The sky over Velderis was clear,eerily so. Three full months had passed since Rin's last contact with Valen Solas, and though every day was haunted by unease, no one had come for him. No prince. No uncle. No royal knight. Only silence.
Rin sat cross-legged in the dim hotel room. The cracked walls and dusty curtains didn't match the transformation quietly unfolding within. The moment the clock ticked past midnight, a cold whisper echoed in his mind:
> "Congratulations. Mission complete. You are now recognized as the rightful Prince of the Solas family."
The words came with no fanfare,no horns, no light. Just quiet authority.
Rin stared at the floor. Rightful prince? He had done nothing. No wars fought. No councils led. All he had done was hide and train in a musty inn.
But the system didn't lie.at least he hoped so.
He rose from the creaking bed and stepped into the center of the room. His breath slowed. For the first time in two months, he summoned his full power.
His body began to change. Light silver scales shimmered along his arms and cheeks, climbing toward his temples. Black horns curved backward from his skull ,sharper, more defined. A long white tail swayed behind him, thick with power. Then came the glow,silver energy erupting like mist from his skin, curling in arcs across the room.
42% Blood Purity.
He could feel it in every inch of his body. His strength had doubled,no, tripled. His speed made even thought seem slow. And durability? He could feel the pressure in the air bouncing off him, unable to reach his bones.
Two months ago, after stabilizing at 30%, he'd unlocked the ability to manifest dark flame,a vicious, silver-black fire so dense it burned even stone into nothing. With every breath, the fire curled along his fingertips, hungering.
Now, at 40%… he had awakened something greater.
He extended his hand. A single drop of blood hovered above his palm, shining with impossible light. His Dragon Wing ability had manifested.
Every dragon-blooded royal received this gift at 50% purity. The power to create a Blood Drop ,a vessel of their essence. When given to another, it would raise their talents, bestow part of the dragon's might… but also bind them completely to the will of the royal who gave it.
One drop per prince.
Except Rin.
He stared as five drops formed above his hand, swirling in an orbit around his fingers like a constellation of red suns.
"Five," he whispered. "Why?"
An Unknown anomaly, he thought. "Possibly linked to the foreign origin of my soul or interference from the Tyrant Path."
He clenched his fist, absorbing the drops back into his veins.
To test his progress, Rin strode out behind the hotel into a crumbling courtyard. Empty crates and old target dummies lay half-buried in dust. He exhaled once ,and with a wave of his hand, released a stream of dark flame across the clearing.
The fire hissed like a storm of knives, devouring everything in its path. Wood, iron, even stone,obliterated in seconds. He spun, his silver tail whipping through a wall, crumbling it like sand. With one breath, he launched himself skyward.
The wind howled. His silver aura painted streaks across the sky.
He wasn't just stronger.
He was a weapon now.
As he descended back to the earth, flames trailing his fall like comets, Rin landed on one knee, the ground cracking beneath him. The air shimmered with leftover energy.
And still, despite the power that now coursed through him, he felt no pride.
Only questions.
Why did Valen let me live?
Why give me this time to grow?
What did he see in my soul that made him change his plans?
He didn't know. But the war drums of the East were getting louder.
And Rin Solas was no longer the lost prince hiding in shadow.
He was something far more dangerous.
A dragon sharpening his fangs.