Chapter 657: Origin Adamant Dragons.

"Then why give your child to me?"

Kael couldn’t understand.

Why would... someone want to abandon his child...?

At that question, Ferrakar looked at Kael and he—

"Nerathis is empty."

He spoke in a low, heavy voice. Kael frowned at those words and the Steel Dragon continued.

"I have lived for more than thirteen hundred years, I have seen kings who believed they would last forever turn into mere names in the history books none of their descendants bother to read.

I have seen even the mightiest army fall, Kingdoms that were thought to be Eternal, Kingdoms even stronger than the Kingdoms you see now.

I have seen them fall.

I..."

The Dragon took a small pause.

"I have seen enough."

Kael did not interrupt him, Ferrakar looked at his child.

"This child was supposed to guard one such name, a name that, at one point in time, made the entirety of Nerathis tremble, a name that people thought would never disappear, a name that remained above all."

He spoke, looking behind Kael again, at the people of the Heights, or more specifically, the Velmourns.

"But that name no longer exists."

He declared.

"All that remains is a broken shell that has no resemblance to its past.

A shell that could never recover its previous glory, no matter what."

He looked at the Velmourns, then at his child, then at the Velmourns again.

"I will protect this shell of a name while I still can.

That is my duty."

Kael frowned at those words.

Duty...?

But didn’t he just say he wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for him?

That he would have left the Velmourns to perish.

Did he not care about his duty then or...

Was he lying?

Kael inclined toward the latter.

Right now, however, that did not matter, because Kael’s focus was on something more important.

"While you still can...?"

He narrowed his eyes at those words.

That was when Ferrakar’s eyes met his, then, the Dragon answered calmly.

"I do not have much time left."

And the instant he did, Kael’s expression changed.

"You are... dying?"

"Slowly."

Ferrakar nodded.

For some reason, that news overwhelmed him. It was strange, after all, Kael didn’t even know of Ferrakar’s existence two days ago.

Why would his death matter...?

Kael couldn’t explain it.

He just... felt like he was losing something he didn’t wish to part with, not yet.

"Do not mistake this for despair, Human."

Suddenly, the Dragon spoke up.

"I have lived long. I have fought, I have ruled my sky, I have watched over the name I was supposed to protect.

I do not fear death.

It is what any living being must face, I choose to face it gracefully."

He declared.

But then, his golden eyes moved back to the Egg.

"But I will not leave my child to inherit an empty grave."

Kael’s chest tightened at those words, Ferrakar then looked at him.

"You are a Hero."

He spoke.

"You will not remain in Nerathis forever.

You will return to your world, a world grander than Nerathis and I...

I wish you to take my child with you.

Become the name worthy of being protected by my child, a name my child would take pride in protecting.

Let him fight and grow beside you.

Let him protect what you build.

Let him Protect those who come after you."

Ferrakar’s voice then deepened.

"Your children.

Your descendants.

Your... future."

Kael gulped at those words, even Lavinia seemed overwhelmed.

The two of them hadn’t even thought that far ahead yet, heck, the two of them were still struggling to survive in this world—

But...

Their future...

Their descendants...

Kael and Lavinia looked at each other, then they looked back at Ferrakar and the Steel Dragon continued—

"The old Velmourns had Steel Dragons protecting their name.

But they fell."

He paused, looking at his child for a moment before turning back to Kael—

"Then let the next generation of Steel Dragons protect something greater.

A Future.

A future bigger than even the Velmourns."

Kael blinked at those words.

They were... definitely heavy.

And full of responsibility he wasn’t exactly comfortable with.

The Dragon didn’t care, he only looked at Kael and—

"That is why I chose you, Kael Carter.

Take my child and in return—

I shall offer you my protection till the day I no longer can."

The Steel Dragon offered and those words made Kael tremble.

He looked at Ferrakar, then at the Egg and he...

He hesitated.

He wanted it.

There was no doubt about it.

The Steel Dragons were incredibly strong, yes.

But...

If it was just a Steel Dragon, it honestly wouldn’t have mattered as much. After all, all of Kael’s Bonds were a rank higher than a Steel Dragon, the Steel Dragon may be strong, but if any of his Bonds ever reached his level—

He would never be their match.

However, the thing was...

[Origin Adamant Dragon’s bloodline detected.]

This was the message he was seeing.

Origin Adamant Dragon.

A Dragon that might be stronger than even a Primordial Fire Dragon.

Yes, a Dragon stronger than Igni.

’He is not stronger than me, Father. Cirri is mistaken.’

Igni quickly corrected.

’Are you really going to lie to Father because of your pride, brother? Origin Adamant Dragons were stronger than Primordial Fire Dragons.’

’I am not lying, I am only correcting you.

The Primordial Fire Dragons and Origin Adamant Dragons never went against each other simply because their attributes were complete opposites of each other.

The Primordial Fire Dragons had the power to scorch the world down, while the Origin Adamant Dragons had the power to protect a world from such attacks.’

Igni explained.

Cirri spoke as well.

The two Dragons continued countering each other as they discussed the existence of the Origin Adamant Dragon and all Kael could catch from their discussion was...

That the Origin Adamant Dragons were strong.

Adamant was actually the first and the strongest metal to ever exist.

An ancient metal that grew stronger under pressure, the more it was struck, the stronger it became.

Because of the Adamant they commanded, the Origin Adamant Dragons were called living Fortresses, not only did they have command over Steel like Steel Dragons did, they had command over every metal in existence.

That was the Origin Adamant Dragons.

Dragons that were far stronger than a Steel Dragon.

And Kael—

He obviously wanted it.

Just that...

If he took it then...

He highly doubted he would be able to use his ability to strengthen it, after all, the Steel Dragon would obviously keep an eye on his child.

He wouldn’t possibly let Kael take it away, move it to a different place, and then upgrade its bloodline.

Plus, even if he somehow managed to upgrade the Egg’s bloodline in secret, the Father would obviously know and learn the truth.

Who knows what would happen then?

Kael couldn’t risk it.

He had hidden his secret for such a long time from every person in this world, he wasn’t going to reveal it to the strongest being in existence, a being who could swat him away with a flick of his finger and he would have no way to defend himself against him.

But—

"You do not need to hesitate, Hero."

That was when the Steel Dragon spoke up.

"You can use your ability on my child, I would not stop you.

That is in fact, a partial reason I am handing my child over to you.

I desire to see what my child would become."

The moment the Dragon said those words, both Kael and Lavinia’s eyes widened in shock.

What...?

He knows...?

But how...?

Ferrakar saw the look on his face and it made him laugh.

"You cannot hide it from a Guardian Beast, Human. We are... different from normal beasts in this world."

Those words made Kael frown.

Ferrakar looked at him and smiled—

"We are connected to the World, so we know its current state.

Nerathis, as it is right now, is not capable of birthing beasts as pure-blooded as yours."

Kael’s expression changed.

Ferrakar continued.

"We Guardian Beasts only need one look at any of your Bonds to realise you aren’t gathering your Bonds through luck.

Luck only matters when possibility exists.

You, however, are creating your own luck.

You are somehow strengthening your Bonds’ strength.

And since as a Hero, I did not see any specific ability that you used during the battle—

I believe that is what your true ability is.

An ability to strengthen your Bonds or... any other bonds for that matter."

"..."

Kael didn’t say anything.

What could he even say...?

He... knows?

What was he supposed to do now...?

Was this the reason he offered to protect him...?

While Kael was thinking all this, Ferrakar simply placed his child in Kael’s hand. Kael gulped, he looked at Ferrakar with a frown and—

"I do not trust you."

He spoke directly.

"You will."

"I do not know that."

Those words made the Steel Dragon frown.

"What do you want, Human?"

"If I am going to use my ability, I will do it alone, without your presence."

Kael spoke directly and Ferrakar—

He looked at Kael, then at his child in his hand and he—

"I understand."

He nodded.

"Do you want me to return to my Sanctuary?"

He asked, Kael, however, shook his head and—

"No, I will return to mine."

"What...?"