Reincarnated As A Dragon With A Godly Inheritance

And nothing happened. It felt uncomfortable at first but nothing out of the ordinary happened. The Crown was a cold, dead thing that fit his head firmly with the small thorns pointing out.

"Is that it?"

"Be patient...."

Kaedros wasn't listening anymore because pressure was building at the back of his head. A dull pain took hold of his skull in a tight grip, expanding into a ringing until his head exploded into a roar.

Then Kaedros exploded. Blue light burst out of him, pouring out his eyes, creating cracks in his skin to seep out, and then he opened his mouth to scream, a beam of blue came out, pouring like smoke.

It was as if he swallowed a small star and it was too much for him.

Something alien and old had begun to invade his mind. It did so with such precision, such deftness—taking his mind apart and examining it, probing with cold fingers.

Kaedros screamed again and gathered his will like a boulder to slam into whatever was trying to enter him.

He heard a shout from outside, a voice calling from far away, but all he heard clearly was a small voice: "Take control of the crown with your mind! Do it or perish! Now!"

Kaedros's mind was stretched to the point where it trembled and flinched with pain, but he did as the voice said. Clumsily he grasped at the thing invading his mind, but it slipped out of his mental fingers like slime.

But Kaedros didn't let it go. With a shout, he made his mind like a net and caught hold of it firmly. This time, his grip was true.

Kaedros opened his eyes, surprised to find himself on the floor covered in sweat. The cold made him shiver.

"Good! Good! The first part is done. Now for a linking. Go and get your Incarnatio! The longer you can withstand the strain on your mind without burning, the more powerful the one you'll get will be," the woman said. "I'd suggest going deeper, but I know you'll probably burn away before that."

Kaedros was hardly listening. His focus was turned inward—to what was happening in his heart. His heart was changing, turning from solid to liquid and then to light. A deep blue light that burned with cold heat. Then the light started forming an image.

Kaedros's head formed with the blue light and he knew what to do.

The Crown on Kaedros's real head burned away like mist and finally became the thing he was holding with his mind. Slowly but firmly, he dragged the crown to his heart and set it atop.

As soon as he did, Kaedros burned. Heat so intense it leapt inside him until he burned from within, and within minutes he was a skeleton, a husk glowing bright on the floor with blue light tainting the air.

The woman looked at him—at the bones burning on the floor. "So it begins. He will either come back as an Eldritch leader or burn to ashes."

---

Kaedros found himself in the abyss. He stood at the edge, looking down at the black hole that opened beneath him—a deepness with no end. The surrounding area was just as dark, but somehow he could see. Yet there was nothing but darkness.

"Where..."

He was surprised by his own voice—it was deep and light, echoing strangely. When he looked down at himself, he saw why. He was made of blue fire. His entire body burned with it.

And somehow, at the same time, he was aware of his body burning in that room.

He shuddered. He didn't like that at all.

"Funny that I should find you here."

Taria's voice was like the chime of sweet bells behind him. He looked back and saw a large eagle made of yellow light, its wings flapping soundlessly.

"Taria?" he asked in surprise.

Her beak opened and closed. "Yes. Surprised?"

"You are a bird?" And why shouldn't he be surprised? He had known her as a human just an hour ago.

"Relax." And as he watched, her image wavered, the light dimming, then flared again and she was human. "You can change to anything in this form."

"Where's Rauk?" Kaedros hadn't known he could change his form so easily. When he looked at himself again, he realized he appeared human—likely because that was the image he held most firmly in his mind.

"Here."

Liquid darkness floated around them and became Rauk. He looked like some ancient statue in his grey light form. "Seriously, I've been here before, Taria. Are you telling me you didn't see me?"

Kaedros shrugged. "You... kind of blended in with the surroundings."

Rauk snorted and pointed at the abyss. "We're supposed to go in, aren't we?"

"Yes, and we're supposed to... capture an Incarnation. Or summon one, or choose one," Taria said. "Just come back with an Incarnation before your body burns to nothing."

"But how? We weren't told this. I didn't expect the Incarnations of Aetheria to be this many. Aetheria sure is powerful," Kaedros said. Because the abyss was full of Incarnations—like a sea filled with countless fish.

"You're talking as if the worlds are alive."

"They must be, to have Incarnatios."

"And we won't summon one into our crown if we don't go down there—and fast," Kaedros pointed out. Not that he needed to; they could all feel their bodies burning.

Rauk adjusted the crown on his head. "Let's go."

Kaedros lifted his hand to form a spell, but nothing happened. He frowned. With all that blue fire, shouldn't he be able to cast? Come to think of it, there was no mana here. None in this pitch-dark realm.

"It's so dark," Taria whispered as she drifted closer.

"Afraid of the dark?" Kaedros teased.

"I've never been afraid of it, but this one is different. So thick... and don't think I'm insane, but this darkness feels alive," Taria murmured.

Rauk drifted closer to the abyss, the black swallowing him. "You're right. The dark here is aware." He tilted his head down. "And there's an even deeper darkness far below... it's calling me."

Rauk blinked. "That darkness is calling me."

Taria clapped her hands together, though no sound was produced. "Maybe that's your Incarnatio?"

"I thought we were supposed to choose them ourselves?" Kaedros asked.

"Why don't we go and see? If it's worthy of me, then I'll choose it," Rauk shrugged.

Kaedros laughed. His clan... sometimes they weren't so bad.

Kaedros rolled the words in his mouth. "Master of Throne of Ruinlight. What does that mean?"

The woman answered, still on her knees. "As the Dragon leader, Twilight is yours to command. All the forces in it are yours to wield."

Kaedros came down and folded his wings around himself like a cloak. "Command? To do what?"

"To... observe wars. Ruinlight was the center of command for the Dragons. It was where all administrative work was carried out and prisoners locked away. It gave order to its armies...."

"Wait. Dragons have armies?"

The man with the glasses answered. "You must know, my Lord. We are telling you the basic protocols. Each Dragon can muster personal armies—raise forces from Aetheria to fight Voidrender."

"You can stand up. You're telling me that this raising of armies and everything else was what used to happen. Now there are no protocols or order to the Dragons?" Kaedros asked carefully, trying to understand what the guardians were hinting at.

He took their silence as a yes.

"Kael... how?" Taria hadn't been listening to what Kael and the guardians were saying. Her gaze had been fixed on the Dragon standing in front of her. The Dragon. Kael. "You lied to me," she said, disappointed.

Kaedros frowned. "No, I didn't. I told you I was hiding a lot of things and that I am a sorcerer. And I was. A Dragon can be, for all things, considered a sorcerer."

There was silence now. Even Rauk had drawn his sword, his eyes a whirlwind of emotions. He felt angry that he had been lied to and then irritated—since Kael had made it clear he'd been keeping secrets since the beginning. And hadn't Rauk lied to him too?

He flushed when he realized he was pointing his sword at the man who had saved his life. In truth, though, he was glad Kael was finally coming out clean.

Taria didn't know how to act. She didn't really have anything against him being a Dragon—humans were just as devious, after all, and all she knew about Dragons came from books. "Do you eat humans?"

Taria was surprised that was her first question, but she decided it would do. She had to say something. She lifted her head stubbornly and glared at him to answer.

Kaedros thought briefly about lying, but voted against it. "Yes. Humans who bother me get eaten." And to prove his point, he showed his sharp fangs.

Taria blinked. So it was true—Dragons ate humans. "Why?"

Kaedros sniffed loudly. "Why do you eat cow? Why do you drink water? Humans are sufficient meat—not only in mana but in nutrients. I don't hunt humans, mind you, but if one were my enemy..." his eyes flashed, "then I'll eat and be full."

Rauk and Taria both paled.

Kaedros then told them about his past—his Bloodline Trait and why it made his mother cast him out of Dragon City, and why it was important to find Collector.

He told them how he lived in the temple, how Hunters wouldn't let him rest, how they provided him with food. And when the levels of Hunters began to rise... he knew he had to do something.

"Wait... so the time you met me at the Hunter's Association... you had just changed into a human? No wonder you're so strong! And you fooled that Hunter's team that brought you to Havenbrook!"

Kaedros snorted. "My level was high... wait, let me see... I was at Grade 15."

Rauk sucked in a breath. "Level 218 to level 300?"

"Level 299, to be exact. But as a Dragon, the system restricted us. We must be a hundred years old before we can reach level 300," Kaedros shrugged.

"That's past the level of acceptance for a knight. It would make you a Knight Captain—maybe more in a High Lord's force," Rauk said.

"Changing to human reduced that." It reminded him of what Nyra had said—that his next change to Dragon would merge his two powers. "We still can't access our cores yet."

It wasn't a question, but the guardians answered. No cores were allowed in the trials, no matter how powerful they were.

It was a rule meant to prevent meaningless harm to the Crowns—since nothing could harm them anyway—and to keep the candidates from using mana.

They explained that the core wasn't removed, just sealed. Because they couldn't feel it, they couldn't use mana or essence.

But Taria and Rauk weren't about to let him change the subject.

"What are your plans now?" Taria asked, keeping her voice casual. "Are you still a Hunter?"

She waited for his answer.

Kaedros took his time to think. There was much to be done once they returned. "I guess I'll still be a Hunter."

Taria relaxed, and he continued. "And maybe other things, depending on Rauk's situation. But yes."

Then he turned to her and offered a small smile. "What about you? Are we still partners? You are to be my warrior, you know."

Taria stilled, then relaxed finally. "Are we still partners? As if all you do isn't ordering me around! But yes... I guess I can still be your warrior. I don't know why you need one now, since you're more of a combat mage."

Kaedros decided it wasn't time to let them know he had already acknowledged both of them as his Clan. That was a great honor to them, after all.

"Even though I'm a Dragon?" Kaedros pressed, making sure everything about him being a Dragon was cleared.

"Yes. Not like we humans are any better. Since coming on this raid and seeing what humans are capable of..." Taria shrugged. "I think everyone should be judged on how they live their lives."

He unfurled his wings and turned to Rauk. "What about you, your highness?" he asked, in a tone of one prince to another.

"I agree with Taria," Rauk's eyes bore into him. "My father—the real one—often told me to see people for who they are."

Kaedros smiled, all fangs. "Who am I?"

Rauk's eyes danced. "Oh, you are Kaedros. And don't think you'll be getting away from me anytime soon. You did promise me a Kingdom."