I cleared the hot springs/bathing area, my movements a predator's smooth glide, the obsidian sheen of the dark crystal rod still gripped firmly in my right fist. A moment of airborne elegance, a somersault over the twelve-foot-high gate, and I landed like liquid shadow on the other side. My tiger-striped form and wicked, pointy horns were a blazing, taunting contrast to the deep black of the Shadow Fang compound's night.
The sight of three Shadow Fang sentinels rushing toward me was a minor, almost comical annoyance. Their eyes blew wide as they registered my form—the sheer arrogance of my presence, the bulbous-tipped blue glowing tail swaying lazily behind me, a silent, unmistakable banner of my power and recent victory.
"HALT, INTRUDER!" one of them bellowed, a ragged sound of command and sheer panic that cracked the stillness.
I gifted them a smile, slow and razor-sharp, a knowing grin that said everything about the private 'meeting' that had just concluded. "Relax, boys. Your clan leader is safe. In fact, we just finished a rather productive one-on-one."
As the words settled, I released my "Aura of Submission." It wasn't a blast, but a silent, suffocating wave of dominance that washed over the three he-beasts. Instantly, they crashed from aggression to cower, their stances dissolving. Above their trembling heads, I watched a fear debuff float into existence, a sickly gray icon confirming the shift. I savored the moment: their fear was a tangible, bitter taste in the air, a sign that my control was absolute.
The diversion was over. I somersaulted over the frozen sentinels, already making for the outer wall. A discordant GONG from a nearby guard tower sliced through the night—the alarm. More bodies were now scrambling toward the commotion.
Then, the hot springs gate burst open, and Vespa herself emerged. She was draped in a single, hastily wrapped towel, her fur still damp, her face a furious, brilliant flush of residual emotion. Her nearest sentries immediately formed a protective wedge around her.
"Mistress, do you wish for us to pursue your attacker!" one of them barked, his voice tight with aggression and concern.
I was already on top of the fifteen-foot-high outer perimeter wall, a final, easy leap. I turned, locking eyes with my newly acquired pet. Vespa bit her tongue, a powerful tension in her jaw. Her gaze was a tumultuous mix of defiance, fury, and utter submission. I didn't even need to raise the dark crystal rod; the mere sight of me was now her leash.
"Of course not, you fool! She was my private guest tonight!" Vespa snapped, her voice cutting like glass. The sentinel flinched, his confusion palpable.
"But Mistress, didn't you want to claim her territory?!" he persisted, his brow furrowed in a dangerous breach of protocol.
Vespa didn't answer with words. A searing, emerald-green psycho-bat blast erupted from her palm, slamming the questioning beast-man into the ground like a meteor. "Silence! Never question me again!" she hissed, her eyes crackling with a deadly, proprietary intensity.
I smiled, a genuine flicker of admiration for my new pet. The lesson was delivered perfectly. With a final, lingering look of triumph, I launched myself backward off the wall, dissolving into the welcoming dark of Beast Vein City.
I cleared the compound's wall with a final, effortless somersault, landing silently outside the gate. Herja's system message chimed, confirming the kill: Vespa's command and the sight of her blasting her own subordinate were all the confirmation I needed: the control was absolute. The only thing left to do was consolidate my gains and prepare for the Lunar Cry.
I moved through the upper tiers of Beast City with a swift, predatory focus, descending back into the Gutter Nest's forge. The moment I stepped over the threshold, the air shifted from the primal roar of the streets to the low, electric hum of advanced technology. I scanned the room, my eyes snagging on an alcove near the main heat exchanger. Marla was there, suspended a foot off the floor, cross-legged in perfect meditation. Waves of seething, emerald-green Orgone radiated from her, swirling like a contained mini-storm as she cultivated her path, deep into the menu system.
I couldn't resist a bit of unsolicited, high-level advice.
I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Hey, Marla!" I yelled across the metallic clang of the Forge. "Invest in HP, and dump the rest into more accuracy! Your AoE skills are great, but the misses are killing your efficiency curve!"
Marla's eyes, a shocking crimson, cracked open. The surrounding green Orgone field wavered slightly, like a disrupted Wi-Fi signal. She looked less than amused, though a tiny, grudging smirk touched the corner of her lips.
"Ash," she deadpanned, her voice echoing with a low, resonating frequency that suggested she was speaking from several layers of psychic awareness at once. "You're interrupting a deep-menu optimization cycle." I crossed my arms and gave her a stern look. She met my gaze, rolled her eyes and huffed, "Oh very well! Have it your way. I was going to invest in more resistance—that's what decides battle power, try to keep up with the meta, boss." I continued past her into a section of the forge that Syn had made her own.
I found Syn and Felicity just finishing up the secret project, forged from the Umbral Scythe dragon beast crystal I had recovered. Syn came forward, her face lit with a triumphant smile.
"We did it, Ash! With the power of Aegis 7 and the telekinetic assistance of Felicity, I was able to forge the Umbral Dragon upgrade capsule!"
I was blown away. The capsule was a masterpiece: a heavy, black base supporting a floating upper top, covered in odd, purposeful nodules. It looked truly techno-organic, its black and purple bio-steel shimmering with an otherworldly, barely contained energy. "What does it do?" I asked excitedly, my eyes wide.
Syn's smile widened with sincerity. "You'll just have to jump in and find out."
I didn't hesitate; I sprang into the capsule.
The moment my feet touched the base, the nodules lining the platform and the floating top piece began to flash rhythmically with internal, captured starlight. A dark sheen of 'black light'—the very essence of the Umbral Dragon's power—cascaded down from the upper hemisphere to the base, instantly obscuring Felicity and Dr. Syn from view in a dome of shimmering, cold energy.
The forge's noise died away, replaced by a low, humming resonance that filled my skull. Then, the black light intensified, consuming all exterior sight. In the total, sudden darkness, those terrifying, large purple eyes of the Umbral Scythe Dragon flashed in my mind's eye, a brief, sharp memory of its devastating power.
When the mental image faded, three options materialized before me, not as holographic text, but as primal glyphs of pure energy, each pulsing with a different rhythm of the umbral power.
I read the glyphs slowly, "Choose your Umbral Dragon blessing" I said breathlessly. I looked down at the three different blessings. The first blessing was 'Umbral Aegis Armor.' The capsule would focus the dragon crystal's energy to reinforce my innate Bio-Steel Tiger Stripe Armor. This option would significantly boost my damage resistance and HP allowing me to weather more sustained damage and become a front-line tank. The Umbral Scythe's power would become a shield.
I read the next umbral blessing, 'Void Spread.'
"Integrates the Umbral power directly into your Plasma Cannon Tail." I paused, "this was an enhancement for my plasma tail!"
"Every blast now carries a concentrated sphere of dark energy that automatically spreads the active Debuff (e.g., Fear, Stun, Corrode) applied by your primary attack to all enemies. This sacrifices raw single-target damage for unparalleled Crowd Control and battlefield manipulation." I was totally floored by this blessing and it had instant favor with me, lets see if the third blessing could compete with it. I scanned lower.
'Shadow Grasp' A Claw Infusion blessing.
"Weaves the dark energy of the umbral dragon into your alloy claws. Melee attacks Increase the duration of any debuff on target by one turn. 15% debuffs will be increased to 25% were applicable. The Umbral Scythe's power becomes a lethal, lingering poison.
I easily dismissed the first blessing, as I was not interested in becoming a front-line tank or defensed based. But it was a harder choice between the second and third Umbral blessings. But after a while of consideration, I had made up my mind, 'Void Spread' had won out over the claw upgrade, although it too was very tempting.
I let my intent flow into the 'Void Spread' Umbral dragon blessing.
The transition was instantaneous and jarring, a cold, systemic infusion of the Umbral Dragon's volatile energy. The smooth, bulbous tip of my plasma tail was swiftly reshaped, becoming noticeably more angular and complex. Subtle, deep purple vents developed like gills on the side, and new miniature oscillators clicked into bio-organic circuitry. These were the new, silent conduits for the debuff spread.
The change in color was even more pronounced. While the tail retained its core blue glow, it was now striated with streaks of shimmering, cold purple/black light. The bright blue of the original plasma darkened, becoming a more volatile indigo-plasma. Now, when the cannon charged for a shot, the purple/black Umbral energy would visibly crackle and pool around the complex tip, a palpable promise of the fear and chaos it was ready to disperse.
The integration of the Void Spread wasn't just aesthetic; it was structural. The bio-steel and plasma elements of the tail became visibly denser and heavier, a subtle yet profound reinforcing of the cannon to handle the volatile Umbral energy. The Umbral material knit into the structure, demanding a stronger frame. Along the length of my tail, the smooth plating of the bio-steel armor gave way to a subtle crystalline, textured scale pattern, transitioning into a rougher, energy-conducting surface near the tip. This new, tactile structure was designed to channel and control the chaotic power, making the cannon a stable engine for destruction.
Even in repose, the tail was no longer truly dormant. The very tip emitted a near-invisible, cold dark vapor, or perhaps a faint, rhythmic low-frequency thrum that resonated more in the gut than the ear—a constant, subtle leakage of the Void energy, waiting to amplify my dominance. This residual Umbral Effect intensified dramatically if I released my "Aura of Submission," the purple-black light around the tail's new vents flaring slightly, visually signaling my absolute mastery over pain and pleasure.
The surge of power subsided, leaving behind a cold, vital hum in my enhanced tail. The Umbral Dragon upgrade capsule, its energy spent, gave a final, faint shimmer and went inert. I stepped out, the floor solid beneath my newly upgraded form, the Void Spread ability now a part of my arsenal.
I turned to Doctor Syn and Felicity. "Wait, you mean... it's a one-off?"
Syn nodded, her excitement tempered by the technical reality. "Yes, Ash. But with each new exceptional genome dragon core you find, I can create a new upgrade capsule from it."
The full implications of her words hit me like a physical blow. My eyes widened, the sheer scope of future power rattling my focus. Genome Dragon hunting wasn't just about loot; it was about permanent, modular evolution. I quickly looked around the forge, needing a moment to process the scale of this new grind. "Where is everybody?"
Marla appeared just then, her crimson eyes steady. "They went to get some pizza jerk face," Marla said with sass , the green Orgone field around her still faintly shimmering. "They should be back any minute."
I raised the rod "Say it don't spray it."
With 18 hours left until a world-altering event, the future of my power and clan was suddenly put on hold by the mundane promise of a shared meal.