The chamber was empty, its silence broken only by the faint sound of Alexander's breathing. Before him loomed the dragon, its form a mountain of shadow and scale. The creature's eyes glowed like molten suns, fixed upon him as though peeling away every defense he had left.
"You've stumbled far, child," the dragon's voice rumbled only in his mind but he felt it was deep enough to shake the stone beneath his feet. "Yet you stand before me untempered like raw ore, waiting for the forge."
Alexander clenched his fists, the last fragments of the false farm still fresh at the edges of his memory. "If this is a trial," he said, forcing his voice steady, "then tell me what I'm being tested for. What's the point of all this?"
The dragon lowered its head, its breath washing over him like steam from a boiling pot. "The point? Power does not come to those who question its meaning. It comes to those who endure long enough to grasp it."
"That's not an answer." Alex mustered with every ounce of his strength, not caring if it was going to get him pulverised to death.
"It is the only one you are ready for."
Alexander bit down his frustration. He had fought illusions, broken chains, faced his own longing for peace. Now, standing here, he wanted clarity. But the dragon's words only deepened the fog plaguing his mind.
The dragon's gaze lingered on him. "You carry something unusual. A spark out of place, not forged in these chambers nor bound to the bloodlines I know. Why you were chosen, even I cannot fully say. But this much is clear: left as you are, you will shatter. Strength must root before it can grow."
Alexander exhaled slowly, grounding himself.
"I'm ready."
The dragon's laughter thundered across the chamber. "So eager to beg for fire, knowing fire consumes." Its wings stretched, blotting out any light. "Very well. Take this ember, but remember it is not a gift, but a burden."
A beam of searing light surged from the dragon, piercing into Alexander's chest. His body convulsed as if struck by lightning. Mana roared through his veins, so dense and alive it threatened to tear him apart.
He screamed, but the sound warped into something deeper. Something primal. His vision bled red. His hair grew past his shoulders, turning into a crimson shade. Scales rippled across his arms, his neck, his jawline, each one glinting faintly in the dragon's glow. His aura spilled outward in violent waves, so oppressive it cracked the stone beneath his boots.
His breath came short, yet powerful, each gasp pulling in mana as though the world itself fed him magic itself.
The dragon's eyes narrowed with grim satisfaction. "The First Form. It is borrowed strength not yet yours to command."
Alexander staggered, trying to steady his trembling hands. The power inside him was intoxicating like holding a storm in his chest. Every instinct screamed at him to unleash it, to see what destruction it could bring.
But even as he marveled, the dragon's voice cut sharp.
"Remember this: power unearned will turn on its wielder. You are but a vessel. To claim this flame as your own, you must survive the forge." The creature's massive wings folded inward, shadows collapsing with them. "And the forge lies ahead."
The dragon's body unraveled into black smoke, dissipating into the air.
Then the chamber shook.
Cracks appeared across the ground. A rift tore open in the air before him, violent and seething with vile energy. From within came the sound of chitin scraping stone, mandibles clacking in hunger. The oppressive weight of a predator's aura pressed down, so suffocating it dwarfed every foe he had faced so far.
Alexander's scales glowed faintly, his body thrumming with unstable strength. He squared his stance, every muscle alive with new potential, yet alien and wild.
A humanoid shape pushed through the rift. Massive, armored, its many eyes glinting with cold hunger.
Recognition struck him. The ant. The same kind of A-rank monster that had driven him to flee on the first day, a nightmare he had barely survived. Only now, it stood before him, larger and more vicious than his memory had painted.
Alexander flexed his clawed fingers, draconic flame rushing in his blood.
The final trial had arrived.