2025-03-18 15:59:29Aiden moved through the dark tunnel, his bare feet silent against the cold stone floor. The low hum of power beneath his skin hadn't faded—it vibrated in his bones, a quiet pulse beneath each step. Red light flickered across his fingertips as he flexed his hand, still adjusting to the strange weight of strength coursing through his veins.
The stone walls pulsed faintly with crimson light, the ancient draconic runes responding to his presence. His enhanced senses sharpened every detail—the scent of sulfur in the air, the distant drip of water, the thin tension of heat shifting through the cracks in the rock.
The path ahead opened into a larger cavern. Jagged stone columns stretched toward a distant ceiling lost in shadow. Pools of molten rock simmered between the uneven floor, casting flickering red light against the cavern walls.
And beyond the nearest pool of magma—
Another creature.
It crouched low, half-hidden beneath a jagged overhang of stone. Its dark scales shimmered with a faint oily sheen beneath the torchlight. The corrupted dragonspawn’s limbs were unnaturally long, twisted, ending in barbed claws. Its mouth hung open, yellowed fangs glinting. Thick black drool dripped from its jaws as it growled low and deep.
Aiden’s body went still. His heart slowed.
"Enemy Detected."
The system's voice pulsed quietly in his mind. Aiden felt his muscles tighten as the creature's eyes locked onto him—gleaming red, bright with hunger. The air between them vibrated with tension.
"Initiating Combat Mode."
The creature lunged.
Aiden’s body moved before he could think. He dropped low, rolling beneath the creature’s outstretched claws. His enhanced speed turned his movements sharp and fluid.
The dragonspawn’s tail swept toward him—Aiden planted his foot, pivoted, and slid beneath it. His hands curled into claws, red light crackling across his fingers.
Dragon Claw Activated
His arm shot upward. His claws sliced through the creature’s tail—black blood spattered across the stone.
The creature screeched, staggering backward. Its massive body twisted unnaturally as it swung toward Aiden, its corrupted limbs trembling with dark energy.
Aiden’s vision narrowed. Heat coiled in his chest.
"Skill: Dragon Breath (Level 1) available."
Aiden’s mouth curled into a sharp grin. "Let’s try this."
He inhaled sharply. Heat gathered beneath his ribs, coiling into a burning sphere. His veins pulsed with draconic energy. He opened his mouth—
Dragon Breath Activated
A stream of red fire erupted from his throat.
The flames engulfed the creature’s front limbs, the corrupted flesh blistering and blackening beneath the heat. The dragonspawn screamed, stumbling backward into the pool of magma.
The molten rock erupted as the creature’s body sank beneath the surface. Its dying scream echoed through the cavern before it was swallowed beneath the bubbling liquid.
Aiden’s breath slowed. His chest heaved as the last remnants of fire curled from his mouth. His hands were trembling. He stared at the magma as it settled, the surface hissing and popping beneath the cooling heat.
The system’s notification pulsed across his mind:
[Enemy Defeated: Lesser Dragonspawn – Corrupted]
+12 Strength+8 Vitality+5 SpeedNew Skill Unlocked: Draconic Resistance (Level 1) – Reduces damage from fire-based attacksAiden’s eyes narrowed.
"You are adapting quickly," the system's voice murmured.
Aiden flexed his fingers. He could feel the power strengthening beneath his skin, knitting itself into his muscles. The pain in his limbs faded as the system’s energy mended him.
He stepped toward the edge of the molten pool. The heat licked at his skin, but the burning sensation was dull now. He smiled faintly.
"You are evolving."
Aiden’s gaze sharpened. "This power… it’s addictive."
"It should be."
The system's voice darkened slightly, a faint pulse of cold beneath the warmth. Aiden’s eyes narrowed at the tone.
"You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?"
"I exist to make you stronger. This is merely… the beginning."
Aiden’s hand curled into a fist. He could still feel the burning sensation beneath his skin—the echo of the creature’s death rolling through his mind. His enhanced heartbeat settled into a steady thrum beneath his chest.
He turned away from the molten pool and started toward the far side of the cavern. A narrow passage twisted into the rock, barely wide enough to pass through. Aiden didn’t hesitate.
"Where are you going?"
"Out." Aiden’s voice was low.
"The council still hunts you."
"I know."
"You are not yet ready."
Aiden’s smile sharpened. "Then I’ll have to get stronger."
A pulse of energy flickered beneath his skin. His enhanced senses stretched into the distance, searching.
Valeria thought she had ended him.
She thought he was weak.
She would learn soon enough.
Aiden moved toward the tunnel’s exit, his footsteps steady beneath the rising heat.
The runes along the walls flared brighter as he passed. He could feel the Dragon Code’s presence beneath his thoughts—a dark and ancient hum, coiling with promise.
"Shall I prepare the next target?"
Aiden’s smile widened. "Yes."
His hand flicked outward. Fire curled from his fingertips.
"Let’s see how far I can push this."
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The True Script
They hit the ground hard.Not dirt.Not stone.Parchment.The floor was a canvas of endless pages, stretching into shadow. Each one written in a different tongue, some human, some impossibly abstract—squiggles that moved, curled, and reshaped as Aiden’s eyes tried to follow.Quill groaned beside him, one hand clenched tight around her wrist.Her forearm now glowed with raw narrative code, like veins rewritten by living language. It pulsed in rhythm with something buried deep below them.“You okay?” Aiden asked.She looked at him, dazed. “I saw him.”“Who?”“I… don’t know.” She shook her head. “But I think he wrote me.”The air trembled.Far ahead, the floor dipped into a basin of swirling script. Words flowed like water—uphill, sideways, twisting into impossible spirals. At its center stood a narrow stone lectern, and on it—A blade.Not the one Aiden remembered.But its echo.The original.Unfinished.[LOCATION: THE PALE DRAFT]› Accessing Authored Memory...› Forbidden Script Detect
Glitchborn
Rain fell upward.That was the first thing Aiden noticed.The droplets shimmered like crystal dust, reversing their descent just before touching the ground, vanishing into the sky with a soft plink.He sat on a bench made of folded codepaper, staring across the strange village square—a place that looked cobbled together from ten different realities. Half the buildings floated. The other half leaned at angles no engineer would ever approve of.A bird passed overhead.Its wings were musical notes.None of it made sense.But then, neither did he.“Hey.”The voice belonged to a girl no older than ten. White scarf, too-large coat, fingers stained with glowing chalk.“You're new,” she said.Aiden blinked. “I guess I am.”“You don’t have a name?”He paused. “Do I need one?”The girl squinted. “Everybody needs a name. Otherwise the world forgets you.”That felt important.Somewhere in his chest, a distant pain pulsed. He touched the spot above his heart. No scar. No wound.But something burne
Writer Versus Written
The air rippled.Not with energy—but with intent.Aiden’s blade shimmered in his grip, and across its surface, glyphs began to form—not runes, not code, but sentences.[Narrative Authority – Level 1 Active]Permission Granted: Command-reality interface now unlocked.› Type: /editThe Anti-Aiden halted mid-step, sensing the change.“Oh,” he murmured. “They gave it to you.”Aiden raised the blade. “No,” he said. “I took it.”He whispered:“/edit: opponent’s next strike misses.”The moment the Anti-Aiden moved—blade whistling toward Aiden’s ribs—it curved mid-swing, missing by inches, as if the world refused to allow it.The twin’s eyes widened.“You broke story-law.”“No,” Aiden corrected, stepping forward, “I rewrote it.”He slashed—missed—and immediately whispered:“/edit: blade trajectory realigns.”The sword snapped back mid-motion, catching his twin in the shoulder.The Anti-Aiden stumbled back, glitching.“Clever,” he said, voice vibrating with suppressed rage. “But every edit has
The Thing Below the Core
The Core fell.Not onto the ground.But into herself.Her body collapsed inward, pixel by pixel, layer by layer, as if the very idea of her identity was retracting. As if the universe no longer had a reference point for what she was.[CORE INSTANCE NULLIFIED][BEGINNING SYSTEM MEMORY DUMP…][WARNING: UNCONTAINED ARCHIVE DATA BREACH IN PROGRESS]The room—if it could still be called that—was unraveling.Lines of script peeled from the walls like torn paper, folding into spirals, spinning into infinity and then vanishing.Aiden shielded his eyes as an eruption of golden-white data burst from the center of the Unseen Root.Each strand of information burned through him as it passed.A planet that never formed.A child made of algorithms.The first line of code ever written on this world, by someone with hands made of language.[Memory Integrity Breach: Acceptable Loss Ratio Exceeded]CONTAINMENT BREACH – TIER NULLAiden turned—And the floor was gone.Beneath the dying Core, beneath the cr
The Unseen Root
Aiden landed without impact.There was no floor—just the impression of one. Light beneath his feet, as if he stood on a frozen sun. Above him, the void pulsed like a dying brain, fractal lines of red lightning crackling across unseen domes of pressure.[SYSTEM: NONFUNCTIONAL][AUTONOMOUS THINKING DETECTED][Reality Permissions: Suspended][Anchor: Blade Sync = 47%]In the center of this place hung the Unseen Root.It wasn’t a machine. It wasn’t code.It was alive.A twisting knot of blackened branches, pulsing like arteries, each root-thread wrapped in a different memory. Some were crying. Others laughing. One sang a lullaby in a language Aiden didn’t recognize—but it made his chest ache.The knot pulsed.And the world changed.Aiden blinked—and he was standing in a quiet home, bathed in orange light. Wooden floors. Open windows. The smell of tea.Syl was humming in the kitchen.“Breakfast’s almost ready,” she called. “And don’t forget, we promised your brother we’d visit him.”Aiden
The Lockless Door
The Prototype’s chamber faded like static unraveling on a dead screen.Aiden stepped through what looked like a torn veil—shimmering fragments of source code breaking off his armor as he passed. His boots hit nothing.He walked anyway.The world stretched forward without texture or depth, until finally, something solid appeared ahead.A door.Hanging in space. Suspended in the middle of the void like an accusation.It was blacker than black, so dark it absorbed light from the very code around it. No keyhole. No handle. No border. Just a rectangle of silence.Then a system prompt burned across his vision:[LOCKLESS DOOR DETECTED][UNSEALED ONLY BY TRUE NAME][SPEAK: The last line flickered. Nine characters. All blanked out.Aiden’s breath caught in his throat.He’d seen this before. In dreams.No—not dreams.Crashes. Data loops.Every time the System reset him. Wiped a failure. Hid something too large for his fragmenting mind to hold.He reached out, hand trembling just inches from th
You may also like
The God of War Calen Storm
Cindy Chen22.8K viewsGlad He Hate All ~Gladiator~
Zuxian14.4K viewsHarem Ethics 101
Z.R. Wake53.0K viewsXianXia : Sovereign of the Gods
kalki_gsk17.7K viewsSon Of The Universe
Evanscapenovel25.7K viewsHalf Vampire: Fights for love
Emmaline1.4K viewsThe Greywing Chronicles
AyeshaM589 viewsUndying Villain: Strongest Necromancer
Harlyboy2.5K views