CHAPTER 32: EMBERFALL AWAITS

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System counters ticked in the corner of his vision, floating magical numerals threading through his mind like whispered some kind of prophecy:

[Distance Flown: 3.1 km... 4.0... 5.0 km.

Threat Detected: Stoneclad Raptors – Withdrew.

Cause: Star’s Dominance Level 2 is Activated.]

Below Star, raptors wheeled, their obsidian wings slicing through the cold air, but they did not pursue. One hissed and veered away as Star unleashed a shriek, a sound forged from wildness and magic. It wasn’t just a warning. It was a show of supremacy.

At precisely five kilometers, Star curved in a broad arc around a spear of granite that rose from the forest like a sentinel. His tail shimmered with residual heat, tracing bright lines in the sky. Through their soul bond, Zephyr felt the tremor of victory, the pulse of ancient blood awakening.

[Stage 4: Complete.

Bloodline Purity Increased: 35%. Reward: Dragon-Sovereign Bond – Command Aura Tier 2 (area roar activated).

Stage 5 Unlocked: Forge the Name.

Objective: Within 90 days, found or join a Beast Guild, secure trusted allies, and elevate Star’s Core to Level D grade.

Reward: Heart of Dragon.]

The prompt vanished, but its echo lingered in Zephyr’s bones like a summons written in thunder. They moved toward the riverbank where Fenna waited, her silhouette outlined in frost glow. She stood with arms crossed, wind tugging her braid, eyes sharp with pride and something gentler beneath. She just took a bath. Her skin was looking so beautiful that Zephyr couldn’t look away. He just stared at her without blinking, for over thirty seconds.

Zephyr brushed off his thoughts as Star flared his wings and landed on the ground. His talons scattering snow in a hiss. His breath steamed from his nostrils, smoke curling like ink in the air.

"We did it," Zephyr said, chest rising with something far deeper than breath. "Star has good control on his skills. He became much stronger than yesterday. We can now easily take down Rank-E raptors."

(Note:Sometimes I used level, sometimes I used rank, it’s all the same thing. Please don’t get confused. While writing, I sometimes lost track of it and used both words.)

Fenna smiled, but her gaze flicked northward. "Smoke," she said.

Indeed, dark plumes rose beyond the treeline, thin but steady. Guild patrols, they had no official flags, but the signature was clear. Measured. Professional. Watching. Waiting.

"Stage Five means allies," Zephyr said to himself, his jaw tightening. Then, he says out loud to Fenna, "We will need friends... fast."

"Emberfall Port lies east," Fenna replied without hesitation. "Free city. No Guild charter. My long distance uncle trades spice and scale bark there. He can help us. He knows how to keep secrets."

Zephyr looked at her, then took her hand and gripped it firm. The wind pulled at his cloak. "East, then. We forge a name, one they’ll remember."

She nodded, fierce and unflinching. Star growled low, the sound vibrating in his throat like a drumbeat beneath the snow. Then he turned, lifting his wings and aiming them at the rising sun.

Zephyr looked up at the beast he had hatched from an egg, now growing into something more with each breath of freedom. After his awakening as F rank Beast feed cultivation. He never dreamed that one day he would tame a SSS rank beast.

Star’s wings caught the light, throwing reflections across the ice like fire made solid. His tail swept behind him, glowing with power yet untamed. In that moment, Zephyr saw not just strength or bond but a legacy. Who’s legacy...? It is still unknown to him. Sooner or later he will find out about the legacy.

They were no longer running. They were beginning. Camp came down in minutes, quiet and efficient. No trace left behind but warmth in the snow. With Star leading above and Fenna beside him, Zephyr turned his eyes toward the dawn. To Emberfall. To allies. To rebellion. The sky opened. And they strode into it.

A few moments later... Star was tired from flying. He came down.

Snowmelt trickled down the valley walls, carving glassy rivulets that sparkled in the pale sun. Zephyr tightened the strap of his pack, feeling Star’s familiar weight settle on his left shoulder. Every flap of the little dragon’s wings kicked a breeze of warm air against Zephyr’s jaw. It was steady, reassuring, a promise of flight whenever they needed it.

They were three days into the eastward march. Stonejaw’s jagged ridges had dwindled behind them, replaced by rolling downs of frost bleached grass. Ahead, faint on the horizon, a thin plume of reddish steam marked Emberfall Port: the free city built on an ancient volcanic shelf, perched halfway between mountains and the Inner Sea.

Ships’ masts would be there, Fenna had said, trade caravans, smelter guilds and no official Royal Guild charter strong enough to command the town. Just exactly the kind of place to disappear into, regroup, and perhaps begin a legend.

Zephyr’s breath steamed in the early light as he walked. Fenna moved at his side, cloak swirling, eyes fixed on a wisp of cloud that drifted over the port vents in the distance. Her expression mixed with hope and worry. Over the hill behind them, the scar of the towns Guild’s northern patrol route lingered a haze of camp smoke, faint but ever present.

By noon the downs sloped upward to form one final ridgeline before Emberfall’s plateau. The land changed abruptly, grass gave way to black pumice rubble, warm air hissed from vents beneath talus. Patches of hardy red moss blanketed the rocks. The same Fireheart moss Fenna had used in Star’s pellets.

Zephyr crouched to examine a clump. Heat radiated from stone cracks. Star glided down, sniffed, and trilled. Zephyr smiled. "Free fuel, little scout."

Fenna used a curved knife to harvest a handful of them. "For the market. In Emberfall, moss is equal to coin." She winked.

She shaded her eyes. "Look." Beyond the ridge top, smoke stacks and towers thrust skyward. Bars of sunset red and copper glinted off chimneys though the sun still stood high. A distant clang of forges drifted on the wind.