The skies had cleared, but the shadow of the Nine Sect's ambush lingered in every breath.
The banners of the great clans still fluttered, though dimmer now, some marked by blood, others by absence. The Blue Dragon Clan stood tall, their heir's jaw clenched in grim silence. The Black Dragons glared with smoldering hatred, their presence like storm clouds.
And the Red Dragon Clan, Jace's bloodline, held their place among them....a mix of rage and indignation, their elders demanding vengeance. Yet their eyes swept the field, searching for Jace, though none truly recognized him beneath the hood.
The Golden Dragon Clan remained silent.... fortunately non of their heirs were taken.
The Phoenix banners burned bright, heirs standing proud despite their shaken hearts. The Vampire line....Veyra among them... kept their crimson eyes sharp, unyielding. The Werewolves growled low, the air thick with their restless hunger for retribution.
Despite the losses, none of the clans withdrew.
The trial must continue.
---
The trial grounds rumbled.
The Roaring Dragon Trial system awakened, stone tiles shifting as if alive. The land itself cracked, rising and falling, reshaping into a maze of cliffs and rivers. A low hum vibrated in the bones of every heir, an echo that was not just sound but command.
A dragon's roar.
The sound rolled through the skies, so powerful that even the elders above stiffened.
[System Announcement: First Trial Parameters Reset.]
[New Objective: Endure the Roar, Claim the Dragon Spirit.]
[Warning: All techniques, bloodlines, and abilities are valid. Only survival will mark worth.]
The ground split open, releasing a surge of fiery energy. Shapes began to form various avatars of ancient dragons, woven from light, stone, and spirit. Their roars shook the trial grounds, pressing every heir to their knees.
Some fell instantly, clutching their chests as the weight of the dragon aura bore down.
But others rose.
The Blue Dragon heir flared his aura, scales shimmering faintly across his skin as he roared back. The Black Dragon's heir responded with shadowflame, wings flickering behind him. The Phoenix heir lit the air in golden fire, resisting the oppressive dragon aura with burning pride.
The Vampire heir, crimson mist swirling, smiled thinly as their blood thirst rose. The Werewolf heir howled against the sky, claws digging into the earth as the dragon's presence fed their fury.
And then there was Veyra. Her stance was calm, her gaze sharp. Where others flared with pride, she absorbed the weight in silence, her aura coiling like a hidden blade.
Jace watched them all.
His system hummed within.
---
[System Notice: Dragon Spirit detected.]
[Potential Harvest: 45% Skill Growth, Bloodline Resonance +12%.]
[Warning: High Risk.]
---
His eyes narrowed beneath the hood.
To fight here meant revealing too much. To hold back meant losing everything.
And then the first clash broke.
The Blue Dragon heir leapt forward, shouting "Azure Scale Strike!" as his palm struck one of the dragon avatars, shattering its stone hide. The Black Dragon heir countered with "Ebon Flame Rend!", shadows tearing through another.
The Phoenix heir's "Solar Wing Slash!" burned across the air, illuminating the battlefield.
The Werewolf's claws ripped stone, the Vampire's crimson chains bound the dragon avatars.
And in the chaos, one avatar turned toward Veyra. Its claws swung, faster than she could evade.
Jace moved.
His blade whispered from the shadows.
"Veilstep: Shadow Break."
The strike severed the dragon's claw mid-swing, its roar echoing across the field. The system surged inside him.
[Skill Acquired: Draconic Fragment Absorption.]
[Temporary Buff: Strength +10%, Reflex +12%.]
Veyra spun, crimson eyes locking onto him again. A flicker of something unreadable passed across her face.... gratitude? Suspicion? Both?
Jace said nothing, simply pulling his hood lower and stepping back into the shadows as another dragon avatar formed before him.
But inside, the decision was already made.
He would fight.
Not just to survive.
Not just to hide.
But to grow.
The system whispered, hungry and unrelenting:
[Devour Now and Rise.]
And Jace raised his blade.
The trial grounds were fire and ruin. The dragon avatars surged like waves, each roar shattering stone and shaking the sky.
The heirs responded with bloodline pride.
The Blue Dragon heir stood at the forefront, azure scales glimmering faintly across his arms. His shout cut through the roar:
"Azure Scale Barrage!"
Palm strikes flew like lightning, each strike bursting with dragon light.
The Black Dragon heir met his rival's ferocity with shadows that burned like tar. His eyes glowed with midnight fire as his claws split open the air.
"Ebon Flame Rend!"
The clash of azure and black lit the trial ground, each strike carving deep scars into the earth.
Above them, the Phoenix heir soared briefly, his wings of golden flame sweeping wide.
"Solar Wing Slash!"
Light cleaved a dragon avatar in two, its spirit dispersing into embers that rained down like falling stars.
The Werewolf heir let out a guttural howl, body expanding with muscle, claws tearing stone. He struck forward in a frenzy.
"Moonfang Tear!"
One dragon avatar toppled under the sheer force, its scales splitting like cracked stone.
The Vampire line was more precise. Chains of blood burst from the ground, wrapping a dragon avatar's throat. The Night Veil heir smiled coldly.
"Crimson Shackles!"
The avatar struggled, its roar muffled as the chains pulled tight.
And then Veyra moved. Her blade gleamed under the darkened sky.
"Blood Veil Art: Scarlet Bloom."
Her strike left a crimson arc that split another dragon spirit apart, the mist trailing like petals.
The heirs battled fiercely, but for every avatar that fell, two more rose from the cracks of the earth.
The roar of the system was merciless.
---
From the spectator's stand, the elders of the clans exchanged tense glances.
"The system presses them harder than before…" the Blue Dragon patriarch murmured, eyes narrowing.
The Red Dragon elders clenched their fists. "Some of ours are already missing. Yet the boy… where is he?"
High above, the Academy's overseers said nothing...only watching.
---
In the chaos below, Jace moved differently.
He did not roar like the Blue Dragon heir.
He did not blaze like the Phoenix heir.
He did not howl like the Werewolf heir.
Instead, he slipped through the battlefield like a shadow at the edge of sight.
When a dragon avatar's claws nearly crushed a human heir, a single strike whispered through the dark:
"Veilstep: Phantom Edge."
The claws shattered mid-swing.
When another dragon lunged at Veyra's flank, his blade snapped out again unseen by most.
"Silent Fang."
The strike was so swift that only the dragon's corpse gave him away.
---
The system pulsed within him.
[Draconic Essence Absorbed: 3 Fragments.]
[Skill Enhancement: Reflex +18%. Strength +15%.]
[Hidden Evolution Path Unlocked.]
Jace's chest rose and fell. His hand trembled slightly on the blade.
Not from fear.... but from the rush.
The system was devouring every fragment he claimed, weaving it into his body. His blood boiled with power, but he hid it under the veil of silence.
Yet even so, not all eyes were blind.
The Black Dragon heir paused mid-swing, eyes narrowing. He had seen it: a shadow strike too precise to be chance.
The Phoenix heir frowned, scanning the battlefield.
Even Veyra, crimson eyes cold and sharp, caught the shift in the air when Jace saved her again.
---
The ground cracked.
A colossal dragon avatar emerged, towering above the rest... its scales carved from obsidian, its roar splitting the clouds.
[System Notice: Elite Dragon Spirit Deployed.]
[Warning: Survival Threshold Raised.]
Heirs stumbled back as its aura pressed like a mountain. Some human clan heirs fell instantly, their knees striking the ground.
The Phoenix heir flared his wings. The Werewolf heir growled and lunged. The Vampire heir wove blood chains desperately.
But for each, the colossal avatar shrugged their attacks off as though they were insects.
It raised its claw, shadow stretching wide and reached for Veyra again.
She gritted her teeth, crimson chains rising but snapping under the force.
But before she could defend...
"Veilstep: Shadow Break."
The colossal claw froze midair, a jagged crack spreading where Jace's blade had struck.
Gasps rose from heirs and elders alike.
The Red Dragon elders leaned forward sharply.
The Blue Dragon patriarch's eyes narrowed further.
The Phoenix heir's flames faltered for just a heartbeat.
Even Veyra stared crimson gaze locking onto the hooded shadow who had stepped between her and the beast.
The system flared within Jace:
[Skill Evolution Triggered.]
[New Ability Awakened: Draconic Devour – Fragment Assimilation.]
His eyes burned under the hood.
This trial was no longer about survival.
It was his battlefield now.