Chapter 65: Jet Ashborne’s Resolve
The night air was still, broken only by the faint hiss of lantern flames licking against glass.
The gravel crunched under Jet Ashborne’s boots as he stepped forward, his shadow stretching long in the flickering glow. His eyes, sharp and storm-grey, bored into Draco like he wanted to peel away every layer of his being.
"How," Jet began, his voice low but taut with restrained intensity, "were you able to stack so many D-H... even if they were Rank 1?"
Draco regarded him calmly, his posture loose, hands tucked into his pockets.
His azure gaze, half-lidded, gave away nothing.
"I’m under no obligation to tell you," Draco replied, his tone flat, dismissive, as though Jet’s question were nothing more than a leaf drifting past him in the wind.
Jet’s jaw tightened.
His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles whitening with the force of his grip. For a moment, it looked as though he might lash out then and there. But instead, he ground his teeth and spoke through gritted restraint.
"Always you." His voice carried a bitter edge. "Always the exception. Always special. Always doing the impossible."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "...Is that so?"
Jet’s breath hissed out, sharp as a blade unsheathed. His words came like strikes, each one deliberate, fueled by weeks of festering thoughts.
"You found Essence Stones in the Cave of Trials—something no one else managed, not even former students who also used the very same place for their Entrance Exams. You defeated a Rank 2 Greyscale Candiru Sea Dragon despite it being your first time using D-H, just like the rest of us. You slaughtered more of those monsters than anyone else during that Dragon Wave. And now this—" he jabbed a finger toward Draco, his tone cracking with frustration— "stacking multiple Dragon Hearts without tearing yourself apart. It doesn’t make sense. It’s... too much."
The lanterns flickered as if stirred by the tension between them. Draco’s eyes glinted in the half-light, his expression unreadable.
"You’re too special, Draco. And that makes you suspicious." Jet’s voice dropped lower, quiet but charged with suspicion.
For the first time, Draco’s gaze sharpened, narrowing ever so slightly.
He said nothing, but his thoughts churned.
’This is troublesome. If he keeps seeing me as an anomaly, as something outside the rules... it’ll be difficult to gain his trust. Jet isn’t like the others. He’ll question, pry, and dig. And the more he digs, the closer he gets to truths I cannot allow anyone to know.’
At the same time, though, he had to somehow get closer to Jet to gain his trust.
This almost felt like a paradox to Draco.
He tilted his head slightly, watching the younger Ashborne’s scowl.
"And what conclusion have you drawn from all that suspicion?"
Jet’s lips curled into something between a grimace and a helpless smile. He looked away briefly, his shoulders rising and falling with a sharp exhale.
"You don’t understand," Jet muttered. His voice trembled—not with weakness, but with the raw strain of years of frustration.
"I’m an Ashborne. A noble Dragon Hunter family. My ancestors slew dragons when other men still thought them gods. My father, my uncles, my brothers—every one of them carries the blood and legacy of dragon hunters who stood above the rest."
His gaze snapped back to Draco, his eyes fierce, almost burning.
"And yet—even with all that—I don’t display things like you do. I’ve trained since I could walk. I’ve studied, fought, bled. But next to you? I wondered for the longest time if I was just... inferior." His voice dipped bitterly. "Or if maybe... you were the weird one. The one who was too special."
The words hung in the night like a confession, heavy and raw.
Draco’s expression softened slightly—not with sympathy, but with recognition. He saw in Jet’s eyes a familiar hunger, the gnawing void that drove him forward when the world said he had already done enough.
"...And?" Draco asked, his voice quiet, probing. "What did you decide?"
For a heartbeat, silence. The lantern flames crackled, a faint breeze brushing through the academy’s trees. Then, slowly, Jet’s lips tugged upward in a smile—not smug, not bitter this time, but weary.
"I decided I don’t care anymore."
The words were simple, but they carried a weight that seemed to peel away the chains of doubt that had bound him for so long.
His fists unclenched as his shoulders relaxed.
And for the first time, Jet Ashborne looked less like a boy shadowed by his family’s legacy, and more like a man shaping his own resolve.
"I don’t care if you’re special. I don’t care if you’re suspicious, if you’re an anomaly, or if the world itself bends around you. Let the scholars gossip, let Mr Frost smirk his smug little smirk. None of it matters to me anymore." His voice steadied, his storm-grey eyes blazing with a newfound clarity.
"What I want," Jet continued, stepping closer until he stood only a few feet from Draco, "is strength. I don’t care what I have to do, or who I have to follow, or what kind of monster I need to become. I just want to get stronger. Strong enough to crush anything that stands in my way. Strong enough to never look up at someone else and feel like I’m less again."
Then, to Draco’s quiet surprise, Jet bent his knees and lowered his head in a bow.
The Ashborne heir, a scion of one of the most prestigious noble houses in all of the Southern Border, bowed to him beneath the lantern light.
"Make me stronger, Draco," Jet said, his voice clear, steady, resolute.
"I’ll do whatever it is you say!"
Draco watched all of this in silence, his eyes gleaming brilliantly despite his trying his best to hide them.
’Finally! I can finally begin the Primary Quest!’
[STATUS WINDOW]
- Name: Draco (Lvl: 15)
- Race: Human
- Class: Legendary Dragon Tamer
- Integrity: 15 (+24)
- Physique: 15 (+24)
- Aptitude: 15 (+100) (100% Essence)
- S Points: 300
- Quest Completion Rate: 35%
[Current Quest Information]
Primary Quest: Gain Jet Ashborne’s trust until he considers you a friend (Ongoing)
Secondary Quest: Never again lose a single fight inside the Academy until you become the Prime Student (Ongoing)
Hidden Quest: Repair and rebuild the damage to your image caused by collapsing during the ceremony (Ongoing)
[Synchronization Rate: 14%]