The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 853  Jones Is Back

Sitting in the separate space, the Darklight Host Guild had no way to know of the chaos that was unfolding in the city of Drodh. For their newest Ascendant resident had just returned to his home. Jones was back from his private island.

The aura of a Totem Ranked Dragon was impossible to miss, as he lived in the suburbs, which were still rather densely populated, even if they werenʼt as packed as the Sprawl.

Plus, his species had changed along with his advancement, so while he still felt somewhat familiar, none of the neighbours knew if it was Jones, or some powerful family member who had shown up at his house unannounced and then refused to take visitors.

Finally, the arrival of Domesk and Rashid, the Totem Ranked Overseers of the Stone Chapel and Forest Gate districts of the city, had prompted Jones to answer his door.

”Good afternoon Gentlemen. I didnʼt expect your arrival so soon. Please do come in for tea.” Jones greeted them, as if he hadnʼt just been ignoring them standing outside his door for the previous ten minutes.

The two demons, one red skinned Wrath Demon, and one feathered Magic Demon, took seats in the ancient recliners across from the aged sofa covered in knit blankets where Jones was lounging with a plate full of sandwiches and tea.

Domesk broke the tension with a smile. ”It seems you have had a fortunate opportunity, old friend. To have evolved from a Magma Dragon to reach the Totem Rank is something worth celebrating. I donʼt suppose that you could let us in on the method, could you?” Jones smiled. ”I traded Ancient Treasures with one favoured by the World Dragon, and he gave me the last piece of the puzzle needed to refine my bloodline. A most curious sort of exchange, I admit. But it has worked out wonderfully for me.

In a hundred years, when I reach the peak of Totem Rank, perhaps I will try to find another similar opportunity and make it to the Mythic Rank.”

A hundred years was not so long for a Totem Ranked Demon or Dragon. In fact, it could be said to be incredibly fast to reach the pinnacle of Totem Rank, even if you had the potential to go past it and into the realm of Myth.

”So, what are you planning to do now that you have reached the Totem Rank?” Rashid asked cautiously.

The Frostfire Gate district, a suburban area outside the city walls, didnʼt technically have an overseer. It was split between him and Domesk, whose areas of the inner city bordered that portion of the suburbs.

Jones smiled languidly, relishing the fact that these pillars of the city now had to be nice to him, as his potential and power was no worse than their own. Dragons had an innate advantage over most species at their own Rank, thanks to their immense mana reserve and affinity for their elements. ”You know, I was thinking. Itʼs such a long ways from your house to mine. Why donʼt I just look after these neighbours of mine, and you can look after yours inside the wall?”

The Demons chuckled softly at that. Outside the wall was a larger and more highly populated region than the affluent south side of the city inside the walls. What Jones was proposing was to give himself dominion over the largest district of the city.

Domesk shrugged and slightly bared his gleaming white fangs. ”Unfortunately, that will have to go before the Lord and the full council of Totems. The two of us alone donʼt have the authority to change the borders.”

Watching the trio of Totems walk through the city gates and down the main street towards the castle naturally caught the attention of everyone on the south side of the city, and by the time that they had made it to the City Governorʼs office, the word had already spread all the way across the Sprawl.

Jones was a familiar face to everyone, with some slightly shady connections.

He was the sort of dragon that could get you anything. For a price. There were some things that he flat out refused to take part in, like trafficking people and weapons. But for anything else, it was just a matter of how difficult it was for the old Dragon to get it for you.

It was widely rumoured that it was Jones who kept the Frostfire Gate suburbs from becoming the next Black Shade Slum. Not because he brought money to the region, he was notoriously stingy. But because he wouldnʼt tolerate criminals on his territory, so there were no gangs oppressing others on the south side of the city, which let them send money in and out, along with goods by merchant wagon.

Domesk and Rashid werenʼt blind to it. However, as Jones was capped at the Overlord Rank by his bloodline as a Magma Dragon, he wasnʼt previously a threat to the higher authorities, and they could treat him like any other crime boss in the city.

However, now that he was a Totem, ostensibly one of their group of powerful leaders, things would have to change.

They could overlook most of what he was doing, as he wasnʼt directly doing anything illegal. But there were a few aspects of his influence that would need to be curtailed if they were going to keep things running smoothly. Like his illicit trade in Skill Books that were supposed to be going through the Library.

There was an excellent reason for that practice. Keeping track of who had rare and powerful skill combinations, who was making more Skill Books, and more importantly, who had the ability but was not making or selling skill books, were all important things to know for a capital city.

If he was just handing out dangerous skills to unknown parties, what sort of chaos could it cause in the city?

Jones was well aware of their reservations about him. But it took the Ancient Dragon real effort not to let slip that the whole reason he had reached Totem Rank was because he had the ability and willingness to part with the sort of rare and powerful hidden skills and treasures that others did not.