Chapter 14

Theo opened his eyes. After a long sleep, he finally woke up.

He was currently in the main area of the inheritance cave. Dried tears could be spotted stream lined on his cheeks.

What he experienced in the illusion was so devastating. Not only did he have to survive a chaotic world without the aid of the system, he tasted death ninety nine times.

Although it was all an illusion, Theo felt deep fear.

What if the system suddenly abandoned him? how would he cope?

At that moment, the environment began to warp. Theo found himself in a room that looked like a lab facility.

There were various sophisticated looking control panels. Six huge transparent tanks containing a golden liquid were connected to a single test tube.

Within it was a Dragon. Yep, a real life dragon in the flesh.

The dragon had a pair of mighty horn, thick scales, powerful wings and a long tail.

'Yikes!' The invisible aura the Dragon emitted caused Theo to take a step back in fright.

Luckily, the dragon seemed to be dead.

It's eyes were close.

'Although it's dead, it's invisible aura is giving off this much power. Just how terrifying was it when alive' Theo marveled.

Indeed, dragons deserved the title of Sovereign. Both in folklore and reality, they were respected.

At that moment, an holographic image appeared before Theo. The hologram was released from a box, the size of a mechanic toolbox, boasting of intricate runic characters.

Theo recongnized what it was. A phantasm box. It was operated by a soul chard which served as it's core. Powerful big shots could send a wisp of their consciousness into it.

Plus, it was extremely rare and expensive, atleast when taking Bullsin city into account.

"Hello chosen one" the hologram man smiled warmly at Theo.

He was well built, hairy with bushy brows and purple hair. His eyes held a wild gleam and endless fighting intent within them.

This was Diego! the deceased dragon and owner of the inheritance cave.

"Congratulations on reaching the end and becoming my Inheritance successor" Diego's hologram clapped a congratulations.

'Didn't he say twelve tests? I'm just halfway done' Theo felt confused.

"You must be growing confused, eh?" Diego looked amused.

"Actually, I only created nine tests. The claim of there being twelve tests was just a tactic I used to filter out the bad eggs From the good ones. No coward is worthy of becoming my successor"

"As for dying or getting afflicted with a deadly curse, it was fake too. I wanted to influence Your survival instincts"

Chris was baffled by these explanations. Weren't Dragons straight forward, aloof and unsmiling! How come Diego was different?

"I was at the Origin junction rank at my peak. However I couldn't pass the boundary leading to the Origin rank because of my failure to pass my Bloodline tribulation. Thus, I became a cripple. I created this inheritance cave, waiting for a capable Successor"

Theo could feel the depression from the way Diego spoke.

Origin junction?

That was miles away from his current strength.

However, even such a powerhouse couldn't escape the Jaws of Death.

"Within my corpse is my storage core, it holds all my accumulated wealth. And now, it's all yours"

"Money, elixirs, herbs. You can find them all inside. I hope you don't bring shame to my name and stand at the peak"

Saying this, Diego's hologram vanished. However Theo just stood rooted at the same spot.

He felt like he was dreaming. Just a few moments ago he was struggling in a chaotic era without the aid of the system.

Although it was just a test, it felt so real. Now he was the sole inheritor of a former powerhouse who was an origin junction rank mage at his prime.

Origin junction! in a small scale city as Bullsin city, such an existence was regarded as a legend.

Suddenly, he recieved a notification.

-[Host has made a passive oath. Stand at the peak. Failure to comply means instant death]

Theo felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Wasn't this system a little bit too ruthless?

'Whatever. I'm just a weak student at the primary rank. Stand at the peak, let's see how it goes' Theo threw this issue into the back of his mind.

His attention was rooted on the huge test tube.

Or to be percise, the dragon corpse.

[You have struck it rich! a real life dragon corpse] Izreel exclaimed in shock.

"How pure is this dragon's bloodline?" Theo felt curious.

[Fifth grade Mundane tier dragon vein. Pretty impressive. If you can refine it's bloodline, the benefits will be unimaginable] Izreel sighed.

Wasn't this host's luck a little bit too much?

Dragons were extremely rare, yet he stumbled across the corpse of one. And the amazing part was it had a pretty decent bloodline.

[It's a shame that it's bloodline prevented him from growing beyond the origin junction rank]

"So, can i just absorb it?" Theo felt excited.

He could picture the scene of the system awarding him millions of stat points.

[Do you want to die? you are a mere novice rank mage and you have the balls to refine an origin junction rank dragon?!]

"But my bloodline is powerful that it right?" Theo felt confused.

Damn! he disliked being ignorant.

[Sure you have the potential. But the truth is, you haven't even awakened any of your twelve bloodlines. If you reach the soul condensing rank, maybe you could take the risk and try refining the Dragon. If you succeed, you'll unlock one of your bloodline. Although it would be at the lowest level]

Theo nodded in understanding. At that moment, a runic seal appeared before him, embedding itself into his palm.

"BING! BING! BING! FAMILIAR SIGNATURE HAS BEEN DETECTED.. FAMILIAR SIGNATURE HAS BEEN VERIFIED. PLEASE GIVE YOUR COMMANDS" a robotic voice rang.

Theo walked over to a huge projected screen. It was the Inheritance cave control panel. With it, he would have full control.

After familiarizing himself with the functions, Theo sucked in a deep breath filled with astonishment.

This world's technology was too fantastical. This control room was within the inheritance cave. In truth, the inheritance cave layout was a steele shaped air ship.

Theo could shrink it and use it as a means to fire off offensive attacks.

Calming down, he proceeded to check on the Dragon's corpse.

"Do dragons have where they store stuffs or something?" Theo inspected the corpse that was sixfold his size.

[It is located inside the temple. However, it wouldn't be easy breaking through it's scales with your meagre strength]

"So what do i do? i can't just stare foolishly at this huge treasure vault" Theo grimaced.

[If you were a mere human, it would've been difficult indeed. However since you are partially carrying the blood of the dragons, your blood will be able to melt the scales] Izreel revealed.

Theo obeyed. Soon, he fetched out a golden bead that had intricate patterns on it's surface.

-[Does host want to access content of Dragon storage bead? Y/N?]

Theo accepted. Very soon, an image got displayed before him. It had graphics, showing the contents of the storage bead.

"I'm so damn rich!" Theo rejoiced.

After waiting for so long that they were starting to grow impatient, the portal leading to the testing ground began to send out Students.

Shockingly, only one tenth of those who went in survived. Naturally, Theo was part of the 'lucky survivours'

Infact he knew what caused such heavy casualties, but he remained silent. The topic of the inheritance cave was a sensitive one.

Plus it was currently shrinked into the size of a sesame seed and stored in his inventory.

"See? the casualties rate increased drastically. If i'm not mistaken, many attempted to clear that inheritance cave but failed while trying to do so" Vice Principal Luke's eyes glowed with excitement.

If before he was fifty percent certain of the inheritance cave existence, now he was hundred percent certain!