Nine years passed.In the grand halls of the Crimson estate, Lucien was still considered nothing.No mana flares.No sword talent.
No public training.Just a quiet, distant child who never caused trouble—because he never mattered.To his siblings, he was "the hollow one."To the knights, he was invisible.
To the maids, just another errand child.And to his father—Duke Velkarth Crimson—he simply didn't exist.But none of them knew the truth:
> Lucien was learning.
Lucien was watching.
Lucien was waiting.
The System — Hidden Progress. Every night, after the halls had gone silent, Lucien would rise.He had mastered how to move without making a sound.How to train his body in secret.How to meditate for hours, pushing mana into his veins even when his mana heart was supposedly non-existent.He had no external flare, but inside, the system had been building something else.
> [Daily Task Completed — Silent Training: +0.5 to Agility]
[Passive Skill Unlocked: 'Quiet Flow']
[Progress: Dragon Heart Compatibility — 97.8%]
Each day, he endured whispers, glares, and smirks.Each night, he sharpened the blade within.On the night of his ninth birthday, the system issued a message unlike any before.
> [Milestone Reached: Age 9 — Dragonblood Synchronization Triggered]
[Final Compatibility Achieved: 100.0%]
[Unlocking Core Relic: Fafnir's Heart]
Lucien dropped to his knees.Agony tore through his chest like a burning sword.
He clawed at the floor, eyes wide, body trembling—but he did not scream.Flames burst beneath his skin, glowing like magma through his veins. Ancient power—raw, untamed—began to replace his very heart.His breath slowed.His eyes flickered.The pain was unbearable, inhuman, holy.
> [You have awakened: Fafnir's Heart]
[Your mana heart has evolved into a Dragon Core]
[Passive: 'Ashen Rebirth' acquired]
[New Skill Tree: Unlocked]
Lucien collapsed, drenched in sweat.And then—
> Silence.
Not from pain.But from fear.The entire estate felt it. It was like an entire army of dragons killing intent was piercing themKnights awoke mid-meditation.Elders stood from their seats.Even Velkarth Crimson—the cold duke—opened his eyes.
> "A surge of mana… that's not human."
"It came from the east wing. From…"
"...the tenth child's room."
There was confusion. Then doubt. Then disbelief.One of the elders spoke bluntly.
> "That boy doesn't even have a mana heart."Lucien sat on the edge of his bed, fully dressed before the sun had risen.He stared at his palms—calm, steady, unshaking.There was fire beneath his skin now. A rhythm. A presence.The mana around him didn't resist anymore.It obeyed.
He didn't just awaken.He had become something else.
> The heir of a godlike beast—Fafnir, the Flame of the First Dawn.His crimson eyes glowed faintly in the mirror.And for the first time since his rebirth,he smiled.