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Zephyr nodded, heart still hammering from his climb through forgotten tunnels. "I will build a nest for it in the old furnace chamber. The stones stay warm, and most students never go there."
He also thinks, "What do you mean by we? Why are you acting like it's our baby or something?"
Zephyr tore his gaze from the egg to him. Candlelight warmed the gold in his hazel eyes. "Promise me you will not tell a single soul."
"I promise." Fenna placed two fingers over her lips, then touched them to his (zephyr) in a solemn gesture they had used as children. "Our secret is sealed. I feel so excited."
She blushed but did not pull back. "I will bring supplies. Herbs that hold heat and mask scent. Straw soft enough to keep cracks from spreading." Her voice softened. "You always carried my hopes, Zeph. Now I'll carry yours too."
A gentle warmth rose in his cheeks. "Fenna… thank you."
"I trust you," she said. "More than anyone." Her thumb brushed a smear of dirt from his cheek. "And I think… one day this egg will trust you too."
For a heartbeat they simply looked at one another, silence deep as snow all around. Then Fenna stepped back, eyes shining. "Hide it now. I will check on you at dawn. I must return to my dormitory." She slipped out, cloak fluttering like a green leaf in moonlight.
Zephyr closed the door, leaned against the timber frame, and exhaled long and low. The room smelled of straw, dust, and faint sparks of an ancient scent of something about to be born.
He turned the egg carefully, studying every swirl and fleck. A warm wave washed through his palms, meeting the pulse beneath the shell. The sound felt like a quiet drum echoing from his soul.
A chime rang inside his skull.
[Ding! Bound Beast System Notice- Incubation Aura detected. Egg integrity holding. Blood-line resonance is increasing. The host has reached the reawakening threshold. Without reawakening the host can't tame this beast.
Begin Second Awakening?
Yes/No ]
He remembered the day of his first awakening: the dull brown glow, laughter ringing as if it would never end, shame clinging like wet clay to his skin. For weeks he had carried that shame everywhere, a stone in his pocket weighing down every dream.
Now an egg of unknown power pulsed in his room. And inside his chest, heat moved like a second heartbeat. It was slow, steady, and patient.
"I will not fail this time, he told himself. I will not remain weak. I will rewrite my fate."
Zephyr's breath caught. His first awakening had been public and humiliating. This time it was just him, the egg, and the System.
"What skill will I receive if I accept?" he whispered.
[Ding! System notifications: Skill selection is random inside lineage limits. Your Tamer blood ensures a minimum A-rank ability, with probability scaling toward your potential.]
A thrill shot through him. Even an A-rank would raise him far above caretaker status. But the voice of doubt echoed: "What if disappointment returns?"
He straightened his shoulders. "Even the lowest result will be more than I had. And I have an egg to protect." He drew a slow breath. "System please… Begin Second Awakening."
Golden light burst outward, bright and silent. It wrapped him in swirling ribbons that smelled of cedar smoke and cold starlight. Power streamed through every vein, warm, singing, alive. Memories not his own flashed behind his eyes:
A boy in silver armor standing before a mountain of kneeling wyverns.
A girl with violet hair riding a pearl-winged serpent across two suns.
A ring of ancient tamers chanting as a dragon the size of a castle bowed its crowned head.
The vision fractured into a thousand shards of dawn. Light snapped back into his chest like water sucked into deep earth. He collapsed to one knee, gasping, palms planted on the cold floorboards.
A new window glowed in the air.
[Ding! System notifications: Second Awakening Complete.
Skill Gained: SSS-Rank Dragon Tamer.
Description: Forge a permanent soul link with any draconic life-form. Command aura forces lesser dragons to yield or flee. (According to host rank). Soul link strengthens both host and dragon with shared growth. Skill evolves with bond depth.
Passive Upgrade:Beast Feed Cultivation now harmonizes with draconic mana, boosting hatch rate and early growth by 40 %. Soil and growth increase.
Blood-line Purity: 4 % → 8 %
Title Unlocked: Incipient Dragon Sovereign. ]
Zephyr was shocked. His chest heaving, heart blazing like a furnace. SSS-Rank. Not A, not AAA, not even S or SS. The highest tier spoken of only in legends. His hands trembled. Joy spilled as a laugh, then tears glinted in his lashes.
"I am… not worthless," he choked. "I carry the power of god tier tamer."
The black egg pulsed brighter, as if echoing his joy. He wiped his eyes and steadied his breathing. But fear returned, as quick as hope.
"If anyone discovers the egg or my skill now, they will take it. I cannot defend myself yet." He closed the status window and pressed a firm hand to the shell.
"Little one, we stay silent. We grow in the shadows until light is safe."
The egg answered with a faint warm vibration. After his second awakening he can feel the egg life force presence.
He wrapped the egg in Fenna's green shawl and concealed it inside a straw-padded crate. When muffled, the glow barely shone through. He lifted the box and slipped through dorm corridors, past snores and creaking beams, down into the unused basement furnace chamber beneath Wing Two.