Awakening

Late at night, Drak is in his lab wrapping up his experiments early for the day.

"File A.R. 3, log 74. Accelerated age reversal has once again ended with the subject dying of critical organ failure. Gradual age reversal shows no affect on the subject in the current stages."

Drak has been having a hard time focusing all night, something he's never experienced in his life.

Usually he could go all night and be in perfect condition for the next day after about 4 hours of sleep, so he knows that sleep deprivation isn't the problem.

'This feeling... Why am I feeling so restless? Did I forget something important?'

Every part of Drak has been feeling unstable, like his whole body is anticipating something.

'I'll try to take a break, maybe that will help.'

Drak decided he'd visit his favorite relaxation spot, the rooftop of the abandoned building that acts as the entrance to his secret lab.

"Management, set experiments to idle mode."

A lifeless voice replied to Drak from the speakers set in the walls.

"Certainly, Drak. Setting all experiments to idle mode. Would you like me to report any unexpected events that happen while you are away?"

"Set alert to silent message, and set security system to lethal force response."

"Understood."

As Drak left, the lights turned off behind him.

...

Drak was laying on a couch he placed on the rooftop, gazing at the stars.

'Something about tonight seems off. Like something big is going to happen.'

Drak simply couldn't understand why he felt so restless.

'I checked on events happening tonight, but none of them seem to have any relation to this feeling. The assassination being carried out later tonight, the bombing that one terrorist group has arranged for midnight, even the sacrifices planned by those demon worshipers. None of them have anything to do with me.'

Drak decided to take a wild shot and check the internet. Perhaps he could find something there.

'A celebrity died. Not surprising, considering all the drugs I've seen in his purchase records on the dark web. Kind of surprised no one noticed with all the symptoms he was showing in public. A star apparently exploded earlier today. Can't wait to see that a few thousand years from now. A comet is passing by tonight.'

After getting bored of looking at random news on the internet, Drak went back to stargazing.

'Why did I decide on my goal in the first place? Was it dissatisfaction with the current government leaders? No, I don't care about the welfare of the common people. Was it my desire to be known? No, I could make any of my discoveries known and become famous worldwide for them. Then what? How come I want to do such a thing even though I know how pointless it is?'

Drak has felt it since he was young. That desire. He never understood why he started to feel it, but he didn't intend to change it. He intended to not just achieve it, but to achieve it flawlessly.

'Yes, I won't settle for something less than perfect. My perfect...'

Indeed, he wouldn't settle for anything less than a perfect...

'World domination.'

With renewed motivation, Drak got up from the couch. Before he could go downstairs, however, his instincts blared suddenly and he froze where he stood.

'What is-'

Before Drak could even think about why this was happening, a horrible pain shot through his body!

He felt like his internal organs had been lit on fire, and that this fire was spreading throughout his entire body as time went on.

Despite the pain, however, he didn't scream, nor did his expression change. The only way someone could tell he was in pain just by looking was the sweat poring from his face.

Drak wouldn't scream, even if it could save him from this torture that had beset itself upon him. His pride wouldn't allow it. Instead, he tore his shirt off to try and get a better understanding of the situation.

As he did so, the burning pain spread to the outside of his body. His skin began to wiggle and writhe, like his veins were all replaced with worms, creating a horrifying visage that would terrify anyone who happened to witness this scene.

Drak fell to his knees as he felt the pain focus from his entire body to his back and spine.

Wet noises plopped from behind him and his body seemed to become lighter, a feeling like he was dropping heavy weights from his back being Drak's only indicator of what the source of the sound was.

'Is my... flesh falling off?'

Unfortunately, the situation didn't allow Drak to check and another wave of pain spread through him, this time feeling like his spine was being pushed out of his body by another one growing from his skull.

When that pain made it all the way to the end of his spine, he heard one more sound from behind him, before he fell onto his hands and another wave of pain hit his back.

This time, it felt as if someone had grabbed his shoulder blades and was trying to pull them out of his back. However, this pain felt as if it was stretching out, like something was growing out of his back into the air.

After one final short wave, the pain finally ended, and Drak collapsed onto his front.

"What... the hell... was that..."

With labored breathing, Drak got up and looked back to see what was the cause of the sounds he heard earlier.

However, the first thing he saw was a pair of wings extending from his back, blocking his view.

"What the... How did these get here?"

Drak reached out and touched one of the wings, and concluded that these wings were connected to his nervous system due to the feeling he received from not just his hand, but the wings themselves.

Although shocked for a moment, he stood up and turned around and looked at the floor, seeing a bloody pile of flesh topped with various bones and a spine.

"It seems my body forced out the old bones and flesh to make room for the current ones to form. I'm surprised I didn't become paralyzed in the process."

Taking out his phone from his pants pocket, Drak turned on his camera and used it to get a better view of his back.

"Black wings and black scales. It seems the inside of my wings and the outside are quite different, with the outside being scaly and sturdy, while the inside is membranous, soft, and very sensitive. My full wingspan appears to be around 12 feet."

Drak didn't know how or why these changes occurred, but he was quick to except the sight of his back covered in black scales with black wings sprouting out from around the area of his shoulder blades.

"Master Drak. It's great to see that you awakened your bloodline without dying!"

Hearing a voice from behind him, Drak calmly turned around to see a familiar figure kneeling before him.

"Sarah? What are you doing here?"

"I've been watching to see if you'd manage to awaken your dragon bloodline, and to kill any bugs that might try to hurt you while it happened."

'Dragon bloodline? I see, these features are definitely similar to those of dragons from fictional works I've read in my spare time.'

"How did you know the awakening would happen tonight?"

"Every demon knows about the Awakening comet!"

"That naming is a bit on the nose..." Drak quickly accepted that Sarah was a demon, and seemed more focused on the poor naming of the comet.

"Oh! It's not actually named the Awakening comet, that's just what everyone calls it!"

"I see... Well, why is a demon so excited to see the awakening of a dragon bloodline? Shouldn't it be a demon bloodline in this case?"

"Demons were created to serve dragons! Here, I'm supposed to show you this recording crystal after you awaken!"

Sarah took a few crystals out of her pocket and sorted through them before picking one out and handing it to Drak, then taking it back and replacing it with another crystal.

Drak stood there holding the crystal for a few minutes before Sarah finally spoke up.

"Um... Aren't you going to use it?"

"I don't know how. Is there a button I'm not seeing or something?"

"No, you just need to put mana in it!"

"How am I supposed to do that, exactly?"

"You... you just... put it in!"

'You aren't actually clarifying anything with that statement...'

Speechless at Sarah's incompetence, it took Drak a moment to regain himself and finally ask her to do it for him.

"How about you put in some mana for me?"

"Okay!"

The moment Sarah touched the crystal, it began to shine before a screen suspended in midair appeared and began to play a recording of a man wearing a suit with wings and a tail who looked like a demon butler of some sort.

"If you are watching this, then you have successfully awakened your dragon bloodline and met your new bodyguard."

'Ugh, Sarah is my bodyguard? Is it possible to switch?'

"Right now, we don't know which bloodline you possess, so you only have the status of a low-rank dragon among us demons. As your bloodline matures, the evaluation may change, granting you a higher status. Demons were created to serve dragons, but dragons with less pure bloodlines are less worthy of our service."

'I see. I'll have to achieve a higher status if I want to finally be rid of Sarah.'

"Be warned, however, that there are those out to end you. Dragon slayer clans, demon hunter clans, and those worshiping the gods wish for nothing more than the complete extermination of all dragon kind, and to wipe out the demons serving them."

'Dragon slayers and demon hunters I can understand, but why worshipers?'

"The one who rules over all demons, the Lord, is always at least a pure-blooded dragon, but we have been unable to find a pure-blooded dragon to serve for thousands of years. Fortunately, we knew that a new Lord would appear among those who awaken a dragon bloodline with the passing of the Blood Dragon Burial, or as it's better known, the Awakening comet."

'Blood Dragon Burial? So a dead Blood Dragon was frozen and sent hurtling through space? I suppose I could compare it to a burial at sea.'

"The new Lord is supposed to be the direct progeny of the first Lord, the one who created demons to serve pure-blooded dragons. As his direct progeny, the new Lord will be incredibly powerful, and as such, the enemies of dragons and demons wish to kill him before he has the chance to mature. We will do everything we can to prevent that, but it is recommended to hide your dragon bloodline as much as you can."

'The new Lord... I wonder why they couldn't just find him and hide him away. Well, all this means is that I need to live life as usual until I mature enough to defend myself from any possible enemies.'

"We will bring you to visit the Hidden Shelter where we will introduce you to any others who awakened to a dragon bloodline. Until then, stay safe. The fate of our kind may rest upon you."

The screen disappeared and the crystal stopped shining. Sarah took back the crystal and placed it in her pocket to once again mix with the other crystals.

"I'll make sure to protect you as much as I can, so don't worry! I may look like a normal girl, but I'm really strong!"

"Is that so? I'm counting on you, then." Drak replied with a gentle smile.

'At least until I'm strong enough that I don't need you anymore.'

Sarah blushed for a moment before coming to her senses and shouting energetically, "Leave it to me!"