James kept his head down through diagnostics.
The machine read his vitals in silence, Aether sensors crawling across his arms and spine, tiny flashes of light blinking from the implant nodes every cadet received at enrollment. The nurse—a thin woman with tired eyes and a clean uniform—didn't speak as she moved from one display to the next.
On the third scan, she paused.
The monitor buzzed faintly.
James watched her brow knit ever so slightly.
"What is it?" he asked.
She didn't answer, not directly. Just tapped a few more readings and frowned deeper.
"There's an inconsistency," she murmured. "Your core pattern keeps shifting. It's not stable, but it's not… broken, either."
"Like a glitch?"
"No. A glitch we could fix. This is something else. Like you're syncing with a secondary frequency." She turned to him fully. "Has anyone in your family ever manifested dual traits?"
"I don't have a family record," James said.
She clicked her tongue. "Well, whatever's happening, it's outside our standard metrics."
The monitor flared again, then flatlined back to green.
"Cleared. You can go."
James left before she could ask more.
He already knew what it was.
Not a secondary frequency.
A second heart.
---
The assignment came later that day. Instructor Varra handed it to him without explanation.
"Report to the Substructure Maintenance Path. You're assisting a core engineer with a zone relay recalibration."
James took the slip, eyebrows rising. "That's not standard for a combat track student."
"You're not on the combat track."
Right. D-Class.
He almost argued, then thought better of it.
The location scrawled across the assignment wasn't just unusual—it was practically forgotten. Sector B-12. Deep maintenance path. Below the academy proper.
He recognized the level.
It ran close to the ruins.
The warmth in his chest responded instantly.
The Core System pulsed before he even took his first step.
[Quest Branching Event Triggered]
> Path Alignment Detected: Primary Bond Influence Strong
Environmental Factor: Proximity to Root-Sync Crystal Zone
System Suggestion: Investigate anomalies in assigned zone
James exhaled through his nose, tension pulling at his shoulders. The system wasn't exactly subtle. But it was honest.
Something was waiting down there.
---
Sector B-12 was colder than he expected.
The deeper levels of Solaria weren't built for comfort—just function. Stone arches gave way to plated floors and humming conduits. Pipes crisscrossed the ceilings like exposed arteries. Lights flickered, half-charged. Everything smelled like dust and ozone.
The engineer was late.
James waited five minutes.
Then ten.
The warmth in his chest pulsed again. Once. Twice. Urgent now.
He didn't wait longer.
Instead, he moved deeper.
The corridor narrowed, becoming less maintained with every turn. Cracks spidered through the stone walls. Glyphs—faded, older than academy design—lined the edges of the path.
And further ahead, a dull red glow illuminated the far chamber.
He stepped into the open space.
At first, it looked like a collapsed monitoring room—tables overturned, shattered screens, conduits spilling wires like veins. But in the center, surrounded by a broken ring of crystal stabilizers, stood a monolith of dark stone.
Not tech.
Not even Aether crystal.
Just raw, ancient stone, pulsing faintly with light. It looked carved by flame and pressure—melted, reshaped, reforged.
And it hummed.
Not audibly. Not with sound.
But through his bones.
The Core System flared the moment he got within five meters.
[Proximity Alert – High-Aether Density Signature Detected]
> Source Match: Crimson Egg Core – 62% Similarity
Unknown Material: Draconic Obsidian (Resonant)
Bond Response: Sundrakar's Core reacting…
James stumbled forward.
The heat surged—his breath catching in his throat, eyes stinging. His vision blurred. And then—
He was somewhere else.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Emotionally.
A memory, maybe. Not his.
The ground beneath him was molten. The sky bled fire. A shadow towered above him, wings spread so wide they eclipsed the light. Scales of ruby and gold shimmered like a living forge. Eyes—massive and ancient—burned down into him.
> You are not yet worthy.
The voice thundered, but not cruelly.
Firm.
True.
> But the flame recognizes you, little sun.
Then—
Reality snapped back.
James gasped, falling to one knee.
The monolith pulsed once more, then went silent.
The system blinked:
[Bond Synchronization Increased – 21%]
> Trait Mutation Unlocked: Core Affinity Shift (Flame Resonance – Passive)
User Environment Scan Expanded – Flamebound Signature Registered
He stood slowly.
Whatever this thing was—it had been buried here for a reason.
And Sundrakar had responded to it.
This was part of the dragon's story.
Part of his own.
He turned back toward the corridor.
Footsteps echoed down the hall.
Not the engineer.
Faster. Heavier.
James stepped back, heart spiking.
Then a voice rang out.
"Well, well. And here I thought they sent you down here to sweep pipes."
Vale.
Of course.