The last thing Kazuki heard before the truck hit him was the laughter of the orphanage bullies. *"Watch out, freak!"* one yelled as hands shoved him into the rainy Port-au-Prince street. Headlights blinded him. Tires screeched. Then **impact**.
Pain exploded. Then… nothing.
Until he woke up *screaming*, not on asphalt, but on **cold, iridescent scales** the size of car hoods. Above him stretched a sky of swirling nebulae and twin moons—one blood-red, one ice-blue. The air smelled like ozone and burnt sugar.
*"…Alive?"* he croaked. His voice sounded deeper, resonant.
***"ALIVE? BARELY!"*** A shrill, panicked voice echoed *inside his skull*. ***"YOU NEARLY CRUSHED ME, YOU CLUMSY APE! AND WHERE ARE MY BLUEBERRIES?!"***
Kazuki scrambled backward, heart hammering. A small, shadowy creature shaped like a disgruntled koala clung to his tunic—a living inkblot with glowing silver eyes. **Blight**, his "nightmare companion," radiated pure indignation.
***"Relax, meat-sack! I'm your parasitic coping mechanism! Gift-wrapped with your shiny new body!"*** Blight telepathically yapped. ***"Now, about those blueberries—"***
**Goreclaw (internal, roaring):** *NEW BODY? NEW WORLD? LET'S BREAK SOMETHING!*
**Ice Prince (internal, trembling):** *Break? What if it breaks US?!*
Kazuki stared at his hands—*long, elegant, pointed ears* now framing his vision. **Elven.** But his skin shimmered with faint **silver scales** under the nebula-light. **Dragon.** Memory fragments flooded him: A dying elf emperor's whisper (*"My son… spy for our people…"*), a dragon empress's roar (*"Mine! Steal their secrets!"*).
*"I'm… Kaelen Void-Scale?"* he whispered.
***"Bingo!"*** Blight chirped. ***"Prince of Two Genocidal Empires! Professional Espionage Toddler! And my personal ticket to existential dread!"***
---
A woman materialized before him—tall, armored in liquid silver, fingers tapered into humming plasma barrels. High Sentinel Lysandra. Her eyes scanned him like targeting sensors.
"Prince Kaelen. Your… nap is over. Empress Ignis demands you melt Sector 7's defense grid. Emperor Silversong requests Dragonfire Catalyst schematics."
*Goreclaw: "BURN HER! TEST OUR NEW CLAWS!"
*Ice Prince: "Claws?! Do I have claws?! Are they insured?!"
Kaelen's left eye itched. Text scrolled across his vision:
<
His heart throbbed, a deep, fiery pulse:
<
*Parents*, he realized with dawning horror. *They've bugged me.*
**"I… will consider strategic options,"** Kaelen managed, voice eerily calm.
Lysandra nodded. **"Follow. Your Soulforged Blade awaits."**
She led him across the colossal back of a **cosmic turtle** its shell a sprawling city of crystal spires and humming energy domes. Distant, comet-like dragons circled nebulae. *"We're on a space turtle?"* Kazuki's Earth-mind gibbered.
***"Star-Eater Turtle! Try not to fall off,"*** Blight snickered. ***"Reincarnation doesn't cover stupidity."***
---
The **Weapon Sanctum** glowed with contained power. Lysandra presented a shard of black metal that drank the light. **"Your blade feeds on Essence Cores from slain beasts. Grow stronger. Serve your empires."** A hologram flickered:
**KARMA SHOP:**
- *Minor Illusion (3 sec)* --> 100 Tokens
- *Scale Buff (Itching Guaranteed!)* --> 500 Tokens
- *Titan-Beast Pacifier (May cause sudden knitting urges)* --> 10,000 Tokens
*Goreclaw:* *ESSENCE CORES! LET'S HUNT!*
*Ice Prince:* *Hunt? What if the beast hunts BACK?!*
As they exited onto an open shell-plate, the ground *heaved*. A **Crystalback Scorpion** burst from a geothermal vent glittering, bus-sized, stinger dripping venom that sizzled on the turtle's hide.
"Demonstrate your prowess, Prince," Lysandra stated.
*Goreclaw seized control.* Kaelen's body lunged, blade raised—then tripped over a loose scale. The sword flew from his grip… *thunking* into the scorpion's main eye.
The beast dissolved into light, leaving a pulsating *Tier-2 Essence Core**.
Lysandra nodded. **"A flawless 'Stumble-Slash.' Your father will be pleased."**
The blade absorbed the core. Text flashed:
`KARMA TOKENS: +50 (Total: 100)`
`ABILITY UNLOCKED: GLITTERING PARALYSIS (15% CHANCE)`
*"FLAWLESS?!"* Ice Prince wailed. *"I TRIPPED!"*
*"GENIUS!"* Goreclaw crowed.
---
Back in his chambers, Empress Ignis's demand echoed: *"IGNITE YOUR BLOOD, BOY! TRANSFORM!"*
Kaelen sat cross-legged, trying to meditate. **Void-Embers**—tiny sparks of raw creation—drifted around him.
*"Eat the shiny sparks!"* Goreclaw urged.
*"What if they're poisonous? Or allergic to elves?"* Ice Prince fretted.
He inhaled three embers.
**FIRE.**
His bones cracked. Silver scales erupted. Wings tore through his tunic. He lurched upright a half-dragon horror the size of a minivan and crushed a singing stress-orb.
***"PHASE 0.5 NEBULA-WYRM!"*** Blight cheered, clinging to his horn. ***"CONGRATS! YOU'RE 50% LIABILITY!"***
---
The summons came: "THRONE ROOM. IMMEDIATELY."
Kaelen lumbered down corridors (taking out a mural of the "First Elf-Dragon Accord"). The throne doors groaned open.
There stood Vorgath the Warbringer dragon, molten scales, breath like a star's death rattle. Opposite him, Lysandra, rifle-fingers humming.
-Vorgath: "YOUR MOTHER DEMANDS TRIBUTE! KILL THIS ELF!"*
-Lysandra: "YOUR FATHER COMMANDS IT! DECAPITATE THIS BEAST!"*
-Goreclaw:* *YES! KICK THE SHINY ONE!*
-Ice Prince: "CAN'T WE TALK TAX REFORMS?!"
Kaelen stepped forward—and slipped on dragon drool. He crashed into Lysandra…
***BLAM!***
Her plasma shot hit Vorgath's left nostril.
The roar vaporized the throne room's roof. Vorgath shot backward into space, howling curses that lit distant asteroids on fire.
Lysandra rose, awestruck. "He sacrificed dignity to expose Vorgath's weak spot! MASTERFUL!"*
***"War Epoch #7,412: Initiated!"*** Blight announced. "Scones now 200 Tokens."
A hologram flared: Empress Ignis, draconic and triumphant. "MY SON! FIRST BLOOD! THE ELVES WILL FEAR US!"
Emperor Silversong's voice hissed in Kaelen's ear: "Vorgath's rage-cycle: 4.2 minutes. Report thermal patterns. And… try not to drool on the furniture."
Kaelen stared at his claws, the hole to space, then at Lysandra's reverent gaze. The orphanage bullies felt like a lifetime ago.
"I need", his draconic voice rumbled, "a nap."
Goreclaw: "WE NEED A BIGGER SWORD!"
Blight: "I need hazard pay."