[Forbidden Dragon Egg detected.]
[New Quest Unlocked: First Forbidden Contract]
Aleron's eyes widened as lines of glowing text filled his vision. His gaze instinctively dropped to the quest description below.
[New Quest Unlocked: First Forbidden Contract]
[Ashkar, the Dragon of Wrath, in its infancy stage, has been discovered.]
[This dragon is a transcendent entity belonging to one of the Twelve Ancient Dragons and meets the requirements for the host's contract process. Please initiate the signing procedure.]
"What?" Aleron muttered, his brows knitting in confusion. "Where is the dragon egg?"
He scanned his surroundings quickly, but before he could move, a sharp stench hit his nose. It was suffocating… An overwhelming mixture of rotting flesh, dried blood, and industrial decay.
The sight that followed struck him even harder than the smell. Scattered around him were dozens of black synthetic bags, some torn open, revealing pale, lifeless limbs and mangled bodies. Corpses, discarded without care.
He felt his heart twist in his chest. He clenched his fists, barely restraining rage. "The Genesis Coil…"
The name surfaced in his mind like a curse. A group shrouded in secrecy, known for their twisted experiments. They were a group of Summoners who had long since abandoned all morality.
This world was built on the foundation of Summoning. At the age of awakening, individuals gained a summoning slot—an ethereal pathway that allowed them to form contracts with magical beasts.
The ranks of these slots ranged from F to A, with rumors of a legendary S-grade slot passed down in myth, though none had ever confirmed the authenticity of it.
Aleron's predecessor—Subject 1317—had been born into one of the most prosperous summoner households. He, too, awakened a summoning slot. But unlike the others, every attempt to contract a beast failed.
At first, they thought it was because he was too young, but after a while, they realized something was wrong, either the contract process failed entirely or the beast died. It was as though he couldn't contract a summon despite having a summoning slot.
Because of this, his parents sold him to an organization… The Genesis Coil. They specialized in all sorts of experiments; his parents believed the organization would at least make something of him, even if it meant tearing him apart piece by piece.
And so, 1317 lived out his youth in a sterile cage, surrounded by silence.
His world had already turned grey, and he grew up under the warmth of the coldness of the world. At the final moments of his life, he didn't expect to be brutally killed in such fashion.
Aleron closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel it all—memories of a child who only ever wanted to be seen in a good light and feel true warmth.
"Fortunately, because of you, I'm here now," he whispered. "And with the power of dragons at my command… this entire world—no, the system itself, the heavens and the earth—will tremble before me."
Aleron was a middle-aged man living under the shackles of the system back then on earth.
Though his life was marginally better than that of 1317, it, too, had become colorless.
He breathed, but he was no longer living.
Only at the moment of death did he truly feel freedom. He remembered that sensation—the clarity, the weightlessness. He never wanted it to stop.
He vowed never to be shackled again… not ever!
…
Snapping out of his thoughts, Aleron focused on the system notification still blinking before him. Without wasting time, he began combing through the corpses, holding back the urge to vomit as the stench clawed at his throat. He moved body after body, searching for any sign of the dragon egg.
Minutes passed. He searched through nearly all of them, but there was nothing. Frowning, Aleron crawled out of the oppressive heat generated by the decomposing pile. The system hadn't specified the egg's exact location, only that Ashkar was nearby.
As he stood and wiped the sweat from his brow, he glanced back at the corpse heap. For a moment, he'd been one of them. Fortunately, fate had chosen otherwise.
Just as he was lost in a daze, he heard a few voices. Are they coming to check the bodies? Aleron wondered, his muscles tensing. Without hesitation, he crouched low and slipped into the underbrush, his eyes locked on the two men approaching the site.
The man on the right, dressed in a soiled lab coat, muttered, "Are you sure you dropped it here? I hate being around this trash."
The other man, who looked slightly younger and was moving more quickly, replied, "I don't like it either, but I'm certain. When I tossed 1317's body, I must've dropped my interface crystal. I need to find it. It cost a fortune."
Watching them from a distance, Aleron overheard their words. He watched them for a moment and saw as they began to go through the corpse, looking for the interface crystal.
After a few more seconds of watching, Aleron began quietly maneuvering toward the nearby transport truck, which the two men used to ferry "waste" in and out of the facility.
He moved in a crouch, making no sound as he slipped behind the truck's rusted frame. A quick glance inside revealed no guards. Just rows of containers and crates.
He exhaled in relief, then reached for the truck's latch. But the moment his fingers brushed against the metal, the system flared again.
[Ashkar's aura detected. Host, please proceed with the contract signing.]
Aleron froze.
It's in there?
Without a second thought, he opened the latch and climbed into the truck. Inside, among the dimly lit cargo, a bronze box sat just a few feet ahead of him.
The moment his eyes landed on it, he felt something stir deep within his chest. It felt like a pull, a connection. As though something inside that box was calling to him.
The dragon…
Without any hesitation, he quickly approached the egg. The system panel flashed in front of him.
[Ashkar, one of the twelve Forbidden SSS-Rank Dragons, has been located. Host, please initiate the signing process to hatch the egg.]
There was something different about the system's tone; it felt urgent, almost excited, as though the system couldn't wait to form the contract with the dragon. Aleron didn't waste time. "System," he asked inwardly, "how do I sign the contract?"
A response appeared at once.
[To sign the contract, place your palm on the dragon egg and release your Origin Energy. The bond will form immediately.]
Aleron paused. Origin Energy? What is that, and how do I release it? As the thought crossed his mind, a stream of information flooded his consciousness, instructing him on how to sense and release the mysterious force within.
Without hesitation, he reached forward and placed his palm on the smooth, warm surface of the egg. Instantly, something inside him stirred—a current of energy flowing through his veins, pulsing with life. It poured into the egg, linking them.
In that moment, he felt something unique. A consciousness that was ancient, vast, and seething with restrained fury responded to him.
Ashkar… The Primordial Dragon Of Wrath And Flames!
The connection deepened. Then, with a sharp cracking sound, a fissure appeared on the egg's surface.
Outside, the skies that had calmed suddenly changed the moment Ashkar, one of the sealed, forbidden dragons, was breaking out of its seals; it was as though the sky had collapsed.
Clouds churned violently, and thunder rumbled. Rain began to pour crazily, not as a gentle drizzle, but like a torrential downpour that soaked the earth in seconds.
An outpouring of rain began to fall all over the Origin World, as though the heavens were mourning the fate of this world.
Not just for misunderstanding the young boy who just wanted warmth, but for torturing him so much that his world turned grey.