Devouring Dragon Heir

Meanwhile, Klaus, in these few days, had not rested at all after returning from the intense VR ranking battle.

The victory, the applauses, and the newfound reputation were all secondary to his relentless pursuit of power.

He had just finished the battle and now had a few days to get ready for the first day of the academy.

He had acquired the memories of Vance and also the Arkidian Temple's core as the reward for the quest, both of which he had still not claimed from his system's inventory.

He did not bother using Vance's memories, since he felt that there might not be much use in those. The system had told him that the integration of memories would take at least 6 hours to complete, so Klaus decided to postpone the integration for a later time.

His life on Earth as the bullied Klaus had been a source of trauma and pain. His life on this planet as Vance, the F-rank porter, had been one of constant, unending misery.

He felt that the memories from such a pathetic existence would not be useful to him in any way. He was a new man now, forged in fire and power. He had no time to dwell on his past weakness.

As for the Arkidian Temple core, it was a strange core that pulsed with violet light, unlike any other core he had seen before.

The system recommended using this core after his Gate Master trait unlocks more effects and ranks up.

The system clearly knew more about this core, so Klaus decided to comply with the system's instructions. It might have some hidden properties and have a specific purpose that he could unlock later.

After checking the new gifts, Klaus had started forming new skills related to his Shadow and Earth elements.

The main reason he constructed skills instead of directly using elemental manipulation was because the time and focus it required to conjure a spear out of earth was much greater.

He had to visualize the entire process, mentally manipulate the ground, and then create a spear. Meanwhile, to use a skill of the same kind, he just needed to give a mental command.

The effort-cutting was great in that aspect. A skill was a prepackaged program, a template that could be executed with a single thought.

Klaus's darkness affinity was 4.15% now, the greatest among all his elements. With this affinity, he could easily create SS-ranked skills.

He gave some thought to various applications he could use the shadow element for.

He had also earlier noticed with his Phantasmal Veil that even though it was an S-ranked skill, it had some shortcomings. He had tried to use it in the battle with the EX Watcher, but the skill was simply ineffective and did not work as intended.

Klaus realized then the need for a better camouflage skill for his arsenal, one that could work on beings of higher ranks.

He decided to make a new SS-ranked skill and then fuse it with Phantasmal Veil to achieve a much better and more effective skill, an SSS-rank concealment skill.

This was the approach he always took to gain a higher-ranked skill with fusion. He did not want to waste any of his DP on drawing SSS-ranked skills, as he had much better use for them in the future.

He did the same for earth-ranked skills, and this is how he spent most of his time in those few days after the ranking battle.

It was an arduous process, requiring a significant amount of mental focus, but Klaus was able to do it with relative ease as he grew stronger, the SS rank-up had also boosted his mental strength.

It was not until William, his grandpa, told him about how he was going to the Antarctic region to neutralize the SSS-rank gate that Klaus's routine changed.

Klaus and William boarded a private jet that evening, which took off from the capital city. It was a five-hour flight, a significant journey, and only a few personal crew members were boarding the plane, except for those two.

The secrecy and the minimal crew reinforced the importance and the danger of their mission.

Klaus was now seated on the window side, looking at the blankets of clouds outside.

The sky was a vast, unending canvas of white and blue cotton-like clouds. He looked at the distant sun setting, painting the sky with an orange hue.

"You know, I am 100% sure the Legacy Families will not sit still after seeing your potential." William's voice sounded in his ears, and his voice was serious as it broke the silence between them.

He was referring to the brutal display of power Klaus had shown in the banquet and the ranking battle.

Klaus did not turn his head and simply said, "They can come for all I care. They will only taste defeat at my hands." His voice was filled with an unyielding confidence.

"And it might also be beneficial, since I will finally have a reason to wipe them out from the face of the earth."

William asked with a smile.

"Aren't you too confident, brat? What if the Paragons come? What then?" He felt that Klaus was simply not serious enough with the confidence he spoke. The Paragons were not a force to be underestimated.

"As I said, old man, I will wipe them out from the face of the earth," Klaus repeated, his voice cold, filled with a deep disdain.

"You can even say that I am waiting for them to make a move. Their actions have long-overdue consequences waiting for them."

"I don't understand what gives you such confidence to face them," William said, looking seriously at Klaus, as if he was not getting the complexity of the situation.

"Do you not understand that they are the strongest in the world? Your SSS rank is not enough to face all of them at once. Their combined power can destroy you easily." He sighed, not getting a reply back.

"I guess I will save your ass that day," William said before going silent.

"Yea, yea, we'll see, hehe." Klaus playfully teased William. He knew his grandpa's worry was genuine.

"You know, I had a son like you." William smiled, without moving his head. "He was as brazen as you. He was always confident about his strength, and he was a truly powerful individual." William's voice softened a bit, a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

"Damn! Old man, you had a son? I thought you were dying a virgin." Klaus blurted out, a wide grin on his face.

He had intended to be lighthearted, but the words were a bit too direct. William's face, however, showed a sad smile, a silent acceptance of the brutal joke.

He then turned to Klaus, his expression filled with a melancholic look, and said,

"He died many years ago, Klaus. But you... you are his spitting image. Even your personality, your brazenness, and your contempt for the powerful are all the same. He was a good man, a truly good man. I hope you will be too."

Klaus was speechless, his face showing a serious expression for the first time in the conversation.

The reality of William's loss had hit him with a heavy blow. He had thought that William was just a powerful, cold leader, but he was a man who had lost his family, his son, a man who was burdened with immense responsibilities. Klaus looked at William with a new sense of respect.

"I will, Grandpa," Klaus said, his voice soft, a rare hint of genuineness in his tone. "I will be a good man."

William smiled, a real smile this time. "I know you will" he said. He then returned his gaze to the clouds outside.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence.

The two men, bound by their shared pasts, their shared goals, and their shared losses, sat in silence.

The private jet cleaved through the gaseous clouds, its engines fueled by the magi fuel roaring like a beast. The amount of distance it covered in seconds might have taken hours if it was a normal jet on earth.

The flight was over. They landed on a small, hidden runway in the Antarctic region, surrounded by a vast expanse of snow and ice.

The cold air bit at Klaus's skin; he felt a familiar sensation to the time he visited the yeti gate about a month ago.

The SSS-rank gate was in front of them, a massive, swirling vortex of pure red energy.

The surroundings were filled with silence, which was only broken by cold winds and their footsteps.

Both of them walked towards the gate, which was now emitting a red hue.

Their figures appeared like an ant in front of the colossal size of the SSS-ranked gate, which could fit a few large buildings stacked on each other with ease.

Klaus was mesmerized by the contrasting view of red glow in the white background.

"Are you ready?" William asked, his voice low.

"Yes, Oldman," Klaus replied, his voice firm. "I am ready."

The two men entered the gate, unaware of the prying eyes of a few individuals hidden among the snow clouds.