The Forgotten Dragon Ruins didn't stay quiet for long.
Even after Asterion's collapse, the space didn't fully heal it hesitated, like reality was unsure whether Lin Z and Scrappy were supposed to still be there.
Scrappy sat on Lin Z's shoulder again.
Small.
Tired.
Sneezing once in a while like nothing in the universe had just tried to erase him.
Lin Z exhaled slowly. "We need to leave before something else shows up."
Scrappy blinked.
Then
A voice cut through the silence.
"Too late."The air split sideways.
Not cracked.
Folded open like paper being gently torn.
A man stepped out.
He wasn't wearing Council armor.
He wasn't a soldier.
He looked… like a student.
White and gold academy uniform. Clean boots. A badge shaped like a dragon eye pinned to his chest.
And behind him
A beast.
Not standing.
Not flying.
But orbiting him like a planet around a sun.
A serpent-dragon with crystalline scales and six glowing wings.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
High-Rank Beast Tamer Detected
Designation: "Kael Draven, Dragon Apex Academy"
Rank: S-
Lin Z stiffened instantly. "Another one…?"
Kael Draven smiled.
Not hostile.
Worse.
Interested.
"So," he said, eyes locking onto Scrappy immediately. "That's the anomaly."
Scrappy sneezed.
A tiny flame puffed into the air.
Kael's dragon didn't react.
But Kael did.
His smile widened.
"That's him."Kael stepped forward calmly.
Unlike the Council, he didn't press with authority.
He observed.
Like Scrappy was a rare artifact instead of a living being.
"You're lucky," Kael said to Lin Z. "Most people don't survive encountering Council observation units."
Lin Z narrowed his eyes. "And you're different how?"
Kael tapped his chest badge.
"I don't answer to them."
That made Lin Z pause.
Scrappy tilted his head slightly.
Kael's dragon behind him shifted its wings folding and unfolding slowly like it was curious too.
Then Kael pointed.
Not at Lin Z.
At Scrappy.
"I want that one."
Silence.
Even the ruins seemed to go still.
Lin Z's voice dropped. "He's not a thing you can take."
Kael smiled faintly.
"I didn't say take."
He tilted his head.
"I said tame."SYSTEM NOTICE:
Rival Beast Tamer Detected
Compatibility Scan Running…
SYSTEM WARNING:
Target Beast Identity Conflict: SCRAPPY / LOST SOVEREIGN FRAGMENT
SYSTEM ALERT:
Multiple Ownership Attempts Detected
Conflict Class: HIGH
Scrappy suddenly stiffened.
His tiny body flickered again just for a moment like something inside him reacted instinctively to Kael's presence.
Kael noticed instantly.
"Oh…" he whispered. "So it responds to authority signatures."
Lin Z stepped forward. "Back off."
Kael ignored him completely.
Instead, he raised his hand slightly.
And his dragon moved.The six-winged serpent-dragon descended.
But not aggressively.
Curiously.
Its eyes locked onto Scrappy.
And for the first time since Lin Z met him
Scrappy didn't sneeze.
He stared back.
A faint golden glow leaked from his eyes.
Kael smiled.
"There it is," he said. "That pressure. That lineage."
Lin Z felt something cold in his chest.
"What are you talking about?"
Kael finally looked at him.
And his answer came casually.
"Your dragon isn't an F-Rank anomaly."
A pause.
"It's a sealed apex class."
Scrappy's wings twitched.Kael stepped closer.
Slowly.
Unthreateningly.
Like a person approaching a wounded royal animal.
"You don't understand what you have," he said to Lin Z. "So I'll make you an offer."
Lin Z didn't respond.
Kael continued anyway.
"Join Dragon Apex Academy."
"I'll make you my junior partner."
"And I'll help you unlock what your beast actually is."
Scrappy let out a tiny growl.
Kael smiled at him like that was expected.
"But I want him."
Lin Z finally spoke.
"And if I refuse?"
Kael shrugged slightly.
"Then the Council will come again."
He looked upward.
"As many times as it takes."
The implication wasn't a threat.
It was a fact.Scrappy suddenly stepped forward.
His small claws pressed against Lin Z's neck.
A connection pulse activated instantly.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
Shared Evolution Link: STABLE
Beast Emotional Sync: ACTIVE
Lin Z felt it.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Scrappy was analyzing Kael.
And what he found… wasn't comfort.
It was familiarity.
Scrappy whispered into Lin Z's mind:
"He is… close to the chains."
Lin Z's eyes widened slightly. "What chains?"
Scrappy didn't answer.
Instead
Kael's dragon suddenly reacted.
Its wings flared.
For the first time.
Aggressive.
Kael frowned slightly. "…Interesting."Kael raised one hand.
"Test him."
His dragon moved instantly.
Not toward Lin Z.
Toward Scrappy.
But the moment it crossed a certain distance
Scrappy's body flickered.
And reality stuttered.
BOOM
A shockwave rippled outward.
Both beasts froze mid-motion.
Kael's smile faded slightly.
"…So it reacts to forced dominance pressure."
Lin Z grabbed Scrappy instinctively. "What did you just do?"
Scrappy trembled.
Not from fear.
From resistance.
Something inside him was pushing back against Kael's dragon.
Like two systems trying to overwrite each other.
SYSTEM ALERT:
Sovereign Resonance Detected
Source: UNKNOWN APEX LINEAGE
Kael stepped back slightly.
For the first time
He looked serious.
"…I see."Kael turned away slowly.
Not defeated.
Not retreating.
Deciding.
"I'll come back," he said calmly.
Then he glanced over his shoulder.
"And next time… I won't ask."
His dragon vanished into light.
The space behind him folded shut.
Silence returned.
Lin Z stared after him. "He's insane."
Scrappy sneezed.
A tiny flame popped out.
But his eyes stayed fixed on the place Kael disappeared.
Lin Z noticed.
"…You know him?"
Scrappy hesitated.
Then, very quietly
"I don't remember him…"
"…but my body does."
A long silence followed.
Then SYSTEM NOTICE appeared:
NEW MAIN QUEST UNLOCKED:
"Dragon Apex Academy Entrance Exam"
WARNING:
Multiple factions are now targeting the beast known as SCRAPPY
REWARD:
Access to sealed evolution layers
HIDDEN EFFECT:
Unsealing accelerates Sovereign awakening
Lin Z exhaled slowly.
"So now we've got a rival."
Scrappy sneezed proudly.
Lin Z smirked slightly.
"…Of course we do."
Far away, Kael Draven looked up at the sky as he walked through a collapsing dimension gate.
He smiled again.
"This is getting interesting."
And behind him
His dragon whispered something only he could hear.
"…The Sovereign Fragment has awakened."