After an exhausting day of breakthroughs, battles, and biology, Soren finally allowed himself the one luxury he rarely indulged in… sleep.
Curled up in his room with a half-wolf, half-fox creature snoring on his chest like a heater with fur, he drifted into unconsciousness with a satisfied smile.
By the time he woke up, the sun was already streaming through the window blinds.
"Damn... what time is it?" He muttered, rubbing his eyes.
Then it hit him… Zilant!
He sprang out of bed like a lightning bolt, ignoring everything, protesting the sudden movement, and teleported without even washing his face.
Manhattan Beach
A whisper of space-time warped above the waves.
Soren appeared on the empty shore, bare feet on the warm sand, eyes scanning the endless horizon.
"Alright, let's see how you've been doing, big guy." He closed his eyes and focused. "Zilant… come."
For a moment, nothing happened.
The sea trembled.
A low rumble echoed from the deep, as something vast was stirring. The surface churned. A series of massive ripples bulged outward… and then a colossal blue figure breached the ocean.
THWOOOM!!
Water exploded upward as a mountain-sized serpent launched itself into view, its scales gleaming in hues of electric blue and cobalt.
Its head alone was the size of a truck. Eyes like glaciers locked onto Soren, and its thick tongue flicked playfully.
"Zilant?! What the hell have you been eating, cargo ships?" Soren exclaimed, jaw dropping. "You were thirty meters last time. You're sixty now!"
Zilant responded with a gleeful hiss-screech, then surged toward him, trying to plant a wet, forked kiss on his creator.
"Whoa, nope~ no tongue!"
Soren teleported backward mid-air, reappearing on a nearby rock. "You've gotten too big for affection!"
Zilant coiled himself lazily near the shoreline, now resembling a small hill, scaled, muscular, and positively glowing with vitality.
With the violent genes scrubbed out by Soren's earlier work, Zilant had become far more obedient… and frighteningly well-fed.
"I told you to stay offshore."
Zilant blinked innocently.
"Yeah yeah, 'I only ate what swam too close'save it." Soren sighed. "You've basically had an all-you-can-eat buffet in a no-fishing zone."
Zilant gave a soft growl, tilting his head.
"But…" Soren's expression shifted to something more serious, "...you're growing too fast. I can't keep dragging a skyscraper-sized serpent with teleport gates. It drains me."
Zilant curled closer, sensing something was coming. His tongue flicked nervously.
"Easy, buddy." Soren said gently, removing a glowing vial of pale blue serum from his pouch. It shimmered with gene-script.
"This…" he said, "is your next upgrade. You trust me, right?"
Zilant's huge head lowered. A slow nod.
Soren walked up to his side and injected the serum directly beneath the scale at the base of his skull.
"This will hurt like hell. You've gotta be strong."
The change was immediate.
Zilant convulsed violently.
A deep, thunderous howl tore from his throat as his body began to mutate. Scales cracked and flaked away, revealing glowing, black-metallic skin beneath.
Electric arcs danced along his spine, and a bone-chilling frost spread over the ground.
"Ride it out!" Soren shielding his eyes from the burst of radiant energy.
The massive serpent thrashed and rolled, gouging the earth, shattering nearby rocks. His screams echoed across the coast.
New scales burst forth, dark as obsidian, trimmed in cyan veins of electricity. Ice crystals formed around his body as a visible layer of frost-mist spread like a cape. Bone spurs erupted along his spine and tail, jagged and dangerous, giving him the appearance of an ancient apex predator.
And finally, he shrank. From nearly 60 meters to a sleeker, tighter 40-meter form, though far more condensed in power.
Lightning shimmered in the air around him. The temperature dropped rapidly.
Zilant slowly uncurled, letting out a low, bass-filled hiss as his transformed form stabilized.
Soren approached with cautious awe.
"...You look like something out of a myth."
Zilant's new body radiated danger and majesty, like a living storm coiled in serpentine form.
"You've got ice in your breath, lightning in your blood, and bone blades tougher than vibranium..." Soren grinned, nodding in satisfaction.
"That's what I call evolution."
Zilant let out a softer, more controlled hiss, nuzzling his massive head against Soren, gently this time.
"Still a softie, huh? You're just a big puppy in dragon form."
He opened his interface and tapped into the system's scanner.
[King Anaconda: Zilant]
[World Level B+]
[Abilities: Lightning Lv 7, Ice Lv 7, Strangulation Lv 8, Scale Defense Lv 9, Rapid Regeneration Lv 8]
Holy sh~ he actually broke into B+?"
The strength in those stats was monstrous. Any one of those abilities could level a town.
The idea that Zilant was now one evolutionary leap away from A-rank, a realm reserved for dragons, demigods, and ancient titans, was exhilarating.
"So... if I find another set of high-tier genes, and the body accepts it. We're in 'apocalypse deterrent' territory."
He turned to Zilant, who was slowly lifting his massive head. Electricity still crackled through his scales like storm clouds hugging mountains, but his vertical eyes shone with calm intelligence.
"Zilant, how do you feel, big guy?" Soren asked, smiling.
Zilant blinked slowly and let out a quiet, pleased rumble. His tongue flicked, and he leaned in, gently nuzzling Soren with his snout in gratitude.
The static clinging to his scales didn't harm Soren, but...
Zzzpt!
"Agh... okay, okay, easy on the voltage! I get it, you're happy!" Soren yelped, rubbing his arm as tiny sparks danced across his skin.
Zilant coiled up, still grinning (as much as a massive frost-thunder serpent could grin).
But Soren's smile soon faded.
"Still…" He murmured. "As much as I love how far you've come, I can't keep teleporting your forty-meter tail around or keep you hidden here. If I leave you out here, some tourist's going to scream 'sea monster' and start bringing attention."
Zilant tilted his head with a questioning growl.
"No offense," Soren added. "You're majestic. But... also terrifying."
Zilant blinked innocently. A snowflake formed on his nostril and dropped like a feather.
"Alright. You rest here for now. I've got an idea where you might fit in."
Asgard
The Asgardian warrior stood firm, his armor gleaming under the celestial light as he gazed intently at the shimmering portal. Without warning, a figure materialized from the swirling vortex,.
His hand gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to strike down whatever threat had dared to breach the sacred threshold.
But then, the warrior froze.
It was Soren.
Soren, the famed wanderer, whose name had been whispered across realms, stood before the guard, disheveled and tired.
"Honorable guest." The warrior began, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and confusion. "What... what brings you here?"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Dare you peek into my other tales? The opening three chapters of select stories are free to all.
PhantomDream