Night had fully descended over Elarion by the time we arrived at the Ashford estate.
The towering gates opened slowly before our carriage, revealing the sprawling fortress-like manor resting atop the elevated cliffs overlooking the capital. Massive black walls lined with crimson mana veins glowed faintly beneath the moonlight while armed sentries patrolled the perimeter with disciplined precision.
Home.
Though "home" felt dangerously inadequate for describing the ancestral seat of House Ashford.
The manor resembled a kingdom disguised as a residence.
Immovable.
The carriage rolled across the massive stone bridge leading toward the inner grounds while servants and guards immediately bowed upon our arrival.
No one spoke.
But the tension had already reached the estate before we had.
News traveled quickly among powerful families.
And shattered imperial relics traveled even faster.
Lucien stepped out first, stretching lazily beneath the cold night air.
"Finally," he muttered. "I thought the scholars were going to start dissecting him inside the throne room."
"You suggested that twice," Selene replied while exiting behind him.
"Yes," Lucien answered proudly. "Which means the idea had merit."
Father ignored the conversation entirely as he continued toward the upper halls of the estate without slowing.
"Follow me," he said simply.
No explanation.
No elaboration.
Just command.
The rest of us exchanged glances briefly before following after him through the massive inner corridors of the manor.
The deeper we traveled into the estate—
the quieter it became.
Servants disappeared.
The architecture changed subtly.
Elegant noble decorations gradually gave way to older stonework covered in ancient carvings and faded battle murals. Massive statues lined the corridor walls depicting previous Ashford heads standing over slain beasts large enough to resemble natural disasters.
Ancient wolves.
Winged serpents.
Armored leviathans.
And dragons.
Many dragons.
Some were impaled upon giant spears.
Others crushed beneath overwhelming force.
A few murals showed entire battlefields consumed beneath draconic fire while lone Ashford warriors stood against them carrying weapons stained black with ash and blood.
I slowed slightly while staring at one particular carving.
A massive dragon with six burning eyes was depicted wrapped around an entire mountain range while a lone figure stood against it holding a spear made of sunlight.
The figure's face had long since eroded away with time.
But the pressure radiating from the mural still felt strangely oppressive.
Ceal noticed my attention.
"That mural depicts Vael'Torr," he explained calmly. "A Supreme Dragon Lord that appeared roughly four hundred years before Peroza's unification."
I glanced toward him.
"And the Ashfords killed it?"
Lucien snorted.
"Eventually."
That was somehow more concerning.
Ceal adjusted his glasses.
"It took three generations."
Three generations.
To kill one creature.
The scale of this world kept expanding every few chapters.
Father eventually stopped before an enormous pair of black doors covered in golden inscriptions.
The carvings across their surface resembled flowing rivers mixed with beast-like eyes staring outward from the metal itself.
Mana pulsed through the engravings like flowing blood.
The moment we approached—
the doors reacted.
The entire hallway trembled faintly as ancient mechanisms groaned deep within the walls.
Then slowly—
the doors opened inward.
Heat rolled outward immediately.
Not uncomfortable.
Heavy.
Dense mana flooded the corridor like invisible water pressing against my skin.
And beyond the doors—
lay the Bloodline Hall.
I stopped instinctively.
The chamber was colossal.
Circular.
Ancient pillars stretched upward into darkness too far above to fully see while glowing crimson rivers flowed beneath transparent crystal pathways crossing the room in complex patterns.
At the center rested the Bloodline Pool itself.
A massive circular basin carved directly into black stone.
The liquid within wasn't water.
It looked more like molten crimson light.
Golden particles drifted across its surface like floating embers while ancient runes rotated slowly beneath the liquid depths.
The entire room pulsed rhythmically.
Like a giant heart.
Selene visibly shivered beside me.
"It always feels overwhelming down here…"
"That's intentional," Lucien replied casually. "The weak-hearted are filtered out immediately."
Father descended the central staircase toward the pool while the rest of us followed behind him.
The pressure intensified with every step.
I could feel the mana within my body reacting instinctively.
Especially the dragon mana.
The golden lines beneath my skin flickered faintly.
Then pulsed harder.
The Bloodline Pool responded immediately.
The crimson liquid rippled violently for only a second before stabilizing again.
Silence filled the chamber.
Lucien's grin widened slowly.
"Oh that's new."
Ceal's expression sharpened instantly.
Father finally turned toward me fully.
For the first time since entering the hall—
his aura pressed outward deliberately.
Not enough to harm.
Enough to suppress.
The pressure stabilized the pool almost immediately..
Father studied me silently for several long moments before speaking.
"The Ashford Bloodline Pool serves three purposes."
His voice echoed softly across the chamber.
"Awakening."
The runes beneath the liquid glowed brighter.
"Purification."
The crimson waters deepened in color.
"And elevation."
The entire chamber vibrated faintly.
Ceal stepped forward slightly.
"Most noble bloodlines degrade over generations," he explained calmly. "Dilution. Mutation. Instability. The Pool removes impurities while amplifying compatibility with the dominant inherited trait."
Lucien folded his arms.
"In simpler terms," he said, "it turns monsters into bigger monsters."
Father ignored him.
"Ordinarily, the process merely strengthens existing bloodlines."
His crimson eyes locked onto mine.
"Your case is different."
I already suspected that.
The dragon mana inside my body had become increasingly active ever since the awakening ceremony.
It felt…
restless.
Almost aware.
Father continued calmly.
"The Dragon Knight class naturally produces draconic adaptation over time."
"Over decades," Ceal corrected.
Father nodded once.
"You manifested signs immediately."
That silence afterward felt deliberate.
Heavy.
Then Father spoke the sentence that finally confirmed everything.
"You already possess a fully formed bloodline."
The chamber grew still.
Even Selene looked shocked now.
Lucien, meanwhile, looked delighted.
Of course he did.
Ceal frowned slightly while analyzing the glowing lines beneath my skin.
"That level of synchronization should not be possible without complete biological restructuring…"
I resisted the urge to ask what exactly that implied for my humanity.
Instead I looked toward the Pool itself.
The crimson liquid had started moving again.
Slowly.
Like something beneath the surface was circling.
Watching.
Father noticed immediately.
His expression did not change.
But the mana within the chamber thickened sharply.
"The process begins tomorrow," he said calmly.
Then quietly—
dangerously quietly—
he added:
"Tonight, we determine whether your bloodline belongs to a dragon…"
The Pool rippled violently.
Golden fire flashed briefly beneath the crimson depths.
And for the first time—
Kaelith Draven Ashford's expression hardened slightly.
"…or something far older."