The chamber fell into stunned silence.
Drakar’s proposal hung in the air like smoke from the volcanic vents—heavy, impossible, absolutely absurd.
"You want to... travel with us," Alex repeated slowly. "You. The Dragon Lord. The First Dragon. Most powerful being in this world. You want to join our party."
"Of course," Drakar clarified, as if this was the most reasonable request in the world. " In the prophecy, I saw a world far different than ours. People of that world didn’t had beastly features like ours. They lived in tall buildings. Dressed differently. Talk differently. Behave differently. Everything about them was different."
[ Host, I think he’s talking about human from Earth. ]
"So you’re curious?," Alex pointed out, his blue eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Yes." Drakar asked, genuinely puzzled. "I’ve been sitting on this mountain for what maybe thousand years watching lesser creatures sche and struggle. When you live long everything becos boring and uninteresting. You’re the first interesting thing to happen since—" He paused, considering. "Since ever, actually."
Naga’s coils shifted, his serpentine eyes fixed on the dragon with the kind of focus usually reserved for mortal enemies.
"And if we refuse?"
Drakar shrugged—a surprisingly human gesture from soone who could probably incinerate them all with a thought.
"Then you don’t get the Fire Stone. It’s that simple. I’m not required to give it to you. The prophecy says you’ll collect all seven, but it doesn’t say I have to cooperate. You could try to take it by force, but..." He glanced around at the party—six snakelings, three mates, one recovering eagle, one bear, one r-prince in an ocean sphere—and smiled. "I like your odds approximately zero percent."
[CRITICAL DECISION POINT]
[Options:
A) Accept Drakar’s proposal - Dragon Lord joins party, Fire Stone acquired imdiately
B) Refuse and attempt to take stone by force - Success probability: 2%
C) Negotiate different terms - Unknown outco]
[Recomnded: Accept. This is actually... not a terrible deal?]
Alex looked at his mates.
Naga’s expression said I hate this but I see no alternative.
Leo’s said If he touches you I’ll kill him regardless of odds.
Zale’s said Please don’t make share my ocean sphere with a fire dragon.
Granite’s said I’m too old for this.
Skye’s said I’m still processing the last three days let alone this.
And the six snakelings—Jade watchful, Ripple anxious, Siddy straining toward the dragon with obvious interest, Sterling already trying to figure out how to climb him, Onyx sohow still asleep, and River calm and observant as always.
"What about them?" Alex asked, gesturing to his children. "If you’re traveling with us, you’ll be around six curious, boundary-challenged infants who will absolutely try to climb you, bite you, and steal your food."
Drakar’s ruby eyes dropped to the snakelings.
For a long mont, he simply stared.
Then sothing unexpected happened.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"I like younglings," he said. "They’re honest. They don’t sche and plot and pretend. They just... want things and try to get them." His eyes lingered on Siddy, who was now actively straining against his carrier straps with single-minded determination. "That one reminds of myself at that age."
"That one reminds everyone of soone they’d rather forget," Alex muttered.
Drakar laughed—and the sound shook dust from the volcanic ceiling.
"Accepted terms. I travel with you. I protect your party as my own. I do not harm, threaten, or undermine. And when the prophecy completes, I return here and you never speak of this to anyone." He looked at Alex directly. "Deal?"
Alex took a deep breath.
"Deal."
The Fire Stone materialized in Drakar’s palm—a crystal of pure fla, containing what looked like an eternal inferno within its depths. It pulsed with heat, with power, with the raw essence of creation itself.
He handed it to Alex without ceremony.
Alex took it—and the mont it touched his skin, all seven stones resonated.
The Void Stone (black as nothingness) pulsed.
The Golden Stone (light incarnate) blazed.
The Silver Fang (crystalline life) humd.
The Bronze Stone (earth vitality) rumbled.
The Water Stone (ocean depths) swirled.
The Air Stone (storm winds) whispered.
The Fire Stone (volcanic heart) roared.
Together, they sang.
A sound that wasn’t sound, a light that wasn’t light, a truth that resonated in Alex’s very bones.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[Seven Divine Artifacts Unified]
[NEW PARTY MBER ADDED: Drakar (Dragon Lord, Prophecy Watcher, Potential Chaos Elent)]
[Current party size: 13 (plus 6 snakelings)]
[Fire Stone: ACQUIRED]
[Quest progress: 7/7 Divine Artifacts COLLECTED]
[QUEST COMPLETE!]
[Congratulations, Host. You did it.]
[ Now. You can stay between Earth and Beast World Freely.]
" Hey system, if I go back to Earth, does that an I have to leave everything behind. " Alex gulped.
He looked at Naga—his first mate— who beca his mate in a hazy mont— the fierce love in those serpentine eyes, at the way his coils ford an unbreakable barrier between Alex and the world.
At Leo—golden and steady, a warrior who’d chosen family over everything, who’d crossed impossible distances on pure determination.
At Zale—who’d left his ocean, his ho, his everything, for a chance to be part of this impossible family.
He touched the pouch with the six snakelings—Jade’s watchfulness, Ripple’s anxiety, Siddy’s chaos, Sterling’s curiosity, Onyx’s contentnt, River’s calm. Six tiny lives that existed because of choices Alex had made.
At Granite—a bear chief who’d stepped down from leadership to follow them on a quest.
At Skye—a broken eagle slowly learning that wings still worked even when the heart didn’t.
At Drakar—an ancient dragon who’d been reminded what mattered by a human from another world.
"Ho," Alex said softly. "I’ve been trying to get ho since I woke up here. That’s all I wanted. To go back. To my apartnt. To my sister. To my old life."
"And now?"
" Will I be selfish?"
[ Huh, of course not. Who said you’re permanently going back to your world. ]
" Huh, what do you an?"
[ Did I said your mission is finished? What you just finished is a quest, not your main mission. ]
" My main mission?"
System flickered its tail once. Then he pulled out a holographic panel which read—
[ Quest For Seven Stones: Complete ]
[ Quest For Multiple Mates: 38% ]
[ Quest For Gaining Top-tier Mates: 26% ]
[ Main Mission: Bear Multiple Cubs And Save The Beast World: 3% ]
[ See. You still have a long way to go. ]
" No freaking way? You said collecting seven stones was my main mission. " Alex scread from top of his lungs.
[ Huh. Is that so. Must be glitch in the data. Haha...ha. ] System replied. Averting its eyes.
Alex stared at the holographic panel floating in front of him, his mind struggling to process the betrayal.
"SYSTEM," he said, his voice dangerously quiet.
"LOOK AT ."
The small cat-like entity’s ears flattened against its head, tail drooping.
[Host, I can explain—]
"LOOK. AT. ."
System’s glowing eyes reluctantly t his.
Alex’s hands were shaking—not with fear, but with rage so pure it made the seven divine stones pulse in response.
"You lied to ," he said, each word precise and cutting. "For six months. Six MONTHS of thinking every step I took was bringing closer to ho. Every negotiation, every territory crossed, every impossible choice I made—all of it based on a LIE."
[Host, please—]
"My sister!" Alex’s voice cracked. "Do you have any idea what she’s going through right now? I’ve been MISSING for six months! She probably thinks I’m DEAD! And you let believe—you ENCOURAGED to believe—that I was working toward getting back to her!"
The entire chamber had gone silent.
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