A Draconic Rebirth - Chapter 96
Really enjoyed some of your theories about last chapter and I think this might surprise many of you. There were a few that nailed it though!
— Chapter 96 —
Meat, flesh, and bone crumbled while he tore and ate his way through the mountain of flesh like some parasite. He had been ejected into the monstrous stomach of the dragon just as he felt the power surge through his body. He clung, dug, and ate at Desolation’s stomach lining whilst he desperately fought to survive, hanging far above the pit of stomach acid lurking below. His magical pores also opened fully while he fought to regain every ounce of affinity he could.
Despite the flesh hitting his stomach, he was still losing the battle. He couldn’t possibly process the food fast enough to keep up with his body burning through his reserves and muscles. He had hoped, despite knowing better, that he could somehow sustain himself indefinitely if he had an unlimited amount of food. Desolation’s stomach was also devoid of a breathable combination of air, and he could feel the fumes from the massive acid-filled stomach burning his insides.
His affinity reserves were dropping fast because he was compensating for the damage of his Catabolic Overdrive and the lack of oxygen from the Elder’s stomach. He punched through the stomach muscle and flesh like paper as most of it fell away while he shoveled what he could into his mouth. Blood was already pouring out of the massive wound whilst David forced his way into it. He battered his way forward with powerful slash after powerful slash. Desolation had clearly noticed David’s efforts because the world around him began to shake and tremble.
Everything at once went weightless, and David was forced to dig his claws in deep before a massive jarring impact sent the contents of Desolation’s stomach flying. Stomach acid crashed against David like a wave, and his flesh screamed out. His open pores acted like funnels as extremely strong acid seeped deep into his body.
He had no choice but to immediately deactivate his Catabolic Overdrive. In reality, he hadn’t had the ability active for long, but his body was already ravaged, and the burning acid wasn’t helping. His Healing Breath burst out once more, and he cursed when he felt his affinity reserves. He had only ten charges left.
He snarled and lunged at the wall of flesh in his little dug-out flesh tunnel. Without his Catabolic Overdrive, Desolation’s regeneration was pushing back against his efforts. His lungs burned whist he closed his eyes and took a few moments to think. He needed to act fast, and he hoped and prayed that the solution was worth the cost of affinity.
He had decided and backed out of the tunnel before he let loose with his Rapid Cancer. The breath sank into the fleshy walls immediately, with dramatic effects. The regeneration was halted while bulbous tumors began to form, rupture, and repeat. David couldn’t waste his time as he released another Healing Breath to calm his burning lungs and lunged forward. The cancerous walls erupted into bile and pus with each slash of his powerful claws.
Healing Breath after Healing Breath after Healing Breath whilst he carved his way out in a straight line. The air was void of anything breathable still, and he was practically swimming through blood and pus, but he was making progress. His desperate frenzy forward made significant progress while he carved, ate, and threw back flesh. He realized that his time was running out. Desolation clearly had the same trait that the Dread did in the valley. The cancer spread was slowing now, and it was simply acting as a temporary slowing factor to the Desolation’s monster regeneration.
“Tough bastard!” David coughed out whilst he thrust and plowed forward.
Finally, by some miracle, his claws punched through, and he felt his claws burst through a thick layer of dirt before feeling air desperately leak inside from the other side. The hiss of cool air rushing into his lungs felt amazing between gulps of flesh. He pressed his face forward to gasp at the air, and that is when he felt his insides become twisted when an enormous burst of affinity radiated outside of his fleshy jail. His vision became blurry, and he struggled when an overwhelming tsunami of pain struck him hard. He slowly glanced down and gasped in horror as long, thick spikes of solid stone were run, striking straight through his chest. He breathed out the last of his Healing Breath and reigned in some of his pain.
Desolation, the bastard, was waiting for him like he was just some pest. Just as he had penetrated through, Desolation had turned his earth affinity on himself and driven spikes of stone straight into the opening. David’s wounds were starting to seal around the stone spikes pressed into his chest just when another wave of them rushed in. He was too confined to dodge, and his pores were still wide open. One massive stone spear slid into his throat whilst another six crashed into his limbs and wings.
He was being thrown back, back through the pus-filled, rancid tunnel that was still fighting off David’s cancer. He felt his affinity reserves, now empty, finally recover another charge. He didn’t know if it would be enough as the onslaught of the putrid acid fume-filled pouch of Desolation’s stomach hit him hard once more whilst he was thrown back into it. His eyes watched in horror while he fell, while more stone began to form around his carved tunnel’s entrance, sealing it.
He twisted as much as he could and pulled free the thick, sharpened lengths of stone out of his body just as his back slammed into the ocean of acid. He cried out when he felt the flesh between his wings instantly begin to burn and dissolve. He continued to cry out in frustration whilst he sank, “No! You bastard!”
Desolation’s stomach practically sucked David in, and he couldn’t do anything but curl into a tight ball whilst he released the last of his Healing Breath and once again used up the last of his affinity. Desolation’s stomach was built to eat things far tougher than David, he cursed, whilst he felt his body struggle to resist the corrosive liquid around him. His heavy, muscular body continued to sink, but he used what energy he had left to fight. He quickly uncurled once he had absorbed the last of the healing and began to thrash, swim, and fight his way forward. He could feel his body burning away, but he was able to reach the fleshy walls once more. He thrust what remained of his hands and claws into the wall and pulled himself up!
Slowly, he climbed, but just as he was able to pull himself free of the liquid of death, his muscles and his body ceased up in exhaustion. He fell while he blacked out from the pain, his body failing him completely. His last thought and hope was that his sacrifice was enough to cause Desolation to pause and for his clan to escape. Damn it, he cursed to himself again, he should have done better! The darkness fully closed around his mind, and then nothingness.
….
Death.
….
Phoenix Essence trait activated.
…
Error.
…
Error. Physical body destroyed.
Error corrected. Phoenix Essence is absolute.
Alternative solution… failed.
Alternative solution… failed.
Alternative solution… successful.
Phoenix Essence trait activated and exhausted.
David “Onyx” classification Dragon evolving…
Affinity recovered. Soul sealed. Evolution complete.
Evolution into Spectral Dragon complete.
Adding Death affinity…
Error. Halt. Life affinity present.
Correction complete. Spectral Dragon classification removed.
Death affinity added.
Reclassification complete. Reaper Dragon evolution complete.
Physical attribute penalty applied.
Reaper Dragon abilities applied.
Physical damage nullification applied.
Elder Dragon Onyx - Reaper Dragon finalized.
David’s mind surged to life again, and he struggled to understand. His prompt flashed in his mind, replaying the record of the experience he had just undergone. He had melted away in Desolation’s stomach and then felt his very soul, his affinity, and his essence dissipate before being pulled back from the nothingness.
He always considered his Phoenix Essence in the back of his mind, but doubted how useful it would be in the end. He practically laughed at his luck whilst he forced his eyes open and saw only darkness around him. He was in a cave, he realized. He struggled and fought to move as he lifted his limbs and was baffled when he practically floated instead. He blinked, or at least thought he blinked, whilst he stared down at his limbs. He was staring at a smoky outline of what was more like a darker smear, in the already dark cave, of a large dragon’s form.
“Fuck.” David cursed, and his voice was almost like a whisper while he turned, and his smoky form followed. He spread his massive, bellowing wings and flapped them briefly. He was rewarded with his entire form being propelled through the tight confines of the darkness faster than he had ever moved before. It took him a moment, but he was able to shift and use his wings to slow himself whilst he settled back down on the ground like a whisper.
“My body is no more. I am… a ghost?” His eyes drifted to his prompt, and he murmured over the words.
“Reaper.” His emotions swirled, and he found that his emotional peak was dulled and capped. His mind, seemingly sharper than ever, instantly credited that to the fact that he no longer had a physical body regulating hormones and influencing his thoughts. It was a weird feeling. His body registered the ground, barely, but not like his old body. He knew it was there, but if he pressed down harder, he could feel every single indentation in the cave floor. No, David corrected himself, not a cave but Desolation’s insides. He was getting more comfortable with his body by the minute and could tell that the floor, walls, and roof all pulsed with life.
“My lungs don’t hurt.” David murmured as he registered the fact that he didn’t appear to be breathing, and in fact, he was no longer in any kind of pain. He took a deep breath, his smoke chest even expanded, and when he expelled, he only felt the crackle of affinity in the air. Breathing wasn’t needed anymore, he murmured to himself. David had doubts he would even need to eat either.
Finally, he closed his ethereal eyes and pulled at his prompt for the entirety of his sheet. He needed answers, and this was going to be the only way.
“What!?” He stared forward in complete and total bewilderment.
David “Onyx” Manning - Otherworlder
Species: Elder - Reaper Dragon
Str: 2
Int: 20
Speed: 2 (Flight Speed: 16)
Toughness: 2 (Physical Damage Nullification Present)
Affinity: Life / Death (5/5 Charges) - Genomic Mastery
Healing Breath (Fog) - 1 Charge Cost
Healing Breath (Focused Cone) - 1 Charge Cost
Healing Breath (Singular Target) - 1 Charge Cost
Healing Breath (Rain) - 3 Charge Cost Initial, 1 Charge Increment
Lingering Regeneration (Singular Target) - 1 Charge Cost
Lingering Regeneration (Focused Cone) - 1 Charge Cost
Lingering Regeneration (Rain) - 3 Charge Cost Initial, 1 Charge Increment
Healing Orb (Condensed Sphere) - 2 Charge Cost Initial, 1 Charge Increment
Rapid Growth (Singular Target) - 5 Charge Cost
Rapid Cancer (Singular Target) - 5 Charge Cost
Genomic Restoration (Singular Target) - 5 Charge Cost.
Genomic Copy - 1 Charge Cost
Genomic Paste - 2 Charge Cost
Genomic Alteration - 5 Charge Cost
Traits: 9/9 - All Traits Deactivated
Condensed Musculature
Rupturing Jaws - Death Roll Ability
Magical Pores - Magical Pores Open/Close
Carrion Sensory
Phoenix Essence (Exhausted)
Ganglia Restructure
Sturdy Endoskeleton
Magical Sacs
Catabolic Overdrive
Elder Abilities: Unlimited
Ethereal Body
Possession
Ethereal Absorption
Elder Dragon Aura
Here is also a link to Royal Road
Posted Jul 11, 2026, 8:59 PM UTC