Dragonblood Ascension

Dragonblood awakening

Pain spread through Leon’s entire body as consciousness slowly returned to him. For several minutes, he couldn’t move or turn his body. Dust filled his lungs and when he coughed out, it only added to the pain he already had. His legs were stuck beneath the rubble and his ribs burned every time he breathed.

Warm blood trickled down the side of his face and he winced in pain. Everything hurts. Still, he forced himself to stay calm. Stressing over it would only make him waste more energy. He couldn’t be more than glad that at least, the undead were gone.

The air felt strange around him and he forced his eyes to look around the place, but all he could see was darkness. He wondered how long he would stay trapped under the place before help would come.

His thoughts soon shifted to Cedric and his captain. He couldn’t believe they could be that heartless. Even despite the chaos surrounding them, all they could think about was killing him off because he was worthless.

He soon started to wonder if the war had ended. He hasn’t heard any noise since he regained consciousness. Curiosity soon filled his mind as he wondered where he could be. All he remembered was being blown away by the sudden explosion and the ground cracking open. He remembered falling deep and then…nothing.

Could he be somewhere underground? But why would something like that be in a place like this? He thought.

He shut his eyes and decided to retain energy. If they count the number of trainees and realize that one is missing, they would send their men out to look for him. If there’s one thing he knows, it’s that Commander Gareth won’t leave him to die out here. After all, he had saved his life once.

He decided to leave it at that and he let his body relax despite being trapped under the rubble.

“You are one of them.”

Leon froze instantly and split his eyes open. He had thought he was the only one here and hearing another person speak frightened him.

“Who just spoke?” he asked and his eyes searched the darkness for any sign of a person.

Silence followed for several seconds before crimson flames lit the cellar, restoring Leon’s vision. His eyes widen when he saw thick massive chains covering the wall and ancient-like symbols glowing across the floor beneath him. His eyes followed the chains and he tilted his chin up and his head back before a scream escaped his lungs.

Above him was a huge creature lying motionless and its head alone was larger than an entire carriage. Fear forced his upper body to sit up and he turned his body just slightly to see that it was bound by countless chains.

Heat radiated from its body and Leon could see the deep wounds the chains had caused on its body. It looked as if they were already tattooed on it.

“It’s been long since I set my eyes on one that carried our bloodline.”

Leon heard the voice again and he looked around the place to see who was speaking, but he found no one. He looked at the huge creature and asked the voice, “Who are you?”

“I am Valtherion, the last Dragon God.”

Leon’s heart nearly stopped. He knew there was no way this was real. Dragons were extinct a long time ago and everyone was forbidden from speaking about them openly or in secret. So why was one buried beneath the capital?

“So, the bloodline survived after all…”

Leon gulped and dared to question, “What bloodline?”

The voice laughed wickedly that it shook the cellar. “The bloodline humanity feared enough to erase from history,” it replied.

“No, that is not true. Humans never feared the dragons, instead, the dragon gods betrayed humanity,” Leon defended.

“Is that the fable lies you were fed?” Valtherion asked and the place shook again. “Then, why do you think those who carried our bloodline were murdered? Were they not humans like you too?”

Leon was confused now. Were there humans who carried the dragon bloodline? And was he one of them?

“Yes, child,” Valtherion replied. “Now that I have found one of my own, I will make sure to guide you toward ascension.”

“Wait!” Leon panicked for a moment there and tried to process everything. If anyone should find out that he was speaking to a dragon god who he can’t even see, they’ll execute him at once. What more if he should dream about ascending as a dragon god?

“Don’t you want to ascend, child?” Valtherion asked with a doubt.

Leon was more confused now. “How are you reading my thoughts?” he asked.

“I’m a dragon god. Of course, I am now awakened inside of you, since you carry the bloodline. I know everything about you. I can see that you have suffered greatly from the hands of the nobles. But child, you have something more than they have and I can already feel your determination to survive and rise above them.”

Before Leon could say another word, the glowing symbols beneath him suddenly burned brightly and he felt something stirring deep inside of him. Crimson markings spread across his skin and it burned.

Leon gritted his teeth due to the overwhelming pain and he forced the words out of his mouth. “What are you doing to me?”

“I am awakening what is hidden deep inside of you.”

As the crimson markings spread through his arms and up his neck, Valtherion spoke again, “Thousand of years ago, humans and dragons ruled this world together. Dragon knights stood above kings and the dragon gods shared their power among certain humans. But humanity feared what it could not control. The Mage Thrones betrayed the dragons, slaughtered their allies and erased the truth from history.”

Leon couldn’t make anything out of what Valtherion had just told him. He only focused on the pain that surged through his entire body. Foreign memories suddenly flashed through his mind and he held his head as he let out a painful scream.

Then, silence filled the cellar again and darkness returned.

By the time Leon woke up from whatever dream he was having, he found himself in the midst of the dead. He looked around him and saw part of the city in ruins and burning buildings.

He snapped his head to the direction where a scream erupted from and he saw very clearly an enormous creature vandalizing the place and sending terror to the people. He also saw the Royal knights trying to destroy the creature, but they all looked spent.

He sighed and stood from there. He didn’t know how he ended up in this part of the city and he was even surprised that he could walk fine. Now that he was surprisingly alive, he told himself not to put himself in any form of danger and just escape to safety. And what better time than now when he’s away from all the chaos?

As he made to take another step, a voice echoed inside of him and he froze instantly.

“Child, what are you trying to do? Are you going to leave them all to die?”

Leon couldn’t believe what was happening to him. He thought he was already imagining things, but then the voice spoke again.

“Child, I helped you survive. Now it’s time to test out what I gave to you.”

Leon gasped immediately and held his head. He had thought it was all a dream, but it turned out it wasn’t. The dragon god had indeed saved his life and awakened something inside of him, and now, he’s in his head.

“B-But what am I supposed to do? I don’t even have any mana to fight. I’m still as useless.”

“Who said anything about mana?” Valtherion asked. “Dragonbloods don’t need that.”

“Then what do I need?” Leon asked and just then, he saw armies of undead marching towards him. Fear gripped him and he trembled on the spot. He thought they had moved away from this part of the city.

“Tell me what I need?!” he yelled at Valtherion and moved his eyes around frantically, checking if there was any way to escape.

Valtherion chuckled and answered, “All you need is a sword.”

“A sword,” Leon repeated and searched the ground. His eyes fell on a dead soldier’s sword and he ran to pick it up immediately. He raised his eyes to see the armies of undead creatures and he gripped his hand firmly on the sword.

All of a sudden, all his fear disappeared and it was replaced with a new sense of fierce determination. He suddenly felt like he could wipe out all the armies and take on the abyss creatures that were terrorizing his city.

As the undead closed in on him, a smirk appeared at the corner of his lips and his eyes darkened. With one release of his breath, he sprinted towards them and wielded his sword ruthlessly, killing off a dozen in a few seconds.