Within medical lab room 1317, fuorescent lights flickered overhead, humming dully.
The walls of the room were white; however, the room seemed to contain a hint of slight gloominess...
Strapped to a rusted operating table was a boy who was barely eighteen with pale, papery skin and veins bulging through his arms.
His name?
He had one once, but here, he was known only as Subject 1317.
Thick cables were injected into his spine, ribs, and temples, as syringes pumped glowing green liquid into his bloodstream.
"Still no reaction," muttered a lady dressed in a white lab coat, behind a curved pane of enchanted glass. Her voice was flat, almost sounding bored.
She tapped her tablet and sighed. "Three injections of core stabilizer, full-mana infusion, and two neural calibrations... and still nothing. Not even a Tier-1 response."
The second scientist beside her, who looked slightly older, with a surgical mask and black gloves, glanced at the boy.
"His mana nodes are stable. His physique is stronger than that of our A-Class contract candidates. But he has no bond with any beast, and there is no feedback whatsoever. It's like he's... incompatible with the contract system entirely."
At that moment a third voice, which sounded digital and slightly feminine, rang out from the intercom. "Recommendation: Terminate. Recovery cost exceeds potential gain. Subject 1317 has failed to awaken a beast contract for the fifth cycle."
The older scientist stepped forward glancing at 1317 gravely, his eyes were devoid of emotions. "In that case we can only proceed with the termination."
He glanced at the other scientist, gaining her affirmation, and then pressed a button, and immediately, gas hissed and entered into the chamber.
The boy's eyes widened for a moment, red veins immediately surfaced on his skin.
He choked repeatedly, his body writhing in pain.
But he didn't scream.
He had no energy left for that.
He had been here for years, experimented on, cut open, and pumped full of mana reagents and beast DNA, trying… failing… to awaken a bond.
Other kids had succeeded with their first crystal test: small wolves, ember snakes, and even cloud sparrows, with him being one of the exceptions.
Every time he tried to link with a beast, it went berserk, or he failed entirely.
He once thought he was cursed.
He was right.
"I just wanted to feel warm…"
Opening his eyes with his last strength, he weakly raised his arm, staring at the ceiling.
His eyes faded to glass and his heart slowly grew silent. The mana circuits in his body flickered and died like candles in a storm.
The scientists around quickly logged the information.
[Subject 1317: Terminated]
After that they stripped his corpse of any valuable implants, and then zipped him into a body bag, and carted him away with the rest of the week's "waste."
There was no ceremony or burial for them, as they were not useful, to say the least.
Location: Sector 9 – Disposal Trench
Rain fell hard that night and the scent of ozone spread out to the surroundings.
A truck rolled to a stop at the edge of a steep trench carved out of a large rocky terrain.
Two masked workers hopped down from the vehicle, dragging black bags one by one to the pit's edge.
They worked in silence, tossing the bodies like trash into the trench.
One of the workers paused, glancing at the tag on the next body.
"1317? Huh... This one lasted longer than the others."
"Doesn't matter," the other replied, already walking back to the truck. "A failure's still a failure."
With a grunt, the man heaved the bag over the edge.
It tumbled, bounced off a few rocks, and came to rest at the trench bottom with a wet thud.
After tossing all the bodies, they quickly entered into the vehicle.
The truck's engines whined, and soon the taillights vanished into the dark.
For a while, all was still.
Then—
A faint glow flickered from the bag, and a noise that seemed like a heartbeat resounded.
…
Earth – Present Time
Aleron clenched the wheel, sweat pouring down his face as rain lashed at his windshield. The truck behind him wasn't slowing at all.
Red lights reflected in his rearview as the truck behind him sped rapidly.
The truck was moving too fast, and before he could do anything about it, the truck was already too close!
"No, no, no—!"
Before he could react, there was a crash and the glass shattered.
Before he could get the chance to scream, the cabin crumpled inward and he was crushed.
Just moments before his death, all he felt was an unbearable pain...
And then... nothing.
…
Somewhere Beyond Life and Death
Aleron's mind floated in a place without time.
"Is this… death? Or did I finally fall asleep… warm? Cold?"
Just as he was wondering where he was, a cold, mechanical voice echoed directly into his thoughts.
[Cognitive Signature Detected: Earth-Origin Soul]
[Compatible soul match found. Emotional frequency aligned with prior host.]
[Host Compatibility: 100%]
[Activating Rebirth Protocol – Forbidden Lineage Recognized.]
[Binding System]
"System...? What the hell?"
[Previous Host: Subject 1317 – deceased. Initiating Soul Transfer...]
...
Back in the Trench
The rain poured harder and thunder cracked across the night sky with slow rumbles resounding.
Inside the body bag, the corpse's bones shifted and its muscles twitched.
And then—
A violent and desperate gasp that sounded like a man rising from drowning resounded.
The body bag split open as pale fingers burst free from within its grasp.
A boy's body, which looked frail and pale and was shaking faintly, emerged from the corpse pile.
He coughed blood as his eyes rolled wildly. His breath was ragged.
Aleron stared at his surroundings in shock; he was alive...
But he wasn't 1317 anymore.
"Where... the fuck am I?"
Memories that weren't his flooded into his mind…
He saw countless scenes of torture, injections, cold eyes, and voices that called him 'thing' instead of person.
'Am i him? or Am i... me?' Aleron was confused.
Just then the mechanical voice he heard previously in the place where time didn't exist returned:
[System Online]
[Host: Aleron – Synchronization Complete]
[Ability detected – SSS-ranked dragon summoner]
[Warning: You are incompatible with all contracted beasts below SSS-rank.]
[Reason: Your soul rejects all lesser lifeforms. Only forbidden SSS-ranked dragons of cataclysmic lineage can respond to your summon.]
Lightning flashed and the sky seemed to collapse as Aleron stared at his trembling hands.
The memories of his predecessor suffering resurfaced in his mind. "So… My predecessor wasn't trash rather, he was too powerful for the world to understand!"
"And now I've inherited that curse."
He looked up at the Origin skies, which seemed to lose color, his eyes gleaming with fury.
Something inside him stirred… The memories and last will of 1317 still clung tightly to him, urging him to complete his predecessor's final wish.
'Letting him rest in peace knowing that all those who harmed him had received the retribution they deserved.'
"Alright then." Aleron agreed without hesitation, if it wasn't for 1317 he would have died anyway, he owed his predecessor his life!
"If only dragons will answer me…"
"Then I'll burn this damn world to the ground with them."
At that moment, a notification resounded from the system...
[Forbidden Dragon egg detected.]
[New Quest Unlocked: First Forbidden Contract]