Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner-Chapter 583: A dragon baby?

Sera walked behind Kelvin as they decided to abandon the corpse of the mantis shrimp behind for now.

The crater it had emerged from was deeper than it looked from ground level. What had appeared to be maybe a ten-foot hole actually descended much further, the walls smooth and deliberately carved rather than naturally formed. Kelvin’s scanner was going haywire now, beeping constantly as they descended into darkness.

"This isn’t natural excavation," Seraleth observed, running her good hand along the wall. Her injured shoulder throbbed with each movement, but the suit was doing its job. She could feel the nanomedicine working through her system, numbing pain, accelerating healing. Not fast enough to matter in immediate combat, but enough to keep her functional.

"Nope," Kelvin agreed, his prosthetic hand holding a light that illuminated their path. "Something dug this deliberately. Question is what and why."

They reached the bottom of the crater maybe thirty feet down and found themselves facing a tunnel entrance. Not a cave mouth, but an actual tunnel. Smooth walls, consistent dimensions, extending into darkness that their lights couldn’t fully penetrate.

Kelvin checked his scanner again. "Energy signature’s coming from that direction. Still strong, still moving."

"Moving?" Seraleth’s ears perked up. "Void stones don’t move, correct?"

"Correct. Which means whatever we’re tracking isn’t a void stone." Kelvin started walking into the tunnel anyway, his light sweeping across walls that showed signs of claw marks. "But the energy readings are consistent with category five or higher. So either we’re tracking a very powerful beast, or we’re about to find something interesting."

"If it’s category five, we should withdraw," Seraleth said, keeping pace beside him. "My suit is compromised from that last fight. I can fight, but not at full capacity. Engaging another category four nearly got us killed. A category five would be significantly worse."

"Don’t worry about it." Kelvin’s voice carried confidence despite the situation. "If whatever we find is too dangerous, we just call Noah. Have him teleport his ass down here and deal with it while we watch from a safe distance. That’s the beauty of having an SSS-ranked faction leader who can travel through dimensions."

The tunnel branched. Kelvin consulted his scanner, chose the left path. They walked in silence for several minutes, their footsteps echoing off stone walls that felt increasingly ancient the deeper they went.

Seraleth noticed something glinting in the wall and paused. "Kelvin, look at this."

He turned back, bringing his light to bear on what she’d spotted. Embedded in the stone were crystals. Not beast cores, but actual mineral formations. Clear, perfectly formed, catching light and refracting it in ways that created small rainbows.

"Diamonds," Kelvin said, moving closer to examine them. "Huh. Haven’t seen natural diamond deposits in years."

"Are they valuable?" Seraleth asked, genuinely curious.

"Now? Not really. I mean, they’re useful for certain industrial applications, but we’ve got synthetic alternatives that work better and cost less." Kelvin started walking again, his scanner leading them deeper. "But pre-war? Before the Harbinger attacks? Diamonds were insanely valuable. People would spend months of salary on a single small stone just to put on jewelry."

"That seems inefficient."

"Oh, it absolutely was. But humans are weird about shiny rocks. The rarer something is, the more we want it, even if it serves no practical purpose." Kelvin’s light swept across more mineral deposits as they walked. "There’s actually this fascinating economic concept from the old world called artificial scarcity. Companies would deliberately limit diamond supply to keep prices high, even though diamonds weren’t actually that rare."

"Fascinating in the way that makes no logical sense?"

"Exactly. But that’s pre-war economics for you. Nothing made sense, but somehow civilization functioned anyway." Kelvin paused at another branch in the tunnel system, checking his scanner. "Speaking of pre-war weirdness, I was reading some archived internet history the other day. Did you know there was this platform called OnlyFans?"

"I’m unfamiliar with the reference."

"It was basically rebranded pornography," Kelvin said matter-of-factly, choosing the right tunnel this time. "People would pay monthly subscriptions to see explicit content from specific individuals. Completely normalized, totally legal, wildly profitable."

Seraleth processed that for several seconds. "Humans paid money to view pornography? When free alternatives existed?" Sera for one knew where and how to get such "Contents".

"Yep. Because it wasn’t just about the content, it was about the parasocial relationship. Feeling like you had a connection to the person on screen, even though you absolutely didn’t." Kelvin glanced back at her with a grin. "Actually, if you’d been around in that era, an elf would have made a fortune. Exotic, beautiful, completely unique? You’d have had thousands of subscribers."

"I’m choosing to interpret that as a compliment despite the deeply uncomfortable context."

"That’s probably wise."

They walked further, the tunnel system revealing itself to be far more extensive than either of them had anticipated. Branches led to more branches, some passages ascending, others descending, creating a three-dimensional maze that would have been impossible to navigate without Kelvin’s scanner.

"This is enormous," Seraleth said, her voice echoing slightly. "Whatever created this network spent considerable time excavating."

"Or it’s been here for decades," Kelvin replied. "Some beasts establish territories and just keep expanding them over years. Build out tunnel systems, create dens, the whole territorial thing." His scanner beeped more insistently. "We’re getting close though. Energy signature’s maybe a hundred meters ahead."

The tunnel they were following began sloping downward more steeply. The walls showed more claw marks here, deeper gouges that suggested something large had passed through regularly. The air felt warmer too, Kelvin noticed. Not uncomfortable, but noticeably different from the cool temperature they’d been experiencing.

Then they started hearing sounds.

Growling. Low, rumbling, coming from multiple directions. Not just ahead of them, but from side passages, from behind walls, creating an acoustic effect that made it impossible to pinpoint exact sources.

Kelvin and Seraleth both stopped, listening.

"That’s not one creature," Seraleth said quietly.

"No, it’s not." Kelvin’s hand went to his nanotech instinctively, preparing to form weapons if needed. "Multiple signatures. The scanner’s showing... hell, I can’t tell how many. The energy readings are overlapping."

More growling, closer now. Seraleth shifted into a combat stance despite her injured shoulder, her good hand clenching into a fist.

The wall to their right exploded.

Not gradually, not with warning. Just instant destruction as something massive burst through solid stone like it was paper mache. Debris scattered across the tunnel, and whatever had broken through landed in front of them with enough force to crack the floor.

Kelvin’s light swept across it, and both of them froze.

It looked like a salamander. Or maybe a komodo dragon that someone had fed growth hormones and rage. Easily fifteen feet long from snout to tail, its body low to the ground, supported by four muscular legs that ended in claws designed for digging through stone. Its scales were dark, almost black, but running along its spine and sides were patterns that glowed. Yellow, orange, red. Like magma flowing beneath translucent skin. The patterns pulsed with each breath, casting flickering light across the tunnel walls.

Spikes jutted from its back, its head, its tail. Not decorative, but clearly functional, designed to tear through obstacles or impale prey. Its eyes tracked both of them with clear intelligence, pupils contracting as Kelvin’s light hit them directly.

The creature’s mouth opened slightly, revealing rows of teeth that looked more suited to a shark than a lizard. Heat radiated from its body, making the air shimmer.

Kelvin let out a nervous chuckle. "Hehe... when did Nyx give birth?"

"That’s not funny," Seraleth replied, not taking her eyes off the creature.

"I know, but if I don’t make jokes right now, I’m going to panic, and that seems counterproductive." Kelvin’s prosthetic hand slowly reached for the comm device on his belt. "So I’m going to very calmly call Noah and ask him to please come help us not die."

The drake’s eyes followed his movement, tracking the hand going to the comm device. More growling came from the surrounding tunnels, suggesting this wasn’t the only one present.

Kelvin’s fingers found the comm, activated it without looking away from the drake. His voice came out steady despite the fear running through his system.

"Noah? Yeah, hey buddy. So remember how I said if we found something too dangerous, I’d call you? Well, I’m calling you. Right now. Immediately would be great actually."

The drake’s patterns pulsed brighter, yellow shifting toward orange, and it took one step forward. Just one, but enough to make both Kelvin and Seraleth tense.

"Noah? Yeah, hey buddy. So remember how I said if we found something too dangerous, I’d call you? Well, I’m calling you. Right now. Immediately would be great actually."

"Dragon? What? Where are you?" Noah’s voice came through the comm, alert but calm.

"Underground. Cave system maybe half a kilometer from where we killed the mantis shrimp. We’re looking at what I think is a dragon baby? Category five minimum based on size and energy readings, and there are definitely more of them in the surrounding tunnels."

Static crackled for a moment. Then Noah’s voice came back, and Kelvin could hear water running in the background. "I’m in the shower. Just got out actually. Give me literally thirty seconds to throw some clothes on, then I’ll domain link straight to you. Don’t engage, just stay alive until I get there."

"Staying alive is the plan," Kelvin replied, his eyes never leaving the drake. "Please hurry."

The comm clicked off. Kelvin and Seraleth stood perfectly still, watching the drake watch them. Neither party moving, neither party attacking, just maintaining this frozen moment of mutual assessment.

"How long until Noah arrives?" Seraleth asked quietly.

"He said thirty seconds. Domain link means he doesn’t even need to know where we are exactly, just locks onto us through the system and appears."

"That seems remarkably convenient."

"Yeah, perks of having the protagonist of the universe as your BFF."

The drake took another step forward. Its tail swished behind it, spikes scraping against stone, creating sparks that briefly illuminated the tunnel. More growling echoed from the surrounding passages, definitely closer now.

Kelvin’s scanner was still clipped to his belt, still beeping, still showing energy readings that were frankly terrifying when he spared a glance at the display. This thing wasn’t just category five. It was pushing the upper limits of what category five meant, bordering on whatever came next.

"Kelvin," Seraleth said, her voice carrying warning.

He looked back at the drake. Its patterns had shifted fully to orange now, pulsing faster, the heat radiating from its body intensifying enough that Kelvin could feel sweat beginning to form on his forehead.

"I see it," Kelvin replied.

The drake’s mouth opened wider, revealing not just teeth but the glow of internal heat. Like looking into a furnace that happened to have a face. Smoke or steam began emerging from its nostrils, wisping upward to collect against the tunnel ceiling.

More movement in the peripheral tunnels. Shadows shifting, things approaching, drawn by whatever was happening in this central passage.

Kelvin’s nanotech had already formed into defensive configurations around his prosthetic arms, creating reinforced plating that would hopefully provide at least minimal protection if this went south. Seraleth’s stance had shifted into something more aggressive despite her injury, preparing to fight even though she knew the odds were terrible.

"How long has it been?" Seraleth asked.

Kelvin glanced at his internal chronometer. "Twenty seconds. Ten more."

The drake’s eyes narrowed. Its patterns flared bright orange, almost white. The temperature in the tunnel spiked noticeably, making breathing uncomfortable. Whatever was about to happen, it was happening soon.

"Five seconds," Kelvin muttered.

The drake’s legs coiled, preparing to lunge.

"Three."

Heat built in its throat, visible through gaps in its scales.

"Two."

The creature’s entire body tensed.

"One."

Reality folded.