So, the way to bring out Erza's potential requires the usage of a Dragon Lacrima. Since Karna still had the fragments of the R-System Etherion, a small shard was more than enough to craft a Lacrima that could house the power of the dragon hidden inside Erza's body.
Though there are signs of Erza already exhibiting the traits of having a dragonic gene within the canon timeline itself. She had suffered countless types of abuse throughout the years and had always managed to survive them every single time. Even the scars that she obtained were gone after some time. The only notable wound was her eye, which she lost in her childhood due to R-System slavery. But even then, her body managed to strengthen that artificial eye even more.
Her vitality and body strength had clearly surpassed most of the already existing natural Dragon Slayers. But even then, that can only be described as the residual power of the true dragon energy present within her.
So Karna decided to go forward with his idea. It involved the implantation of a Dragon Lacrima that did not contain any sort of draconic energy, unlike every other completed Lacrima, into Erza's body. The Lacrima would absorb the draconic energy hidden deep within Erza's body, and right before it's completely turned into a Dragon Slayer Lacrima, Karna would break it directly inside Erza's body. That concentrated amount of draconic energy would kickstart Erza's dragon side to activate completely.
But since a procedure like this had never been done before, it was incredibly risky. Since Erza is the first of her species, there is no research done about the aftereffects or anything of a similar sort.
So this procedure would be done and overseen by Karna, Cana, Wendy, and Grandine. All of them are experts in medical science. To make sure the procedure went on without any problems, Grandine used a spell to transform into a humanoid form.
She looked exactly like Porlyusica, except with white hair.
The other members were worried about the procedure, especially Laxus, who still remembered the time Ivan had implanted the Thunder Dragon Lacrima within him. The pain was so traumatizing for him that his entire character had changed at the end.
Ultear wanted to give a hand, but she was still unable to use her Arc of Time on other living beings. Plus, her medical expertise was not as deep as the other members in the operation. So she decided to stay nearby in case her magic was needed for the procedure.
"Are you nervous?" Karna asked Erza, who was currently lying down on the makeshift operating table.
"No, I am sure all of you all will keep me safe no matter what happens," Erza replied without even an ounce of doubt in her voice.
"This procedure will require you to undergo the pain without any anesthetic. Wendy will use her magic to mitigate the pain as much as possible, but even then, you will suffer unimaginable pain. Are you prepared for it?" Grandine asked as the procedure was about to begin.
Erza chuckled.
"Pain is something I will be able to handle easily."
That made the mood a bit sombre, but they decided to go forth with the procedure.
The procedure started without any problems, and the transplantation of the electric blue Lacrima onto Erza's chest was completed without any issues.
Surprisingly, Erza did not even wince when the cuts were made to implant the Lacrima inside her. Karna felt that it made sense, since Erza had not flinched when the Second Origin runes were implanted in her body, compared to the others who were screaming in pain due to it.
After the implantation, every single person in the room maximized their sensing capabilities to assess the condition of the Lacrima implanted in Erza.
After a few minutes, they were able to feel the Lacrima slowly filling up with dense reddish energy. As they waited, they observed Erza slightly wincing, showing that for the first time ever, she was actually feeling a level of pain that she was unable to handle.
But they did not lose their focus. They were focused closely on the energy that was getting filled in the Lacrima container.
"Now!!" Grandine gave the signal, and immediately Karna activated the runes implanted on the Lacrima, shattering it while it was inside Erza's body.
The runes were there for two purposes: one, to shatter the accumulated draconic energy within Erza's body, and two, to use the Etherion shards of the Lacrima to increase Erza's strength without destroying her from the inside.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Erza started screaming as she felt the chaotic energy awaken within her body.
"Use the breathing method now, Erza!!" Karna advised as he felt the energy destabilize inside her.
Hearing this, Erza clenched her teeth and activated Total Concentration Breathing, causing the chaotic energy within her to form a state of order.
Suddenly, a pillar of scarlet rose from Erza and stretched into the sky.
The power attracted the attention of other dragons in the vicinity.
"What do you know, it's interesting," Igneel commented as he felt the birth of a new species.
"Can we do something similar to our Dragon Slayers?" Metallicana asked, as he too understood the significance of this power.
"Maybe…" Igneel muttered.
By then, the pillar of scarlet energy had dissipated, leaving a tired Erza, who was currently sleeping on the bed.
The others immediately checked her vitals and found that there were no problems.
"We should let her rest, but for now, we can say for sure that there are no problems," Grandine said while the others nodded.
Cana caught Wendy as she fainted. The pain Erza endured during the procedure was so intense that Wendy was exhausted from supplying the spell to reduce it.
"This experience will help her a lot in the future," Grandine muttered softly. Then she turned to Karna.
"You understand what your comrade has turned into, right?" she asked with a small smile.
"Yeah," Karna grinned. "This is going to change the entire playing field."
He then looked at Erza, who was sleeping peacefully.
"The first Sixth Generation Dragon Slayer," he muttered, declaring the beginning of a new set of Dragon Slayers.
A/N – Hope you like it.