I didn't collapse because I was weak.
I collapsed because my body was changing.
The moment the last hunter's blood soaked into the earth, the dragon core inside my chest ignited. Not with heat—but with pressure. Dense, crushing pressure that made it hard to breathe.
My vision blurred.
I tried to crawl away from the corpses, but my limbs betrayed me. Pain flooded every nerve as my muscles locked, then spasmed violently.
This wasn't healing.
This was something worse.
My scales cracked.
Not from damage—but from growth.
I screamed, a raw, animal sound torn from my throat as my body convulsed. Old scales split apart, peeling away to reveal darker, thicker ones beneath. My bones burned as they lengthened, reshaping themselves with brutal efficiency.
So this is evolution…
No gentle glow.
No blessing.
Only suffering.
The dragon core spun wildly, siphoning energy from everything—meat still digesting in my stomach, lingering mana in the air, even the fading fear left behind by the hunters.
Information slammed into my mind.
[Evolution Condition Met]
[Bloodline: Incomplete Ancient Dragon — Dormant]
[Initiating Forced Evolution: Lesser Dragon]
Ancient?
The word echoed ominously.
I didn't have time to process it.
My wings twitched violently. The thin membranes tore and reformed, wider and denser than before. My claws elongated, digging trenches into stone as my tail slammed against the ground uncontrollably.
I felt myself losing consciousness.
"No," I growled internally. "Not now."
I clenched my mind around the dragon core, refusing to let it run rampant. The rotation slowed—just enough.
The pain stabilized.
Minutes passed. Or hours.
When the pressure finally eased, I lay broken among the ruins, body steaming faintly in the cold air.
But I was alive.
I forced my eyes open.
The world looked… different.
Sharper.
I could see mana drifting like mist, hear distant heartbeats beneath layers of stone, smell fear lingering on the wind.
I lifted a claw.
It was larger. Thicker. Stronger.
My reflection in a shard of broken stone showed a dragon no longer pitifully small. Still young—but no longer prey.
A lesser dragon.
Status flooded my awareness—not as floating text, but instinctual certainty.
Evolution Complete.
New Traits Unlocked:
– Enhanced Mana Circulation
– Hardened Scales
– Predatory Awareness (Upgraded)
My wounds had sealed completely. Even the spear injury in my side had closed, leaving only a jagged scar.
I exhaled slowly.
I survived.
Then something else surfaced.
Memories.
Not mine.
Flashes of stone cities. Chains glowing with runes. Dragons screaming as humans carved symbols into their flesh. Rituals fueled by betrayal and greed.
I reeled, nausea twisting my gut.
These weren't hallucinations.
They were inherited.
Fragments from the bloodline sleeping inside me.
So that altar… wasn't a coincidence.
This world didn't just hunt dragons.
It had once enslaved them.
A low rumble echoed in the distance.
Another dragon's roar—closer this time.
I stiffened.
Evolution or not, I was still weak compared to true apex predators. Staying here was suicide.
I turned away from the battlefield, from the bodies, from the past I barely understood, and moved toward the mountains rising on the horizon.
Each step felt heavier—but steadier.
I paused only once, glancing back at the ruins.
"I won't be chained," I vowed quietly. "Not as a human. Not as a dragon."
The dragon core pulsed in agreement.
Far above, clouds shifted unnaturally—as if something ancient had noticed my existence.
I didn't look back again.
The first evolution was over.
And the real danger had just begun.
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