The Return of the Betrayed Heir

8

When Alex saw his father's aura once again, a surge of excitement ran through him. He had only seen it once long ago during a battle, and now it was standing right before him. Alex knew very well that this wasn't his father's full power. 

Aenys suppressed his aura and said, "Now go and sit down. You won't learn the Crimson Blood Formula overnight, so you'll need to train here every day. You should master it within a month at most." 

Alex smiled, sat down, and assumed a meditation posture. Aenys touched his shoulder and channeled mana into Alex's body to help him sense it more easily. Alex closed his eyes and plunged into the pitch-black darkness within his mind. There was not a single ray of light around him; he focused on feeling the mana his father had sent into him. 

Aenys watched him intently, thinking to himself, (He is remarkably focused. It seems he will sense mana much faster than I thought...)

"I see it," Alex said, cutting through Aenys's thoughts.

Aenys asked in surprise, "What?"

"I see the mana," Alex repeated firmly.

"Are you sure? You just started. Perhaps it's merely an illusion."

"No, I feel it with absolute certainty. It's wrapping around my body and making me feel warmer."

Aenys remained skeptical, so he condensed a marble-sized orb of mana. "Alright, to verify this, I've created a mana orb. I want you to tell me where it is." He directed the orb right behind Alex's head.

"Behind my head," Alex replied instantly.

Aenys swallowed hard and shifted the mana to his right side. "Now it's on my right side."

Aenys was left utterly dumbfounded. Even his dragon, Grayghost, watched the scene in shock. 

"Is that even possible?" Grayghost asked.

"I don't know..." Aenys replied.

Not even an hour had passed since he began his mana training, yet he was already sensing and seeing it. Aenys thought this went far beyond abnormal. After all, how many people in the world could feel and see mana the moment they started training? No, there was no one across the entire continent who could pull that off.

Aenys decided to test something further. He knew it was far too early, but he wanted to try anyway. He injected mana into Alex's blood, activating his dragon cells. The mana began fusing with the dragon blood, engraving the Crimson Blood Formula directly into Alex's lineage.

Realizing what was happening, Alex smiled. He began gathering the surrounding mana particles around his heart. The particles bonded together and began shining like a brilliant star. Alex drew in as much mana as he could hold. Finally, the star within his heart was complete.

When Aenys pulled his hand back, a massive explosion erupted!

BOOM!!!

Black smoke billowed rapidly out of the cottage door. Alex waved his hand to clear the smoke in front of him. "Father!!" he gasped, swallowing nervously. (Did I go too far?!!) he thought.

Through the thick black smoke, two glowing eyes appeared. With a snap of Aenys's fingers, the surrounding smoke instantly dispersed. Aenys didn't have a single scratch on him. Alex stared in sheer disbelief; normally, a sudden explosion like that would injure even someone who had reached the Demigod Realm, yet Aenys had emerged completely unscathed.

Aenys touched his son's shoulder, and they teleported to the courtyard of the Dragon Manor.

"Get some rest. You've just formed your star, so you must be exhausted."

"Alright, Father." Alex quickly headed inside the manor toward his room.

Aenys watched him leave from behind. "This kid isn't normal," the black dragon murmured.

"Definitely not."

Grayghost asked, "Did you see what he did?"

"Yes," Aenys replied. "He knew a mana explosion was imminent, so he acted fast—gathering the surrounding mana fluctuations to absorb the blast damage, protecting himself from harm."

Grayghost was thoroughly impressed by Alex's quick thinking. "Yes, that's remarkable, but the most important thing is his dragon."

Aenys raised an eyebrow. "His dragon?"

"Yes, didn't you notice? His dragon was hiding in his shadow from the very beginning."

"What?" Aenys looked at him in shock.

"Yes, I was surprised at first too. I tried to use my authority to speak to it, but right as it was about to speak, it somehow passed out. It wasn't caused by me, nor by the dragon itself."

Aenys scratched his chin. (What on earth is going on here...?)

Sensing mana immediately, forming a star within an hour, controlling mana with master precision... and now, learning to enter his rider's shadow before even receiving training from the Dragon King. These questions kept swirling in Aenys's mind. 

He entered the manor and walked into his study. He pulled down all the ancient dragon records from the shelves to examine them. On the table lay three thick, dusty books bound in leather, stamped with the Dragonblood family crest: a dragon wielding a sword.

Aenys opened the books slowly, flipping through the pages one by one late into the night, but found no record of such an occurrence. He sighed and leaned back into his chair.

"Nothing... The records state that sensing mana in under a month is unheard of, but someone forming a star minutes after learning it..."

Aenys was utterly bewildered. He knew his son was a genius, but he had never expected him to shatter all expectations like this. An unprecedented series of events had just unfolded in dragon history.

Aenys looked up at Aberyum, the curved black sword hovering in the air—the blade of their founder.

"Do you think he's a reincarnation?" Grayghost asked.

"I don't know... I didn't even think such a thing was possible. But if reincarnation is real, could our founding ancestor have been reborn...?"

Aenys couldn't think of any other explanation. Throughout history, no one had ever been as abnormal as Izaya Dragonblood... until now.

The door opened, and Reyla Dragonblood walked in. She was Aenys's one and only love, breathtakingly beautiful with long braided white hair, crimson eyes that shone like rubies, and sharp, goddess-like features.

"Aenys, are you still awake?"

"Yes, I had a few matters to look into."

Reyla approached him, leaned against his back, and kissed his cheek. "That's enough work for today; you need to rest. The children are asleep, and I got tired of waiting for you."

Aenys held her hand. "I know, but once I retire, I won't keep you waiting anymore."

Reyla sighed. "Wait until you retire? That's going to take longer than I thought. Our children are still too young to take over."

"You might be right, but it seems someone is growing and developing remarkably fast."

Reyla raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Aenys smiled. "Let's leave that aside for now; we'll talk about it in detail tomorrow. I promise to make it up to you for being away these past two weeks."

Reyla sat on his lap and rested her head against his chest. "Aenys, I'm so glad you're by my side. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Aenys stroked her back. "You and the children are the reason I hold on. Because of you, I keep this family together."

Their eyes met, and Reyla smiled. "Don't worry, my love. Those dark days will never return. Our family will always stay united."

Aenys rested his forehead against hers. "As long as our youngest doesn't cause trouble, everything will be fine."

Reyla laughed. "He might be a bit mischievous, but he's a good kid at heart."

Aenys smirked softly. "Then how about we make another child without those flaws?"

Reyla chuckled. "You're not serious, are you?"

She kept laughing while Aenys remained silent with a faint smile. Reyla's laughter stopped abruptly.

"You are serious..."

Aenys leaned in and kissed her lips, leaving Reyla with a stunned expression from the sudden kiss.