Chapter 42: 42. 2nd Evolution

Owen’s body began to glow.

Golden light poured from his scales, enveloping him completely, seeping from every crack and crevice until he was encased in a cocoon of pure radiance.

He felt his bones shifting, not breaking but restructuring themselves at a fundamental level.

His muscles expanded, fibers multiplying and strengthening. His very essence was transforming, his draconic core growing denser, more potent, pulsing with power that made his previous strength seem like a candle compared to the sun.

His body grew. And grew. And grew.

His baby dragon form, once the size of a dog, expanded rapidly. His wingspan stretched wider, the membrane between the bones thickening, the bones themselves becoming as strong as adamantium.

His claws lengthened, each one now the size of a sword.

His scales thickened and hardened, overlapping in patterns that were both beautiful and functional, creating natural armor that could deflect attacks.

The transformation was not painful, but it was overwhelming. Owen felt every change, every adjustment, every enhancement. His senses sharpened. His mana capacity expanded like a balloon inflating. His very perception of the world became clearer, more vivid, as if he’d been looking through a dirty window his entire life and someone had finally cleaned it.

When the light finally faded, Owen stood transformed.

He was massive, easily the size of a one story house. His black scales shined, catching the light in a way that made him seem to shimmer.

Golden patterns traced across them like lightning frozen in stone, forming intricate designs that seemed to shift and flow when viewed from different angles. His wings were enormous, each one capable of creating windstorms with a single flap. His horns had grown longer, more majestic, curving back elegantly from his skull and His golden eyes burned even brighter now, containing depths that hadn’t been there before.

He was no longer a baby dragon, no longer a hatchling..

He was a Juvenile Dragon. A proper dragon from this moment forth.

[Evolution Complete!]

[Congratulations! You have successfully evolved!]

[Status Update]

[Name: Owen]

[Species: Dragon (King Bloodline)]

[Status: Juvenile Dragon]

[Rank: S]

[Level: 0/50]

[HP: 50,000]

[Stats:]

– Attack: 18,500

– Defense: 16,500

– Agility: 12,000

– Mana: 80,000

[New Skill Acquired: Humanoid Transformation (S-Grade)]

Owen flexed his new body, feeling the incredible strength coursing through him.

But what caught his attention most was the new skill.

[Humanoid Transformation (S-Grade)]

– Allows the user to take on a humanoid form.

Curious, Owen activated the skill.

His massive body glowed with that same golden light, then began to condense. His form twisted and reshaped, bones rearranging, mana enveloped him like. Cocoon.

When the transformation completed, he stood on two legs for the first time in this new life.

He was humanoid, roughly over six feet tall, with a lean but muscular build. Black scales covered his forearms and shoulders.

His golden eyes remained unchanged.

Two black horns curved back from his head, smaller than in his dragon form but still prominent and wickedly sharp.

His wings, now proportional to his humanoid form, extended from his back, folding neatly when not in use. And a long tail swished behind him, helping with balance.

He looked down at his hands, five fingers, clawed at the tips but otherwise remarkably human. He flexed them experimentally, watching the scales on his forearms shift with the movement.

“Holy shit,” he muttered, his voice deeper now than when he was human.

He tried taking a step. And immediately stumbled, his center of gravity felt all wrong. His tail swung wildly trying to compensate, and he barely caught himself against one of the throne room’s pillars.

“Okay, gotta get used to walking on two legs again,” he said to himself, pushing off the pillar. His movements were awkward, ungainly, like a newborn learning to walk. Which, in a sense, he was.

But after a few minutes of practice, he got the hang of it. The muscle memory from his previous human life began to surface, merging with his new draconic instincts.

Soon he was walking smoothly, then jogging, then even attempting a few experimental movements, a jump, a roll, a quick sidestep.

He could switch between his full dragon form and this humanoid form at will, he realized. The transformation took only a second once he got used to it, his body flowing between states like water changing shape.

“This is incredible,” he said, looking at his hands again, then at his reflection in the polished obsidian walls. “I can interact with people more easily now.”

Then the system rang.

Ding—!

[Skill list has been reset!]

[All non Dragon-born skills have been renintergated]

“Wait? What!?” Owen stuttered, afraid at what the system meant.

[All skills that weren’t dragon-born, have been removed upon evolution, you will need to relearn them to update them back onto the list of skills!]

“Hell no!” Owen yelled as he pulled up his skill list.

[Skills:]

Fire Affinity (S-Grade), Mana Sense (S-Grade), Magic Affinity (S-Grade),Mana Absorption (S-Grade),Accelerated Growth (S-Grade),Momentum shift (S-Grade),Ultra-Regeneration (SS-Grade),Indestructible Scales (SS-Grade),Dragon’s eye (SS-Grade),Dragon’s Breath (SS-Grade),Dragon’s tongue (SS-Grade),Dragon’s Aura (SS-Grade),Sovereignty of the Dragon King (SSS-Grade),Sovereignty of Destruction (SSS-Grade) (15% mastery),Sovereignty of Space-Time (SSS-Grade) (55% mastery)

—

“Oh hell nah, where’s my fireball!? My piercing dive!? My Shockwave!?” Owen pleaded as he fell onto the ground like a yamcha.

Then a door materialized at the far end of the throne room, where the throne itself had stood before the battle damaged it.

The exit from the tower. Owen hadn’t even noticed it appearing, but now it stood there, ornate and inviting, promising a return to the real world.

Owen quickly got up, setting his disappointment at his loss of skills aside and walked toward it, still getting used to his new legs, his tail swishing behind him for balance.

He placed his hand on the door’s surface and pushed it open.

Sunlight flooded in, so bright after the tower’s artificial illumination that Owen had to shield his eyes.

When they adjusted to it, he stepped out onto a platform overlooking Drak’thar, the capital city of dragonkind spreading out below him in all its impossible grandeur.

And there, waiting for him on the platform, were the five Greater Dragons.

Glacius, Veridra, Zephron, Fey’rath, all in humanoid form, standing in a semi-circle. And Chronara, leaning on her staff, her violet eyes twinkling with that knowing look she always seemed to have, as if she’d seen this moment coming long before it arrived.

“Welcome back, young King,” she said, her voice warm with genuine approval.

They all stared at Owen’s new form, their expressions ranging from impressed to amused to calculating.

Fey’rath whistled low, a sound of genuine appreciation. “Well, well. Look at what you’re packing, brat.” She said as her eyes darted to his lower regions

Owen quickly realised his predicament, he had been a baby dragon for so long that he had lost all sense of dignity. He had forgotten the one thing that civilised humans, hiding their nakedness.

He hadn’t realised since he transformed into his humanoid form that he was naked. So he used his hands and shielded his exposed dick from the piercing gazes.

Zephron grinned, his storm-gray eyes gleaming. “Told you he’d make it, Glacius. You owe me a hundred gold.”

Glacius made a sound that might have been a snort, his ice-blue eyes studying Owen carefully. “The bet was whether he’d complete it in under a week. Three days counts. Fine.” He crossed his arms, but there was approval in his gaze.

“You’ve evolved. Humanoid form already. Most dragons don’t achieve stable transformation until well into their adult stage. Impressive work.” He reached into a pocket space besides him, and threw out a black trousers towards Owen.

Veridra’s expression was unreadable, her emerald eyes tracking Owen’s every movement, analyzing, assessing. But she nodded once, a brief dip of her head that Owen had learned was high praise coming from her.

Owen quickly grabbed the trouerses that Glacius had tossed to him then wore it. He then looked around at the assembled Greater Dragons, then past them, scanning the platform and the area beyond. “Where’s Yuki?”

Chronara’s smile widened, taking on a quality that was almost mischievous. “Patience, young one. She’s still climbing the tower. But she’s doing well. Very well, in fact.”

“Huh, still?” Owen’s eyes widened, his tail stilling mid-swish. “How long was I in there?”

“Three days,” Chronara said, as casually as if she were discussing the weather.

“Three days?!” Owen’s mind raced, calculating. If it took him three days, for what felt like months and Yuki started at the same time, then she’d been in there for three days too. Alone. Facing trials designed to push her to her absolute limits. “Is she okay? Can I—”

“You cannot interfere,” Chronara interrupted gently but firmly, her staff tapping against the platform with a sound of finality. “She must complete her trials alone, just as you did. The tower tests the individual, not the pair. But have faith. She is stronger than you think. Stronger than even she thinks.”

Owen wanted to argue, wanted to demand they let him check on her, wanted to do something, anything, to make sure she was safe.

But something in Chronara’s violet eyes, a depth of wisdom and certainty, told him it was pointless. The towers had rules, ancient magic that even Greater Dragons couldn’t or wouldn’t bypass.

He transformed back into his full dragon form, the shift now smooth and effortless, and settled onto the platform. His massive body now took up a significant portion of the space, forcing the Greater Dragons to give him more room.

He had chosen to lie there and wait Infront of the tower, waiting for Yuki to succeed and come back to him.

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