NOVEL WEB Chapter 87: Grakar's Evolution
When Ryuzen finally arrived at their assigned house, he was hit with an unexpected announcement.
He was told to sleep on the floor.
Apparently, the house had only two bedrooms—one for Venus and one for Ryzen—but with John and Maki joining them, things had to be rearranged.
Venus tossed him a blanket and pillow.
"Go away. You'll be sleeping on the floor," she said bluntly.
Ryuzen sighed, catching the pillow mid-air. "You know, you could've asked a little more nicely. Maybe with a smile. Then I wouldn't be so displeased right now."
"Mm..." Venus bit her lip, toes curling as her face flushed. "It's not me... my mom needs the extra space," she muttered, glancing toward her mother, who still lay in a coma.
"Hm... I get it," Ryuzen said with a nod, then smirked. "But wait... if your mom wasn't here, would you have let me sleep in the bed with you?"
Venus' ears turned bright red. Her entire face followed.
"Y-you hooligan!" she stammered. "That's not what I meant! I was going to say—if Mom wasn't sick right now, I would've taken the floor!"
Ryuzen chuckled, clearly enjoying her flustered reaction.
"Sure, sure," he said as he laid down on the floor, pulling the blanket over himself with a lazy grin. "I'll remember that."
Venus turned away with a huff, but her ears were still burning.
And deep down, she couldn't help but smile.
The misunderstanding and cold war was slowly disappearing. It was getting replaced with something warmer.
---
[ Name: Ryuzen De Manus ]
[ Bloodline: Solarfrost Imperial Dragon (S) ]
[ Age: 6 Years ]
[ Lifespan: 300 years ]
[ Level: 15 ]
[ Strength: 220 ]
[ Agility: 219 ]
[ Vitality: 223 ]
[ Mana: 1707 ]
[ Skills: Sun Dragon's Gaze (E) Frost Armor (E), Twin Eclipse Ascent (E), Sunflare Glacier Roar (E), Night Berserker (E), Phantom Claw (E), Windleap Dash (E), Tunnel Gore Strike (E), Shell Sense (F), Water Resistance (F) ]
[ Skill Tree: Manus (D)
---
Deep into the night, when the house had gone still and Venus had finally fallen asleep, Ryuzen quietly slipped into his Fusion Lab.
The quiet air shimmered faintly with energy as the glowing chamber materialized around him. In its center stood a towering cocoon, nearly 20 meters high, pulsating with a slow, fiery rhythm like the breath of a slumbering beast.
Grakar was inside.
Wrapped in layers of hardened bio-membrane and infused crystal, the cocoon radiated intense heat. Dark-red veins pulsed across its surface, glowing faintly like blackened magma running beneath cracked stone.
From the looks of it, Grakar's transformation into a Dragon Kind was taking longer than expected.
It had already been four days since Ryuzen had fused the diluted bloodline of the Sun Dragon into his loyal companion.
And yet... the evolution hadn't finished.
Until now.
Tonight, something had changed.
The air around the cocoon was tense. Sparks of radiant energy arced off the surface. Cracks had begun to appear along its outer shell, and from within, a deep rumble echoed like the stirring of ancient thunder.
Ryuzen's golden slit-eyes narrowed. He could feel it—the awakening.
"Looks like it's finally time," he whispered.
A gust of searing wind burst from the cocoon, scattering embers through the lab like fireflies.
Grakar was about to hatch.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The sound echoed through the chamber like bones snapping under pressure.
Thin lines of rupture spread across the surface of the cocoon, webbing outward like a spider's silk spun in chaos. From within, something ancient stirred, and a wave of intense heat spilled out.
But this wasn't the usual crimson or golden fire associated with Fire type dragons.
No.
This flame was black.
Dark as ash, wild as a tempest. It poured from the widening cracks in violent surges, eating the surrounding air, warping the space with its furious energy. The fire didn't flicker—it devoured.
Even from a distance, Ryuzen winced as searing heat singed his skin.
"Tch... Damn."
He quickly activated Frost Armor, coating his body in a glimmering layer of enchanted ice. The flames hissed upon contact, steam rising around him in angry bursts.
Still, even the frost struggled to hold back the raw destruction. This was no ordinary blaze. It was something... deeper. Something forged in the abyss.
Ryuzen's eyes narrowed.
"So this is the true form of Grakar's evolution…"
The cocoon exploded in a sudden flash of black fire and molten embers.
And from within, a massive tail slithered out first—long, muscular, and obsidian-dark with crimson underglow. The tail slapped the floor, cracking stone beneath it. Then came the head, crowned with jagged horns and blazing ruby eyes that burned like twin infernos.
A snarl followed, deep and guttural. The entire cocoon shattered into a storm of fiery fragments.
Grakar stepped forward.
Towering. Majestic. Terrifying.
His body was longer than a city bus, built like a fusion between a serpent and a crocodile, but now infused with the regality of a draconic sovereign. Red-black scales overlapped in jagged layers, each scale sharp enough to cut steel. His limbs were more defined now, ending in claws that shimmered like obsidian blades. Dark wings, tattered and webbed, twitched on his back as if testing the air for the first time.
Black smoke curled from his nostrils. His presence shook the Fusion Lab.
Ryuzen's heart thudded in awe.
He activated Appraisal (Intermediate), the newly upgraded system ability.
[Follower: Grakar]
Age: 12
Lifespan: 200 years
Bloodline: Abyssal Fire Dragon (Grade B)
Loyalty: 100%
Level: 13
Strength: 160
Agility: 155
Defense: 165
Skills:
– Hellfire Breath (E)
– Hellfire Storm (E)
– Abyssal Chomp (E)
– Crushing Tail (E)
– Scale Hardening (E)
– Beast Speech (F)
Seeing the new stats, Ryuzen's eyes gleamed.
The evolution had transformed Grakar on every level. Not only had his power skyrocketed, but his bloodline had also reached the coveted B-Grade, now identified as Abyssal Fire Dragon. A rare and volatile fusion of fire and darkness, it had mutated beyond expectation during the transformation.
The newly acquired Hellfire skills were proof. Neither purely flame nor void, they were birthed from a dangerous harmony between the Sunfire energy of the diluted dragon blood and the shadowy, corrupted essence of Hollows.
But the growth wasn't purely genetic.
Grakar's transformation had consumed nearly a hundred beast and a few Hollow corpses Ryuzen had meticulously stored in the Fusion Lab for this very moment. Their energy, raw and wild, had been devoured during the process, accelerating Grakar's evolution to a terrifying degree.
And perhaps... it was those Hollow cores, saturated in dark essence, that warped the Sunfire into Abyssal Flame, creating this unholy fire that now radiated off Grakar in waves.
Ryuzen hadn't gambled blindly.
He had Dracina's assurance before proceeding with the fusion—her words like a guiding light in the fog of uncertainty. Still, it had been a massive risk.
Now, the reward stood before him.
A towering beast clad in crimson and obsidian scales, wreathed in black heat and dragon's might.
Grakar, eyes glowing like molten rubies, lowered his massive head and knelt before Ryuzen. His sharp horns scraped the stone floor as a gesture of absolute submission.
No words were needed.
This act spoke volumes more than any oath. Loyalty was engraved into his very being. His power would not be measured in mere numbers—but in the devastation he would unleash on the battlefield.
Ryuzen's hand reached out, gently resting on the side of his companion's head.
"Stand tall, Grakar," he murmured. "Your legend begins now."
"Yes, Master."
The black flames surged behind them, dancing like shadows caught in sunlight.