His claws sharpened, curving slightly like polished obsidian. Two faint horn buds emerged from his forehead, glowing with a mixture of golden sunlight and silver moonlight.
The artificial balance between solar and lunar energy stabilized.
The light slowly faded.
Standing before Jaden was no longer a fragile mutated lizard.
Rykan now possessed sleek black scales with flowing silver patterns. His eyes had changed — the left glowing faint gold like the sun, the right shimmering silver like the moon.
He looked up at Jaden.
This time—
There was intelligence in his gaze.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Rykan
Species: Sun-Moon Lizard
Rank: 0
Level: 52
HP: 2220
MP: 2090
Potential: Rank 10
Innate Skills:
• Solar Ray
• Lunar Veil
• Dual Attribute Resistance
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"Great… these skills are much better. And not to mention, you leveled up too," Jaden mumbled as he gently picked up the beautiful lizard.
Rykan rubbed his tiny head against Jaden's face, showing affection toward the human who had helped him evolve properly.
Jaden smiled softly.
"Don't worry. This is just the beginning."
Rykan let out a soft chirp, his mismatched golden and silver eyes gleaming faintly.
The bond between them had already grown stronger.
Jaden didn't waste any time as he came out of his room.
"Lily, Jake, I'll be going out to level up a bit with my beast. I might come home late," he said.
They nodded in response, and Jaden stepped outside. He took out his bicycle and began riding toward the nearby dungeon.
Dungeon gates were present all over the world, ranging from Rank 0 to powerful Rank 10 gates and even higher ranks.
Currently, Jaden was heading toward a Rank 0 dungeon — Goblin Forest.
It was like a starter village for everyone who had just awakened in Red City.
Soon, Jaden arrived and was gobsmacked by the crowd. Many people his age were gathered there. Some were alone, while others were in groups.
"Jaden? Did you come here to hunt too?"
Just as he was about to enter, someone called out to him. He looked back and saw Eva, the class diva.
Why is she calling out to me? he wondered.
"Yes. I just contracted my beast and want to level up with him," Jaden replied.
Eva nodded as she looked at him.
Eva Drake was from the powerful noble Drake family. The Drake family was famous for awakening the lineage profession of Dragon Knights. Of course, finding dragons was not easy — but not for the Drake family.
All of their main members contracted dragons, making them one of the most powerful families not just in Red City but in whole World.
"Where are your guards?" Jaden asked. Even in school, there were usually two female bodyguards accompanying her.
"I've awakened now, so those bodyguards have left. Though I still have someone in the shadows to help me if someone of a much higher rank tries to attack me," she said with a smile.
Jaden nodded.
Don't tell me she's here to get back at me for always being first rank while she was second, Jaden thought as he looked at her.
Meanwhile, Eva was staring at him in surprise.
My Dragon Eyes… why are they still shining gold? she wondered.
As a high-ranking member of one of the most powerful families in Mystic World, she had never cared about a commoner surpassing her in academics.
The only reason she had taken interest in Jaden was because she could see a great amount of fortune surrounding him.
What others didn't know about the Drake family was that they were born with special eyes called the Eyes of the Golden Fate Dragon.
These eyes allowed them to see a person's fortune. The brighter the golden light around someone, the higher they were destined to rise in life.
Using this ability, the Drake family had nurtured many powerful talents and recruited them into their family.
I want him. I've never seen such intense light, Eva thought, her eyes shining greedily as she looked at Jaden.
Meanwhile, Jaden was confused.
Why is she looking at me with such a heated gaze?
"Umm… I'm going to register," Jaden said as he turned to leave.
But he stopped when someone grabbed his hand.
"Let's go together," Eva said before he could refuse, holding his hand and leading him forward.
You're mine, she thought as she pulled him along.
' What the fuck?' Jaden looked at her blankly as single thought crossed his mind ' Am I actually the protagonist with Hottie attracting Halo?' he seriously considered this as he looked at Eva.
She have long black glossy hair and perfect curvy slim body that made one imagination run wild.
From the moment she arrived, many people had been staring at her. She was the most beautiful girl in the academy and came from the most powerful background. Yet now, that same beauty was walking hand in hand with a commoner who had awakened a Beast Tamer class.
"What the hell?" someone suddenly blurted out, breaking the silence around them.
"Am I hallucinating?"
"Surely not… she's holding hands with that loser."
"Maybe he's her pet."
"Yeah, that makes sense. There's no way someone so distinguished would be interested in a lowborn like him."
"Y-yeah… you're right."
Those who had their eyes on Eva were clearly displeased.
Among them was Michael. He stared at Eva holding Jaden's hand as she led him to register.
"Who is he?" Michael asked coldly.
"He's from the same class as her. He awakened a Beast Tamer class."
"Hm… Beast Tamer. It might be a waste in the hands of a commoner, but in the hands of the rich, it's powerful. Is she sponsoring him?" Michael muttered before smiling. "That must be it."
He seemed satisfied with his own conclusion.
However, the old butler standing quietly behind him had already seen through Eva's intentions.
She wants that Jaden boy… but I shouldn't tell the young master about this, he thought silently.
On the other side, Eva reached the registration counter.
She completely ignored the long line of people waiting and walked straight to the front.
Jaden blinked.
"Uh… there's a line," he whispered.
Eva didn't respond.
Instead, she calmly placed a single black card on the counter.
It was a sleek card engraved with the head of a golden dragon.
"Book us for six hours," she said casually.
The receptionist's eyes widened slightly the moment she saw the card. Her expression immediately changed into a respectful smile.
"Yes, Miss Drake," she said politely, bowing her head slightly before processing the request.
Those standing in line noticed the card as well.
The murmurs instantly died down.
No one dared to complain.
The dragon insignia represented the Drake family — one of the ruling powers of Red City.
Provoking them over a dungeon queue was the same as asking for trouble.
Within seconds, the receptionist handed over two dungeon access tokens.
"You may enter Rank 0: Goblin Forest immediately. A private six-hour reservation has been registered."
Eva picked up the tokens and handed one to Jaden.
"Let's go."
Jaden stared at the token in his hand, then at Eva.
What exactly is she planning…?
But before he could ask—
The dungeon gate ahead of them shimmered with green light.
And together, they stepped inside.