Year 80; End of the worm wars; Day 300
From the moment it first sensed its own existence, it basked in a blissful happiness. Wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and energy, it grew with every pulse. Each heartbeat expanded its awareness, revealing more of the world beyond. With every thrum, it waited, eager to become more, swept up in the exhilarating rush of power.
thump-thump
Then, it heard something beyond itself; it was not alone. Another rhythm echoed nearby, strong and growing, almost like its own but subtly different, a companion in the darkness.
thump-thump
Together, they drifted on a current of warmth. It could not tell what propelled them, only that heat flowed into them, a gift it never knew it craved. With every heartbeat, it and its companion grew, pulsing with life.
Time slipped by, and its senses stretched outward, the world around them growing clearer... until suddenly—thump-thump
Suddenly, a colossal thump-thump thundered through its world, a force beyond anything it could have imagined. The new rhythm slowed, then settled into a pattern that guided its own. The presence of this greater being radiated a power it had never known, and it followed, drawn onward. For a long time, each beat from the newcomer urged it to grow faster, each thump more powerful than the last.
But then the mighty presence faded, leaving only a tremor of fear. An unfamiliar sensation swept through it, and it knew its companion felt it too. When the greater being returned, stronger than ever, their heartbeats found harmony again, and the joy of unity returned.
Thump-thump
But it was not to last; once more, they were left alone, and now both sensed it was necessary, though they could not say why. Time stretched on, longer than all it had known, until—
THUMP-THUMP
Their hearts united as one again. The being from outside the darkness was a more powerful than ever before... the energy it used to grow, a wellspring, and it felt it shared it through each THUMP. Each heartbeat gave it power, and each heartbeat deepened its understanding of the world and what it was.
THUMP-THUMP
Power surged in waves, and something awakened inside, sharp and aching, yet its blood blazed with joy. At last, it understood what it was: a dragon.
Congratulations, through the power of the Dragon Patriarch of Fire, and his absorption of primordial mana, and his proximity as an unhatched dragon, you have awakened your mana.
As the first one to do so, you and your twin will be given 10 levels.
This achievement has been noted for further evolution.
You have gained the passive skill Mana Sight.
Knowledge poured in, and power surged through it. Understanding was still incomplete, but it knew it had changed and grown immensely.
THUMP-THUMP
You have gained a Mana Pool
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The world exploded with vision, overwhelming its new senses. But now it could see its guardian—and the thin barrier that held it back. It realized how easy it would be to—
Crack
Congratulations, you have hatched as a Dragon (Shadow gifted) in the world of Veern.
By Isaac - The Dragon Patriarch of Fire?
He will give you a - NAME.
More knowledge trickled in, along with a dawning sense of the world and of herself—no longer just an it, but a she.
The shell that confined her split open effortlessly, and suddenly she was free. Her gaze fell on the Dragon Patriarch of Fire, a towering figure with blazing red scales, radiating power and pride. She wondered what she looked like, and when she glanced down, she saw scales as black as the darkness she had always known, with a mist of the power she had consumed swirling around her.
A crack sounded beside her, drawing her attention. Another of her kind emerged, golden and gleaming, crawling from a radiant egg. He too gazed at their guardian, then examined himself—until his eyes finally met hers.
For a single heartbeat, their souls resonated—thump-thump.
and then the guardian spoke—
Isaac was startled as the eggs cracked open. Lost in thought, he had not been tracking the world’s mana. Something had changed while he took his brief hundred-day nap, and his mana nourishment had reached the third stage.
‘I have really been getting used to these dragon naps,’ he mused. His new skills had warned him that the dragon eggs had awakened their mana. Isaac was unsure how it had happened. Perhaps some of the absorbed power from his new drinking habit had reached them. It made sense that it would seep into the environment.
But what was more important was that he had received multiple notifications about it.
Congratulations, you have fostered some of the first dragons to their hatching, and in addition, Awakened their mana before their hatching... good on you.
You have been awarded 5 levels for this achievement.
This achievement has been noted for further evolution.
The power Isaac gained from this was yet again palpable, and he could feel himself even grow a bit more in size. But there was one notification he had not anticipated.
You have been given the right to name the Dragon: Hatchling (Shadow gifted).
You have been given the right to name the Dragon: Hatchling (Radiant gifted).
The notification made Isaac pause, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just these two hatchlings. He remembered receiving his own name, in another life or another world. Now, he looked at them—one as dark as night, the other shining like the sun. Both gazed at him as if he were their whole universe, and in a way, he was. Each was surrounded by a unique elemental aura, sparking inspiration for their names. Somehow, the right names came to him.
“You,” Isaac said, pointing a claw at the first to hatch, the one cloaked in shadow. “NYX.”
“And you,” he said, turning his claw to the golden dragon, “are SOL.” The Divine speech seemed to grant them understanding, and the world itself seemed to accept their names, giving them new weight and meaning.
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