The Dirtied Legacy

Why was this only resurfacing now? This wasn't a coincidence since it happened when the markings showed up on my body after experiencing a few oddly suspicious flashes of my past.

It was impossible... and to add to that, only a week before, the rift incident took place, which almost looked like a fever dream or closer to a nightmare.

The pages of the book felt brand new even though they had been there for more than seventeen years. I felt a strange aura resonating with me coming from the book.

It was weird but comforting. Never had I felt anything close to this ambiance in my life since my innate talent had not awakened yet.

The pages contained so much information on the possibilities of what my innate talent could awaken due to my bloodline.

Still, most importantly, I had more to learn about the family I came from. They were first ranked among the five powerhouses: The House of Angels, Fiend Famiglia, The House of Blue Moon, and lastly, the Ferrati Famiglia.

The difference between a house and a family is the amount of time in power. There were other subfamilies, but this was only due to a power gap between the main bloodline and the branch families.

The main thing that distinguished the "purebloods" and mixed was that they inherited their predecessor's innate talents with slight variations but were more powerful.

Each new generation was stronger than the first, meaning that if the DracoFist Famiglia were still intact, it would be ruling over them.

That is why a family gained more power as time went on; it was only appropriate to get a title change. My family was hated so much because they were the only ones that could enter the 1st rank dragons' rifts and had exclusive access to them.

This got the other greedy houses and families furious as they could not get a hold of the dragon power that the DracoFists had. I concluded that the only way to get what they wanted was to get an heir who inherited their blood and, well…

Use them as a breeding machine to create superior offspring with the blood of two powerhouse families.

Disgusted with the thought, I proceeded to read the descriptions that further explained what the DracoFists had as a main innate talent trait.

I now knew why there was a gauntlet next to the drawer. My mother's main fighting style was hand-to-hand brawling while augmenting her powers by using Draconic markings obtained from the rifts that only they could enter.

"So... I'm guessing this thing packs a mean punch."

I put on the gauntlets, and suddenly, the sharp pain in my arm returned. A faint glow started to radiate from the gauntlets I had just put on. Noticeably, the rust came off, and a dark purple began to envelop them. It was hypnotizing...

I saw a thin light beam enter the side of my head, and I started getting flashes the same way I had when I got my markings. Only this time, they weren't my memories. I watched a war unfold in my mind, but I couldn't interact with anything except watching.

Multiple soldiers with fists clad in armored gauntlets that glowed a faint light, all different from one another. Either my mind was playing tricks on me, or this room looked similar to what I saw in the picture of my biological parents.

It was possible since this whole thing was probably a memory of those in question. The soldiers looked like they wanted to protect something from the attacking side.

[laughter]

"Those powers of yours aren't working so well now, are they, Orion, Elena?" The one talking immediately struck like a known face. It was Xander, Head of the House of Angels.

"WHERE IS YOUR PRIDE NOW, DRACOFISTS?"

In a maniacal manner, he nearly spat all over the floor from the sheer pleasure he was getting from torturing the soldiers in front of him.

It was disgusting. He sliced with his wings around to get rid of the soldiers protecting the people.

"Scum like you do not deserve power… I thought you were different, Xander."

A husky voice came from a wounded man behind the soldiers.

"Why would I be different, Orion? Where did being different get you, huh?"

"DEAD."

Xander's laughter filled the room, and silence struck once again when the only ones left from the DracoFists were Elena and Orion.

"Cut off the hands she's so proud of!"

He ordered the other feathered bastards to drag them to the pile of corpses.

"Wait... Leave Elena to me. I guess I can have some fun of my own."

A despicable smirk came across his face as terror filled the woman's face.

"Trash like you won't have their way. You'll get what you deserve."

As the screams of all the soldiers died down along with my father's, the flash abruptly ended, and I was filled with a surge of emotion.

It felt like my head was tearing in two. After what I saw, I didn't know what to feel—disgust, anger, or pain—but these were people that I had never known, and they abandoned me.

"They did it all for you…."

A faint female voice lingered in my head for a short while. I didn't know who she was, but the voice was right.

All of this was done to protect me, and what did this deadbeat trash do? Trample on me and my brother's future? The feeling of someone putting a foot to your neck—this was what it felt like.

But I was powerless. Even if I got strong, it would mean nothing, as they could easily end me. What I needed was to gather people with similar motives against the other houses.

The gangs in the area are a good start to gathering mercenaries and establishing a mercenary group.

But there is one small problem: who in the world would follow a 15-year-old boy out of the slums…

***

Reorganizing the last remaining letters, I hid them all behind the bookshelf. Holding my new gauntlet in hand, I noticed three empty crystal slots.

When I was reading the book I just found, there was a crystal resembling the shape of the slots that the gauntlet had.

Further reading more information about the gauntlet in the DracoFist book, I found out that the crystals were extremely rare materials found deep in 1st rank Dragonic Rifts.

The DracoFist book was basically an encyclopedia about beasts found in the family rifts, weapons, and all abilities.

The page that the crystal was tied to read:

[1st Rank Shapeshifter Wyvern Crystal]

[Attributes: Liquid Blades, Shapeshifting]

[Type: Growth]

[Current Rank: Undeveloped]

'Growth?… This means it grows with the user?'

As I read more, my curiosity was beaming. This meant that I could get stronger if I used it like the manual said.

'Man, this is such a hassle.'

I needed to get stronger eventually. That is just a goal for me right now since I have the tools for it.

I can finally get my brothers out of the gutters. It's going to be tough work, but I need to work my ass off nonetheless.