Void Evolution System

"You ready?"

Damien's voice resounded in August's ears.

His heart pounded. The entire day had already been exciting, but it was clear that everything had been leading up to this.

'I'm a dragon.'

That was what August had learned so far. He learned what dragons were, and he learned that they could be heroes and scholars if they wanted to.

But it was all still theoretical. He'd only seen plays and reenactments. He'd never seen that sort of power with his own eyes before.

"Here we go!"

Damien's voice was all he heard above the whipping winds of the environment.

August nodded, and soon after, he felt the blindfold rising off of his face.

When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw nothing more than an open field.

That was until he looked up at Damien.

No, he went to look up at Damien, but he was forced to look past him.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

A huge aura filled the sky. A massive being swept past with such speed that it caused a sonic boom to ripple through space.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The emerald-green dragon that swooped by was only the first.

A second, a third, a fourth, a fifth…so many dragons, kilometers long each, swept past Damien and August, flipping and rolling through the clouds as they claimed the sky as their dominion.

"Woaaah!"

August's eyes widened in adoration.

He held onto Damien's leg, and Damien's mana covered him to protect him from the wild energy and sound. As he stood there, he laid witness to a sight that not many would ever get to see.

Sixteen ancestral dragons zipped through the air. They roared and displayed their auras, fought and danced, and put on a show for the child below.

They didn't know who he was.

They only knew that he had a very powerful and caring father.

And if it was for a young dragon pure of spirit and uncorrupted by the ways of Arulion, then they'd happily lend their aid in helping him awaken.

Dragons had several ancient rituals, many of which were symbolic and used to praise their species and their traditions.

This type of maneuver, where they flew together and embraced the sky with such passion, was one of such beautiful performative rituals.

A rainbow of beautifully deadly dragon's breath painted Damien and August in their reflections, and the majestic aura of so many ancestral dragons washed over the young dragon watching from the ground.

That aura made him shiver. It excited something deep within him, making his blood boil. Instinctively, he wanted to transform right then and there, embracing his true form.

Though…

"Isn't it amazing?" Damien said, looking at August.

"It is…" August responded somewhat half-heartedly.

He truly enjoyed what he was seeing. He felt inspired and he felt more confident in his identity after seeing people like these.

However, his heart was still a little gloomy.

Knowing that dragons were cool was one thing. That was half of the problem, and with this, it was certain that August took pride in being a dragon.

But that didn't change his desire to be more like his dad.

Weren't the two paths too different? August couldn't choose between them at all, and his mind was torn in two.

"What're you making that face for?"

August looked up as he felt Damien's hand on his shoulder.

"It's nothing…" he said, trying to brush it off.

But Damien just smiled.

"You know…"

He stepped forward, turning around to face his son.

"I can do that too."

"You can?"

The look in August's eyes changed immediately.

"I can."

"You're lying."

He simply didn't believe it. He could feel it. His dad wasn't a dragon. No matter what happened, there was no way his dad could be a dragon.

That was the exact reason for his sadness.

However, Damien didn't think the same.

"I'm not lying. Say, do you want to see what I can do up there?"

August was definitely still skeptical, but seeing the confident grin on his dad's face, he had the urge to hope for a miracle.

He nodded, his eyes slightly gleaming.

Damien's grin widened.

He no longer had a bloodline core. That much was true.

But he was part-dragon too at one time.

His dragon form wasn't just an imitation, but a true face of his existence. There was nothing fake about it, unlike his disguise.

Damien sent mana into his core. He talked to the mist and brought forth Existence, sending waves of energy into his bloodstream.

That strange black and white blood that flowed through him was not something of this world. It morphed with just a single command, and suddenly, a bloodline that had long disappeared returned to Damien's body.

Thump!

His heart thumped.

Thump!

Once again.

THUMP!

Damien's body vibrated as his heartbeat echoed off the walls of his skeleton.

His blood rushed and roared, and as it gained more and more power, his body began to change.

He grew massive, morphing until he was no longer humanoid.

Black scales grew all across his body, lined with a dark-purple tint that was barely recognizable in the sunlight.

Two horns jutted out of his head and twisted around each other to form a crown as his head itself changed into that of a dragon.

Two massive wings, larger and more powerful than those of the dragons surrounding them jutted out of his back as he grew a tail and changed from a bipedal creature to a quadrupedal one.

A terrifying black dragon, unlike any other in the world, was revealed.

WHOOOOOOOSH!

Damien flapped his wings and shot into the air.

ROOOAAAAAAAAR!

His powerful roar filled the skies, causing space itself to tremble.

The aura of the black dragon's birth caused bells to chime in the heavens. Damien's presence was recognized as that of a True Dragon, and not just any True Dragon, but one on the scale of a Holy ancestor.

Damien's dragon transformation was a huge event. So huge, in fact, that the sixteen ancestral dragons he'd invited to build August's spirit had paused to watch him.

However, Damien didn't care about the reactions they had, nor did he care about who else recognized his otherworldly presence when the heavens chimed.

He was focused on one boy, his massive amethyst draconic eyes looking straight into his.

And that boy's reaction was everything he could've hoped for.

THUMP!

It wasn't Damien's heartbeat anymore. August's heart was beating so rapidly that he almost couldn't breathe.

His eyes were wider than saucers, shimmering with a layer of tears that appeared due to the sheer amount of overwhelming emotion he was feeling.

That was it.

That was all he needed.

He could feel the authenticity from Damien's dragon form. He could feel that his father was, in this moment, a True Dragon.

And he looked damn cool.

'I can be like dad.'

He could be like his father, and he could also be a great dragon. He didn't have to compromise one for the sake of the other.

Being a dragon was awesome.

And being Damien's son was even better.

August felt his body lighten as his worries drifted away.

A light shined over him, and something that should've happened long ago finally, finally happened.

August's body changed.

And his dragon form was revealed to the world for the very first time.