CHAPTER 182: PROBLEM

"Was that... a failure?" Darian muttered, tense.

Death-Yin only showed up when a body was dead. But... he could feel Niara inside and realized that wasn’t the case.

’The mutation...’ Niara’s voice sounded a little surprised. ’This is so weird... I feel... I feel...’

Suddenly, she went silent, leaving Darian even more confused.

*CRACK!*

Out of nowhere, the egg shattered completely.

Darian finally saw her physical form and was stunned. She was the size of a human baby, but... that’s where the similarity ended.

She was insanely cute... looked like a mini Western dragon, with a compact, sturdy build, very different from the long, serpentine body of the Eastern dragon he had seen in the other universe.

She was covered in dark violet scales with a vibrant tone, contrasting beautifully with her small membranous wings. Her eyes, big and round, glowed with a striking celestial blue.

Niara tried to stand up and control her body, like she was feeling something strong and overwhelming. Darian noticed she was struggling and moved both hands toward her...

She instantly jumped into his hands. He found it odd but brought her closer.

Her glowing blue eyes sparkled. When she got close, her mouth, lined with fine, sharp teeth, opened wide.

"OW!"

Darian jumped, shocked. She bit his neck!

"What the hell!?"

Darian felt something inside him being sucked away. He quickly pulled her off.

Her tiny mouth and teeth were dripping red blood.

Her blue eyes trembled in desperation. Niara wasn’t saying anything and started struggling in his hands. Her wings flapped and she let out muffled growls, trying to reach for his neck again.

At that moment, he noticed something different. The death-Yin inside her had lessened. Before, there had been a bit—which was already crazy for something alive—but now it was much less.

"Dar-Dar-Dar!" Niara started trying to say something in pure desperation.

Darian sighed and moved her back to his neck. This time, he focused hard, face twisted.

He could feel it clearly now. It wasn’t exactly his blood she wanted. It was the Yang in his body, which was flowing through his blood.

The mutation of that body had created something made of pure Yin. That was the problem that made Oliver bring the egg to Earth, constantly feeding it with his blessing, which generated Yang.

After several minutes...

’Huh?’ Niara finally stopped, giving a surprised mental murmur. ’What... what was I...’

Darian lifted her to eye level and stared into her eyes. She trembled slightly.

’I... I’m sorry. I felt something like this uncontrollable hunger. When I sensed you, it was like this body took over... like you were the most delicious thing ever, and I couldn’t even think straight. I swear, it wasn’t on purpose!’

He studied her, then realized there was no longer any trace of death-Yin left. Internally, she was still pure Yin—no trace of Yang—but even so, she seemed strangely healthy.

In the end... she had managed to connect with that body, just like they planned.

He sighed. "Well... whatever."

Just then, Niara’s small body trembled. She looked at Darian, feeling something surprising.

’This mutation... it’s not just some atavism. It’s way different from my real body. The human blood is completely sealed, like it doesn’t even exist. It’s more like... this body really is from a draconic beast.’ She spoke mentally, since that was the only way she could talk for now.

Darian didn’t doubt her. If anyone knew what it meant to have a mutant body, it was Niara.

’Wait, what?!’ Suddenly, she felt something.

Her wings gave a small flap, and a Yin aura flowed around her scales. The body naturally had a ton of Yin stored inside, so she pushed it all into her spiritual root. Darian was surprised—she had just been born and her body could already use its powers.

The aura shifted. Her whole tiny body turned ethereal and glowing.

Suddenly, Darian’s eyes went wide as he saw Niara’s form grow along with the glow. In just two seconds, he felt a weight slam into him.

When the light faded, a very familiar face was right up close to his, making him jump.

It was her usual physical form! A smile appeared on her lips. Two pale arms moved, wrapping around his neck.

Darian glanced down... and there was nothing. Everything was completely exposed to his eyes, making him stumble back.

But... it only lasted three seconds.

Niara pulsed with the same glow again and shifted back to her small dragon form.

Darian caught her quickly in the air.

Looking into her eyes, she seemed pale and weak. She had burned through all the energy in her body doing that.

He placed her in front of him and shot her a glare cold as a blade. Her eyes trembled.

’Uh... surprise! This body really is like a beast’s. I can even use metamorphosis...’

Darian kept staring at her coldly.

She gulped. ’Uh... I did promise no jokes... but I have no control over this, I’ve never used metamorphosis before... and also... don’t act like you didn’t like it! I felt your excitement!’

She puffed her cheeks and turned away with a cute pout.

"Don’t do that again," Darian said with a sigh. She obviously could’ve at least tried to create some scales with the transformation, but didn’t bother—just to tease him a little.

Not that he really minded... but, for a joke, that was way too much—and even if it wasn’t a joke, it was way too rushed.

She clicked her tongue lightly. Then, without meaning to, her thoughts leaked to Darian: ’...probably wasn’t even that fun... it was just a cold metamorphosis without any heat.’

Darian heard it without reacting. Yeah... Niara definitely wasn’t gonna stop just because he told her to. Maybe Lucy could help... the two seemed to have built a good friendship and trust.

Niara never had a mom or a woman to talk to and learn from properly. She’d been taken from her parents when she was still a little kid, and even back then, they were never that close. Niara barely even knew their names, and after she was freed, she didn’t bother trying to find out if they were still alive.

Lucy, on the other hand, even though she’d also lost her mom really young, had spent all her time close to her and learned a lot. Niara, though... she had no shame and didn’t really understand how to have healthy social interactions. Only Lucy could help him with that.

After that, he looked over that small body again. Her Yin was recovering slowly, being generated by her Bloodline. But it was still very little, and Niara didn’t really know how to use metamorphosis properly.

Probably after a bit of training, she’d be able to hold it for several minutes without a problem. And the best part...

Her eyes lit up. Then, her whole little violet body shifted. Her scales turned green.

Darian nodded, satisfied. That was the Celestial Bloodline Clone. Niara had managed to bring over a few runes from her Bloodline using that technique. This way, she could activate and clone the runes and use them.

It wasn’t even 30% as strong as a true Bloodline rune. And she’d brought just a minimal amount.

But... combined with her spiritual root...

Darian nodded and moved a little of his black power toward her.

Her small dragon body shifted again, and her scales turned pitch black.

"Success," Darian said, excited.

She could use both his black and white powers. That small body wasn’t fit for fighting, and it would take Niara a long time to get used to it. So, she’d use metamorphosis to get closer to her original form. With everything combined, she could wear the same armors powered by Darian like back in the other universe.

The difference was... she could only stay in that form for a few minutes. And her power wouldn’t even reach 5% of the original. After all, Niara fought using her powerful Bloodline... and here, she only had a small part of it—and even that was just clones with a third of the power.

But... she could really fight and help him.

As for the sickness... that would take time to study. For now, she seemed healthy.

The two exchanged a quick glance. They both felt the same thing. They were super happy with how it turned out. They could stay close all the time, even during danger.

Darian picked her up, feeling her scaly but still soft skin. She was a newborn, after all.

She climbed up on him and settled on his head, fitting there perfectly.

"Let’s go. We’ve got little time to practice," Darian said shortly, heading out.

He left the building with Niara on his head. Then he called a car and headed back home.

With only fifteen days, it was better to focus on absorbing his Merit power and practicing techniques with Niara.

Eight days later, Lucy and Lucius finally came back. Only one person could do the Array test at a time, so it took a while for both of them to finish.

They went straight home when they heard Darian was there.

When they entered, everything was empty and silent.

Lucy ran straight to Darian’s room. When she opened the door...

She saw her brother sitting on the bed, legs crossed, eyes closed. Clinging to his body... was a beautiful Dragoness covered in scales, trembling slightly while her mouth was on his neck.

Darian didn’t even flinch... he looked like he was in some weird far-off state.

Meanwhile, Niara slowly turned her head and stared at Lucy, her lips dripping with blood... licking them.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "What the hell!"

Secretly, Darian pretended to stay zoned out. He’d set this whole thing up. Now he was sure Lucy would fix this little problem for him... or not. Only time would tell.