Pain.
It burned deeper than his fractured wing or his shattered pride. Ashbane had never lost before—certainly not to a hatchling, a runt who couldn't even breathe proper flame a week ago.
And yet the scars on his side pulsed with memory. Rockfall. Fire. The weight of being underestimated.
> [System Alert: Core Instability Detected]
Warning: Evolution Delay Imminent
Suggestion: Enter Recovery State
Alternative Path Detected: Obsidian Override
⚠️ This path violates Dragonic Law.
Proceed?
Ashbane's breath steamed as he dragged himself to an ancient, long-buried scar in the earth—a place he had sworn never to go. The Eclipse Rift.
Few dragons survived contact with the rift. Fewer still came back sane.
But he wasn't looking for survival.
He was looking for power.
> Confirm Override Evolution: ☠️ Obsidian Tyrant
Side Effects:
– Flame Core Instability (High Risk)
– Sanity Drift (Critical)
– Forbidden Traits Gained
– Evolution Rank: Artificial Tier IV
Warning: Your path will be hunted by Highclaws.
Proceed?
Ashbane growled.
"Let them hunt me."
He stepped into the rift.
---
System Override: Commencing Illegal Evolution
His body began to twist.
This was no gradual ascension—it was violent reconstruction. His red scales darkened, then cracked, revealing deep pits of black magma beneath. Horns extended and twisted backward like scorched blades. His broken wing fused with charred bone and reformed—larger, stronger, and covered in obsidian glass plating.
> Traits Gained:
– Obsidian Blood (Passive) – Bleeds molten glass; damages melee attackers
– Core Devour (Active) – Drain lesser dragons' fire cores to stabilize yours
– Cinder Maelstrom (Ultimate) – An unstable burst of fire and shadow that damages allies and enemies alike
Side Effects: -10% Sanity Retention per week
Status: Unstable – Monitored by the Primordial System Enforcers
Evolution Rank: Forbidden Class – Tier IV: Obsidian Tyrant
Ashbane roared.
The volcano trembled. Creatures for miles scattered.
> Rival System Sync Updated:
[Ashbane] now far exceeds Ember's current evolution.
Threat Class: Cataclysmic
Behavior: Aggressive / Vengeful / Instability Rising
---
Meanwhile…
Ember felt it before he understood it.
A ripple in the flame. A pulse through the earth.
Something had changed.
> [System Warning]
❗ Rival "Ashbane" has achieved Obsidian Tyrant status
Evolutional gap detected – High fatality risk in next encounter
Countermeasure Suggested: Unlock Ancient Shrine / Seek Core Guardian
Ember's eyes narrowed.
If Ashbane had broken the laws of nature… then Ember would have to break his own limits to stop him.
The fire called him north.
Not the usual hunger of dragons—the greedy pull of heat or rage—but something older, something deeper. A pulse beneath the ground, like a heart beating beneath stone.
Ember's system responded even before his mind did.
> [Hidden Evolution Opportunity Detected]
Flame Signature: Pre-Epochal
Artifact Class: Unknown
Location: The Embervaults – Shrine of the First Flame
Access Difficulty: Very High
Reward: Unknown – System Shard / Ancestral Flame Rights
Warning: Area unstable. Ancient Trials Active.
He didn't hesitate.
---
It took Ember three days across scorched fields and glassy wastes. The sky grew dark with ash clouds, the stars disappearing behind smoke. Predators stalked him—but none dared engage. His new form radiated a low, simmering dread.
The mouth of the shrine yawned before him: a colossal stone structure half-buried in volcanic rock, etched with glowing runes older than dragon script.
He stepped inside.
And the system went silent.
No UI. No updates. No health bar. Nothing.
Just… firelight.
Not heat. Not hunger. Flame as memory.
---
Three statues rose from the floor, each shaped like a dragon long extinct.
1. The Wyrm of Roots – scaled in stone and vine
2. The Drake of Storms – wings stretched to the vaults above
3. The Tyrant of Cinders – hollow-eyed, flame still flickering inside its chest
They spoke in flame-tongue, a language that curled around Ember's bones rather than his ears.
> "You who seek to burn brighter than your birth…
Prove your flame is not borrowed."
Each statue ignited a trial.
---
🔥 Trial One: Endure Without Fire
> Ember is thrown into a dead zone—no fire, no core power. A realm of cold stone beasts and echoing silence. He must survive without burning, relying only on instinct and strength.
🌀 Trial Two: Speak the Flame's Truth
> Ember is shown a vision of his past: his birth, his exile, his weakest moments. He must face what he hates in himself—and not look away.
🔥 Trial Three: Offer the Flame
> The last statue demands sacrifice: Ember must give up one of his current traits… to gain something greater.
> [Offer Trait to Burn: Choose One]
– Ignition Pulse (L1)
– Ember Skin (L1)
– Flame Instinct (Passive)
---
He breathes deep. Smoke curls from his nostrils.
Ember Skin was Ember's first layer of protection—his starter-scale adaptation—but now, he sheds it like ash.
In choosing to give up defense in pursuit of deeper evolution, Ember proves he no longer clings to what once barely kept him alive. He now demands power that shapes real destiny.
---
The statue of the Tyrant of Cinders flared to life.
Its hollow chest opened, revealing a brazier pulsing with ancient flame—not hot, but alive. Ember stepped forward, ignoring the tremor in his claws. He reached in.
> [Trait Consumed: Ember Skin (L1)]
Flame Layer Shed: Outer Heat Signature Reduced
Verifying Lineage…
Confirmed: Mutation-Borne Wyrmling
Core Sync: Stable
Access Granted to Ancestral Shard: Primordial Forgeflame
The fire accepted him.
But it did not gift him anything. It challenged him—wrapped around his bones, flooded his lungs, stitched itself into his molten blood.
> Trait Gained: 🔥Forgeflame Core (Unique)
Description: "Your fire is no longer elemental—it is will. Flame that remembers. All fire-based skills now evolve with your choices."
Effects:
– +30% skill scaling per successful use
– Attacks leave Soul-Heat stacks (builds until enemy combusts or resists)
– Unlocks Modular Flame evolution tree: you can now shape your fire into custom forms (whips, shields, blades, breath variants)
> Passive Gained: Ash-Hardened Hide – hardened through trial, not magic
(10% physical resistance, immune to flame-branding and minor burns)
> Evolution Tree Branch Unlocked:
– Blazeforge Tyrant
– Soulflame Architect
– Cinder Herald
(New evolutions will become available after next Rank Up)
---
Ember emerged from the Shrine...
…not as a young dragon seeking power, but as one who had faced the fire that births gods—and survived.
Even the system responded differently now. It didn't command him. It negotiated with him.
> Current Rank: Young Drake – Volcanic Tyrant Path
Status: Shrined
Power Surge: +35% system resonance
Rival Status Update: [Ashbane] evolution partially countered
But Ember knew this wasn't balance.
It was an arms race.
And Ashbane wasn't done.
---
Meanwhile, far to the south...
A highclaw—the ancient, armored enforcer of dragonkind—watched the rift from a burning sky.
"Ashbane has crossed the Obsidian Line," the being growled.
"And now another… has touched the First Flame."
Its wings spread like falling mountains.
> [New Threat Level Detected]
Both Ashbane and Ember have triggered Worldshift Conditions