Nox's POV:
So, I figured out why that dragonewt I saved a while back pissed me off so much. He is a blood relative of mine, but judging by the DNA results, he is not the father, which is why it took me a while to recognize it. The farther apart someone is on the genetic family tree, the harder it becomes to tell the similarities in our DNA. I knew I had some dormant draconic genes in me, which was why I shrugged off the similarities in our DNA as just a coincidence. That and the fact he seems to be a generation or two further up the genetic river is the reason why I failed to connect the dots initially. I became a bit suspicious when he mentioned my mother's name, but it was only after I accidentally activated my dormant bloodline that my suspicion was confirmed.
After the end of the draconic age, the dragons went into hiding as the new overlord of the world didn't want to risk a new dragon emperor being born. As a result, new methods to detect someone of draconic descent were developed. However, the overlord was taken out of the picture after the sealing of another overlord, known today as the demon king of legends. As a result, the dragon-massacres stopped for the most part. However, traces from that time still remains today. One of those traces would be a bootleg tracking method lifted off of vampires to track down blood relatives. Dragon-kind had managed to integrate this blood magic, specifically developed to hunt down their children, into their descendants to function as a form of instinctual paternity test.
Blood magic is a racial-based school of black magic used by vampires much like how spirit magic is for elemental spirits. However, just like how people found ways to imitate spirit magic in the form of cultivators and magicians, so did they managed to find a way to utilize blood magic without turning into vampires.
Wait, what was I thinking about again? Oh, right!
Because of how many people would like to skin me for my scales alone on account of my rare draconic lineage, I have been suppressing my bloodline for years using my aura and magic core. In doing so I also managed to hide myself from that vampiric paternity test. However, with my core broken, the stimulus from surviving multiple near-death experiences in addition to making contact with another dragonewt who also happened to be a blood relative, was just too much as my aura alone could only slow the awakening process.
Damaging my core fighting two spirit kings, the bones I broke using an unstable teleporter, a half-hour long underwater wrestling match with a nascent soul bounty hunter, in addition to the story of how I lost my Peter. It all pushed my body to its limits. I was physically exhausted to a point where I was barely able to stay conscious. In that delicate state where my slowly mutating body threatened to knock me out at any moment, I was about to go look for a safe and isolated place I could take a quick powernap in, but…
"WAIT!"
*Thud*
The old man grabbed my shoulder a little too tightly, which put pressure on some very important veins and/or arteries. It wasn't much, but it was enough of a shock to push my barely breathing body over the edge, and I conked out. When I woke up from the bowels of hell that are inside my mind, I was in a carriage with my fully mutated hands and feet bound, while sitting across from the old bag of scales.
In my awakened dragonewt form, I had grown a few new things. There were now some small white antlers sticking out of my head, I had silver scales running down my arms and legs stopping at my wrist and ankles, in addition to a scaly new tail.
"This is such a drag!" I said while sitting slumped over the windowsill of the crappy new residence the old man had left me in.
It seems like the old man wanted to play house with me because I was his son's bastard by blood. Which is why he kidnapped me to his giant estate before throwing me into one of the prisons scattered about the place, while he went to gather his posse of blood related strangers. As if escaping with my hands and feet bound by enchanted rope wasn't enough, he also stationed nascent soul prison guards outside to stand watch. With my core on strike and my bloodline sticking out like a sore thumb, sneaking away without getting caught would require a bachelor's degree in stealth, good thing I have a master's in that.
I dislocated some joints to free my hands as I started untying the rope. I probably didn't have long until the guards noticed I was free, so I needed to hurry into position.
"She is gone!"
"Where did she go?"
"She can't have run fa-! *gag*"
"WHAT IN THE! *muffled*"
I happened to know a little trick to become invisible to the naked third eye the guard dogs were using to check in on me every now and again. So, after untying the magically enhanced rope, I clung to the wall over the doorway and waited for them to come take a look, before dropping down on them from above. It wasn't easy putting two grown men to sleep with just a rope and tail to wrap around their necks, so I sang them a little song to make them fall asleep before they managed to escape.
"Hush, little prison guards, don't make a scene! Nox is gonna silence your muffled scream!♪"
*Muffled shouting*
*Bang*
*Thud*
"And if those screams just won't shut up! Nox is gonna snap your neck to quiet your butt!♪"
*Snap*
*Snap*
*Thud*
*Thud*
"Hehe! Works every time!" I whispered as I saw the sleepy cows I rodeoed a moment ago.
It's a pain, but I had to knock them out if I didn't want the difficulty to increase. If I had left them be, they would have tattled on me, and the entire estate would be on the lookout. I also couldn't kill them because that would just turn them into energy ghosts which is too much of a hassle for me to deal with right now. I only have until the old man gets back to decide on my escape route.
The gate we passed through as we entered the estate was in the south. This hollow square on the map southwest of what I assume is the center of this place is where I was imprisoned. I'm pretty sure the giant mansion next door belongs to the old man, which I'll assume is placed in the center of this turf. Normally, I could just disguise myself as one of the guards with illusions or turn invisible before walking out the front gate, but with my core in its current state that isn't an option. Even if I disguised myself to blend in with the crowd, my tail and horns would make me stick out due to how few dragonewts there seem to be here.
Dragonewts can vary greatly in appearance, depending on a variety of factors. They can look almost completely human like the old man who only had a couple of scales poking out here and there, or they might look like a human-lizard hybrid like me. Some might even have the appearance of a bipedal lizard. However, out of all the servants and guards I spotted on the way over, only one in ten seemed to be dragonewts, and nearly all of them could pass for a regular human. Someone like me would stick out like a sore thumb in that crowd, and the illusions I could cook up with the magic stones I pillaged off the guards would be useless since almost everyone here is a nascent soul who can see through some half-assed illusion with their sixth sense. If I had access to my normal spatial storage, I might be able to make a decent disguise, but unfortunately, I need my core to access it, plus the old man also confiscated my emergency survival kit/storage ring after he kidnapped me. So, disguising myself as one of the guards and leaving out the front gate is not going to work.
I would rather not kill my way out. Not because I don't think I can, but because they all have two lives thanks to that nascent soul that's trending on this continent. Since I don't feel like a ghost buster today, that leaves me with only one option. Sneak out the back door, without being spotted.
Luckily, there is a perfectly good road going towards the forest-infested mountains at the northern side of the estate. It seems to have little traffic too, which will make this a whole lot easier. As long as I hide from the occasional passersby, I should be fine. Once I reach the mountain forest I should be in the clear given how many hiding places there tend to be in such places, is what I thought.
"GET THE INTRUDER!"
"WE WON'T LET HER LEAVE THIS FOREST ALIVE!"