[Warning; this chapter is heavy on exposition]
Welcome to the journey of "Levelling Up: I Became the Strongest Dragon Elementalist."
I hope you all enjoy the ride. Let's start with the prologue.
PROLOGUE.
Back in the year 2030, the United States was like any other nation. Ordinary. Predictable. Nothing out of the usual.
Until one day—everything changed. Or so history proclaimed.
It was a normal day. Clear skies. Calm air. Then, without warning, deep blue rain fell from above—unnatural and silent, without a single signal from the clouds. Strangely, it affected only one place on Earth:
The United States.
Panic was the first response. But it turned to horror when four dragons—massive and ancient—plummeted from the skies, crashing into the earth like a fallen god. The beast was enormous, its body stretching longer than a one-story building. Dead.
Unbelievable—yet undeniable. People screamed. Scientists assembled. The government took action. What some feared as an apocalypse, the leaders saw as an opportunity: a coincidence that could bring either the nation's rise... or its ruin.
But before any true experiment could begin, more changes unfolded.
It started in the wild.
Beasts in the forests, birds in the skies, fish in the rivers—creatures of all shapes and forms began mutating. The deep blue rain had fused mana into the very fabric of existence: the air, the oceans, even the crust of the earth. Plants. Insects. Living things breathed mana into their blood, and with it, a core formed. One which allowed them to evolve, grow, and mutate beyond their natural limits.
But there were consequences.
The entire United States became saturated with mana—so concentrated it poisoned the land itself. Humans began dying by the millions.
Only 45% of the population survived the mana poisoning. And of that, a strange miracle: 15% were immune—completely untouched by the deadly effects of mana. Scientists would later discover why.
They were the poor. The desperate. Those who had walked directly under the blue rain—no shelter, no protection—driven only by the need to survive their brutal, everyday lives. They hadn't run. They hadn't hid. They had endured.
And so, that 15% became known as the First Generation of Beast Tamers—humans capable of taming mana-infused beasts without fear of mana poisoning.
Years passed.
And with time, experiments continued under a rising organisation:
MAGEO — Mana Adaptation & Genetic Evolution Organisation.
They studied the fallen dragon's body, mapping the flow of mana through its veins. To their astonishment, it matched the patterns of blood in humans. Mana wasn't magic—it was biology. It moved through the body as naturally as breath or blood.
Generations passed. Evolution accelerated. Mammalian biology adapted.
Humans learned to control mana—not just wield it, but bond with it. They formed contracts with mana-infused beasts, fusing body and soul into one. A new era had begun.
This marked the rise of the Second Generation Tamers. Those who could form a contract. Though all descendants of the original 45% survivors could contract with beasts, only the lineage of the 15% remained fully immune to mana poisoning—an advantage that made them elite.
Then came the greatest breakthrough.
Scientists discovered a way to extract and reconfigure the genes of the dead dragons. Using patches of original dragon flesh—kept alive by impossibly dense mana—they bioengineered smaller dragons. Once the gene sequences were complete, they jolted the tissue with high-frequency electric currents... and the dragons awoke.
Life returned.
There were twenty-five in total—only twenty-five successful rebirths. Countless failures had claimed the rest, or so the scientists made the masses believe. And because of this rarity, only the wealthiest and most influential individuals in the nation could afford one.
Each dragon carried a unique legacy—a legendary technique drawn from one of the four primal forces: Earth, Water, Wind, or Fire. They were capable of mastering these elements, like controlling their own limbs
From this, a new breed of warrior emerged.
The Third Generation Tamers.
Tamers bound to dragons. Tamers who could reach the highest evolutionary tier: SSS Rank.
No other creature—be it bird, beast, plant, or insect—could match them.
Insects? Pathetic. Even when completely cultivated, they managed to reach their peak between D-Rank Tier 3 and Tier 1, or at best C-Rank Tier 3 and Tier 1 at maturity.
Other beasts had their own classifications, but even among species, their potential varied wildly depending on lineage and mana compatibility.
Studies were still ongoing. But one thing was certain:
The United States had been transformed forever.
All because of a single day.
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Worldbuilding in "Levelling Up: I Became the Strongest Dragon Elementalist"
This story unfolds in a future-fantasy version of a country we all know well—the United States.
Everything was normal… until the world was infused with mana. The mana beasts in this book are inspired by real-life animals, plants, and insects, each transformed by mana into something far more dangerous and mystical.
I've blended a slice of modern originality into the world—naming patterns, life dynamics, technology, environments, and more. This world may be a fantasy, but it still echoes the modern age.
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The Power System
In this world, Tamers form contracts with beasts. Once contracted, a beast evolves and grants physical enhancements to the Tamer—strength, defence, flexibility, sensory boosts, and more. These boosts are diverse and vary depending on the beast.
The ranking system uses both alphabet and tier formats:
The lowest is D-Rank, which is subdivided into Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 (e.g., D¹ for D-Rank Tier 1, D² for Tier 2, etc.).
Above D-Rank are C, B, and A in ascending order.
However, dragons are an exception to this pattern. While typical beasts (plants, animals, insects) max out somewhere within the D to A ranks, dragons transcend all of them and reach the rare and supreme SSS-RANK.
Dragons are not only rare, but each possesses a nature core—Earth, Fire, Water, or Wind. Once a dragon's core is cultivated to SSS-RANK, the Tamer gains true elemental control over that nature with lethal precision.
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Crystals
Crystals in this world are mana-compressed compounds attuned to Earth, Water, Wind, or Fire. Their creation process, purpose, and usage will be explained in detail within the story.
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Meet the MC
Let's talk briefly about the main character—though I don't want to spoil too much.
Name: Jayden Logan
Age: 16
Personality: Quiet, not a book lover, egoistic, determined, a last-second killer.
Contracted Beast: You'll have to read to find out.
Emotions: Desperate, not much of a woman-lover but passionate, eager.
Goal: Discover it as the story unfolds.
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Will he become overpowered?
Yes—but much later in the story, after years of growth and cultivation.
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Is this a cultivation novel?
No. This isn't a traditional cultivation novel. It's more of a weak-to-strong progression story that borrows the theme of cultivation, but most of its core mechanics are entirely different.
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Final Words
Anything I might have missed here will be revealed naturally as the story progresses. You'll always have just enough information to understand the world and its systems without getting overwhelmed.
Thank you for reading!
I hope this moves you to continue, and I truly hope to deliver a story that satisfies your taste. I'm always open to suggestions—but please be kind, I've got a fragile heart, so go easy on me
First chapter: Mana Cataclysm