The Gator's body began to shift—its length expanding like a blade sliding free from its sheath, doubling in size. Its form segmented into jagged, razor-edged layers, the most terrifying of which formed along its whip-like tail.
Jayden's breath had already begun to slip from him, ragged and fleeting. His final memories played out like a reel of fading visions—the laughter, the sorrow, all the fragments of life that now seemed so distant. There was no going back; he had stepped beyond the point of return.
"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely. "I'm sorry, Eggey, for being selfish."
The Gator coiled in midair, its segmented blades gleaming as they closed around Jayden. Just as the razors neared his flesh—
Light.
A blinding illumination erupted from the egg, bathing the cavern in radiant darkness, paradoxically beautiful and terrifying. A deep shift vibrated through the air, as though reality itself had cracked. Then came the sound—not of glass or shell, but of existence hatching.
The egg burst with divine brilliance, its cracked spaces releasing pure mana so concentrated that even the pain racking Jayden's body was smothered by its weight. It was the catalyst the egg had awaited for years: a depth of mana so dense, so primal, it awakened what had long been dormant.
And then, it emerged.
A dragon.
A baby dragon.
Its eyes were a deep, soul-piercing blue, and its scales shimmered with glowing crimson-red. Cat-like ears perched over its head, lending it a strange mix of adorable and regal. Hair of blue and gold flowed gently down its head and across its small body, trailing like an aura. A short tail curled behind it, ending in a sharp, arrow-like point.
Jayden could barely see the creature through the haze of pain and fear. His eyes were closing, but his outstretched hand pulsed with mana—hope made manifest.
The dragon responded.
One of its four limbs touched Jayden's hand, and in that moment, their mana fused.
They became one.
Jayden's eyes turned pure white as an overwhelming gust of wind exploded from his body, blasting the Gator across the cavern and into the stone wall. Power—raw, untamed, divine—coursed through his veins.
When the storm calmed, Jayden stood tall. His eyes were now the same deep blue as the dragon's, his body still human but marked—a glowing dragon sigil emblazoned on his chest.
The baby dragon had granted him a 80% increase in strength, a 50% boost to his speed, and more than that—knowledge. Knowledge so vast and ancient it bypassed the need for books. His mind now held clarity no scholar could rival.
When he opened his eyes, he didn't just see. He perceived.
"These are mature earth crystals, formed from a rare fusion of terrestrial energy and mana," he whispered, gazing at the glowing gems surrounding him, all planted on the walls. He could see the bonding lines, the maturation rates, even the energies pulsing through each crystal.
The Gator charged again, its fear now more palpable than its aggression.
But Jayden saw everything. The patterns of its movement, the rhythm of its strikes—and most importantly, the mana disturbance around its neck.
"See that mana disorder near its cervical flow," said a voice inside Jayden's mind.
Jayden didn't flinch. He heard it clearly.
'I see it. The flow's unstable right there,' he replied, his thoughts now merged with the dragon's.
"Strike at angle 270°," the dragon instructed, its voice deep and ancient, like echoes from a forgotten world.
Jayden waited, calculating. Then, with a single sharp motion, his leg shot upward in a devastating kick, piercing the exact point between two vital vertebrae. The Gator was thrown once more into the wall, its anguished cry echoing across the cavern. Something had broken within it.
It collapsed, not dead—but defeated.
"I'm... I'm alive," Jayden breathed, trembling. Then his mind flashed back to the beast he could barely see in his blurry gaze . "But... was that a cat or a dragon?"
"When you should be thanking me, you're busy questioning my species," the dragon grumbled within his mind. "Do I look like a cat to you?"
Jayden chuckled. "You're talking to me... but tamers and beasts can't normally do that."
"And that's exactly why I'm a dragon, you child."
"Hey, easy! You just hatched and you're already calling me a child? What do you even know about life?"
"If I'd known you were this disrespectful, I wouldn't have fused with you," the dragon snapped.
"Alright, alright. Sorry. But what I don't get is—why don't I have any physical dragon features?"
"Even worse... you're a novice," the dragon sighed.
"Ohh, I get it now," Jayden muttered as the knowledge flowed in like distant memories. "We're at the lowest D³ rank. As we level up, the physical traits will begin to manifest."
"Exactly," the dragon said, purring faintly.
Jayden grinned. "You should've seen how they laughed at me. The shame, the insults, one called me egg man, it was funny—"
"Spare me," the dragon cut in. "I heard everything, especially that heartless father of yours. Honestly, the main reason I fused with you... is so we can beat the living hell out of him once we level up."
Jayden laughed aloud, his eyes glowing with a fierce new light, his body even though bruised felt lively than ever.
"So what should I call you?" he asked, smirking.
"I don't like names. Just call me 'Dragon.' It's more regal."
"Nah. That sounds way too prideful. I'll call you Alpha.
"Whatever, I like it though."
Jayden paused to take a good look at himself. Although he still looked completely human, the injuries scattered across his body felt drowned by his newfound enthusiasm. He had come in search of a beast with A-rank potential—only to realize he had an SSS-ranked dragon all along.
Life coursed through his veins stronger than ever, and with a mere breath, he calculated the time it would take for mana poisoning to affect him.
"Eight hours," he smirked, answering what had taken scientists countless trials and failures to discover—until they succeeded with dragons.
"What's next?" Jayden asked with a grin, more agile than ever, his body electrified with excitement from gaining the most expensive beast with nothing but average SAT scores.
"Look ahead," the dragon said inside his head.
"Is that..." Jayden muttered, eyes narrowing as he looked past the shattered wall—blown open by the Gator. "That's an underground factory." His voice dropped to a whisper as he rushed closer for a better view.
Beyond the wall stretched a vast, bustling facility—no, a laboratory—built deep beneath the surface across two stories. It was fully fenced, secured at every angle by armored soldiers and technological surveillance.
"I've heard rumors that MAGEO had a hidden headquarters... but who would've thought it was underground," Jayden whispered, baffled by the scene before him. The mana concentration radiating from the place was suffocating—immense, refined, dangerous.
"Look deeper, Jayden," Alpha smirked.
Jayden focused, his eyes tracing the glowing mana patterns weaving outside and within the underground lab.
"Those patterns... those shapes..." he whispered, as billions of strands of knowledge unraveled in his mind. "They're similar to dragons... and human mana patterns."
"Exactly, Jayden. There are about seventy dragons in there—and many more still being processed."
"What...?" Jayden exhaled in disbelief. It was clear now—he could see the half-visible mana forms behind the walls like heat signature being read behind an obstacle: dragon-like energy constructs, breathing, waiting.
"Most of what we need for our dragon cultivation... is in there."
"Seriously?" Jayden asked, his voice slightly trembling. "What natural elemental type are you?"
"I'm capable of using all elements. But we must start by cultivating one."
"You said what now?" Jayden blinked, looking at himself as if expecting to see the dragon speking out.
"I said, we have to start with one."
"No, no—did I hear you say you can use all four elements?"
"Yes. But history must never know that. We lived somewhere below the heavens. One day, the four clans decided to crossbreed all elemental bloodlines. Later on, the Water Arcade won... by killing the rest. My death was assumed. I guess they celebrated too soon."
Jayden's breath slowed.
"You're telling me there's an entire realm full of dragons?"
"Didn't I share that memory with you?"
"Nope," Jayden smirked.
"Maybe cross-realm memories don't transfer. Doesn't matter now. So... what will it be, Jayden?"
Jayden's mind calculated at lightning speed:
Water crystals are hard to find—they flow with the sea, and only a few reach shore.
Air crystals—I can condense mana in containers and cool it for a week. Easier.
Flame crystals—I'll need to heat mana under the sun. Manageable.
Earth crystals—those will require going deep underground to find mature ones. That's risky… mana rats, mana worms…
He grinned darkly.
"Let's go with Earth first," he said with a sharp, almost villainous smile.
"That's the toughest. Why?" Alpha asked with suspicion.
"Because I don't want to draw too much attention to myself. Let them think I'm weak. No one's going to believe the Eggman hatched a dragon. And I'll use that doubt... as my fifth element."
"In that case, we'll need a fragment of an Earth dragon's Core... and one hundred mature earth crystals to activate ours."
Heat stirred in Jayden's chest. His gaze locked onto the underground lab with deadly seriousness.
"The fragment... it's in there, right?"
"Yes. All we need is a tiny slice of it."
And then, Jayden made his decision—the one that would shape the path of his evolution.
His voice dropped, deep, desperate, and unflinching:
"We have eight hours to get it done."