Hatching Progress
Deino and Bell ran towards Ignis; Deino ran with a smug look on his face, and Bell ran looking at Deino with the utmost respect and reverence.
Ignis facepalmed himself, seeing how both of his summons were acting. Deino acted like a kid who wanted praise for doing every job, and Bell looked like the youngest kid who looked at his older brother with reverence as he was the only one in the world who could do what his elder brother did.
However, as both of the summons were a few metres away, suddenly the air around Ignis grew heavy, and everything came to an abrupt stop.
All the knights and his summons froze in place in the thickened atmosphere, completely unaware of what was happening.
Before Ignis could even comprehend the situation, all the dinosaurs lying on the ground started convulsing in the stagnant air and then exploded.
The temperature rose abruptly, causing the dinosaurs to erupt violently. As they shattered, they released a dark grey mist, and the explosion caused no damage.
Ignis finally perceived the changes in the atmosphere and was bewildered by the situation. Everything was frozen in place, and the mist was the only thing moving. It started to converge towards Ignis, and he realised the danger.
"Crap!" he shouted, breaking into a run towards the exit of the laboratory.
'What the heck is happening, and why am I the only one moving while everything else is frozen?' he thought as he sprinted with lightning-fast agility.
His quick sprint proved futile as the chasing mist closed in, enveloping him and obstructing his vision.
"Shit!" he exclaimed as he frantically kicked, punched, and even utilised his skills, thrashing about like a person drowning in water. Despite his efforts, the mist gradually surrounded him, leaving no space to escape or move. Suddenly, the stillness in the room dissipated, and everyone resumed their movements from where they left off.
The moment the stillness in the room disappeared, everyone became aware of the change that had occurred.
Deino and Bell, being connected to their master, quickly grasped what had happened. Without any hesitation, they abandoned all the loot they were carrying and took off running, their faces etched with worry for their master.
"Sir, I believe all the dinosaurs have been obliterated." A knight approached the knight captain with glee, relishing the idea that this situation was perfect for them and that now they could all survive.
"Shut up! Are you out of your mind? You really think this was a good thing?!" The knight captain roared at his subordinate, his eyes flashing with anger. "Don't you understand what just happened? We don't even know what that mist is or what it's capable of."
He glared at all the knights, who seemed somewhat relieved from their earlier punishment. His eyes burned with anger, and the knights averted their gazes, unwilling to meet their captain's wrath.
No one knew if the anger of their captain emanated from this completely unknown situation or if it stemmed from the failure they had caused.
Finally taking a deep breath, the seasoned knight captain's mind raced with a single thought: "Where has that young man disappeared to?" In his many years of experience, he had never witnessed such a bizarre situation.
One moment, the young man was standing there, and in the next, there was an eerie mist and the remains of half-baked dinosaurs scattered on the ground.
The captain couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of sorcery at play, but as a man of the sword, he could not let such a thought linger for too long.
His instincts told him that something was not right, and he needed to find out the truth behind this strange occurrence.
He then surveyed the situation, noting the mist and the two dinosaurs running towards it, and recalled the scarlet-haired man's peculiar fondness for the creatures. However, as a seasoned knight captain, he was not willing to take any risks or learn what could happen if the dinosaurs reached the mist. Therefore, he commanded his men, "Surround and contain the dinosaurs."
The knights complied and charged towards Deino and Bell.
In the dark grey mist, Ignis experienced a tumultuous mix of emotions - misery and happiness swirled within him in equal measure. Such conflicting feelings were rare in his previous life, but in this new existence, it marked the second time they had overtaken him.
The first was his reincarnation itself, followed by meeting the guardian and fighting him to obtain the ancient class while also gaining the curse and being transported to this world.
The second time was in this cave itself, enabling him to acquire the attributes from the magic crystals, which greatly boosted his overall strength.
Now, for the third time, he was poised to receive another boost, but with an overwhelming sense of tension.
"If this notification is correct, then either this category of rank is common in this world, or this whole experimentation has created these results, or this whole world or the situation is fucked up," Ignis mumbled while scratching his lower lips as he looked at the notification being shown in front of him.
*
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Attention. Congealed and amassed unique energy from the different dinosaurs is available for absorption. Would you like to proceed with absorption?
*
After double-checking the system notification and verifying its accuracy, Ignis shifted his attention towards his inventory, where he laid his eyes upon the divine egg.
Strangely, the egg appeared to exude an aura of happiness and anticipation, as if it were eager for something to happen. Ignis couldn't help but let out a sigh at how surreal the situation was, questioning his own sanity for even perceiving emotions from an egg.
"This doesn't seem right to me, and now that I think about it, Deino and Bell are only silver-ranked, but all of these human hybrid dinosaurs were unique ranked…"
He pulled a face of confusion and then finally gave up and mummbled again, "What that bastard Lazer was referring to was not this… right?"
Different questions arose in his mind, and after some time, he gave up and finally decided what he would do with this free, unique energy that was required for this divine egg's hatching process.
"Start absorbing."
The moment he answered the notification, a small vortex materialised in front of Ignis's chest, its 7-inch diameter swirling with ferocity like a whirlpool, greedily drawing in all the unique energy. The vortex seemed to bypass Ignis entirely, directing the energy straight into his inventory.
The mist surged towards the vortex as if propelled by a powerful force, catching Ignis off guard. He braced himself and pushed back against the incoming swirl of mist, exerting his strength to resist the knockback.
"Even though it's not for me, I still have to put in the effort to absorb it."
A new interface opened in front of Ignis as the absorption process started.
_____
Hatching Progress: 4.2%
_____
"Oh, so it has started."
"I wonder what's inside this egg."
And soon, seconds started passing.
_____
Hatching Progress: 5.6%
…
16.7%
…
44.2%
…
88.3%
_____
Ignis stood while withstanding the force, was sweating bubbles and looked stressed.
Meanwhile, just outside the mist, Deino and Bell engaged in fierce combat with the knights, constantly circling around the room while never straying too far from the mist. Both dinosaurs fought with intense ferocity, driven by their desire to protect their master, who was still inside the dark mist.
The knights, on the other hand, fought with the utmost seriousness, determined to stop the beasts at all costs. A few of the knights lay on the ground, their injuries severe and their lives hanging by a thread.
Suddenly, Deino sensed a powerful attack heading towards his legs. He quickly leapt into the air, evading the strike, and landed some distance away. From this new vantage point, Deino could see the Knight Captain staring at him in disbelief, as he had managed to dodge the captain's secret technique.
"You are smart and can understand, so I will say it one final time: stand down and surrender yourself. We know you are associated with the young man, so we will not harm you. But do not make the mistake of thinking that you could reach that mist," the knight captain shouted the warning.
Bell sprinted towards Deino's side, and they stood shoulder to shoulder, confronting the knights.
Disregarding the knight captain's assertions, Bell and Deino simultaneously surged towards the knights, initiating the battle once more.
As they charged forward, Bell and Deino fought with renewed vigour and determination. Bell's claws sliced through the air, clashing with the knight's sword, while Deino's tail dug deep into the armour of another knight. The sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the room as they continued their fierce battle.
However, a sudden, thunderous boom reverberated through the cave, catching everyone off guard. An explosion followed, but it wasn't the same explosion that they had waited for. The source of this explosion was different.
Deino, Bell , Knight Captian, and Knights everyone was flung out like rag dolls by the sudden explosion, and the knights that were close to the explosion, which happened from the mist area, were incinerated.
Even though the pain of the people outside was great and many died due to the untimely explosion, Ignis was also suffering from where the mist used to be. His suffering was not due to the explosion or any physical pain, but a mental one, as he saw what the system notification was telling him in front of him.