The very moment that Eisen noticed that the world around him had changed to the Soul Realm of the Dragon Embryo’s Soul, he couldn’t even attempt to ignore the creature in front of him. In the soul realm, this was the first time that he saw anything ’actually’ alive, although this was also the first time that he attempted to give a shape to a soul that wasn’t blank, and it by far had the highest ’Thought’ stat of any soul he’s seen and inspected.
[The Soul is enraged. Kill the soul’s representation or calm it down to leave]
"An enraged soul..?" Eisen muttered to himself as he read through the notification, and then immediately tried to stand up. He moved, this was also the first time that this worked, every other time, he was stuck in place and could only move his head to look around a little bit.
Carefully, Eisen began to move toward the fully-grown red dragon in front of him as it began to bear its sharp teeth. "Shh, don’t worry, I’m not trying to hurt you." Eisen tried to calm the dragon down, but this didn’t work in the slightest. Instead, something else happened.
The old man began to feel a cold substance at his feet, which shouldn’t be here considering the scorching, volcanic environment he was in, but when he looked down, he saw a thick, black slime cover the whole ground around him.
Grinding his teeth, Eisen nodded his head and stepped closer to the Dragon again, despite the slime practically trying to glue him to the ground. "I get it, you’re scared. This thing was the first that took a chance of life from you, but it can’t hurt you anymore." He explained and moved closer again and held his hand up to the Dragon which was now unable to move any more after being nearly completely covered in the black substance.
Slowly, Eisen put his hand on the Dragon’s snout, gently running his hand over its skin as its breath sped up in something like a panic.
"...don’t... want to... die..." The voice of a young child then muttered out, merely echoing around the area similar to what Eisen knew from the ’Deep Visualization’ state he was in just recently. After the child finished to speak, the black slime on the ground that had at this point covered this whole realm and turned it simply pitch-black began to bubble as if it was boiling, and Eisen could see a bright-green liquid seep through some of the places.
Eisen nodded his head at the soul’s voice. "None of us do. We’re all scared of death, and it’s the one thing that nobody can beat. But I’m here to give you a second chance."
After Eisen’s words, the speed at which the venom continued to spread through the black slime became just so much faster, and as if in a desperate struggle, the slime crept up Eisen’s whole body as it mixed with the venom, causing the old man to feel a slight burning pain all over his body. It was at the level of sunburn for the most part, but it still showed Eisen that he needed to hurry up.
In a sobbing voice, the young child then spoke again. "...What... do you... know?" It asked, slowly getting angry once more at the man that seemed to say he knew what it was like to die.
"I do know! When I was a child, I died. I died, and a few minutes later, I came back! My father had revived me after I drowned! I know it’s not exactly like what you’re going through, but even now, I’m struggling with death as I’m coming closer to it every day! So let me use some of the time I have left and give it to you!" Eisen said, getting more and more riled up himself because this seemed like the only situation where he was able to openly speak about his fear, as he faced someone that was just as scared of death as he was.
The soul stayed silent as Eisen was slowly being devoured by the slime and venom, and just before his face was covered up as well, he said his last-hope sentence, "So let me give you what my father gave me back then, a second chance!"
After Eisen yelled this out, nothing happened. It just stayed utterly silent, and the slime-venom mixture stopped crawling up Eisen’s body. And a few moments later, the slime around both Eisen and the Dragon disappeared after falling to dust, and the Dragon’s figure vanished with it.
As the whole world began to disappear and Eisen noticed himself getting closer to returning to the ship, he felt like someone was standing behind him and smiling at him, although he couldn’t see anyone. And then, he was back at the ship.
He looked through the notifications saying that he managed to calm the Soul down, and looked at the Soul’s status and the notification that popped up with it in surprise.
[Red-Dragon Embryo’s Soul][Rank - 5]
[Soul Strength - 587 ]
[Integrity - 100][Mana Generation - 150][Thought - 200]
[Form - None]
[The Rage of the Soul reduced its strength immensely. Now that it has calmed down, it returned to what it usually was. As you calmed it down and the soul trusts you, you are allowed to handle it despite lacking the strength]
Eisen stared forward at the mist-like soul that was shifting around and sticking to the old man’s hand before he looked around toward the others that were looking at him in surprise.
"Back already?" Stahl asked, and Eisen nodded his head. "Mhm... Did you manage to finish the body at least somewhat?" The old man asked before both Xenia and Jyuuk nodded.
"Kind of, yeah. Jyuuk placed the heart inside and somehow manipulated the slime into thinking it’s alive and made it fill out all the space before it then turned into a flesh-like substance to fit the body better." Xenia explained, and Eisen slowly nodded.
"Alright, good. Now, I hope this works." Eisen said as he slowly stepped toward the body of the small dragon with dark-red metallic scales and black flesh underneath and then pressed the soul against its forehead.
Slowly, the soul spread out and began to cover the artificially-created body, before that body shattered into a million pieces that then disappeared before hitting the ground.
"H-Huh?! Wait, what just happened?" Xenia yelled out as she watched this happen, and everyone looked at Eisen, confused while the old man just smiled. "Exactly what was supposed to happen."
[The Soul has accepted its new form and is indebted to you]
"Did you just break what you were working on for days?" Zyra asked loudly, and Eisen sighed and shook his head as he was starting to get a bit annoyed at the way she just doubted and complained about everything.
"No, I didn’t ’break’ anything. That’s just what happens when you give a form to a soul." He said as he looked down at the still mist-covered area that was slowly changing into precisely the shape that the body had before, and Eisen stepped over to the table and grabbed the Homunculus Core, bringing it over to the Soul.
"Here you go, bud. I promised you a second chance, here it is." The old man said with a smile, before the soul in the shape of a small dragon moved closer to the core, before jumping back a bit startled. But Eisen, trying to calm it down, ran his hand over the soul’s head. He couldn’t touch it, but he at least felt that something was there and the soul seemed to have also felt it as it leaned into the old man’s hand before relaxing and pushing its head against the round Homunculus Core, which immediately sucked the soul up and began to shake around.
Slowly, the shape of the core changed, and it became more like an oval, merely like an egg, and its color and texture changed to that of the scales that Eisen created.
[You conversed with a soul and convinced it with your words. Title Unlocked]
[You helped in the creation of true artificial life. +15 to all base stats]
"It worked!" Jyuuk excitedly exclaimed as he read through the notifications that popped up in front of him, and Xenia was just as excited. "No it didn’t just work, it ended up better than we thought! It’s not a Homunculus; it’s a true living being!" She exclaimed, and Eisen chuckled with a nod as he looked at the dark red egg in his hands.
"I guess now we just have to wait for it to hatch, huh?" The old man said before he looked over at Zyra and winked at her. "Still doubting me even now?" He asked as he sat down on his chair and continued holding the egg before looking at Xenia and Jyuuk, while Zyra looked away embarrassed.
"Do either of you mind if I make it my third tamed monster?" He asked, and they both shook their heads immediately.
"Go ahead! I just wanted to be part of making it!" Xenia exclaimed, and Jyuuk nodded his head as well. "I’m sure it’s going to be in better hands with you." The beastperson added, and Eisen smiled back at them before Alnico and Stahl walked up next to their grandfather curiously.
"And a Dragon is going to hatch out of that now?" Al asked as she leaned forward and put her hand on the egg to feel what its texture for a moment and Eisen smiled at her.
"In a while, probably. I don’t know how long it takes for it to hatch, but-" Eisen began, but was quickly interrupted when Stahl found something weird.
"Do all Dragon eggs have gems in them?" He asked, and Eisen looked at him confused before Stahl motioned for his grandfather to turn the egg around, which he swiftly did and then found a small, purple crystal embedded on its underside.
"Well, this is quite peculiar..." He muttered, and the other originals came closer, even Brody who just now came back to see what was going on. "Wait, the color of that gem is like the Dungeon Core’s, right?" Sky pointed out as he managed to get a closer look on it himself, and Eisen only slowly nodded.
Carefully, he placed his finger on the crystal and poured his mana inside of it, because he was sure this actually was the Dungeon Core and not just something that coincidentally looked like it.
And when he did, something interesting happened.
[You have connected with a Dungeon Core and have become the Dungeon Master. Dungeon Management option now available]
[Dungeon Type] Living Dungeon
[Rank - 0][Floors - 1]
[Description] A peculiar dungeon under the ownership of Omni Craftsmaster Eisen. Instead of being a stationary dungeon with a set rank, it synergized with the possibility of true life and gained the ability to grow stronger over time, currently taking the form of a tiny dragon.
[Due to the nature of this Dungeon/Creature, two different information windows will be available on inspection]
Surprised at what was going on, Eisen looked at the notification and then down at the egg, before noticing that some cracks already formed on its surface. Slowly, a tiny dark red snout cracked through the shell as one small dragon climbed out of it and onto Eisen’s lap.
Everyone in the room looked at the small creature that was not even nearly as large as the body that they had created for it before, although it seemed quite similar, with dark-red scales and a black underbelly as well as golden eyes.
[Due to already being the creature’s Dungeon Master, it is not necessary to tame it]
[Name the creature]
"Hey there, Lil’ guy. Didn’t expect you here so early." The old man said with a smile and grabbed a piece of cloth to wipe the slimy substance from the small dragon’s body, before giving it a name.
Fafnir.
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