I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 336: Legacy

Lady Genevieve’s expression shifted fractionally. Not quite concerned, but something close to it. "He’s training," she said in a harsh tone. She was trying to end the conversation there.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. "Training? At this hour?"

Before his mother could respond, before any of his sisters could offer their own explanations, text materialized in Jack’s vision with the familiar golden shimmer of important System notifications:

[Query detected: Location of Duke Alaric Kaiser]

[Current Status: Attempting to contain Drakon]

[Location: Northern mountain peak, 47 miles from estate]

[Warning: Subject experiencing physical deterioration from power usage]

Jack’s eyes widened fractionally, the only outward sign of his surprise. His hand tightened around the water glass, and he forced himself to release the grip before the glass shattered.

’Contain Drakon?’ Jack thought, his mind racing. ’Who is Drakon?’

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Northern Mountains - Present Time

The peak rose above the cloud line, a barren expanse of rock and snow that saw few visitors and offered no comfort to those who climbed this high.

Alaric stood at the summit’s edge, his coat billowing in winds that cut like knives. His hand rested on his katana’s hilt, but he hadn’t drawn the blade.

Drakon lounged perhaps thirty feet away, the massive dragon’s form coiled in a relaxed spiral that still managed to seep dark mana as it flowed down the mountain.

His scales were black as midnight, catching what little light remained this high.

His vast and ancient eyes tracked Alaric with the patience of a tortoise.

"You’re deteriorating faster," Drakon rumbled. "The cracks are spreading."

Alaric said nothing, but his free hand moved to his neck, fingers brushing against skin that no longer felt entirely his own.

Dark purple cracks spread across his flesh. Visible even in the fading light, running like veins of corrupted ore beneath the surface.

They started at his collarbone, spread upward along his neck, reached the edge of his jaw. Faint but unmistakable, growing more prominent with each passing day.

"How many more times?" Drakon asked, his massive head tilting slightly. "How many more uses before your body breaks entirely?"

Alaric’s jaw tightened, purple cracks becoming more visible as muscle flexed beneath his compromised skin. "Three. Maybe four if I’m careful."

"Four uses of that level of power," Drakon’s voice carried weight that made the air itself feel heavier. "And then what? You crumble like stone worn down by centuries of erosion? Your soul tears itself apart trying to contain me?"

"Then I stop," Alaric said, though his eyes betrayed the lie. They both knew stopping wasn’t really an option. Not with what was coming. Not with the threats gathering on horizons that most mortals couldn’t even perceive.

Drakon shifted, his coils adjusting with the grinding sound of scales against rock. His gaze dropped fractionally.

"The ring."

Alaric’s fingers twitched. "Yes Jack has the ring, what about it?"

"And yet you still haven’t told him," Drakon continued, his massive eyes narrowing fractionally. "The boy doesn’t know about his ancestor. About what that ring represents. About the bloodline that flows through his veins with every heartbeat."

"Jack doesn’t need to know," Alaric repeated, his voice firm despite the cracks spreading across his skin like fractures in glass under pressure. "Not yet. Not until he’s ready."

"Ready?" Drakon’s laugh was like thunder rolling across distant mountains. "Ready for what, exactly? To learn that his family history extends far beyond mortal kingdoms? That the power running through him carries weight you’ve been hiding since his birth?"

The dragon’s coils shifted again, bringing his massive head closer to Alaric’s position.

Heat radiated from his scales despite the freezing temperature, creating a sphere of warmth in the mountain’s bitter cold.

"You weren’t ready when we formed our partnership," Drakon said, as he reminisced. "You were six years old. A child who could barely hold a practice sword, let alone understand what binding yourself to a dragon would mean."

Alaric’s expression tightened, but he didn’t look away. "That was different."

"How?" Drakon challenged. "Because your father decided it was time? Because the Kaiser training demanded it? You weren’t ready, Alaric. But your father started your training earlier than any other Kaiser in recorded history. Pushed you harder, faster, with methods that would have broken lesser children."

"Let’s not forget, if you had just pulled me out the first time he was threatened, he would have been stronger than you already."

"Yes, and destroy most of my territory in the process?’

"It wouldn’t have mattered, you tester the boy before he was six. You know he was meant to be the greatest Kaiser in History. He surpassed your talent and affinity before he was six. He had access to all the elements. But he was unfortunate. Because you were selfish. You thought you could have your territory and your boy."

The purple cracks pulsed once, faint light visible beneath damaged skin. Alaric’s free hand clenched, then released, a conscious effort to maintain control.

"I survived," Alaric said quietly.

"You did more than survive," Drakon replied, his voice reverberated. "You excelled. Became everything your father hoped and more. But that doesn’t change the fact that you weren’t ready when the training began. Readiness is something you achieve through experience, not something you wait to possess before starting."

Wind howled across the peak, carrying snow that stung exposed skin. Alaric stood unmoved, his coat snapping in the gusts, his posture remaining perfectly steady despite the conditions that would force most mortals to seek shelter.

"He wouldn’t believe me anyway," Alaric said finally, his voice barely audible over the wind "Even if I told him about the ancestor, about the ring, about what it all means. He’d think it was fantasy. Myth designed to inflate family importance."

Drakon’s eyes gleamed sharply. "His patron god is the Forgotten One. Draven, who remembers what others have lost to time. You think Jack serves that deity by coincidence?"

The dragon’s massive head tilted, studying Alaric with intensity that made even the duke feel exposed. "The boy will understand more clearly than you give him credit for. His bloodline ties back to the time of the gods themselves, Alaric. The same blood that cracks your skin and burns through your soul flows through him. Stronger, purer, less corrupted by the seals your father placed on your power."

Alaric’s jaw worked, his expression struggling between denial and acceptance. "You’re saying Jack has access to what I’ve lost?"

"Your son carries potential you were forced to seal away. The ancestor’s gift, passed down through generations, weakened by each Kaiser who prioritized survival over legacy."

The dragon paused, letting that sink in, then added with quiet emphasis, "But in Jack, something changed. Whether through Draven’s blessing or through simple genetic fortune, he possesses access to power the Kaiser line thought was lost forever."

"The ancestor..."

"Would be proud," Drakon finished. "The power that destroyed kingdoms and reshaped continents, dormant for generations, awakening in a boy who barely understands what he’s becoming."

The purple cracks spread fractionally, reaching past Alaric’s jawline toward his cheek. Pain flickered across his features before discipline reasserted control, but the damage was visible, growing with each conversation, each exertion of power he could barely contain.

"Four more times," Drakon repeated, his voice dropping to something almost gentle for a creature of his size and nature. "Make them count, contractor. Because after that, there won’t be enough of you left to hold a conversation. And Jack will need answers you won’t be able to provide."

The wind howled louder, snow whipping across the peak. Alaric stood unmoved, his eyes fixed on distant horizons only he could see.

"He’ll learn the truth," Alaric said finally, his voice carrying across the wind with quiet certainty. "When the time comes. When he’s strong enough to handle what it means."

"And if you’re gone before that time arrives?" Drakon asked.

Alaric’s only response was silence, and the steady spread of purple cracks across skin that had once been whole.