Chapter 42: Bloodline Gift (Part 5)
In this feverish yet eerie silence, Cassius annouhe final name.
"Gold-Fang."
Instantly, all the creatures were dumbfounded.
No one expected that the final recipient of the “blessing” would be the feeble kobold.
Even Gold-Fang himself stood in shock for a moment, taking a few seds to process.
His grotesque face quickly filled with an ingratiating smile, and with the bined help of several of his kin as stepping stones, he mao cmber up the t boulder.
"How is this possible?"
Dolo gred at the fawning kobold, his breath hot with rage, teeth grinding as he fought the urge to tear him to pieces.
His bear goblin subordinates ched their jaws with fury, their muscur arms bulging with veins, thicker than the sy waist of the kobold.
Raised on Storm Heights, these creatures revered strength above all. Having a weak kobold elevated above them left them resentful and bitter.
However, they didn’t dare challehe dragon’s authority, f them to swallow their indignation.
Cassius, for his part, wasn’t ed about the choice.
After the previous blessings, Ember ’s bat power had already grown siderably, enough to be a dominant force across the Aa Wastend.
sidering he he kobolds fold-mining, he thought it fitting to give them a bit of hope.
Besides, kobolds were naturally dragon-aligned creatures.
These egg-ying beings matured quickly and, as “dragon-like creatures,” could live over a tury, serving as tireless gold miners for their masters. However, due to their frail bodies, few survived to die of old age.
Over time, even their prolonged proximity tons could lead to uable mutations.
With this blessing, Cassius also wao du experiment.
If it failed, the loss was negligible—just a kobold with a challeing of a quarter. If he died, hundreds more would be bor year.
The ritual began under Cassius’s guidance.
Blood flowed into the kobold’s mouth.
Due to his small, weak frame, he ed far less blood than the previous recipients.
"Awoo—"
The kobold let out a low, suppressed howl.
The scalding blood flowed through his body, scorg his flesh, a faint red glow emanating from within.
All the creatures watched the kobold with hungry eyes, some envious, others resentful, or unwilling. Most were silently hoping the kobold would succumb to the pain.
Suddenly, a drastic ge occurred.
The kobold threw his head back, emitting a series of wild, dog-like barks, saliva thid steaming from his open mouth.
His body swelled rapidly, and a massive hump formed on his back.
His frail body hungrily absorbed every ounce of energy in the blood, visibly bulking up.
His height rose from under a meter to nearly two.
Strange power surged from deep within his bloodline.
With a loud tearing sound, the massive hump ripped through his skin.
A new pair of slimy wings unfolded from the kobold’s back!
"Roar—"
The kobold leader clumsily spread his wings.
His voice had evolved from barking to something closer to a dragon's roar.
"How is this possible!"
"This is…”
"It’s an urd, Tiamat above, that’s an urd!"
“A newly transformed urd!”
Some of the older, more knowledgeable kobolds let out cries of amazement.
A few kobolds were born with wings and could fly; these were known as urds.
The wings were sidered a gift from the dragoiamat, and jealousy from wingless kobolds ofteed peaceful coexisteween them.
But now, with a kobold growing dragon wings, jealousy was apanied by immense fervor.
They, too, could bee urds!
Cassius observed the winged kobold, squinting slightly—his warlock senses deteg a faint disturban the Weave.
As expected, he checked the follower information panel closely.
[Your follower, Kobold Leader, has undergone an uable mutation uhe influence of the Bloodline Gift.]
Are talent often emerged by pure ce.
Some warlocks could not even pinpoint the source of their power, while others recalled strange enters:
A hag’s touch, a mysterious ented spring, or a blessing from a celestial being might ighe spark of are talent.
Exposure to the elemental forces of inner pnes or chaotic magical power of the Sea of Chaos, limpsing the ws of reality itself, could all be catalysts fic.
Drinking the blessing blood was undeniably such a “catalyst.”
[Your follower, Kobold Leader, has awakehe tent dragon magic within his aral bloodlihrough the blessing.]
[Kobold Leader has unlocked the css *Draic Sorcerer - Red Dragon*, his innate magic deriving fron power, its essence woven into his blood aage.]
What began as a casual experiment had granted Ember another spellcaster, to Cassius’s pleasant surprise.
“A kobold draic sorcerer, iing.”
Cassius watched as Gold-Fang pleted his transformation.
The newly-winged kobold—or rather, urd—was gasping for breath, hot air venting from the gaps in his scales.
After a few breaths, he finally calmed the wild elemental energy within him.
"Huff, huff, huff…”
Adjusting to his new form, the transformed kobold felt the potent unfamiliar power within his body and the spells that suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Gold-Fang looked up at the red dragon, eyes burning with fanaticism, even shedding a few geears of gratitude.
The humiliation of svery, the terror of being huhe daily grind of survival—all faded away in that moment.
Now, he truly saw the dragon as a demigod inate.
But Cassius cared little for the kobold’s loyalty, or “fanaticism.” He was more ied in what kind of spell this kobold had awakened.
“Cast your spell.”
Cassius said with i.
Uhe css-based spell sele system pyers used, warlocks in this world did not choose their spells—rather, the magic chose them, bestowing them with innate spell abilities.
As a result, most warlocks only mastered one or two spells, wielding them with exceptional skill.
“Yes…great master.”
Gold-Fang uatingly eled the newfound power within him, following the ied memory in his mind.
Slowly, he raised his arms, aligning his thumbs while spreading his other fingers, guiding a slight gathering of fire element energy from the Weave around him.
"Boom!"
A e of fmes, several feet loed from his palms.
“Burning Hands, a fitting first-level spell for a red dragon warlock.”
Cassius evaluated privately.
<< Note: A bit of filler for now, but soon, we’ll tihe main story—pyers are set to arrive around Chapter 100.>>
