Ophiuchus Legacy

The Trial Grounds buzzed with energy as the initiates returned to their places, their faces flushed with pride or pale with disappointment.

The air carried the lingering echoes of beastly roars and cheers from the crowd.

From the elevated platform, a figure stepped forward, his dark robes edged with silver embroidery.

Instructor Veylor straightened at the sight of him.

This was Instructor Harven, a senior overseer in the Thalor Clan, second only to the elders currently.

His presence silenced the crowd.

Harven's cold gaze swept over the platform, lingering briefly on each student.

"All initiates, stand at attention."

The fifty-one students straightened, Raen among them, tension pulling his shoulders taut.

Harven's voice carried without effort.

"Fifty-one initiates entered the trial today. Fifty-one succeeded in assimilation."

A wave of joy rippled through the crowd.

A flawless success rate was always ecstatic.

"Yet only five among you achieved more, advancing beyond the first stage of the Primal Awakening Realm."

Pride flickered in Harven's sharp eyes.

He raised a hand, and five names followed like hammer strikes.

"Leo Thalor. Gwen Thalor. Sebastian Thalor. Helen Thalor. Rita Thalor."

The five stepped forward, each wearing the Thalor name but belonging to branch clans, families tied to the main clan through marriages with lesser clans, allowed to bear the Thalor name but never equal in status.

A smattering of polite applause followed though many glanced toward the main Thalor line, gauging their reactions.

Harven's lips curled slightly.

"Impressive growth for branch blood."

Then, the crowd stilled as Harven's next words cut through the murmurs.

"Lastly, Raen Thalor. You, too, stand among the assimilated."

The air froze.

Raen blinked.

'What?'

Disbelieving whispers swept through the stands.

"Impossible."

"He's never succeeded before."

Raen turned slowly to Instructor Veylor, searching for some explanation.

But Veylor remained impassive, arms crossed.

Lying about assimilation would be punishable by death.

Raen's mouth went dry.

Before Raen could process this, a heavy presence darkened the platform.

A figure strode forward, each step echoing with authority.

Elder Varos Thalor.

His Dark-threaded robes rippled as an oppressive aura poured from him cold, suffocating, and sharp as fangs.

His very presence seemed to draw the air thin, and Raen's knees nearly buckled.

This was the same elder who had called him out and mocked him

The wolf's aura.

Raen recognized it instantly.

Varos belonged to the same branch as Silas and Kael Thalor, the wolves that had tormented him for years.

Varos's eyes were locked on him, burning with barely contained rage.

"Instructor Veylor," Varos's voice rumbled like distant thunder.

"Explain yourself."

Veylor dipped his head slightly.

"Upon inspection, Raen had already assimilated a core. His Qi signature confirms he has stepped into the First Stage of the Primal Beast Awakening Realm."

Varos sneered.

"Nonsense. When did this happen? Under whose supervision?"

Raen opened his mouth, but no words came.

Varos's aura flared, pressing down like an avalanche.

Raen gasped, his legs trembling.

His chest burned, his ribs straining under the weight of unseen claws.

"Answer me, boy! What's your status?"

"S... Sta...Status?"

Raen staggered, vision blurring.

Green text floated in front of his face but he had no time to check it out this time

Then the pressure lifted.

A figure now stood between him and the elder.

His mother.

Lira Thalor.

Her back was straight, shoulders squared, though her simple robes fluttered slightly under the residual force of Varos's aura.

Her dark hair, streaked with silver, framed a face of cold defiance.

The crowd fell into stunned silence.

Varos's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Are you... challenging me, Lira?"

Her silence spoke louder than words.

The audacity was staggering.

A mere woman of diminished standing, openly defying a Beast Sovereign Core cultivator.

But Lira didn't flinch.

She reached back, steady and deliberate, grasping Raen's arm.

He flinched at her touch, guilt weighing heavier than Varos's aura.

Without a word, she turned and began walking away, guiding her son down the platform.

The silence was suffocating.

Not a soul dared move.

Varos's cold gaze followed them, but he did not strike.

Not here.

Not now.

Raen's eyes burned as they left the platform.

If only Father were alive…

He clenched his fists.

His mother had just painted a target on her back... for him.

Once home, the silence lingered.

Lira gently ushered Selene into Raen's arms.

"I'll be back," she said quietly, brushing a hand over Selene's hair.

Raen's throat tightened.

A formal summon had already been sent.

Without another word, Lira left.

The door closed behind her, and the house felt emptier than ever.

Raen sat in the quiet, Selene's small frame curled against him.

His thoughts spiraled.

His mother had probably known.

From the moment he returned, she must've sensed the faint Qi in him.

That's why she fed him twice, why she hadn't questioned him.

And now, she bore the consequences.

If only I were stronger…

His jaw tightened.

But something deeper stirred within him.

A slow, coiling hunger.

Not for food.

For power.

For survival.

For vengeance.

And this time, he wouldn't run from it.

He was Thalor by name. But he would carve a place for himself in this clan with tooth and claw.

Whatever it took.

Bang

His vision blurred again.

The headache came again.

As his sense of sight wavered between infrared and sharpness, Raen felt his mouth water uncontrollably.

[Your hunger grows]

The message flashed again, and this time, he didn't brush it off as a hallucination.

His mind, foggy from the chaos, gripped at the words more firmly.

"What hunger?" he muttered aloud, the words heavy with confusion.

There was no reply.

The text faded.

"Who are you?" He asked, frustration seeping into his voice. Again, silence.

For a moment, the world around him felt distant, as if the overwhelming pressure of the situation, the elder, had dulled everything else.

He struggled to think, his mind too clouded by the intensity of his emotions.

But then, in a moment of clarity, it struck him: the text had appeared before when his mind had settled.

When he focused on something specific, the system reacted.

He focused, thinking back to when he had first seen the screen.

It was his name. Raen.

"Status."

The screen flickered into view, confirming his thoughts.

[Status Screen]

Name: Raen Thalor

Race: Human (??? Hybrid)

Qi: 30/50

Energy: 8/20

Cultivation Realm: Primal Awakening Realm (Stage 1)

Beast Core: Fragment of the Eclipsing Fang (Dormant)

Traits: Serpent-Blooded (Locked)

Condition: Stable

...

Raen stared at the text, his eyes wide, his pulse quickening.

The words were too much.

His breath caught in his throat.

For a moment, he thought he might fall to his knees, but he steadied himself.

Hybrid? His mind raced. What is this?

He couldn't believe it.

A serpent-blooded trait? That couldn't be right.

Raen's thoughts swirled, but his gaze was drawn to his younger sister, Selene, who was blissfully unaware, absorbed in some trinket.

He envied her innocence, even as his own life was unraveling before his eyes.

Serpents weren't beasts.

At least, not according to the rules of the Thalor Clan.

They were anathema, something to be hunted, eradicated.

Their bloodline was tainted, feared, and loathed.

Forbidden, he thought bitterly.

If this is true, then I've just signed my death sentence.

The sudden weight of that realization pressed down on him.

His mother, she had sacrificed so much to protect him, and yet, this? If they found out… no, when they found out, there was no telling what would happen.

The Thalor clan wouldn't hesitate to hunt him down or, worse, turn him into a weapon.

Raen clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

He wouldn't let that happen.

He couldn't.

He couldn't let his mother's sacrifice go to waste.

With a quiet resolve, he focused on the system again.

This... this power.

If it was what saved him from that cliff fall, then maybe...

It wasn't just a chance for him to grow stronger.

It was his only chance.

He couldn't hide in the shadows forever.

But how could he hide what he had just become? How could he control something that had already taken root so deep inside him?

His thoughts were interrupted as the words from the screen began to linger in his mind, a sense of urgency growing within him.

The Eclipsing Fang... He couldn't place it, but the name felt ominous, something deep within him stirring.

Suddenly, he knew.

The thirst, the hunger, it was more than a craving for food.

It was a hunger for power, a drive that lay dormant inside him, something primal, like the instinct of the beast he now carried.

His body ached for it, like a void yearning to be filled.

What do I do now? He thought, his mind frantically searching for answers.

His thoughts fell on his mother again... Lira, who had walked him through everything with such strength.

She would bear the weight of his secret if she knew, and the punishment would fall on her shoulders, not his.

But he couldn't let her suffer for him again.

If only my father were alive...

He pushed that thought aside.

There was no time for that now.

Raen stood up, the anger in his chest boiling.

His mother's silver hair, a mark of both wisdom and burden, flashed in his mind.

She had protected him, now it was his turn.

He couldn't let the clan's rules hold him back.

With a deep breath, he whispered,

"I'll find a way."

As he looked at Selene, Raen knew one thing for sure, his life would never be the same.

The path ahead was uncertain, but there was no turning back now.