tsk,” the king clicked his tongue in annoyance, then commanded, “Get me Ursula.”

“At once, Your Grace,” Baran said, standing and offering one more respectful bow before walking out of the grand hall. The guards stationed behind the massive doors quickly pulled them open upon hearing his approaching footsteps, and the knight departed swiftly.

As soon as the knight had left, Queen Helena rose from her smaller throne seat and announced, “I’m retiring to my chambers to get some rest.”

She bowed slightly to her husband before taking her leave, and the king nodded back as she walked past him steadily and towards another entrance to the side.

Within minutes, she had returned to her private chambers and immediately addressed her handmaiden, who had been following dutifully behind her from the grand hall’s entrance.

“Go out there and watch for Guild Captain Ursula. When she arrives at the palace gates, bring her to me instead,” Helena instructed.

Her handmaiden bowed respectfully and replied, “Yes, my queen,” before taking her leave from the queen’s chamber.

Helena watched as her servant departed, then whispered to herself, “No one needs the bastard around, and it should stay that way.”

…

The scene shifted back to Aiden, who had been walking aimlessly along a winding path with no clear direction in mind. Many things had begun to occur to him at this point, chief among them being that he had never ventured outside the city gates before. In fact, he had barely even left Wyvern’s Keep.

“The better choice would be to head to Xathia,” Aiden said to himself as he walked the lonely paths that evening. It was the closest kingdom to Dragonhold according to his limited knowledge, but there was only one significant problem, he had absolutely no idea how to get there.

“And I should have taken some of that gold,” Aiden muttered with a face full of regret. If he had realized he wouldn’t be returning to Dragonhold anymore, having a substantial bag of gold would have helped him a whole lot. As if to worsen his already sorry situation, there was a loud rumble from his stomach, which made him wince slightly.

“Just great, perfect timing,” he said sarcastically. His circumstances were truly pitiful at the moment. Fortunately for him, it wasn’t long before he spotted a tavern in the distance, and noticed a few men stepping out of it.

They were laughing loudly to themselves, clearly intoxicated, as they stumbled about trying to mount their horses and depart.

Aiden changed paths immediately and made his way toward the tavern, hoping to find both sustenance and perhaps some much-needed information about the road ahead.

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