Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's head snapped from Lu'card to Ru'cil, the latter's rumbling voice penetrating his eardrums. Ru'cil, who had just given a speech in human tongue, had returned to Dragon Tongue. It seemed he had done so deliberately so that only Ryu could understand him, but why? 

Ryu immediately reacted quite abruptly because when he heard the word descendant, his first thought was of his father. But, after a logical analysis, his gaze turned cold. In this context, the one that made the most sense wasn't his father or even his grandfather, but rather his great grandfather, Primus. 

The coldness in Ryu's gaze made Ru'cil narrow his eyes. He had a few guesses for where that coldness came from and why it was there, but he didn't care very much, nor was he willing to unpack such things here. 

"Since you're of his Bloodline, you're different. You're one of us. Lu'card, leave this battle and go find someone else."

"No! I want him!"

Lu'card's words came out like a reverberating growl. However, he had hardly got them out when a claw descended from above, split his Spatial World in two, and knocked him on the head. 

"Did you forget who your father-in-law is?! Show some respect! I said to leave it be, so leave it be!"

However, what Ru'cil didn't expect was for Ryu to aim his sword forward. 

"I still need to defeat him for my three questions, are you trying to weasel out of the deal? I thought Dragons were prideful men of their words?"

Ru'cil was stunned for a moment before his gaze flickered. He almost knocked Ryu on the head just like he had Lu'card, but then he seemed to remember something and refrained from doing so. 

"Brat, watch your tone. Your battle began before I agreed to anything."

"Then I still want to defeat him and take him as a mount."

"You little imp!" Ru'cil was speechless. "Taking your own family as a mount, do you have no shame?!"

The birth of Dragons and ancient beasts in general was quite special. A lot like Martial Gods who could be born into any one of their four branches regardless of which branch their parents shared, Dragons were a lot like this as well. 

At birth, Dragons were divided into two categories, one with no Elemental Alignment and those with it. Dragons without were a step weaker than those with, but they were still blessed without astonishing physical prowess and gifts, making them fearsome existences regardless. Those with Elemental Alignment had a wide array of scale color types and displayed Elemental powers accordingly. 

Of course, this changed when these Bloodlines were incorporated into humans as any child that Ryu had, should the Inherit his Bloodlines—something that wasn't guaranteed—they would always be Fire Dragons or Lightning Qilins. Obviously, Qilins shared this characteristic of Dragons. 

This was all to say that if Ryu was right in the Ru'cil was referring to his great grandfather, and that Primus did indeed have a deep connection with the Dragons, it wouldn't be very much of a surprise at all if Lu'card was a distant cousin of his. 

Ryu shook his head, suddenly thinking of something. 

"He's too sentient, it would indeed make it a bit inconvenient to use him." Ryu thought aloud. 

His purpose behind building an army of beast companions was so that he could become a one man army. But, the irony in that statement was that his partners would have to rely on him and follow his orders. Nemesis, Little Rock and Little Gem had essentially been following him since they were children, he trusted them and they trusted him. 

If Ryu took in Lu'card, what difference would there be between that and just building up his own forces? Something he expressly didn't want to do. He didn't want to lead people, and even if he did, he didn't think he would be good at it. 

Still, despite the fact Ryu had taken a step back, Ru'cil and Lu'card only felt more uncomfortable. Should they be angry? Or not? 

"FUCK!"

Lu'card couldn't be bothered anymore. He shot past Ryu, diving into the city below and beginning to vent his frustrations. 

"Are you going to answer my questions?" Ryu pretended like he hadn't seen anything. 

"It's not my place to answer such things." Ru'cil replied plainly. 

Those who had been paying attention to what was happening were at a loss. Why had the battle suddenly stopped? And why was it that Ryu seemed to be… Talking to the Wind Dragon? What the hell was going on? 

What was even worse was that they all suddenly realized that even with how high their evaluation of Ryu had been, it hadn't been high enough. The moment Lu'card was released from his battle with Ryu, it was as though a natural disaster had been unleashed on the world. Some of the greatest talents of the Armament Guild were wiped out one after another as though they were nothing more than canon fodder. 

"I mean about your attack, I don't care about that old bastard Primus."

Ru'cil's expression flickered. But, his response was still calm. 

"I'm well aware of what you mean. If you did care, you wouldn't be his descendant. However, I still cannot tell you those things."

"You can't tell me why you're treating the Real Plane like it's some sort of amusement part for your juniors to train in? You don't seem to be taking any of this seriously at all. If your people piss me off, I won't hesitate to kill them."

"As you should." Ru'cil replied nonchalantly. "This sort of leeway is only something we Dragons will give you. If the Qilin's smell their scent on you, they'll hunt you down to the ends of all the Planes. The story you share with them is much different from the one you do with us. And, there's an Awakened Emperor Phoenix among that younger generation as well… There can't be two Lions to a single mountain."

Ryu looked deeply into the eyes of Ru'cil before turning to leave. 

"If your main goal is to wipe out the Martial Gods, you should listen to the woman with the wide hips when it comes to who to kill and who not to kill." Ryu left this word of advice before floating back down to the city. His goal? To find Ailsa and Yaana. He could feel that now was the appropriate time to return to a certain place. If he couldn't fight Lu'card, there was no point in remaining here. 

"Ryu!" 

Wynhorn's voice traveled to him from above. 

"Yes?" Ryu asked. 

"This… The situation here is a bit bad…"

"I've already spoken up for you." Ryu said. "The landscape of the Armament Guild should change after today."

"But…" Wynhorn's gaze drifted toward the Bowman Faction. Whether by coincidence or manipulation, they seemed to be suffering the brunt of the extermination. 

How could Wynhorn know that Dragons had an inborn hatred for bows and arrows due to the Qilin and those that shared their Bloodline? 

"Them? Maybe if Supreme Blacksmith Arcus comes to beg me on his knees I'll do something about it."

Ryu's words weren't muted in the slightest. With the hearing of Sky Gods and how much attention they had placed on these events, how could they not have all heard him?