The young man looked at the system prompt and then back at Echo. He couldn't fully trust him, as the lesson was still fresh in his mind.
[Don't look at me like that. I won't change the rules of this draw for that stone. It's been in my possession for far too long. It's about time someone else tried to solve its mystery.]
Echo shrugged his shoulders.
The young man took a deep breath and accepted this outcome. "Then I will take advantage of your generosity and accept it."
[Now then, the draws have finished, and it's time for your reincarnation,]
Echo said as his body began to distort.
The young man quickly asked, "Wait, how will I get my rewards? Where will they be stored?"
[Do not worry, for they will be stored inside your body.]
Echo's body completely shifted its shape from the young man's body to a dark entity whose entire form was covered in shadows.
[Now… off you go.]
His voice changed entirely and became heavier than mountains, nearly making the young man's ears bleed.
But before he could even look at Echo's eyes, his mind buzzed and he lost consciousness.
…
Beside a river deep inside the jungle of the Thunderpeak Kingdom lay a ruined area with broken trees and dead bodies.
Two people were still fighting each other: one wielded a thunder sword, while the other shot flames from his staff.
"FENIX FIRESTORM! Do you have any idea who you're going against?!" the thunder swordsman roared, injuries covering his body.
"Heh, Garren, oh Garren, even your Thunderblade family won't be able to save you here," Fenix said loudly, clutching his bleeding chest.
"You don't need to put up a brave act in front of me. You won't live for long now. Hah, so much for a dragon egg." Garren sneered and looked at the egg, which was calmly sitting at the center of all this chaos.
"Worry about yourself. I will take the Dragon Egg for myself and become one of the legendary Dragon Tamers." At the end of his sentence, Fenix's eyes showed a crazed look.
He began chanting an incantation for his ultimate spell. The mana in the surroundings became volatile and started surging toward Fenix.
"Flames of the Abyss, ignite and consume,
Burn away all, leave none in bloom.
Inferno rise, from the depths of night,
Unleash your fury, with endless might!
Destruction Flame!"
Then, all sound vanished. The air became thick with a deafening silence, as if time itself had momentarily frozen.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a thunderous BOOM. The ground trembled as flames erupted from Fenix's body, cascading outward with ferocious power.
"You think I will go down without a fight??
Oh Heavenly Thunder, heed my call, Thunder Fury Slash!"
The violent mana in the surroundings crackled as it surged toward him, infusing his sword before it lit up with crackling thunder.
He slashed his blade down, sending out a thunderous arc toward the incoming wave of destructive fire.
Just before the attacks could collide, Garren clenched his teeth. "I won't let you live!" he shouted, before he started to burn his own mana and infused it into his attack.
The thunderous arc strengthened before the attacks of both sides collided at the center, sending out violent shockwaves in all directions. Many of the corpses on the ground vanished from existence due to the extreme heat and thunder.
Fenix's eyes widened in horror as Garren's attack nearly cut through his own Destruction Flames. "GARREN! DON'T YOU DARE THINK I WILL DIE ALONE!" He took out a small sword, not even six inches long, and spewed out a mouthful of blood onto it.
The sword absorbed his blood before floating softly above his hand. "Oh Demonic Sword, Heed My Call,
Behead My Enemy
For I Shall Exchange His Death
With My Remaining Lifespan."
The red sword shook for a moment before it flew through the air like a rocket toward Garren. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the sword. "Impossible! Why do you have the sword of Demons!? You were conspiring wi—" Before his words could finish, the sword pierced his forehead, ending his life.
But his attack broke through the Destruction Flames and burned Fenix's body to a crisp with a loud noise.
Everything suddenly grew calm. All the noises of the battle and the wailing of the dead stopped.
Leaving only the lone egg sitting at the center of death and destruction.
RUMBLE RUMBLE
The Dragon Egg softly shook, but it soon calmed down as if it felt it was not yet time to leave.
…
'Huh? Where am I?' The voice tried to open its eyes but couldn't.
"Thi—" The voice tried to feel, but it couldn't.
'Where was I befo— I… died?' The voice began to remember memories from the past.
'Yes… Echo… that being gave me a chance at new life.' Slowly, the voice began to recall everything.
'Am I… inside an egg?' he thought to himself, remembering one of the gifts he had obtained: the Thunder Dragon Bloodline and Physique.
'Does that mean I'm… reincarnated… as a… dragon?' he thought in confusion.
RUMBLE RUMBLE
The entire egg shook slightly as he tried to move his body. 'UGHH!' His resistance became stronger and stronger as he tried to break free from the shell.
CRACK!
A small cracking sound echoed in his little world, shattering the absolute stillness that had plagued him since his birth.
With a final, forceful push, the shell cracked wider. A burst of energy surged through the small creature's body, filling it with an unyielding heat.
His tiny limbs trembled as they clashed against the broken egg. The crack spread further, and soon, a small draconian figure emerged from the shattered shell.
It wasn't a pure dragon, but something more complex—an amalgamation of both human and fire dragon traits.