Draven looked at the man who had approached, smiling to himself.
He's a vampire… and he called me his nephew. So, he must be my old man's brother.
I'll pretend I don't know who he is.
Still smiling, Draven said, "Nice to meet you too, mister… but I don't know who you are."
The man smiled back, but inwardly, his thoughts burned with hatred.
You mixed-blood freak.
Just standing near you makes my skin crawl.
But his face didn't change.
Just as the man opened his mouth to introduce himself, another voice cut in.
"I see you've met my son," said a calm, commanding voice.
Draven turned to see his father approaching.
"This is my brother—your uncle.
His name is Ivan."
Draven took a step closer to Ivan, his grin widening..
"Nice to meet you, Uncle Ivan.
So... where's my gift?"
He looked up at the man with mock innocence.
"It's my birthday, so you brought me something, right?"
Ivan stared down at Draven, thinking,
Stay away from me, you abomination.
But on the outside, he smiled like a gentleman.
He raised his right hand, mana beginning to gather in his palm.
A soft glow formed, growing brighter and brighter until the room was bathed in white light.
Draven and Alex shielded their eyes.
As the light faded, Ivan lowered his hand, revealing a strange black stone.
It was smooth, faintly pulsing, and shaped like an egg.
"This," Ivan said, "is a Spirit Egg."
Draven took the egg, turning it over in his hands.
"Am I supposed to eat it?" he asked flatly.
Alex gasped. "You don't know what a Spirit Egg is?"
Draven didn't even blink. "Never heard of it."
Alex stared at him, dumbfounded.
"There are only a few in the entire world.
This might be the only one left... But I guess it makes sense you've never heard of it."
Draven just stared at her with the same blank expression.
Alex sighed and started explaining.
"Spirit Eggs are ancient artifacts. You can hatch them by injecting mana into them."
Draven tilted his head. "So what kind of beast hatches from it?"
"No one knows," Alex said. "It's completely random.
You might get an F-rank beast… or an A-rank. Or, if you're incredibly lucky, something like an SSS-rank."
Draven squinted. "And what are these ranks you're talking about?"
Alex straightened, eager to educate him.
"Beasts are ranked by power: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS.
F is the weakest.
SSS… that's the level of a god."
Draven nodded slowly. "And what kind of beast is strong enough to be considered SSS-rank?"
Alex didn't hesitate. "Dragons.
They're the strongest creatures known to exist.
Some say they can live for millions of years.
They're like gods—unstoppable."
Draven looked at her silently.
Alex raised an eyebrow.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Draven shrugged.
"Have you ever seen one of these dragons you keep going on about?"
Alex hesitated.
"Well… no. But I've read about them."
Draven gave her a deadpan look.
"So you believe everything you read?"
Alex crossed her arms. "Books don't lie."
"If no one's ever seen a dragon," Draven said, "then they probably don't exist anymore.
And even if they did, they're probably long dead."