Tasha punched the wall in frustration. “I lost...”
Tevan walked up behind her. “You did great.”
“I lost so easily the moment he summoned the knight!” Tasha yelled. “I didn’t even manage to put up a fight!”
Tevan placed a hand on her shoulder. “You just need to train harder. You still haven’t mastered your Core ability after all.”
“You think that’s going to change anything?!” Tasha turned around. “I’m not as talented as him, but I’m talented enough to notice that he had only started training to be a mage a month ago!”
“You’re right. After investigating, we found that he only became a mage around a month ago,” Tevan stated. “But you’re wrong about one thing.”
“What?”
“Zane isn’t talented.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m serious,” Tevan spoke. “Zane’s overwhelming strength came from his mana control and his hard work,” Tevan revealed. “I dare say that the mana control he has is far superior to any mana control I have ever seen.”
“You expect me to believe someone my age made a mana control that powerful?” Tasha stared at Tevan like an idiot.
“I never said he made it.”
“Then who did? Someone from the top 10?”
Tevan shook his head. “Not even the top 10 has a mana control like that.”
Tasha rolled her eyes. “If you’re trying to cheer me up, at least make it believable,” Tasha walked away from Tevan.
Tevan just sighed.
------
Zane groaned as he laid on a bench with an ice pack on his head. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
“It’s a side effect of using your core ability multiple times in the same day,” Averin replied. “Summoning an independent creature like Ravelous takes a heavy toll on the mind. Especially when the creature is a lot stronger than you.”
Since Zane can’t see Averin, he side-eyed the wall instead. “Is Ravelous really that much stronger than me?”
“Ravelous is a dragon in a human’s body. You’re a human.”
“In a dragon’s body?”
“You’re a human lucky enough to get a Dragon heart as an artifact.”
Zane rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Good thing the finals will be held tomorrow.”
Zane did a few stretches as he got up from the bench. He needed to get back to the hotel before Melissa got worried. The last thing he wanted was for her to go looking for him.
As he left the waiting room, he saw a crowd of people at the end of the hall. Judging by how they were all staring at him, they were here for him. But the only stopping them was the red-haired woman leaning against the wall.
“Took you long enough,” Cassandra Nero spoke.
“Should I be concerned?” Zane asked as Cassandra walked past him. “They don’t look friendly.”
“Follow me,” Cassandra said, ignoring Zane’s question.
He walked with her, waiting for her to speak since Zane had nothing to say to her. Additionally, he didn’t want to risk the chance of offending someone that could flick his head off.
“I just want you know that whether you win or lose this tournament, I’ll be leaving the Nero family,” Cassandra suddenly mentioned.
“Okay...” Zane didn’t know how to reply to that.
“I just wanted to say it in case you get tempted by the wealth of the Nero family and decide to throw the finals,” Cassandra stated. “But be assured that even if I leave the Nero family, I have enough personal assets and income to make sure we live comfortably.”
“... I really don’t have say in this huh,” Zane spoke.
“You also have no choice but to hear my tragic backstory,” Cassandra said.
Zane shrugged. “I’ll at least be able to compare it to mine.”
Cassandra snapped her fingers and a barrier appeared around them, following them as they walked. “How much do you know about the Nero family?”
“Nothing,” Zane replied.
Cassandra nodded. “The Nero family became powerful due to its size. It’s probably one of the largest families in the world. Quantity over quality, so they say,” Cassandra stated. “But the main family have the trademark black hair and golden eyes.”
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Zane glanced at Cassandra’s fiery red hair.
“I’ll get to that,” Cassandra said as she noticed Zane glance at her hair. “My father is from the main family, a pure-blooded Nero,” Cassandra revealed. “But my mother wasn’t,” Cassandra sighed. “In the Nero family, that’s strictly forbidden, but my father truly loved my mother, and that love resulted in me.”
Zane had a few guesses on where this is going.
“As punishment, my father was tasked in raiding a high-class Dragon den. If he failed, me and my mother would be executed,” Cassandra stated with gritted teeth. “He succeeded, but at the cost of his life.”
Zane suddenly felt the air get heavier, but didn’t comment on it and allowed Cassandra to continue her story.
“The Nero family honored the deal and spared me and my mother, however... they still didn’t make it easy for us,” Cassandra let out a heavy breath before continuing. “They made me train and had me learn the lesser mana control of the Nero family. Driven by anger and desire to protect my mother, I trained harder than anyone in the family. I even developed my own mana control that surpassed the main family’s mana control.”
“I grew strong enough to even take the spot of matriarch since the rule was that the strongest with the main family’s blood will take the position,” Cassandra shook her head. “But the council made it clear that they did not support me being the matriarch.”
“Where do I come in all this?” Zane asked.
“As revenge, I’ll be leaving the Nero family and watch it crumble,” Cassandra said. “I’ll start my own family.”
“Why me?”
“Because you don’t belong to any family,” Cassandra replied. “The last thing I want is to be involved with another family.”
“Okay...”
-------
Livia looked over Vegas city, enamored by its lively atmosphere. “Now... if I was young man that was imprisoned my whole life, where would I be?”
Livia saw a giant commercial billboard replaying the annual tournament.
“Well... he’s certainly easy to find...”
------
“...” Zane and Melissa stared at Cassandra who was laying on the couch, watching television. “You’re staying here?”
“Yes,” Cassandra replied. “After tomorrow, your fate is sealed, so I might as well stay with you.”
“Okay... I’m ordering take out,” Melissa said before leaving.
“Can I get a burger?” Cassandra called out.
“You’re getting a proper meal, young lady!” Melissa yelled back.
Zane didn’t want any part of this so he had just retreated to his room to rest. The strain from using his core ability still lingered, but it was nothing compared to when Averin implants information into his head or when he undergone body reconstruction.
“Can you show me the details of my abilities?”
“The revelation sequence cannot be repeated,” Averin responded.
Zane raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“That was only an effect of the scroll displaying the information it gathered upon scanning your body. With the guiding magic already implanted in you, using the scroll on you again would have no effect.”
“How am I supposed to see my stats now?”
“It only showed details of your bond with the dragon trigger. Nothing about your physical statistics.”
“It would still be nice to see my growth in numbers,” Zane muttered. “Anyways... I’m close to increasing my stage, right?”
“Yes. It will likely happen tomorrow.”
“Damn... that close huh.”
Zane wasn’t a dense idiot. He knew that his growth was incredibly fast and a major part of it was Averin’s involvement. Yes, hard work was important, but it could only get you so far. Without Averin, Zane doubted he’d be even a stage 1 yet.
“I’ll make sure to get your revenge soon.”
“Soon? I expect you to get it done after several decades, human.”
“You expect to wait that long?”
“To a dragon, a century is nothing, let alone a few decades.”
Zane shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
-------
“Welcome to the finals of the annual Karama family tournament!” Wilder exclaimed as the crowd cheered.
Zane stared at Lance who stood across the battlefield. He looked completely serious and just glared at Zane, so there’s nothing much to get out of him. And due to the loud cheers of the crowd, Zane could barely hear Wilder talking.
“Begin!” Wilder yelled, cutting through the cheers of the crowd.
Lance wasted no time and activated his Dragon trigger. The black hole appeared above the arena and began wreaking havoc. Despite the chaotic situation, Zane reacted calmly and attempted to reach Lance.
Lance ran away to the sky just as Zane was nearing him. The black hole itself did nothing to Zane since for some reason, it didn’t have enough force to pull him in, but the arena around him was being ripped apart.
“It sucks not having any ranged attacks...” Zane muttered as Lance hovered in the air.
With no way of attacking, Zane had no choice but to rely on his oldest trick. Zane raised an arm towards Lance.
A black dragon manifested, heading straight for Lance. The gravity mage responded by using a dragon manifestation of his own. Two black dragons clashed in the sky. Lance's dragon grabbed the black hole and bashed it into Dark Revel dragon.
Zane was speechless.
“You think someone who’s been a mage for a month could beat me!” Lance yelled as gravity pushed down on Zane.
“Unleash all your draconic energy,” Averin spoke.
“What?”
“Let all your draconic energy out and transform,” Averin instructed.
“I’ll explode!”
“That will only occur if too much draconic energy is confined. You will release everything and let it flow freely.”
Zane didn’t want to further discuss things as he was already being crushed. The power dwelling in his chest began to surge out. “RAAHHH!!!” Zane yelled as draconic energy exploded from his body.
Black scales covered Zanes body. With his shirt being ripped apart by the explosion of energy, the crowd saw the that scales covered his whole body. Zane’s new look resembled Ravelous’s appearance, but Zane lacked the helm. Instead, Zane’s hair became spikier as if to resemble horns. His eyes didn’t change, but the scales around his eyes were a darker shade of blue instead of just black.
“What is this?!” Lance yelled as he kept the gravity magic pushing down on Zane active.
Zane turned to Lance with blood shot eyes, then in a split-second, Zane appeared above him and smacked him back to the ground. Lance managed to react fast enough to create a barrier to block Zane’s attack, but he failed to create a barrier to soften his impact from the ground.
“You!” Lance aimed his arms towards Zane, attempting to use dragon manifestation again.
But instead of manifesting a dragon, Lance coughed blood and fell to his knees. Zane landed in front of him, eyes still devoid of pleasant emotions. Claws dug into Lance’s shoulder and pulled him up.
Zane raised him up to face him. “I’m going to enjoy this,” Zane claws pierced through Lance’s chest.
The moment the magic domain shattered, Zane’s transformation vanished. Both Zane and Lance fell to the ground unconscious.