2 Reborn into an Egg!?
John felt his consciousness float in the darkness for a second, and he wondered whether it would start to gobble up his memories.
All he could do was cross his currently nonexistent, very metaphorical fingers in hope that no, his mind would not get wiped, and that yes, he would get to his live new life properly.
Then again, what if he ended up in a world full of hardships and suffering? There were tons of stories where the main character ended up in those kinds of worlds too.
Oh well, he had not choice but to let fate decide at this point.
After what felt like a few seconds, John started to feel sensations again.
Warmth.
John was still in complete darkness, but he could feel heat all around him.
A warm, cozy, comforting heat. He started to gain sensation in his new body, and he realized he was around the size of a child.
Had things gone right after all?
Was he now reincarnated in the body of some well to do nobleman's son? He hoped desperately that he was just tucked into the nice and comfy bed of a child who never knew hardship, because boy, he was done being poor and working twenty times harder than everyone else to make something of himself.
Except he soon came to realize that he was…trapped?
What!?
John could feel his body better now, his mind getting used to it, and he thrashed around with all his might, but his muscles were tiny and the space around him was tight, restricting his movements.
And something…something really did not feel right about his body.
'Woah!' was what John tried to say as his movements made himself tip over, but all he could let out was a tiny, high-pitched squeak.
He rolled around for a bit, feeling like he was a piece of wet clothing getting harassed in a drying machine, until finally, whatever was trapping him cracked.
Tiny fragments of light shone in through the crack, and John immediately focused his efforts on it, pushing against it until the cracks grew larger.
Finally, after a minute of struggling, John broke right through, falling face first into not a warm and soft bed, but cold and hard rock.
"Ugh," groaned John, though again, his complaint came out in the form of a tiny little growl.
John tried to push himself off the ground with his arms, but when he looked down, he saw lizard-like green limbs ending in three toes tipped with small black claws.
Was there a monster already!?
John immediately recoiled backwards, splashing into a shallow puddle behind him. He swiveled around at the sudden, chilling contact, and that was when he realized:
HE was the monster!
John looked at his reflection as the water settled.
Small, gleaming yellow eyes with black slit pupils. A smooth, lizard-like head dotted with smooth green scales. When he opened his mouth, the oversized lizard in the water also did the same, revealing rows of sharp, jagged, needle-like teeth.
Yup, this was him all right.
When John stood up, his body automatically adjusted to raising itself up on four legs.
Surprisingly, everything felt really natural.
Wait a second, this wasn't the time to be getting used to this! This was what echoed in John's internal dialogue, but only for a moment.
Being in this body felt…quite natural.
His initial panic had died down tremendously, and now, it was almost nonexistent, as if his soul had accepted being in this new body.
John looked back at where he had emerged from: the shattered remains of a plain white egg. He had not been trapped; he had just been…born?
Born not as a well to do young master or nobleman, but as what looked to be a dragon.
So much for an easy life.
No wait, on second thought, was this really that bad?
John leaped up in the air, twirling around, feeling his new green scaled tail trail behind him.
Weren't dragons the strongest of all monsters?
At least, that's how they were portrayed in most stories or games, right?
Maybe that was dumb logic, but hey, it never hurt to hope, right?
John just needed to wait until he grew up.
Which would probably take 1000 years or something, if conventions about dragons were true.
Yeah. This new life was probably going to be hard.
John looked around, seeing the dark confines of a cave towering around him. Droplets of water gathered from stalactites at the roof of the cave, forming the puddle had dropped in. There were no other presences nearby.
Wasn't he supposed to have a parent? It seemed like he was just a baby dragon at this point, so shouldn't there be someone to take care of him?
Which was when he realized that some species of reptiles left their young as eggs.
If that was the case, then John, completely foreign to this world, without knowing anything, without even knowing really how his body worked, was screwed.
It was then that a voice of hope radiated in John's head.
[Greetings, my child,] came the voice. It was feminine with a calm, gentle tone that indicated age.
Was this John's new 'mother'?
John looked around again but did not see anything remotely resembling an adult dragon. The voice seemed to be purely in his head.
[Unfortunately, though I would wish to be with you, I cannot. My physical form slumbers in the Beyond with the rest of your kind.
But do not fear.
You are strong.
You are the last of the Dragon Monarch Trynderevesillycanth's one hundred offspring.
You are destined for greatness.]
'Trynda-what? Nevermind,' said John as he tried to fumble through his new father's name. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief internally. 'Whew. Son of the Dragon Monarch, huh? That sounds plenty strong to me. Guess things won't be so bad after all.
Well then, where are the rest of my 99 brothers and sisters?'
[They are dead] said the voice coolly. [Our kind, on account of our great might, was the first to be hunted in the prelude to the Finalis, the cataclysm that shall bring forth all ending war between the twelve major worlds of this realm.]
'Oh. Guess this won't be so easy after all,' said John. Then that meant literally everyone ever was out for him, ready to hunt him down.
Not good.
[Do not fear, my child. If you are hearing my voice, then you are the last of the 100 great offspring, and thus, you shall be granted guidance by me, the Dragon Mother Meltryllifentharien]
'Melty-, ok, can I just call you Mel?' asked John. Did all dragons have absurdly long names like this?
[That is fine] said Mel, completely calm.
John observed that Mel did not seem to notice that John was not truly a dragon in mindset. Which immediately gave him the suspicion -
'Mel, are you…really here with me? As in, are you truly here with your full consciousness?' asked John. He asked this because otherwise, Mel would probably have immediately suspected something was wrong with John.
[Not so, my child,] said Mel. [I am simply a shard of magic crafted by my true self. A limited copy of myself. I wished dearly to have been there for you personally, to have been there with all your brothers and sisters that had perished before you, but that is against draconic principles.
Our young grow alone, and alone do you hunt, consume, evolve, and become strong.
Even this shard of mine that guides you is forbidden.]
'Wow that sounds ridiculously harsh,' said John.
But he could understand a little bit. Seemed like dragons let their young fend for themselves, and the young did not seem entirely helpless.
After all, the fact that he could think properly meant even from birth, dragons had good enough brains to easily have a human's intelligence. In fact, even John's body felt quite strong despite being tiny, easily being a good deal stronger than how he had been as a normal human.
[Harsh, but necessary.
Yet you are the Last Child.
You cannot be allowed to fall. At least until you grow to the point you can hunt beyond the range of these mountains, I will assist you.]
'Well, I'm glad I won't be facing everything alone for now,' said John.
[Yet there is little time. You must grow strong, and you must grow strong quickly] said Mel. [For that, we must cover the most basic principle of all: your True Name.
As a mighty and proud dragon, you must grant yourself a name.
We are not like the mindless beasts below this mountain that rely merely upon their physical might.
We harness both the might of bodily strength and the infinity of magic.
With a name, you may tap into draconic magic.
The Draconic Arcanas that have brought terror and destruction to countless millions.
Bestow upon yourself a name that is worthy of the Dragon Monarch's offspring, for in time, you yourself shall become the Dragon Monarch to bring us back from the Beyond, to lead our kind to victory in the Finalis.]
'Uhh, that's a whole lot of pressure to give myself a cool name, I'm not going to lie here,' began John.
He thought about what to name itself, but he truly had no idea how draconic naming conventions went, and if his name was as long as the examples he had been given so far, then he would never remember it.
So, John went with what he knew best.
John spoke with resolute determination, hoping that by sounding determined, Mel would accept his choice a bit better.
'I wish to be named…John.'
Okay, the moment he said it in his head, he had to admit that sounded like the most bland, boring name in existence.
Entirely unfitting for a Dragon Monarch, but what could he do!?
That was the name he was born with and what he had grown up with!
[…]
'Is…is that okay?' asked John tentatively.
[John? Is that it?] said Mel, a faint hint of surprise and disappointment lacing her voice.
'Uhm, I could change it if you really wanted me to,' began John.
[No, it is fine]
[Then, John the Last True Dragon, the Final Heir, the Successor to the Dragon Monarch, Lord of all that is here and all that is Beyond - your journey begins now.]
