August's demeanor started to change from then on.
This was a dragon's process of maturing. Every single one of them would eventually go through it, but the actual "when" would differ depending on when they reached the appropriate power level designated by their ancestor.
For most, it would happen during or after their Universe Baptism. And for most, that would only come decades or centuries into their lives.
During the process, they'd adopt some of the traits of their ancestors while retaining the core of their personalities. This was the reason for the massive divide in thinking between each Dragon lineage, since they all functioned on a different pre-established ideology.
Nevertheless, even for dragons from the Holy Clans, ancestral memories took decades to unlock. Their geniuses weren't influenced by them until they were properly ready.
August didn't have the same privileges, because the Azure Dragon didn't have those privileges.
'The Liqua Clan doesn't receive Qinglong's memories.'
That was a fact Damien learned when he stole the memories of their geniuses. Their ancestral memories contained the experiences of dozens of ancestors and mainly focused on techniques and other power-related matters.
Qinglong wanted his descendants to know his story. He knew they wouldn't be able to meet in his lifetime, so he at least wanted them to know what kind of being he was.
Despite being only seven physically, August's mind aged several years or decades every single night when he went to sleep. It was only natural for him to mature.
His body had grown into that of a fifteen-year-old, but that could hardly reflect his mindset.
Qinglong didn't want his descendants to suffer from the curse of naivety, so he made sure they would learn from his mistakes and erase that mind state altogether.
August still cared deeply about Damien. He became quieter, but he did find other ways to show his affection.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})It was just hard for him to stay childish.
He had seen so much. He had seen Qinglong suffer to levels he couldn't believe. At first, he couldn't understand how his ancestor managed to stay sane through it all.
But that ancestor came to him eventually.
It was conviction.
A pure unbridled conviction towards his goal, towards his desire to leave his mark on the world.
Everything told him to quit. Everything told him to just give up and die. But he didn't, did he?
He refused to let life have the upper hand. He cursed fate and fought against it tooth and nail.
That was the reason why Qinglong was able to eventually achieve the heights he did.
He got revenge on the people who thrusted him into madness. He punished those who stood against him, took victory in stride, and learned from every mistake he made.
Could August do that?
With the mindset he'd had until that point, he knew it was impossible.
He had to change if he wanted to survive, but that didn't mean he had to throw everything away. Just like his ancestor, he needed to keep his beliefs strong.
Since he was a child, he'd always idolized heroes. He wanted to save people and bring peace to the world. He wanted to create a place where another Qinglong would never need to be subjected to those torments.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})It seemed more and more impossible the more he saw, but wasn't it the same for Qinglong?
Aside from maturity and a sense of reality, Qinglong gave August the conviction he didn't have.
Perhaps that was the greatest change.
August wanted to train harder. In the years that came, he pleaded with Damien to train him seriously, to teach him through force.
Damien was obviously averse to the idea, but August's stance was immovable.
He was practically forced to go along with it, to give August what he needed to stimulate his growth.
As a parent, it was hard to watch his child change and become someone different from the innocent child he knew. Especially when he wasn't assured of the path his son was taking, he couldn't help but doubt it.
But he had no choice.
It was not his life.
And he was not going to let his hesitation inhibit his son. Unless something went horribly wrong and he strayed from his path, Damien didn't want to impede a child who just wanted to become the person he wanted to be.
He stopped holding back.
For August's sake, he cut off his emotions during training so he could do what he needed without doubting himself.
That was how those last three years passed.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})The atmosphere had lost its heartwarming air, and with fierce training as the only thing that defined it, August began to live like someone over twice his age, someone who was truly on the road to becoming an expert.
Three years went by, but August wasn't able to easily overcome the barriers separating him from 4th class.
It was different for dragons. Since they got in contact with laws from young instead of slowly working up to laws like humans, they were always a level more powerful, however, their progress also took much longer to achieve.
Laws weren't kind. They didn't just present themselves to be comprehended. Even for someone with as much potential as August, it was impossible to just breeze through these extensive processes.
Rather, because of his talent, it was even harder. He had to prove himself worthy of his natural-born gifts. He could do more, but more was expected from him in return.
He put everything he had into training, and when the time came for that conversation to happen, he was already prepared for it.
"August, I'm sure you've realized this already, but I…I am not your biological father."
It was a bit late, but Damien still felt the need to say it.
August nodded. As Damien guessed, he already knew from long ago that they weren't related by blood. It remained unsaid for one obvious reason.
"I don't care. You're my dad no matter what anyone or anything else says."
August was unflinching about it. Nothing could change his mind. Damien was the one who raised him. He'd done so much to make sure August would have a good childhood and grow up properly. August loved Damien as his one and only father. That was the end of that conversation.
Damien smiled a bit at the sentiment.
"The memories you've been seeing, those that once belonged to the first Azure Dragon, Qinglong…they tell a story that you have yet to fully witness."
August was still young, so he was still experiencing the younger years of Qinglong's life. That amounted to thousands of years of memories, but when that number was taken in relation to the millions or more years that Qinglong lived, it was really nothing.
August would experience those memories on an exponential curve, and at some point, he'd be digesting millions of years at a time, but that was not now.
"Your ancestor was once the Dragon Emperor. He founded the Azure Dragon Clan with nothing but his own hard work and eventually came to be the strongest dragon in the world. However, his success bothered a lot of people, and they eventually came to stab him in the back."
Damien had to simplify what happened a lot to make it comprehensible in a short amount of time, but Qinglong's story was somewhat similar to his father's.
"Qinglong was removed from the throne and usurped by a regime that suppressed their own kind. His clan was taken from him and turned into something that no longer represented what he stood for. He was forced to flee into the lower universe, a place where his enemies couldn't reach, and, coincidentally enough, the place where I am from."
August's eyes shook as he realized where the story was going. He steeled himself, preparing for what was to come.
"I was able to meet him coincidentally during my travels, and after seeing my memories and conversing with me, he decided to entrust your safety and his mission to me. You were born in that hidden place. Not from two parents, but from the sacrifice of Qinglong's Legend."
Damien looked August in the eye, his face utterly serious.
"You are the perfect successor he birthed to reclaim the throne he left behind."
There it was. The revelation of all revelations.
It felt like Damien had been rushed these past few years. It was like he knew something was going to happen and wanted to do his best to prepare August for it.
This was it.
The revelation that he had been born for a purpose, to become the Dragon Emperor.
And since this was being told to him now…
'It's probably time for that to happen.'
Something big, something that would allow August to get closer to that goal…
It was here.
