Chapter 371: A Dragon’s Edge

There were actually several reasons why Riley felt the need to go back to work.

For one, he really needed to get back on his feet and figure out his version of the new normal. While it was easy to stay holed up with Kael and their family, it would literally do no good for anyone but the bad guys.

Second, he wouldn’t be able to properly train at the dragon estate unless he wanted to advertise his existence to all the other dragons.

And he would have to say a big hell no to that.

Ideally, his return should’ve been welcome news for the dragonkind, but personal experience and historical data would suggest otherwise. If anything, he’d likely end up being chased to oblivion if they were to find out about him now.

Lastly, there were a few things he needed to prepare before attempting to go into the business of crypt diving.

Fortunately for Riley, it seemed the heavens hadn’t truly abandoned him. For the black dragon, who never imagined such a use case, actually had access to the Moonveil Codex as compensation.

Yep.

The same book that had been kept at the MBE for security purposes, but mainly so that Riley Hale, even as a human, could read it on his own time.

Standing before the pedestal where the Codex rested, the returning worker couldn’t help but cock his head slightly to the side, a hand settling on his waist as he stared at it.

This wouldn’t be the first time he was seeing it, but just looking at the thing now… Sure enough, Kael might have actually liked him before.

Or at the very least, he probably didn’t hate him as much as Riley had initially assumed.

Because while he had been a complete ass as a boss, Riley had to admit that he didn’t really know anyone else who would’ve allowed their aide access to something like this for personal reading.

Geez. Talk about gestures.

Others would go and grab coffee or snacks, but that golden guy was out there procuring one hell of an ancient text.

Ah, really.

Then again, a big part of why it had been fine for past Riley, the very human one, to read such a thing was because he wouldn’t have been able to do much with the knowledge.

Back then, it had been harmless.

Pointless, even.

But that wasn’t the case anymore.

Because Riley Hale Dravaryn, who stood there now, wasn’t just some overworked human aide.

He was also the last Iltheran.

A quiet chuckle slipped out of Riley as if he still couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

From the side, Kael, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a brow raised, looked at him.

“Aren’t you liking that a bit too much?” asked the slightly miffed dragon, who didn’t want to understand why his mate wanted to return to work for a book made by the elves.

Was their archive lacking?

But looking at his mate being all excited about that flimsy-looking thing, Kael didn’t dare complain too much.

“I’m guessing you can really read it?”

Riley smiled.

“Yeah, sure enough, there’s old, and then there’s primordial old.”

“I can actually read it.”

He reached out, almost carefully, his fingers brushing against the Codex in a way that felt oddly reverent. The moment his skin made contact, the runes glowed, practically itching to jump out of the pages.

Lines that didn’t even appear until he touched them started flowing through his mind as if they had always been there. They just responded to his mana in a way that made his breath hitch, and he sort of understood why one could possibly feel too giddy with power.

It was insane and hella cool. It was impossible not to feel like some fairytale protagonist after experiencing something like that.

His professors and likely the elves themselves would’ve killed him if they saw this. Just the fact that he was touching it with his bare hands, no gloves, no protective layers, would’ve already sent them into a lecture spiral.

But what could he do?

He needed mana to make it work.

“How unfair is this really,” Riley muttered, his fingers still tracing the glowing runes. “And they say that hard work could win over genius…”

He turned his head slightly, looking at Kael, who was watching him with a strange expression.

“What? I’m not mocking anyone, but damn…”

If the old him had been competing in school for a scholarship against someone like his current self, he would’ve been pissed.

Because sure enough, dragons who had gotten their inheritance just had it in them.

Now listen to him.

He sounded like Kael.

The kind of person who couldn’t exactly explain how to do things because it just came to him like breathing.

Clearly, the golden and very handsome lizard hadn’t been kidding.

“Honey, I gotta say I now understand why you kept on saying that it just works.”

“I told you it just does,” Kael replied with a shrug.

Riley laughed at that.

“But what are you even planning on doing with it?” Kael added.

“Ideally, insurance.”

“What?”

Honestly, Riley hadn’t been sure what he’d discover from the Codex. He only took a gamble when he started counting his cards. His logic came from the fact that the primordial dragon quite literally came first, and that he sort of had a hand in everything that followed.

It sounded obnoxious even in his own head.

But he wasn’t completely wrong.

The runes were certainly adapted for the ancient elves, but as a black dragon from a clan whose blood and body served as the best base for runes, surely it wouldn’t be impossible?

“I needed some sort of edge,” Riley said, his tone turning more thoughtful as his fingers slowed over the glowing text. “I’d like to call it a trump card, but I’m not exactly sure how effective it would be. But the idea was I was hoping to find something that would differentiate us from the enemy.”

With the stolen body of the primordial dragon, the Wyvern King would have the ability to use even stronger fire or elemental-related magic.

Truthfully, Riley felt like that guy would have an edge in anything related to that ginormous physique that was going to make even Kael look like a youngling.

The troubled black dragon heir could understand why the ancient dragons didn’t like the copycat, because not only did it feel like fighting against their progenitor, but also fighting against a better version of themselves.

With the major issue of being unable to rise above the cap due to natural laws, the gap between abilities was just too difficult to bridge.

But Riley had no plans on bending over easily, and maybe it was a good thing he’d had a shot at being human because he was definitely planning to fight like a true underdog.

Fuck that guy.

If there was one thing he was pretty sure he could do better than the Wyvern King, it would have to be complaining.

That, and he actually had the blood of the primordial dragon.

He just had to make sure to use it properly. It would be impossible to fight with brawn because Kael hadn’t called him a twig for nothing.

So he was going to have to use brains, or at the very least, blood. Not exactly the nicest-sounding strategy, but it was better than nothing.

Riley let out a small breath, his fingers still resting lightly against the Codex as he turned the pages to look at more of what it had in store.

Then, as if remembering something important, his eyes flicked back to the front pages as he looked for something particular.

“Aha, now this one should help us locate the crypt of the iron dragons.”

The golden dragon’s brow lifted slightly.

“Oh?”

“Yeah…” Riley said, his tone shifting as he traced a specific set of runes found on a page with a large ass map. “See, for some reason, my family really liked building crypts by unique ley lines.”

Kael straightened slightly from where he leaned.

“Do you want to look for it right away?”

“Ideally,” Riley replied, his gaze still on the Codex, his expression turning more serious, “because I want to know exactly how the reclusive Elder could be connected to the alleged end of the world.”

Now, it didn’t mean he wanted to do something about it right away, but with his busybody nature, it was impossible not to be curious about the meaning of that premonition.

If anything, Riley just hoped it wouldn’t be something along the lines of betrayal because he didn’t feel like he was ready to face one of the reasons for his ancestor’s demise.

Well, good news, what they would discover wouldn’t be exactly that.

But the bad news? Well, unfortunately, it turned out to be worse.

Maybe the other option would have been easier to deal with for the black dragon, who was simply trying to cope?

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