Yep, I called it.
I haven’t even started training him yet, and I already have a headache coming on.
Leon rubbed his temple lightly, then looked back at Jasper.
“Listen, kid.”
Jasper stayed tense, still guarded and unconvinced.
“I’m not actually your grandfather,” Leon said.
He paused.
“I was your parents’ master.”
Jasper blinked.
“…Of course you were,” he muttered under his breath.
Leon ignored it.
“Your parents weren’t ordinary people.” He gestured slightly.
“They practiced martial and mystic arts. The kind of things you wouldn’t believe.”
Jasper crossed his arms.
“…Yeah. You’re right. I wouldn’t.”
Leon exhaled slowly, patience thinning.
“Yes, yes, ‘crazy old man,’ I get it.” He waved it off.
“I don’t have time to explain everything right now.”
Jasper frowned.
“What do you mean you don’t have—”
Leon cut him off.
“Your summer break is coming up, isn’t it?”
Jasper hesitated.
“…Yeah.”
Leon nodded.
“Good. I’ll wait for you at the orphanage.”
“The Roaring Dragon Scale Orphanage,” he added.
“I need to speak with Miss Myra as well.”
That put Jasper on edge.
“…Why?”
“Because I owe her.
For raising you.” Leon paused, then added casually, “I’ll be bringing her a gift.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes.
“What kind of gift?”
“Forty million dollars.”
Silence.
Jasper stared at him.
“…Yeah. Okay.” _This guy is completely insane._
But there was no hesitation in Leon’s voice.
Just certainty.
That made Jasper hesitate too.
“Your parents would’ve done the same, if they could,” Leon said.
He looked at Jasper one last time.
“I’ll be waiting.”
And just like that, he disappeared.
No flash.
No sound.
Just gone.
Jasper’s eyes widened.
“…What the—”
He spun around.
Nothing.
No footsteps.
No presence.
Just the quiet park.
His breathing became uneven.
“…How did he…?”
For the rest of the day, Jasper moved like a ghost.
Classes passed.
Voices blurred.
Time slipped away.
But one thought stayed, clear and unshakable:
_How did that old man just disappear?_
For the first time, Jasper didn’t dismiss it.
Not completely.
Jasper sat at his desk, still and silent.
Around him, students leaned toward each other.
Not with lessons.
With whispers.
Glances.
Judgment.
“Did you see what happened at lunch?”
“Man embarrassed himself.”
“I would’ve transferred schools after that.”
Some didn’t bother whispering.
They just stared.
To them, Jasper looked broken.
Head lowered, eyes unfocused, quiet and ashamed.
They were wrong.
Jasper wasn’t replaying the humiliation.
_How did he disappear?_
That question echoed.
Nothing else stuck.
Across the room, Clarissa laughed with her friends like nothing happened.
Beside her, Michael Frost smirked, glancing at Jasper like they’d put him in his place.
They didn’t know.
They couldn’t know.
The story they thought they were part of wasn’t even on their level.
Not close.
Somewhere beyond this city, beyond this planet, forces were moving.
Legacies older than their families.
Wealth that made “rich” look small.
To Clarissa and Michael, money meant status.
Control.
Compared to what was coming, it was nothing.
Jasper sat quietly, unaware of the scale.
Unaware that his life was about to be overturned.
All because of one man.
And one promise.
The final bell rang.
Freedom.
Chairs shifted.
Voices rose.
“Enjoy your summer break,” the teacher said.
“Essay assignment: what you did during your summer break.”
Groans followed.
Jasper packed quietly, mind still on the park.
“Jasper.”
His name rang across the room.
Loud.
Intentional.
Clarissa Jones stood there with a sneer.
“I hope you remember your place,” she said.
“We come from two completely different worlds. Don’t try to speak to me again.”
She tilted her head.
“Do I make myself clear to you ?”
Jasper looked at her.
No anger.
Just clarity.
“You’re telling me not to speak to you, but yet here you are, shouting my name across the entire classroom?” He raised an eyebrow a sneer playing on his face.
“That sounds more like you’re begging for attention. Goodbye, Clarissa. I hope you find it. You thot”
He turned and walked away.
No hesitation.
Silence for half a second.
Then: “…Did he just—?”
“He actually—”
The room erupted.
“…He clapped back.” “No way.”
Even Michael frowned.
That wasn’t the Jasper he expected.
He scoffed.
“…Whatever. Let him have that little moment. Next term I’ll remind him where he belongs.”
His friends laughed.
But something had shifted.
Small, but real.
Jasper didn’t feel like he belonged to their world anymore.
Not even a little.
By the time Jasper reached the orphanage, the sun was dipping.
The familiar gates creaked open.
Home.
Kids ran around, laughing.
“Jasper’s back!”
He gave a small nod and smile, then stepped inside.
“…Aunt Myra?”
No response.
That was strange.
He moved toward the main room and stopped.
Aunt Myra sat at the table.
Leon sat across from her, calm and composed, like he belonged there.
And Myra was beaming.
“Jasper! You’re back!” She stood up quickly.
Jasper blinked.
“…Yeah. What’s going on?”
Myra laughed, overwhelmed.
“Oh, Jasper, you won’t believe this.”
Jasper’s eyes shifted to Leon.
Leon gave him a small, knowing look.
Myra continued.
“This gentleman came here earlier today.”
Jasper crossed his arms.
“Yeah. I know.”
Myra blinked.
“You do?”
Leon spoke calmly.
“We’ve already met.”
Myra smiled.
“Well, that makes things easier.” She turned to Jasper.
“He told me everything.”
Jasper raised an eyebrow.
“…Everything?”
Leon leaned back.
“My version of everything.”
Myra’s voice softened.
“Jasper, your parents…”
Jasper’s expression tightened.
“They’re alive.”
Silence.
That word hit hard.
“They’ve been away a long time,” Myra added quickly.
Leon stepped in.
“There was an accident years ago. You were separated. They’ve been searching for you ever since.”
Jasper said nothing.
“They’re wealthy. Very wealthy,” Leon continued.
Myra laughed softly.
“He wasn’t exaggerating. The amount he donated to the orphanage…”
Jasper already knew.
“…Forty million dollars.”
Silence.
When he opened his eyes, he looked at Leon.
“…Right.”
Leon gave a faint shrug.
“I told you.”
Myra stepped closer.
“They never forgot about you. Now you have a chance to reconnect.”
Jasper looked between them.
“…So what happens now?”
“You come with me. For the summer,” Leon said.
“For what?”
“To learn about your family. Your background. Where you come from.”
Myra nodded.
“It’s a good opportunity, Jasper. You deserve answers.”
Jasper hesitated.
Something still didn’t add up.
But Leon disappearing, the details he knew, Myra trusting him…
Jasper exhaled slowly.
“…Alright. I’ll go.”
Leon nodded once.
“Good.”
A faint, satisfied look crossed his face.
_Hooked._
Myra smiled brightly.
“That’s settled then!”
But as Jasper stood there, one thought lingered:
_This isn’t just about my parents._
And somehow, he knew his life had just changed completely.
*Orphanage — Negotiation*
Jasper’s gaze hardened.
“On one condition.”
Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“…Go on.”
“You donated forty million here,” Jasper said calmly.
“Do the same thing. Not just here. To every orphanage in Dragon’s Scale.”
Silence.
Leon blinked.
Then his eye twitched.
“…You want me to do what?”
“There are kids like me everywhere,” Jasper said.
“If you’re really what you say you are, help all of them.”
Leon exhaled slowly.
“…There are fifteen orphanages in Dragon’s Scale. You’re basically asking me to burn through hundreds of millions.”
His eye twitched again.
“You might as well tell me to rob a bank.”
Jasper shrugged.
“You said my parents were rich. This shouldn’t be a problem.”