Supreme Magus

Chapter 4069: Broken Legacy (Part 2)

Drakes were not fighters by nature and preferred to spend their lives researching magic. Ajatar’s bloodline legacy lacked the fierce offensive edge of the Ry’s and the insights that only someone who had started from the bottom of the barrel like Lith could gain.

The lessons took place only after Ajatar was done with his research for the day, and the kids’ steeds took part in them as well.

The Drake ended up learning almost as much as he taught, and more importantly, he managed to feed his inquisitive mind with enough material to keep himself from obsessing about Dragonhood.

Before entering the gene-tank for the second time, Ajatar took all his notes out of the Library to avoid the temptation of peeking at them as he started his research anew.

’This time, I know there is something wrong with my method, and my fundamental knowledge of magic has improved. I can do this.’ Ajatar thought as he studied his quasi-Dragon life force with Dragon Eyes.

It took him days to confirm that his initial misgiving about the atrophied mana organs adjacent to major imperfections was justified. Under strain, the flow of mana strengthened by the mana organs would reach the imperfections, allowing them to develop.

The phenomenon would manifest only when the mana organs were pushed to the limit, and later the imperfections would slowly regress to their initial state. Yet each time it happened, the grown imperfections would last longer, and their effects spread farther across the healthy life force.

’Father of all Dragons!’ Ajatar inwardly cursed. ’Had I missed that, I might have escaped becoming a Fallen Dragon, but once my life force got corrupted enough, my offspring would have Fallen the first time they exerted themselves.

’Luckily for me, when I reverse the process, the imperfections regress to their atrophied state along with the mana organs. Before moving forward, I need to fix those imperfections or at least isolate them from the mana organs.’

When Ajatar emerged from the gene tank, he had a few surprises waiting for him. Due to the life-saving discovery, his mental state was much better than the first time. Also, when he presented Lith with his revised notes, he received an all-clear.

Last, but not least, Slash and Crash had finally succeeded in evolving into Emperor Beasts. Between Ajatar’s lessons and their friends’ constant tutoring, the Shyf and the Ry had been pestered into Awakening.

"Allow me to introduce you to Slash the Geri." Leran said while introducing a magnificent wolf-like creature.

Slash now reached a height at the withers of 2 meters (6’7"), her pitch-black fur was streaked with yellow and white, giving the impression of a living thundercloud. A long, jagged horn came out of her forehead, and two feathered wings from her back.

"And this is Crash the Freki!" Leria lifted the blanket covering the massive feline for a literal unveiling of her friend.

Crash was smaller than Slash, reaching only 1.93 meters (6’4") at the withers. His crimson-red fur was streaked black and orange all over, resembling a pool of smoldering lava.

The black smoke coming out of his membranous wings and flaming tail only reinforced the image. He had two upward-curved horns coming out of his head, and two long fangs protruded from his upper jaw.

"I don’t like this name!" Slash whined.

"Me neither!" Clash yelped.

"Let me guess, your mother named their new forms just like she named them Slash and Crash years ago." Ajatar couldn’t stop laughing at the poor Emperor Beasts’ expense.

"How do you know?" Lilia asked.

"Because they respectively mean ’the greedy’ and ’the glutton’ in the ancient dialect of the Distar region."

"We know! Selia said it to our faces. ’This is what you are to my household. You drain my money and empty my pantry. If you don’t like it, get yourself a job and start pulling your weight’." Slash and Crash said in their best Selia impression, which only renewed the Drake’s hilarity.

"And you know what the best part is?" Leran asked. "Their mana core is stronger than ours, but they know nothing of the other five elements. We are still their seniors and can pull rank!"

Ajatar decided to celebrate all the good news by postponing the lesson to the next day. He still needed a break from the gene-tank to revise the data and plan the next steps of his research.

He kept alternating his studies with magical lessons, suspending them only during his experiments and after receiving the Infirmary’s review of his findings.

Soon, a month passed. The date of Friya’s wedding approached, and so did what Ajatar hoped would be his final session in the gene-tank.

"For someone who claimed to hate the idea, you sure spent a lot of time with the kids." Faluel pointed out on the eve of the experiment.

"I can’t deny that." Ajatar shrugged. "What can I say? They are an acquired taste. In the non-dietary meaning of the word, of course."

"You taught them less than what you would an apprentice, but much more than was required as a babysitter." Faluel said after she finished laughing at the joke. "Why did you do it?"

"Because even though my notes and the Infirmary agree that everything should be fine, it’s all theoretical work." Ajatar replied. "Ruler Menadion is no Healer, and the only data on Mogar about the process of an Emperor Beast becoming a Divine Beast was lost with the Golden Griffon.

"There’s no telling what might go wrong or what we might have missed. If these are the last days of Ajatar the Drake, I want to leave behind something to remember me by. Even if I fail and die, a part of me will live through the magic of those kids."

"What about your children?" Faluel asked. "Isn’t this the perfect moment to reconnect with them?"

"In what world is this the perfect moment?" Ajatar snorted. "My children cut ties with me decades ago. I haven’t seen or heard from them for a long while now. None of them has ever expressed the desire to become my heir or inherit my legacy.

"They have built their own, and aside from the basic teachings that all Drakes share, we have nothing in common. Calling them now would only serve to trigger their Dragon Greed.

"They’d stay only because they’d be tempted to see if I can really turn into a Dragon. After all, if the master succeeds, the disciple is next. Is he not?" The Drake stared at Faluel, who nodded with a sigh.

"And if I fail, they get themselves my hoard for free. They have no reason to refuse or turn down free resources. At the same time, however, they have no reason to continue my research.

"They can burn it, study it, or throw it away, and no one can do anything to stop them once I’m dead."

"Sad, but true." Faluel replied. "What about Morok?"

"He’s not heir material much, but at this point, I’d make him my successor if he were a Drake." Ajatar groaned. "We belong to different species, and all my research on Dragonhood and Drake abilities is useless to him."

"Then your ex-wives?" The Hydra tilted her head with curiosity.

"I wouldn’t leave a fake coin to those harpies, let alone my life’s work and treasures!" The Drake snarled.