- Into the Fire

In an underground chamber beneath the Grussiva Family's mansion, there were dozens of figures all wearing red cloaks. They had a silver chain on their necks holding an insignia of the family which was shaped into that of a dragon with the eyes inlaid with blood-red Dragonstone. These insignias were needed as part of the ritual to transfuse the blood of the dragon from generation to generation.

At the center of the room, there was a dais with a stairway connected to it. Below the platform was a huge circle with an embossed symbol of a dragon similar to the one in the insignia, representing their ancestor dragon, Maggidon. The dragon had its mouth open which was directly below the dais as its eyes were jet black. Torches illuminated the chamber as the cloaked figures arranged themselves in a circle around the symbol of the dragon.

Derek, who was wearing a cloak just like the others, was carrying a crystalline container holding his father's blood inside as he walked up the stairway to the dais. On it was a mechanism that had a frame where the container would be placed. Below it was a trough that had an opening at the bottom directly facing the mouth of the dragon symbol. On the sides of the frame were two transparent orbs and in front of each was a spike mechanism and an arm guard mechanism above it.

The king sent his most trusted heroes to defend the ritual and ensure its completion, knowing that Derek would be powerless in its duration. Derek glanced at them and they nodded in return.

Once he saw that everything was in place as practiced, Derek removed his cloak and inserted the crystal on the mechanism. Then he placed his hands on the orbs signaling the start of the ritual.

The cloaked figures started to chant as the frame holding the crystal started to glow with runes. After a few seconds, the crystal was becoming thinner and thinner until the blood was released onto the trough which then funneled the blood directly to the mouth of the symbol below the dais.

The chants became stronger as the black eyes of the dragon in the symbol lit up red while the orbs where Derek's hands were placed did the same.

As the blood from the funnel was flowing down, the guards above Derek's arms lowered and held them in place as the spike mechanisms punched up through Derek's wrists leaving a large hole as they retracted.

The blood that gushed out from Derek's wrists was being absorbed by the orbs fast and he could feel his body weakening drastically.

After enough blood entered its mouth., the dragon's eyes glowed red immensely.

At this moment, Derek was at his weakest with so much blood lost. It took most of his strength to remain standing. Both his blood and Avegar's were being mixed in the platform and would, later on, be infused into his body through the orbs, completing the ritual.

However, before the ritual could continue, the torches in the chamber were put out, followed by screams all over. Then Derek felt something cold run through his chest.

One of the heroes sent by the king cast a light spell to illuminate the chamber and the massacre was revealed.

All of the cloaked figures surrounding the platform were dead including one hero. The other heroes were only alive because they used their life-saving skills and items whereas the hero who died was being downright complacent.

Behind Derek was a man wearing a cloak just like the others and hid his face. He carried a long dagger that he plunged through Derek's heart a while ago.

The heroes were locked in combat against the assailants and one of them barely managed to break free and charge towards the man behind Derek.

There were several battles ongoing that none could spare a hand to help the dying Derek.

Surprisingly, the assailants were strong and along with their numbers gave trouble to the heroes. The mage hero could not even use overly destructive spells because of the lack of space inside and would endanger his allies.

He was also not on the level of Arissef when it came to making snap decisions and casting multiple spells at the same time. The only thing he was good at however was healing magic which was why he was there in the first place but he had no chance in using it on Derek while fighting his opponents.

The other hero that would have been useful in this situation was the duelist... if only he wasn't pathetically assassinated during the blackout.

This was planned.

However, it was not the time to find out who or why. They needed to survive.

The mage managed to fight with close combat magic for a while but he had suffered multiple injuries.

Things were not looking good at the other battles as well. There were just too many opponents and their expertise in combat and coordination was nothing to scoff at.

...

'Derek... No matter what, you must live!' These were the dying words of his mother when their mansion was infiltrated.

Derek, who was lying on the floor, was squirming towards the edge of the dais until he threw himself off of it, landing on the platform below.

The sound of his fall alerted everyone around including the cloaked figure with the dagger, a few of the assassins, and the mage.

The cloaked figure was about to go and finish him off but his opponent blocked his way.

"You are not going anywhere, pal" The man facing the cloaked figure was wielding an ax in each hand and already had various cuts on his body. These did not slow him down however as his berserker class made him stronger with each injury he had throughout the battle.

Two of the assassins who were facing two other heroes broke away and moved towards the platform, intending to deal the finishing blow to Derek when they were blasted off by a destructive spell from the mage.

The mage, however, suffered a fatal blow in exchange for casting such a spell.

Pinned against the wall, he grabbed the blades that pierced his stomach and neck, then he cast an immolation spell seeking to incinerate the two assassins but they were too quick in cutting off their burning arms and backing away.

The mage was panting but he was still able to mutter his last words: "Arissef, I leave the future in your hands."

Finally, with his dying breath, he overdrew his mana and cast the strongest healing spell he could towards Derek.

This spell healed Derek immensely but the lack of blood still left him very weak. It at least pulled him back from death's door.

With that, Derek struggled towards the symbol's mouth and plunged his arms inside.

The blood in the symbol was calling out to him earlier. With all his remaining strength, he finally reached it.

The next moment, a series of loud thumps echoed throughout the chamber startling all of the combatants.

Derek's body was absorbing the blood on the platform voraciously as dragon scales started appearing all over his skin. His body was being reconstructed, revitalized, and reinforced as his heartbeat grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, at the back of his mind... He felt a familiarity with this power... As if he had faced something like it before but there was nothing in his memory about it. Most importantly, he felt a dissonance in his thoughts, and eventually in his movements as if he was no longer in control.

The other combatants, however, felt chills run down their spines.

Derek rose and felt the changes in his body while the dissonance of thoughts became more apparent.

After a moment, he cast a gaze at everyone and determined the situation.

He charged forward at the burning corpse with blades stuck on its body. He removed the swords and was behind the two one-armed assassins the next instant. They weren't even able to turn their heads before their sights went tumbling down seeing their bodies plopping down right after.

Derek then threw the blades towards two of the assassins fighting the two other heroes relieving some pressure on them while picking up a mace and a dagger from a few of the assassins the heroes managed to kill, crushing an assassin's head and driving a dagger into another assassin's throat, crushing his spine in the process.

He grabbed a blade that was slashing at him with his bare hand and crushed it. With his other hand, he choked the one who assaulted him and broke his neck.

Then he kicked another assassin at the chest and charged towards him, grabbing the back of his head with his hands and giving a powerful knee blow to his face, crushing his skull.

The assassins who were previously blown away by the mage's spell just got up when their skulls were bashed to the wall, splattering blood from their orifices.

The heroes who were in a dire situation seconds ago were given the fright of their lives at Derek's feats.

Behind the dais stairway, there was a scream. When Derek arrived beside a man who just got his leg amputated from below the knee, the man pointed in the direction of the only entrance and exit of the chamber.

"Don't let that son of a bitch get away!"

Derek nodded before rushing up and out of his mansion passing dead guards along the way.

It was night and the forest surrounding the mansion gave perfect cover for the assassin to escape.

Derek picked up a guard's spear and took a deep breath.

He maximized his senses and his intuition.

Then he opened his eyes and wound up before throwing the spear towards the forest.

...

The cloaked figure was running away as fast as he could, weaving through the forest when he heard the sound of something heading straight towards him.

He automatically dodged sideways but as he was about to snicker after dodging the spear, he was too late to notice another one that impaled him through his side with much force that he was reeled in by the momentum. The impact messed up his organs further when the spear struck the ground and his body followed suit.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" He could not hold in his scream from the intense pain.

Derek, who was about to throw a third spear, heard the scream and dropped it before rushing towards the cloaked figure.

When he arrived, he saw the cloaked figure squirming in shock at the state he was in. His weight was making the pain in his midsection unbearable as his torso and hips were still stuck hovering from the ground. The spear looked like a trident with his hand and his legs trying with all their might to prop him up.

"Who are you and why did you want to kill me?" Derek asked the man.

The man was coughing blood and wore a sinister smile. "FUCK YOU! Your father killed mine. You should have died! I should have cut off your head!" He knew there was no escape. His ego made him want to see Derek suffer before dying. Before now, he used to feel that cutting his head off was too quick and too kind. This was not how he imagined things would turn out.

5 years of planning, infiltrating the kingdom, hiring assassins, waiting for the ritual to weaken his target... Everything crumbled because of an insignificant mage. One could only imagine the rage and the indignation that he felt.

The cloaked figure died shortly after and Derek brought his body to the front of his mansion where a kingsguard, a few heroes, and a few soldiers were sweeping the area, capturing the surviving assassins that were lurking.

Derek, without a word, left the man's body with them and reentered the chamber. Seeing the bodies of his family on the floor with faces of shock, he collapsed on his knees, feeling the guilt of not being able to protect a single one. For the longest time, he shed tears once more.

Later on, he would find that even those who were not in the chamber were murdered. The Grussiva Family... was now only himself.

With each aching heartbeat, the intense rage, the echoing bloodlust, the display of overwhelming power, the impaling after the battle, and the weakness that followed... The dissonance and unnerving sense of familiarity reached their peak as Derek fell unconscious while waking up someone else.

'DRAGO!!!'