Chapter 29 – Inherit or Burn
Ashthane lunged again.
Kael vaulted back, the corrupted sentinel's claws missing his throat by a breath. Lava hissed through the cracks in the temple floor, and Lys circled the room, watching for another opening.
> Gracebound Arsenal Prompt Active
Choose one or more options. Remaining GP: 425
Kael's fingers twitched toward the interface only he could see.
"Choose," Lys shouted. "Now would be good!"
He exhaled slowly. No panic. Just purpose.
> Selected: Draconic Pulse (120 GP)
Selected: Infernal Fang (180 GP)
Selected: Vital Ember Pill (80 GP)
Grace Points Spent: 380
Remaining GP: 45
> Items Materializing…
Draconic Pulse Activated – Strength and Speed Enhanced (30 sec)
Infernal Fang Equipped
Vital Ember Pill Consumed – Regeneration Initiated
Kael blurred forward.
The pulse surged through his limbs like lightning wrapped in fire. In a blink, he was under Ashthane's guard, Infernal Fang carving upward with a blinding arc.
The blade hissed as it met corrupted scale — and cut through.
Ashthane let out a guttural roar, stumbling back, ichor-like flame spilling from the wound. Its voice cracked the air.
"Who gave you that weapon?"
Kael didn't answer.
He flipped the blade once in his hand and charged again.
---
Lys struck from the left this time, and with Kael pressing from the right, Ashthane was forced to guard with both arms. Kael's enhanced speed kept him moving like fire made flesh, Infernal Fang humming with a hunger of its own.
Then came the counterattack.
Ashthane flared in a burst of shadowflame, knocking them both back with a shockwave.
Kael skidded across the black stone, the regeneration from the Vital Ember Pill keeping him conscious—but barely.
Ashthane panted, its form flickering. It was breaking down, unstable—but so was the chamber. The throne cracked behind them.
"You are not worthy," Ashthane snarled, half of its mask falling away to reveal a burnt human face beneath the dragonbone helm. "Not yet."
And then it charged again, this time head-on.
---
> Memory Fragment: Echo VI
Vireya stood beneath the stars, her silver-white braid loose around her shoulders.
"You don't know what they'll do if they find out," she said.
Kael was younger here—barely older than a boy. His hands were trembling.
"I didn't ask for this," he said quietly. "The legacy… the power. It's not mine."
Vireya stepped closer. "Then make it yours. Don't wait for permission."
He looked up at her, eyes wide.
She touched his chest lightly. "They'll never give it to you, Kael. Power like this? You take it, or you burn."
Kael watched the stars above them—each one a dragon that had come before, or so the stories claimed. And in Vireya's eyes, he didn't see judgment.
He saw fire.
---
> Optional Memory Recovered: Take the Flame
+25 Grace Points
Total GP: 70
Resonance Level: 4/10
---
Kael roared and met Ashthane's charge with a leaping strike. Flame and fury collided as his blade split the corrupted guardian down its center.
Ashthane didn't scream.
It smiled.
"Then… you remember."
The guardian fell to its knees, fire dissipating, armor collapsing like ash in the wind.
A crimson light erupted from the throne behind him.
> Trial Complete
Reward Unlocked: Legacy Core Fragment
Bonus Reward: Wyrm King's Insight (Tier A – Passive Ability)
Grace Points Earned: +300
Total GP: 370
---
Kael collapsed to one knee. The pulse faded. His body ached. But the flame within him—that didn't dim.
Lys hurried to him. "You good?"
He looked up. "Getting there."
Then his eyes locked on the Legacy Core Fragment. It hovered above the molten throne like a heartbeat forged from starlight.
He reached for it.
And as his fingers brushed its surface—
He heard her voice again.
"Make it yours."
The chamber trembled. The moment he touched the core, runes all along the temple flared to life. Visions—not memories—flooded his mind: a black-winged dragon soaring through storms, a silver blade held aloft by a figure cloaked in twilight, and a world… dying.
Kael gasped, blinking sweat and ash from his eyes. The core dissolved into his chest, its energy binding with his flame.
Lys steadied him. "You saw something."
He didn't speak. Not yet.
Because what he'd seen wasn't just the past.
It was a warning.
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