Chapter 25: Embers of Legacy, Seeds of Power

The morning sun filtered weakly through the cracked roof tiles of the ruined manor, casting pale shafts of light that danced in the dust-laden air. Jin exhaled slowly, muscles tensing as he lifted a heavy wooden staff from beneath the collapsed beams in the hallway. Veins pulsed faintly beneath his skin, burdened by the dense power he still struggled to contain.

"Feels like this thing weighs more than a spirit ox," he muttered, shifting the staff onto his back and wiping the sweat from his brow.

Behind him, Arielle and Sarah swept the broken tiles and piled shattered furniture into a growing heap. Their clothes clung to their bodies, damp with sweat, dust streaked across their determined faces. The manor might have been a ruin, but here and now, it was theirs.

Jin passed Sarah with a mischievous grin and gave her a playful smack on the rear. She yelped, nearly dropping her broom, then spun to glare at him, cheeks flushing bright red.

"Seriously?!" she snapped, though a reluctant smile tugged at her lips.

"Oops," Jin said with innocent mockery. "Thought I saw a spider. Just saving your life. Hero stuff."

He moved onward whistling softly. Passing Arielle, he reached out and squeezed her arm. Her gasp was sharp, eyes wide.

"Jin!"

"Battle tactics," he said smoothly. "Testing your reflexes. You passed."

Arielle narrowed her eyes. "Keep testing and I'll teach you a counter-technique. It's called a kick to the groin."

"So feisty," Jin chuckled, ducking away before she could strike.

Meanwhile, Lana knelt in the garden, sleeves rolled and hands stained with dirt as she examined the collapsed hedges and fractured stone pathways.

"We'll need a new roof, proper seals, and at least three barrels of cleanser for this filth," she murmured to herself, completely oblivious to Jin's antics.

Hours passed in steady rhythm. They patched a few broken windows with scavenged wood, scrubbed floors where rot hadn't fully claimed them, and Sarah carefully rekindled a few surviving spirit lamps with soft incantations.

It was far from restoration—but it was a beginning.

Despite their hard work, the manor still felt like a ghostly echo of its former glory. Yet one wing was now clean enough to sleep in without fear of rats.

While the others rested in the courtyard's shade, Jin's curiosity pulled him deeper into the western wing.

There, a portion of wall had crumbled, revealing a narrow staircase hidden behind a warped shelf. He followed it down, boots thudding softly on dust-covered steps.

At the bottom, a swollen, moisture-warped door groaned as Jin forced it open.

Inside, surprisingly intact, lay a library.

The air was thick with the scent of parchment, ink, and centuries of dust.

Rows upon rows of books lined the walls—some titles faded to near illegibility, others glowing faintly with lingering enchantments.

Ancient tomes, scrolls, diagrams, and manuscripts stretched across the shelves.

"Back at the castle," Jin muttered, running his fingers over a spine titled Principles of Elemental Melding, "I was always the meathead. Never touched books unless they had punching diagrams."

But this soul within him? A reincarnated scholar and lover of knowledge.

Treatises on cultivation, manuals on beast taming, ancient political records, and battle formations from fallen dynasties surrounded him.

His eyes gleamed with reverence—and hunger.

"Looks like my evenings are booked," he chuckled softly.

Suddenly, something glinted beneath a toppled chair and broken tiles. Jin knelt and brushed away debris, revealing a bronze token etched with the insignia of the Woods Royal Family.

A subtle warmth pulsed the moment he touched it, as if the token recognized him.

His lighthearted mood vanished. He stared in silence for a long moment.

Stepping back into daylight, he found Lana pruning thorny bushes.

She turned at his voice.

"Mother."

Her eyes widened as she saw the token. She reached out trembling hands to take it.

"Where did you find this?" she asked, voice fragile with emotion.

"In the library. Buried under rubble."

Lana cupped it gently, as if afraid it might vanish. Tears shimmered in her eyes.

"This belonged to Lord Thorian... the City Lord of Valeria," she whispered.

"A dear friend of my father's. A man of wisdom and calm, who spent more time playing chess with the king than in his own home."

She swallowed hard. "If his token is here… then he is gone. He died defending this city."

Jin's hand rested steady on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mother."

She nodded softly, tears tracing silent paths down her cheeks.

"He would have stood to the very end. This city meant everything to him."

Jin raised the token to catch the light. The sigil shimmered faintly.

"Then I will carry on what he left behind. From today forward, I am the City Lord of Valeria. This will be the cradle of my strength."

A sudden clamor broke the quiet.

Clamoring footsteps echoed from beyond the city gates.

Jin and the others rushed outside, weapons drawn, hearts pounding.

A ragged group stumbled down the road—wounded, starving, torn and bruised.

Some clutched makeshift spears, others were barefoot.

Jin's eyes narrowed, muscles tensing.

Then Lana gasped, her dagger falling to the stones.

"Lila?"

One of the women raised her head, eyes wide.

"Princess Lana?"

The two women ran toward each other, embracing with tears streaming.

The others lowered weapons in relief.

They were not enemies.

They were survivors.

Refugees who had once called this city home.

Arielle exhaled deeply.

Sarah smiled softly.

The ruined city… had begun to breathe again.

Far away, in the heart of the kingdom, darkness coiled like ink on water.

The king lay on his vast bed, once proud but now gaunt and hollow-cheeked—a mere shadow of his former self.

His gaze fixed on the ceiling, unmoving.

Footsteps approached quietly.

The butler, a man who had served through three reigns, stood silently at his side.

"Your Majesty," he said, bowing low, "what weighs upon your heart?"

The king's lips curled into a faint smile, void of joy.

"I'm just thinking," he said, voice dry and hoarse, "how lucky I was to send her away. Lana. And the boy."

He paused, eyes distant.

"Had they stayed… they would have been nothing more than bodies in a shallow grave."

The butler hesitated, then nodded.

"The realm fractures, my lord. The princes rally noble houses. Blood stains every corridor. The First Prince grows bold."

The king's eyes remained still.

"He's already killed one brother. I knew he would try again."

"And you do nothing?" the butler asked quietly.

"What is there to do?" the king whispered. "A beast cannot be tamed when raised in blood."

He exhaled slowly.

"Let them tear each other apart. Let the throne rot beneath their ambition. If there's to be a future… it's not here."

"It's in the wilds. With my daughter. With the boy who carries the blood of both dragon and demon."

He closed his eyes.

"Perhaps… he will build something better."

Elsewhere, in the cold elegance of the royal palace, Second Queen Molana sat alone, surrounded by silence.

A damning document lay unfurled on the table before her.

Ledgers of bribes.

Lists of illicit deals.

Signatures of nobles who believed themselves untouchable.

She dragged a crimson nail slowly down the paper.

A calculating smirk spread across her lips.

"They call me second queen. Forgotten. Disposable."

Her eyes gleamed with cold fire.

"They forget I hold the leash around their necks."

She rolled the scroll, tucking it into a jade-inlaid case.

Candles flickered.

The chamber grew colder.

And the shadows of her ambition crept silently across the realm.