Noah's fingers hovered over the egg, his breath slow and controlled, but inside, his chest tightened.
This wasn't just any beast egg, he saw it glow and that wasn't normal. It wasn't the faint warmth of a newly laid egg waiting for its time to hatch. No, it looked something ancient and powerful. The golden light pulsed softly, as if the egg itself was breathing.
Noah had seen beast eggs before both rare ones, powerful ones , but this, felt different. There was something about the way it resonated in his hands, the way its energy hummed against his skin, sending tiny jolts through his fingertips. It felt alive and almost aware of the touch.
Noah exhaled sharply, steadying his thoughts. 'What exactly was this doing in the Forbidden Library? If this was a treasure, why hadn't the Academy's higher-ups taken it? Why had someone hidden it away, buried beneath layers of dust and forgotten texts? The Academy collected everything of value, hoarding knowledge like dragons hoarded gold. And yet, this had been abandoned, If the Academy had truly known about this, it wouldn't have been left to collect dust.'
Something wasn't adding up, he lifted the egg carefully, cradling it in his hands. His fingers tightened around the egg. ' Why?' Before he could dwell on it further, a sharp jolt of energy surged through his body, and the system's familiar voice echoed in his mind.
Ding!
[Warning: Unidentified Beast Energy Detected.
Analyzing…]
Noah's entire body froze , the system had never reacted like this before. Normally, it had been providing him with clear information, breaking down a beast's strengths, weaknesses, and potential. But now, it sounded… hesitant and Uncertain.
The golden glow of the egg flickered, and suddenly, a new prompt appeared and blue text flashed in his vision.
[Do you wish to accelerate the hatching process?]
Noah stared at the message, his pulse quickening, he had read more and at least had knowledge on hatching beast and knew that hatching a beast manually was dangerous and risky.
Beast tamers never forced an early hatch unless they had no other choice. It was common knowledge that a beast's gestation period determined its strength, stability, and survival chances. Triggering an early hatch could result in mutations, instability or death, he wasn't sure what would happen if he triggered this process now.
The system had warned him once before, when he activated Force Evolution. That time, it had worked, but for this, he doubted.
This could kill the creature inside before it ever had a chance to live. His fingers tightened around the egg, his mind spinning through the possibilities. If he left it as it was, the Academy would eventually find it, he sensed that someone had hidden this egg for a reason, which meant they were either protecting it… or keeping it from falling into the wrong hands. The problem was, he didn't know whose hands were the wrong ones.
His mind raced, occupied by a list questions which he had no answers for any, 'If the Academy found it, would they study it? Seal it away again? Or destroy it? The choice weighed heavily on him, more than it should have.
He clenched his jaw, he couldn't wait to find out. His thumb hovered over the system prompt, then, without another thought, he accepted.
The moment the confirmation went through, the egg shook violently, sending out a sudden shockwave of energy that rippled through the library, the air crackled, bookshelves trembled, their wooden frames groaning under the force. Scrolls were knocked from their resting places, scattering across the floor like fallen leaves.
Dust billowed into the air, catching the glow of the egg's light, making the entire chamber look like it was filled with golden mist.
This made Noah to stagger back, gripping the egg tighter as he questioned himself.
'What the hell did I just do?'
The golden glow surrounding the egg flared, shifting into a deep crimson-red aura, swirling like a living fire. Sparks of raw power crackled through the air, setting off a chain reaction in the runes lining the library walls. Then a low hum vibrated through the floor, growing louder with every passing second. Suddenly, in the distance a security alarm flared to life.
Noah cursed under his breath. The library had wards in place to detect magical disturbances, and he had just set off every single one of them.
He needed to get out right away before being caught, his mind screamed at him to run, but before he could take a single step something stunned him and he took a pause, The egg…it cracked and a thin fissure split across its surface, glowing red-hot like molten metal. The pulse of energy grew stronger, the power inside desperate to break free.
Noah's breath hitched, he had seen beast eggs hatch before. The process was slow, natural, taking time as the creature inside gathered the strength to emerge but this felt like a storm waiting to explode.
Crack! Crack!
Another crack followed then another. The temperature in the room shot up, waves of heat rolling outward, burning through the air. Noah could feel it seeping into his skin, a raw, untamed force and power unlike anything he had encountered before.
The bookshelves around him groaned, the runes in the walls flickering violently, reacting to the sheer force building within the egg and to the beast's presence before it had even emerged.
Noah braced himself, then the egg shattered and a blinding flash of golden-red light erupted, swallowing the entire chamber. The force threw Noah backward, sending him skidding across the stone floor, he landed hard, gritting his teeth as heat washed over him in waves.
The glow burned into his vision, making it impossible to see. He blinked rapidly, his senses scrambled, his ears ringing. He thought he might pass out here but slowly, the light dimmed.
Noah lowered his arm as he forced himself upright, his breath caught in his throat as he shifted his eyes in the place where the egg had once been, the egg was gone but something moved and the dust in the air swirl revealing the small, shifting form curled at the center of the wreckage.
Noah's pulse pounded as the creature stirred, shaking off the last remnants of its shell, its body was still glowing faintly, as if its very existence was not yet fully solidified.
At first glance, it was smaller than he expected, not larger than a cub. But despite its size, the sheer presence it radiated was overwhelming.
The air around it felt charged, heavy with something indescribable. Its fur was a deep black, but with streaks of crimson running along its body, glowing like veins filled with molten fire, the colors shifted as it moved, rippling like smoke and embers caught in a strong wind.
Then it lifted its head and Noah saw its eyes, his breath stalled as the two piercing golden orbs, glowing like twin suns, locked onto him its gaze was too intelligent as if aware of something.
Noah took a deep breath. He could hear A voice, not spoken aloud, not with words or with sound but directly into his mind.
"Who… are you?"
Noah's breath stalled, he had seen legendary beasts before. Heard of rare mutations, creatures born once in a thousand years but this… he was sure this wasn't just a rare beast it was something beyond classification, something the world had never seen before.