"The Dragonfire Warrior Clan?!" Renji felt as if his whole head was buzzing. In Renji's eyes, his clan was nothing more than just an ancient clan that had fallen on hard times. How could it possibly have anything to do with the legendary Dragonfire Warriors? "You don't believe me?" A trace of arrogance could be seen on Kazuki's face. "Renji, go up and take a closer look at the spirit tablets. By now, you should be able to read all the words on them. On the back of every single spirit tablet is the history of those departed forefathers. The three spirit tablets at the very top are those of Dragonfire Warriors!" Kazuki took Renji by the hand. "Come." Kazuki led Renji towards the area behind the many spirit tablets.
Kazuki picked him up and said, "Get a good look at those words behind." Renji opened his eyes wide and began to read. The words on the highest tablet were carved deep and very clear. These thousand-year-old words held an astounding tale! "Reshin, the very first Dragonfire Warrior of the Aerthos Continent. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty years from the day of the Aerthos calendar, at the Shadowfen Marshes, Reshin fights a Thunder Beast and a Frost Dragon. He slays both. Their fame resounded across the world.
Four thousand, five hundred and seventy-nine years from the day of the Aerthos calendar, at the Crimson Ridge cliffs springs, Reshin battled a colossal Earthwyrm.
After a bitter battle of a day and night, Reshin finally defeated the Earthwyrm…finally, Reshin founded the Reshin clan and became the first leader of the Reshin clan!"
"Takashi, the second Dragonfire Warrior of the continent of Aerthos. In the Aerthos calendar year 4690, he defeated and subdued a Saint-level Inferno Drake in the Stormfang Mountains and thus gained the title of the Inferno Drake Rider Saint! In the year 4697…"
"Kennen—Aerthos continent's third Dragonfire Warrior. Born in the year 5360 of the calendar on the main continent, during his first battle, he met with vicious fighting against a Saint-level Void Serpent within the Galewood Forest, defeated the serpent, and showcased himself to the rest of the world…" Name upon name of mighty heroes, story upon story of wonders, made the blood in Renji's veins pump all the more vigorously.
"My clan is actually that of the Dragonfire Warriors?"
Renji was extremely excited. Beside him, Kazuki said in a low voice, "The first three generations of the Reshin family were all Dragonfire Warriors. Upon becoming a Dragonfire Warrior, one's life expectancy would dramatically increase. "This second-generation Dragonfire Warrior only got married and had children after reaching seven hundred years old." "And then?" Renji felt confused. "Father, how come our clan never again has another generation of Dragonfire Warriors?" Kazuki nodded his head. "In order to step into the Dragonfire Warriors, that is the greatest principle: density and thickness of Dragonblood flowing through our bloodline's veins. The higher the density, the better." After many generations, the density of the Dragonblood in our veins has grown thinner and thinner. But that's not a strict rule. Because over time, once in a while, a descendant will possess an extremely high level of Dragonblood."
"After Kennen Reshin, nearly a thousand years later, the fourth Dragonfire Warrior appeared. And then, after fifteen hundred years, tens of generations afterward, the fifth Dragonfire Warrior finally appeared in our clan. But in the thousand years from then until now, not a single Dragonfire Warrior has shown up." Kazuki shook his head and sighed. "The fifth Dragonfire Warrior only stayed on the Aerthos continent for about two centuries before he disappeared. "For the past thousand years, our Reshin clan has completely withered away." After a thousand years, even the most glorious of families would be destined to wane. "Yet, there is still a glimmer of hope for our clan. Perhaps one born of our bloodline, in the future, will possess the necessary density of Dragonblood within his veins to coincide with all the requirements for a Dragonfire Warrior."
If they were good enough, after training for a mere couple of decades, they would really be able to be a full Dragonfire Warrior. And then the Reshin clan would once more be restored to the glorious days of yore when we were known far and wide as the Dragonfire Warrior Clan!" Kazuki's eyes gleamed. "Renji, you are six and a half now. According to our laws, with your age, the test to see whether your blood has a high density of what we term Dragonblood will be fairly accurate. I will conduct the test on you today." Renji was stunned. "Testing the density of Dragonblood in my veins? Test me?" Renji fully understood the implications of his father performing this test. This test would show whether or not he met the requirements for becoming a Dragonfire Warrior. "Renji, wait here. I'll go get the 'Dragonblood Needle'." Kazuki was clearly very excited, as he immediately departed the ancestral hall for a nearby private room.
"Dragonfire Warrior? Will I really become a Dragonfire Warrior?"
Renji fidgeted in his heart.
Standing there, Renji's mind was filled with a flurry of confusion. It was filled with eagerness and fear, and he feared that the density of the Dragonblood coursing through his veins was not high enough. "If I fail, I guess Father will be extremely disappointed." Renji couldn't help but think. Knowing his father and the younger brother he had grown up in front of, Renji didn't have the heart to disappoint his own father. At the same time, the density of the Dragonblood in his veins was not something he could decide.
Kazuki had returned in only a short time, walking out from the private room with an extremely thin needle, twenty centimeters long, when Renji guessed, "Dragonblood Needle?" his stare fixed on the long needle in his father's hands. "Alright, Renji. This needle will just barely break the skin when it goes in. It won't hurt at all. Stretch out your hand." Kazuki smiled, and Renji nodded. Taking a deep breath, Renji stretched out his right arm. His arm was trembling slightly, which really did show that Renji was very nervous. Not only Renji, but Kazuki was really quite nervous too. "Hold it." A Dragonblood Needle with a translucent texture easily pricked Renji's ring finger, piercing into his skin. He felt an immediate sharp pain, and even the translucent transparent needle soon turned red. His hand trembled, and Kazuki lifted the Dragonblood Needle up instantly, carefully examining it. Facing his father, Renji raised his head, feeling extremely agitated. "Is the density of Dragonblood in my veins enough? Why the long look at the Dragonblood Needle, Father?" Renji had a bad premonition…
"Sigh…" With an exhaled breath, Kazuki placed the Dragonblood Needle off to one side. Hearing his father's sigh, the nervous Renji knew that the density of Dragonblood in his veins clearly didn't reach the required level. His tears immediately began to flow. "Renji, why are you crying? Don't cry, be good, don't cry." Kazuki immediately hugged Renji. Seeing Renji cry, Kazuki felt sick at heart. After all, Renji was still just six and a half. He was just a child. "I won't cry. Yeah. Won't cry." Renji sniffled twice, then forced himself to calm down.
"Father, I'm sorry. I've let you down." Hearing Renji's words, Kazuki felt a warm feeling in his heart. He couldn't help but hold Renji against his bosom. "Renji, don't feel bad. In fact, I didn't raise my hopes too high. Over a thousand years and tens of generations, no one has become a Dragonfire Warrior. It doesn't matter that you also failed. Father doesn't blame you." Feeling the warmth of his father's chest, Renji's tightened chest gradually loosened.
At that moment, the little boy had fallen asleep in Haruto's arms.
"Renji, as of now, the Reshin family has only you, me, and your younger brother.
I don't have any extravagant hopes.
I've never dared to dream of becoming a Dragonfire Warrior." Kazuki chuckled at himself mockingly. How could becoming a Dragonfire Warrior be an easy task? Renji raised his head, gazing at his father. Very rarely had Renji ever seen his father address him in such a tone. On normal days, his father was stiff and hard as a rail with him. Kazuki looked at the collection of spiritual boards in the room, and his eyes mirrored the grim and forlorn grief in the room. "The truth is that my actual goal is to get back my family's true heirloom, which has been passed down generation after generation in the Reshin family tree." "The ancient heirloom? What is that? Why has nobody ever told me about it?" Renji asked out of interest. To which, Kazuki said haughtily, "Our ancestral heirloom—the warblade, 'Divine Sunderer'. This was the weapon used by the very first leader of the Reshin clan, the very first Dragonfire Warrior of the Aerthos continent. Alas…his descendants were unfilial. Six hundred years ago, because of poverty, a descendant who loved luxury actually sold our ancestral weapon for money." He had just said the words when Kazuki burst with anger so much that it shone in his whole body. Helpless
4oChatGPT said:ChatGPT
ly shaking his head, he said, "Afterwards, every single generation tried to recover the warblade 'Divine Sunderer', but despite six hundred years of trying, none of us have succeeded. After all, when we sold it, that was for the price of 180,000 gold coins. 180,000 gold coins! This large sum we can't afford, and would he even sell it to us if we could afford it?" Since the ancient Dragonfire Warriors clan family had long since sold out their own family heirloom.
This was humiliation!
The humiliation of the ancient Dragonfire Warriors clan! Every generation that followed had attempted to come up with a plan to retrieve the lost warblade, 'Divine Sunderer', but six hundred years had elapsed and no one till that moment had been successful. The desire too was harbored by Kazuki as the head of the clan then, but the condition in the economy of the clan was literally worse than bad. 180,000 gold coins? Even if sold, all the property of the manor could not have brought in the large sum. The ancestral heirloom was lost. This humiliation was what weighed without cease on the heart of Kazuki; he felt shame, helplessness, and could not front his forefathers.
Looking at the appearance on his father's face, Renji consoled him, "Father, don't be unhappy! I swear that one day, I will regain our family heirloom and return it to this manor."
"You?" Kazuki sneered. He rubbed at Renji's hair, eyes full of love. In his heart, Kazuki secretly said, "Renji. You know, these words you just said…all those years ago, I said these same words to your grandfather as well." Six hundred years of efforts all ended in failure. How could it be easy to accomplish? After all, the person who purchased the warblade 'Divine Sunderer' couldn't be any ordinary person. Why would they be willing to sell? And if they were willing to sell, how could the decrepit Reshin clan afford the cost? "Father, you don't believe me?" Renji raised his head and questioned his father. "I believe you, I believe you," laughed Kazuki. Both father and son embraced each other tightly. In this age, only three members were left of the ancient Dragonfire Clan. Now when will the rotting clan be capable of restoring the glory and honor of the former years? At this moment, the fists of Renji were now clenched tightly as he leaned against his father's chest!